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Doubled or tripled the number of shared dishes at yet another Yelp event. Experience was on our side eliminating the broccoli and garlic this time and adding more spicy dishes. Always good company at these things as well.
Besides the food being quite good, Sichuan Pavilion gave us a semi private room for our loud large group, let us filter in over a long period of time, and let us stay for a couple hours. No being rushed out... no hassle for repeatedly ordering the steamed pork buns.
Multiple dishes shared is the way to approach Sichuan Pavilion. Nick organized a lunch UYE, and I… Read more »
I can't thpeak. Mah mouf is num.
Met the finest group of Yelpahs evah at Sichuan to celebrate a special someone's birthday. From now on, I celebrate ALL birthdays at SP. This place is amazing. Ordering family style is key -- even if you're a vegetarian, there are plenty of options. You absolutely must get the Ma Po Tofu..."it's a good heat."
As for service, I thought it was nearly perfect. We didn't wait long for anything. I also appreciated how they didn't seem to care that we took up an entire 12-top table over nearly 2.5 hours.
Ma la in Mandarin quite literally translates to "numb spicy." Technically speaking, the ma la huang gua (spicy cucumber salad) at A&J has it in the name, but they just use basic chili oil. Sichuan Pavilion, however, uses the real thing: Sichuan peppers.
Anytime the boy -doesn't- complain about food being not spicy enough for him, I consider it a personal win.
It's unclear to me whether or not Sichuan Pavilion takes reservations, but if they do... it's probably not a bad idea to have them. Fortunately, we came as a party of two, but even so, it was absolutely packed at 1930 on a Thursday evening and we were sat at the sole table for two remaining in the entire restaurant.
And for the love of all that is good and right with the world... stick to the Sichuan offerings here. The dan dan noodles and mapo tofu with ground pork are both delicious. I'm always particularly impressed with the hearty texture and perfect balance in the heat on the mapo tofu. Even though I grew up on this stuff from my mom and grandma, I'm still enthralled by the dish here.
And, per my wont, I prompted our pleasant server for a recommendation for fresh greens in Mandarin - total trick I picked up from my parents to avoid anything that might be on the menu that isn't fresh in that day. The primary offering were a basic sauteed buo tsai (spinach) or si ji do (green beans). Although he tried steering us away from the spinach since there's a little bit of it in the dan dan noodles already, we ended up ordering them over the beans anyway. Solid choice. Suuuper tender, and cooked with just some salt and garlic, the way I like it.
It's extra reassuring that the staff here speaks fluent Chinese by default, and that suited businessmen can be overheard conversing in Mandarin all around. This is totally one of those joints (like Mama Wok in Reston) that I wouldn't hesitate to take my parents out for a quality traditional Chinese meal.
... now, could I -please- have a refill on my water?
Wow...so this is what real Sichuan food tastes like? Awesome!
Been there 2x now. Can't wait to go back again. This place is the perfect marriage of flavor and heat. My new personal favorite is the chicken in hot chilies (its listed under the special sichuan heading). Its perfectly friend chicken pieces in a bowl of diced chili peppers with some pink peppercorn to numb some of the heat. I love this dish!
The service is quick and polite, and they have tea waiting at the table for you. Overall a great experience.
This restaurant looked the best among all the Chinese restaurants in the area when I was looking for one on yelp.
Very dedicated service, a good place for a big group (I took a group of 15 for my friend's birthday), and quality food!
We order almost the entire restaurant. As far as I remember, we ordered; egg drop soup, ma po tofu, Sichuan shredded beef, some fried rice, and Peking duck. They all were pretty good.
At the end of our dinner, the manager gave the birthday boy a present! A tie!! What a friendly man!
Dan dan noodles.
Mapo Tofu.
Mapo Tofu noodles.
Sauteed spinach / broccoli.
Twice cooked pork.
Steamed dumplings.
Yan Chow fried rice.
Simply amazing.
I go as often as I can.
The service is quick yet friendly, get there early to beat the lunch rush because it's not a huge place and it fills fast with all of the businesses in the area. I haven't had a bad dish yet - the beef with broccoli is definitely my favorite.
I don't think I followed this correctly. Instead of ordering multiple dishes, I only ordered one dish, since of course, it was just for me. So I ordered the Sichuan Beef dish. It was okay, to be honest. Nothing really stood out except that there was waaaay more sliced carrots than beef, as it seems. The subsequent egg fried rice was meh.
