A bit confusing to find this place as it is a Japanese restaurant and Chinese restaurant in one. We only ordered off the Chinese menu so I can't speak to the Japanese food but would definitely come back for the sichuan food. Taking off a star because the dumplings were not good. The wrappers were too thick, not well cooked and the filling wasn't very good. If you come I recommend sticking to the sichuan dishes. We ordered the mapo tofu, green beans, twice cooked pork, and chongqing crispy chicken, tomato and scrambled egg. All were very tasty and nothing was too spicy which was much appreciated. The tomato egg was on the sweet side which was interesting but probably my least favorite dish. They charge $2.50 per bowl of rice which really adds up if you come with a big group but I guess that's expected from a nicer Chinese restaurant. Overall the food was good and I'd come back if I were in the area! read more

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Chuan Yu shares the same space with Sakura Bistro, I don't know how it works logistically but I don't mind being to order a wide range of Chinese and Japanese menu options. Of the Szechuan items, I'd recommend the pan-fried Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings) and the Ma-Po Tofu, those are the only items I've tried on that part of the menu, but it's great to be able to have both. read more

Chuan Yu - Szechuan Near Me - Oakland, California

Date: 11/12/2024. Time: 7:50 PM. 56°. Cool I'm at the Pacific Renaissance Center, OACC, for a band rehearsal. Okay, I'm hungry and the closest restaurant is Chuan You, which is housed in Sakura Bistro. Gum Kuo and C & M Bistro are closed. Sobo Ramen would have been nice, but they are on the first level. Since I am on the second level, I decided to stop in for take out order of seaweed salad (wakame) and vegetables tempura. It is one of those nights that they are not busy. There is hardly any restaurant customers at the time. Service is quick and I did not have to wait long. I chose not to order a bento box. All I want is mentioned above. Besides the wakame and veggies tempura are my go to items regardless the restaurant. Both items are on point and delicious. Cost including tax and tip is about $27. Yep, it is a tad pricy. Price is what it is. I would not doubt that the location and the ambiance are part of the factor in their menu prices. Specialties: appetizers, ramen noodles, donburi, bento box lunch/dinner, teriyaki, an excellent selection of sushi rolls. Employee is helpful and approachable. Location of garage is in the basement level of this building. Return visit? Depending on my mood and what I want, I might return. If Gum Kuo does not close at 7:00 PM, I would hitting that place for the chicken and double mushroom congee (jook) with the Chinese donut strip. read more

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Shockingly low quality and overpriced food. We're talking about undercooked dishes that are missing ingredients. I'm honestly so surprised at how bad this food turned out considering that it's located in Oakland near numerous competitors. Go anywhere else. read more

Chuan Yu - Supposedly salt and pepper tofu. Soggy, not at all crispy, no signs of salt, and no signs of pepper. - Szechuan Near Me - Oakland, California

We've been here a few times now and every time has been great. We've ordered from both the Japanese and the Chinese menus, which makes for a fun, delicious, and varied dinner. All the rolls we've had have been tasty. The best dish we've ordered is the dry pot-- it's so flavorful and comes in a very large portion. I think next time the dry pot and a roll will be our perfect amount of food (for two). The service has also always been great. Very friendly and attentive servers. read more

This is a stupid format - two restaurants sharing one space. It took me a few minutes just to figure out where the entrance was. Better signage, people! I ordered off their Sichuan menu and the food was on the sweet side not spicy or numbing. read more

Ordered this to go, but I literately just remembered to take picture when I'm eating the last piece of the fish Pickup was really quick and service is good! I love the fish fillet in chili oil here, ordered mild spicy, not quite spicy next time if I get it I might go medium spicy. Not too numbing. Pretty good portion, it comes in three boxes, but I opened only two and shared with my husband. We ordered the wrong eggplant, but this eggplant with basil is not bad at all, it's actually even better cus it's something different! The basil smells so good and tastes good too! read more

