Explore Chinese food in Pittsburgh
I'm sure many of you have tried Chinese restaurants and you might be confident that you already know Chinese food. Unfortunately, as an international student from China and a foodie who has tried dozens of Chinese restaurants in Pittsburgh, I can say that most Chinese restaurants serve a localized version of American-style Chinese food. To give you a better Chinese food experience, I'd like to recommend some Chinese restaurants in Pittsburgh that I think are very authentic.
1. Sichuan Gourmet
Here, you can taste authentic Sichuan food, which is characterized by spicy food. This restaurant is suitable for friends who like hot feeling. Of course, there are also non-spicy dishes worth trying.
Address: 1900 Murray Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15217
Recommended dishes: Tasty Lamb Leg, Chongqing Spicy Chicken, Kung Pao Chicken, Double Cooked Sliced Pork Belly.
Cost: 25$ per person
2. CAFE 33
I have only tried this restaurant twice, but the delicious dishes it offered attracted me deeply. Due to the diversity of Chinese food, most Chinese restaurants focus on a certain cuisine in Chinese food. To provide a better taste experience, CAFE 33 is specializing in delicious seafood dishes and Chinese snacks with Taiwanese characteristics.
Address: 1711 Shady Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15217
Recommended dishes: Be Fong Tong Shrimp, Gia Bao, Fish Fillet with Basil and Garlic.
Cost: 20$ per person
3. Golden Palace
It is the closest Chinese restaurant of the three to the Pittsburgh campus. It mainly serves Cantonese cuisine which is characterized by using light seasonings to highlight the freshness of the ingredients, and its many dishes tend to be sweet. Its lunch buffet is cheap and offers a dozen dishes to choose from. If you order, you can enjoy the delicious Cantonese food, suitable for those who prefer a light diet.
Address: 3607 Forbes Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Recommended dishes: Century Egg with Pork Congee, Canton BBQ Combo, Cured Pork Ribs Clay pot
Cost: 11$ per person for buffet and 20$ per person for order
Try these three Chinese restaurants and you'll appreciate at least one of them. I look forward to your comments on this blog after you try it. Maybe you are not interested in Chinese restaurants, then you can think about the following questions. What kind of restaurant are you interested in? Are there any restaurants near Pittsburgh that you would recommend?
Additional Resources:
Si Chuan Gourmet 府河人家 – Squirrel Hill best Chinese Sichuan food 1900 Murray Ave, Pittsburgh, PA
台灣味 TAIWANESE BISTRO CAFE 33 (twcafe33.com)
I am glad that you wrote on this topic. As your average white person in America, I have rarely been able to experience authentic Chinese cuisine due to, as you mentioned, the extreme levels of Americanization at nearly every restaurant. I have luckily been able to try some dishes through friends, but now I can hopefully try a few more at some of the establishments!
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the blog itself, the pictures are well incorporated and help give insight to some Chinese dishes. However, some sentences are choppy to read and have some minor errors.
Thanks for your suggestions, I have corrected my errors and tried to make the sentences more fluency.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI do agree these three restaurants are very authentic. I like Sichuan Gourmet so much because of its delicious Sichuan cuisine. I also strongly recommend trying the seafood in Cafe 33. Moreover, if you like spicy Chinese cuisine, Chengdu Gourmet is also a great choice. It provides more spicy and pungent Sichuan cuisine than Sichuan Gourmet.
ReplyDeleteYes, but I noticed that because of COVID-19, it seems Chengdu Gourmet is only open for takeaways, but it's worth a try.
DeleteI couldn't agree with you more. Some Chinese restaurants are terrible and don't even serve Chinese food at all. However, I have tried several of the restaurants mentioned in this blog post, and I think they are all very good restaurants and recommend them to anyone who wants to learn more about Chinese food. By the way, Sichuan gourmet is my favorite.
ReplyDeleteI am also impressed by the taste of food in these restaurants. Looking through your blog, I can get a clear sense on each restaurant like what is the special and waht it usually cost per person. This will help me make a decision on which one to go if I have not been there before.
ReplyDeleteMingze Cai
DeleteI'm so glad you introduced these restaurants to others. I have visited most of these restaurants nearby. Precisely as you said, most of them try to maintain the original flavor of Chinese food while introducing new dishes that suit American taste. Among them, I would like to recommend the Sichuan Gourmet, it provides delicious meals at affordable prices. What's more, there's also a parking lot opposite it, so there will be no trouble if you want to drive there.
ReplyDeleteHi Haorui, I really like the Chinese cuisine that you recommend here. I've tried several Chinese restaurant near the campus and some of them are really disastrous for native Chinese customers. But the restaurants you mentioned here are really gorgeous, especially the Golden Palace, I've spent plenty of time having a buffet there, it's a really good restaurant!
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate your comment, but I notice that your comment does not include your name, which may cause trouble, you should mark your name in your comment.
DeleteHi Haorui, I'm very glad you wrote this blog post because I have lived in Pittsburgh all my life and often wondered to what extent the food I've had was "americanized" or localized. I will definitely take your recommendations and check out Golden Palace and Sichuan Gourmet. Cafe 33 is one of my favorite restaurants so I'm glad to hear that it is also authentic!
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome! Your review inspired me to explore more restaurants!
DeleteThis is a fun a very interesting blog. I love the introduction and you did a great job with the flow of the blog. Your paragraphs are well spaced and I like how you numbered the restaurants and made it very easy to interact with the links in the blog. I think the pictures you used and how you used the white space is really nice and makes the blog interesting to look at and interact with.The restaurants you mentioned look amazing and I will be sure to check them out.
ReplyDeleteAndrew Gulewicz