Noah’s Kitchen

Noah’s Kitchen in Brookline serves Sichuan food with a menu that rewards reading past the familiar dishes. Dan dan noodles, pork or chicken dumplings and kung pao chicken make an easy starting point. Keep going and you’ll find fish with fermented mustard greens, cumin lamb, pork belly rolls with garlic, and several preparations of frog and offal. Chili symbols help you compare the heat before ordering. There’s also a separate vegetarian section, so vegetables needn’t be an afterthought. On Harvard Street in Brookline Village, it’s a place to settle in with a few people and order broadly, passing dishes around rather than committing everyone to the same meal.