Lesson: Â spicy food laced with msg is a bad combo
Came back here again, was crowded on a Fri night.
Had the szechuan tendons, fish in peppery broth, stir fried spinach, and chengdu salt/pepper shrimp.
Whatever the case, I felt out of whack afterwards. Â
People need to understand that hot/spicy food served here needs to be balanced with a lot of cool. Â Need to maintain that yin/yang balance or your body will suffer.
In any regard, the shrimp that I ordered was terrible.
Was expecting to have outstanding delish chinese food but I was disappointed. We were the first ones to be there when it opened for lunch at 11am. At first we were hesitant to go in coz the open sign was off.So we didn't know if they were open or close.
Had to call from the parking lot just to make sure that they were indeed open before we bring our appetite somewhere else
We headed in and was surprised to see that the place is not huge. It was
 like a like a mom and pop shop. We were given a menu and some tea, while checking out what to get I saw like chinese characters on the wall assuming it were specials but it was written in chinese so I don't know what its about.
We ordered the dan dan, steamed fish fillet, dry tofu with pork and shrimp with garlic and pepper.
Food came trickling out first it was the dan dan. Hmmm...don't know what the rave is abt but AJ has a better version. Anyway, everything I ate tasted too salty for my buds.
The shrimps were already peeled so I guess this is good?! I was expecting full shell on with crispy garlic flavor to boot.Nah... didn't happen.
With yesterday's chilly weather, something hot and spicy was required for lunch. After checking a friend's food blog and and yelp, my friend and I decided on Hong Kong Palace. Hong Kong Palace is located in Seven Corners Center (turn at the light by DogFish Head). There is nothing exciting about the interior but it is clean and doesn't have the greasy smell that some smaller, carpeted restaurants always seem to have. The tables are set with the Chinese zodiac paper place mat that one finds in most small Chinese restaurants in the States. We were given two menus, one that looks like a copy of their take out menu and has a lot of the Americanized-Chinese dishes carried by every Chinese restaurant and the second that has maybe half the number of dishes but they are the more authentic ones (most of which are also listed on the first menu, but without any explanation of what is in each dish). We ordered off the second menu. There also appeared to be a specials board on one wall, but I can't read Chinese so I have no idea what the specials were yesterday.
Our server was a bit gruff but she was also dealing with a table of fifteen so that may have had something to do with it. We had only had the menu for a minute or two before she came back with hot tea and to take our order. We weren't ready to order our mains but placed an order for Dan Dan Noodles, which seemed to take the edge off our server's gruffness. After a few more minutes we were ready to order our mains - we decided on Ma Po Tofu and Eggplant with Hot Garlic Sauce.
The noodles in the Dan Dan Noodles were a bit wider than those that I have seen at other places but that just means that there was more surface area for the sauce to adhere to. <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/hong-kong-palace-falls-church?select=N16k-ua-NvoC0NSq9COosw#xSGdEYiZBQZTKOzJqi26PQ">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a> The sauce was in the bottom of the bowl so make sure to stir everything together before taking a bite. The dish wasn't as spicy as I expected, but it did have a decent level of heat. My only complaint is that some of the ground pork that was on top was cold, yet after stirring it into the dish, the sauce and noodles warmed it through.
When we were about half way through our noodles our mains appeared. Like the noodles, the Ma Po Tofu wasn't as spicy as expected but the dish had a nice balance of flavors and I liked the addition of leaks. <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/hong-kong-palace-falls-church?select=N16k-ua-NvoC0NSq9COosw#N16k-ua-NvoC0NSq9COosw">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a> While not listed on the menu, Hong Kong Palace's Ma Po Tofu has ground pork in it, which is what I expected (and hoped for) but just be aware of that if you have any vegetarians in your group. Our eggplant dish was much sweeter than I expected, but it was a savory-sweet, not cloying. <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/hong-kong-palace-falls-church?select=N16k-ua-NvoC0NSq9COosw#8xAZhgEQlixuIEuwcFkAng">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a> The eggplant were soft without being mushy and the sauce was thick enough to coat each piece. I spent a solid minute tasting just the sauce trying to narrow down the ingredients, but gave up because it was so delicious I just wanted to eat.
