elinw

Count me in!

As the other first-timer, here's my review: When I got off the long metro ride, I found myself a bit overwhelmed in the middle of the huge Rockville pikeway. With only a little trouble, and checking my iphone map every few minutes, I made it to the restaurant. Boy was the journey worth it, and Sichuan Pavilion was an excellent entree into the Don Rockwell family. In fact, the deceptive address of the place -- it's on the other side of an office building and not visible from the street-- was probably proof that good things were hidden inside. Along with Gennaro, the other first timer, I joined just the group of adventurous eaters I could only dream of in dinner companions. There were 14 of us, spread across two tables. When I arrived, we were just getting our tables sorted out, and ordering was underway. What a nice feeling to not have to worry about picking what to eat. But I had a quick look at the menu anyway, and suggested the lotus root salad (it says "poot salad" on the menu) because I enjoy lotus salads when I've had them in japanese food (often as a cold stew in a dish like nishime) or thai or vietnamese restaurants (where it seems to stand in as an alternative green papaya salad). Daniel took up hosting at our small table, and he did a great job: introducing Gennaro and I to everyone and inducting us into DR customs. The main thing, it seems, is to enjoy the food and talk about it! So, on to the food: After a small beef jerker pre-meal appetizer, we started with some cold small plates -- the crispy fungus & pickled pepper salad, the lotus root salad, and the shredded bean curd salad, which was a type of tofu noodle. The mushroom dish and the lotus were stand-outs, and total contrasts -- the slightly slimy and vinegary-tasting mushroom; the crunchy and spicy lotus. Very nice textures. The beef tendon & tripe dish broke in around then for a nice start into the meat and serious sichuan spiciness. Nice thin and a bit tough cuts of meat, with a oily spicy sauce and shredded almonds all over. A little dish that kind of heats up the gut, it gives a new name to "starter." Very good. Since we were sharing many dishes between two tables, other dishes filtered our way -- I only got to taste one broad bean, which was cold and tasty but nondescript. I really liked the baby smelt with roasted peanuts & hot peppers. It's served warm, and with its saltiness and mix of textures (fried little smelts, crunchy peanuts), it's a great warm snack that would go perfect with a beer. Around this time, the pace of the dishes started quickening, and the plates were no longer small. Cured pork belly with garlic sprout was very satisfying-- salty with a nice crunch from the garlic sprouts (or were they leeks?), which were very good. Two chicken dishes came out early, and these were stand-outs. The basil "cup" chicken tasted as good as any chinese stir-fried chicken dish I've had: perfect softness of the chicken while also being salty and a bit sweet, with the oil-flavors perfectly coating the chicken without it seeming oily. But the real highlight was General Guan's chicken. Move over General Tso-- Guan has you beat! This cumin-spiced chicken was absolutely distinctive. Is this chinese food?! wow. The rest could have been an afterthought after this, but it wasn't. Deep Fried Smoked Duck (served with a bun, hoisin sauce, and lettuce & cilantro if you want): excellent. Double cooked pork with crispy bread-- seemed very good but I only got a taste. When a whole fish with pickled vegetables came out, I was amazed that we were still just getting going. Great dish with a strong sauce and the pickled vegetables, which were featured in quite a few of the entrees, gave a nice touch. It did overpower the fish a little bit though -- I would be interested in trying their other whole fishes. Here were my favorites of what remained: * Crispy Potato noodles with Wild peppers-- this was another surprise. Potatoes at a chinese restaurant??? Kind of like still oily pre-cooked fries , this was a great starchy dish that packed a subtle wallop with the hidden peppers. * Seafood combination w/ crispy rice cake: mmmnnnnnnnn... Gleaming pieces of shrimp, scallop, and fish (all perfectly cook and clinging to its oil-based flavors) with some crunchy vegetables, all atop the gooey sauce that infiltrates the crispy rice cake. Wow. Dean insisted we order another one rather than shares ours with the next table. Good Decision! The crispy rice, which traditionally was the slightly-burnt part that clings to the pan when a big batch is made, is most likely made separately just for the dish. Dean offered his version: throw an egg over some already cooked white rice, and then fry it up over high heat. Worth trying! There was more. The fried short ribs were tasty, but I agree with some others that the lemon sauce was just too candied for my tastes. Not enough to ruin some perfectly fried ribs, but didn't quite work for me. From the specials board, we had the pig feet hot & sour soup with rice noodles. Had a very vinegary, pickled flavor, which I actually liked as a contrast to the other dishes, and very nice noodle threads. But there was too much other good stuff to focus on the soup, and it was the only left-over dish of the night. Probably would be hard to finish, and I would never have ordered it on my own, so glad to have tried it. A tofu w/ veggie dish, which wasn't so special got lost in the mix of intense and distinctive flavors. Lastly, some chinese-style greens, that I think were gai lan or something similar, were a nice healthy addition to everything else . I really enjoyed this meal, and the ability to try so much left me smiling and with a slight spicy/intense flavor buzz. The $16 bill didn't hurt either. Thanks to all for a great introduction to Don Rockwell eating. Lydia, Gennaro, Dean, Kay, and Daniel-- you were great tablemates. More chinese food soon?

I'd like to join -- for my first DR event!

(reposting here because I accidentally started a new topic) ----------------------------- Hello Fellow Food Lovers, I'm relatively new to town, and a casual cook and happy eater. I'm from California and have lived in South America and Hawaii-- I'm partial to all foods Asian, and all things ethnic. I'm adventurous. Love the middle eastern food in DC, the empanadas you find a lot more than in California, and am excited to explore more. I love the little mysterious cheap finds-- like that Korean truck downtown, trying all the salvadoran food at the corner of Euclid & Columbia in Adams Morgan-- to the ingredient-centered fresh food that's getting more popular. Happy to join a group of like-minded people. Eli