Suggest Szechuan restaurant when meeting friends in New York City

A friend and I had a leisurely visit just minutes from Times Square around rush hour Monday.

We had agreed to meet at a mutually accessible spot I had read about on Yelp and in the New York Times.

Genial staff, authentic food and affordability – we spent $39 plus tips - describe Szechuan Gourmet.

Ideally suited for family/friend meet-ups it is a mere 10-minute walk from Penn Station and Grand Central, our access points respectively. The location is blocks from touristy places without the consequences.

The Subway and Bryant Park are around the block, Port Authority also close by.

I urge my suburban counterparts to suggest the restaurant on your next family/friend visit into Manhattan.

I arrived early and skimmed through the review displayed inside on a wall as well as the menu and took some notes about the 50 dishes on the “gourmet” and “delicacies” section of the menu, tapping "28" onto my iPhone notes app, the number of appetizers you can try here.

These include such promising gems as pork belly with chili-garlic soy, duck tongues with Sichuan pepper corn-scallion dressing, jelly fish with spicy chili vinaigrette, and expected Szechuan pork dumplings with roasted chili-soy and wonton in hot sesame oil, expected but I doubt ordinary.

And while our selections were laid back in contrast, the food we ate here is terrific.

Among entrees to tempt or test our palette you may choose braised eel with garlic and pickled chili, fish filets with Napa, bamboo and cellophane in spiced chili broth, and braised frogs with Napa, bamboo and tofu in spiced chili broth.

Also offered are wok tossed crispy beef filets with roasted chili cumin or sautéed spinach with garlic, sea scallops with spicy garlic sauce and braised fish filets with sweet vinegar sauce, entrees ranging from $9.95 to $18.95 (prices may be different from time of publication).

When my friend arrived our host led us to a banquette, and our server hovered briefly, offering twice to take our orders, once selections were made we were served soup and soon after two steaming platters and left to enjoy our meal in no hurried fashion.

Meanwhile, dishes I classify as expected on Szechuan menus include at least 50 under seafood, vegetable, meat and poultry headlines.

We shared shredded chicken in garlic sauce and a second chicken dish with asparagus. Both portions are more than enough for one person.

The first was a savory combination of tenderly cooked slivers of poultry, tree tears, a type of mushroom, ginger and diced chilis.

The heat was sufficient and supported by chili oil and soy sauce.

The second dish, a little bland but expectedly, was an evenly mixed blend of small palettes of chicken breast and the crisp asparagus stalks evenly diced.

There is a lunch menu of course (prices from $7.60 to $10.95), takeout and delivery service.

For information about Gourmet Szechuan at 21 West 39th St., New York, N.Y., call 212-921-0233.