Szechuan House, Iowa City

I live in a college town--70,000 residents, 30,000 students. Those of us who teach and live here do outnumber those who study here, but not by a landslide. One of the great advantages to such a population is that it allows for lots of inexpensive dining options. Some of that is pizza and sandwich places, but the third bonanza is in ethnic food. My university town has a substantial Asian student population and the uninformed might think that we would have ample restaurant options for Chinese and Southeast Asian food. The later is more or less true, but the former is wrong. We have one restaurant that is too authentic for me--I have no idea what to order and what comes is outside of what is accessible to my palate. The rest of the Chinese restaurants are just okay. That is, up until now. The Szechuan House is a cut above the rest. There are clunkers on the extensive menu, but there are real gems, food that is flavorful and spicy and like nothing I have ever made at home. The Spicy and Crispy Shrimp arrives under an impressive pile of red chilies and is sprinkled throughout with Szechuan peppercorns--two kind of spicy. But wait, there's more--there are scallions and sliced garlic as well. It is a delicious and balanced dish. Another favorite was the shredded pork with pickled peppers (also hot). The dish has three kinds of peppers, and the spicy flavors were again layered, aromatic and delicious. The green bean and the eggplant dishes are also fantastic. More importantly, when I am there people are ordering things that I have never seen before and they look delicious--the Gan Guo (dry braised in hot pot), black curded bean, and Gan Zai (braised in hot pot) are intriguing, and so much more. I want to walk around and ask people what that dish is (and there are many tables filled with people eating communally with a lazy susan in the middle to facilitate sharing. Such a great addition to the local dining scene!