2 for $30: Red Pepper

Ma Po Tofu is a spicy treat at Red Pepper. (Credit: John Rott)

Some of my most memorable meals have been in various Chinatowns, from London to San Francisco. Ordering mystery dishes off a dim sum cart by gesture, not name, is as close as I get to gambling, and it gets my adrenaline racing every time. On a recent Saturday night, I had a hankering for a more adventurous selection than my local takeout place offers, and Red Pepper’s authentic Szechuan dishes came to mind.

Housed in the former Maharajah restaurant on Brownsboro Road, Red Pepper’s interior is cozy and informal, with the ghost of the former Indian establishment still present in the decor. We settled into a corner table and cracked open our color-coded menus — green for Americanized fare and red for Szechuan classics.

The dual-menu system means you can eat along a spectrum of Chinese culinary delights, starting with an appetizer list that ranges from ubiquitous crab rangoon to the enigmatic Unique Chicken Smell. We couldn’t agree on an authentic appetizer (spicy beef tendons or rice flour jelly?), so we stuck with a pair of shrimp egg rolls from the green menu to start, served fresh and crisp with a sinus-clearing hot mustard on the side ($3.25).

Beyond that, the American menu held little allure for us; we wanted more than the standard sweet-and-sour chicken. Item names may lose something in translation — Big Bang Seafood Delight is an intriguing mystery, and Concubine Prawns sound downright racy — but the red menu could also be surprisingly blunt. There’s no question of what you’re going to get when you order dried pig’s intestine with Chinese celery.

I opted for the Ma Po Tofu, an enormous bowl of tender stir-fried tofu and leeks swimming in a delicious spicy garlic chili and fermented black bean sauce, served with fried rice ($7.50). There’s easily enough tofu in this dish for two meals, making it a wise choice for sharing or for a planned leftover lunch the next day.

My boyfriend chose the ginger lamb, a reasonably sized portion of fragrantly sauced meat and vegetables, also served with rice ($12.95). I don’t eat meat as a rule, but I couldn’t not help myself to a taste. The ginger’s delicate bite didn’t overwhelm the tender lamb, and the bell peppers added a satisfying crunch.

With tax and tip, our bill came to $30.15. Red Pepper also offers takeout and a daily lunch menu. It’s open 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

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