I don't see what the big deal about this place is. It just seems like another Chinese fast food restaurant. Maybe if I actually stepped inside to eat as opposed to carryout, the experience may be better.
I really can't comment on whether or not this place is a 4+ star asian restaurant, but as far as asian food that is delivered to your door in 30 minutes for fair a price, this place gets 4 stars. Best deliver chinese food I've had in a while.
Based on the reco's from this site I ordered the salty fish fried rice, Ma Po Tofu (with pork) and twice cooked pork.
I really love the salty fish fried rice and the twice cooked pork. Never been a fan of tofu and I've never actually had anything like this Ma Po dish, but it was pretty spicy and pretty good....I'm not really in a position to judge it against any other tofu dish, though.
I definitely found my go-to chinese place in this city. It will be hard to branch out and order something new next time...
Egregiously omitted in discussions concerning the "best" Chinese food, Sichuan Pavilion is an outstanding Chinese restaurant located in the hub of downtown DC. While the aesthetics are rather austere, it does not represent the complex, flavorful, and dare I say authentic cuisine that is a welcome respite from the Moo Goo Gai Pans of the world (although they have Americanized Chinese food as well, I'd stick with the Sichuan items).
We split the dan dan noodles, ma po tofu, and deep fried salty fish with rice. The dan dan noodles were speckled with tiny Schezuan peppercorn and large leafy greens. The thin noodles quickly were saturated in the appropriately spicy broth. The ma po tofu was a cleaner rendition than what one finds at Great Wall Schezuan (my previous favorite Sichuan restaurant in DC proper) and the best one I have had in the city (yes, including Hong Kong Palace). The salty fish in rice had generous chunks of flavorful fish that provided a nice alternative to the spicy dishes.
If you want good Chinese food in DC, this is the best option. I would strongly recommend it for individuals searching for something indicative of true Sichuan cuisine.
Dan dan noodles: yum yum.
Spicy Ma Po Tofu: yum yum yum.
Twice-cooked Pork: yum yum yum yum.
Excellent Szechuan dishes (and not too pricey) if you know what to order. Always filled with Chinese people. Yum.
They definitely have become my favorite place for Chinese food. Everything about my birthday dinner there on Saturday was perfect. They should give lessons in professionalism to other restaurants, as well as cooking tips. They called me the day of the dinner to confirm that we were still coming. Classy. They let us sit down as we came in instead of waiting to seat us when the entire party came. Convenient. The food was delicious! We ordered so many different dishes and shared them all, family style. The pork buns were fantastic, the salt-fish and fried rice, chicken and peppers, and the Tinkling Bells with 10 Ingredients (I really liked 9 out of 10 of the ingredients) all stand out as my favorite dishes. Their Jack and Coke was perfect, although the Planter's Punch could've used more bang. That's fine though...I leave the fruity drinks alone anyway, for the most part. It just reminded me of the drink we had at Ottos, so I was curious. Also, I hadn't been here since before the renovation, and now that it's been made all perty-like, I have to say that I love the place! If you'd been there before you would remember it as a real shithole...the food was great, though, but you wouldn't want to eat it there. Now it's bright and cheery and just lovely. SP, you win again, my good friend. I look forward to dining here again soon.
I have been many times for lunch and enjoyed their wonderful food, especially the pork buns!… Read more »
Came here with some fellow Yelpers and enjoyed a good number of foods, notably the chicken with dried peppers, the twice-fried pork, the salty fish fried rice, and the dan dan noodles. The other dishes (steamed pork buns, kung pao chicken, broccoli with light garlic sauce, and ma po tofu) were also tasty, but not necessarily my favorites. While everything was very tasty, some of the dishes had some specific issues. The chicken with dried peppers was probably more accurately dried peppers with chicken. By the time we were done, there was still a plate full of peppers. The pork buns were cold on the inside (whether they're supposed to be or not, I prefer my meats hot), and we never did get the tea we asked for. That said, it was very good, service was prompt, and the ultimate cost was very reasonable. Definitely worth it.