Chuan Yu - Szechuan Near Me - Oakland, California

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First time here. Service was very nice and we were waited on in such a nice way throughout our meal. We didn't feel as though the Sichuan dishes had enough flavor and pepper punch. Dishes tasted sweet more than anything else. The meat and tofu didn't not taste as though they'd been simmering in the spices, but just added on top of the dish. We ordered: 1. Mapo Tofu: this was okay. My criticism would be: kind of sweet, not too numbing, maybe old Sichuan peppers, and we tasted more of a bean sauce than the complex deep umami flavor you can get from the garlic, ginger, and combinations of peppers one usually enjoys in this cuisine. 2. Beef Slices in Chili Oil: the beef was sinewy and difficult to chew. No flavor in this dish despite looking beautiful. Just under the beef is a huge bowlful of bean spouts. No complex flavors at all. No numbing. 3. Stir Fried Green Beans: best dish by far! Crunchy, flavorful, lots of garlic. Loved it! read more

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What a sleeper hit! I was initially skeptical given this place does both Chinese and Japanese cuisine (they merged with Sakura Bistro), but this restaurant has one of the best pan fried buns and soup dumplings I've had! Dare I say, their soup dumplings are even better than Din Tai Fung's which is world reknown. But my favorite has got to be their Sichuan dry pot dish which is not to be missed. And to top it off, their Japanese food is also very good. Since discovering this place, I've gone back numerous times and they've been very consistent. Edit: This restaurant is actually on the Michelin list! read more

I just ate at their location in Chinatown. Ordered the soup dip and have the A Choi as one of my items. When it cane in I notice that the Choi was not clean and there were pebbles in there as well. They remade my food but did not provide any compensation or apologies (beside the server serving me). read more

Half Japanese menu and half Chinese- this place has everything to fit what everyone might be in the mood for. I had their tempura udon- it was okay, I think the broth could be more flavorful, but I really enjoyed the portion of tempura. We also ordered a roll, seared salmon on top - it was good but was too saucy on the bottom for my liking.My partner like their niku oyako don. I like the quiet environment, the soft instrumental music, bright lighting and clean establishment. Open to trying more things on the menu. read more

Chuan Yu - Tempura udon - Szechuan Near Me - Oakland, California

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Fabulous food. Great service. Chill ambiance. Highly recommend and will be back regularly. You get both traditional Szechuan and Japanese food in one! And both are done well. read more

I ordered ma po tofu from here for delivery. For a price of $20 for ma po, I expected to have white rice with the order; I paid less for more. The tofu was okay, and could have been firmer. read more

Last review... of 2022... Chuan Yu! This is the place to go in Oakland Chinatown if you're eating late and indecisive between Chinese / Szechuan or sushi. You can get the best of both worlds! I always get the Spicy Dry Pot as a main. You choose a base flavor (garlic or three levels of spicy), a protein base (e.g., beef, chicken, pork belly), and four additional toppings that include a wide variety of veggies, noodles, or extra protein. I love the flexibility of options and that you can double or triple-stack proteins. Both garlic and spicy flavors are solid. If dining in, they'll bring the dish out over a burner, which keeps the food hot and full of aroma. Another staple is the Shanghai Pan Fried Soup Dumpling, which I have yet to come across elsewhere in Chinatown. I also enjoyed their Chongqing Fish Filet in Chili Oil and Beef Brisket with Bamboo Shoot. Big portions, very well seasoned / spiced, and not too salty. Three entrees should be enough to comfortably feed a party of four. Last food-related note is that the space is a dual restaurant: Chuan Yu is paired with Sakura Bistro, which gives you the amazing ability to order sushi as well. What I also love about Chuan Yu is that it provides a later-night Chinese dine-in option. It's also great for groups as there is always plenty of available seating. Servers are nice and attentive, and food comes out quickly. Anddd that's a wrap! I'll see you in 2023 - both Yelpers and Chuan Yu! read more

