The Most Authentic Restaurants: Sichuan Chinese
Chilli Garden
Medford
Main dishes: $7.50 - $15.95
Desserts: $4.95 - $6.95
Mon. - Thurs. 11 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Fri. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.
Sun. noon - 9:30 p.m.
Reservations accepted. MasterCard, Visa, Discovery accepted. Fully accesssible.
Interested in Chinese fare from the Sichuan Province? Head to Medford. Zheng Hu, the proprietor of Chilli Garden, insists on importing her peppercorns from Sichuan, where she grew up. Not only that, they must be last year's crop. The chili powder is imported, too, and ground by hand. Spices such as star anise, cloves, cassia bark, and dried sand ginger are all shipped from China, and all are part of what makes her restaurant the most authentic Sichuan experience to be had in these parts. Bacon is smoked in the kitchen of the little restaurant, in a slice of shops off of Medford Center. The payoff is in eating Chilli Garden's food. Cold noodles look pale and modest until the fiery red chili sauce is twirled into them; then they take on a yin-yang quality, hot-bright against the tongue, cushioned by the gentle texture of the noodles. Whole fish in spicy sauce tingles at the back of the mouth as the fish melts on your palate. Wild boletus mushrooms with bits of green pepper are earthy, a taste of autumn. And for those who seek the exotic - at least to Western tastes - there are many dishes like pork tripe with garlic and cucumber, beef tongue with napa cabbage and chili powder, and duck feet with spicy soy sauce. Although the menu includes many Mandarin dishes, Hu and her staff try to steer the diner toward the Sichuan specialties. After all, what good is Chilli Garden's obsession with authenticity unless others can taste the results?