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Friendship BBQ opened on 9/1/2019. It appears to be the Maryland outpost of a Flushing Queens restaurant. You can see the menu at their website. We strolled in on Sunday after our meal at La Tosca. at about 6:30 pm they were already closed for the day. It seemed like they were a bit overwhelmed, but the aromas were quite intoxicating. The menu is a bit confusing to someone who does not read Chinese and I am not sure that all of the translations are exactly correct (e.g., what are the portion sizes for some of the offerings, and is there really such a thing grilled chicken skeleton?). I think the Chinese BBQ may be the next big thing in Chinese cuisine as it makes it was south from Queens NY. I will give the place some time to work out the kinks and will definitely give it a try. If anyone has had a chance to try this place out I am really interested to know what you think. -
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 -
I wanted to post this in case anyone had a chance to check this place out tonight and report back. The advertisement and initial report in the Chinese newspaper made it sound wonderful and a great replacement for what Bob's 88 Shabu Shabu could have been. The newspaper reports that this place is opened by Mr. Liu of Chengdu Xiaoguan (Cheng du little cafe), but I can't recall if this is the chinese name of Hong Kong Palace right now -- could someone verify? Anyway, the newpaper reports that all the stocks are homemade and there are various stock options to choose from (chicken, fish, red meat-based). Also lots of spiciness involved. The hot pot is from 3:00pm onwards, but no price is given in this report. The newspaper also reports that the owner went back to China last year for two month and ate at various hot pot place in Chengdu and Chongqing. Chinese name: Old Liu's Hot Pot City (Lao Liu Huo Guo Chen) English name: Uncle Liu's Hot Pot 2972 Gallows Road Falls Church, Virginia 703-560-6868 Buffet from 11:00am to 3:00pm Hot pot from 3:00pm to 12midnight *Don - if this is posted anywhere, could you merge it? Thanks. -
Xi'an Gourmet, opened in the ashes of the former Bob's space. Tim Carman wrote about it in the Post today and seems to like it. Has Anyone tried it yet?
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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Yesterday, I joined a tradition that many Americans celebrate - a feast at a Chinese restaurant on Christmas day. I went with my co-worker and his family to this unassuming restaurant in a strip mall deep in Montgomery County. It is quite difficult to get to - if you put in the address into the GPS, it doesn't quite get you there. When you enter the plaza you think you should be entering, you will approach a roundabout. Don't take it all the way into the plaza - head towards the Hilton and then you'll make a left to get to the back part of the plaza where the restaurant is. I sat down with my friend's family and we caught up. Hot tea was delivered to the table. Now, here is the frustrating part. I know this is part and parcel of "authentic" Chinese restaurants, but it really bugs me. They have a Chinese-American menu and an authentic Chinese menu. The part that is really annoying is the Chinese menu is completely written in a Chinese language script. The only thing in English is the headings ("Pork", "Beef", etc.). There is absolutely no way to try to order from this unless you either read Chinese or have the staff translate every single thing on the menu. I was lucky in that my co-worker's mother is Chinese and speaks/reads the language that was on the menu, plus they have been there several times. They ordered a mix from both menus (I think). You look at the menu at table, and then go up and order/pay (like Joe's Noodle House). We started with the pot-stickers (I think, b/c I have no freaking idea what the dish is actually called). Pan fried and deliciously pork filled. We also got what I assume were XLB/soup dumplings. I like these a lot, don't have a great frame of reference for what is good or not, but these were tasty to me. For the mains, we got (and this is based on me asking Barbara and the server what these dishes were called) "shredded pork and beans", "chicken with spicy garlic sauce", "tea smoked duck", "sour fish soup with vegetables". Very, very tasty. I loved all the dishes. The pork dish was slivers of tasty pork with vegetables and beans and a tasty sauce. I haven't had it anywhere