We ate until we were stuffed and still had leftovers. Sadly, I think I am just outside of their delivery area but the food is so much better than any of my delivery places that I am willing to make the drive the next time I need my Chinese fix. The next time I will just make sure to let the server know that I like my dishes spicy.
Excellent flavors, fast service and authentic menu - highly recommended. Cumin lamb and tea smoked duck were the highlights - the steamed dumplings were also very good. If you miss finding Chinese/Hunan food with spice, this is a good destination.
I will be going back to sample more dishes soon!
Along with a restaurant near Ellicot City MD (I apologize, the name escapes me), this ranks as the finest place in the area for those who like traditional Hunan food.
There's a cold spicy meat dish that is a great appetizer, and the chicken and pepper is ultra lovely and ultra hot. Chicken and potato, as well as cumin lamb, are both phenomenal too. I used to get the duck dish, but now tend to prefer spicier fare they offer (which I think they do best).
The frog dishes which initially led me here are perhaps the best in the area -- though they pale against mainland China, where the frog is meatier and tends to taste more like seafood than chicken. This seems less how they cook it, and more an issue of what frog they could acquire.
Aside from the frog dishes though, it doesn't just reflect the foods of mainland China, the dishes for the most part hold their own against them. And since they also serve hot tea -- something that is actually difficult to get in some mainland China restaurants, for reasons I never could understand -- they may be the best Chinese restaurant I have ever been to.
Simply put, this is my favorite Chinese restaurant of all time. Â I owe my friend Z.W. many thanks for the introduction to this place. Â We met for dinner one night and I have been back at least once a month since then. Â I gladly travel 30 - 40 minutes.
My favorites are The Chengdu Zhong's Spring Dumplings, Twice Cooked Pork, Cumin Lamb and Chicken with Stuffed Peppers. Â Any combination of the above is a winner in my book and I leave completely satisfied with tingling lips and tongue.
I don't disagree with many of the reviews about the servers. Â They are not necessarily the friendliest of individuals, but they are not mean either. Â This place just happens to be tiny and very popular. Â I don't think I have ever been there without a line at the door yet I don't think I ever wait more than 10 minutes to be seated. Â I think they do a really great job of getting people in and people out. Â If you're prepared to get in, eat, and get on with your evening, this is the place for you.
Unique Chinese food that will please the spice lover. This is not your run of the mill Chinese food, so expect to be surprised. We came here with another couple of friends, who have been coming here for years, originally recommended by a coworker from Hong Kong. Apparently, the owner brings back some unique spices from Hong Kong a few times a year, as some of these ingredients cannot be found in the U.S. Whether that's true or not, I must say that I had never before tasted (more like felt the numbness induced by) a Szechuan peppercorn.
Cumin lamb - really incredibly spiced lamb shavings with green peppers and onions. This will knock your socks off with its intense flavor. A must order!
Eggplant with hot garlic sauce - creamy eggplant wedges in a silky smooth sauce. A table favorite.
Stir fried dry bean curd with Chinese celery - incredibly flavorful appetizer. I generally hate bean curd, but I liked this.
Delightful cold wooden ear mushroom salad - it's cold. It's garlicky. It's got those wide, flat, wood mushrooms. Yum!!!
Finally, the most incredible dish had to be the crunchy pepper with stir fried chicken. I didn't see it on the menu, but when our friend ordered it from memory, the server said, "Yes, we have that." This was spicy as all get out, so if you don't like hot things, you would not like this at all. However, if you like a bit of pain in your mouth, the hot red peppers are filled with something crunchy (sesame seeds?) and fried to a crisp. Truly a unique experience.
Divey little hole in the wall place with great food.
We love to stop in here for a lunch on a weekend. Â Whatever we pick from the menu is delicious. Â It really seems like you can do no wrong. Â Don't expect super friendly waitstaff but do expect delicious hot tea and to leave stuffed full of great food.
Went on a Saturday night, 80% filled and got a seat right away.
