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Showing results for tags 'Chinese'.
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It took a moment for us to find it, but Chuan Tian Xia was worth the search. This is a very impressive Sichuan restaurant in Rockville, a few minutes walk from the Twinbrook Metro garage, at the corner of Fishers Lane and Twinbrook Parkway. The mixed fry plate (not sure exactly what it is called was a nice starter, a mix of fried tofu chunks, fish, and pork. Salty in the best way. The double cooked pork is an old favorite of ours, pretty commonly seen on Sichuan restaurant menus, and was a nice rendition. The Hunan style bamboo shoots was a delicious dish, mildly prepared but with a deep wok's kiss that amped up the savory flavor. Finally, the Chongqing spicy diced chicken, with a 'normal' level of spice, was very, very spicy, even for someone like me that enjoys spicier dishes. This was truly ma la, and I loved it. Service was very friendly and helpful. We look forward to going back. -
Went up to Philly for the Harry Potter exhibition at the Franklin Institute with the kids. Wanted good food and not overly expensive. General Tsao's House fit the bill. When we arrived at noon on Sunday, it was completely dead. A couple of tables did arrive shortly after us. We had (i) scallion pancakes $4, (ii) chicken potstickers $6, (iii) soup dumplings $8, (iv) pork dumplings with chili oil $7, (v) stir fried bok choy $11. The prices are on par or cheaper than Hong Kong Palace which is located in 7 Corners. I don't know how they do it. To be fair, the scallion pancakes and potstickers may have been from a grocery store but the soup dumplings and the pork dumplings were delicious.
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Da Hong Pao and Tony Cheng comes to mind.
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Sichuan Jin River is closed for at least a couple of weeks (they said there hadn't been much carry-out business). Has anyone had good carry-out from other DC-area Chinese restaurants that are still doing business?
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I wouldn't be surprised if BA is the best restaurant in McLean (I only frequent Palisades), but have you been to the (very small) Fahrenheit for Sichuan? Just had an excellent meal there. -
Dinner at Sichuan Jin River March 1, 5:30 pm. I will talk to them about dishes that can only be had via pre order. I will set up cold dishes to start. If there is energy for it, I can curate the menu for the entire dinner if there is energy for it. We have room in our car for those coming from Annandale convenient folk. 1. Dean & Kay 4. Eric & Steve 5. Pras -
Convinced DH to drive to the H Mart in Wheaton, only to discover that they were out of the main thing we came for (Laoganma’s Spicy Chili Crisp). But I have jury duty tomorrow and probably Wed, so I figured I’d search for it in Chinatown if there were any Asian markets left. Any recs (positive or negative)? In other news, Bantam King and Red Apron have joined Oyamel (at the bar) on my great juror lunch spots list! Which is handy since I got stuck with both DC and fed summons almost back-to-back.
