Chuan Tian Xia

Sunset Park's Chinatown has its own Sichuan standard-bearer, and there is often a line outside to prove it. The two-story room is plain — rustic wooden tables, backless stools — and the staff, earpieces in, steer first-timers through a long menu of Chengdu classics.

The kitchen spices with restraint, so you taste the dish rather than just the chili. Fish is the specialty: Wanzhou grilled whole fish loaded with add-ons, crispy whole fish, Chongqing sour fish stew. Add slivered pork in vinegary garlic sauce, and pineapple fried rice and a watermelon juice to cool down.