Four Season Joyful
55 Driggs Ave
This time, we got takeout from Four Season Joyful, a Sichuan restaurant that opened this year on our side of the neighborhood. We had been before a few times, but this time I was determined to do what I couldn't before: order the great value deal advertised only in Chinese on their menu.
For only nine dollars, one can get three dishes, a soup, and rice. That is, if you're aware of the deal. The smaller text says "Every day different dishes are sent out via WeChat" and "Only one soup is provided". Any native speakers maybe fact check me on that last one.
We put in our order online, where this deal is labeled simply as "Rice Bowl", with no options to choose from for your three dishes. I figured they'd just pick for me, but upon arriving, the woman at the register provided me with options from pictures saved on her phone. The images weren't labeled, so I picked a few things I recognized: a stir-fry of pork and chives, braised pork belly with potatoes, and something with scrambled eggs in it. All three were packed into a to-go container with a whole lot of white rice. On the side was a clear pork soup made of a broth with little flavoring and a few pieces of meat. In addition, They got Dan Dan Noodles. Here's a photo of it all, which in total cost us $21.78:
I definitely do not claim to be a food photographer.
Everything was quite delicious. The pork and chive dish was nice and light, the pork belly was rich and sweet, and the soup, while plain, was quite nourishing. The other ingredient in the scrambled egg dish turned out to be bitter melon. This was my second time having bitter melon (the first was in cheong fun), and I don't think I'm a fan. The name is no joke -- it's bitter! I tried the dan dan noodles, which were pretty good as well. They're made with peanut butter, which as I understand, isn't always the case.
You may be thinking "this doesn't sound all that Sichuan to me", and you're right. Nothing we had was all that hot and from the options given to me for my three dishes, I don't recall seeing mapo tofu, fish-fragrant eggplant, etc. However, all of that is on the menu, so if you're looking for that, you've got it! In fact, out of the four Sichuan restaurants in Greenpoint as of 2025 (Four Season, Mala Project, Breeze, and Chiko), this place has the most extensive menu, and its prices are lower than Breeze's and Mala Project's. Also, the food's quite good. On previous trips we've gotten Sichuan liang fen -- noodles made of mung bean jelly in a mala sauce, mapo tofu, pork and green chili, mouthwatering chicken, and most of them hit the spot. I didn't love that the mouthwatering chicken used chicken breast, which made it pretty dry, but the liang fen was really good. This combination of price, variety, and quality might make it the best place to get a Sichuan dinner in the neighborhood.
Of course, there's other stuff on the menu, too. Robert Sietsema's piece about it mentions that one of the chefs is from Sichuan while the other is from Shanxi, and that a bit after opening they added American Chinese classics to the menu, to satiate those expecting a typical carryout. I don't see much northern fare on the menu, but tea-smoked duck sits next to General Tso's chicken on the menu.
All in all, their 3-dishes-1-soup-rice combo is absolutely worth it, and I'll definitely be back... Once I eat lunch at all the other restaurants in the neighborhood. I'd also like to go for dinner and try some of the more elaborate dishes like the aforementioned tea-smoked duck or the fish with rattan pepper.
You know what? Let's start ranking this. This is based on quality and price, and likely the distance from my apartment, too. And I value a good deal more than anything else.
Greenpoint Chinese Lunch Current Standings:
- Four Season Joyful
- Mala Project