Chicken with Dried Chili: Awesome. The peppers gave the right amount of numbness sensation but for those who don't like spicy food, ask them to lower it by half. THIS IS SPICY for real.
Lamb with Cumin (?) The lamb was cooked perfectly, not gamy and very tender. This is spicy as well.
This is my #2 in Falls Church after Peking Gourmet.
For desert  go to Thanh Son Tofu for Red Bean Smoothie with or without bubbles. It is the best I've has from coast to coast.
Both my fiancee and I are from mainland China, and she is even from Sichuan province, so I will save my modesty for another review. Â When it comes spicy Chinese cuisine, we're more than qualified to judge. Typically I would rate a restaurant of this quality 4 stars, but in this area, Hong Kong Palace is as good as it gets for authentic Sichuan food. Â Don't let the name fool you, if you are looking for light and sweet Cantonese fair, go to Fortune on the other side of the shopping strip.
We go to this restaurant about once a week and the food have been consistently great. Â The dishes that I would recommend are
(pork intestine),
(hot pot fish),
(chicken and potato),
(potato and green pepper),
(spicy intestine),
(spicy tofu and fish)
(pork kidney)
(cold noodle)
(dan dan noodle)
If you can't read Chinese, you can print them out and just show them to the waitress. Â But also feel free to let them recommend if you don't know what to order.
Although service was a bit slow, the food came out super fast once we placed the order. Â The green onion pancakes and Chendu dumplings were excellent - not greasy at all. Â The Chengdu salt and pepper shrimp were hot and tasty but didn't seem to differ from the standard. Â The cumin beef was super spicy hot but delicious. Â Even the spicy food aficionado in our group ended up with her sinuses clear after this dish. Â As a wimp on the pepper scale, I was grateful we had a big bowl of rice and I did go back for seconds despite the heat :-). The Shanghai greens and mushroom turned out to be baby bok choy and mushrooms - this dish was outstanding! Â And the Chengdu tea smoked duck was excellent. Â All in all a terrific meal. Â The address on their website was wrong so if you need a landmark, use the 7 Corners Shopper's Food Warehouse! Â A bit far from home but worth the trip.
Review Source:Simply the best Sichuan food in NOVA. Â Full stop. Â Hint: if you are not Chinese, bring a Chinese person. Â Even if you speak Chinese. Â Even if you can read their Chinese-only menu. Â The food will have a more authentic flavor if you do. Â But even if you don't, HK Palace will still be vastly better than any other place you will find this side of Chengdu.
Must-trys:
Kung pao chicken
Mapo tofu
Northern Sichuan spicy cold bean starch noodles
Shuizhu  (water-boiled) anything
Get an order of mapo tofu to go and put in the fridge. Â It's even better on the second and third days.
The best and by far my favorite Chinese restaurant in the area! I love Hong Kong Palace. The name is misleading as the food is actually more Chengdu/Sichuan than Cantonese/HK. Nonetheless, Â the food is absolutely delicious and if you are a fan of spicy, this is as good as it gets. The spicy oil they use is without a doubt flame-spitting spicy, but I think it actually burns very clean on your palette. Instead of leaving a bad taste in your mouth, it feels tingly clean. This place gets really popular on Friday/weekends so come in early or be prepared for a bit of a wait. The waitstaff generally do a pretty good job moving people in and out. Come hungry! Within 5 minutes of ordering, your food is out! Don't worry though, everything is definitely cooked to order and super fresh. You can taste the food still fiery hot (temperature-wise) from the hot wok it came from.
A few signature items I would highly recommend if you come to HK Palace:
(appetizers)
-Spicy Szechuan Beef Tendon
-Chengdu Zhong's Dumpling
-Northern Szechuan Spicy Cold Bean-Starch Noodle
(entrees)
-Ma Po Tofu (beware: very spicy, but very good)
-Sliced Pork With Pickled Vegetable (the pickled veg may be an acquired taste if you've never had it before, but it provides a nice contrast to the otherwise spicy dishes on the menu)
-Beef With Vegetable In Peppery Broth (the chinese name for this dish is "water steamed beef" so the cooking technique involved may be what give the beef its very tender and smooth texture, veggies are not too abundant-mainly celery)
-Homestyle Bean Curd (spicy, but not as intense as the Mo Po Tofu in my opinion; comes with a mixture of fried tofu and thinly sliced pork in a red peppery sauce)
-Sliced Pork with Dry Bean Curd (non-spicy and a nice change of pace)
All the veggie dishes are good as well, I recommend the Fried Spinach With Fresh Garlic.