Any food that reminds me of my childhood I will enjoy greatly. Pork buns here remind me of banh bao my Mom used to make. The twice fried pork reminds me of the double sauteed sliced pork my Mom used to make. The Sichuan style chicken stir fried with red chilies (Vasily ordered it ask him for the name) was tasty and not way way hot because of the red chilies but it was flavorful and had a lot of depth. The dan dan noodles were my least favorite. Too salty in my opinion. Salted fish fried rice is a must. Kung pao chicken was delicious and not too many peanuts nor was it greasy. Mao pao tofu was excellent. The black bean sauce with the chilies made an excellent combination. I liked everything I tried here. I will be frequenting here often from now on.
Delicious meal. We had steamed rockfish in a delicious soy/ginger sauce and the bokchoy and mushrooms. Service was good and quick, and the food was perfect. Only item that could have further perfected this meal would have been brown rice. Walking distance from Dupont Circle area...definitely will go back next time we're in town!
I can not get enough of this place, I have yet to find a criticism (even the bathrooms are perfect). I plan to go there for dinner, lunch, and, if they would let me, breakfast every day of my precious life. The food is great, the service is top notch and it is inside the district, WHAT A FIND.
The restaurant is businessish, but I have definitely gone there in shorts and a t-shirt. There are plenty of Chinese businesspeople and families eating there, a tell tale sign of decent "ethnic" food. There are plenty of tables, but for large groups make a reservation. THIS PLACE IS OFTEN VERY BUSY FOR LUNCH.
Hint, go directly towards the back of the menu. The section is listed as "home-style" and it is where you will find the good stuff, (See Yelper LiJia's review of good staple dishes). The descriptions in English are brief, but the waitstaff is helpful in translating a dish if you are interested.
Here is an email I send to people who are interested in going to dine at Sichuan Pavilion with me:
I would love for you to come, but there are a few things you need to subscribe to before you decide to come along:
1) This is "real" Chinese food, not sweet and sour pork
2) The food is hot, red chili hot. There is no option for "milder-minded" people, and the food may make your eyes tear a little
3) You need to eat pork, even tofu dishes have pork
4) You need to be able to skillfully use chopsticks, I have street-cred to maintain with these people
5) You have to be willing to at least try everything, since it is served family style
I know this email sounds a little harsh, but I love Sichuan Pavilion in its authentic form. It is delicious. It is a treasure. And it is meant to be respected.
I was dying to try this place out, and after a lot of wheedling managed to convince a friend who rounded up some of her coworkers, so there were seven of us altogether. Excellent. None of us had been before, so we walked in a little after noon on a Friday. The manager seemed harried when he greeted us and when we asked for a table for seven, he said they didn't have room for us. I was all set to cry with disappointment, but then he said, wait. He disappeared into the dining room. In a few minutes we were ushered in to a table probably meant for five, but around which they'd squeezed in seven chairs with not much room to spare. Doable. We took it.
Since we had a good group we got to try a lot of different things. Dan dan mian spicy noodles and the Ko shue ji (forgive my rusty pinyin) spicy chili chicken were the clear standouts. Both had a good dose of chili oil and Sichuan peppercorns and were pretty spicy, though I was hoping for just a bit of extra kick. Definitely explore the whole menu and be sure to check out the special page covered in Chinese in the back.
Everyone seemed to like the tea smoked duck, which was very tender and flavorful and not too greasy. The beef boiled in a dark red chili broth was a little over-battered, but the broth and veg were great. They also did a very nice stir fried spinach though I was hoping they'd have more interesting veg. The za jian mian noodles were disappointing--I prefer the thinner noodles used in the dan dan mian. The mapo tofu was also not as good as I'd hoped. The flavor hadn't fully penetrated the tofu, and it definitely wasn't as spicy as it should be.
The service was a little inattentive, but they were completely full and busy so I guess it's understandable. I'd make reservations if I were going back at prime lunchtime. 3.75 stars because I'm already plotting a trip back for the dan dan mian and chili chicken.
Before I went to Sichuan Pavilion, I wasn't entirely sure if I'd ever had authentic Sichuan food. After eating there, it was pretty obvious that this was my first experience with it.
I had two things - pork dumplings as an appetizer, and dan dan noodles as an entree. The pork dumplings were delicious, and were served with a sauce that seemed to be a mixture of soy sauce and some kind of chili oil. I chose the dan dan noodles because I wanted to go with a more traditional dish so I could get more authentic food. This dish was very tasty and interesting, and it was drowning in Sichuan peppercorns. The numbing effect that Sichuan peppercorns have on your mouth is very strange, but it definitely helps make it easier to deal with the spiciness of the food. The flavors were good, although I'll admit that the numbing effect of the peppercorns was a bit weird, and I'm not sure if I actually liked that part.
