I ordered kung pao shrimp, the picture looks very nice, however, it tastes sweet! Not spicy at all but sweet shrimp! Also I ordered toufu bao(豆腐煲）, 2 tofu at top and all cabbages below, with some mashroom, y good just 2 piece of tofu. I fully reviewed all images and ratings before coming here with friends, we are all very disappointed. We also ordered 水煮鱼( water boiled fish), 鼓汁排骨，they taste very different, the fish taste a bit sweet too, not spicy at all, and the ribs just terrible. The service is pretty bad as well. Highly not recommended if u just visit here and stop by, if u are in university here, probably u do not have a choice for better chinese restaurant. read more

Spicy Asian - The "sweet" shrimp terrible taste, dont order it. - Szechuan Near Me - Ithaca, New York

Best Chinese food in Ithaca. My Chinese international friends say so, my Chinese mother says so. Granted, Ithaca's Chinese food is generally disappointing, but if I were to pick any it would definitely be spicy Asian. Friendly service, great Sichuan selection, great prices. read more

Spicy Asian - There's a good table for large- group settings! - Szechuan Near Me - Ithaca, New York

I must have gone on an off day. Portions were small, food tasted like leftovers....won't return.

The food was decent but the service was horrible. We came in at 4p and wanted to sit at a certain table and was told that we couldn't because they were reserving the table for larger parties. They had seating for 60 and had about 8 customers. Tell me why again, that I can't sit there? The waitress was snippy. All in all, I would never return. read more

My favorite Chinese restaurant in Ithaca and only place to quench my Szechuan food craving in Ithaca. Both Delivery and Dine-In are great options for this restaurant. I always get Zhong dumplings and sliced fish in chili sauce. I've also tried handful of dishes on the menu and I would also recommend the hot pot items and mapo tofu. It's a good place to go with for medium sized parties so that you can share and try lots of items. Service is usually decent and food comes out at their appropriate speeds. The restaurant decor looks like it's a Chinese restaurant but everything's clean and doesn't look old or run down. I would definitely not give this restaurant 5 stars but because it's Ithaca, I give it 5. And you can't get decent Szechuan food anywhere else in Ithaca. read more

We ordered house lo mien and steamed vegetables with brown rice. The food was tasty and hot. It was not over seasoned. The restaurant itself was extremely unappealing and rather unwelcoming...but beyond that, no complaints. read more

Whenever someone asks me where to go for great food, I always suggest they consult with Yelp based on where they are at any given moment and then parse the reviews. This is how we found Spicy Asian... once we arrived we checked Yelper's for menu suggestions, which worked out great! We read the tips and ordered from the Szechuan menu. Which was superb! We split a dish, shared some spring rolls and sipped the excellent tea. Quite a bargain! The next time we're in the area, we will definitely come back! read more

Spicy Asian - Cozy! - Szechuan Near Me - Ithaca, New York

By far the best place for quick quality take-out in Ithaca! I am fond of their eggplant anything! Good sized portions and great quality! So yummm! read more

My husband and I went to this place for dinner when we drove four hours here to go a hiking in Robert Treman state park. We ordered two entrees as usually we do but when our order are showing up, we were surprised what a small each of dish. So we added one more dish. But when we finished all ,both of us still not feeling full. That's ridiculous. We spent $70,but still feel not full. Is the inflation so high? read more

Wanted to update my review as we continue to regularly enjoy take-out from here. Always delicious with plenty of vegan & vegetarian options.

Visited Ithaca recently and we were really impressed by the authenticity and spice level of the food at Spicy Asian. Chicken fried rice was especially good! read more

This is definitely the best Chinese (and only Sichuan?) in Ithaca. Not all the dishes will blow you away, and some are a little greasy, but we've settled on a few favorites that we know and love: - pan fried potstickers (not the ones in chili oil!) - hot and sour soup - Sichuan dry sauteed string beans (they will add steamed tofu upon request, which is a great healthy veg option) - crispy duck in peanut sauce We come at least once a month and they're very consistent. Lots of the fried dishes are great too (kung pao and general tso's tofu are both delicious) but we are usually aiming for something a little lighter. Finally, order hot tea!! Whatever their house tea is, it's fantastic. read more

I still love the food from Spicy Asian and it's been my go-to spot for traditional Chinese fare for two years. I've rarely had a less than acceptable meal. But it's become a lot harder to order since they removed the option to do so from Yelp, so I must call and reference their menu on Yelp at the same time. read more

