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| - I came here with a friend who was in the mood for Taiwanese food, and we found this place via Yelp search. This restaurant is classified as both Taiwanese and Sichuan/Szechuan, and the Chinese name of the restaurant (????; an amusing name that roughly translates to "little fatty's [i.e. chubster] Sichuan cuisine" and gives significance to the logo of the plump chef) would suggest Sichuan cuisine as well. It is an interesting combo since Sichuan and Taiwanese food are very different, but the menu does in fact have dishes from both regions! The menu was an interesting mix of handwritten specials, color-printed (mostly) Taiwanese dishes, and a plain font black-and-white page of (primarily) Sichuan dishes below the listed appetizers on the back/last page of the menu. The lunch specials look like a steal if you come during lunch, and don't ignore the additional menu items posted on the wall/mirror (they are not featured in the printed menu at all and I didn't see them until after placing my order).
The interior of the restaurant was much nicer and larger than expected from the exterior appearance; clearly, it was renovated in the past. Service was also very friendly, though it helped that I spoke Chinese since one of the waitresses admitted that her English was not that great.
My friend and I ordered an eggplant dish (????), a meatballs dish (???; literally means "lion's head" but they are ground pork meatballs), and a plate of appetizer/side dishes (pick three for $6). We picked an appetizer platter of cucumbers, bean curd threads, and pig ear, but I think the bean curd threads and pig ear were just mediocre (the pig ear in particular was not nice and crunchy like cartilage usually is; it was very mushy and so-so). The eggplant and meatball dishes were both excellent though, and came as pretty large portions (especially the two gigantic meatballs). We were also given the option of steamed versus brown rice, and we opted for brown rice (no extra charge).
Overall, I think this restaurant has a pleasant atmosphere with great service and very tasty food, plus the value is great considering the generous servings for the price (we ended up with leftovers). I'll definitely be back, and next time I'll try some of their Sichuan dishes!
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