Recommend a place in Chinatown???

NNTP-Posting-Date: 30 Nov 2000 02:50:40 GMT
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Tony Cheng's Mongolian Grill is great for a lunch.  I've been there with kids and they loved it (they thought it was cool to put all the "stuff" together in a bowl and then watch them cook it), and the quality has always been excellent IMO.

>Anybody recommend a place to eat in Chinatown?  My wife and 9yr old
>daughter love Chinese, and I only had the opportunity to drive through
>DC last month.  Now we're staying for a week!  Some look like holes in
>the wall... others have potential.  Decent ambiance would be nice too.
>
>Thanks in advance
>
>Rick
>

NNTP-Posting-Date: 30 Nov 2000 15:27:53 GMT
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Rick S. wrote:
>Hello to All,
>
>Anybody recommend a place to eat in Chinatown?  My wife and 9yr old
>daughter love Chinese, and I only had the opportunity to drive through
>DC last month.  Now we're staying for a week!  Some look like holes in
>the wall... others have potential.  Decent ambiance would be nice too.

This information is a touch out of date, but I repost it here:

--cut here--

This is a short survey of restaurants in Washington DC's Chinatown, made over the course of a year or so.  As I have only been to some of these restaurants once or twice, I cannot attest to absolute accuracy here, but the few restaurants that I have raved about have been tested many, many times with many different people, and they are surely accurate.

When eating in Chinatown, it's best if you can read Chinese characters because the English menus are quite limited.  To the English-speaker, it seems as if all the menus in town are close to identical.  If you cannot do this, your next two steps are to try some of the places listed which I have specifically pointed out as having elaborate English menus, or to eat dim sum style where you merely need to point out the dishes you wish.  Specials, however, are almost always listed in Chinese only, on banners on the wall.  Bringing along someone who speaks Chinese may or may not be of much use; because of the difference in dialects, there is often great confusion.  Knowing how to read Chinese, however, is quite useful.

I have generally rated places overall on a ten-point scale.  The map accompanying this list should indicate where each of these places are.

1 - Burma - ?
      I am really not familiar with Burmese food, but I was very impressed
        with this place.  The cuisine in many ways had elements of both Chinese
        and Indian cooking, and I strongly recommend visiting if you find
        yourself in Chinatown and in the mood for something different.
        (Jan 1998)

2 - Cafe-Deli Viet-Thai - ?
      Best pot krapau in Chinatown, but no Chinese food here.

3 - Lei Garden - 3
        Formerly operating as Charlie Chiang's Grande Cafe.
        After 50 years, China Inn closed down and this location is now
        occupied by a new restaurant with new management.  Food isn't so
        good, but there is an inexpensive lunch buffet which tries to make
        up in quantity for what it lacks in quality.  Three visits so far
        have not indicated any improvement in the food, with stale noodles
        and rubber tasting Hot and Sour soup the order of the day.  (Dec 1998)
      629-631 H. St NW, 202-216-9696

23 - China Doll - 5
      Generally catering to the Western trade.... limited menu although
      with a good variety of seafood specialties.  Good soups. (Dec 1996)

4 - Chinatown Express - 4
      Excellent orange chicken, but the chow foon was made poorly, with
      mediocre ham, and other dishes rated similarly poor.  Hot pot is
      a specialty here but is no better.  (Jan 1999)

5- Full Kee - 9
        Excellent congee, good noodle dishes.   Recomended.  Extensive
        Chinese menu is translated into English.  (May 1997)

6- Golden Palace - 10
      A huge dimsum operation.  Best dimsum in town.  Eat here.
      I cannot recommend this place highly enough.  (Dec 1998)
      ---BAD NOTE--
        As we go to press, the Washington Post reports that the Golden Palace
        is shutting down on Boxing day, to re-open some time later in 1999 at
        800 Eighth st.  They close only three days after President Clinton
        ate there.   This is a tragedy, and we can only wish them luck in
        getting opened as soon as possible at their new location.

7 - Chop Stick - 4
      Reasonable, downhome cooking.  Char siu in the egg rolls which is
      an interesting change.  Everything homemade; not a great deal of
      skill but less westernized than average.  I went in once in the late
      afternoon and was the only guy there... the waitress shouted into the
      kitchen that there was a white guy here (and the word she used was not
      a polite one) and suddenly the bad Chinese pop music changed to bad
      American pop music.  I did not laugh enough to give myself away, I
      think. (Jan 1997)

8 - Eat First - 6
      Although this place rates fairly low for food, with heavy egg rolls,
      prepackaged mustard, and a higher than average proportion of premade
      sauces, they are also the only place in town which not only provides
      an extensive English translation of the special menu, but also provides
      a translation of the specials on the walls.  Staff speaks good English
      and is very helpful, and it is the most clean and shining place in
      the area.  Good noodle dishes.  (May 1997)
         [ CLOSED MARCH 1999, sad to say]

9 - Go Lo's - 6
      Good flaming hibachi stuff but otherwise the usual fare, done
      well enough but not phenomenally.  (Dec 1998)

10 - Becky's Cafe - 3
      Formerly the site of Good Taste restaurant.  Becky's has a mixture
      of Western food like subs and sandwiches, which I would point you
      toward before the Chinese food.  They do have delivery, though, but
      that doesn't really make up for the food quality.  (Jan 1998)

11 - Ho Wah - 3
      611 H st.
      Fairly seedy-looking restaurant in a tiny basement.  The food
      is acceptable, and the prices are very, very low.  Family-run.
      It's not someplace I would recommend but you _can_ get a good
      lunch for five bucks here which is better than what you'd get
      for five bucks elsewhere. (Aug 1996)

        (As of 4/00, Ho Wah has been operating as the Rainbow Inn,
        but I have not tried it since.  It appears to be the same
        management.)

