Chinese restaurants in USA
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A
Chef Jia's
All three of the sauces on the menu here make nostrils flare in eager anticipation: spicy black bean sauce, tangy brown vinegar sauce, and savory-salty oyster sauce. Mix and match your choice with standbys of chicken, pork, and squid and/or green beans, eggplant, or yams. Dishes are generous to the point of embarrassing, but don't neglect the sublime onion cakes with peanut sauce.
reviewed
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B
House of Nanking
Meekly suggest an interest in seafood, nothing deep-fried, perhaps some greens, and your brusque server nods, snatches the menu and, within minutes, returns with Shanghai specialties: meltaway scallops, fragrant sautéed pea shoots, garlicky noodles and a tea ball that blossoms in hot water. Expect bossy service, a wait for a shared table and a strict cash-only policy – but also bright, fresh flavors at reasonable prices.
reviewed
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C
Wok & Roll
At this inauspicious address, Lincoln's assassins plotted their scheme and were later hanged for it. These days, much happier plotting takes place here, such as deciding between the light, fresh sushi or steaming, spicy noodles for lunch. The selection of teas - black, green, hot or cold - is impressive; try one of the delicious and healthy milk varieties.
reviewed
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D
Great New York Noodle Town
The name of this Chinatown stalwart says it all, as the specialties here are endless incarnations of the long and slippery strands, offered up through an easy-to-decipher picture menu. Among the long list of options are noodle soup with roast pork or duck, rice congee with frog or sliced fish, beef chow fun, spicy Singapore mai fun, wide Cantonese noodles with shrimp and egg or Hong Kong–style lo main with ginger and onions. What the no-frills spot lacks in ambience it makes up for in characters – especially once 2am or 3am rolls around.
reviewed
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E
May May Gourmet Food Inc
Ask a Chinatown local for the most authentic meal in the neighborhood and you’ll invariably be directed down a side street to the green-painted exterior of this windowless café, also referred to simply as ‘Gourmet Restaurant.’ Don’t be put off; what it lacks in decor – which is considerable – is made up with the freshness of their made-to-order Cantonese dishes. Expect some degree of language barrier, easily overcome by pointing to the delicious-looking dish on the table next to you.
reviewed
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F
Wan Shi Da Bakery
Offering the best, and cheapest à la carte lunch in Chinatown, this bright little bakery has fluffy barbecue pork buns, hot-dog buns (a Chinese variation on the pig in a blanket), bite-sized egg custards, coconut and winter-melon pastries and some dim sum fare. It’s available to go, or to scarf down by the handful at the no-frills tables in the back. The more weather-beaten sister bakery across the street, Chiu Quon Bakery, has a nearly identical menu and more tourist foot traffic. Cash only.
reviewed
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G
Shanghai Garden
Hand-shaved barley noodles are the specialty of Shanghai Garden, and they frankly trounce all expectations you might ordinarily have of a noodle. They’re wide and chewy, almost meaty, and just barely dressed with perky spinach and nicely integrated globs of chicken, tofu, beef or shrimp. It might seem odd to get all rapturous about a plate of noodles, but these deserve it. The sugar-pea vines are also a favorite, and if neither of those options tempts you, there are about 75 other choices.
reviewed
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H
Spices
The menu reads like an oddly dubbed Hong Kong action flick, with dishes labeled 'fire-burst!!' and 'stinky!', but the chefs can call zesty pickled Napa cabbage with chili oil, silky ma-po tofu and brain-curdling spicy chicken whatever they want – it's definitely worthy of exclamation. When you head toward the kitchen for the bathroom, the chili aroma will make your eyes well up – or maybe that's just gratitude. Cash only.
reviewed
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I
Peking Duck House
You already know what the specialty of the house is – big, brown, crispy glazed duck, served with sides of pancakes and hoisin sauce for tearing, rolling and dipping. There are plenty of other dishes to choose from, all bearing imprints of Peking, Shanghai and Szechuan flavors, mixed expertly together. Peking Duck is slightly fancier than other Chinatown spots, but not at all stuffy; it's a popular choice for local families celebrating a big event.
reviewed
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J
Sichuan Pavilion
Why do we think this unassuming spot may be the best Chinese in the city? Because so many Chinese come here, far from any ethnic enclaves out in the ‘burbs, to dine on fiery, oily classics of the old school. Piquant Sichaun (or Szechaun) cuisine is often blanded-up for Western customers around the world, but these guys keep it real for all their clientele, Asian or otherwise. The ma-pa tofu is particularly stinky and sublime.
reviewed
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K
Jade Garden
Usually mentioned near the top of the list of best places for dim sum in the ID, Jade Garden offers a good range of the delicacies, with everything from standard, newbie-friendly shrimp dumplings and steamed pork buns to the more exotic plates, like black cylinders of sesame-paste gel and, of course, chicken feet. The more things you try, the more fun you’ll have. The Jade Garden’s hot pots are also recommended.