before. The chicken was spicier, and the sauce was a little sweet. The duck was fantastic. Crispy fried on outside, tender and fatty duck meat on the in side. It was served with those small white buns and hoisin sauce. The fish soup was good and interesting tasting, but could have been spicier with more hot peppers. I like this place a lot. The food quality is very good (IMO). I liked each dish and it seemed very consistent. My friends mom said she forgot to ask for spicy, so that could have enhanced it, as well. I think asking for it a little spicier and being selective with dishes could make this as good as Joe's Noodle House, but far less crowded and rushed of an experience (I think Joe's is sort of best for take out, but it's 27 miles from my house, so it's not an impromptu option). I'm looking at the Chinese menu now, and hit the "Google translate" button, so now I can see the menu options. I'm just going to print this out next time and take it with me. -
My parents sold their home of 40 years this past spring, exchanging the hassle of maintaining a 2,000 sf house for the simple life of a 2 br rental at Leisure World. Over the decades, they had not done a good job of curating their possessions, consequently, they were overwhelmed by the decision of what to do with their mountain of stuff. I helped them figure out what to keep (my 8th grade report on the Mayas, with a picture I drew showing how they formed a baby’s head into a point) and what to donate (3 flour sifters). Of course, the final home for the majority of stuff was the MoCo dump on 355. Over the many trips there, I had time to contemplate “Big Wang Cuisine” on the east side of the road, just south of the dump. I speculated a restaurant with a name that, in English, is quite amusing, would be hardcore. The majority of contributors to Yelp confirmed this. Young SB and I went there last week. The restaurant specializes in dry hotpot, which, from what I can tell, is a Szechuan stir-fry. You select what you want from four categories; the categories are priced from $2-$5. We chose beef, pork belly, dried bean curd, bok choy, wide vermicelli, and Tribute vegetable (a hollow-stemmed vegetable that had been dried) and asked for extra spicy. We also got House Special Beef Noodle Soup, a lamb skewer, and a beef skewer. All the dishes were excellent. The hotpot, served with rice, had a lot of chili peppers, Szechwan peppercorns, and oil. The items were cooked well and there was a nice contrast of textures. There was plenty for two. The skewers were juicy; both were spiced with hot pepper and cumin. The lamb was quite fatty and gamy. The soup had a very nice flavor. The restaurant is clean, bright and the service was fine. They give a 5% discount for cash. I’ll go back for the hot pot. Some other diners had ordered the fried pig feet dish and that looked tasty. -
Riverside Hot Pot opened last week in the old Chop Stix space. Address is 820 Muddy Branch Rd Gaithersburg, MD 20878. Website is: http://riversidehotpot.com/. Evidently it's a chain from China. I think this is the first (?) US location. You pick a stock from about 6 choices, they bring you a individual sized pot with burner. Add ins are all you can eat (think after the grand opening special of $21, it will be $25/pp). There is also a really nice sauce bar. There is a "traditional" Chinese menu as well, but we didn't opt for that. I got the Szechuan broth (which was good but I was hoping for a bit spicier), my wife got the vegetarian "health" pot (it had some various radish type things and goji berries for some additional flavor). If you are a vegetarian, be sure to tell them, because they top the pots of with a house broth which isn't vegetarian (they brought a teapot of the veggie stock for my wife). The list of add-ins is extensive. We got an assortment of veg (spinach, bok choy, napa, other greens, lotus root, mushrooms (shitake and enoki), bamboo shoots, frozen bean curd (has a nice spongy texture), shrimp, scallops, clams, squid, octopus (wife eats fish). I also got a spicy beef and another beef with enoki. Last item was a clear noodle. Everything was really good. The kitchen didn't give us everything each time we asked but the servers were good at finishing up the requests when something was missing. My only negative is that when they re-fill the broth, it would be nice if they did so with the broth that you ordered. My Szechuan ended up pretty watered down. Would definetly go back a second time (perhaps as soon as tomorrow!) Cheers!
