Han Dynasty

Everything that you've head about this place is true. First of all, it's incredible. Authentic Szechuan in the middle of Olde City's douche-fest. And yes, it's face-numbingly hot. Hotter than anything any of us have ever eaten in Brooklyn, or China even. The owner Han is both super friendly and super hilarious. He told us how every other Chinese restaurant in the City is bullshit, because the food has no flavor, and his chefs are straight from Sichuan Province.

There is also a Gringo menu of General Tso's chicken and all that, but Han will tell you not to order it, it's there for the unadventurous. He sent us to Eulogy to pick up beer before our meal (it's BYOB, and Eulogy is happy to recommend beer based on what you ordered at Han) and passed out Chinese cigarettes to us out front after our meal.



Beef & Tripe in Chili Oil
WOW. The hottest I have ever had, cold tongue and tripe - both super tender - swimming in chili oil, and dotted with szechuan peppercorns, numbs your entire mouth, but so god damn delicious.


Spicy Cucumber
Great side, helps cool you down, at least until you get the wave of heat from the chili oil. But so addictive.

Dan - Dan Noodles
Brutal heat. Tossed in a firey paste tableside. LIke everything else here, just on the edge of bearable heat, but so good you keep going.


Rabbit Dry Pot Style
Oh yeah. Terrific. Watch out for the bones, but no big deal. This is the real thing.


Lamb Cumin Style
This was my favorite. Lamb stir fry with Szechuan Peppercorns, whole dried chiles, and tons of cumin. Not as spicy as some of the other dishes, but still mouth numbing.


Chicken Long Hot Pepper style.
Stir Fried chicken, garlic, longhots. Awesome.

Garlic Seafood.
Mixed seafood in garlic-chili oil. Last dish to come out, by this time I was drunk and my whole mouth was numb.'

If you've thought about eating here but haven't made it yet, get on it! One word of advice- the portions are BIG, and also because they are so hot, you aren't going to finish the whole thing. 1 entree for every 2 people, and a side or 2 would be plenty. We took home half of our food, and it was even better the next day.

And if you bring someone who doesn't like adventure or spicy food, make sure you get at least 1 thing from the Gringo menu, or just let them fill up on rice - because the Szechuan dishes are not for the culinarily challenged. By the way, it's also a really nice place, and the service is fantastic.

Han Dynasty
twitter.com/handynasty
108 Chestnut
(also 2 locations in the suburbs)
Philadelphia

Metro Cafe

Brooklyn's Chinatown along 8th ave in Sunset Park is sort of amazing. It's way bigger than I expected and goes on for at least 20 blocks before turning polish. The streets are packed with people and lined with all sorts of bars and restaurants, take out windows and skewer carts. Produce stands still open and packed with customers at 9:30pm, whole octopus and buckets of crab being sold out of the back of trucks, basement gambling parlors... incredible.

It can be overwhelming to pick where to eat somewhere like this but luckily I had my trusty guides Jake & Caroline to accompany me to their favorite Sichuan restaurant. Started off with some cold beers and a plate of tripe & tongue in chile sauce and sichuan peppercorns. Holy shit, it's delicious. We also had the double cooked pork, dry chicken with green pepper, chinese vegetable, taiwanese fried chicken. Everything spicy but not insane, and all really good.

Metro Café
4924 Eighth Avenue
Brooklyn