The article incorrectly said that Great Wall Szechuan House's secret menu of ma la dishes was added to the regular menu because word trickled out and so many customers were asking for them. Publicity from a 2006 Washington City Paper article prompted the restaurant to add the dishes.
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Great Wall Szechuan House
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When new owners took over this small Chinese restaurant in 2002, it had two menus. The first: a standard takeout menu with fried rice, lo mein and kung pao chicken. The second: a secret unwritten list of ma la dishes, the "numbingly spicy" cuisine of chef Yuan Sheng Chen's home province of Sichuan.
For the first four years, only Chinese and locals who had lived in China knew enough to ask for the ma la dishes, says May Kuang, the chef's wife and restaurant co-owner. Slowly, word trickled out, until so many customers were asking for them that the dishes were added to the regular menu.
Great Wall turns out respectable iterations of the usual Chinese restaurant fare. But it's the ma la dishes and the always-fresh vegetables that shine.
Ma la sauce is an oily, spicy blend of Sichuan peppercorns, garlic and several types of chili peppers. True to its name, it will make your tongue tingle and go at least a little bit numb. For those who don't tolerate terribly spicy food, begin with the wontons, enormous triangles of tender dough stuffed with meat and vegetables served in the sauce ($3.95 for six) or the ma la cucumber ($6.95), a cold dish that, with the addition of vinegar and a little sugar, is designed to refresh. Real pepper lovers should go for the ma po tofu ($7.95), silky cubes sauteed with bits of chicken and a solid dousing of ma la sauce. (It also can be ordered as a vegetarian dish.) "Sinus clearing," said one taster, reaching for a box of tissues. True, but the heat doesn't overwhelm the flavor.
Still, even the most fearless eaters will want other dishes to balance the ma po. So order any of the deliciously prepared vegetables. Some are listed on the menu, but ask Kuang what's available. The baby bok choy, stir-fried with garlic ($8.50), is perfectly cooked and without a trace of grease; ditto the broccoli (small $5.50, large, $7.50). Oily but still delicious is the eggplant in Sichuan garlic sauce ($7.50). It's a beautiful dish, pale purple and red, and satisfying -- a great alternative for meat eaters.
Our one exception to the order-off-the-ma-la-menu rule is the chow fun noodles ($9.95 with seafood, $8.95 with meat, $7.95 with vegetables). Tossed with juicy chicken, carrots, mushrooms, bean sprouts and a distinct sprinkle of white pepper, the dish is inexplicably addictive. Even better, if you live in the neighborhood, there's fast and free delivery (with a $10 minimum).
-- Jane Black
Great Wall Szechuan House, 1527 14th St. NW, 202-797-8888. Hours: Mondays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.; Sundays, noon to 10 p.m.
