Jun Dynasty | Exploring Asia in Tucson

PC: Rachel Low

As an ABC growing up with home cooked and very traditional meals, it is difficult to find food outside of home that is satisfactory to my palate. Most of the quick serve, Chinese restaurants in Tucson that dot along Speedway or near the University claim to sell asian foods, but they lack authenticity. It wasn't until recently by referral from a friend, that I found this gem of a restaurant. Jun Dynasty.

Upon initial arrival, the restaurant from the outside doesn't look very impressive. It is the only active looking business in the area with its bright fairy lights and neon open sign which announces wether it is open or not. The large sign at the top announces the name of the restaurant in two languages, one in traditional sanskrit like characters, and the other in English for those who cant read traditional Chinese. The windows are blacked out against the potential southern light that comes in during the day, but it really doesn't make one feel very encouraged to enter. Thankfully, I  trust my friend's advice so I still decided to give it a shot.

PC: Rachel Low

Entering into the restaurant, it is surprisingly bright and spacious inside. Upon inspection, there are faint traces that hint to me that this wasn't the first restaurant here. The design of the interior and the bathroom (not pictured for reasons) are Italian. To make up for the lack of traditional Chinese interior design, there are multiple lanterns hanging from the ceiling and a couple wall decorations that I have seen during new years. Its not much but its good enough. The food is what really counts. 

PC: Rachel Low

For the food, Jun Dynasty serves Sichuan style food. My heritage is from Canton in southern China where a majority of the food I grew up eating is steamed and savory. Sichuan is Northern Chinese food, the climate is colder so they eat foods steeped in chiles and spice. Looking around at the other tables and the food here made me a bit nervous, since I actually had never really eaten or liked Sichuan food before. First time for everything I suppose. Since it was just my friend and I eating here, we were warned not to order too much since the portions were big and proceeded to order Xi Hu Beef chowder and stir fried string beans. The chowder had egg, cilantro, beef shreds and tofu in it, I've had it before at home and it tasted on par. The string beans were good, but like I noted before, Sichuan makes their food spicy and this was no exception. The beans were covered in chili pepper and sliced garlic, but surprisingly it wasn't too spicy so I enjoyed the taste a lot. Its so refreshing to eat food that looks and tastes so close to home, so even if its not traditional Cantonese food, it still has similarities and the taste that satisfies the Asian foodie in me.

PC: Rachel Low

The two dishes and rice was enough to fill both my friend and I up. When I went up to pay, I noted these two items near the front desk, the lucky cat and the two wall talismans.  The lucky cat is a very common item to have in asian businesses. I don't exactly remember the origins of where the lucky cat came from, but they are very popular to display to bring good business and luck to the owners.

The talismans are very common and mandatory in any traditional Chinese business, especially restaurants. They are rooted from buddhism and are blessed to bring good business and to protect the owners from bad intentions. Sometimes along with the talismans there are altars too, they usually have a statue of the Buddha with incense and offering holders. However, Jun Dynasty doesn't seem to have one visible in the dining area so maybe its in the back.

  An interesting thought I had after looking around, I noticed that I don't see these traditional symbols often in the newer asian owned food establishments that are run by the "new generation of asians". Maybe they're located in the back or It really depends if you are willing to continue the traditions passed from the elders. Who knows.