Tacoma Szechuan (246 Good Days in Tacoma)

Tacoma Szechuan is a bit of a rarity in these parts, a restaurant that serves reasonably authentic, good Chinese food. We still have our neighborhood favorite, but it's admittedly a little heavy on the Americanized sauces.

Tacoma Szechuan offers hand-cut rice noodles and chow fun, two favorites we've pretty much had to give up on since moving up here. We had the Spicy Chicken with Rice Cake, ("rice cake" in this case is more like big round slices of rice noodle) Beef Chow Fun, and Honey Walnut Prawns. Everything was wonderful, but the prawns definitely stood out. They arrived piled high on fresh brocolli, breaded in what seemed like lotus root flour, and covered in a delicious light sauce that didn't have the strong mayo taste that often dominates the dish. The chicken with rice cake had a zing to it that was wonderful after a taste of the sweet prawns.

My only complaint is that the service was really not great. Our server was fine until the food came, then disappeared. She came out to offer the girls bubble tea, then never came back to take their order. (Putting us in a position where we couldn't just go up and ask for a check and leave, without Big Drama.) I think we'll stick to our neighborhood favorite when the kids are with us. Still, if you're not 4, and your life won't be over if you don't get your bubble tea, you'll probably have a great time at Tacoma Szechuan. There were other families eating there at lunch yesterday, and the place did seem pretty family friendly aside from the strange service.

While we there, we noticed they deliver! Unfortunately, only with a large fee from a local delivery service, Letzeatnow.com. We'll have to try the service out some time when we're feeling really extravagant, they have a nice list of local restaurants signed up.

Update: On our latest visit in May 2008, we experienced no service problems and had a fantastic meal. Letzeatnow has a notice on their site that they are closed for restaffing, but you can find Tacoma Szechuan's menu here.

Tacoma Szechuan

9601 S Tacoma Way (In the Paldo World Stripmall)

Lakewood

253-581-0102

dining, Chinese, Chinese map,
babysitter worthy, BW Map, South Tacoma

Tacoma Szechuan is a bit of a rarity in these parts, a restaurant that serves reasonably authentic, good Chinese food. We still have our neighborhood favorite, but it's admittedly a little heavy on the Americanized sauces.

Tacoma Szechuan offers hand-cut rice noodles and chow fun, two favorites we've pretty much had to give up on since moving up here. We had the Spicy Chicken with Rice Cake, ("rice cake" in this case is more like big round slices of rice noodle) Beef Chow Fun, and Honey Walnut Prawns. Everything was wonderful, but the prawns definitely stood out. They arrived piled high on fresh brocolli, breaded in what seemed like lotus root flour, and covered in a delicious light sauce that didn't have the strong mayo taste that often dominates the dish. The chicken with rice cake had a zing to it that was wonderful after a taste of the sweet prawns.

My only complaint is that the service was really not great. Our server was fine until the food came, then disappeared. She came out to offer the girls bubble tea, then never came back to take their order. (Putting us in a position where we couldn't just go up and ask for a check and leave, without Big Drama.) I think we'll stick to our neighborhood favorite when the kids are with us. Still, if you're not 4, and your life won't be over if you don't get your bubble tea, you'll probably have a great time at Tacoma Szechuan. There were other families eating there at lunch yesterday, and the place did seem pretty family friendly aside from the strange service.

While we there, we noticed they deliver! Unfortunately, only with a large fee from a local delivery service, Letzeatnow.com. We'll have to try the service out some time when we're feeling really extravagant, they have a nice list of local restaurants signed up.

Update: On our latest visit in May 2008, we experienced no service problems and had a fantastic meal. Letzeatnow has a notice on their site that they are closed for restaffing, but you can find Tacoma Szechuan's menu here.

Tacoma Szechuan
9601 S Tacoma Way (In the Paldo World Stripmall)
Lakewood
253-581-0102