Food in Washington DC

For the past couple years I have been going to Washington DC about twice a year. One thing I do on every visit is walk over to Chinatown and eat at one of the Chinese restaurants. Since I was going to be there for four nights (really five, but I didn't go out on Sunday night), I decided to systematically test the different restaurants to see which one I liked the best.

The first night was China Boy's. I hadn't seen this one before but it was rated really highly on the internet so I was really excited for it.

It was tiny - only two tables. 

I got this weird wrap thing that had some rice on the inside and then beef noodle soup. Beef noodle soup is one of my favorite Chinese dishes. In Taiwan they have a whole national holiday for beef noodle soup and they take pride in claiming that they make it better there than anywhere else in the world. I was really disappointed with this restaurant. There was lots of beef in the soup which was good, but the noodles were super soggy, there were lots of gristle chunks, and the broth just wasn't very flavorful at all. I ended up not even finishing it.

Since I didn't finish my food at China Boy's I walked across the street to a little Chinese cafe (Joy Luck Express) that I had been to before and got a green onion pancake and a bubble smoothie. I had had their green onion pancake before and I am always impressed with how flaky they can get it (mine never turn out that flaky). However, I guess these had been sitting out all day and the guy had to microwave it up for me so it wasn't that great. Also the mango bubble smoothie was really bland compared to when I have been there before. I think it was because they had some guy from the middle east working there instead of someone from China.

The next day I went to New Big Wong restaurant. 

I got the egg drop soup, some fried wantons, and some steamed dumplings. The food here was okay. The steamed dumplings were my favorite. This is something they didn't make in Taiwan, but I did have them a few times on my visit to Shanghai a couple years ago. To me they seem to be halfway between pot-stickers and steamed buns. The ones I got in Shanghai were a lot better, but these ones were not too bad. Overall, I would say that this restaurant was too Americanized for me, but the food was definitely better than China Boy's.

On the third day I went to Chinatown Express. This restaurant specializes in hand pulled noodles which they make right at the front of the shop. This is the place I usually go to and the food was better here than the other two restaurants. I got the beef noodle soup, but accidentally ordered the wrong noodles, so I got some thin ramen noodle type ones instead of the hand pulled ones. I was pretty disappointed. The flavor was still good though and the pot-stickers were also pretty good. It wasn't all that amazing though like I was hoping for.

I gave up on the last day. I had peeked in a few other Chinese restaurants on the previous days and either there was no one in them at all or they looked really Americanized. Since my previous three days didn't turn out well, I didn't want to risk it on my last night. Also, my typical bill at these restaurants totals about $15, but the organization that was sponsoring my attendance reimburses me up to $85 for dinner (I don't get to keep what I don't spend). So on my last night I made a reservation and went to a really fancy French restaurant - it was fancy enough that they advertised the name of their chef. I am sure there are many fancier restaurants in DC, but this one was a real treat for me. It was DBGB Kitchen and Bar. 

I ordered the black angus beef duo which is a hanger steak and oxtail on top of spring garlic mushrooms and heirloom carrots. I wish I would have taken a picture since they made it really fancy with swirling the sauces and everything, but taking a picture of my food just seemed a little out of place in this restaurant. It was really good. The meat was so tender and flavorful. There was also maybe a carrot puree sauce under the vegetables, that was creamy and brought the whole dish together. For desert I got the baked Alaska. I think this was my first time having that, so it was a treat. They set it on fire right at my table. In total, I spent $75 there, so it was a nice treat and something I would never do if I had to pay for it myself. I was really glad I did that on the last night instead of going to another Chinese restaurant. I go back to DC in February and the same organization is sponsoring me so I am already planning at least one night in Chinatown and one night to DBGBs. 

Here are a couple pictures I pulled of the internet of my dish from this restaurant.