Grand Sichuan St. Marks

There were a pair of strangers sitting at the table across from mine. One of them was extremely snarky in his first encounter that I saw with his waiter, in which he expressed his disappointment with the speed of the service by saying, among other things, "It's just Chinese food." Now, I read about the place, and the menu and the chef, and I figured they might put a bit of care into the preparation. Problem was I had no idea how long they'd been waiting there, and when I got my appetizer before they got theirs, I felt like maybe he was justified. The appetizer, the soup dumplings were wonderful...but then I waited for my entree. And waited. And waited. And waited. The waiter did not come out once to tell me it was coming - I walked over to him. As the pair next to me also began to actively lobby for their food, their waiter explained to them that they had a lot of deliveries. That seemed like a poor rationale for any place that has table service. And I waited. I asked for water. None came. The snarky guy asked for the white rice that should have come with his entree when he finally got it and waited more than five minutes for it, which really shouldn't have happened if you have four waiters and the place is at about 25% capacity. I figure the thing to do is if you are a waiter and the kitchen is underperforming, then at least come back and offer an apology, offer an ETA, etc. I'm a pretty generous tipper, and was here, but a lot of folks use any excuse they can to undertip. An hour and thirty-five minute total dining time for an appetizer and an entree, the latter of which I gulped down as quickly as I could to get back to work, is poor business.

$2.50 for the smallest egg roll in NY. I ordered this once before and was very dissapointed, forgot and ordered it. Shoot!!

Went here for the first time this past weekend and was happily surprised. We ordered several apps to share. The crystal shrimp dumplings weren't bad or good; they just WERE. Not fishy enough for shrimp, but inoffensive. The scallion pancakes were decent - a little dry, which amplified the disappointment of the accompanying sauce, which might have been the most unappetizing I've ever had. It was grossly vinegar-y. The pork & crab soup dumplings, however, were extremely delicious and I would come back here just to order those again. The service was attentive, and polite, and the beer prices were pretty awesome. $15 for a pitcher of Sapporo? Yes, please.

We ordered a range of food for a late quick dinner. Unfortunately, delivery took almost a full hour and when it arrived it was at best disappointing. The scallion pancakes were oily and greasy. The dumplings were cold and overcooked. But the worst was the spring rolls, which tasted like some combination of bandanas and medicine. I had to find anything in the fridge just to get the taste out of my mouth.

The delivery took an hour long... Dumplings were soggy and tasteless. Sesame chicken was bland in flavor and chicken was dry. They did not provide Fortune Cookies. Any other option for Chinese Food is better than this...

As the title states, this is my favorite Chinese restaurant in the East Village. Some dishes are a little too heavy on the starch, but the Gui Zhou chicken is just to die for. Unfortunately, all to often, I get the impression that the staff probably wishes that I'd die rather than patronize their restaurant. I swear I am not one of those people who changes her mind 18 times mid-order or asks for endless substitutions! I don't know what it is, but every server or phone order taker I've spoken with has just acted so put upon and, jeez, how I dare bother them to place an order. Not cool, Grand Sichuan! You're lucky that there is so little decent Chinese in the immediate area.

This location of Grand Sichuan has interesting "Authentic Style Vegetables," great for vegetarians or those wanting to eat lots of vegetables in addition to a main course. I liked both the Spicy Fish Soup and the Gui Zhou Chicken, both a bit oily for my taste, but very good. We also ordered the Pumpkin with Ginger and Pea Shoots. Both were delicious! We started with appetizers of Cool Cucumber in Ginger and another of Tofu with Ginger Sauce, again, both delicious.