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Liu Chaosheng - who dat, you might ask. Well, he's the guy who opened Hong Kong Palace and Uncle Liu's Hot Pot, and he's now opened Asian Origin, in the old Panache space on Pinnacle Drive as noted in this McLean Patch article. When I first received a menu, I noted its Sichuan dishes and instantly decided to compare it to HKP (not knowing at the time they're sister restaurants). The beef, tendon, and tripe dish is $9 at HKP and $12 at AO. Spicy wontons are $6 at HKP and $8 at AO. Dan Dan Noodles are $7 at HKP and $8 at AO. So the prices are higher at AO, presumably reflecting a higher rent as well as fancier décor. Now I have to decide whether to drive a little farther to HKP or stay in McLean.- 21 replies
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Guess some of you will be headed down my way now. http://news.fredericksburg.com/businessbrowser/2013/02/14/broker-new-fredericksburg-restaurant-likely-to-draw-from-no-va/ -
Update on the Bethesda Fine Dining Location, which reports a May opening (credit--Bethesda Magazine)
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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. -
I was invited for dinner at Sichuan Pavillion couple nights ago. Prior to my visit, I searched on the web to check out some reviews...there was almost none. Despite the fact that I probably passed by the restaurant thousands of times, it never struck me to check it out. The restaurant has a "traditional chinese/sichuan" menu on the last page of menu...the remaining of the menu is what you would see at a typical Chinese-American take out joint. We ordered from the traditional menu and we were pleasantly suprised at the authenticity of the dishes. We ordered the husband and wife beef tendon/tripe appetizer, sweet and sour cabbage, ma po tofu, steamed flounder, noodles with meat sauce (chinese take of spaghetti bolognese), chicken with dried red peppers, steam beef with red sauce and sauteed pea shoots. All of the sichuan dishes definitely had a kick and numbing sensation. Compared to Peter Chang, I would rank it lower but compared to Hong Kong Palace, the Szhechuan place on 14th Street and China Star, Sichuan Pavillion fared better. Can't wait to try out more dishes with a larger group. -
Andy Hayler's Review -
I did a quick search and found no listing for what I consider one of the more important restaurants in DC. Not since the glory days of Henry's Hunan and Brandy Ho's both in San Francisco have I found a restaurant that can have such a profound effect on me for days after eating there. I am not talking about any effects of food poisoning or any of that namby pamby stuff, but real fire from the extreme use of chilies and Sichuan peppercorns. Joe's, Joe's Noodle House, serves pretty down to earth and homespun Sezchuan cooking. Owner Audrey is there during the day. If you order one of the dishes with two chilies and a star, she will ask you if you want it "toned down". No matter what you say, it will be toned down for the first few trips if you don't answer back in Chinese. But even then, the heat will be on. I m actually at the stage where Audrey will comment that she can't eat food as hot as I like it. Joe's has far more than noodles but they are a great first introduction. There is a large selection of noodles and a few dumplings. I really like the unusual rice noodles in red sauce. No discernable flavor to the noodle itself, just a jelly like freshness that offsets the heat of the sauce. I also love the wonton or dumpling soup, with or without needles. To go with the noodles, I always have a plate or three of "cold dishes" such as pickled cabbage, sweet and sour cabbage, pickled cukes, stuffed bean curd etc. This is the same territory staked out by A & J. I like both places, with the style being more earthy and rustic at Joe's and much more restrained and slick at A & J. But A&J is not known for having a large traditional menu as Joe's has. Some of my fiery favorites on the large menu include the Spicy and Tasty Tofu (With or without pork)- I had with for lunch today!, three pepper chicken and dry and spicy beef. The greens with garlic are just that, great simple straightforward greens with loads of garlic. The selection is huge and I have probably only worked my way through a third of the menu. Rabbit, home made bacon, pork belly, pork with garlic chives and pressed bean curd, tripe with spicy sauce are all available. If there is enough interest, we can have a DR.com dinner there. I would be happy to arrange for it but no wimps allowed for my menu. It will be full of the fiery stuff!
