Sichuan Impression

For better in some ways and worse in others, Orange County’s Chinese restaurant scene has become a lot more diffuse over the past decade, as comparatively few but large pan-Chinese generalists with samey, takeout-ready menus have given way to a larger number of smaller but truly regionally focused specialists. As a result, it’s now possible to find a Sichuan restaurant that focuses near-exclusively on famously mouth-numbing peppercorn dishes, great for spice fiends but with few options for more sensitive tongues.

Sichuan Impression was one of the late, great Jonathan Gold’s top picks for Chinese food, and despite the age of his recommendation – 2014, when the southern Chinese province was still being romanized as “Szechuan” – it’s still valid: This restaurant is a great place to experience the meats, nuts, and vegetables of this specific cuisine. (Note that Gold’s strong positive recommendation applied to the small chain’s original Alhambra location; its Orange County location is in Tustin, and there’s a second LA County location in West LA.)

Come for the Tea-Smoked Pork Ribs, served as a long, juicy rack that uniquely manages to infuse the herbal essence of tea through smoke, and the Lamb on Toothpicks, bite-sized pieces of meat cooked with large flecks of dry chili until every piece lights up your mouth like a firecracker. Or get the stir-fried chili chicken, a dish that others might label Chongqing Chicken, which similarly pops with so many chili seeds and skins that their heat is inescapable. Pretty much anything that sounds good on the menu, ranging from frog to rabbit to beef, will in fact be delicious… and spicy.