This restaurant offers a comfortable environment and wide range of unique Sichuan dishes, complete with a helpful chili rating system. Spicy Chengdu-style chicken, poached sliced beef and the customer favorite, “old nanny fish,” are delicious but hardcore chili lovers may need to ask the waitstaff to kick it up a notch.Sherpa's food delivery service available.

More Heat

Great spicy food places are passed like coveted secrets, you want to show off a gem you've found but you don't want the masses descending. So we were surprised that recently the spicy name on everyone's lips has been the recently reopened Pin Chuan, far from a quiet hole in the wall. We wandered in initially with a group of four, which then grew to 14, and expected status quo Shanghai service. To our delight, the wait staff was more than accommodating about helping us with table logistics. To start, we sampled two cold dishes, the spinach with ginger and vinegar (YY19) and the capital style baby ribs (YY43). The mild sweetness of the ribs was perfectly set against the bitter sweetness of the spinach and a comfort to the spicy-adverse in our group. We hoped our mains--lazi ji (YY73), jin chong beef (YY59) and an eggplant dish--would turn up the heat a notch but while flavorful, they were a bit mild. The highlight of the meal was a mapo dofu which lacked the spiciness that our fire-craving taste buds desired but was impressive in its inclusion of black beans, a rare fine which elevates any mapo dofu from average to oustanding. Although all the dishes were enjoyed, they clearly cater to the milder tongues of an expat clientele--great for softer Sichuan adventures or for when the parents are in town.