Ollie's Sichuan Restaurant

09/14/09

I could have been severly injured!!!!!

by boiled at Citysearch

Had dinner there tonight. I ordered the chicken with broccoli and my husband ordered something else. I took one bite of the broccoli and felt something very sharp in my mouth. I pulled a sharp metal wire out of my mouth and then another one. When I called the waitress over their response was "oh no, not again" I was very nice, polite and calm about it. They said the kitchen doesn't clean the broccoli well an the wire that holds it together wasn't properly removed. They apologized and we finished our dinner. The bill came. They did not remove the charge for that dish or offer us anything like dessert, tea or anything to make up for the fact that the wire I pulled out of my mouth could have severely injured me. I was disappointed by their lack of concern for a problem that they knew they had in their kitchen.

• Pros: location live in the area.
• Cons: wire in your plate!!!!!

05/01/09

most authentic sichuan food in the city

by bucentaur at Citysearch

people can either love or hate this tiny place because of the exact same reason ---- the dishes are HOT HOT HOT!

If your taste buds can handle the spicy authentic sichuan food featured in here and don't mind the moring after ( you know what I mean ), then this place a god sent. Just stay clear of the bland americanized chinese food such as "beef brocolli" and order the dishes marked with the most "little hot red peppers"

• Pros: authentic spicy hot cheap
• Cons: cramped hot

02/06/09

Best Sichuan Food in NYC

by kittybaby at Citysearch

I always love Sichuan food in China and here in the States, and I have tried so many Sichuan restaurants. Among them, this one is one of the best. The fish fillet is so good that my boyfriend (please note he is an American not a Chinese) wants to go there every week, and only when we had that fish, he could feel completely satisfied. I have noticed that a lot Americans went there ordering some American-Chinese style dishes, I have to tell you, please try those real Sichuan dishes, they are great and delicious, plus, you should not ask for less spicy, because then you won't be able to taste the real one!

• Pros: Great food, nice atmosphere
• Cons: None

12/04/08

Ollies Goin Down..................

by Freeis4me at Citysearch

Let me say Ive had some real good meals at Ollies, Lincoln Center. At this one 42nd street I dont know whats going on this past year they seem to be going down hill. The portions are getting smaller and smaller and the price is increasing. Yesterday I stopped in for beef with broccoli well I could have fit the whole serving in my hand the soup was luke warm with a half a cup of rice and they are looking at me like nothing is wrong I tip very well except for yesterday.

• Pros: Good location
• Cons: small servings, uncooked chicken

10/13/08

Best Chinese Food EVER!

by justplainsuz at Citysearch

My husband and I went to Ollies for the first time a while back. We were driving to VT and stopped in the city for site seeing and lunch. The waitress that brought the tea burned his hand and he yelped, but she didn't even seemed phased by it. We were kind of disappointed, but then our order came(really fast...amazing!) and it was the most delicious Chinese we have ever eaten. We even shrugged off the burn. We just went back this weekend for lunch and it is still just as delicious as it was the first time we went. I will be back!

• Pros: The food is absolutely amazing!
• Cons: The service could use a little help.

04/20/08

Terrible food, awful service

by RP18901 at Citysearch

My wife and I went to Ollie's Sichuan last night for a quick pre-theater dinner based on the reviews on CitySearch. We were extremely disappointed. The Shredded Chicken in Spicy Sauce was neither spicy nor flavorful, and was loaded with gristle. The Chicken in Lettuce Wraps was a very odd recipe with tiny minced chicken, grated carrot, and raisins - nothing like the type you get at other restaurants. The Scallion Pancakes were crisp, but quite greasy. The Char Siu Bao (steamed buns with roast pork) had this odd, salty finish to it. Worst of all were the soups - my wife ordered the velvet chicken corn soup. It had no flavor at all, very little meat, was gloppy with corn starch, and a radioactive yellow color. I had the noodle soup with chicken, and pai an extra dollar for wontons. The soup had a ton of noodles in it, very little chicken, and one wonton. The broth was very bland as well. We were rushed constantly by the servers - they asked for our order three times within the first two minutes after we sat down. Even though we asked them to space out the dishes, the brought them one right after another - so much that we had to have the soups taken back to the kitchen and held for us. Even with us slowing them down, we were in and out in 25 minutes (not by choice). This place has had a number of positive reviews, perhaps it's better if you order the Sichuan specialties - or if you are Chinese - but we had a very bad experience and DO NOT RECOMMEND this restaurant.

• Pros: If you think getting in and out fast is good
• Cons: Rushed service, poor quality food

04/03/07

Authentic and hot, hot, hot!!!

by jamesnelson at Citysearch

My wife and I have been to this place several times since they opened in January. My wife is from Sichuan and we used to go to a couple of other places in the city for authentic Sichuan cooking. Although we like the food at the other places as well, we like Ollie?s on 42nd best because of the good ambience and the pleasant waiting staff. The place is clean and we actually took time to look at the framed pictures hanging on the walls. I love Chinese food but am never a big fan of Chinese waiters. But the waiters here speak English well and are very pleasant to deal with. This place also carries a small list of decent and inexpensive wines. We think it is a nice touch. No, they are not great but they also don?t cost you $1,000 a bottle.

• Pros: Excellent Food, good ambience and service
• Cons: Really can't think of any, may be a bit pricier than your average Chinese

03/30/07

Incredible New Wave Sichuan Restaurant

by joechan at Citysearch

My wife and I have been to Ollie's Sichuan a number of times and we LOVE it. We take all our friends and they are always amazed at how cool the restaurant decor is and how great the food is. All the memorable Chengdu pictures on the back wall make us feel like fall onto the old Chengdu city.

Recently, we had a late nite dinner here, the specific New Wave Sichuan dishes we ordered and most highly recommend as being both the real deal and absolutely stunningly delicious are the following: hong you dumpling (spicy dumpling in red chili oil sauce), fu chee fay pian (husband and wife beef tendon cold in spicy sauce), shway zhu niu (beef dish drowned in hot chili spicy oil - - this last dish is not for wimps) and Spicy jello fish. The service was fast and efficient.

Forget about ShunLee, forget about Our Place of Shanghai, forget about Joe's Shanghai, forget about Grand Szechuan...... if you want authentic Chinese cuisine done the way it is done back home at a good price, this is it!! This place gives you the most authentic Sichuan Chinese food in town!!

• Pros: Incredibly Authentic, delicious, inexpensive, nice ambience, good service
• Cons: I feel like an idiot letting anybody know about this place as I want it all to myself but you just have to know what real Sichuan food tastes like!

The otherwise Cantonese-dominated Ollie's chain's single Sichuan outpost can be found on a windy bleak block near the Port Authority.

by Contributor at Citysearch

In Short
Ollie's westernmost outpost looks, and tastes, little like the rest of the successful chain. It's a veritable Fort Apache, for one thing, exiled to a block in Hell's Kitchen where you're more likely to find abandoned buildings than good restaurants. For another, the room is smaller, starker and less polished a dining a environment than any of its former siblings in the Alicart empire (Ollie's, Virgil's, Artie's, Gabriella's, etc.). But the biggest difference is the food. The menu serves pitch-perfect renditions of some Sichuan classics: tea-smoked duck, wontons in red chili oil, cool spicy cucumber salad, and, of course, the peppery chicken the region is famous for.