This is my go-to place for amazing Chinese food at unbeatable prices. I definitely have a new found love and appreciation of ChengDu cuisine!
Excellent food, probably the best hole-in-the wall authentic Chinese in the area!!
Located in a discreet corner of the Seven Corners Center strip mall in Falls Church, this place serves some of the more authentic, less known Sichuan dishes such as Cumin Lamb, Pickled Squid w/ Vegetables and Fish w/ Bean Curd. I really liked the Cumin Lamb, although it is somewhat of an acquired taste. Their Hunan Chicken and Kung Pao Chicken is also really good, prepared with the perfect level of flavors and spices
One star off for the service, but bearing the poor service is well worth the food here! MUST TRY!!
I really was hopeful about this place. The waitress took our menus away even before we tried to finalize what we wanted to order. She wasn't helpful at all and seemed irritated.
Dan Dan noodles were decent as well as the eggplant. However, the mapo tofu, chicken with chili, and Sichuan beef were SO salty and tongue numbing, they were complete poison. I couldn't eat another bite, I told the lady that the dishes were terribly salty but they still charged us, I just wanted to get out of there. Horrible experience. Absolutely disastrous.
I don't know why people have all these positive reviews. I went there with a friend. The food was blah, nothing to rave about. My friend had per plate taken away before she was done eating. Then, we were asked by the server to please pay the bill immediately, 5 min after receiving it. After we paid the bill, we were asked to leave by the server, because there were people waiting and they wanted to give our table to someone else.
We were stressed out the whole time; we had to eat our food as fast as possible and get out. Won't ever return or recommend. The food was average, the service was far below average.
I don't know what took me so long but I finally made it back to have my birthday dinner with my family. Â I've been on a Sichuan kick lately and am addicted to the braised fish in hot pepper broth at China Star. Â That was a mandatory order for this visit as a comparison, and it was very good. Â The broth had just that right mala kick and plenty of vegetables and fish. Â The sauce is like crack and my kids and I can't get enough of it. Â The Chengdu Kung Pao Chicken was another hit with very flavorful tender pieces of chicken, peanuts and peppers, along with some peppercorns for that numbing sensation. Â Service was very good and the waitress and waiter were very attentive.
Review Source:Short review version: we ordered a delivery from this place, and the food, although of better quality than in most generic "Americanized" Chinese delivery places, was nothing to write home about. We didn't hate it, but we didn't love it either. Plus, it was too expensive for the quality.
Now the details. They were very quick with the delivery (it arrived about 20 mins after the order was placed, and that on a Saturday night!), and the food was burning hot. That's definitely a plus. The size of the portions was also good. The menu definitely has more choices of "more authentic" and "less fast-foody" Chinese dishes than most typical Chinese restaurants. Following the advice of other yelp reviewers, we ordered Cumin Lamb, Old Buddhist braised pork, and spicy wonton. The wonton was nice, but nothing extraordinary, similar to the wonton we have tried in many other places, and actually not very spicy. The pork was not bad, quite tender, but it came in a big quantity of quite greasy and not particularly flavorful sauce. The lamb... I honestly don't understand what other reviewers are raving about. My husband and I are big fans of lamb (he is French), so I cook it all the time, and, believe me, we know lamb. This lamb we honestly couldn't tell from pork! The pieces are very small, thin, and the sauce/spices really disguise the actual taste of lamb. We also ordered a "fish soup with pickled vegetables", and it looked and tasted exactly like the braised pork dish, only had pieces of fish there instead of pork. The chunks of fish were sizable, and it tasted fine, but again, not particularly flavorful. The pork, the lamb, and the fish were all quite spicy, which I don't mind, but in this particular case I felt that the hot peppers were just disguising and killing the actual taste and the beauty of the principal ingredients. And the veggies (mostly onions and celery) that were in the dishes were very bland and mostly overcooked.
