Most Chinese restaurants in town move somewhere on the spectrum between takeout Chinese and pan-Asian fusion store. Sichuan Territory does not. It employs chefs who grew up in Sichuan Province, a mountainous region in western China known for its stupefyingly spicy dishes. Head chef Li Dan directs the kitchen, and you can taste it immediately. No slacking on the dishes, no water with the sauce. What you eat is whatever people in Chengdu eat.
Sichuan Territory sits in the glass case at the front of underground club Garage North on the Gedempt Hamerkanaal. That's a greenhouse, literally. Glass all around you, red tables inside, picnic tables outside on the terrace. And through the wall adjacent to the dance floor of club Garage North. It's a combination you won't find anywhere else: you eat Mapo Tofu while someone a few feet away is checking out the bass. After eating, you slide on over to the club if you like, or order another cocktail at the table. The menu for that is serious in scope.
The menu revolves around two things: stir-fries and barbecue, both Sichuan-style. The Gongbao Chicken is a classic, with dried chilies and Sichuan peppercorns that make your tongue twitch for a moment before the sweet and sour come through. The Twice-cooked Pork Belly, where the meat is first cooked and then put into the wok one more time with black bean paseta and vegetables, has that depth you only achieve when you know what you're doing. And the Mala Chicken delivers that typical numbing, ole-like heat the province is known for.
What you eat is what people in Chengdu also eat, no slacking on the dishes, no water with the sauce.
The first location sits near the Red Light District, but the Garage North location is a better fit for what the restaurant wants to be. The greenhouse gives something airy, the terrace works as soon as the weather permits, and the combination with the club ensures that an evening here has its own dynamic. Li Dan and his team simply cook well. That's enough.
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