Cakes And Ale: Chili House

Chili House is one of our favorite Szechuan Chinese restaurants in San Francisco. We went last night (8/5/17) for the first time in a little while with friends from out of town. You know what? It's better than ever. Above: cold cucumbers with garlic. Below, vegetables: lotus root, carrot, snow peas and wood ear mushrooms.

Above: soft tofu, fillet fish, in a rich spicy sauce with scallion & soybean garnish. Not sure I've had this one before, but served over steamed rice, everyone loved it.

Below: Cumin Lamb, a favorite of ours, and quite possibly the best version we've had. Medium chile and intense cumin flavor, with sauteed onion.

I love this place. Definitely the best restaurant (Chinese or otherwise) I've been to in the Inner Richmond area of San Francisco, ironically right next door to the best bang for the buck restaurant, Good Luck Dim Sum. The first time we went, we shared the Fish in Flaming Chili Oil, which is truly eye-opening. Above, is a similar dish: Lamb in Flaming Chili Oil. Everything about it is masterful--a rounded savory, spicy sauce, including many Szechuan peppercorns and roasted chilis. But these weren't just any chilis, I could tell they are using high quality chilis that have complex overtones. If there was anything that missed the mark ever so slightly it would be the quality of the lamb in this dish. It was good, but it didn't have that much lamb flavor. In other words, this is the same sort of lamb one gets when one orders the Mongolian Lamb at any Chinese restaurant. However I bet the lamb chops I saw down menu aren't rote at all.

Unbelievably outstanding, OK, maybe not now that I've experienced it. This is Chinese Eggplant with Basil, Chili and Garlic. With some sort of sauce that ties it altogether. The basil makes it tastes vaguely European, but then the sauce is clearly Asian (possibly including Chinese Roasted Sesame). When it comes to Vegan dishes, Chili House has got game. Believe me, this is much better than a sad Seitan dish someone wearing socks with sandals will serve you.

Holy cow, did I just eat some of this a few hours ago? This is Pig's Ear in Chili Sauce. As in thinly sliced Pig Ear served with thinly sliced cabbage, scallions and other vegetables, served cold. This pork dish is a revelation, it isn't greasy at all, and has the most amazing mouth-feel. I wonder if it's cured pork--it certainly tastes like it. Zoom in and you can see the pieces which look like cured bacon, but it's all meat and cartilage. Very healthy!