Reviews of Sichuan Kitchen (Restaurant)

Scott Wilezol

The food at Sichuan Kitchen is excellent. This isn’t your typical Chinese menu .... all special dishes and special sauces. We ordered about 10 different menu items .... Everything had a different and interesting flavor. Food was spicy, but just right ... and i love the use of the Sichuan peppercorns, where thy tongue gets tingly and numb! I would highly recommend and return. Friendly and capable staff.

Hunter Hastings

Wonderfully authentic simple dishes. It's hard to find "authentic" Asian food of any kind in Portland. Most restaurants are on the fusion trend. These folks aren't. I'll absolutely be a regular here.

Martha Goodale

I enjoyed every dish I tried from the cabbage to the cloud mushrooms to the chicken entree---fresh ingredients and discernible flavors, unlike any Chinese food I have previously had. Wait staff was attentive and cordial. I look forward to my next visit to explore other menu items.

Cameron Ross

Best Chinese in town. The atmosphere isn't anything special but the food more than makes up for it. Dumplings and the eggplant dish are two items that shouldn't be missed.

Evan Atwell

Meh. The service was the best part; friendly staff. The food was certainly subpar. I got the 'spicy' beef noodle. It was NOT spicy at all, even after asking for it to be extra spicy, and then adding even more spice afterwards; the broth was way too oily (as in even too much for the cuisine, which uses a decent amount of oil to begin with); the beef was overcooked - dry and chewy, and there was hardly any beef at all. Basically what amounted to a $17 oily leather soup. Pretty disappointing.

Melissa Selvon

Great food terrible service

Jason Trease

Casual very good food and service !

Vish M

Must try their Sichuan Fish in Chilly Oil. Trust me this dish is as good as it gets around here in Maine.

Brendan Bernhardt Gaffney

The food wasn't that great- tried the two chef's specialities, and both were greasy and not particularly flavorful. The stew's daikon was undercooked, and the fat was too rubbery to eat and had to be picked through. Both dishes were greasy, and had a nice taste that was underwhelming in spite of the other flaws. We ordered a salad and the staff didn't write it down and forgot to serve it, which ended up being fine, as the portions are large and I don't think we needed the salad. Nice to see a new Chinese restaurant in Portland, and I hope they even out over time, as good Chinese is certainly missing locally.

Alexandre Rosenfeld

Amazing food and really friendly staff!

CWW

Incredible cold noodles. The amount of spice was just perfectly done. My family and I sat out front enjoying the weather and people. The staff was great with my kids and accommodating

rswerdlow rswerdlow

Not a fancy place, but the best mapo tofu I've found in Portland.

Hannah Olson

The best restaurant in Portland, hands down. Everything on the menu is delicious, but the yuxiang eggplant is the dish I get every time. They did hot pot on Wednesday nights all winter and it was wonderful.

Nora Bosworth

One of the best restaurants in Portland. Stop in during their Happy Hours and you’ll find that a series of small dishes are $5 each, a deal which is also available ALL-day Sunday. This restaurant does not dumb down their dishes for Americans, and the flavors are bold, complex, and unusual. They’re also consistently delicious. The waitstaff is all notably happy, and various times have confided in me that the owner of the establishment is a, “Really good person...which unfortunately isn’t true of many restauranteurs”. This makes a difference. As a native Brooklynite who sorely missed authentic Sizchuan food, I’m so happy they’re here!

Charles Foss

Great food.

Esley Leda Sonnikson

Everything kinda tasted like MSG and dried chili....

Josephine Berger

The menu was fantastic, great for family style dining and every dish was delicious, flavorful and authentic. This place is the real deal, I can't wait to come back again and try all the things we didn't order. Sichuan Kitchen is my new favorite place in Portland. Definitely check it out!

Alli Poirot

Fantastic, authentic, delicious food!

Hair Etc Portland ME

This is my favor place to go for Chinese food

Sean Case

Great food and great service

Tyler Morin

Amazing and affordable

Matt Cybulsky

Hot and Spicy with a PBR, yes please!

