9 replies to this topic

[Ericandblueboy]

Facebook page.

Read about this place on Chowhound so I went to check it out today (a Thursday). They do in fact have carts on weekdays but the selection wasn't great. I didn't see any turnip cakes. On the other hand, the dumpling soup (ordered off the menu) was a good deal for about $5 - lots of tasty hong kong style wontons or dumplings. The dim sum quality was good, not great. I tried their chicken feet, lotus wrapped sticky rice, fish balls, and fried yam dumpling. Their seasoning are on the light side, and not oily at all. Now you have even more options for Cantonese food around 7 corners.

[catharine]

I've been wondering about this place. Thanks for posting. I will give it a try.

[PollyG]

We visited on Saturday and it is the best dim sum we have had in NoVa in years. Dishes were mostly hot, with the kitchen staff coming out to restock the carts as they rolled around, rather than leaving things in the kitchen to cool down. The one exception was the clams in black bean sauce, which were cold--in retrospect, we got them from a cart where they were the only plate of clams and we should have checked for warmth. We had:

• Clams in black bean sauce--very good rendition of the sauce, I really want to try this hot next time.
• stewed tripe with turnip--very sweet from the turnip and probably some added sugar, but this was a real comfort food dish
• stewed pork skin--less successful for us than the tripe; just not enough variety in taste and texture to keep us interested
• shrimp dumplings--a good version of this dish
• eggplant stuffed with shrimp/fish paste; fluffier paste than we're used to getting, but a tasty dish
• fried chive dumplings--the strongly flavored chive filling was studded with chunks of shrimp. My 12 year-old found it too strong tasting (she's generally a big fan of this dish) but the adults liked the strong, very fresh taste.
• steamed tripe with ginger. Tasty, though they really should have cut the tripe a bit smaller.
• fresh tofu with sweet ginger sauce
• baked char sui bao --these came from the dessert cart and would have been better hot
• steamed baby cuttlefish in a light garlic sauce. I've never had these before and they are very good. Portion size was big for two adults. My daughter declared them too cute to eat.

[Ericandblueboy]

Had dim sum with a friend today and tried numerous dishes:

shrimp dumpling
shumai
fried yam dumpling (served at room temperature when we got it, much better if hot)
fish balls*
turnip cake*
rice noodle wrapped around you tiao
chives dumpling

Unfortunately they don't have one of my favorites - shark fin dumpling
* my favorite dishes

The quality is the same as the first time. I like the fact that they're not over seasoning their food. Still pushing carts on weekdays.

[SSK]

Went on Saturday and had very good versions of several standards that were less greasy and definitely fresher than, for example, Fortune:

shrimp dumplings
turnip cake
steamed rice noodle wrapped around shrimp
shiu mai
steamed pork buns
chive dumplings
fried taro fritter
pork/mushroom meatball wrapped in tofu skin

Also had:
clams in black bean sauce--echo the review above that this was great
chinese broccoli--crisp with not too much sauce
fishballs (surprisingly good)
a fishball type dumpling from the cart with the turnip cakes (also surprisingly good)
sweet tofu in syrup (good version--not as good as from the tofu shop across the way in Eden Center, but good nevertheless)
some sort of pink coconut jello thing with an umbrella stuck in it (an unsurprising choice by the kids, less offensive than i thought it would be)

All in all a great addition to the dim sum scene. It's also bright and clean (the fish tanks in the back are, at least for now, very clear). We went just before noon and didn't have to wait. Not sure how much longer that will be the case. Looking forward to trying their non-dim sum dishes.

[Ericandblueboy]

By the way — speaking of dim sum: there’s a very good new dim sum place across from the Eden Center, Falls Church: Hong Kong Pearl Seafood. Go.

from Todd Kliman's weekly chat.

My last visit (Friday 3/30) was rather disappointing. The weekday offerings were winnowed down to two carts, one steamed cart, one non-steamed cart. The steamed cart offered the typical dim sum dishes, such as shrimp dumpling, shumai, chicken feet, pork ribs, fish balls, meat balls, rice noodle wrap. The non-steamed cart offered mostly sweets. I ordered some shrimp dumplings, shumai, chives dumplings, fish balls, and fried yam dumpling. Same stuff as I usually ordered, so what's wrong? Well, the wrappers were thicker on the shrimp and chives dumpling. The dumplngs seem to have grown in size (bigger isn't necessarily better). The chives dumplings and fried yam dumplings left puddles of grease on the plates and the fried yam dumplings had very little stuffing and thus not much flavor other than stale grease. I need to go back on a weekend.

[goodeats]

Little man and I had a grand time on Friday night. The bill for the two of us came to $22 and change, with plenty of leftovers for this week. Little man really enjoyed the Chicken and corn soup (for two - $6.95): this is a classic homestyle type of comfort soup we often make at home growing up that isn't really regional, since I feel like every region has their own version.

For a more Cantonese dish, I ordered the Roast Pork with Broccoli Chow Fun ($13.95), which was served in this humonngggous plate. I feel like it was enough to serve four. Some of the chow fun was not cooked thoroughly, so that was the only downside. Service was wonderful, with a few of the women servers attentive to little man. He ate lots of everything.

It is a bit pricey compared to other Chinese restaurants, but for the amount to price ratio, I think it evens out a bit.

I am curious to try their dim sum, but with hours like open until 2:00am (Sun-Thurs) or open until 3:00am (Fri-Sat) and the live fish/lobster/king crab tanks in the back, I would come here over XO Taste for a late night snack in a heartbeat.

If anyone is interested for their regular menu $20 Tuesday type of place, I think it's worth trying several things off their menu, especially casseroles and some seafood items.

[catharine]

^{We had a great $20 Tuesday here earlier this week. The highlights for me (other than seeing old friends) were the whole crispy chicken and the triple seafood delight. The service was excellent for our party of 11 and we are looking forward to going back.}

[Ericandblueboy]

Had dim sum here on Sunday at just after 10 a.m. The selection wasn't much better than on weekdays. They have the basics (but no real Cantonese spring rolls) which are pretty good. The roast duck here is pretty mediocre.

[goodeats]

Had dim sum here on Sunday at just after 10 a.m. The selection wasn't much better than on weekdays. They have the basics (but no real Cantonese spring rolls) which are pretty good. The roast duck here is pretty mediocre.

I went here for dim sum some time in the summer and like it much better than Mark's Duck House and Fortune. It's probably the better option in the Northern VA area right now. Service was nice too--been meaning to go back.