This place is a gem in the rough. My wife and I are from out of town and decided to try it. Wow! What a great place. I knew we were in for good food when all the other clientele wee Asians. The food was top notch and the service was very quick and friendly. Our food came out rather quickly and was hot and fresh. The ambiance was traditional oriental restaurant, very clean and nice. I recommend this place highly read more

Stopped in for a late lunch. Service was prompt and attentive. The food was good, though we admittedly didn't order anything adventurous. The dry cooked string beans were simple but delicious. The Dragon and Phoenix was tasty, though the spicy sauce on the shrimp had a little much ketchup. Would definitely go again and excited to try some of the more authentic things on the menu. read more

Will go again. Broccoli was perfect in the shrimp and broccoli dish. LoMein was perfect. So were the spring rolls. Just yummy all around.

spicy asian is the best real chinese food in ithaca, hands down. I really don't understand what went on the 1 star reviewer's mind. this is not a place you come to order lo mein or pad thai. this is a Szechuan chinese food restaurant... if you are into general tso's chicken, this place is not for you. read more

EDIT: I've now included more good dishes - and added a more refined spiceyness scale. Stop ordering Boba and General Tso's, Sweet & Sour, or Orange flavored anything here. They don't do good Americanized Chinese food. Try these dishes instead! Favorite Appetizers: 1.** Zhang Dou Dumplings - (meat dumplings in chili oil) 2. Scallion pancake - (w. great dipping sauce) Favorite Meat Dishes: 1.**Kung Po Chicken Szechuan style - (best I've ever had) 2.*Cumin Lamb - (classic Szechuan dish) 3.**Spicy Double cooked pork - (fatty pork w. chili & leek) 4. Jumbo Shrimp w. Black Bean Sauce - (sweet/savory, can sub. meat/tofu for shrimp) 5.** Mongolian Beef or chicken - (not Szechuan but tasty) Favorite Veggie Dishes: 1.**Shredded Potatoes w. Sour Spicy Sauce - (unusual) 2. Sautéed Snow Pea Sprout w. Garlic - (sauteed greens) 3.* Dried Sauteed String Bean - (for the garlic lovers) 4. Stir Fried Chinese Baby Broccoli - (broccoli-ish greens) 5.** Kung Po Tofu Szechuan style - (vegan Kung Po!) 6.* Eggplant with Szechuan flavor - (sweet eggplant dish) * = mildly spicy (has a little kick, but pretty mild) ** = quite spicy (at least a 3 on a 0-5 scale at an Ithaca Thai Restaurant) Warning: there are some dishes that are deceptively named things like "Szechuan Flavored Chicken." These are surprisingly not Szechuan dishes. If it's not on the last few pages of the Szechuan style menu, don't order it. I've been here several times since my initial review and have bad experiences with the Americanized dishes. One minor complaint: their potion size for a side of white rice is ridiculously small (Edit: the serving is a bit bigger now). A lot of people in these reviews complain about portion size. The portions for main dishes are actually normal, but since you get so little rice with your meal, many will leave hungry if they only order 1 dish per person. Rice is so cheap; for a mere nickle per customer they could greatly increase satisfaction by doubling their rice portion. read more

Spicy Asian has the best real Chinese food in Ithaca. They specialize in Sichuan-style food, which is spicy and fresh. They have many authentic items that are not sold by your run-of-the-mill "takeout" Chinese places. That being said, they also have a menu of Americanized food (ironically called "Chinese food," to distinguish from the more authentic "Sichuan Style" menu). Twice cooked pork, eggplant sichuan style, salt and pepper squid, rice cake noodle, zhong jiaozi (dumpling), beef tripe hot pepper sauce (a cold dish commonly eaten as an appetizer in China) are all great choices. Great addition to the Ithaca food scene. Generous portions as well. read more

While the food was actually pretty good, we waited around an hour for food to come out. I understand Saturday nights can be busy but why have so many tables if you can't handle them. Water refilling, another good checkpoint to evaluate service was also scarce. If your in a rush, don't come here but if you want to wait, there food is actually one of the better Asian cuisine places in town. read more

Spicy Asian - Cute bathroom...wish their servers were speedy like the cartoon character - Szechuan Near Me - Ithaca, New York