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Not sure if this is on anyone's radar, but I discovered this place through another website that shall remain nameless (begins with a Y), but even there, it seems to be flying under the radar except for people of Chinese extraction. Anyway, I decided to check it out last weekend. Here is a synopsis of what I have posted elsewhere: My server seemed eager for me to try some of the Szechuan specialties which are printed in English on both the eat-in menu and take-out menu, rather than the Chinese American menu items (maybe it was because I expressed interest in the crispy pork intestines). Anyway, the menu has a section with "Szechuan and Country Style Entrees" and "Szechuan Chef's Specials, Appetizers and Cold Dishes". I stuck with the appetizers: String Beans in Ginger Sauce, Shrimp with Scallion Sauce, Dan Dan Spicy Noodle with Minced Pork, Steam Dumplings in Red Hot Sauce, and Sauteed Duck Eggs with Green Pepper. I definitely got the lip and tongue numbing sensation caused by Szechuan peppercorns. Personally, I thought the steamed dumplings were the tastiest of the lot. The dumplings themselves were a slightly thinner versions of pot stickers/gyoza. The duck eggs were what are sometimes known as thousand-year-old-eggs, century eggs, etc. and the green pepper was actually jalapenos. Although I didn't try any of the mains from the Szechuanese menu, it included such Szechuan staples as Double Cooked Pork and Ma Po Tofu in addition to more interesting sounding items such as Lamb with Cumin and Shredded Duck with Szechuan Sauce. But, to add another twist, there is yet another menu of specialties (on a separate menu) from Xi'an called Rouga Mo. These are like muffins/biscuits/flat bread split down the middle and filled with pork that's been cooked with five spice powder. According to my waiter this is what a lot of what the Chinese clientele (the majority of the diners) come to order. That and Chengdu Spicy Noodles. He was kind enough to offer me one on the house, and it certainly would make for a great lunch/snack. -
Hong Kong Palace has been a wonderful source of Hong Kong-style Chinese food for the last couple of years. But the restaurant of last week is no more. In its place is Hong Kong Palace, a place of the same name but with some major changes. The kitchen is now staffed with a pair of Chengdu-trained Szechuan chefs (part owners!) who seem to know what they are doing. Yes, the restaurant has some rough spots that might be expected in any place that has just changed hands in the past week, but it appears to be very promising. We stopped by last night expecting typical HK fare, but were surprised by all the new faces for the staff. The real change came we asked for the Chinese Menu, and we were handed a total different menu from the one we had seen in the past. It was brimming with all manner of Szechuan-style dishes. Speaking with our waiter then made things clear. The previous owners had sold the restaurant and the new owners were heading in a different direction, cuisine-wise. As we continued to speak with the waiter we considered that this new place might have promise. We decided to share the Chengdu Spicy Cold Noodles for appetizer and ordered the Ma Po To Fu and Sliced Pork with Dried Bean Curd for dinner. What we received were very fine renditions of classic Szechuan fare! If there were any complaints they centered around our inability to convince the waiter (and chef?) that we wanted the food spiced authentically. While there was some heat and numbing character in the entrees, it was just a little short of what we had come to expect from the best of the local Szechuan restuarants, such as Joe's Noodle House (in Rockville). We will be definitely be going back, and I suspect that with a little effort we will be able to get the kitchen to pull out all the stops and make the dishes with the bold flavors that is the hallmark of classic Szechuan food. I would be interested to hear reports from others. Vince -
With my wife and older boy out seeing the Astros take on the Rangers, I turned to take out for dinner tonight, and ordered from the Montrose location of Mala Sichuan Bistro. I went with my standard szechuan restaurant benchmark order of ma po tofu, cucumber with chili oil, and a noodle of some sort (typically dan dan mien, but I went with cold "funky noodles" from Mala). I am pleased to report that Mala is, as the kids say, legit. The ma po was spicy and numbing, but not overwhelmingly so. The funk of the broad bean paste was there, without the overwhelming saltiness I've experienced at other places. I stayed vegetarian tonight, but they do offer it with ground beef. The cucumbers were fresh and crisp, topped with a nice balance of chili oil and crumbled szechuan peppercorns. I think next time I'll try the version in garlic oil to add some variation to the flavors. The cold noodles were similar to Chengdu cold noodles, and a great version of them at that. The noodles were nicely cooked, with a good bit of residual bite, and nicely coated with the sauce as opposed to sitting undressed on a ladle-ful of sauce on the bottom of the bowl. There will be plenty of time to explore the legion of amazing holes in the wall in Chinatown, but for now, I'm glad to have found a more-than-solid joint close by. -
Arlnow.com reports an off-shoot hot pot/shabu shabu in Virginia Square now, by the name of Mala Tang (as in ma2 la4=hot, spicy and tang4=to heat by water) to occupy the former Mei's Asian Bistro vacancy.
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Does anyone have a good recipe for this? I've looked at a few, there are some significant differences. Trying to recreate Chang's or HKP's version at the home front...
