Wang Manor (Formerly Big Wang's Cuisine), A New Concept, Szechuan Dry Hot-Pot Specialists on Frederick Road in Derwood

[pras]

54 minutes ago, deangold said:

There are photos of the menu on some website where self important people go to yip about their loves being ruined over trivial slights and a touch too much salt in one dish. While said website is worthless in guiding dining decisions, the photos of menus often offersmore insight into the food offered than website with little to no menu information. The pictures of the food show some pretty impressive traditional dishes, particularly a thrice cooked pork belly over pickled veggies dish that look screamingly tempting. 

Tim Carman reviewed Big Wang a couple years ago.  The link is higher up in the thread, but worthy of re-posting.  Their dry pot is really good and you pay be the ingredient, not weight like the place further up north on 355.

[deangold]

I went once with DanielK and I was not blown away with the dry pot but the 'regular' food we got was good. I'd go back with a group.

[DanielK]

20 hours ago, deangold said:

I went once with DanielK and I was not blown away with the dry pot but the 'regular' food we got was good. I'd go back with a group.

As Tim's review mentions, they don't provide much help in assembling a dry hot pot, and it's too easy to fumble the combination. But when you get it right, it's addictive. 

[deangold]

My experience is that while a good is in necessary, it is nowhere as knife edge as Tim makes it to be. I have had a large number of dry pots with blends of ingredients that are not traditional combos that would up great. I didn't think it was the mix of ingredients as much as the succulence of the final pot. Like I say, I'd go again, with a group. 

[SilverBullitt]

On 2/21/2020 at 9:12 AM, pras said:

Looks like they have finally re-opened in the last week or so.  Need to check it out to see if the menu has changed at all.  Very excited for some dry hot pot!

Thank you for reporting that Wang Manor was open.  The décor is amazing.  I believe they are trying to recreate the look of a siheyuan. 

I ordered the fried pig feet (listed as “Stir-fried Pig Poor w. Spicy Chili”) and Stir-fried Green Beans.  Both were excellent.  I also ordered “Braised Pork w. Preserved Vegetables”.  I thought I was ordering red-cooked pork (hong shao rou- Chairman Mao’s favorite dish!) but from comparing the Chinese characters, I believe that appears as “Braised Pork Belly” in another part of the menu. 

Anyway, the waitress or I made an error and I got “Steamed Pork w. Lotus Leaf” (those two pork dishes appear next to each other).  It is served with these interesting crispy, sweet rolls.  I didn’t care for the dish because I learned that I don’t like lotus leaf. I did like the rolls.

One of the waitresses told me there are some new dishes.  The one that seemed new was the intriguing “Braised Old Chicken”.

Next time, I'll get the hot pot.  BTW, "Beef Tender" on the hot pot menu is probably still beef tendon.  It took me a few bites to convince myself that I wasn't eating filet mignon when I had ordered it last year.

I couldn't upload the menu because the file is too big but there are pictures of it on yelp as well as pictures of the new decor.

[pras]

12 minutes ago, SilverBullitt said:

Thank you for reporting that Wang Manor was open.  The décor is amazing.  I believe they are trying to recreate the look of a siheyuan. 

I ordered the fried pig feet (listed as “Stir-fried Pig Poor w. Spicy Chili”) and Stir-fried Green Beans.  Both were excellent.  I also ordered “Braised Pork w. Preserved Vegetables”.  I thought I was ordering red-cooked pork (hong shao rou- Chairman Mao’s favorite dish!) but from comparing the Chinese characters, I believe that appears as “Braised Pork Belly” in another part of the menu. 

Anyway, the waitress or I made an error and I got “Steamed Pork w. Lotus Leaf” (those two pork dishes appear next to each other).  It is served with these interesting crispy, sweet rolls.  I didn’t care for the dish because I learned that I don’t like lotus leaf. I did like the rolls.

One of the waitresses told me there are some new dishes.  The one that seemed new was the intriguing “Braised Old Chicken”.

Next time, I'll get the hot pot.  BTW, "Beef Tender" on the hot pot menu is probably still beef tendon.  It took me a few bites to convince myself that I wasn't eating filet mignon when I had ordered it last year.

I couldn't upload the menu because the file is too big but there are pictures of it on yelp as well as pictures of the new decor.

I really need to get back there.  It has been way to long!

[pras]

Checked Wang Manor out last night.  First time back after the remodel.  It is certainly a nice large space.  I have been thinking about their dry pot for a while so I finally had an opportunity and jumped on it.  It was very good, the same as I remember.  Was it as good as Jin River on Sunday?  Not really sure.  What I do know though is that it really can get expensive.  Once I was done ordering, with tip, the pot came to just under $30.  Granted, I had alot in there, but still expensive considering I am the only person in my family who will eat it.  It was a ton of food though and embarrassingly I ate the whole thing.  There was lots of Ma and lots of La, which probably encouraged me to eat way more than I should have.  It was very good.  It was spicy.  My mouth was numb.  All in all, very satisfied and will certainly be back.

[deangold]

Have you tried LaoMa Spicy in 99 ranch market?  

[pras]

On 3/6/2020 at 9:13 PM, deangold said:

Have you tried LaoMa Spicy in 99 ranch market?  

Yes.  I think LaoMa may be better, I like being able to pick what and how much I want of each offering.