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Queen's English, Chef Henji Cheung and GM Sarah Thompson's Hong Kongese in Columbia Heights


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Inspired by Anne Limpert's praise of the restaurant in her chat last week and heeding her call to visit now before it gets too popular (plus, wanting to go before I move from DC in a week (!!)), we checked out Queen's English in the old KBC space last night.  In what seems to be common with good restaurants these days, it is run by a man and a woman pair (ala Himitsu, Espita, Seylou, Bad Saint, Rooster & Owl, etc.).  Similar to Rooster & Owl, Seylou and Espita, in this case the pair are husband and wife.

We walked in at 6:05 to a mostly empty restaurant (it filled up later but was never jammed) and our party of four was seated by the gracious, knowledgeable and likable Sarah Thompson, the aforementioned front of house maven.  The place is beautifully redecorated with bright colors that fit the Hong Kong theme.  The wine list (available online) is replete with natural wines (a focus of Sarah's), but we went for cocktails instead.  All of them were funky -- in a good way -- either bitter or brightly citrusy without being too sweet.  They struck me as drinks that Tiger Fork's imo terrible drinks aspire to be, with less gimmick.  I enjoyed two pours of zucca, which is one of my favorite amari.

Onto the food.  As you can see, there are about 16 menu items, and they recommended 3 dishes or so per person.  So we decided to make it easy and order basically the entire menu, skipping only the "PB&J" and the chicken.   We were then treated to a parade of deliciousness, with the cucumber/trout roe dish standing out from the first batch.  The combination of roe with fresh cucumbers thinly sliced and a vinegar-based sauce hit the spot.  In the next group, the twice-cooked lamb rib and daikon fritters are two of the best things I've eaten in a long time.  I would highly, highly recommend these as must-orders.  I liked the twice-cooked lamb rib more than the one at Tail Up Goat, though I haven't had that for more than a year.  The daikon fritters have a perfect texture and a great mix of sweet and salty.  The shrimp were massive and tasty, but not incredible.  I don't remember much about the steam water egg and dumpling, but I'm sure I enjoyed them. 

For our mains, I loved the bok choy and young pea greens, which were both on the bitter-veggie side, but they are quite similar, so I'd recommend getting one or the other.  The star of this course was definitely the sweet & sour branzino, which came in a sauce that reminded me of a much better version of buffalo sauce.  Super tender fish and briny cabbage made it a great dish.   Unsurprisingly, the crispy rice was also a hit.  More than just fried rice, this is like burnt rice that hasn't been charred, so it is...crunchy, hence the name.  Same flavors as fried rice, just a new texture.  I liked it.  Shockingly, the biggest miss of the night was  the hand cut noodles, which we were all so excited for.  They come buried under a mix of what seemed to be bell peppers, reminding us almost of fajitas.  The flavors didn't compare to the other dishes we had.  On another note, we saw the chicken when the waiter walked by with it for someone else--and it looked great.

For dessert, the house treated us to the only dessert on the menu, which was a caramel custard that was incredibly sweet and caramelly--but not in a bad way.  Two bites of it was plenty, as enjoyable as those bites were.

Afterwards, chef Henji Cheung came out to our table to ask us how we liked everything!  We almost wonder whether he thought we were professional reviewers, but our lengthy conversation likely dissuaded him of that notion.  He spoke to us about his background (grew up in HK and NY) and how they found the spot here.  They live around the corner and say this restaurant has been a true labor of love for them, working constantly to make it as good as they hope.  Both him and Sarah were incredibly nice and appreciative of our patronage.  Honestly, we were full by the end but not overly stuffed--if going with a party of four adults, I would recommend doing much as we did, but adding the chicken, dropping the noodles, and dropping one of the greens dishes.

This place is going to be a hit and doesn't take reservations, so go now while you can.

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40 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

:(

Definitely :( but I figured I'm overdue for a change of scenery.  To Seattle I go, at least for a few years.  I'll miss DC, but will definitely still read this forum to see where I need to go when I visit. 

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4 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

Is there a line if we go just before 6 tomorrow (Friday)?

From Ann Limpert's chat 2 weeks ago:

How long do I have to wait on a rave-reviewed small restaurant before I can eat there in peace? Is the answer always “Tuesday night”?

Ann: I mean, Tuesday (or increasingly, Monday) helps. But my move is just to get there super early. You can walk in almost anywhere if you can arrive by 5:30 or 6. The Dabney, Thamee, Maydan, Tail Up Goat, Queen’s English…I’ve gotten into all of them as a walk-in that way, and there’s been no line involved (and often, you’ll find a less chaotic dining room).