I think it all boils down to the fact that my husband's and my philosophy of food is not a good fit with Chinese cuisine in general. We tend to like and appreciate the quality of the main ingredient: the lamb, the duck, the fish, the fresh vegetables have to be flavorful and tasty by themselves, and the sauces, spices and garnishes should complement and bring out the beauty of the main ingredient, not overshadow it and kill it. So, in instances where a lot of reviewers feel "so much flavor" or "a nice kick", we feel "oh god, the poor fish is totally lost in all this chili peppery oily stuff." Â So, Hong Kong Palace is not a bad place to order from, but you shouldn't expect much from the actual taste of the meat and the veggies.
Damn was I ever wrong about this place! I finally made it back to the HKP to try some other dishes. This time I did my research on Yelp and ordered some of the dishes that were recommended by others. The traditional Kung Pao Chicken is sublime! Its loaded with these little nuclear chillies that will knock your socks off. The Cumin Lamb is also great! But, my favorite dish so far is the Fried Chicken with Dried Chili Peppers. This may be the hottest thing I have ever eaten. The chilies that they use are different than any that i have ever had. They are super hot but also have a great flavor. If you like spicy food, this is the place for you. I for one have found a new favorite.
Review Source:Don't let the name deceive you, for this is one of the best Szechuan restaurants around. Located at Seven Corners, this restaurant can be small (reservations are recommended during the weekend), but well worth it for those wanting to try something spicy and unique. Many of the better dishes have good heat, such as the dan dan noodles, beef noodle soup, and spicy wontons. Additionally, I usually always order the spicy fish and tofu; this dish can be quite spicy, so I usually pair that with white rice or the scallion pancakes. For those wanting something less spicy, try some of the seafood dishes or rice dishes, such as the yang zhou fried rice or steamed whole fish with fresh garlic.
As a whole, I genuinely like this place. Chinese restaurants do have the typical stereotype of having 'bad service,' and being of Chinese descent, I can safely say that it is definitely not the best. However, they do make sure you have ordered, and the food does not take long to come out. A rating of 4 is pretty safe. For those wanting to get their spice on, this place will not disappoint.
Frickin amazing. This place has both the "lame" (read: traditional) menu and the super special awesome menu. Guess which one you should use.
I have never had anything I didn't like and have had almost all the appetizers. The dan dan noodles (app) and spicy, garlic eggplant (main) are superb. The dried beef app (I can't remember exact name) is very good. There's a pork dish app (garlic, maybe?) that is very akin to barely cooked bacon. It was tasty, but there's only so much of that I can take in one sitting. I felt so-so about the sesame balls, but they were a hit with my companions. I wish I could read Chinese so that I could order off the specials menu. Hrmpf.
They have at least one large table with a lazy Susan for groups, but it's a relatively cozy venue. Definitely call ahead if you need space for more than 4.
Be warned: You will be judged for asking for a soda, utensils, or the regular menu. It's all part of the charm, in my opinion.
Went to Hong Kong Palace on a Saturday morning for dimsum. Having been to many dimsum places in my lifetime, I would say Hong Kong Palace's dimsum was good, but nothing really special.
The overall atmosphere of this restaurant was typical of a dimsum restaurant over the weekend- the clinking of the various metal carts packed with small dishes, the background noise of loud and oftentimes obnoxious conversations in the various languages of Asia, and the smell of roasted meats, steamed buns, and the sweet ginger syrup and peanuts from the tofu dessert soup from all of the various carts bustling around the spacious one room restaurant.
The food was good. They had all of my favorite dimsum dishes which in my opinion, makes for a good dimsum restaurant. If a dimsum restaurant doesn't have chinese chive dumplings- those translucent fat purses of smelly chive goodness, it really isn't a dimsum restaurant worth going to. Fortunately, Hong Kong Palace has them. They also have shrimp dumplings, steamed beef tripe, shrimp siu mai, chang fen- the long tubular noodles filled with various meats (we had shrimp), steamed char siu buns, phoenix claws....the list goes on and on. And by the way, they were all good.