reviewed
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L
Phoenix
Though better sit-down dinner experiences in Chinatown are abundant, the draw here is the excellent dim sum. Small plates of char siu bao (barbecued pork buns), shrimp-filled rice noodles, egg custards and other popular vitals roll around the dining room in a seemingly endless parade of carts. The language barrier can be an issue, so keep in mind that if it looks like chicken feet, it probably is.
reviewed
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M
Spicy & Tasty
A block west of the subway – and away from the busy Main St – this modern Sichuan restaurant is a guaranteed tongue-burner. Pick from a dozen appetizer choices in the front glass case – eggplant, bean curd, beef tongue, pork stomach. You may need to point unless your Chinese is good. Then add on some noodles from the menu. During lunch S&T has $6.50 set meals.
reviewed
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N
City Lights Of China
It's not much to look at, but City Lights is actually one of the better inexpensive Chinese restaurants in DC. The house specialty is Peking duck, but all the old favorites are here. For the more health conscious, the menu now offers some of these, such as General Tsao's chicken, with sautéed white meat instead of deep-fried batter and served with steamed broccoli and brown rice.
reviewed
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O
Shanghai Gate
The menu here offers regional dishes that will redefine your concept of what constitutes Chinese food. Cold appetizers such as the five-spice tofu or the scallion jellyfish preface the meal like a perfect aperitif, and the ‘lion’s head’ casserole elevates the modest meatball to new heights.
reviewed
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P
Opera
This upmarket Chinese restaurant is easy on the eyes, exuding a quirky, cinematic pan-Asian ambience (heightened by the intimate ‘vault’ seating constructed from old film-reel vaults). You’ll find familiar dishes on the menu – Peking duck, Kung Pao beef, general’s chicken, etc – remade with boutique meats, sharp spices and a light touch.
reviewed
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Q
Lao Sze Chuan
Lao Sze Chuan is the most authentic option in heavily touristy Chinatown Sq. The house special is the three-chili chicken, which is tender and very spicy, though the extensive menu has excellent hot pots alongside dishes from the far reaches of the Szechuan province. If the choices are overwhelming, look for advice from watchful chef and owner ‘Tony’ Xiao Jun Hu.
reviewed
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R
Five Happiness
This unassuming spot is every locals’ favorite Chinese, serving up the gluey, oily standards like pepper steak and sweet-and-sour everything you expect in any Chinese restaurant anywhere (besides China). It may not be gastronomically thrilling, but with three decades of history behind it, Five Happiness is very much a beloved landmark on the culinary landscape.
reviewed
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S
Sum Yung Gai
Now what could ‘Sum Yung Gai’ mean in Cantonese – oh, we get it. We dig the 1930s Shanghai opium den interior, which makes us want to carry a tommy gun on one arm and Zhang Ziyi on the other. And they make homemade bird’s nest –impressive! – plus more standard black bean sauce–drenched Chinese-American favorites.
reviewed
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T
Miss Yip
If you remember when Cantonese was the only Chinese cuisine you could find stateside and prefer it that way, meet Jenny Yip. She’s got a bright-red booth and medicine jars full of God-knows-what waiting for you in this seemingly classic Chinese teahouse, which serves excellent Peking duck and ma-po tofu (marinated pork, black beans and bean curd).
reviewed
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U
Full Kee
Although you may find more atmosphere on the moon, you won’t find a better Chinese dive in the city limits. Fill yourself for next to nothing with a simple noodle dish or stir-fry, but make sure you leave some room for the duck, which is divine stuff. Try it with some mambo sauce (DC’s almost citrus-y version of sweet and sour). Cash only.
reviewed
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V
Ming Court Wok & Grille
Probably one of the snazziest venues in which you'll ever eat Chinese food, the interior walls drip architecture and treasures of the great Ming dynasty. The food is equally impressive, with great dim sum, and the 'Eight Treasure Duck' loaded with seafood, chicken and veggies, and smothered with a lip-smacking brown sauce is highly recommended.
reviewed
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China Grill
Unsa-unsa I’m so hot. And I eat at the Miami satellite of Manhattan’s almost-as-hot-as-me unsa-unsa China Grill. I order the also hot (like, spicy) grilled Szechuan beef or Korean barbecue with truffled potato hash boom-boom. And I love to listen to club music while I eat. Weeoooooo.
reviewed
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X
Single Pebble
The brainchild of a local chef who mastered Szechuanese and Cantonese cuisine living in China, this spacious restaurant sprawls over two adjoining clapboard houses and offers up sumptuous MSG-free fare to the strains of traditional Chinese music. The dim sum is particularly satisfying – be sure to try the mock eel.
reviewed
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Y
Purple Dot Café
The Purple Dot looks like the inside of an ‘80s videogame (it is actually purple) and draws a late-night drunken-disco crowd on weekends, but most of the time it’s a calm, quiet place to get dim sum and Macao-style specialties (meaning you can feast on baked spaghetti and French toast along with your Hong Kong favorites).
reviewed