Fresh, spicy Chinese fare

Ed Murietta, for the Northwest Guardian

I was out the door and en route to Tacoma Szechuan almost as fast as I’d answered the telephone.

“This is the best Chinese food I’ve had since my last trip to Taiwan,” the caller said.

Taking a seat 20 minutes later, I saw a guy I know who’s been to China a half-dozen times. I asked him for his take. Best he’s enjoyed since the mainland, he said.

Does that mean Tacoma Szechuan is the holy grail – a great Chinese restaurant? Not necessarily, although it’s a good restaurant. What makes Tacoma Szechuan worth recommending is that it’s the kind of restaurant that greater Tacoma didn’t have, or which I failed to find, before this one opened in February: a restaurant with a light and fresh touch that transcends Americanized Chinese cuisine as we know it.

Moving away from the mild, almost benign Cantonese and Mandarin dishes that dominate choose-one-from-column-A/choose-one-from-column-B Chinese menus, Tacoma Szechuan injects fiery spice into the familiar and unfamiliar.

However, those chili-sauce infusions can soon become repetitive – the same spicy oil heated jelly noodles ($3.99), sliced beef ($4.75), veggie stir-frys ($7.75-$8.50) and tofu ($7.75).

And while I never thought I’d tire of anything with bacon, twice-cooked pork belly with bell peppers ($9.50) wasn’t that much different (or attention-keeping) from smoked pork belly with garlic leaf ($9.50).

The most expensive meal – Szechuan crab hot pot, $28.95, market rate, and easily enough for two people – was my favorite. After the steamed crab was dismantled from its shell, the meaty leg ends were dredged in rice flour and wok-fried, producing a delicate, chili-dabbed batter that accented tender crabmeat. I wasn’t sure what kind of vegetables to add to my hot pot, so my waitresses suggested Napa cabbage, broccoli and potatoes. Veggies were perfectly cooked: Cabbage was vivid green and almost crunchy; potatoes were wonderfully starchy.

I wish crab crackers had been supplied with the hot pot. By making do, however, I realized that chopsticks are perfect for forcing meat through long legs. On that note, service was friendly and accommodating; a waitress brought ingredients from the kitchen to my table when she wasn’t able to explain what they were. But some things – like a round of clean plates when the hot pot got out of hand – were lost or ignored in translation, and a couple of dishes were served lukewarm.

Two fresh potato dishes – one hot and garlicky ($7.75), one cold and flavored with sesame ($7.75) – stood out. Julienned into long, thin strands and tossed with bell peppers, both dishes had the fresh and earthy, slightly watery crunch of raw spuds.

Ant on a Tree ($8.50) is a metaphor: minced pork (the ant) atop glass noodles (the tree) in hot chili sauce. A salad of fried green bell peppers, scallions and caraway seeds ($4.99) was refreshing, until a dose of salty wasabi crept in. Firm, almost crunchy black mushrooms with red-hot peppers and a hint of sesame ($4.25) was a blissful blend of earth and fire. Eggplant in hot garlic sauce was firm and attractive, not the greasy, cooked-to-mush meal it often is elsewhere.

Sweet and sour pork – the nadir of Americanized Chinese food – was memorable. Rather than hard chunks of overfried pork, this dish ($9.50) featured tender ropes of battered pork. Its light and bright orange sauce was a change of pace from oppressively sweet candy-apple-red sweet-and-sour.

Cumin isn’t your everyday Chinese spice, so I was eager to try cumin lamb ($10.50). The dish bore a light, sultry bouquet of cumin but was undermined by thin, chewy slices of meat not unlike strip-mall teriyaki.

I’m sorry to report that I was too timid to try kidney in pickled pepper sauce and hot pepper intestine ($9.50 each). I did, however, order a dessert that the menu billed as “sticky rice ball with Chinese alcohol made special soup.” At $3.99, who could pass it up? Well, for starters, anyone who doesn’t like ground black sesame seeds that resemble dirt inside gooey rice balls, served in a boozy broth of fermented glutinous rice. Fried sweet potato balls filled with red bean paste ($2.99) are a better bet.

Tacoma Szechuan

9601 South Tacoma Way, No. 102, Lakewood; 253-581-0102.

CUISINE: Chinese (Sichuan).

ATMOSPHERE: Warm and comfortable.

HOURS: 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. daily.

PRICES: Entrees $7.75-$13.95. Lunch specials: $5.95 one item, $16.88 three items, $28.88 five items.

SERVICE: Some details lost or ignored in translation.

NOISE LEVEL: Low.

BATHROOMS: Nice.

FAMILY FRIENDLY: Yes.

ACCESS: No barriers.