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Food: 7/10 Service: 7/10 Portion size: 9/10 Value: 9/10 Wait time: no wait for Sunday at lunch The restaurant serves both the Chuan Yu Bistro and the Sakura Bistro menus at one location! Just want to say that upfront because I was confused on where Chuan Yu was. My group of four, got the dry pot with pork belly, bamboo shoots, intestine and noodle with medium spice. I like how you are able to pick your meat and 3 sides as well to personalize it! It had a lot of flavor and was spicy. Also cool because I'm never had dry pot before. It comes out on a wok with fire underneath to keep it hot! For our other entree we tried the schezwan fish in chili oil. It was delicious! Spicer than the dry pot so be careful since you cannot choose the spice level. The fish fillets were tender and melted in my mouth. There was also a lot of big pieces of fish. The numbing spice was amazing! Also comes with so veggies. I ordered a side of rice to help balance the flavor/spice. For sides we got the green beans, green onion pancake, and spicy wontons. I would say get the green beans but I could do without the other two. The onion pancake was dry and lacked flavor. The wontons just seemed like regular wontons with a simple hot sauce, nothing spectacular. Definitely good value! We had 4 people and 2 main dishes and 3 sides with leftovers! Service was okay, not too personal and would occasionally forget to check in or update us when we asked if there were any peanut ingredients for a food allergy. But other than that they were responsive. Maybe there was also a language barrier. read more

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Tired following a long hike in the Redwood Regional Park and unwilling to make the long schlep from our base in Oakland to San Francisco for the Chinese meal we sorely craved, my bride + I did the next best thing- Found the best reviewed Chinese restaurant in Oakland's underrated Chinatown. Note: Chuan Yu is NOT easy to find! Our Google Maps navigator had us walking aimlessly up + down Franklin & 9th streets searching in vain 'til we ventured upstairs to the second floor of the mall where Chuan Yu is nestled inside the Sakura Sushi House. This was five star Szechuan cuisine let down by minor pitfalls on the service side. Examples include having to take our vegetable spring rolls to go because the server forgot to key them in w/ the balance of our order or how she misunderstood my request for the vegan chow mein to be served with chicken; conversely, she brought us two orders of chow mein (one vegan + one chicken). My wife and daughter are both lifelong Sushi lovers and she proclaimed her Sake Salmon Sushi, beautifully arrayed in a foil boat, the finest such delicacy she's ever sampled. Our Kung Pao Chicken was truly a revelation. The chefs here caramelize their coated chicken w/ liberal use of minced ginger along with the use of kung pao staples like wok-seared onions, bell peppers, white+1 meat chicken + toasted peanuts. The resulting flavor is a kick of twang on the back of your bite. Very different from the forty other versions of this dish that we've tried + a real stone cold stunner!! Developmentally the bathrooms were clean but the men's side smelled bad enough to make a maggot gag! Chuan Yu Mgmt: Pls consider burning some candles in there! In sum, Leti & I are overjoyed that we discovered this GEM of Oakland's Chinatown. This is savory, stick to your ribs Szechuan cuisine that's reasonably priced and you don't hafta foray into San Francisco to eat it!! read more

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The spicy beef brisket noodle soup is to die for! The beef tendon melted in the mouth and the Szechuan pepper broth was just the right amount of spicy. Two of us split it and an order of soup dumplings and it was just the right amount of food for two for dinner. We can't wait to return. The ambiance is a little funny as it's seemingly a restaurant within another restaurant. We had to flip through a massive menu to get to find Chuan Yu's section of the menu. read more

Chuan Yu - I2. Spicy Beef Brisket Noodle Soup - Szechuan Near Me - Oakland, California

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The dumplings are excellent. Truly authentic and service was attentive. I recommend for a quick lunch or snack

Chuan Yu Is General Tso transplanted from S.F. they share kitchen & dining space with Sakura Bistro. just a banner on the left side of door showing Chuan Yu's prescene. take out and dining in front or back available. offerings: Sichuan & Hunan cuisine. (large list) eats: Kung Po Chicken (9.95) -big portion of fresh tasting unbreaded chicken pieces with crunchy slices of red/green bell peppers & celery. -ma la oil not used but the chili pieces definitely hot, got a piece into my throat, was coughing & sneezing like mad... -i avoided sauce on bottom of tray, unknown how spicy it might be. read more

