"Whatcha in the mood for?" I ask.
"Cheap Chinese or Indian," Anita says, "Something bad for me with lots of white rice."
"I vote for cheap Chinese," and I'm off to eGullet to find someplace close to home (we're five minutes from the ID, fertheluvvapete) to slake the craving.
Thank you, all. We're now converts at the den of love known variously as Lo Sichuan, Sichuanese Chinese Restaurant, and That Szechuan Place on Jackson at 12th in the Strip Mall Across the Street from Bahn Mi 88.
Anita has the tea and her eybrows go up. "Hey, this is good." She's right -- there's actually a floral, nice-tea scent, instead of the classic Microwaved Lipton Flavor.
We start with hot and sour soup, plenty spicy with lotsa white pepper zing, and even better after I tap in a few drops of black vinegar from the jar on the table because I like it like that. The next dishes come in quick succession -- absolutely smoking -- out of the kitchen. The soup is hot (temperature) enough to peel paint, and not a plate lands on our table that isn't steaming. I snag a bit of plain rice, and it's worth eating all by its lonesome.
Next up is mongolian beef made sweeter than I like but still the real, garlicky deal with tons of dried, seared, chiles lying in ambush among slices of floppy (in a good way) beef. Mandarin spicy chicken (thanks, MsRamsey) is in the same league as the dry fried chicken at our fave joint in SF: sweet, spicy, and just a little crunchy. The same dried peppers abound -- oh happy day. Finally, the dry cooked beans appear, and they're perfectly cooked (soft, with just a hint of snap left) and a bit nutty.
35 bucks and we have enough left for lunch for two for Friday and Saturday.
Oh yeah. We'll be back.