Good food and very reasonable prices (especially for DC)!
At the enthusiasm of recommendations, we took the lunge into trying our first Sichuan food at a place aptly named Sichuan Pavilion. Upon climbing the handful of stairs to this row-house restaurant, we were greeted by an unexpected team--host, presumably owner, and several servers. We were so efficiently whisked away to our table that a bystander could have suspected we were a medical team responding to an emergency.
With no time to settle in, our eager waiter promptly introduced himself and brought out the well-brewed hot tea at similar lightning speed. Unfamiliar with the cuisine, we asked for recommendations from the special (non Americanized) Sichuan menu in the rear and were pointed toward the chicken in hot sauce for app with mains of beef with veggies and chicken in--like the band--red hot chili peppers.
The food came out consistently quickly with the rest of the service. The chicken app, though covered with yummy spicy sauce, contained pieces with uncrispy skin as is characteristic of traditional Chinese cuisine. Being a meat snob, I carefully disected the unwanted items off the plate. Happily, I did not have long to perform culinary surgery as the piping hot main courses arrived minutes later. The beef looked great but, again in that traditional Chinese manner, had some curious cuts, if you will. The associated veggies were unaffected and, especially the mushrooms, were a highlight. My curiosity piqued, I was nontheless underwhelmed by the curious meat consistency and yearned for a sinew-free dish.
The real star of the meal was the chicken with hot red peppers. Presentation was simple yet visually stimulating: the beautiful, red dried chillies exotically surrounded the golden nuggets of chicken. Though much appreciated by my dining partner, the chillies were not so much hot as wafery and slightly chewy to my palate. Tiny, crispy, delicately breaded morsels of incredible chicken were also unconspicuously surrounded by the curious mouth-numbing pink Sichuan peppercorns. Mild in flavor, biting into one of these slightly numbs a section of the tongue and gives off a peculiar, smoothly-sour stimulation. Even if the concept of eating sour oddities doesn't sound appealing, try it--the tingling sensation and sour tongue receptor activation is very unique..and, for the whimps out there, does pass in a few minutes. (Using the Googles on the intertubes, we later found out that these are actually prickly ash berries known for the described tingling and the citrus undertones.) If you love fried chicken, this dish will become a craveable new favorite but, hey, even if you don't, it may be hard to stop consuming these amazing tidbits.
Before we left, I finally got my first look at the rest of the restaurant--two large dining rooms and a private area for those important business meetings. Curiously, there were a lot of (mostly Asian) business people around--a great sign as one would only take a client out to dinner to a place bound to impress. Giddily, we partook of a bowl full with fortune cookies and fruit-flavored candy at the front desk, vowing to return--if only for the dried chili chicken.
I knew I was in the right place when I ordered "Tender Beef in Hot Sauce" for take out and cashier checked that I indeed want to order it. See, there was a " ** " next to this item in the menu, meaning "Very Hot and Spicy." But since I figured most ethnic restaurants in DC have americanized their food (Hello "Mexican") to cater to the local palates, the fact that she warned me it would be spicy was reassuring. I also ordered "Dumplings in Sichuan Sauce (Pork)".
The last authentic Szechuan I had was at "Z & Y Restaurant" in SF's Chinatown (http://www.yelp.com/bi...). Based on these two samplings, Sichuan Pavilion seems to be pretty authentic. (Aside: there are various spelling of Szechuan, so I'm not sure which is one is "authentic"). The beef was indeed tender and the sauce was spicy hot, almost hot enough to melt your skin hot. It was still very flavorful without burning your tongue. Have lots of napkins handy to wipe the sweat off.
Since I ordered out, I can't rate the service, but the cashier was very friendly and helpful. It was around 7pm so the restaurant was full (the reason I decided on take out), but my order was ready in 5-7 minutes. The rice was a little dry for my taste, but aside from that, I'll be coming back and next time, will invite others so that we can sample more food.
