Spicy Asian has been making a lot of changes in their menu. They no longer offer the Japanese menu and they are making more changes to what they do offer. This probably a good thing. I thought they had too much on the menu to begin with. It is hard to do a lot of things well. I got a copy of the new menu and it looks like most the dishes that have been praised in the reviews will be staying. During my most recent visit we ordered three dishes and shared them, family style, the way you are supposed to. My friend doesn't like spicy or too weird but there are so many things on the menu that I haven't tried, that wasn't a problem. We ordered the Angelica Lamb Soup, the Sauteed Baby Bok Choy, and the Crispy Chicken w. House Special Sauce One order of Angelica Lamb Soup is enough for four people. It is chunks of lamb with sliced angelica root in a savory broth. The lamb has skin and bits of bones. It seems to be a belly or rib cut. The Angelica root is pale and tastes a little like bitter carrot. Angelica is a medicinal plant and tastes bitter. If you don't like bitter herbs don't try this. But lots of people do like bitter herbs. Bok choy is also a little bitter. The sauteed bok choy had lots of sliced garlic and a mild savory sauce. Even with the large quantities of garlic it was not too spicy for my friend. The Crispy Chicken came with a sweet vinegar sauce that was a nice complement to the bitter herbs. The chicken was lightly dusted with cornstarch or flour and fried until crispy, and the sauce was light and tangy. It came with a side of rice for each of us. I don't order sweet and sour chicken at restaurants because the batter is usually too thick and greasy and the sauce is corn syrup and food coloring. But this Crispy Chicken was what sweet and sour chicken should taste like. We also had milk tea with tapioca pearls. My friend had peach flavored and I had green apple. I'm trying to taste every milk flavor they have. And I'm delighted with the options of tapioca pearls, fruit jelly, or flavored popping boba. read more

Excellent food. Authentic Chinese cuisine with very healthy veggie options and delicious fried eggplant, spicy fish and green beans. A really satisfying restaurant. read more

On a Christmas afternoon when all the shops and eateries were closed, spicy Asian was our savior. Authentic Chinese food served with decent hot sauces, really found a gem. Decent seating and servicing, amazingly soft tofu and rice. Every piece of this place screams authenticity. A good place and a Merry Christmas. read more

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I've been back many times and can't stand by my original assessment. Spicy Asian is a nice place to eat. Some of the dishes aren't as good as others if you don't like what you got, try again later with a different dish. The Kung Pow Tofu is seriously amazing, but be warned, it's 50% dried chili peppers. read more

I have eaten here several times, sometimes with Americans, sometimes with Mandarin-speaking Chinese. I was startled how different the food tasted. While dining with Caucasians, the same dish (kung pao chicken) came out sweet and the chicken pieces were deep-fried, not authentic at all. When I went back again (reluctantly) with Chinese diners, the dish was authentic, spicy with szechwan peppercorns.. Apparently the waiter makes a judgment call whether you're the kind of diner who prefers American style Chinese food (sweeter and less spicy) or the real stuff! So if you want authentic szechwan food, be up front and tell them. Order only from that side of the menu and tell them "spicy!"in which case it will be terrific. My favorites are the ma-po tofu and the cold sliced chicken with chili oil. Now when I go, I show the waiter what I want on my phone, where I keep a copy of the menu items in Chinese characters. And the food is always great and authentic. read more

We love the Szechuan Cumin and kung Pao dishes. The taste great and have a good kick. If you like spicy food, these are amazing. If you don't eat spicy, order something else. Everything I have eaten here is good. read more

Spicy Asian - Seating in the restaurant. - Szechuan Near Me - Ithaca, New York

Best authentic Chinese food in town!!! The portion is generous and the taste is so good! Don't miss it!

