Sichuan Palace Offers Old Chinese-American Mainstays

Even though is relatively new to 7 Summer Street, it is already garnering attention around Chelmsford.

Sichuan Palace’s “3-Way Duck” recently won the award at Taste of Chelmsford, an event that raised $8,000 for Chelmsford’s Center School. Sichuan Palace owner Wentao Wang believed the duck dish would be a hit with Chelmsford residents.

“Duck is...a bit more fatty meat, so you get more juice to it, taste-wise,” said Wang. “In a restaurant you try to do something different, something that you wouldn’t make at home.”

Wang said he put the award in the window of his restaurant immediately after winning it, and the next day he sold many more duck dishes. So many, in fact, that he added duck to the lunch menu to meet demand.

“So people at lunchtime can actually grab a smaller size, but keep it simple to try it out,” he said.

While Wang acknowledges that duck is popular in Asian-American circles, he hoped the exposure of the award would popularize it with everyone in Chelmsford. And it seems to be working.

“I sell so many duck every day, it’s not even funny,” said Wang.

Sichuan Palace, though in business for a few years under different ownership, was recently sold to Wang, who opened its latest incarnation in December.

“I always knew about this location, and was interested in it for a long time,” said Wang. “I just never had an opportunity, because they never wanted to sell it.”

Wang said that since he was 18 years old, he wanted to open a restaurant. While he couldn’t make it work initially in terms of finances or capabilities, Wang said he didn’t want to miss an opportunity when it presented itself.

“I don’t want to be 70 years old and telling myself, “Hey, I wish I did this,”” he said.

Another reason Wang wanted to open a restaurant is that, although the Greater Lowell Area has many Asian-themed restaurants, he didn’t believe it had many authentic Chinese eateries. Sichuan Palace hopes to remedy this.

According to the company’s website, Sichuan Palace “proudly feature authentic Szechuan and Taiwanese cuisine, as well as popular Chinese-American dishes.” Wang said that the restaurant offers 4 or 5 varieties of duck, as well as the more traditional chicken fingers, and a healthy amount of Mai Thais.

In keeping with Szechuan tradition, Wang offers many spicy dishes, though in his opinion, the spice shouldn’t overpower the flavor of the meal. For those who can’t handle the heat, Wang’s dishes can be ordered with or without an afterburn.

“I don’t want a taste so spicy that you can’t taste the food,” he said. “I want the spice to add character to the taste of the food.”

One of Wang’s personal menu favorites is the grey sole fillet, a non-spicy fish dish prepared with tomato and ginger. One customer was so enamored with it after Wang recommended it, that it is now all he orders, according to Wang.

“Every time he comes he wants to order that dish. And he keeps telling people at the bar how the fish was,” he said.

The Sichuan Palace menu can be found online, but Wang regularly experiments with new dishes.

“We can sometimes offer a couple of new dishes every weekend,” said Wang.

According to Wang, Sichuan Palace’s success has from word of mouth, and they really enjoy being in the Chelmsford area.

“We have really nice neighbors here,” he said.

Wang likes the challenges associated with running a successful restaurant.

“For me it’s learning (...) you not only provide quality food, but also need to provide a quality service to the people,” he said.