Posts Tagged ‘chinese’

Best Dumplings in DC

Having a friend move to Rockville was life changing for me. Seriously. You’ve heard me rave about it before, but every time I visit, I’m wowed again by the culinary prestige on the Pike. Lest you think I’m being sarcastic, let me tell you about the dumplings:

China Bistro, like all great Rockville eateries, is in a strip mall. Florescent lights reading “Chinese Food,” “Coffee,” and “Bubble Tea” sizzle in the window. We take a seat at a four-top that’s miraculously cleared of its guests the minute we enter. “Can I get a beer?” our friend asks. Our server (who is also the co-owner) shakes her head. No booze here.

Patten makes his way to the bathroom, located deep in the kitchen, and disappears for what seems like an hour. Apparently he’s made friends with the cooks and they’re showing him how to make dumplings. He returns with the chef’s suggestions: Mama’s Special Dumpling (stuffed with pork, shrimp, chives, and nappa cabbage; $7.95), Beef Celery dumpling ($7.50); and Chive Shrimp Dumpling ($8.25). We order all three, but only get one plate fried. “Steamed much better for you,” says the owner. Clearly we’re not here for our health, but we listen anyway.

Our dumpling plates arrive within minutes. The pan-friend dumplings are savory and delicious, but there’s something unique about the steamed version: clean and supple, yet intensely flavorful…as if the lack of oil sharpens our taste buds. We dip the plump dumplings in a vinegar/chili oil concoction, which we’ve created ourselves with the condiments on the table. We’ve also ordered the tomato egg drop soup ($2.95 for two servings) per Yelp’s recommendation. It too is clean and flavorful–and fresh. This is not the gelatinous stuff you’re used to. Here, they use a clear broth and mix in an egg and fresh tomatoes, to order.

After scarfing down the dumplings and the soup, our friends are stuffed. Patten and I need more, however. Not because we’re hungry. We just don’t want this to end. We try the veggie tofu soup (per our server’s recommendation), and bubble tea, red bean flavor. The former is chock full of fresh veggies and tofu (Wow, I could eat this every night,” says Patten), while the latter is laden with sugar and giant tapioca balls. It is quite delicious, but veers from the healthy. Again, not that we’re here for our health, but we’re starting to think the low-cal stuff—at least when it comes to China Bistro—is best. What a revelation! We pay our forty bucks (for four guests!!!) and leave with yet another Rockville high. Foodie heaven, yet again.

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China Bistro; 755 Hungerford Dr., Rockville, MD; (301) 294-0808

Our Culinary Adventure in Rockville

Being the hard core partiers that we are, last night we took to the town (er, escaped the town) in an un-airconditioned car to that faraway northern suburb called Rockville, Maryland. Our first stop was Joe’s Noodle House, which is tucked off Rockville Pike in an unassuming strip mall. The idea was to order light, considering we’d be visiting yet another Rockville eatery, but the menu listed around 200 items and, well, we were hungry. We ordered six dishes (you order and pay at the front), and shortly after, the food arrived plate by plate. Everything we had was delicious (I’d order it all again in a heartbeat!), but here are some specifics:

Their dan dan noodles ($4.50) had that earthy ma po taste, yet the Szechuan peppercorn wasn’t too overwhelming; the wontons with red hot sauce ($5.50) came soaked in some sort of flavorful spicy oil—I could have eaten all eight of those soft things; the home-made bacon with leek ($8.95) was perhaps the best of the bunch—we all loved the way they’d combined just enough of that double-cooked fatty pork and heaps of fresh leaks and peppers; the noodle soup with radish and pork ($6.95) was fittingly mild and healthy tasting (considering the fat content of our other dishes); the steam buns with pork filling ($5.95) were nothing like what we’d expected—they were more akin to steamed dumplings vs. the dim sum-style pork buns we had in mind when we ordered, yet we all liked them; and a fried scallion pancake ($2.75) that was served with a tasty ginger-soy dipping sauce. Full from dinner #1, we paid our $38 and headed to the next spot.

