Good authentic Chinese in Alexandria/Arlington?

[Diallo]

Anyone have any suggestions for good Chinese in Alexandria or Arlington? We're new to the area from the west coast where we had a couple of great chinese restaurants. I'm craving some good potstickers and hand-shaved noodles. Thanks!

[rheelee]

Welcome to the DC area! Based on the items you mentioned--pot stickers and hand-shaved noodles, it's Northern Chinese food you are craving.

Most of the recs have been for Sichuan or Cantonese style. For decent Cantonese style, I agree with Full Kee (Bailey's Crossroad) or Miu Kee (Falls Church).

Unfortunately, we don't have any outstanding Northern Chinese restaurants that excel in noodles, dumplings, and breads in our area. My parents are both Northern Chinese and make these things from scratch all the time, so my expectations are high. A & J in Annandale and Rockville, MD is pretty good. The noodles are not the hand-shaved type, but are hand made and cut. Beef Noodle Soup, fried dumplings, and the veggie side dishes are good. As you may have seen in numerous previous threads, Montgomery County, MD is the best place to go for authentic Chinese. The Chinese community is much larger there and they have better Chinese choices than VA.

[alkapal]

i don't attest to its authenticity, but we will go on occasion to oriental gourmet on harrison street in arlington. like their crispy fire shrimp and twice cooked beef (?)

servers have been chinese grad students, and attentive....

[Steve]

Aside from some very good Sichuan places, especially Hong Kong Palace (Falls Church) and China Star (Fairfax), the most notable for Cantonese is Full Kee (Bailey's Crossroads) theDC branch is better, I think, but this is still your best bet. Oyster and ginger casserole, pan fried dumplings, and soups are all winnrers.

[chaojareon]

I second that, I do like Full Kee in Bailey's Crossroads a lot as well.

[chaojareon]

Hong Kong Palace is great Schezuan. More Canton style and great is Mark's Duck house. I have also heard good things about Peking Gourmet Inn and A & J Restaurant. Links below.

You should def check Rockville, Md out at some point... many of the best chinese places are out there.

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Hong Kong Palace
6387 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22044

A & J Restaurant
4316 Markham St, Annandale, VA 22003

Mark's Duck House
6184 Arlington Blvd, Falls Church, VA 22044

Peking Gourmet Inn
6029 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041

[Ericandblueboy]

Add China Star and Peking Village to your list of NoVA authentic Chinese.

[Dennis S]

And Temptasian for Sichuan; and further out, Sichuan Village.

Anyone have a recent report of (I think it's called) China Gardens, in Rosslyn? I still haven't made it. I always heard it served good dim sum and that Chinese tourists stopped there regularly.

[chew]

China Garden is pretty good if you don't mind the crowds and waiting line on the weekends.Convenient though for the area since they offer free underground parking on the weekends.

Just as an aside (like many restaurants) - tourists stop there because the rest. owners cut deals with the tourist / bus operators. So never use just that as a gauge :-D

[Dennis S]

Usually tourists repel me from a place. However, I always heard that tourists from China went there, so that sounded compelling. That they're driven there by deals in the background is probably true, though.

[chaojareon]

IMHO, I think you can do better elsewhere (China Garden). I live in Rosslyn and I would rather travel out to Marks Duck House for Dim Sum.

On a side note I have heard not so good things from my friends about Fortune for dim sum, tho its gotten good marks from the post and the washingtonian. What do you all think about it?

[chowser]

I'd pass on China Garden and Fortune. China Garden is too large and busy and I'd rather go to Marks Duck House, too. Fortune is no better than China Garden. Marks Duck House is hit or miss. I wouldn't go early or late or it can be cold and have little variety. When it's busy, it's my favorite dimsum place in NoVa. But, there, be wary of carts/trays w/ a wide variety of food (well, it's true everywhere but especially there) because they're filled with the cold leftovers from other carts.

[wayne keyser]

For dimsum, I think Lucky Three. Don't expect excellence, but do expect variety.

You want Asian excellence, shift your paradigm a bit and go for the little-known-to-most (well, most folks except readers of this board) Korean restaurants in Annandale.

[HSBSteveM]

I gave up on Fortune years ago, mainly due to cleanliness issues - that's not to imply there was anything going on that would make you sick; it's just that they never cared to pick food up off the floor or clean the horribly smudged doors at the entrance. The food was good, but not good enough to put up with the lack of attention to cleanliness - this problem goes way back to their old location and followed them to their new location. Compare that to Peking Gourmet Inn, which is generally spotless.
Also, while I have no problem with busy, bustling Chinese restaurants (part of the atmosphere), at the height of the dim-sum hours at Fortune, the clientele was the rudest, pushiest crowd I've ever experienced.

China Garden, again has had good to very good food, but it caters so much to the Chinese-speaking clientele, and local regulars, that an average person off the street can get mistreated. Years ago, we were invited to lunch there by a friend of a friend. We got there a few minutes early and were "greeted" by the owner in the most haughty manner possible. The host of our lunch, who is Chinese, came in a few minutes later. Once the owner saw us speaking with them, we were treated royally. No thanks!

[FoodieGrrl]

Second almost all of these recommendations, particularly A&J, which IMHO, has the best potstickers in the area!

[wayne keyser]

Hong Kong Palace (often referred to here as HKP) in 7 Corners - plenty of "must-have dish" recs in other threads, just search right here.