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Whenever we eat at J & J Szechuan (probably around ten times by now), we usually walk away wanting to proclaim it the best restaurant in town.
Cooler heads usually prevail and after all the fiery chilies have cooled down, we confine ourselves to praising it as our favorite Chinese restaurant in town. Then we eat at China MaMa and decide it is our fave….right up until our next meal at Yunnan Garden, Ping Pang Pong or Dong Ting Spring.
Regardless of our fickle Chinese affections, what we love about J & J are the vivid, bright, fresh and fiery flavors in all of its food. Its twice-cooked pork, flecked with black beans and flash-fried leeks is as good a version as you’ll find — salty, spicy and fatty goodness all wrapped around thin strips of blanched then stir-fried belly. (ELV note: a thousand (really more like three thousand) years before pork belly became a “hot” ingredient in American restaurants, Chinese chefs were twice cooking it to silky, succulent perfection.)
The other thing we love about J & J is it’s the only place in town that can get us to eat tofu, as in: plain tofu, neither stinky nor fried nor smoked. ELV firmly believes in that only people in third world countries have ever been happy to see a soybean, and he usually avoids them with the alacrity he employs to escape cupcakes. But gosh darn if the big creamy white chunks don’t add just the right, textural component to a big, steaming bowl of Szechuan fish with chilies. (Proof positive of our eager consumption can be seen in the photo above.)
Thankfully, no tofu comes within site of the dumplings in chile oil — a dish with a deep, porky, incendiary finish that lasts until next Tuesday. (It is our favorite dumpling dish along Spring Mountain Road.)
All of this goodness is served with a smile from Lanshu, who, if you ask nicely, will let you try to decipher the meaning of her wacky, translation-challenged t-shirt, and tell you her name in English is Carol. She will then bring you a check for $34 and you will leave (like ELV) asking yourself why you don’t dine here every day.
J & J SZECHUAN CUISINE
5700 Spring Mountain Road # A
Las Vegas, NV 89146-8861
702.876.5983
Wtf are you wearing? A hat and a polo shirt? Boo. Put the white suit back on.
ELV responds: It was drenched with sweat accumulated from creeping around hot hostesses.
Those cucumbers on that cold plate could hit the spot on a hot day like today.
That’s what you get for being such a creeper, John. Relegated to polo shirts.
Well Jonny you are normally correct so I take your advice. Ordered Wontons in Chili oil they were drenched in chili oil for sure with MSG subtleties – totally sucked ultimately. Beijing noodle cafe OWNS them on those and even China Mommy. Fish in Hot Sauce/2 gallon vat of chili oil although was tasty I have never consumed so much oil in one meal ever. I knew my shit would look like Exxon Valdez disaster and it did. I’m currently checking the latest BP Oil spill website for solutions to clean my toilet bowl. (http://www.cnbc.com/id/37593652/17_Ways_To_Clean_Up_The_Gulf_Oil_Spill) Got mushroom hot pot was pretty damn excellent and at least there was no chili oil. Lastly twice cooked pork was pretty good too but the combo of the 2.5 gallons of oil in the previous 2 on top of fatty bacon was just a bit too much grease. I am happy I tried it and I would go back only to share the fish with 4-5 people and order triple rice to soak up the oil. Of course I ordered everything EXTRA EXTRA spicy and it was kind of hot nothing to write home about in the Scoville department though.. Thanks for the find anyhow -K
I need to get office space between J&J and Bejing Deli. Being able to also walk to China Mama, Bosa and the pho place by J & J wold be a bonous. Am I dreaming, or could this be a reality?