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Joe’s Noodle House

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Lighthouse Tofu (or, Vit Goel Tofu Restaurant) reminds me of a Village Inn from the exterior—with its covered portico (replete with Korean newspaper dispensers and a bulletin board plastered with local flyers), suggesting long waits during peak hours. We arrived around 9:30 p.m. to no lines, but were impressed with the 6 filled tables at such a late hour (in the suburbs!). After the tenous experience of ordering at Joe’s, we welcomed the small menu and ordered three items. But before our main entrees arrived, our waitress—cloaked in a lovely traditional silk-screen chiffon dress—pushed out a full cart, setting down the banchan, many tiny a dish of kimchi, pickled cucumber, and bean sprouts. Next, she scooped rice from a dolsot (hot stone bowl) into individual metal bowls, filling the original pot with green tea. (This watery rice mixture makes for a calming, if not sweet, dessert). Our entrees soon arrived: a giant seafood pancake ($12.99), a bubbling platter of seafood noodles (#13 on the menu; argh, what was its actual name?!?), and the dish for which makes this restaurant famous—sundubu ($9.99), a boiling pot of seafood broth filled with silky tofu. Served with a raw egg that you crack tableside and mix into the stew (watch our video below), this custardy, sensually textured, mouth-watering bowl of amazingness had me slurping spoonful after spoonful, despite my uncomfortably full stomach. I love this stuff and will definitely return—hungrier next time—and order a whole bowl for myself. After paying our whopping (pshaw!) 42-dollar bill and intoxicated on the quality ethnic food we just can’t get in Dupont, we headed home.

Szechuan Oil Slick

In the olden days, I lived on 15th and P. This was back when the Metropole and all that came with it—Lululemon, VIDA Fitness, Bang Salon—was a big construction pit. Stoney’s was still downtown. The Written Word was occupied by one of those residential mortgage banking businesses (was it Countrywide?) that caused our current economic crisis, and Whole Foods still sold their Skyr yogurt parfaits for $1.99. (Now they’re half the size and $2.99!). While I thought I knew my neighborhood intimately then, I was just introduced to a Chinese restaurant on 14th, between Q and Church Streets, that existed all the while I resided in my Logan Circle apartment. I had seen the place before, but never with customers, so I suppose I wrote it off. Years later, I come across some foodie blogs, each raving about the Szechuan cuisine inside this not-so-distinctive building.

Thus, I find myself waiting at the Great Wall—breathless after a long walk that would have taken minutes from my old abode—for my takeout order: Double-cooked pork ($9.95), Ma Po Tofu with meat ($7.95); Ma La Wontons ($3.95), and 1/2 Peking Duck ($11.95). I feel a bit guilty about not ordering anything with vegetables—even more so after I eat—but I wanted to order all the top-reviewed stuff. Nobody’s review said anything about the vegetables.

Clockwise from bottom: Double-cooked pork, Peking duck in pancake, Ma La wonton, Ma Po tofu.

My thoughts:

At first, I loved everything. It was insanely spicy and earthy tasting—especially the firey tofu and it’s faint soil flavor. The duck was flavorful, if not incredibly moist. The double-cooked pork tasted like fatty bacon (never a bad thing), and the wontons (which seemed more like dumplings. Aren’t wontons supposed to be deep-fried and crispy?) were soaking in a bowl of spicy chili oil. The tastes were nice and certainly different. Once you passed over the fat factor—if you could (”I don’t know why you liked that food last night,” said Patten. “It was so oily and gross. The duck was nothing like the Peking duck I had in London” Duh.)—the flavors were interesting, exciting, left you wanting more. Until the next day. I’m usually a fiend for Chinese leftovers, but these are another story. My stomach churns when I open the containers, and I end up tossing them out, uneaten, a few days later. Wait, I did use some of that double pork in a bolognese recipe. Not all was lost…

I will probably try the Great Wall again. The Ma La dishes are good (these are the traditional spicy dishes that you’ll read about in all the local reviews and comprised most of my order), but moderation is key. Order one, not three. Save duck for your outings to Virginia (or London), and order some veggies so you can tell me about them.