Chuan Yu - Signage outside left of door - Szechuan Near Me - Oakland, California

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Wanted to try this Szechuan place since the only other option in the neighborhood is Spicies 3 and I found their food to be a bit too salty, so I got very excited when Chuan Yu popped up. I ordered for take out (because safety first !) I ordered 4 dishes: Chicken in Hot Chili Sauce, Beef and Beef Tendon in Chili Oil, Spicy Squid Whiskers, and Chongqing Fish Fillet in Chili Oil. The chicken in hot chilil sauce aka saliva chicken was the best dish, it tastes a bit different than the traditional style, but it was good enough. The spicy Squid was my next favorite, but because of the take out box they used to carry it, the squid was no longer crunchy by the time I ate it. Beef & tendon in chili oil was a bit sad and the fish in chili oil came in two quarts. I would say their entrees was good value, lots of food, but the appetizers was a bit pricey in comparison. The food does get more salty the more you eat it tho, which is kinda funny, because the first bite, it's not salty enough. read more

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Notes: (1) One of the few restaurants open in the area on Saturday night - area doesn't seem safe but the restaurant is located inside an outdoor plaza. (2) Street parking. This is a Japanese/Chinese restaurant with the options of sushi or Szechuan food. We came here on a Saturday night looking for some take out as we were in the area. The place was really big and there was alcohol displayed everywhere. We ordered the Shanghai pan fried soup dumplings as it was popular on yelp. After waiting for over 25 minutes, we found out that it wasn't really a dumpling but more of a bao (bun). The dough was super heavy and it was just so oily inside. The stuffing was good but as mentioned oily and there was no soup since we did take out. Would I venture out to try something else here? Probably if this was the only option around but wouldn't go out of my way to get food. read more

Chuan Yu - the front desk of a restaurant - Szechuan Near Me - Oakland, California

Quarantine review: We were looking for a place to do outdoor dining and saw there were a few tables in the front. After wandering in, we were led to a much more spacious outdoor dining area in the back with six tables. The location confusingly shares a space with Sakura bistro. I was excited to eat Szechuan food with a side of sushi (two of my favorite cuisines!), but the boyfriend vetoed that because "they don't go well together" *eyeroll*. We ordered the stir fried beef with cumin and the lotus root with ginger sauce. Rice costs extra, tea is free. The dishes were really affordable, yet still authentic and tasty. Service was excellent, but maybe that's because we were the only customers there for Saturday lunch. Spread the news! It's a nice setup, and there's not much other outdoor dining in Chinatown. read more

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WHEN: Saturday @ 6:30pm DINE IN SERVICE Not wait at all!! It was a quiet Saturday evening, only 3-4 tables of customers. Chuan Yu and Sakura requires a proof of vaccination card in order to dine in. Be ready when they ask. Our server was very nice. She was attentive to our needs, and checked up on us during our meal. It's a great date night restaurant if you want to dine in. The restaurant ambiance is quiet, casual, they have a drink menu. It's definitely not your typically Chinese restaurant vibe, it's more romantic and quiet than that. WHAT WE ORDERED E6 chili Szechuan fish $16 It doesn't have that Szechuan spicy numbness kick to it. I'm not a fan of spicy food but I was able to eat the fish and the chili oil. Eggplants with basils $15 This veggie dish surprised me with how delicious and tasty it was. I'm unsure what sauce it is, it goes with the eggplants so we'll. I couldn't stop eating it, it was the perfect pairing to the chili Szechuan fish. 2 white rice Each entree doesn't come with white rice. You'll have to order separately. I ordered their beef with bean curd and celery before. It was the main photo on their Yelp, apparently they took off that menu item :(. Chuan Yu should remove the menu item photos that are no longer serving. VALUE The entree dishes are between $11-20 each. It's relatively decent price for Bay Area Chinese food. They're known for their Szechuan dry pot and Szechuan fish. Next time I'd go again with more people and try the dry pot. read more

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The Szechuan food here was excellent, in particular the cucumber salad, fried green beans and mapo tofu! We also had the preserved eggs with chili's, which were also surprisingly good! Highly recommend this spot. read more

Enjoyed coming here for takeout and dining in person. The numbing fish fillet dish is my go to and it's a very enjoyable numbing (not from a ton of chili oil) and it's broth is also seasoned just right and not too salty. Of note from a recent visit is the host, Alim, who made sure to really welcome and make sure two young sisters had a memorable birthday experience. They enjoyed chatting with him and he made for a very family friendly visit! He went above and beyond to get to know the table. read more

This use to be my go to spot for spicy dry hot pot. Unfortunately I will no longer be ordering food from here because they are unable to fulfill an order correctly. I got 6 mouths feed. If one goes hungry then child protective services will be knocking on my door. read more