Ashton White

Fantastic food! Smaller place squeezed right in the middle of everything on Congress. They are able to accommodate a large party, several tables of 4 and they also have seating at the bar. Beware, food can be spicy. If you haven't had sichuan peppers you may not like. I devoured some dumplings, savory pork burns, fall-off-the-bone szechuan ribs and beef noodles. Washed it all down with a nice cold bottle of unfiltered sake! Will definitely be returning.

Kathleen Hayes

We loved this place! I had no idea sichuan peppers were so versatile. Sweet and spicy in the cucumber salad, smoky and warm in the dumpling sauce. We also enjoyed the 5 spice beef buns, Gong Bao chicken and fish with pickled greens. We cannot wait to go back so we can try the rest of the menu.

Patrick Byrne

Amazing food in a cozy little atmosphere

milesdd

Excellent food and wait staff. Was perplexed when waitress said entrees would come out as they were ready, but no more than a few minutes apart. However it was much longer, such that half our table had finished their dinners before the other half were served. If they messed up the order they didn't say. If this is normal, it'd seem the kitchen could plan to time things appropriately. Delicious food though.

Tati C

Authentic, delicious, and satisfying. The manager is super personable and really makes returning guests feel at home. From the menu, the mushroom salad, dry fried chicken, and veggie dumplings are not to be missed. Their outpost in the Monument Square food court is excellent as well and more affordable as an excellent lunch option.

Curt Combar

My wife and I checked this place out this summer. It's tucked into a cozy storefront in the middle of downtown Portland, across from the State Theater. The owner comes from the Sichuan Province of China and the menu reflects her origins so the food is definitely NOT your average Americanized fast food Chinese restaurant fare. The atmosphere in the restaurant is nice but it would be nice to see more color and perhaps artifacts or photos from the Sichuan region to make it more interesting. I started with the Zhong Dumplings which were by far the best dumplings I've ever had! They were fresh made pork dumplings served in really tasty sauce that has just the right amount of spice and perfectly balanced the flavor and heat. I mistakenly told my wife how good they were and after fighting over the last one, we ended up ordering another bowl of them! For the entree, I had the Braised Beef Noodles. The meat was tender and flavorful and served over a generous bowl of noodles, broth and fresh herbs. I will definitely have this comforting dish again. The refreshing Bissel Brothers Substance (on tap!) was the icing on the cake! My wife had the Ants Climbing A Tree and the Cloud Ear Mushroom Salad and enjoyed both thoroughly. The staff was very friendly and the owner even stopped by our table to see how we enjoyed our food, even though it was a busy night for the restaurant. Portions were generous enough that we had some to take home to share with the kids. We'll definitely be heading back to Sichuan Kitchen many times!

RickC1916

A pretty good dining experience. The atmosphere was very good. The menu choices seemed very limited. Food was pretty good. The tea was delightful.

Max Davis

Some of the best Sichuan food I've had-- even something that sounded simple like 'spicy cabbage' was amazing, with a depth of flavor. Thanks!

Carissa Gallant

It was really great except for when it was in my eye

Suzan Travers

Wow!!! Everything is prepared fresh, just can't help it, have to keep going!!

Molly Adams

Truly one of my favorite restaurants in Portland. Addictive tastes, healthy options, nice drink selection, great lunch deal and family operated. I always feel good after eating here.

Hillary McMullen

I've come here a few times and the food is always amazing!! Best dumplings I've ever tasted! I will drive 2 hours to taste the food here again. And the chef is for sweet too if you ever get a chance to meet her.

Zakaria Jlil

The dry fried chicken is sooooooooo good, the balance between spiciness and flavour was great!!!!! We took also the dumpling and the egg fried rice and the taste was great too. I really recommend this place and give them all my support!!!

Jessica Morales

All of the food was so tasty! Especially the pork dumplings and egg fried rice. Service was kind of slow but the food was quick to come out. Will definitely be going back.

Elias grimm

Was excited to hear about this new restaurant, but unfortunately I was extremely dissapointed. A rediculously long wait, flavorless and cold food along with dumplings that tasted microwaved made this dinner very unenjoyable. Would not recommend at all. 2 stars

Chris Bernazzani

Authentic Chinese food

Matthew Campbell

Good Sichuan food.

Casey Romeo

The food was amazing - some of the best in Portland. But the staff was quite rude throughout. It didn't ruin the culinary experience, but the wait staff was very cold.