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This restaurant is in soft-opening mode still with little web presence and a limited menu (not all the items on the printed menu are available yet)...that being said I think it is a game changer for the miserable state of dumplings in Alexandria. We went on a Sunday morning and had the following: Pork Soup Dumplings(XLB) --- I thought these were better than the XLB at all the Rockville joints. Great flavor to the soup--perfect mix of fat and meat. Thin delicate wrapper, yet sturdy enough not to tear when removing it from steamer basket. Steamed shrimp (har gow)--crisp shrimp, well made tapioca wrapper, held up without becoming mushy Scallion Pancake--were fine--Ive had better--less flaky and more flat Pan Fried Buns with egg and Chive--these were deep fried and tasty with fresh chives Pan Fried Buns with shrimp and Chives-- These were in a har gow style wrapper but pan fried with crispy bottoms--excellent Vegetable Stir Fried Noodles--these were a bust--we wanted something with the hand pulled noodles and these were the only veg option--noodles were good but sauce tasted like it had tomato sauce or ketchup in it--very weird This place is a franchise from NYC and is well reviewed there. I am excited for the full menu and will definitely be back. I think this place is going to be mobbed once fully opened and reviewed in the press. No website yet-- so I am grudgingly putting the yelp link here.- 18 replies
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- New York Franchise
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LaoMa SPicy 110 Odendhal Ave Ste 108 Gaithersburg, MD 20877 99 Ranch Market was a staple in my life in LA. But, I have not been in in one since moving to the DC area in 1999. I found out about one here in Gaithersburg from the board and I put it on my list of things to check out. So this week, in preparation for our last duck dinner, I decided to go there an see what was on offer. Looking for a place for lunch before, LaoMa spicy popped up sand is located inside 99 Ranch so off I went. This is a food court stand with two refrigerated stations, one for veggies and the other for meat. I ordered a meat lovers and was watching as the cook started to assemble the raw ingredients. They had duck blood and gizzards on the meat side so I asked him if I got those in my bowl and he looked surprised at my interest in the 'odd' stuff. He said yes (Unfortunately ,there was none in the bowl I got) The cashier to led me to take a seat and she would bring it over. What I got was a metal bowl with a pretty huge portion of stir fried meats and veggies swimming on a spicy soup broth. I later realized that I could have added noodles which I probably will do next time. The meats included 4 large meatballs, a bunch of tripe, lots of shreds of pork and more, with the veggies leaning to green onion, nappa cabbage. There was a smattering of glass noodles. All were tasty and not overcooked. It definitely skewed meaty. But the star of the show was the broth. Brilliant red from chilies and chile paste, this was a very hot soup indeed, richly flavored from simmering the ingredients in it after they were quickly stir fried. I picked up the bowl in the end to slurp down every drop and my mouth burned for a good while after. Looking at the online menu, I see that they have a bowl for two where you pick 8 veggies and 6 meats for $25.99 and a few other dishes. Dumplings as well. I was too full to try anything else from the food stands: the BBQ looked good, the dimsum servicable and he cooked dishes not so good. Just wish it wasn't so far away. It is part of a chain based in New York City and associated with a chain in China. 99 Ranch has incredible produce and seafood but it is not as large as Super H in Fairfax City. Well worth the trip especially if you toss in a meal at LaoMa
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I rarely go out for lunch as I'm not a fan of most of the options in the Rio Center (think chain dining). So was surprised to learn that this place opened recently. There are guys in the front pulling noodles - really cool to watch. Have been twice and have tried both thin and knife cut noodles in stir fry. Really good. The bao and dumplings are delicious and fresh. It's fast casual - you order, get a number and they bring your food to you. Very busy at lunch. Glad to have an independent place near my office that I can walk to and enjoy.- 6 replies
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Mama Chang is supposedly a celebration of the culinary contribution of the Chang's female relatives. I think that's all PR b.s. Nevertheless, it's a bright and airy restaurant with the currently popular cement floors. The staff is bilingual and generally young. So how is it they can completely botch a menu description? Cumin duck wings and legs turns out to be wings and feet. Duck feet that's fried is very difficult to eat - the skin is tethered to the bone and hard to gnaw off. If you like chicken feet and you like to work hard for tiny morsels, this might be worth a try. I think the flavor is good but you'll have to eat with your hands and don't mind ending up with a plate of gnawed bones in front you. The Chinese description simply said "parts" so no way to know that you're getting some webby fried feet. Even the wings are scrawny - not much meat at all (certainly not as much as chicken wings). The pan fried fluffy vegetable bao is fine - note there're lots of sesame seeds on the bottom. The filling is mostly leeks and shitake mushroom. You can buy shen jian bao of equal quality in the freezer section of Chinese markets. The pan-fried noodles with vegetables was a let-down for me. They don't use egg noodles like at Cantonese restaurants. The veggies consist of mostly snap peas - something not really used in traditional Chinese cooking and which I don't particularly like. The thick noodles were okay, the saucing nothing special. This restaurant could be good. I just need to order differently next time. If anyone's interested in going as a group - post here or shoot me a message.