Honestly, I am debating whether to give this place 3 or 4 stars. While the food is excellent and tastes authentic, my experience with takeout/delivery was underwhelming. To start off, I am a huge fan of Sichuan food and the Mala taste that they incorporate into their dishes. I peeped Yelp and noticed that there was a new place that opened up recently. After being super indecisive of whether or not to put a hole in my wallet, I finally decided to pull the trigger and ordered the Combo for 2 (that includes an appetizer, two free bowls of rice, and three dishes for 10% off), along with the Shrimp With Celery since my boyfriend cannot handle spicy food. Pros: - food was packed nicely, though I'm not sure why the receipt had "Sakura Bistro" on it - food came piping hot where you could still see the steam - generous portions, excellent value for the dishes - appetizer of Spicy and Sour Crispy Cucumber Salad is tasty, has perfect amount of spice and refreshing crunch, didn't really taste the sourness though - Fish Fillet in Chili Oil was soft and melted in my mouth, had plenty of spice (though they could do without so many peppercorns; made dish a little bitter) - Mapo Tofu was extremely tender - Mapo Tofu was also lathered in chili oil and peppercorns, had numbing taste that I love - Mapo Tofu sauce was abundant and went well with the side of rice - overall items tasted authentic and what I would typically expect from Sichuan/Hunan cooking Cons: - rice was a bit chewy and not as soft as I how I prefer it -we asked for Stir-Fried Green Beans in the Combo for 2, they gave us Stir Fried Beef with Celery and Bean Curd instead; replacement of the beef was disappointing because I try to avoid beef - item (Celery with Shrimp) was missing from our order UPDATE: the restaurant and Jerry reached out and clarified things! It was an honest rare mistake by the waitress. Will have to take them on their offer of 20% off and free items by visiting in person next time! Thank you for going beyond to try to make things right! read more

Gonna say the food was decent, but nothing special. Maybe I need to try the hot pot. We had the fried chicken, which was good but could have used a bit more spice. It was crispy and well salted. The green beans were good, but nothing to speak of. Pan fried soup dumpling also were fine. The restaurant has a Japanese menu and a Chinese menu in one space, though they are technically two different restaurants. Service was fine. It's pretty big inside. Probably wouldn't come back as there's so many good options in Oakland Chinatown. But I guess I should try the hotpot at some point. read more

We had never experienced Chinatown in Oakland and decided to walk around and get some food. A lot of places are shut down or takeout only, this restaurant is luckily large enough for dining in! Very clean and safe, friendly staff too. We enjoyed our food! read more

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I'm sorry to say: terrible. Instead of fried rice they gave us beef with noodles, which had overly-chewy beef and seriously under-cooked noodles (really hard). Numbing fish fillets turned out to be in soup, and so they weren't numbing at all. Dried bean curd strips (yuba) with celery were not soaked enough -- also hard as rocks. So bad we couldn't help but wonder if some other restaurant had cooked the meal and was in such a terrible hurry they did everything wrong. Sad. read more

Wow. This place is a hidden gem! Oakland Chinatown gets pretty quiet at night. This place is on the top floor of the Pacific Renaissance Center (富興中心) and it's the only one open in the area. It shares a place with a Japanese restaurant. They also have patio seating in the back. Our family loves Sichuan food and this place meets our standard in terms of authenticity and spicy level (our comparable would be Z&Y restaurant in SF Chinatown). A lot of time, Sichuan recipe is not as spicy anymore or it's been more tone-down to appeal to a broader audience but I really appreciate this place trying to make it real! We got their boiled fish with cabbage (nice kick of numbing spice from their green peppercorns and sourness of the preserved cabbage), fish fillet in chili oil, Chongqing spicy chicken (imagine popcorn chicken with chili spices), Sichuan pepper chicken (spicy oil cooked chicken), and some veggies. Everything was delicious and numbingly spicy! Hospitality was also on point. They kept coming out to check on us and refilling hot tea (since patio seating can be bit chilly). Comped us with miso soups and their chefs marinated spicy beef jerky. LASTLY, their price was unbeatable. For the price and quality of the meal, along with the attentiveness of our servers, I'd def be back and would recommend y'all to try them out if you want some spicy food during a cold winter night! read more