12 - Hunan Chinatown - 7
      624 H st.
      These folks sell the usual sweet glop for the tourist trade, but
      they also have the best Hunan food in the area.  The tea-smoked
      duck is amazing.  If you order carefully, there is some very fine       food on the menu.  Also this is one of the few restaurants that
      actually serves good tea.  (4/00)

13 - Hunan Gourmet - 0
      I am pleased to report that Hunan Gourmet is now closed, and the
      operation has moved to Rockville, MD where they are operating as
      Canton Cafe.  As this is the place where I was served putrid food
      which in May of 1997 gave me food poisoning resulting in spasms on
        both ends of my GI tract for three days of agony, I am happy to
        report that others will now be spared this fate.  (January 1999)

14 - Kam Fong - 5
      Average fare, clean place.

15 - Li Ho Food - 9
      A dumpy looking place with the best chow foon in town.  The
      chef is a serious noodle guru.  Eat here.  Closed Sunday.
        (May 1996)

16 - Mr. Yung's - 4/6
      This place warrants only a 4 for items off the regular manu,
      but they have a seperate dim sum menu which is reasonable, and
      warrants a 6.  The regular menu consists mostly of lunch slop,
      with overly sweet sauces and gummy spring rolls, but the dim sum
      is okay, and available seven days a week. (Jan 1999)

17 - New Big Wong - 5
      These folks are taking real trouble to attract the white trade,
      doing things like translating the special menus.  The food is
      good if not phenomenal and if you are looking for the more
      interesting meals but can't read characters, they're a big help.
         (Closed Jan, 2000 Due to Health Code Violations?)

18 - Ruby - 4
      Blandest food in town, and an odd phenolic taste in several
      items.  Tea even worse than typical restaurant tea.  Run by
      a pleasant and helpful family, though, and open until the
      wee hours of the morning.  (May 1997)

19 - Szechuan Gallery - 7
        Well-done food, although a very very tiny English menu.
        (Feb 1997)

20 - Szechuan House - 5
      Dumpy place, food just okay.  Better tea than usual.  Small but
      reasonable selection of Szechuan specialties.  (March 1997)

21 - Mehak Indian Cuisine - ?
      817 7th St.
      This is the former location of Ms. Tao's and Taste of China, both
      fine restaurants when they opened, but which allowed their quality
      to go downhill.  I have not tried the Indian restaurant currently
      at this location.  (4/00)

22 - Tony Cheng - 10
      Upstairs the seafood restaurant is the sort of place that would
      get a three-star Michelin rating; it's not cheap but it's worth it.
      English menu is very, very extensive (but the Chinese menu is even
        bigger!) Downstairs there is a Mongolian barbeque. (Jan 1999)

24 - Tai Shan - 8
      Good Hot Pot menus, and they also are the only place I have found
      that gives a good English translation of the Chinese menu and the
      specials.  A touch seedy looking but the food is good.  Open very
      late, also.  (Jan 1998)

25 - Chinatown Garden - 7
        No real specials, and they don't seem to be able to cook to order,
      but they do a good job with the menu they've got.  Definitely seem
      to be trying to cater to the western crowd, but it has only been
      open for a week at the time of this visit so things may stabilize.
      Currently, however, they have a person stationed at the door to
      encourage passers-by to come in and eat.  This is a very bad sign.
      (July 1998)

xx - Great Wall Seafood Restaurant
      627 I street (a block off the map)
      Newly opened in 2000.  Has not been checked out.  (4/00)

Honorable Mention: Tung Bor
      Tung Bor isn't in Chinatown, it's out in the wilds of Maryland
      somewhere, but they do great dimsum.  If you're in that side of the
      city you should try it.  (Jan 1997)

In the last ten years, Chinatown, like many of the ethnic neighborhoods, has shrunk considerably with the exodus of people moving into the suburbs. With the recent construction of the MCI Stadium, additional damage is being done to the feel of the area and there are many who wonder how much longer the area will last.  It is with this worry that I strongly recommend that you patronize these businesses and try and support them as much as possible, to keep a unique institution alive as long as possible.

Many thanks to Yong-Mi, WB8F0Z, Zbig, Dena, Parke, Hallie, Shiva and his wives, Barbara, Vicki, Bard, Lewis and Jasi for coming along on these outings. Thanks to Dawn for putting up with me for three days while I had Hunan poisoning at the conference.

  Rick S. wrote:
> Hello to All,
>
> Anybody recommend a place to eat in Chinatown?  My wife and 9yr old
> daughter love Chinese, and I only had the opportunity to drive through
> DC last month.  Now we're staying for a week!  Some look like holes in
> the wall... others have potential.  Decent ambiance would be nice too.
>
> Thanks in advance
>
> Rick
>

If you're with a child, I'd recommend Tony Cheng's. Very kid friendly and clean.

Full Key is very tasty, but more of a hole-in-the-wall.

Though not Chinese, Burma is consistently good and ridiculously cheap.