After this place opened, I ate there for lunch three days in a row! The sushi is awesome. For mysterious reasons, I have a special place in my heart for the business that was in this location formerly (CT Bento), but Spicy Asian is definitely more like the real thing. And lucky me, the prices are still low (for now anyway!) It seemed like this place popped up almost instantly after CT Bento closed, so I didn't expect much in the way of interior changes. But they did a nice job with the few things they did - they put in some booths, created some half walls which divides up the space nicely, and they closed off the kitchen. It still has a long way to go atmosphere-wise, but it's an improvement so far, so hopefully they're not done now that they're open. As for the food, I can't stop ordering the crunch rolls. And the special sushi rolls are soooo good and so well presented. Like Bento, they have the make your own bowls with different meats/veg/sauces, and still have that super addictive bubble tea. Lunch specials are something like $6.50 and come with either a soup or an eggroll, and white/brown/or chicken fried rice. It's a lot of food for these crazy cheap prices! I only hold that last star out because they really need a bigger menu - but I respect the fact that they're starting small as it will help make sure that all their ingredients are super fresh. Let's just hope business goes well and they expand the options soon. Service has been very quick and polite despite language barriers! read more

There is nothing remarkable about the food here***. The price is high and all the sauces seem to have the same texture even if they are a different "flavor." The other day my party ordered general tofu, general chicken, sesame chicken, and beef & broccolli. I tried all four dishes and as I mentioned, nothing remarkable. Granted, the fact that they have a whole restaurant you can sit in with tablet service is nice. But for straight up americanized chinese food I don't think I'll return here again. My dish came well before my friend's food, which was a bit annoying. By the time their food came mine had cooled down. Mine was the beef and broccoli and it was rather unremarkable. The portion size however, was good. My rice was fine. The service was great (it's not her fault the kitchen sent out my dish ahead of the others). *** I will say that I did not try the szechuan style dishes as other reviewers have mentioned as being great, but, if the waitress had mentioned it to me (the fact that it was their specialty) or even given me some szechuan specials to choose from I probably would have tried the them and been much happier. So would the rest of my party- we are adventurous eaters and not afraid to try new things. I simply don't see how they are going to stay in business if the popular dishes are mediocre and the stuff that really is good they don't try to highlight/mention. read more

Best option for REAL Chinese food in Ithaca. If you are looking for American-Chinese, there are probably better options elsewhere...but who's really checking Yelp for the best American-Chinese food, right? So when you go, just flip right to the last two pages of the menu, where they got the Szechuan dishes. It's true that the dishes will come out at different times as has been previously commented, so it works best if you order Chinese family style - that is, order a few dishes for the whole table to share. Food-wise, everything I've had so far is good. For Ithaca, it's the best authentic Chinese food. For elsewhere, it's pretty average. Which is to say, everything tastes good, maybe more oil than I would prefer, but not really knocking anything out of the park. My favorites are the eggplant hot pot and the steamed fish. Some of the spicy dishes are really quite spicy, so be prepared for a good sweat. Service is very friendly. That said, if you are trying to ask for any alterations to the dish, you may need to be patient explaining what you want, unless you speak Chinese. read more

We were visiting cornell university and this place was close to our hotel thus we went. The food was ok but barely there was no service besides delivering the food. No water refill and we had to ask for anything we want. Like a spoon for my daughter. The most crazy thing was that after we paid the bill. The bill included 15% tip already. Even though we didn't like the service, we decided to be nice and pay the 15% tip. Then the lady accused me of taking one of their rice bowl. The bowl was really small. I didn't know who would make use of it. This was not the point. I told her I didn't take it. But the lady looked at me untrusted. I felt really offended. I didn't feel this was the proper way to treat a customer. Felt really dissappointed with this place and the lady (looks like the owner?) read more

Favorite Asian Restaurant in Ithaca, and that's saying something for a town that has a ton of them. One of the few places to find Duck, the portions are generous, and the prices are fair. This place also gets packed at Dinner time (about 6:00pm at least every time I have been) so it's best to show up a smidge before that. They have a plentiful menu. A friend of mine who studied at the Culinary Institute of America gets food here almost every day he's in town he likes it that much. You really can't go wrong here - much better than your typical 'chinese food'. Can't say much for their delivery experience since I've never had their food delivered - (I have stopped in to order food to go though and it's been fantastic each time!) read more

salty & greasy, over priced. I am Chinese and I know how real good Chinese food should taste like. I love Szechuan food and I know spicy food are supposed to be a bit salty to spice up the flavor. But this is is wayyyyy too salty, so salty that I kept drinking water all the time. We order 4 or 5 dishes. All are very salty except that there is a lamb dish that's not bad, otherwise I would give a 1 star. BTW, if you are concerned about your health, don't go there too often. Eating too much sodium is bad for your health. read more