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4 stars for food 5 stars for price/portions Ordered the flaming lotus root pot, chongqing spicy chicken, and beef with bean curd. All were overall delicious- but the chicken and beef could've tasted slightly better compared to the other Chinese places I've been to. However their prices/portions are unbeatable and these three dishes were still very good. Will definitely come back again and support the local business! read more

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Last night my roommate and I ordered take out from Chuan Yu. We ordered over the phone and then went over about 20 minutes later to pick it up. Since we were mainly going off of the street address, we were a little confused when we saw that the address corresponded to Sakura Bistro Tapas & Sake Bar. It turns out that these two restaurants are operating out of the same space. We ordered CC1 家乡风味生炒土鸡 Stir-fried Chicken with Pepper, CA10 水煮鱼 Fish Fillet in Chili Oil, and CD3 Stir-fried Green Beans. Upon arriving we were notified that they had run out of CD3 Stir-fried Green Beans, so we ended up canceling the order and might try it next time. CA10 水煮鱼 Fish Fillet in Chili Oil came in two plastic containers. The fish was tender and had just the flavor I was looking forward to. The dish also included a lot of mung beans, which I enjoyed. The Chicken was also tasty and required a little more effort to dig into as there were a lot of bones. I would not recommend this dish for people that don't like to deal with a lot of bones. Overall we thought the meal was pretty tasty. read more

Chuan Yu - CC1 家乡风味生炒土鸡 Stir-fried Chicken with Pepper - Szechuan Near Me - Oakland, California

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I love sichuan food, and after living in China for 11 years I came back to Oakland and found this yummy restaurant run by and mother daughter team. They had nice simple outdoor seating. I took a friend from Taiwan and her mom so we did most of the dishes lightly spicy. I will go back and get super Sichuan spicy next time. There were a lot of young people speaking Chinese, which is always a good sign. They only had Japanese beers but I won't take a star away for that. I am about to be a regular here soon. I kept forgetting to take photos but here are three:) I also think spicy lovers and non spicy lovers can both find what they want here. read more

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Bad service and the food isn't good. I wonder if they ever learn cooking before. Definitely won't come back.

Folks, there is "Chinese" food, and there is Chinese food - this is definitely the latter. I absolutely enjoyed everything I ordered and have them bookmarked for the future. If you are looking for crab Rangoon, this may not be for you. I ordered the garlic lettuce (so flavorful and fresh), preserved eggs with fried green peppers (if you love the eggs in ramen, you have found nirvana in this dish - you're welcome), wonton soup with such a light and flavorful broth, and the combo fried rice. Literally everything was delicious. The preserved eggs were in my dreams last night... and my stomach. It was worth it! read more

First time at this restaurant since it has high Yelp rating, it was a total disappointment, nothing tasted what it should be as described on the menu, mediocre service and the bill was $130 + tip for 5 was a bit too expensive for lunch. Shanghai steam dumplings, skin was too thick, hardly any taste. It was our first experience and definitely our last. We won't be back read more

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Great spot for delicious Sichuan style malatang and dry pot! Located on the 2nd floor of Pacific Renaissance Plaza and next to Peony Seafood Restaurant, Chuan Yu is actually located alongside Sakura Bistro - they operate jointly in the same location. I've had their food delivered before and was impressed by their dishes (esp since it was a 30 min drive for delivery). The things to get are their malatang (they call it hot spicy dips $19.88) and dry pot ($23.88)! When you dine in make sure you ask for a marker to check off the ingredients you want if you're ordering any of these 2 dishes. The menu is easy to read and self explanatory with customization available. The flavors are good and balanced - I order medium spicy and it's perfect for me. Portion is just right, the flavors are there and they use quality ingredients! Great place to check out while in Chinatown! read more

I walked down here from my hotel because I thought it would be fun to see some of the local color and to eat at a local place. They told me that they would only serve takeout food even though it was a half an hour before they closed. oh well. read more

This is my new favorite Szechuan place in Oakland's Chinatown. I've been here a few times prior and it's always delicious! I knew it's a favorite when tonight I went out of my way to grab dinner. Authentic consistently good! read more

Chuan Yu - Szechuan Near Me - Oakland, California