Chengdu Taste is just too popular for it’s own good.

If you’re tired of the traditional SGV Chinese fare and looking to take a walk on the wild (entrails) side, than Chengdu is for you.

But you’re gonna wait HOURS for it. No joke.

As this was our third restaurant of the afternoon, the 5 of us only ordered 3 dishes, some of their most popular Szechuan items.

The best dish of the day was the Toothpick Lamb. Small chunks of spicy cumin lamb skewered on toothpicks for easy snacking. This would be a great appetizer for a dinner party. If you had 17 hours to prepare it.

It was super tasty and perfectly spiced. But you have to like lamb. Obvi.

We ordered the Spicy Mung Bean Noodle dish, which was slimy as hell but had a nice spicy kick. If you don’t mind the texture, this fairly inexpensive dish is good for sharing with your adventurous friends.

We ended our meal and our day with a crazy looking dish.

Fish Soup would be the simple way of describing it (the menu calls it Boiled Fish in Green Sauce) but it’s a ginormous vat of fish in a somewhat oily broth absolutely blanketed with peppercorns and sliced chilies. It’s quite the sight!

The fish (just push aside the fins and fish heads if you’re not interested) is quite tasty and perfectly cooked and the broth has a wonderful flavor. Don’t let it’s appearance frighten you.

FYI, only one of us liked the Plum Juice. It tasted like BBQ sauce.

All in all, I would say this place is fun if you’re in the mood for inventive and spicy and if you don’t mind waiting as long as we did (1.5 hours and we got there after 2 pm on a Saturday). Seriously, the line for this place is out of control. Take note.

828 W Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91803
(626) 588-2284