With someone fluent in Chinese by my side, I was finally able to walk into a neighborhood eatery I’d only ever looked at from the outside. It’s called Qingzhu Chuancai (青竹川菜); when the character 川 (Chuan) is in the name, it means it’s a Sichuan restaurant.

Table

Shenzhen style, I guess.

Soup

It comes in an enormous bowl. This is the kind of place where you could never order on your own. It was decent.

Mapo tofu

Authentic mapo tofu isn’t all that spicy; I suspect you have to ask for it extra spicy when ordering. To my palate, Japanese-style mapo tofu might actually taste better..

Pork and mushroom dish

I’d heard that mushrooms in China are delicious, and this place did them pretty well.

Dessert

Not sure if it’s rice or dessert.. but when you’re eating spicy food, something sweet like this is nice to have.

Meat

Seeing this, I’m pretty sure it really is a Sichuan restaurant..

Lighting

The restaurant is spacious, but there weren’t many people..

The place is a bit worn down, but the food was decent. Not that I’d want to come back a second or third time, though.

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