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Rolling Cooking is a restaurant that has only been open since 2016 on Rolling Road near Old Keene Mill Road in Springfield. It's in the same plaza as Afghan Kabob and TCS Computer, behind Einstein Bagels. However, this version of Rolling Cooking is only 4 weeks old, according to the hostess, meaning it changed ownership at the end of January 2018. In the past 3 days I've ordered delivery and carry out, and right now, this is the best of Springfield's Americanized Chinese restaurants. What strikes me is how greaseless the fried dishes are -- the shrimp tempura has a heavier crust than I'm used to, but the greaseless crunch on the outside gives way to soft shrimp on the inside, and the salt-and-pepper flounder filet are delightful pillows of deliciousness. And I had this latter dish after delivery and carry out, both, and in both cases, it was delectable. In my delivery order a few days ago came shredded pork with chili peppers and General Tso's chicken. The pork was OK, not spectacular, but tasty. The General Tso's chicken was a nice rendition, with perfectly portioned chicken cubes bathed in a not-overly-sweet sauce that had a nice kick. In my take-out order tonight, I repeated the salt-and-pepper flounder to prove I wasn't imaging its goodness a few days -- I wasn't -- and I added the whole fried rockfish. The rockfish was a bit over-fried, so it had some dryness, and when the dryness co-mingled with the bony fish, it was as pleasant as I would have liked. This appears to be a dish to be eaten in the restaurant as soon as it comes out of the fryer. As I was waiting for my carry-out order, the hostess brought me a plate of warm, salty peanuts, followed by a cup of hot and sour soup, and a nice tumbler of hot tea. These treats were gratis, but inspired me to add a nice tip to the carry-out check. I also noticed a six-top occupied by a Hispanic family, and a beautiful dish of chicken fried rice in the middle of that table. A four-top with an Asian family speaking Chinese to the hostess is always a sign that the indigenous population enjoys the food here too. I'll keep an eye on Rolling Cooking to make sure that it stays consistent, but it ranks at least a nose ahead of Springfield's other Chinese offerings at this point.-
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With Rockville a bit of a hike for this father of a one year old, I'm still trying to get a grip on the level of excellence the DC crowd expects from their Chinese cuisine. My education on the finer details is somewhat lacking, but I have spent a LOT of time eating in China (to the tune of 40+ trips to Hong Kong and Shenzhen), so while I'm sometimes fuzzy on the details of how the good stuff got there, I like to think I recognize it when I have it. So I figured I'd share a little place that some of us Charm City Hounds have been frequenting for the past couple of weeks, and see if any of the Chinese fiends here have had a chance to check it out. Crackers and I have been organizing dinners at Grace Garden in Odenton as of late (and who could ask for a lovelier and more capable co-host than Crackers?), and we've been truly impressed by what we've had. It's a completely nondescript strip mall joint that seems to be subsisting on its Americanized carryout menu for the Army base across the street, but they have an authentic menu as well that focuses on the chef's native Cantonese, but also includes some Sichuan and others. We've had tender fish noodles in a velvety, subtle ginger sauce. We've had complex, fiery Sichuan fish with rice powder and crispy fried bones. We've had a sticky rice stuffed steamed duck that redefines the word comforting. We've had sliced pork belly stir-fried with toban djan, pristine baby bok choy with salted fish, salted egg shrimp with a crispy fried exterior and a volcanic head gush, mixed seafood with a superbly balanced hot/sweet XO sauce... I could go on. If it isn't bad form, here's a link to a more complete post with photos: http://www.skilletdoux.com/2008/05/grace-garden.html I'm inclined to think this is a diamond in the rough. Anybody else been there? Grace Garden www.gracegardenchinese.com 1690 Annapolis Rd. Odenton, MD 21113 410-672-3581 Mon - Thu 11:00 AM - 10:00 PM Fri - Sat 11:00 AM - 10:30 PM Sun Closed -
I hadn't been to North China in 10 or 15 years. The last time I had been there, it was a better-than-average Szechuan place, but nothing terribly out of the ordinary. About a month or two ago, I got a menu from North China in the mail, and I saw that they had a lot of more traditional dishes listed. We decided to try it. We were in for a surprise when we arrived. The restaurant used to have two rooms; now it was down to one. And whereas the decor had been sort of upscale suburban, now it was much more bare-bones. The food was outstanding. We had first-rate ma-po tofu, a very spicy shredded pork and chili appetizer, a sauteed squid dish with shredded pork and finely chopped greens, and a more conventional beef & mixed vegatables dish that was very well prepared. We didn't delve as deeply into the menu was I would have liked, because there were only three of us, one of whom was my son, who is more limited in his tastes than my wife and I. But there was lots of unfamiliar (to me) stuff to try. Fish stomach, anyone? Although one visit isn't enough to base a comparison on, based on what we ate it wouldn't be outrageous to put North China roughly in the same ballpark as Joe's Noodle House. It's certainly a closer-in alternative if you're looking for non-Americanized Chinese food. The address is 7814 Old Georgetown Rd. -
I was out in Fairfax so I finally stopped in Nanjing Bistro (in the same shopping center as Chuy's). It's supposed to be authentic Nanjing cuisine. The menu I received has lots of pictures, so if you didn't get an authentic looking Chinese menu with pictures, you should request it. I had a cold spicy chicken dish (the sauce is surprisingly sweet with a hint of fishiness, probably from some kind of fish sauce), a bean paste fish filet, and some stirred fried veggies. None of them knocked my socks off but the food is pretty good.
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Never been, but I am intrigued. Anyone checked out this place? Great Wall - Szechuan House -
Is it possible that there's anything approaching Jin River out near Reston?
