Red Pepper

I'm needing suggestions for dishes off of Red Pepper's authentic menu.

[Robin Garr]

I'm needing suggestions for dishes off of Red Pepper's authentic menu.

I love, love, love the pan-fried tofu. The oddly named "unique chicken smell" and "mouth watered chicken" appetizers are also amazingly good. Cumin lamb, a Muslim dish from the west China desert country, is spectacular if you love cumin, but be warned that it's a very strong cumin flavor. Ma Po To Fu is another great meatless dish. Eggplant with shredded pork, ginger lamb ... there's just so much stuff. The "challenging" dishes like pig stomach, intestine, etc., make up only about 5 percent of the menu, and there are English translations for all.

Don't forget to re-read my review of the HotBytes offline there ... it tells about quite a few authentic dishes that we enjoyed. A few were specials for the event, but most are on the menu:
http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/secre ... or-me-chef

DanDan noodles. Seriously addicting.

The crispy duck is like crack! I'll 2nd Unique Chicken Smell and Dan Dan Noodles. I'm generally not a big tofu fan but will back up Robin's view of the Pan Fried Tofu - it's the best tofu dish I've ever had anywhere.

I am addicted to the Pan-fried tofu. I'm also a fan of the Eggplant in Garlic Sauce. The Kung Pao Chicken, prepared in the Chinese way, is also a favorite... and the Cold Sezchuan noodles as well.

If you like it hot and fiery, the Dry Chili Chicken is great -- spicy chunks of dry-fried goodness, probably the thing I've ordered most often at Red Pepper. The Dried Pig's Intestine with Celery is also wonderful. I'm a great fan of the Cumin Lamb Robin mentioned, and can also recommend the Cheng Du Spicy Fried Fish (as long as you don't mind your supper looking back at you -- it is a whole fish). As far as appetizers go, I'm going to recommend the Hot Spicy Beef Tendons, which are nothing like what I imagined tendons would be like, instead being cool, succulent melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness drizzled in spicy sauce.

Oh, hell, basically you can't really go wrong no matter what you order.

Dammit, now I'm hungry.

[Robin Garr]

If you like it hot and fiery, the Dry Chili Chicken is great -- spicy chunks of dry-fried goodness, probably the thing I've ordered most often at Red Pepper.

Oh, YES! How could I have missed that? Too many good things.

Oh, hell, basically you can't really go wrong no matter what you order.

I am fully on board with this sentiment.

Beef and maw(cheek) Szechuan style cold appetizer and twice cooked pork are two of my faves, I also had a spicy pork stomach dish that was recommended by the hostess that was really good.

Oh, hell, basically you can't really go wrong no matter what you order.

The nail has been hit on the head! With that in mind, I'd like to say that I spend more time dining here than any other place in the city. I always just trust Yuan's judgement. She will ask you a couple of questions to find out what you are in the mood for and chef will knock your socks off. How cool is that?

To be honest, the only times I have eaten the same thing twice have been when I am entertaining friends that haven't been there before. Kind of a 'this is what I was talking about' thing.