The inside is spacious and a good option for big parties. A lot of Chinese people would come to this place for its delicious and authentic Chinese food. Food comes in large portions. Most of them are spicy and tastes great. read more

The service is really what earned them this rating. Upon walking in they set a very awkward atmosphere. Rushed us to our table and didn't check back in for a while. Drinks were dreadfully slow to arrive and be refilled as well. The food was pretty decent! Came out quick and hot read more

These are good appetizers for two people. Food here always taste so fresh .... There are so many new things on the menu that you can select from... every time I just try something new . read more

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Great food, especially on the Szechuan side on the menu. One of the best Asian places in town - in a town with a lot of Asian food. Very ethinic. You'll want to order different dishes to round-out a meal. So go with friends and order several dishes. Lunch menu is more "American style", though the dinner menu is always available. Many local/student asians dine here. Sometimes crazy-busy in evening. Go early. Personal favs: sliced fish and sour cabbage, cumin beef/lamb/pork, hot pots, kung po Szechuan read more

Pretty authentic Sichuan food for a college town. Ordered spicy beef noodles, beef crepes, spicy wonton and the manager's recommendation. The food was served timely and didn't contain too much MSG :-) read more

I spent $15 on spicy pork intestines with white rice and received a half-filled container of mostly jalapenos and vegetables. I also picked up my order, asked the manager where the utensils were, and was reassured by the manager that napkins and utensils were in the stapled paper bag. Lo and behold, there were no napkins and ONE spoon when I opened the paper bag. What a disappointment. Don't bother coming here. Ling Ling is MUCH better than this craphole. read more

Went here on a whim to try something new, and I can say it was very yummy and authentic. Food was hot and cooked fresh. I've gone back many times! The only downfall is they don't understand English well, so there can be some miscommunication, and the drinks could be better. They don't have many drink options and what they do have is either warm or flat, but other than that I really recommend it! read more

I visited this restaurant awhile back and ordered the Ho Fun House Special with a bubble tea. The Ho fun was filling and enough for one person + leftovers for the next day. The bubble tea was fine but I probably won't order it again. The food was traditional Asian cuisine and probably as close to what you'll be able to find in the Ithaca area. Service was not great, especially when dining in alone. If I come back, I'll be ordering my food to go. Note: although the restaurant's name say "Spicy" not all food are made spicy. read more

Spicy Asian - Szechuan Near Me - Ithaca, New York

Great Szechuan. Reasonable prices. Much better than the average Chinese take-out spot. Worth the extra 1/2 mile drive. read more

Just besides our hotel, so convenient. We ordered home style tofu, spicy squid and spicy fried chicken, all of these are delicious. will absolutely come again. read more

Spicy Asian - Szechuan Near Me - Ithaca, New York

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We visited there per good yelp rating and had a horrible experience: the food was not authentic as the restaurant claimed (for having Sichuan specialty). The beef noodle soup tasted good but had stuff hard to chew. The eggplant with full of grease and the shrimp was cleaned properly. I would not return nor would I recommend this place. The sever was friendly though. read more

I love this place for delivery!! The food travels amazingly and is so good!!!! I think this is the best Chinese food in Ithaca!!

Solid Chinese restaurant - can rival many of the Chinese places in Chinatown or Flushing NY. The garlic shrimp is excellent - rarely can you find a place that gives you shrimp larger than your pinky tip. Will definitely eat here again on my next trip back to Ithaca. read more

Spicy Asian - Szechuan Near Me - Ithaca, New York

I visited this place not longer than a week ago, and I must say this is the worst Asian place in Ithaca. I went with a good friend of mine, and we were given the poorest excuse of a table at a sit-down restaurant. The servers knew very little English and we had to resort to pointing at items in the menu. Due to their lack of English, ordering items and asking for simple things (e.g. Napkins) was unnecessarily difficult. The food was barely subpar, the pad thai was disgusting, though I can't speak for their Chinese food. My friend said the lo mein was OKAY. TL;DR The service and food here are unacceptably bad, so look elsewhere for good Asian food (e.g. Sumo, Sushi O Sake, Four Seasons, etc.) read more

This is the only good Chinese food in Ithaca. Please go and support, otherwise we will lose even this! I had a seafood hotpot, which was delicious. The fish cake was delicious. I like the peanuts at the beginning of the meal. The eggplant was good; somewhat oversauced but not as bad as the Chinese places elsewhere in Ithaca. I didn't try the Szechuan specialties. I don't personally like it that spicy. read more