Boy, they really rush you in and rush you out! My friend and I met for lunch today and we were in and out in about 35 minutes! (We wanted to chill and talk but we had no choice! And the place wasn't full, either). He ordered the schezuan (sp?) chicken but asked for cashews instead of peanuts, which was no problem. I asked for tofu w/mixed vegetables and they made it for me even though it wasn't on the menu....I like that. It was delicious, with a very light sauce. My only problem with the food was the "brown rice" which was really white rice cooked w/some egg (gross) and soy sauce. Um, I hate when they do that, it's the second time this has happened in this city. I can't end on a bad note in a 4-star review, so I'll mention the tea that they give you. I'm glad you don't have to ask for it. If you ask me, Chinese food just isn't the same without tea!
What an unfortunate surprise. I love my chinese comfort food, and that's hard to come by in DC. Seeing all the excellent reviews, and my penchant for sichuan-style chinese food, I thought it would be worth a try.
I ordered my favorite dish - crispy sichuan beef. At other Chinese places, I'm accustomed to this dish being pretty light on the actual meat - mostly crisp, fresh vegetables; including carrots, celery, and scallions. What I got was a TON of charred flesh, and a bunch of soggy carrots. That was really sad. I'll stick to the 'burbs for Chinese food from now on.
Good music in the restaurant, though.
I'm harsh on Chinese restaurants. For a place that bills itself as Sichuan, it doesn't come close to the more authentic flavors found in the burbs. It might be okay for K Street or K Street palates.
First time I went here was with a group of coworkers for a noon get together. They were kind of cold and impolite, telling us we could be seated at the big table in the middle of the room (there were about 7 of us) but we had to leave by 1! We stayed and ordered but started to get nervous around 12:25 because our food wasn't served yet. Thankfully, we were soon served. Boy, was it good. I love the Ma Po Tofu and the broccoli in garlic sauce. Next time, I went with my mother. Everybody was so nice and friendly! Maybe because I was with a "grownup" this time, I dunno. Had the shrimp in garlic sauce and it was excellent.
Don't read this and the other reviews here and think, "Mmm, that sounds good. I'm going to go and get the kung pao chicken, fried rice, and won-ton soup!" And then come back and write a scathing review, wondering what went wrong.
You're here to have the Szechuan/Sichuan. Every glowing review here says to try that and/or the other northern Chinese dishes. Not the Americanized Chinese food, nor the Cantonese items. As for Szechuan food, it's hot and spicy, with Szechuan numbing peppercorns to help numb your tastebuds so you can handle the rest of the heat.
What's a classic Szechuan dish? Ma po tofu, or the dan dan noodles. They're spicy, with strong flavors not found in other Chinese cuisines. Single Chinese men come here and plow into whole bowls of the dan dan noodles, wiping sweat from their faces. (Almost all the clientele was Chinese as well, by the way.) Your mouth will be on fire, but you won't be able to feel your tongue at the same time. They put a lot of Szechuan peppercorns in their stuff.
We went with the noodles described above as well as the cold beef tendon with five flavors appetizer. Beef with tendon was sliced into very thin circles, served with a soy sauce based dipping sauce. It was simple and strongly tasted of five spice. If you like the crunchy kind of tendon, you'll like this. It was interesting and grew on me, but I'm a much bigger fan of the braised, tender kind of tendon.
We also ordered the chia-ling chicken, which was like a typical stir-fry chicken dish. If we had ordered this alone, we would have been disappointed, but in the end we were thankful to have something blander and with vegetables to counter the strongly spiced dan dan noodles.
Against my intuition, we ordered some Chinese rice wine, which was terrible. Don't do it; it's cooking wine. Ick.
The atmosphere at Sichuan Pavilion reminds me of higher-end restaurants I've been to in big city mainland China mixed with that "K St" feel. White tablecloths, china plates and cups, and attentive but distant service. It feels altogether more authentically Szechuan than Hong Kong Palace in Falls Church because of this and because of their spicier and stronger peppercorn flavors. HK Palace has a more family restaurant feel to it, with friendly, outgoing service. Although I rated both 4 stars, I lean more favorably to HK Palace overall -- I'll just ask for it spicier there when I go back. As for Sichuan Pavilion, I'd like to go back and try the northern Chinese dishes such as the steamed pork with mustard greens and the Zhajiang mian noodles.
I went here and had the orange chicken and the pork dumpling appetizer and both were very good. I was stupid and did not look at their soup selection until later after I was checking out their menu online. The restaurant serves shark fin soup. So keep in mind that authentic chinese means authentic cruelty practices included. Over 100 million sharks are killed every year and one of the main reasons they are killed is for shark fin soup. Their fin is sliced off and the shark is thrown in the water to bleed to death. Good food, but definitely not worth supporting the killing of sharks. Will not be back.