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I just had fresh lily bulb in a dish for the first time and loved it. Does anyone know where to find these locally? Or have any tips on preparing them? And I’d also be very interested to hear if anyone has tried to grow them— I grow a lot of lilies anyway, so I’m wondering if I could grow these and get a twofer of a gorgeous flower plus delicious bulb
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Yunnan by Potomac is a new place in northern Old Town (according to google maps, it's outside the actual boundary of Old Town), that opened in early February. I went there a couple weeks ago for lunch and enjoyed it for the most part. They are a Mixian Noodle place from the Yunnan Province. Here's the blurb from their website: MIXIAN: SOUL FOOD Yunnan is a beautiful diverse region in southwest China, offering a variety of unique flavors and textures in its distinctive cuisine – not your typical Chinese food. The soul food of Yunnan is Mixian - delicious rice noodles - which are prepared with braised meats, rich broths and sweet, savory and spicy sauces. Mixian bowls are at the core of our menu and are complimented by a variety of unique small plates. They have (or did) a limited menu at this point with promises for more to come. The menu in the restaurant has more options than the one currently posted online. I ordered Pork Belly Lotus Leaf Bun and the Braised Beef Lu Mixian soup (at least I think that's what I ordered. I just asked what's their best dish/specialty). The pork belly bun was good, but not great. The meat was fine, but the bun tasted like a mass produced Wonder bread version. That may be an unfair assessment, as I'm no expert, but I was underwhelmed by taste/texture of the bun. The soup was good, but again I don't think the broth was as deep and rich as my memories of Daikaya or Momofuku's versions of broth. Like I said before, I'm no expert on this, so maybe my memory of those other soups are better than they actually were?!!? I'd love to do a side by side comparison of all the ramen/mixian broths that's probably impossible. The service was understandably a bit rough as they are brand new. When I sat down I was greeted by a server who came up to my table and said, " ". I said, pardon me, and she said, "Drink?". This time it was an audible question. Barely audible, but audible! I asked what they had and she said, "Soda, water, tea" so I just got water. I saw repeat performances of the super quiet interaction with other guests, and lots of repeat questions. The woman working the register and taking the orders was much more on the ball however. Interestingly, I didn't see a single Asian person working there, but I never saw into the kitchen. Also interesting perhaps was my second "visit" to this place. I happened to park in front the other evening for a class, and a group of 4-5 Asian people were entering and none were speaking English. I took that as a good sign, but it's likely that was their first visit (it took them a few seconds to figure out where it was along the block), so who knows if they'll return? I'll definitely go back when I'm in the neighborhood and I'm happy to have a new cuisine on the scene. Photos of the menu and my dishes below.