Overall, my experience at Hong Kong Palace was nice and satiating. If you are in the area and have never experienced dimsum and would like to try, I would definitely suggest this restaurant. Otherwise, this place is also a great place to get some classic dimsum foods for a good price.
Hong Kong Palace is a bit of a misnomer. Â It serves Sichuan, not Cantonese/Hong Kong cuisine, but the food is awesome. Â It has become my go-to place for spicy foods when the craving hits, and the quality is consistent. Â Make sure you bring a Chinese literate friend along so you can order off the Chinese menu written on the wall rather than limiting yourself to the printed edition. Â The crispy chicken bites with chili pepper thingie is definitely unique in the DC area and simply addictive. Â The cold chicken in mala sauce is also divine. Â This from a person that normally do not even eat chicken. Â
I would have given it five stars if it is not for the fact that the wait is always so long on the weekend that I am forced to come here at odd hours. Â Eating lunch at 3:00 pm is kinda not my thing.
Visited Hong Kong Palace with a buddy that's always up for trying very authentic, and ethnic foods.
I really enjoyed our meal. Â The sever was helpful and sincere in steering us and informing us on items we knew little about.
We had a cold spicy beef appetizer - not the tendons which I'm excited to try next time - it was different, but good. Â Not my favorite part of the meal, but tasty and interesting. Â Dan dan noodles were very good, but the star was the whole crispy fish. Â The bean sauce was just great. Â I loved it. Â And the fish was delicious and cooked perfectly. Â In some spots, it did take some navigating to get to the meat, but part of the fun when ordering whole fish right?
Overall great experience. Â Friendly server. Â Something different from typical western chinese restaurants. Â Authentic. Â Spicy means spicy.
When I was a kid, a friend took us to a Szechuan restaurant to celebrate his birthday. He warned us it was hot, but having grown up on his mother's cooking I was quite sure I was prepared. What I didn't realize at the time was there are different cuisines within the Chinese food family and Szechuan was absolutely NOTHING like what I'd had before. The pain I endured during (and after) that meal will permanently be seared (ha!) into my brain.
Fast forward 20 years when upon learning my friend's favorite restaurant had closed, I set about to find a *hopefully* suitable replacement. After a bit of Yelp digging, we ended up at Hong Kong Palace.
There is really no mistaking first impressions here. The place is tiny, looks like it hasn't changed since it was decorated in 1987, the tables and menus are sticky and you get the general sense they've probably seen a few health code violations. Since that's generally what we look for in restaurants, we dug into the Chinese menu to find dishes that would help recreate that memory from decades ago.
We decided on Dan Dan Noodles, Green Onion Cake, Ma Po Tofu and something my friend ordered by describing to our server since his momma wasn't there to do it in Chinese. (You see, he dropped out of Chinese Sunday school as a kid [much to her chagrin] and never learned to speak it.) Luckily, the server knew what he meant and scurried of to get our dishes.
Our food came without too much of a wait and I braced myself to relive the horrors of the past. Imagine my surprise when I realized that not only was I not attempting to drink the water from the never-been-cleaned fish tank in an effort to cool my tongue, but that my tongue was actually numb. Szechuan peppercorns were to blame and upon realizing it wasn't a sign of a stroke, I became addicted to the sensation. I'd take a bite of the well prepared, delicious food and then take a sip of water to obsess over how strange the water tasted. It was a vicious lifecycle; one that would eventually end in me eating and drinking entirely too much.
In the end, Hong Kong Palace was a great place to have lunch with a friend before I moved across the country. The food was exactly what we wanted/expected and all the Hole in the Wall nuances just faded into the background of our conversation. You eat here because it's as much a part of who you are, rather that how well they wipe down their tables.
The missing star? I'm reserving that in honor of the Szechuan of our youth.
My family comes here quite often, but during dinnertime, it gets intensely crowded.
We got half a tea smoked duck, which is always delicious, salty, and crisp. I really enjoy the duck a lot! We also got a spicy tendon dish, which was loaded with sauce. This dish is the reason why I like tendon. Try it!
