New Szechuan Restaurant - Coquitlam

Last year, we celebrated our daughter's birthday at 'New Szechuan' and had such a great dining experience that we decided to go back again.

If you manage to locate this place, you deserve a gold star. Despite its small and hidden location, it packs a powerful punch of spice and flavor.

For our date night, we decided to try out a new restaurant that was tucked away at the back of the plaza. At first, we had trouble finding it, but we were pleasantly surprised once we did.

We happened upon this place by accident and were NOT disappointed one bit in the flavour and portion sizes of the dishes we ordered. Spring rolls to start (asked for hot mustard but she didn't understand what we wanted) Spicy chicken szechuan style, sliced pork...More

New Szechuan was chosen for lunch, mostly to celebrate the daughter's recent birthday. She had told us "please make it Chinese food", and I thought this restaurant is close, seems to get good reviews, we have wanted to try it, and now had our reason to do so. It's a small place (6-8 differently-sized tables), tucked in the back of a very small plaza, a block+ from Burquitlam Plaza. I got a good feeling about the decision to try it when we arrived, and even more so when entered -- local neighbourhood setting, small, 'mom & pop' type place, clean and tidy, quiet, and nothing even bordering on fancy. We arrived shortly after it opened at 11 am, picked a table, I then walked over to the service counter to catch copies of the menu (while a pick-up order was being attended to), shortly after, our server came to our table with cups and a pot of tea, and then allowed us time to fully ponder the quite extensive menu. I returned to the service counter at one point, asking for some clarification re: a dish I had seen posted in an online review, but could not recall the name. The chef came out from the kitchen to help me - after a minute of me trying to describe what I wanted to order, he returned to the kitchen and came back with what was the initial makings of the dish - yea, that's it, and told him it would be on our order. I also asked him if the pork hock/shoulder was 'good to go' at this time of day, and was told it was - yea, that'll be on our order as well. Personal service, and right from the kitchen, I was impressed. So here's what we ordered: I've arranged the dishes by item numbers as listed in the eat-in menu. - cold appetizer: #2 - sliced pork in chili and garlic sauce -- I had seen pictures of this dish online, and figured going in, that it was a must try. Yum! it was definitely as good tasting, as it looked in those pictures, and now in-person. It was a cold dish, with the chili and garlic sauce adding the only 'heat' - and it sure did so, but just enough to bring the taste buds to attention, and not overly so. Very tasty. - beef: #20 - beef w/ginger and green onion -- lots of very tender and moist chunks of beef, with slivers and slices of onion, and some other 'greens'. The fresh ginger flavour was there, but not overly prominent. A well-prepared dish, and a big hit with the three of us. - pork: #59 - braised pork hock/shoulder -- Wow! was the word that came from us when our server brought this dish to our table - had never thought the serving would be this big! A sight to see, and so tender and flavourfully prepared. It's a dish we would definitely not order every time (they're kinda 'rich'), but this was a special occasion, and the dish was certainly something special. Much-enjoyed there, with some leftovers to enjoy here at home. - veggie: #68 - spicy string beans Szechuan style -- a fine preparation - the beans were young, tender, hot, and spicy. Much-enjoyed. - rice: #89 - shrimp and BBQ pork fried rice -- a flavourful and tasty preparation, and not 'fried'.We sure enjoyed our dining experience at the New Szechuan Restaurant -- good food preparations, generous portions, and helpful, personal service. Getting there for this first taste of their offerings was long overdue - it will not take so long to get back for more.