We came here for the first time last week and appreciated the more authentic Chinese cuisine. Following Yelp advice, we had the cumin lamb (unlike any Chinese food I have ever had - loved it, very good, very spicy) and the eggplant with meat hot pot (nothing special). The rice servings were very small, which originally seemed a nice way to feature the main dishes, but in the end we were wishing for more rice to balance the spicy meat. Agree with others that the service was lacking - we ordered hot tea but then realized we really needed some water to cut down the heat. Could not get any server's attention. Eventually one passed by with water, but when she saw we had only tea cups, she turned away - we encouraged her to pour anyway. We never got water glasses but did get a water refill in the tea cups. Very strange to be drinking water from a tea cup still warmed by tea, but it was necessary! read more

This is the only Szechuan restaurant at Ithaca and luckily it is a good one. They have some special spicy Chinese dishes which cannot be found at any other place nearby. Before I had to go to NYC when I miss these authentic dishes. Now it is only 10 mins away :D read more

Amazing food. Everything off of the Szechuan menu is good. Personal favorites include Cumin Lamb, Fish in Chili Sauce, and Ma Po Tofu

Dishes of Note on the Sichuan Menu Peashoots (called PeaSprouts on the menu I think) Dry Green Beans Spicy Double Cooked Pork Kung Pao Chicken Sichuan Style (Completely different from normal Kung Pao) Cumin Lamb Mongolian Beef (Yah kinda good despite not being Sichuan at all) But please please please Spicy Asian, hire more servers for dinner! read more

First of all, don't be put off by a generic name like Spicy Asian. I used to live in southern CA where great Chinese food is plentiful. Honestly, this place is actually pretty good for Chinese food, and probably the best Chinese restaurant in Ithaca. If you are looking for real Szechuan Chinese food (not the typical Americanized dishes like General Tso's Chicken and Orange Chicken) then you should try this place. The Food: - The Cumin Lamb was amazing. One of the best I've had. I don't usually order lamb because when it's not prepared well, lamb can have a very strong odor. However, the lamb here didn't have the strong odor. It was thinly sliced, has great juicy texture, and really well flavored. - Sliced fish with sour cabbage. I thought this one was a bit too salty and greasy for my taste but the fish was pretty good. I guess typical Szechuan dishes tend to be a bit salty and greasy. Anyways, next time, I might try the steamed fish instead. - Bean Curd Home Style. This dish is listed in the Hot Pot section but I think it's a bit of a misnomer. The category is not really hot pot, but more like dishes cooked in a clay pot. Anyways, this dish came with veggies and meat. Overall, it's pretty good. It's not spicy so it's a good balance if you are ordering a lot of other spicy dishes. - Tea - I really liked their hot tea here. My Chinese friend said that it's a pretty common black tea that you have at the end of the meal. I thought it tasted a bit different from normal black tea because it has a subtle sweet after taste and really great aroma. Service: Similar to other more authentic Chinese restaurants, you should not expect great service. Come here for the food. It's not a fine dining experience. It's also usually better if you bring someone who is Chinese with you to dine here. Tips: Order the Szechuan dishes (the section of the menu where there's actual Chinese names). Please don't order pad thai or sushi here. You are better off getting those dishes at other places in Ithaca. read more

I want to preface that I hate writing bad reviews for places but I just want to share my experience. I stopped by Spicy Asian after getting a massage. I wanted some comforting, maybe some hot soup and ice. I stopped by here on a Friday night at around 8:00. We were seated fairly quickly but in the back corner of the restaurant. The table had been wiped down but it was still visibly dirty with food scraps all over. I held my breath and looked at the menu waiting to order. My friend and I sat for a good 15 min and nobody even came over to get us water. Finally a waitress came by and asked if we wanted something to drink --to which we responded some hot water. She never came back with the water. My friend finally went up to the front desk to place an order for food and even then it took 10 min for her to order. She came back and we sat for another 20 min (still no water). Another waitress was serving the table next to us and we finally said something. My friend said we had placed an order up front and wanted to see if the food would come out soon. She said something like everything was slow today because it's busy. I snapped and said but we don't even have water. It's rare that I'll snap like that but I was not at all pleased with her attitude. She didn't say much about what I said said again it's a busy night. I told her we are leaving and that's exactly what we did. 10 minutes later we were being served at a Thai food restaurant about a mile away. I'm really upset my experience at Spicy Asian was so bad. I hear they have good food and it is unfortunate that I will not be able to ever try it. I hope they change their business plan and adjust their customer service quickly. read more

Great Chinese in Ithaca. Too bad this place wasn't here when I was a student here. We had dumplings (standard fare) but the cumin lamb and double cooked pork were both spicy, crisp and delicious. read more

Showed up at 8:30 Sunday and they are closed. The sign said open until 10:00 pm. Not he first time. They just don't care.