This is supposed to be one of the best Chinese food in town. When We came around 7:30 pm, there were two large Chinese student groups and two or three small groups, but only one waitress. When we asked for a recommendation, she couldn't recommend any dishes. The hot tea was bad, I couldn't drink it. We ordered: Sweet and sour soup: for the kid, not impressive. Dan Dan Noodle: looks very appealing, taste was actually ok, the texture is way too soft. My son said it's like when you took a bite, you directly bite into your own teeth. Cumin lamb: the lamb is pretty good. Unfortunately 2/3 of the dish is raw lattice. Only a thin layer of cumin lamb was laying on top. What Chinese dish has raw lettuce like the poorest grade of salad without dressing? Definitely not Sichuan. Chinese bacon with snow peas: nothing extraordinary, but ok. Salt and pepper squid: no taste other than being oily, but with a thick layer of raw lettuce at the bottom again! Chung King spicy chicken: this may be the best dish we ordered today. Too bad that only a dozen or so chicken pieces were spotted among the peppercorns, red peppers and garlic. Whole fish with black bean sauce: the fish is not fresh. The meat is very hard, sticking to the bone, and has no taste. Perhaps as a Chinese who can cook her own meal, and a New Yorker who is accustomed to really good Chinese restaurants, I am being a bit harsh to this restaurant. However, if you are a visitor to Ithaca, I would recommend you try out some other cuisine styles. There are other places with more authentic Chinese. If you are a Cornell student and have no other places to go, it's still ok to come occasionally. Just remember, your mom and dad can cook better meals than this. Price: We paid about $100 for four people. Considering the food quality, the price is definitely not worth it. We left with a lot of lettuce left on the plate. I tend to overstuff myself with good food. With this meal, I'm happy to report that I've met the 70% full guideline for the first time. In fact I might have eaten less than half of what I would have, (I took two bites of the rice because I really had nothing to go with it,) but I felt no desire to continue eating, not that there were much left that was worth eating. Service: I asked for a few napkins in the beginning. They finally arrived when we were finishing up, with a couple reminders throughout. Our water glasses were empty for a long time before they were filled. Somebody with a tea pot showed up (I'm guessing it may be the owner) and asked if we wanted more tea, and we asked for the check instead (meaning: way too late). I typically leave 20% tips but left only $5 this time, just because it was too big of a let down. read more

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It is a great place to eat delicious authentic Chinese food. Spicy boiled fish, cumin lamb and tofu hot pot which we ordered all taste so good. It did get a little too spicy and heavy on oil, and my stomach didn't feel that well the day after. The mango bubble tea was a bit too sweet but the other flavors were all great. The service was pretty good. And the price is okay for dinner. read more

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Hands-down our go-to for good food and service in Ithaca. It's really hard to find a local, family-owned business that has not disappointed my husband and I in our search for good take-out and dine-in experiences. Spicy Asian is the best of both worlds. Menu has a wide variety of options, delighting even the pickiest of eaters (namely me). Their food is always excellent, and consistent. The owners are wonderfully friendly and insure their customers are well taken care of. We've been going to this restaurant for almost 4 years now, and we have never had a bad experience. We highly recommend: Zhong Dumplings, Seafood Tofu Soup, Mongolian Chicken, General Tso's Chicken, Dragon & Phoenix, Singapore Rice Noods read more

I thought I wouldn't be able to find authentic Chinese food in Ithaca. On the pricey side though (portions are quite small compared to other Chinese restaurants in the US for the same price). Food quality varies a bit. It's usually better during the school year. I went there once around Thanksgiving, and the food was meh. Service: terrible. read more

I was really surprise how good this place was. I would recommend ordering for the Szechuan Style menu although the food might be on the spicier side. I really enjoy the zhong dumplings and steamed fish with ginger and scallions. read more

Spicy Asian - Kung pao (po) shrimp - Szechuan Near Me - Ithaca, New York

I tried the spicy chili fish and the dumplings. They're both pretty good and the dish can feed two people easily. The fish here is less salty than the one at tasty pot. This is one of my go to places to order Chinese food. read more