We also got salty and spicy fried fish slices, which are my favorite. There's a generous amount of fish, and the spices are really great.
To finish our meal, we got string beans and eggplant, both of which are tasty.
Good for both dinner and lunch!
The restaurant is the very definition of hole in the wall: dingy inside, old decorations, cheap, and delicious food. Most flavorful chinese I have had in the area!
I've been a few times and tried the dan dan noodles, twice cooked pork belly, and kung pao chicken, chengdu dumplings, ma po tofu, and a few other dishes. They have all been excellent.
The food is way spicier than typical chinese food found around here but it is so good! Definitely recommend checking this place out!
Have gone to Peking Gourmet Inn in Culmore for decades, but this is even better!
Wow, it was the best Chinese food I have ever had. Tried the well-reviewed Spicy Wontons and Cumin Beef...both very good; but the Old Buddhist Braised Pork was phenomenal!
Make sure you only order from the Chinese menu (the one that has intestine as a choice) and not from the Americanized menu.
We have been eating China Star in Fairfax for years, and generally consider it our favorite Szechuan (if not overall favorite) spot. After the various rave reviews of Hong Kong Palace, we finally tried it for a mid-afternoon weekday lunch.
We started with Chengdu Zhongs Dumplings, which arrived swimming in chili oil. Delicious!
I consider good Ma Po Tofu to be a magical thing, and judge all of it against China Star's. HKP's was a close second to China Star's, far better than any other I've had elsewhere. It's possible that I should have a side by side comparison of the two... mmm.... (I also appreciated that the staff ate Ma Po Tofu for their lunch while we were there.)
We also had the Braised Beef Tenderloin with Bamboo Shoots, bathed in a delectable cumin scented sauce, but containing slightly suspect pieces of beef to our American palates, and the Fried Chicken with Dry Chili Peppers, which was perfect - spicy, slightly sweet, crunchy, and the best we've ever had.
Our waitress was great, and we look forward to returning for additional recommendations / translations and exploring more of the menu.
A pretty typical Chinese restaurant setting and menu. Not necessarily 'Hong Kong' style dishes, but more so the spicy Sichuan stuff, hence the name of the restaurant in chinese is actually Chengdu (capital city of Sichuan province), not HK. But apparently HK, Beijing, and Shanghai are the only cities in China worth knowing -_-
We got the spicy beef tendon, spicy beef noodle soup, mapo tofu, and cumin lamb. Nothing too special about the spicy beef tendon, as I've had better at Sichuan Pavilion. The beef noodle soup, I would probably not recommend. The noodles are not handmade and contains very little beef in the soup. The mapo tofu was cut in fairly small tofu cubes but came in a really nice big portion.
Probably the most unique dish, and the best thing about this place is their cumin lamb. It was a little too salty tasting at first, but once I started to eat more of it, I didn't even notice. I love cumin + lamb combination, so it was a nice treat that they had it here. IMO, it's the most 'worth it' thing to get and come here again for. However it doesn't help that this darn place is so hard to navigate around with the GPS. When you're around the area, just keep a lookout for Seven Corners and it'll be easier to find.
Very good. It's not easy to find (particularly given the congestion of Seven Corners). It's tucked in near a post office, across the street from Sears (and on the backside of the Home Depot).
When we first got there, they gave us two sets of menus. When I asked, they explained that one set was American-Chinese (General Tso's chicken, etc.). The other was authentic Chinese. We asked for some recommendations off the authentic Chinese menu and did very well: Dan Dan noodles (hot); cumin lamb; and chicken with mushrooms and garlic sauce. They were excellent. The cumin lamb reminded me a little of a memorable dish I had at a Szechuan restaurant in Beijing (not quite as fiery, but still very spicy).
A substantial fraction of the lunch crowd was speaking Chinese, which I also generally take as a good sign. The place is non-descript and small, but the food and service are both worth coming back for.
I'm 'bout it 'bout it. Best Chinese food I've had so far in the U.S.
I guess it's not really "Chinese," but this culinary subset is very under-explored for me. Thank you, Corbo E., for turning me on to this joint.