Vincent LaCour

Great vegan options

Alexander Vavilov

Awesome food and super nice service!

Felicity Brewer

The happy hour plates were really great, and only $5 each. The cucumber salad was a light and delicious way to end after having the glass noodle/seaweed salad, sichuan pork ribs, pork buns, and dumplings. They use good chili oil, but I didn't taste a lot of sichuan pepper. Even though the food wasn't spicy like I thought it would be, it was flavorful and worth the price.

Kelly Ge

Really delicious！especially noodles.

Jon Berkowitz

Authentic style Chinese, NOT traditional American style. Delicious. Give it a chance.

Jados Moreno

Real Chinese food is hard to find. This is it. If you don't like, you're wrong.

liz z

all day sunday happy hour can't be missed! the regular menu is also excellent and portions are just right; most items can be modified for vegetarians. nothing was too spicy for my taste, but it is definitely sichuan/szechuan style food, not the typical americanized chinese style people have grown to expect

Abigail Harris-Culver

Ate three different small plates, each one better than the last. Left with burning lips and bright eyes!

Zachary Chiu

In short: Amazing food, slow service, superb staff. Went here on a Monday night and it was pretty full. All the waiters that talked to us were very polite and considerate. We had to wait a bit to be seated but overall it was a good experience. We had the double cooked pork, dried fried chicken, sautéed green beans, pork slivers, and the mapo tofu. All of them were extremely well seasoned and prepared however each dish came about 5 minutes apart from each other and the portion sizes were not very large for the money. The staff at this establishment was extremely apologetic and empathized with the wait, so they tried all they could to make things better. We asked for two more rice bowls and they came back overflowing. Hopefully they hire an additional chef with the prices they are asking for, but on the bright side the quality was superb. If you want quality Sichuan cuisine this is the place to go, but if you want bang for your buck go elsewhere. P. S. Sorry for the subpar quality of the photo, people were hungry

Rocket Hart

Great service, perfect portions and very tasty gf/vegan options, dishwashers drop dead gorgeous

Ryan Wallace

Best Chinese food in Portland. Real authentic food and the braised beef noodle soup is fantastic

Anna Swoboda

Awesome meal! Had dishes that I've only actually seen or eaten in China and they were just as good. Anything with Sichuan peppercorns is a must but would particularly recommend the poached fish in spicy sauce (enough for at least 2 people) and the eggplant.

Katie Hatch

Great selection of Sichuan favorites! Authentic flavor and priced well. Great for groups so you can try more of the family style service.

K P

This place was shockingly good. The ambience is bland, but the food was spectacular. Livy is not a nice person. Check her profile.

Max Bulger

My family and I have been to Chengdu in Sichuan Province, China. I can tell you without exaggeration that this is the best, most authentic Sichuan cuisine I've had since coming back. Do not miss out of the fish stew, nor on the steamed cabbage. Awesome staff too, I have to say. They're going to be very busy because we came on a Tuesday just a couple days after a stellar review in the Press Herald and it was packed for dinner service. With good reason. I wish them the very best and will definitely be back.

Hillary Cooke

Amazing! Worth the price! Generous portions! So tasty and loads of vegetarian and vegan options! We will be back soon! Amazing and very helpful staff and owners! So glad we found this gem!

Beatrix Connor

Food was DELICIOUS! But I got told by one woman working there to go to one bathroom and apparently I wasn’t aloud back there so I got screamed at by another woman who worked there and it made me feel bad and scared so service isn’t the best and it’s slow but food is great like 5 star food in my opinion

Vladimir Tolstikhin

It's a good place for spicy Sichuan food, but service can be slow.

Stephen Fernald

Not impressed. Though the servers were super nice it seemed as though they were overwhelmed. The food was well prepared but came out in spasms. Actually got a main course before all the apps we ordered 15 mins ahead. I'll give them another shot for sure though.

Rocket Wong

Excellent authentic Chinese dishes.

Nate LaClaire

Delicious food and nice atmosphere.

Richard Pojasek

The food is quite good. The staff was GREAT!