First, the food is good. However, the service, especially when it comes to take out, sucks. Every time I have ordered from them they don't include the sauce that the menu says comes with the dish and the last time I ordered they didn't even give me soy sauce or chopsticks. They are also vague about ingredients which, as someone who doesn't eat beef or pork, is extremely annoying. I ordered a shrimp dish that no where mentioned having meat in it and was in the shrimp section and it had ground pork. This is ithaca, you can't put surprise meat in food. Overall, they need to get their act together take out wise. Oh, and the last time I even reminded them to give me the sauce for my gyoza and when it was delivered, no sauce, again. read more

Been here twice. Food has been excellent but the service has been pretty bad. We're given a minute to order and when we weren't ready, we waited 15 more before we waitress' attention. Then we asked for 3 waters after that and never got them until asking again 10 mins after that. read more

The stuff is very nice. We like the spicy food，it's really very yummy and sichuan style

"It is now named Asian cuisine. I ordered egg roll, wonton soup, sweet sour chicken and chicken fried rice. Cost 28.00 w/out tip. Very little sweet sour sauce, No vegetable with this dish. The server was very busy though few customers were in the restaurant with another server helping out. In any case it may have been an off day for them. read more

A family-run place, extremely clean. We took other patrons' advice and only ordered from the Szechuan part of the menu. We had the twice cooked pork, eggplant Ma Po, and zhong dumplings. I loved the zhong dumplings! They are stuffed with a yummy meat filling and came in a spicy chili oil sauce. The twice cook pork was good, but too salty. I'd be willing to give it another try. Maybe the cook just made an error and hit the entree with double the usual amount of soy sauce or something. I enjoyed the eggplant as well. Even though it was marked on the menu as "spicy," it's a mild, subtly flavored dish I'd never had before. A bit liquid-y with bits of meat in addition to chunks of eggplant. Almost looked like soup, but since it was my first time trying it I don't know if that's the way it is supposed to be. Our waiter was a polite and helpful young man who was eager to answer questions. He understood our English well, and I think his English skills are okay but he had a little trouble explaining finer points about the food in English. Yes, one of our entrees arrived five minutes before the other, and we had to ask for a new set of plates after we finished gobbling down the dumplings, but no big deal. The other patrons were mostly Asian families--which when choosing to dine at a Chinese restaurant, I personally take as a good sign. I'll most definitely go back and try other items on the menu. read more

I have been coming to ithaca .y whole life every summer and a few years ago I found this restaurant and loved it. The pad thai was amazing... however today I went and the pad thai was very unfortunate... and when I asked the waitress what was wrong with it and why it had changed color and taste and was no longer what I remembered she responded very rudely with "no its the same" and she thought I was crazy. Very Very very bad customer service. Don't fight with your customers. RUDE!!!!! read more

Not tasteful food, not pleasing atmosphere, discrepancy between online and in store menu prices, confusing staff, underwhelming and overpriced food read more

As a person who has stayed in Houston for years, I have to say that I'm really disappointed by the quality of Chinese food here. What can I say? Small portion of food, overpriced, unstable quality. I wanted to give it a 2 but since no other Chinese restaurant in town is doing a better job, I'm giving a rate of 3 read more

I was not impressed during my first visit to Spicy Asian. I'm surprised it has a "4" rating on Yelp because the food had little spice or flavor. I had the Szechuan chicken and the sauce was mediocre and despite labeled with a chili pepper was not hot at all. The spring rolls and the egg rolls were not tasty. Someone in my party ordered the steamed potstickers and those and its sauce were well prepared and tasty. The orange chicken was more deepfried breading than chicken and the sauce had a slight orangy taste but didn't blow me away. The service was good and there is plenty of seating and the ambiance is decent. They don't sell wine or beer. read more

Great sichuan style dishes, more authentic than other American Chinese restaurants. The kung pao ji ding and spicy stir-fried qing jiang vegetables are pretty good. Yep. read more