The decor is nothing special, but you’re not here for the ambiance.
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21 West 39th Street. Finding genuinely good Chinese food in Midtown is harder than it should be, and Szechuan Gourmet is the answer. The dry chili chicken ($18) is fiery and addictive. The mapo tofu ($16) is the real deal, not the Americanized version. The cumin lamb ($22) is outstanding.
It’s a 10-minute walk from Times Square and it’s where Midtown office workers actually eat lunch. That’s always a good sign. The decor is nothing special, but you’re not here for the ambiance. You’re here because the food is legitimately excellent and about half the price of the mediocre Italian place you almost walked into on 44th Street.