God, the World Cup is doing a number on my mission to get four restaurants reports off my backlog every week. My report from Bombay was posted in the evening on Monday and my Twin Cities report for the week is now being posted almost two days late. The good news is it is in fact two reports for the price of one—so if you do the conversion you actually come out ahead. You’re welcome.

The two reports in question are of two meals eaten at Grand Szechuan in Bloomington. By any measure, the best Chinese restaurant in Minnesota, Grand Szechuan is our family’s favourite restaurant in the state and so it’s no surprise that one of our first meals of the year was eaten there in January and that it was also the first place went out to eat at after returning from our travels in June.

As with most of my backlogged reports, posted or to come, this is a quick report. Indeed, I have very little left to say about Grand Szechuan except to note that they have remained incredibly consistent over the lifetime of the restaurant and that they have consistently been putting out food of a very high quality. For those who have not been or have not been very often, I will point you to my guide to ordering from their deep menu. Or you could just replicate one of the meals below.

First up, is a look at a lunch we ate there with friends in January. It had been a while since our last visit and so the meal included a number of our group’s all-time favourites: Fish Fillet in Milky White Broth, Sliced Pork Belly in Garlic Sauce, Szechuan Cold Bean Jelly, Dan Dan Noodles, Twice-Cooked Chinese Bacon, Country-Style Chicken, Triple-Flavour Squid (officially on the menu as Spicy Squid Roll), Fish Fillet with Bean Jelly, Mapo Tofu, Szechuan Green Beans and Fish-Flavour Eggplant. All were excellent.

For a look at this meal, launch the slideshow below. Scroll down to see what we ate there in mid-June.

A few days after returning from Korea and Japan we were back at Grand Szechuan with members from our usual crew. This time we were there for dinner. As this was also a meal eaten there after a long time, it also featured many favourites, though only some were repeats from January. As I said, it’s a very deep menu and it’s hard to exhaust your favourites in just a few visits.

Here’s what we ate on this outing: Chengdu Spicy Wontons, Beef Tongue in Chilli Sauce, Dan Dan Noodles, Cold Bean Jelly, Twice-Cooked Chinese Bacon, Chengdu-Style Grilled Fish, Chengdu-Style Grilled Lamb, Country-Style Chicken, Szechuan Green Beans and Eggplant in Sweet Bean Sauce. All were once again excellent but I will particularly single out the beef tongue, the country-style chicken and the two Chengdu-style dishes for praise.

For a look at this meal, launch the slideshow below. Scroll down to see what’s coming next.

Alright, I’ve posted a Bombay/Delhi report this week and also a Twin Cities report. Next up will be my last report from our trip to Japan last summer. Over the weekend I’ll have another report from Los Angeles in December. Hopefully, neither will be hugely delayed.