Eight traditions of Chinese food

[sweth]

So, the DC area has had pretty good Cantonese food for a while, and more recently we seem to be doing much better in the Sichuan and Hunan categories. But those are just 3 of the "Eight Great Traditions" of Chinese food (or 10 if you count Beijing/Mandarin and Shanghai). Does anyone have any suggestions for the others, like Fujianese or Shandong cuisine? (Or am I being greedy by hoping for more?)

[Ericandblueboy]

I'm not even sure there's a decent Hunan restaurant. Taiwanese is basically a derivation of Fujianese cuisine. Bob's Noodle Bistro is the best for Taiwanese (but I haven't been there for over 1 year).

[Steve]

Peking Palace in Germantown is the only Hunan menu I know of in the area. Based on my one visit, I would have to say it is terrific.

From what I've seen of the Hunan Taste and Hunan Legend menus, I would say they are really all over the place, and not specifically Hunan, though I am hardly an expert.

There is a Yunnan section to the menu at Mandarin Express in Rockville.

[sweth]

It was my one recent test of Peking Palace (based on Steve's rec) that made me include Hunan; someone also recently raved about Tau Tau, which claims to be Hunan and Sichuan, and it sounds like Hunan Taste has at least some authentic Hunan dishes.

[elgringoviejo]

The Chairman Mao's braised red-cooked pork at Hunan Taste is excellent.

[chowser]

I haven't found that at Tau Tau. It seems to be your typical american chinese restaurant that people rave about when they want General Tso's chicken. You might be able to order off the menu but the clientele there aren't the type who might. They also have some cantonese type dishes like foon but nothing I'd rave about.

[sweth]

Is Bob's Noodle Bistro different from Bob's Noodle 66? I'm leery of returning to any of the Bob's since my once experience there after Bob left was underwhelming.

[DanielK]

I think he just misstated the name, and means Bob's Noodle 66. I have been there since Bob left, and hadn't seen any dropoff in the common dishes I'd had in the past.

[Indy 67]

Wu's Garden, which generated so much publicity recently, has some Shandong dishes on its menu. The owner told us that braising (e.g. the braised chicken and braised tofu dishes, praised by David Chang) is typical of Shandong cuisine. Wu said that his family is from Shandong, and that the chef at the restaurant is from Hong Kong. We were with friends -- long time patrons of Wu's Garden -- and didn't ask about other Shandong dishes.

[sweth]

Interesting; I always think of braising as an Anhui technique, but I've never actually had Shandong so maybe they braise a lot as well. I'll have to check them out, and hopefully the post-David Chang rush will have died down by now.