So, I'm from Philly where lies Han Dynasty, which is the best spicy schezuan style chinese food I believe to be on the entire planet. Their food is seriously like crack to me. Having said that, Spicy Asian does a really nice job of the schezuan style. Although not quite as good as Han Dynasty in Philly, It certainly satisfies my craving for spicy schezuan chinese food where other chinese restaurant will simply put another pepper in your food when you ask for it to be extra spicy (not to mention its not schezuan). They also have interesting items on the menu like "black pepper fried rice" which is a nice twist to the regular fried rice you had probably gotten hundreds of times at the every day chinese food place. I read other reviews saying that the service was kinda crappy and there is certainly some truth in that. But that was just based on the fact that it was pretty damn hard to communicate with the waitress and that they tried to give me a styrofoam container for a soup like meal I had which would of spelled disaster for the ride home. I quickly pointed out to the waitress that the styrofoam was a terrible idea and that i would need a sealable container, and even that was a kinda tough idea to convey to the waitress. Nevertheless, the food is tasty, and not fake spicy even though it does seem like you're talking to a bag of rocks when you ask for something from the staff. read more

Certainly among the better Chinese options in Ithaca. The place is very spacious, so it'd be good choice for bigger parties. Lots of groups come here for lunch/dinner, not just because of the space but because they have lots of good options. Service is really efficient and friendly too. The dishes are meant for family style, but I came out here on my own so I couldn't really just order a bunch of dishes for a variety. I got the mapo tofu - something I usually get when I can't really decide what else to get. It was among one of the spicier versions I've ever had of it, which isn't necessarily bad but a little more than I can handle. For one person the dish will be more than enough, and I had enough to use for a second meal at home that night. Avoid the milk tea here though. It's just like any other milk tea in Ithaca - terrible. But you shouldn't be going to a Chinese restaurant specifically to get milk tea anyway (which is weird because I actually saw a few people come in and order just a milk tea to go). Come here for what you should be enjoying - a rare decent Chinese restaurant in upstate New York. read more

The staf doesn't speak English . I ordered a boba tea and all I got was tea. The boba tea is awful

Awesome as always, though like another reviewer stated not quite as good as Han Dynasty in/outside of Philly. Highly recommend the Cumin Lamb and Beef with Chili Sauce. Had sautéed pea shoots, they were so-so. #1 recommendation? Do not wear any light-colored clothing, as the red sauces will likely stain them. read more

So I underestimated how spicy the food was that this place serves. In Ithaca there are a lot of places that claim to have wicked spicy food, but fail in that department, even when visiting any of the Thai places and ordering 5 spicy. This place though. The Kung Pao Chicken is quite possibly the hottest thing I have ever eaten in my life. There was so much spice I tasted nothing else. There were more peppers in the dish than chicken! I loved it though! It was great! Finally somewhere that actually lives up to their name and reputation! Would definitely order something a bit less spicy next time though haha. Other than that their regular dishes were pretty good. We got dumplings, lo mein and fried rice and it was good, not the best but good enough to keep me coming back. So go and try them out, it's one of the better chinese take out places in Ithaca. On a side note they have a good amount of seating inside to sit and enjoy your dinner. read more

Some of the food at Spicy Asian is amazing. I really enjoy most of the Szechuan dishes -- best spicy asian food you can find in Ithaca. Unfortunately (1) the service has been poor every time I have gone, and (2) every entree item on the menu is overpriced. That being said, I will continue to order from here regularly while I'm in Ithaca. The food is good. read more

The restaurant was a nice little place. The food was tasty and classic Chinese. The waitress was courteous and competent. The food was reasonably priced. All in all, good service. Would recommend! read more

Spicy Asian is ostensibly a Sichuan restaurant, but the dishes I ordered were mostly poor approximations of the real deal. The dumplings in chili oil were bland and doughy, and the chili oil lacked any real heat or depth of flavour. The spicy Chongqing chicken was dry and flavourless, the worst of the dishes I tried. The beef stuffed scallion pancake was good, if a bit greasy. The dry-fried green beans were very heavy on the garlic and very light on any other flavour, but were still decent. Overall, not worth the drive to the far side of town, De Tasty Hot Pot in College Town has much better Sichuan-style eats. read more