Liv Shutkin

Would not recommend this restaurant to anyone, major let down. The ambience is mediocre, had to wait for a table and service was relatively slow and spacey. The food was pretty gross, every dish is floating in orange oil and insanely salty. the chicken wings were so disgusting we had to send them back. The food was bottom of the line, cheap and terrible quality. They forgot to bring us rice and when they finally did after we asked, they charged us for it. Will not be returning.

Conrad Lumm

Delicious. Great spicy noodles, tasty dry chicken loaded with Sichuan peppercorns, silky ma po tofu. The best Chinese food I've eaten in Maine by far.

Gautam jariwala

So happy that Portland now has authentic Sichuan food! Dumplings are a must eat. Best I've ever tasted. I have visited the Sichuan province twice, and this is the real deal. All of the dishes have a unique taste. Braised beef noodles had a wonderful flavor, and lots of tasty veggie dishes (cloud ear mushroom and the cabbage were great). This is nothing like the typical Chinese restaurants we have in Maine , so folks looking for crab rangoon or general tso's chicken should go elsewhere. Sichuan chili oil is main ingredient for a few of the dishes, and in Sichuan, the more the better.

Danielj Shagoury

Very good food, especially if you like spicy. Good drinks, good service and a very pleasant atmosphere.

kurt drexler

When in Portland, don't to be afraid to give them a try. Dinner was amazing, very authentic, and the staff extremely helpful.

Albína Hulda Pálsdóttir

Really good Chinese food, good service and nice clean place. I would definitely recommend this place.

glowjar

Real deal Sichuan food. Elegantly flavored. Underrated and under appreciated hear in Portland

Melissa Strickland

I appreciate all the vegetarian options on the menu, even though none of my dishes had any abundance of vegetables, and raw chunks of tofu might be the food I hate most. I'm sad I just didnt understand the flavors of anything I tried, it all tasted deeply salty, oily, and smokey, almost burnt. I also found the portions very small for the price. It seems like a lot of people love these flavors, so its worth a try, just definitely wasn't for me.

Steve Rhoads

Awesome Dry Fried Chicken

Qingli Ding

Strongly recommended

Daniel Carpenter

Great food, lots of vegan options, great service

Christine McHale

This is one of my regular go to places. I brought my friend Lynn, who can't have any spice at all, and they absolutely catered to her needs. I really recommend the little ribs and the noodles on the small plates or appetizers. I keep coming back, they do a good job

Michael Lionetta

I've been here several times trying different dishes it's authentic-- actually cooked by "mom" SICHUAN style referring to it as"Chinese" food always has to come with adding its"real Chinese" cooking unless specified it'll be spicy/hot so I say mild if the waitress doesn't ask that said I totally enjoy the food and the wait staff has always been friendly and professional a must try for everyone

Michael Estes

Good food, good value.

Victor Robinson

Good food. Slow service.

sudip rijal

Strongly recommended.

Louissa Strout

favorite restaurant in Portland. Delicious food and amazing service!

Fran White

Fabulous food and wonderful service.

Priscilla Arsenault

Was w/a group of 9 people, none of us had ever been to Sichuan Kitchen but after our meal, we'll all be heading back. I'm a vegetarian and love spicy food so the Smoky Tofu Salad w/roasted peanuts & spicy sauce, along w/the veggie Zhong dumplings w/garlic & chili sauce were perfect! The location couldn't have been better, right across the street from the State Theater, we were able to just walk across the street to our concert!

Bolland Clan

This restaurant is over the top amazing ! Real authentic Szechuan cooking just like grandma used to make!

Francesca Bettinelli

Great authentic Chinese food!

Shawn Jin

Tldr: Overpriced and inauthentic. Service: I was the first patron there for dinner service so it was pretty good. Food: the appetizer I had were woodear salad with sesame oil and garlic. It's not a sichuan dish but more of Northern cuisine. Nevertheless it was overpriced and tasteless. The hot and sour noodle soup was all sour and no hot. Decor: being on one of the main streets of portland, it looks nice.

Abe Kipnis

Mau po tofu, sechuan eggplant and mushroom salad were very tasty and fairly priced! The mushroom salad was on the happy hour menu for the food (Sunday is happy hour all day), which was appetizers for $5. Very authentic menu, good decor and music, and the waitstaff was attentive.

