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Peking Gourmet Inn, Falls Church - Owner Eddie Tsui's 1980s-1990s-Era Northern Chinese-American Kitsch with $43 Peking Duck and Homegrown Jumbo Spring Onions in Baileys Crossroads


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Thanks for the tip!  But as I did a little more research and read the info in Eric's link a little more carefully, I think the yellow chives/gau wong are just regular garlic chives that are grown under cover so they're not exposed to light.  But I'll certainly check Great Wall if I'm near one.

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I was there a few months ago. Duck was very good, the stir fried garlic sprouts were nice. Everything else was American Chinese food. High quality ingredients, everything cooked very well, so it's some of the "best" American Chinese you'll get, but priced accordingly.

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Definitely get one of the garlic sprout dishes (chicken, pork or shrimp I think). Very interesting and unique look and flavor.  I think they're the only place in the area that offeres them. 

I love their dumplings too. (But I love dumplings in general). 

I like the duck better at "Peking Duck" on Rt 1 in Alexandria. It's cheaper and better as they carve it very quickly so the meat still warm and the skin still crisp when you eat it.  At PGI they carve it too slowly. 

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28 minutes ago, Bart said:

Definitely get one of the garlic sprout dishes (chicken, pork or shrimp I think). Very interesting and unique look and flavor.  I think they're the only place in the area that offeres them. 

I love their dumplings too. (But I love dumplings in general). 

I like the duck better at "Peking Duck" on Rt 1 in Alexandria. It's cheaper and better as they carve it very quickly so the meat still warm and the skin still crisp when you eat it.  At PGI they carve it too slowly. 

I don't eat duck often, but when I do, it's inside the beltway at places former presidents eat ;)

Had the sprouts last time, they sure are good. Thanks for suggestions!

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Just now, Ericandblueboy said:

Lots of Chinese restaurants in the area have them - usually on the Chinese only menu.

Really?!??!  Wow, that's great.  I love those things.

Do you recall any places off the top of your head?   Any idea how a non Chinese speaker/reader would order them?   Show them a photo on my phone maybe?

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1 hour ago, Simul Parikh said:

I don't eat duck often, but when I do, it's inside the beltway at places former presidents eat ;)

Duck the Draft: DuckTheDraft.jpg

1 hour ago, Ericandblueboy said:

Lots of Chinese restaurants in the area have them - usually on the Chinese only menu.

Admittedly, I haven't been to Peking Gourmet Inn in several years now, but the last 1-2 times I've been, the only thing that was good was the Peking Duck, and the most recent time, even that failed me. The sprouts, IMO, were special twenty years ago, but are now overpriced and pretty commonplace. Every other thing I've tried here has been gloppy (it didn't used to be, back around 1990).

They seem to make a big deal out of "We grow our own on a farm," but why are garlic sprouts any more special than pea shoots?

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24 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

The sprouts, IMO, were special twenty years ago, but are now overpriced and pretty commonplace. Every other thing I've tried here has been gloppy (it didn't used to be, back around 1990).

They seem to make a big deal out of "We grow our own on a farm," but why are garlic sprouts any more special than pea shoots?

They're not, but they do a nice job with them, and it's oddly one of the more INexpensive dishes on the menu.

You can change the header, BTW - they raised the duck price to $43.

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Got a cold New Year's appetizer platter, some pickled mushrooms, cold chicken, beef, etc ($26). Nothing to write home about (what a dated expression!). Duck was great, skin was great ($43). I don't remember the chilis before, but added just a little bit of heat and I liked that. Got the garlic sprouts with shrimp and that was good, too ($25). And, we got the New Year's whole Rockfish ($56). Very good, crispy skin, sweetish-spicy sauce. About $41 a person with a drink or two each. Not unreasonable. Nothing was "too gloppy" but we didn't order things that lend to that. I like this place and the pomp and circumstance of an old school Chinese restaurant. I liked the fact that Psy was on the wall of celebrities and that local NOVA folks have been going for years and years, like a place near where I grew up - Kim's. Anyone else from Michigan/Northern Ohio grow up eating ABC? Would love to find that around here... 

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On 3/26/2016 at 8:20 AM, Bart said:

Thanks for the tip!  But as I did a little more research and read the info in Eric's link a little more carefully, I think the yellow chives/gau wong are just regular garlic chives that are grown under cover so they're not exposed to light.  But I'll certainly check Great Wall if I'm near one.

