Spicy & Tasty

Having lived in China for over a year, I’m a fairly respectable authority on Chinese food, but nobody’s opinion carries more weight than that of my friend from Chengdu, Sichuan. So I brought her here, to this clean but simple spot in Flushing, to get her verdict on whether Spicy & Tasty lives up to its name. She agreed with me—this place has the best and most authentic Sichuan food in the city.

The twice-cooked pork (hui guo rou_) was spot-on, with crispy bacon-like strips of pork swimming in a mound of leeks. The spicy, water-boiled fish (shuizhu yu_) is another dish to try, better than the beef version prepared the same way. The stir-fried hot peppers were too hot even for my expert friend, so stick with the string beans (ganbian sijidou) instead—they’re exemplary.