Oh Snap! Let's Eat!

Gu’s Szechuan Bistro

It would seem that the best Sichuan food I can find are, well, not exactly holes in the wall, but let’s just say in a very random shopping centers where you don’t think there’s going to be anything good to eat. So that is exactly where Gu’s Bistro (渝蓉和) is located in Doraville, Georgia.

Here’s their store front:

Gu’s Bistro Storefront

It does not look like much from the outside right?　Now let’s take a look on the inside:

Gu’s Bistro Inside

Okay, that’s kind of cute. But what about the food? I had my doubts as I was surprised I had never heard of them before but turned out it was delicious and authentic, and now it might be one of my favorite Szechuan restaurant in Atlanta!

水煮魚 (Sliced Fish in Hot Chili Oil)

In one of my previous posts about another good Sichuan restaurant around Atlanta, I mentioned Sliced Beef in Hot Chili Oil. Obviously it is spicy, but I’ve ordered this dishes at almost every Sichuan restaurant I go to, and I have to say this one was the most flavorful Sliced Fish in Hot Chili Oil I’ve had.

五更暢旺 (Pork Intestines & Tofu w/ Pickled Cabbage)

If you are not in to eating offal, you might be in to this dish. However, if you want to try it or do eat offal, this is the dish for you! This dish is another spicy one (I rarely order non-spicy food ta Sichuan restaurants as that is their specialty). It contains the pork intestines but also snow peas, tofu, pickled cabbage, mushrooms, duck blood, and more.

This is a dish is very hit or miss to me when I go to Szechuan restaurants Many times a restaurant will just make it disappointingly. But at Gu’s Bistro it was 100% a HIT. Hands down, best 五更暢旺 I’ve ever had in any Szechuan restaurant I’ve been to in the United States!

If you want to try out some yummy authentic Szechuan around Atlanta, I highly recommend this place. Also, I highly recommend ordering off their traditional Chinese menu for authentic dishes!

Related articles

• Gu’s Bistro (gusbistro.com)
• Yelp Reviews on Gu’s Bistro (yelp.com)
• Delicious and Authentic Szechuan in the Suburbs? It’s possible! (ohsnapletseat.com)

Now, if you’re not familiar with Szechuan (or aka Sichuan) cuisine (四川菜), a quick overview is that the flavor is bold, and commonly spicy.  A popular style is called Mala (麻辣) and is basically a mixture of spicy and numbness (from the Chinese peppercorns added in Mala dishes).  If you’re interested in awesome Mala dishes, check out my visit to Old Sichuan’s Hot Pot restaurant in Taiwan here!

Allright, back to finding some delicious authentic Sichuan here in the suburbs, my family and I had a get together at a restaurant hidden away in Lawrenceville, Georgia called 川外川 which translates directly to “Sichuan outside of Sichuan”, a great name in my opinion but… confusingly, their English name is actually “Bobo China Restaurant” which I can’t say I”m the biggest fan of.

Anyway, what did I order? Here we go:

水煮牛 (Sliced Beef in Hot Chili Oil)

One of my favorite Sichuan dishes, it’s spicy, and the beef is incredibly flavorful.  I usually either order this or Sliced Fish in Hot Chili Oil.  I recommend BOTH at almost any Szechuan restaurant.

孜然羊 (Cumin Lamb)

If you can only order ONE thing, this is what you need to order.  The cumin is such a bold flavor and goes very well with lamb/mutton.

冷鍋魚 (Cold Pot Fish)

Don’t worry.  This is not going to be cold at all. From what I heard, why it is called this is because it was compared to Szechuan hot pots where you eat the fish straight from a cooking pot (and try not to burn your tongue off) but this dish is served in a ‘cold dish’ instead.  Trust me, the dish is HOT especially under the layer of hot chili oil!  This one and the Cumin lamb might be my ultimate favorites at this restaurant.

筍尖香干肉絲 (Shredded Pork w/ Dry Tofu & Bamboo Shoot)

Finally, something not spicy!  This one is a more common dish you can find at Chinese restaurants here in the states.  Those bamboo shoots slight crunch goes very well with the tastes of the shredded pork.  Every time someone comes with us that doesn’t eat spicy (which I don’t recommend going to a Sichuan restaurant if you don’t like spicy food…) we make sure to order this one!

夫妻肺片 (Husband and Wife’s Beef and Tripe)

Let me explain this one, the literal translation of this one is seriously “husband and wife’s lung slices”.  But to understand why in the world that might be, the Chinese just name dishes in a different method half the time.  But also, this dish at different places have different ingredients.  Sometimes they wouldn’t only have beef and tripe and may include other beef parts such as tongue and heart.

Now, we know it’s still not authentic as if you were to hop on a plane and go to China, but compared to most Sichuan restaurants, this place (Bobo China Restaurant) is worth the dime in my opinion and definitely worth your try if you are around the area!

Related articles

• Bobo China on Yelp (yelp.com)
• Beef Fillet with Pickled Chilli and rice – Sichuan Folk, Hanbury Street (junk4lunch.wordpress.com)
• Szechuan Grilled Chicken (korenainthekitchen.com)