Trenz (aka Spices!), Full Frontal of Flavors

The 20 Undies second outing, selected by Chris and Melissa, was a hit of bold spicy bursting dishes. So THIS is what real Szechuan is. I'm hooked!

Where: Trenz / Spices!

294 8th Ave @ Clement St, SF

When: Sunday April 10th 2011

Who: Sunny, Tadd, Melissa, Chris, Monique & George

What: Family Run OG Neighborhood Szechuan Spot. Small warm place that filled up on a Sunday night. Young women in trendy fashions served us efficiently.

Beef Tripe & Tendon Combo dish

Spicy Pig Ears in Red Oil

Squid in Mustard and chili sauce

A green veggie with garlic that I though was Bok Choy

Cumin Scented Lamb

Savory Pickled Mungbeans

Fried House Made Tofu in Chili Peppers

Pickled Chili Flake Cucumbers

Squid in sour Spicy Hot Sauce

Braised Pork Shoulder with goji berried and dates

TsingTao's all around

Total Bill: $146 out the door. Oops, $6 over our $20 Undies limit.. but then again Melissa swam and biked herself ravenous that day, and Chris Monique and Sunny killed an 18 mile trail run, and Tadd... was present.

Undies Ratings (out of 5):
Food - 4.5 undies

Value - 5 undies

Overall - 4.75 undies

Review:

I thought I'd had Sechuan before, on many hung over occasions in fact. Kung Pao's Chicken never really caught on for me. Come to find out I have been having Americanized Szechuan. And it does not hold a flame to the real thing. Everything, I mean everything we devoured at Trenz was outrageously good. House made fried tofu, puffy and airy like gnocchi, and burried under wok fried chili peppers were undenyable. Monique moaned over the squid and veggies in spicy mustard sauce. Tadd salivated between bites of the quivering, steaming, fat capped pork shoulder (captured on film). Chris and Melissa dove into the offalicious beef trio of tendon and tripe. George was spotted hitting the pickled mungbeans up for thirds. We all exclaimed how tender and cumin-licious the morsels of lamb were. Personally I couldn't get enough of the house made chili oil on everything, especially the Squid dish swimming in it. Sweaty heaven washed down by cold bubbly Tsing Tao.

There seems to be a ton of pride and quality coming out of the kitchen at Trenz. The dishes are all unique with bold, upfront flavor profiles but also with a lot of clarity , not just a big oily spicy mess. Absent from the menu was the pandering to the western palette you usually find. Final call, a return visit is imminent to try the other half of the menu.