Janie H

Yassssss! Had a great family style meal. We ordered about 75% of the Menu between the table. Menu had some very unique and well-done Japanese style offerings. The food is good enough to carry the price $$$ and small portions! Worth it you won't be disappointed. Definitely going back.

Tulasi Meduri

Good food..service is iffy.. this is 3rd time they have screwed up our orders. Very busy during summer time and paid parking close by.

James MacWilliams

Amazing food. What I have been waiting for in Portland for a long time. More numbing sauce!

Troy Daly

If you like Chinese food, you'll like Sichuan Kitchen. It has a low-key vibe, and an accessible location in the Old Port. The tian shui noodles are fantastic- a perfect balance of sweet and hot. Shamos was an attentive server, and made sure I was happy with the meal. The other staffer were great as well. Would recommend!

Jessica Evans

Wonderful food and excellent service.

Ashley Sholtis

Delicious food with great selection. Really enjoyed the mapo tofu and cucumber salad. Nice service. Definitely will be back, soon.

Emily Beaulieu

Amazing food!

Rosemarie De Angelis

The food is amazing. It is very authentic. Just be friendly to the staff, and they will be friendly in return. It is a new restaurant and take some adjustment but it is totally and fully worth it

matt harriman

Cloud ear mushroom salad is awesome! Love it!

olive jones

Friendly, interesting and delicious food, awesome happy hour!

Nathaniel Pendleton

I visited SIchuan Kitchen a couple days after it opened and found the staff warm, welcoming, and friendly. The food was authentic and delicious, although I found some of the flavor profiles I associate with Sichuan food--spicy, numbing, vinegary--a little subdued compared to other restaurants I have eaten at.

Nuf Sed

Good service, but bad, overpriced food.

George Schutter

Amaze

James Henson

Wonderful, authentic food and great, attentive staff. Came here on vacation, and with myself being an enthusiast of Sichuan/Chinese food I had the dan dan noodles as I was interested to taste how well it compared to local spots. Twas better. Was served an appropriate portion of fresh wheat noodles and flavorful minced pork with a sesame paste based sauce. Their chili oil is the real deal! The Gong Bao Chicken is excellent as well!

Jesse King

The food here is phenomenal. Such a treat to have authentic Chinese food that you can tell is lovingly prepared. The only reason I gave a 4 star review is because the ambiance feels incomplete as noted by other reviews. 100% worth trying out though, especially if you like spicy food or complexly flavored vegetarian options.

Sean OMara

Have never had a bad dish in my 3 or 4 visits, absolutely delicious.

Jessica Gaines

The food was good, but the poor staff were visibly stressed and the dishes were overly priced. We came here because we were looking for something unpretentious and filling. It's super cute in there, and I felt bad for the staff. But it does not fit its description on Google AT ALL.

Jason Kucharsky

Top notch Mapo dofu and pork dumplings!

Jared Hall

Authentic, delicious Sichuan dishes with a warm staff. Mapo tofu this good is rare even in Beijing. Their set up for kids (including trainer chopaticks) was a nice touch.

Jasmine B

A favorite, authentic and delicious...just the right amount of spice. You can't go wrong with any of the dishes, and they are happy to adjust for vegetarians or folks that really like spice.

kate curtin

Overpriced and underseasoned.

Mindy Clement-Sanborn

Great Service

Peter Bienkowski

um YES

Cristos Lianides-Chin

Excellent authentic sichuan Chinese food

Grace Natabaalo

Delicious food! Came in for happy hour and tried 5 things. So yummy. The pork and veggie dumplings are to die for. The cucumber salad and smoky tofu salad are a must have.

Deirdre Oringer

We had been given a long list of places to eat in Portland & happened upon this place as we walked by in the cold rain on our 1st night there. The food was fabulous, the best food we had in Portland over 2.5 days. The service was prompt, portions excellent, prices were good & tastes were amazing! I gave it 4 stars only because there's not much atmosphere & it was a bit cold inside but all in all I would definitely recommend this place & I would absolutely eat there again.

Ginette Labonville

Food is the real deal. Delicately flavored Sichuan food. Highly underrated!!!

Grady Drago

Best Chinese restaurant in Maine - period.