Lao Sze Chuan

This Szechuan/fusion restaurant is something of an unnoticed gem in Chinatown. We have eaten here twice, several dishes each time, and the food here is among the best and most flavorful that we have experienced in the area, though you may want to be cautious about the spice level among the dishes.Today we had the Lamb Green Peppercorn (the numbingness of the green peppercorn is more restrained and flavor more floral than typical), Tony's Chicken with Three Chili (renamed as one of the chef specials this visit), plus the Fish Filet Tender Tofu. All were quite good. On our last visit we had the same chicken, plus a spicy whole fish dish, the latter being flavorful but quite spicy.Atmosphere is upscale for Chinatown, though they really need to replace the seats which are grungy light colored fabric which has been handled by too many hands.Service was friendly and relatively prompt.This place is worth a visit, and easily comparable to Mala and other well-regarded Szechuan restaurants.

We were hungry because of a big lunch but wanted to try this place out. So picked two items for take out. It was great. Sliced beef maw Szechuan style - sliced beef and tripe in hot oil. Very flavorful. Mayo tofu - tofu that melts in your mouth. Wish we had time to try more.

One of my absolute favorites in Bellaire! Everything I've tried here has been delicious.A note: I find that Sichuan restaurants oftentimes tone down the numbing spice in their dishes. Lao Sze Chuan is not one of those restaurants, they don't hold back and their flavors are very authentic as a result. However, if you're not used to numbing spice, this may not be your cup of tea.Sichuan Wontons: The chili oil sauce is addicting, and I would kill to find out their recipe. Wow. The wontons are also excellent, the filling is tasty and the outside texture is perfect. Dan Dan Noodles: Super tasty! Exactly what you'd want from a good Dan Dan Noodle: noodles cooked well, meat perfectly seasoned, and a mouth left tingling afterwards. Michael's Favorite Chicken: This chicken is a perfectly sautéed with a huge amount of flavor. Get it. Green Beans and Eggplant: This dish is a tasty non-spicy alternative here. I love ordering it as a mild complement to the other spicy dishes I get. The flavor has a perfect amount of garlic with other savoriness. This is another sauce I would kill to get the recipe for. They also get the texture just right, with the eggplants soft, and the green beans crunchy. Overall, I love this place and it's perfect for taking big groups of friends for family-style meals.

Ordered a beef lo mein and it was actually very good! I didn't know what to eat for lunch and called them to ask what they could make that was a stir fried noodle with beef. They recommended a beef lo mein dish and it was very tasty! Flavor was just right and not too salty or oily like some places.

Service was a little slow but the food came out pretty quickly.I really liked their Thai tea. I know, I know. Ordering Thai tea at a Chinese restaurant. But I think it tasted really good and the packaging for it is super adorable! We got the flat noodles with beef, Michael's favorite chicken, and two of the dumpling dishes. One was with pork that I didn't eat and the other one was with the shrimp, the crystal har gow. Overall, I found the dishes to be satisfactory but the prices were a little too high. I think maybe because they're based out of Chicago, the prices are also Chicago prices lol. I think I would go back to try some of the soup dishes next time. I am really waiting for their montrose location to open up so I can go more frequently for the har gow and the the fried chicken which was more like pop corn chicken.

If you don't know Sze Chuan is the old method for Sichuan or 四川 in Chinese. Lao means old. So, the name of Lao Sze Chuan does more than just Sichuan cuisine.Ignore the slow service and mixture of odd pieces of furniture, the food is a little better than other Sichuanese restaurants in Houston. That's why I couldn't understand they hung the banner all written in Chinese... Something about Chicago. Read the English description on this Yelp page.When I walked in, I smelled chemical like new stain and paint. I almost walked out. After a while, the stink dissipated. Almost everything on the menu has a pepper icon, that means HOT like in Sichuan spicy hot. You wonder why this restaurant is so close to Mala Sichuan. The food here seems to be more authentic and the restaurant is bigger with a private room in the back.The duck oven is one major attraction in Metropole Center because the restaurant is right at the entrance. Seats and tables can be arranged, which means it's group friendly.

First time here and very satisfied with the food.Great food all around and very comfy love seats.

The service was good. The waitress was really nice. We meant to order the salted egg tofu but ordered the only fried tofu pointed out to us from the tofu section which was not the salted egg one and she and the chef allowed us to send it back. I ate here with my friend and it was a lot of food for two people who wanted to try many items. The food was extremely salty but I've heard that Lao food is known for that. I would probably not dine here again because of the salt level but if I had more people I would perhaps be inclined to go.

Amazing food! Highly recommend this place.Authentic Chinese Absolutely loved it! My husband and I ordered hot and sour soup 1 bowl was huge it was enough for at least 4-5 people! Great quantity and taste.We ordered the special dry chili chicken it was spicy and crispy just like we like it, will definitely go again!

Food itself is a 4.5 out of 5.We got the soup dumplings, sliced beef & maw Szechuan style, salt pepper pork ribs, dry fried string beans, eggplant with garlic sauce, and stir fried flat noodles. I would like to note that the pork and beef dishes were a bit dry, but flavor profile is yummy! I would like to note that the stir fried noodles have a lot more cabbage inside than what you'd expect. However, this was not an issue for my family because we LOVE vegetables. It was actually my mom's favorite dish there. Everything else was really good.. kind of what you'd expect those dishes to taste like. When we got the beef dish, we realized there were nuts inside. We asked our waitress to confirm if there were nuts and she said, "Yes, there's peanuts inside. Is there a problem?" We had to explain that we had allergies at the table. She responded back, "I can ask them to make you another one without the peanuts?" We told her it was alright because we already touched the dish and didn't want to send it back. She came back later and told us the chef was making another beef dish for us, and without the peanuts.AMAZING customer service from the waitress, chefs, and owners. I wish I knew the waitress's name because she was very sweet, attentive, and personable. She told us she was from Argentina. She was the ONLY waitress/waiter in the whole restaurant when we went. Because of me and my family's experience here, this place deserves a full 5 stars from me. Our total came out to like $84 for a 6 dishes. Totally reasonable in this economy! I highly recommend and will come back in the future