Tried the dan dan noodles--a must, and a will be a staple every time I come back--the pork belly with dried long bean and the fried chicken with chili. We had the fried dumplings too.
OMG the fried chicken will give you O face. The pork belly was good, but I would forgo it in order to try other dishes for sure. The dumplings are forgettable--pass on them.
The service was great and friendly. The place is pretty dumpy, but who gives a fuck. SO DELICIOUS.
Currently my favorite chinese. Despite their name, this place actually offers authentic Shichuan food. And don't be mistaken, there are three menus in this place. The first is a large, white single page, the second is a booklet with pictures, and the third is up on the wall written in Chinese. If you get the large single page menu, you're most likely white lol. Unfortunately, the good stuff resides on the other menus. That being said, make sure they're not making any decisions on your behalf; ensure you receive the booklet menu and then ask them to translate the wall.... all of it.
For brevity sake, just order any or all of the following:
-Chengdu Zhong's Dumpling
-Scallion pancakes
-Dan Dan Noodles (ask for extra meat)
-Fish with bean curd
-Twice cooked pork belly with long bean
-Spicy chicken with potatoes
-Cumin Ribs
-Cumin Lamb
-Chengdu Salt and Pepper Jumbo Shrimp
-Whole fish with black bean sauce
From the wall on the right, in chinese:
-Flounder in a hot pot
-Spicy friend chicken with hot pepper
-Fried pork chops
There's a lot of other dishes worth trying, but focus on these for now. Trust. Also, arrive early or late. The place is tiny and they'll have you waiting in line next to people trying to eat and no one wants that.
3.50 stars. Â Hong Kong Palace enjoys a fantastic reputation in the greater DC area, but based on my experience, I still would give the edge to Odenton's Grace Garden for the most exceptional encounter I've had with Chinese food for spots within an hour of DC. Â In fact, another Schezuan restaurant, Great Wall Schezuan in Logan Circle, actually has a couple of dishes that more than hold their water against Hong Kong Palace. Â That said, it is worth the drive to Falls Church to sample some amazing Chinese dishes mostly from the Schezuan province.
You should plan your meal at Hong Kong Palace with the understanding that it does not target non-Chinese customers. Â Thus, make sure you have someone in your group who can read Chinese. Â They can order the daily specials listed in the restaurant. Â For example, the crispy chicken with sesame and red pepper was outstanding, and we would have missed this experience but for the fact that some of our group was able to decipher the pretty characters ascribed on the right hand side wall. Â Plan accordingly.
If you followed that instruction, you are probably enjoying some excellent homestyle tofu as well. Â Everyone keeps talking about the ma po tofu at Hong Kong Palace, but the rendition at Great Wall Schezuan floors it. Â Having said that, the homestyle tofu is simply magnificent. Â It is an impressive amalgam of tofu, schezuan peppercorn, and what appeared to be flounder in a spicy red sauce.
Although the crispy chicken and homestyle tofu steal the show, there are other treats as well. Â The dan dan noodles has an interesting sugary note, and the pork intestine dish has a surprisingly soft texture that was completely foreign to my previous experiences with similar dishes. Â The supple chengdu salt and pepper shrimp was encapsulated perfectly in a light, flavorful batter. Â For the vegetarians out there, their fresh purple eggplant is delightful. Â They also have a snow pea shoots dish that everyone else seems to enjoy, but I am not so impressed. Â
Unfortunately, I think there are some items that are simply ordinary. Â I would skip the dumplings (you will like this if you like the super doughy coverings on the dumplings as opposed to the thin wrapper), the green onion pancakes (surprisingly bland), and the sweet and sour seafood soup (was not impresed with the seafood used in this particular dish). Â Yet, everyone has different tastes, so read all the reviews to get a strong sampling of opinions regarding the various styles and tastes that you can experience here. Â
Overall, I would say it is among the best places in DC to eat Chinese food. Â It is certainly worth a drive to Falls Church. Â If you are looking for the champ, however, I would recommend that you make that long trek to Odenton where Grace Garden awaits you.
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