Grand Sichuan St. Mark's

This place started out as a Mao Zedong-themed restaurant, a wildly popular theme throughout China, which did not go over well with the East Village crowd. Although a few Mao trinkets and postcards still adorn the restaurant, the real draw is utterly authentic Sichuan and Hunan cooking. In fact, you'll find very few places in New York City (and no other in Manhattan) that has such a wide variety of Sichuan and Hunan specialties. A Chinese New Year's menu, as at the other Grand Sichuan branches (minus Canal Street, which has a different owner) offers even more unusual dishes--unusual this side of China that is. In addition, the mini-menu of Sichuan specialities at very low prices is a wonderful treat, as are the color photos of favorite dishes for those uninitiated into the wonderful world of Sichuan cuisine.