I went to Double Li for the first time last night based on the wonderful reviews on the board. I'm so glad I did. I love Sichuan food in general and have been missing the Sichuan peppercorns I used to be able to get at my favorite NY restaurant. (I've asked at LSC and had no luck.)
Mr. Li was very kind and talked us through several options. When I said how much I like Sichuan peppercorns, he made several suggestions on the Chinese menu.
I started with the scallion pancakes. They were freshly made and had a nice chewy texture--not flaky. (I like them either way and these were delicious.)
I had the ma po tofu and it was hands down the best I ever had. Unlike what was mentioned an earlier post, it had pleanty of fermented black beans--maybe he's tinkering with the flavor? It was also spiced with sichuan peppercorns which (for me) was an unusual and delicious addition to the dish. My mouth is still numb in a very good way. I can see that meat eaters may prefer the traditional preparation with pork, but as a veg option, it was excellent.
My gf and I shared the crispy garlic eggplant. It was in a delicious, somewhat pungent brown sauce. The inside of the eggplant was creamy and there was a hint of crackle when biting into the skin. We fought over the last bits. We also shared the pea pod shoots, which were tasty and light and cooked with much less oil than at most places.
My gf had the chili chicken, which she says isn't as tasty as at LSC, but wanted to try it to compare. She says it was still good, just paled in comparison, and will try something different next time.
I can see how this could be an intimidating restaurant because of the language barrier with both the menu and waitstaff. (We had some trouble getting water and soy sauce.) This didn't bother me in part because Mr. Li was so accomodating and also because I felt lucky to able to try such interesting food at a place that was not dumbed down in the least. I look forward to going back soon.