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Could it be because it was St. Patrick's Day and the usual customers were out and about with the wearing of the green? I was at dimsum at Tony Cheng's for the first time (not bad by the way) yesterday at 12:30, also pretty empty. -
I encourage others to visit and see if they agree or not -- there may be a new king of dim sum in MD, and it's...Far East?!? Yes, not a typo. The one that's been around for 45 years and whose website says that it specializes in "Szechuan and Mandarin" cuisine. My family and I moved to Montgomery County 40 years ago and I don't recall having been here more than a few times before. But on the recommendation of their friends, we went with my parents yesterday and (pardon the cliche) it was a revelation. There's a certain richness and freshness in the shumai and the shrimp dumplings that aren't present anymore at Silver Fountain or Hollywood East. The radish cakes actually taste like radish, and the taro dumplings have way more filling than fried outer shell. The items tend to cost $1 more here than at the other dim sum joints, but I suspect that's a function of better ingredients, portion size, and execution. The place was packed at opening, and when we left around 12:30, there were still tons of folks waiting in the lobby. This is our family's new dim sum destination in the foreseeable future. -
Would anyone be interested in meeting up at Xi'an Gourmet in Rockville to explore the menu? http://www.xiangourmetmd.com/menu.aspx I'd prefer a weekend because this is a bit of a drive for me in weeknight traffic, but could maybe do a weeknight if it were a bit on the later side. This coming weekend (March 9-10) is totally open for me, but after that I have a moderate preference for Sunday evenings.- 33 replies
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- dr.com Event
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Lao Xi Noodle House is a small, strip-mall joint somewhat off the beaten path in Arcadia that serves wonderful hand-made noodles in a no-frills setting. China's Shanxi province food heavily features noodles, potatoes, and vinegar. The menu is short and mostly features different noodles (fried, cold, soup, buckwheat, jelly, etc.), a few types of boiled dumplings (for there or to take away frozen), an assortment of "cold-plate" appetizers, and a few meat/vegetable entrees. We tried the House Special Fried Noodle with Fried Boiled Pork, Daoxiao-Style, which had plump, pleasantly chewy noodles in a tasty, vinegar-laced sauce, stir-fried with chunks of tender pork and lots of leeks and wood-ear mushrooms. We all loved this dish and almost ordered another plate to go (and only restrained ourselves because we were going back to a hotel, not home). The beef noodle soup had a clear, clean-tasting broth that mostly highlighted the long, thin noodles (kids loved it, adults thought it was bland, but noodles were good). Cold dishes were fine and fresh but otherwise ordinary. We would absolutely go back but mostly be interested in revisiting the fried noodles, trying the odder noodle shapes and lamb dumplings, and then taking away frozen dumplings (GREAT price) if they taste as good as they looked. -
Andy Hayler's Review -
Andy Hayler's Review
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From the owners of Northwest in College Park, this place is essentially Cava or Chipotle with awesome tasting Chinese ingredients, made into a "burrito" in a pancake or as a rice bowl. I can't find a website but this Diamondback article describes it pretty well. "College Park's Latest Chinese Restaurant Has Build-Your-Own Meals" by Julia Lerner on dbknews.com My lunchmates and I covered 3 proteins and 6 "side" ingredients, and other than general agreement we would skip the raw garlic next time, all were tasty. I had lamb, spicy sauce, eggplant, and bean sprouts. The lamb here is "lamby" (don't say gamy) much like it is at Northwest; I don't know what cut but it's awesome. They also have a Jones Soda fountain, which I haven't seen before. I don't drink much soda but Green Apple Jones from the tap? Sure.- 4 replies
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Andy Hayler's Reviews
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Tangyuan: "A Chinese Sweet That's a Homophone for 'Reunion'" by Runze Yu on bbc.com
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Thought people might be interested to hear about Chef Guo, a new restaurant featuring Chef Guo Wenjun's take on Chinese banquets. This is probably the closest the DC area has had to Chinese fine dining, and I'm interested to see how it fares. The chef serves a selection of two tasting menus, the Banquet of Eternal Bliss Hot Pot ($68 lunch, $98 dinner), and the Banquet of Peace and Prosperity ($158 dinner only), both of which feature 10+ courses in the style of imperial cuisine. Scroll through the website to see the full menus, pictures of the dishes, and a press release detailing the overall concept. So far there hasn't been much buzz about this place outside of the Chinese community, but some friends who have gone reported it to be luxurious, visually and conceptually unique, and a lot of (too much?) food, mostly very good to excellent. There seems to be a mix of traditional cuisine and modern/Western techniques. If I understand correctly, the dinner they attended was a special event combining dishes from both menus, with all of the guests at a shared table and Chef Guo himself coming out between each course to explain the concept behind the dish (in Chinese); it's not clear to me how different the experience will be once the restaurant gets settled in, but from their website it seems like they are definitely interested in catering to non-Chinese clientele as well.- 20 replies
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Andy Hayler's Reviews
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Andy Hayler's Review
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