It's a bit late for me to be chiming in, but if you are going to plant garlic chives, please be aware that they are insanely invasive.  I'm sure that next Spring I'll be posting my usual offer on the Cooking forum to come out to the Herndon area and take whatever you want of mine.  My herb garden is in the front yard (Southern exposure) and the garlic chives are everywhere.  

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We had our rehearsal dinner at Peking Gourmet Inn ( 23 adults and 2 kids).  They put us in a private room to the left as you come in, we had plenty of room and the noise level which is sometimes a bit loud in the restaurant was only our group.  There was room to wander from table to table and the service was wonderful and prompt and often times un-noiticed except that my drink was always full.   We did Gourmet group dinner B + Garlic Shoots which was plenty of food and plenty of leftovers for those staying at the house.  I was VERY pleased that they were able to accommodate the vegan and the kids and the amazingly picky eater.  Everyone had a great time - many had never seen a duck carved table side so there were many many pictures.

HIGHLY recommended for large group dinners.

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7 minutes ago, StarStraf said:

We had our rehearsal dinner at Peking Gourmet Inn ( 23 adults and 2 kids).  They put us in a private room to the left as you come in, we had plenty of room and the noise level which is sometimes a bit loud in the restaurant was only our group.  There was room to wander from table to table and the service was wonderful and prompt and often times un-noiticed except that my drink was always full.   We did Gourmet group dinner B + Garlic Shoots which was plenty of food and plenty of leftovers for those staying at the house.  I was VERY pleased that they were able to accommodate the vegan and the kids and the amazingly picky eater.  Everyone had a great time - many had never seen a duck carved table side so there were many many pictures.

HIGHLY recommended for large group dinners.

Good to hear! We had a similar experience with a large group dinner there 8 or 9 years ago, and I'm glad it's still a good option for that.

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After IlluminAsia, had cravings for anything Asian and kids wanted to try something new. Kids, girl4 and boy7 ordered mini dumplings from appetizer menu and a lemonade. After eating 6 of the 8 dumplings, they declared that they didn't like them. Ahem.

Lemonade seemed never empty.

Wonton soup = bland.

Duck = great. Kids ate lots of duck, and also cucumbers. They tried the rest but weren't that into the duck sauce and pancakes...or scallions.

Towards the end of the meal, my 4 yr old girl said:
Mommy: May I have only the skin please? Then she said it very slowly so I would not be confused:
Only. The. Skin...please?

Hot tip: If asked, the kitchen will package duck bones to bring home. I did and when we left our bones were warm so it was obviously fresh. Made duck broth...assuming I"m going to make squash soup with it early this week. Smelled good simmering..

 

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First time here last night and was very pleased.  Seeing so many ducks carved around us forced our hand as newbies.  The duck was great.  We also had Mongolian pork while not cheap was well prepared and a huge portion. 

This is not cheap Chinese food but the service was exceptional. Waiter prepared and served our 1st duck pancake as well as provided fresh plated and serves our pork dish.  Needless to say I'll be back.

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On 1/26/2017 at 4:18 PM, DonRocks said:

Admittedly, I haven't been to Peking Gourmet Inn in several years now, but the last 1-2 times I've been, the only thing that was good was the Peking Duck, and the most recent time, even that failed me. The sprouts, IMO, were special twenty years ago, but are now overpriced and pretty commonplace. Every other thing I've tried here has been gloppy (it didn't used to be, back around 1990).

They seem to make a big deal out of "We grow our own on a farm," but why are garlic sprouts any more special than pea shoots?

This place has to be one of the most overrated restaurants in the area.  I've been 3 times now over the last ~8 years and every time I go it gets more expensive and has never been anything more than ordinary.  And this might be an unpopular opinion, but the duck here has never been special for me, I've had much better Peking Duck at Mark's Duck House and back when Scott Drewno was still at The Source.  All of the Americanized Chinese dishes we got the other night were heavy handed and gloppy; the amount of corn starch and MSG used in them should be illegal in all 50 states.  

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I'm with DPop.  Had lunch here today - a duck and garlic sprouts w/ pork.  The duck was good - on par with China Wok (but not as good as Peter Chang's Q).  Of the 12 pancakes, 2 were rather misshapen (more oval than round).

