Szechuan - Dalian, China

One of my favorite Dalian restaurants is in the mall, barely a step outside and barely a step above the food court. Their specialty is Szechuan, the simple, spicy glory of the south.

The clear, cold Mung Bean Noodles are a little less firm than I'd like, but the sauce is right on with a subtle numbing burn.

Sour Plum Juice is the drink to wash it all down. Somehow the touch of acid seems to soothe.

Their Mouth-Watering Chicken is the by far the best. The chicken is cold with a heavy coat and soaked with red-hot chilis. The chicken sits on an equally soaked bed of crunchy cucumber, which is almost as good as the chicken itself.

The Fried Glutinous Rice Cakes are a bland contrast for the intensely spicy food, but I didn't love the texture of these - they were a bit on the mushy-runny side.

I don't see Duck Liver on a lot of menus, and this one was begging to be tried. It turns out to be the non-fatty kind, a finer texture with a more delicate taste than pork, yet just as biliously coarse and dry as you'd expect for foie without the gras.

It's hard to find good Szechuan when you're so far from the south, but mouth-watering chicken is a dish worth trying no matter where you're from. Can you handle the (spicy) pain?