Best Sichuan in NYC
The 10 best Sichuan restaurants in NYC, from James Beard-recognized rooms to Michelin Bib dry pots and hot pots across Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn.
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- 1Midtown · $$ · 5 Av (7 B D F M) · 59 W 37th St
A James Beard-recognized, Art Deco-styled Sichuan room in Midtown. The peppercorn-covered fish and other classics get an elevated treatment here.
The peppercorn-covered fish numbs and dazzles in equal measure, all under Art Deco glamour.
The Art Deco room fills up fast, so book ahead and anchor the meal with the peppercorn-covered fish.
Photo: Transpoman, CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo: Transpoman, CC BY-SA 4.0 - 2East Village · $$ · 3 Av (L) · 98 3rd Ave
Chef Han Chiang's original New York outpost, now in a larger East Village space, known for aggressively numbing, chili-forward cooking. A spice-level scale guides you toward your limit.
The dan dan noodles hit with a chili-and-peppercorn punch that keeps you coming back for more.
Now at the larger 98 Third Ave space, the dan dan noodles and a mid-range spice level are the safest first order.
Photo: Eden, Janine and Jim (edenpictures), CC BY 2.0 Photo: Eden, Janine and Jim (edenpictures), CC BY 2.0 - 3East Village · $$ · Astor Pl (6) · 23 St Marks Pl
A NYT Top 100 Sichuan spot that started in Flushing before landing on St Marks with an indoor koi pond. The mao xue wang and bold mala flavors are the draw.
The mao xue wang is a bubbling, crimson dare, and the koi pond makes it feel like an occasion.
The St Marks room with the koi pond is the flashy one, but the brand started in Flushing, and the mao xue wang is the bold order.
Photo: Transpoman, CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo: Transpoman, CC BY-SA 4.0 - 4Sunset Park · $$ · 53 St (R) · 5502 7th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11220
Sunset Park's go-to for tableside sizzling-grill whole fish and mala hot pot, Michelin-listed since 2018. It is built for sharing.
The whole fish sizzling on the tabletop grill is pure communal spectacle.
Get the whole grilled fish that sizzles on the tabletop and bring friends to share.
@chuantianxia_bk ↗Chuan Tian Xia
From @chuantianxia_bk on Instagram, shown through Instagram's own embed player.
- 5Long Island City · $$ · Vernon Blvd-Jackson Av (7) · 10-07 50th Ave, Long Island City, NY 11101
A Michelin Bib Gourmand spot in Long Island City pairing serious mala dry pots and cumin lamb with a full cocktail bar. One of the few Sichuan rooms with a real bar program.
It is the rare place where a numbing dry pot and a well-made cocktail arrive at the same table.
Pair a mala dry pot with a cocktail, since it is one of the few Sichuan spots with a full bar.
From @huponyc on Instagram, shown through Instagram's own embed player.
- 6Flushing · $$ · Flushing-Main St (7) · 136-45 41st Ave, Flushing, NY 11355
A Michelin Bib Gourmand Flushing favorite for house-made noodles and a well-balanced mapo tofu. The cumin beef with hand-pulled noodles is the order.
The hand-pulled noodles with cumin beef are chewy, fragrant, and impossible to stop eating.
Order the hand-pulled noodles with cumin beef and the mapo tofu.
From @alley41official on Instagram, shown through Instagram's own embed player.
- 7East Village · $$ · 2 Av (F) · 122 1st Ave
A build-your-own mala dry pot concept in the East Village, recommended by the Michelin Guide. You pick your skewers and dial in the heat.
Building your own dry pot skewer by skewer turns dinner into a game you always win.
You build your own dry pot by picking skewers, so pace your spice selection and add the tofu skin.
Photo: Eden, Janine and Jim (edenpictures), CC BY 2.0 Photo: Eden, Janine and Jim (edenpictures), CC BY 2.0 - 8Williamsburg · $$ · Marcy Av (J M Z) · 66 S 2nd St, Brooklyn, NY 11249
A Williamsburg spot blending Sichuan and Shanghai cooking, known for pungent pickled-fish stews and tea-smoked duck. The mala backbone is intact even with the crossover menu.
The pickled-fish stew is pungent, sour, and completely addictive.
This leans Sichuan-Shanghai, so the pickled-fish stew and tea-smoked duck are the moves.
From @antidote__nyc on Instagram, shown through Instagram's own embed player.
- 9Flushing · $$ · Flushing-Main St (7) · 136-20 Roosevelt Ave, New World Mall, Flushing, NY 11354
A Sichuan dry-hot-pot stall inside Flushing's New World Mall food court. It lets you customize the spice level at an honest price.
It is a food-court sleeper where you set the spice and the kitchen delivers every time.
It lives in the New World Mall food court, so dial your own spice level on the dry hot pot.
- 10East Village · $$ · 1 Av (L) · 328 E 6th St
One of the only fully vegan Sichuan restaurants in New York. It reproduces the mala heat faithfully without any meat.
The vegan dan dan noodles nail the mala tingle so well you forget there is no meat.
It is fully vegan, and the vegan dan dan noodles nail the mala numbing without meat.
@spicymoonnyc ↗Spicy Moon
From @spicymoonnyc on Instagram, shown through Instagram's own embed player.