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Back when the year was still in its middle age, Steve and I went to Queen's English.  While I generally enjoyed the food, I'm not enamored with "fusion" restaurants that tend to charge more because they appeal to a more "sophisticated" clientele.  I've never been a fan of the Source, Tiger Fork, etc. and I'm not any more excited about Queen's English simply because the chef is Chinese.  Food at these restaurants are not better than at authentic Chinese restaurants.  I can see going back as a change of pace but certainly not on a frequent basis.

We ordered the fried oysters, enoki mushrooms, tofu purse, typhoon shelter shrimp, cockles, and daikon fritters.  I distinctly remember the typhoon shelter shrimp not having the flavor that it's supposed to, i.e., the fried garlic flavor wasn't imparted onto the shrimp.  

 

 

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I had a wonderful and weird* meal here last night.  There were lots of interesting combinations of flavors and lots of interesting menu items such as:  Beef tongue and spicy jellyfish; Tripe; and Foie gras and chicken shumai.  All the dishes were super flavorful and lots had a really great smoky component, but one of the favorites was the Lo Sui Duck Drumette.  It was basically a duck "chicken wing" and the meat was incredibly and impossibly tender.  A total winner.  

We ordered nearly the entire menu and everything was really great.

I don't have Eric's experience or frame of reference (upper post) as far as authenticity or fusion goes, but I really enjoyed the meal much more than many recent meals at Asian and non-Asian places including Makan next door and the Duck and Peach at Eastern Market.

* weird = interesting, different, surprising, etc.  Weird is a good thing!

Here's shot of the menu.  I understand that it's constantly changing with the exception of the Diakon Fritters which is a menu staple.

 

 

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My college aged cousin came to DC for a quick visit and her one request was Asian food because she does not get good Asian food in Chicago. So four of us went to Queen's English and we ordered most of the menu: dry aged steak tartare, diver scallop crudo, lo sui duck drumette, cumin lamb ribs, housemade silken tofu, ong choy, daikon fritters, foie gras shumai, xo mushroom egg noodle. Given we cleaned our plates and couldn't eat another bite, I would say everyone loved the food. 

Hard to pick a favorite, but I would ahve to go with the daikon fritters which reminded me of a larger version of my favorite dim sum dish. We also loved the cumin lamb ribs and the xo mushroom egg noodle, especially the wok hei of the egg noodle dish. The ong choy was also a great vegetable dish and while our waiter noted (after we asked) that the century egg could be a little divisive, it was enjoyed by all. My cousin noted that she has had more sulphurous tasting century eggs before. The only nit, and it is not a big one, is that @MichaelBDCfelt the shumai, while good, was not all that much better than other, less fancy, shumai he has had. So maybe not worth $26 for four large-ish shumai but this is not an actual complaint because the shumai was still very much enjoyed. 

Service was great. Water and wine glasses were always filled and our server gave us time to chat and catch up before taking our order. I would go back here in a heartbeat. 

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2 hours ago, eatruneat said:

$26 for four large-ish shumai

I would not spend $26 on 4 shu mais.  I went to Vinh Kee this weekend, I think their shu mais are now $6 for 4.  I didn't get them either (not because they're not good, I just prefer their shark-finless shark-fin dumplings, 3 for $5).

ETA - I guess they tried to justify the cost because of the microscopic amount of foie?  Just saw the menu description in Bart's menu photo.  Steve and I went to Queen's English earlier this summer - didn't write it up as we didn't think that meal was anything special.  

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Just a note to say that the Queen's English version of shu mai are pretty big.  At least, two or three and maybe even four times the size of the typical version you get at a dim sum place (at least that's my memory of the dish).  Each one was like eating a large meatball in terms of the size and weight of the things.  Not sure if that makes the $26 price tag more palatable (pun!), but this is a bigger than normal dumpling.  

Here's a photo, but you can't really judge the size of them without a frame of reference.

 

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Can't figure out how to upload a photo right now but I agree with Bart. The shumai were 3-4 bites each and you could definitely taste the foie. As someone who loves dumplings in all forms, my point was that good shumai are really really good, so adding foie and increasing the size, while interesting, doesn't take it to a whole new level and pleasure that I don't already get from a good shumai. 

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I love this place. We dined here right before everything shut down for the pandemic. One of the first places we went back to once more was here. So good. It ws like a secret, but see Tom S. from Washington Post has it listed high up on his current favorites list - I hope the masses don't ruin it. Maybe because it is a bit out of the way may keep it managable. 

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We ended up going here for a small 'Friendsgiving' this past November - We shared nine different dishes and enjoyed them all - so good and we always manage to score one of the window both spaces.

If you have never been here before, go. It's a bit out of the way and parking in a bit random (sometimes super easy to find a spot, other times oddly all parked up) - but it is worth the effort to get there and enjoy this food.

Still recommended and hell yes I will be back.

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