What really disappointed was the garlic sprouts - a really big pile of bland sprouts and pork.  Steve and I each had 1 spoonful.  We had no desire to eat any more.

It had been at least 10 years since my last visit.  It will be a millennium before my next visit.

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We've gotten take out from here a few times in the last month, and the reviews are mixed. The apps have all been fantastic: Crab Rangoon that are light and fresh; large, thick egg rolls; hot and sour soup; pork dumplings. Given the way it tastes, everything seems to be made freshly every day, or thereabouts. Similarly the Shrimp Imperial has a fair number of jumbo shrimp, and quite a bit of broccoli, which aren't steamed to death or drowned in sauce. In fact, I'd argue that the "light garlic sauce" (which, when getting takeout, comes in a container on the side) is worth going out of one's way for. The sauce is delicious and has wide applications. Unfortunately, we haven't be able to find another main dish that we like! We've tried a couple noodle dishes, chicken dishes, and beef...all for naught. ETA: We've found the main dishes to be bland. Anyway, we'll keep trying.

Also, I appreciate the dedicated service window for take out orders, given how busy and crowded the restaurant can get. It makes these kinds of transactions so much easier.

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38 minutes ago, Dr. Delicious said:

We've gotten take out from here a few times in the last month, and the reviews are mixed. The apps have all been fantastic: Crab Rangoon that are light and fresh; large, thick egg rolls; hot and sour soup; pork dumplings. Given the way it tastes, everything seems to be made freshly every day, or thereabouts. Similarly the Shrimp Imperial has a fair number of jumbo shrimp, and quite a bit of broccoli, which aren't steamed to death or drowned in sauce. In fact, I'd argue that the "light garlic sauce" (which, when getting takeout, comes in a container on the side) is worth going out of one's way for. The sauce is delicious and has wide applications. Unfortunately, we haven't be able to find another main dish that we like! We've tried a couple noodle dishes, chicken dishes, and beef...all for naught. Anyway, we'll keep trying.

Also, I appreciate the dedicated service windo for take out orders, given how busy and crowded the restaurant can get. It makes these kinds of transactions so much easier.

Have you tried the .......duck?

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On ‎1‎/‎14‎/‎2020 at 12:52 PM, Dr. Delicious said:

We've gotten take out from here a few times in the last month, and the reviews are mixed. The apps have all been fantastic: Crab Rangoon that are light and fresh; large, thick egg rolls; hot and sour soup; pork dumplings. Given the way it tastes, everything seems to be made freshly every day, or thereabouts. Similarly the Shrimp Imperial has a fair number of jumbo shrimp, and quite a bit of broccoli, which aren't steamed to death or drowned in sauce. In fact, I'd argue that the "light garlic sauce" (which, when getting takeout, comes in a container on the side) is worth going out of one's way for. The sauce is delicious and has wide applications. Unfortunately, we haven't be able to find another main dish that we like! We've tried a couple noodle dishes, chicken dishes, and beef...all for naught. ETA: We've found the main dishes to be bland. Anyway, we'll keep trying.

Also, I appreciate the dedicated service window for take out orders, given how busy and crowded the restaurant can get. It makes these kinds of transactions so much easier.

I haven't been in quite a while, but I always used to get the garlic sprouts with chicken (paired with a Chinese hot sauce that I can't remember if it was provided or bought separately from the grocery store) and the jeo-yen shrimp.

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3 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

It sounds like salt and pepper shrimp.  Jiao is pepper, yen is salt.  You can get that dish at any decent Cantonese joint.

If memory serves, the base is probably a salt and pepper shrimp, but I seem to remember a glaze (slightly sweet, slightly spicy?) as well. I quite liked the dish, but I also recall it being rather pricey (although I suppose everything on the menu is more expensive than at a typical Chinese restaurant).

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On 1/18/2020 at 9:40 AM, Dr. Delicious said:

What is this dish? On the menu it is only described as “One of our most popular and exotic Chinese dishes”

It's fried shrimp sprinkled with a dry spice blend. 

A little heavy, but tasty. Here's an accurate looking picture I stole from google.

IMG_2437-400x300.jpg.c194d1e847648b40a1c1a3d4a5219f18.jpg

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