The former owner of Seven Star Pepper Cheng Biao Yang finally decided to seize the Chinese food market opportunity on the East Side of Seattle by opening a decently authentic Szechuan restaurant in Bellevue.

The food is very spicy but flavorful and authentic enough to satisfy the Microsoft Chinese crowd that frequent the restaurant. One of the marks of a good Szechuan restaurant is their use of the ‘ma’ pepper to construct the spicy flavor. Szechuan Chef is one of the few restaurants in Seattle that seems to do this pretty well. The decor is a tad overboard with an outdoor Chinese village courtyard feel but it’s clean and comfortable which is already a leg up on many other Chinese restaurants in the area.

My personal must-try’s include Mixed beef cold appetizer (Fu(1) Qi(1) Fei(4) Pian(4)) and personal favorite Fish in Spicy Gravy (Shui(3) Zhu(3) Yu(2)). Also try the cumin lamb and stirfry kidney (Huo(3) Bao(4) Yao(1) Hua(1)). The hotpot here is a good way to go for those cold and rainy Seattle winters but go with the half-spicy-half-regular soup. Your stomach will thank you in the morning.

Stepping into Szechuan Chef, I was surprised at how decorated the interior was. Given the nondescript signage in a nondescript strip mall, I was expecting a similarly bland interior. Instead, I was greeted with a high ceiling, brightly painted walls, and soft glowing wall lamps. I wouldn’t say the decor hit the spot for me, but it was definitely better than just plain white walls.

Thankfully, the food did hit the spot for me. I was a bit wary when I saw that most everything on the menu was accompanied with a hot pepper logo, and many with multiple levels of spiciness. The dishes we ordered, including the vegetables, were all spicy, but nothing that couldn’t be handled with lots of white rice and ice water. The dishes came out quick, and were not lacking in flavor or authenticity by any measure, given the number of chinese in the restaurant.

I’d come back to Szechuan Chef the next time I want a quick, flavorful and authentic Szechuan-style meal. I hear their hot pot is not to be missed as well.

Great Szechuan food. This is coming from a person who’s lived in Szechuan for two years. Great hot pot, crab, and an assortment of other dishes.

I think Szechuan Chef is overrated. I was really disappointed actually. The food was just average at best and they use MSG, which made me really thirsty after the meal. The service left much to be desired as well when they served us a dish we didn’t order and they refused to take it back. Oh well, I doubt I’ll go back again.

We ordered (1) green beans which wasn’t the long green beans that we were expecting. It was the standard green bean dish. (2) seafood clay pot. Typically dish, not spectacular. Squid wasn’t overcooked. Tofu, however, tasted a little odd. (3) duck dish which the waitress said was their specialty. It was my least favorite. The duck was chewy and tough. And just wasn’t a huge fan of the overall flavor. I would have like to have ordered a hot pot which is their other specialty. Overall, the food wasn’t bad. The food came out super fast which had me a little suspect. I would go back if I was in the area, but would probably not got out of my way to seek it out.