Chengdu Impression Edgewater 成都印象

The food here is honestly a mixed bag. I heard about their Zhong's dumplings and had to agree that these were quite tasty. The wrappers were thick just enough to deliver a great chew without overshadowing the filling. The star of the dish was the aromatic savory-sweet soy sauce - so delicious I could drink it! Beijing style stewed eggplant, however, was a waste of money. This so-called "stewed" dish came in a tiny portion, swimming in oil, and tasted lackluster. My friend loved the dry chili chicken. I wanted to get the smoked tea duck but they ran out so I opted for the fresh chili fish. The texture of the fish was extremely tender and silky. The dish, though undersalted, had a nice kick of spice as well as the numbing sensation from the Sichuan peppercorns. They charged $1.50/bowl of white rice, which was quite ridiculous. Service was subpar. Our waiter was not able to answer any simple questions about the food, making the experience quite frustrating.

I’ve been here a couple times recently and I really do think there is some quality food here. The Mapo tofu is really yummy and not too spicy. Honestly, I feel like they are holding back on spice because I feel the same about the dan dan noodles. The American Chinese options like orange and sweet and sour chicken are good. The orange chicken actually tastes like it has orange juice and the breading is perfect. Also, big fan of the sichuan sausage. My biggest issue of this place is the rice not being free. Seems a little odd. Still believe this will be a go to spot for me.

Summary: bug in food, poor service, never returning, reporting to IDPH This is the photo of the bug that we found in our food. The restaurant offered to take the dish off our bill, and offered 10% discount; I said that they should give us 50% discount, which they did. The owner was in the kitchen but did not come out to speak with me directly, the conversation was with the staff. Leading up to this, we had waited at least 40 minutes for our food to come out, before I got up and asked the staff the status on our meal. I’ll be filing a report with IDPH.

Ordered online, most things say “very spicy,” so I didn’t ask to increase the spice level. I got the dandan noodles and the dry chili chicken, neither were spicy…maybe a 2.5/10. When I want Sichuan food I want spice! No numbing whatsoever unfortunately so if you want spicy, make sure to ask them. The scallion pancake was crispy, I’m used to it chewy so that was different.

We were intrigued by the extensive menu. The food was quite good however the service was terrible. We repeatedly had to ask about our order. Appetizers were served just minutes ahead of the main courses. Take-out orders seem to take priority over dining in customers. We hesitate to go back because of the service. Maybe take-out is the way to go.