I didn’t set out looking for a Szechuan style restaurant in Fargo but it was the most highly rated on urban spoon. One reviewer said he’s from northern China and some of the food at Lucy’s North China Cuisine is authentic. I took all the reviews with a grain of MSG but I was hoping it would be good.
Just like a good Chinese restaurant in New York City, the decor is bleak and the service is impersonal and brusque.
I ordered two dishes from the specials board, cumin lamb and baby bok choy with mushrooms, plus the steamed pork and Chinese scallion dumplings.
My favorite restaurant in New York, Szechuan Gourmet on 39th St., makes the most fantastic cumin beef. Lucy’s only has cumin lamb. My friend Sarah always wants to get the lamb and I never allow it thinking it would be weird compared to beef. Sorry, Sarah! The lamb was out of this world. So tender and flavorful with just enough spice to give it kick but not to overpower the lamb or the wonderful cumin flavors. I had to stop myself from eating the whole thing and put half of it in the containers kept by the tables.
Next came the baby bok choy and mushroom dish. What a shame. The beautiful little baby bok choys were cooked perfectly but they covered it with an over starched, gelatinous goo. The goo worked better with the mushrooms so I ate those. I brought the bok choy back to the hotel and will wash them off later for a snack.
I was suspicious of the dumplings when they came out because they looked like Russian pelmeni, not Chinese dumplings. Watery and boring. Even the presentation was so blah I had to draw some garnish not to offend anyone reading this. That is a rose I made from a radish resting on something green.
All in all, the best Szechuan food I’ve had in Fargo so far. If I ever go back I will stick to the meat dishes and try to cut down vegetables or anything with dough.