Three co-workers and I ordered this for a late night stay at work. We all ordered different meals - sichuan chicken, kung pao chicken, moo shu chicken and chicken curry - and were all extremely pleased. The portions were enough for leftovers today at lunch and the spice and seasonings were right on point. I could have used a little more chicken in my sichuan shredded chicken, but the flavors were great. We had it delivered and it was here in less than 20 minutes (only 8 blocks away).
Definitely going to be the office's new go-to for Chinese!
How has this place been hidden from me for so long?!?!? Yes, my quest for my "go-to-Chinese place" when I'm missing my mother's cooking has finally concluded at Sichuan Pavilion.
The Sichuan food here is amazing, which means it is very spicy, very savory, and very delicious. I came here with my mom and coworker one day, and we had a feast of fu qi fei pian (cold appetizer of slices of beef, tendon, and tripe), dan dan noodles (spicy noodles), some spicy fish dish, ma po tofu, and tofu pi bao rou (tofu skin wrapped around delicious pork filling). I was very satisfied with almost everything I had. The fish, fu qi fei pian, and the tofu pi bao rou were probably my favorites. All the ingredients were fresh and the spices tasted like they had just been flown in from Sichuan. I was a little disappointed by the dan dan noodles, but with everything else so good, who can complain?
This place is a GEM. My mom approved. My coworker approved. Next time I'll bring someone from Sichuan, and I'm sure he/she will approve.
Of course, if you're not ordering off of the "homestyle" (aka authentic) menu, I can only say that you're missing out on a lot of really good food.
FINALLY, good Chinese food in Washington DC! I've officially found my Chinese take-out place, after three plus years. (Thanks to all the other reviewers who gave this place the thumbs up, you're the reason I tried it.)
They have both healthy and Americanized options, which was exactly what I was looking for. You seriously need to try both options - just as good as Chinese from NYC. Two thumbs way up - don't delay! Call today!
Good food & courteous staffs. But what is the deal with the guy with red tie (I assume the manager/owner)? Very impatient when I tried to order and asked some questions about the menu. Btw, the customers at the table next to us told us you could ask for the chinese style of the hot garlic sauce. Also, I noticed the sign for 10% off if you finished eating and leave before 12:30pm (early bird lunch).
If I don't have to deal with that manager/owner again, I'll go back; else, I am happy to walk out and go someplace else.
Sichuan Pavilion is YUMMMMMMMM!!! I've been going to this restaurant for 9 years and have yet to have a bad meal there. Each of my friends that I have introduced to the place has also gotten hooked.
Hot tea is automatically brought to your table when you arrive and is quickly refilled - a nice touch. If there is something you would like that isn't on the menu, just ask. Odds are that they can make it for you, and if not, they apologize profusely. They will make anything spicy or mild, however you prefer, and their fried rice is THE ABSOLUTE BEST! Unfortunately, you can't get it as a side order to your meal (just about everything comes with steamed rice), so instead you have to order it as a separate dish. It is worth it though. The portions are filling so it is a good place for sharing a meal as well.
Unfortunately, since their renovation last year the restaurant is about half the size it used to be, so there can be a wait during the lunch time rush. They do offer carryout from the restaurant though, and also have a carryout section in International Square, which is just outside the main door and down the stairs.
From speaking with my Chinese friends, this is pretty close to authentic as well, and there are always lots of native Chinese eating there, so that is also a good sign. I just wish they remembered to give fortune cookies at the end, but they keep them well-stocked at the front desk so you can help yourself.
Besides the positive reviews on Yelp, the selling point for me was the use of white meat chicken in most of their chicken dishes. All too often when I am eating Chinese takeout I have bitten into a piece of gristle (or if not gristle, a gross but unidentifiable thing)... which pretty much automatically ruins the meal for me. Great Wall on 14th St. is ok - I particularly like their Mala menu - but the gristle....
The first night we got takeout from here it was inauguration night. They weren't offering delivery that night because of all the craziness, so we headed over there to pick up the food. The restaurant itself looked decent - very red - but certainly someplace I would sit and enjoy a meal. The second time we got takeout, the delivery guy was at our door in about 15 minutes, which was very impressive (especially given that we live nearly a mile away, it was cold, and it felt like there were 50 mph winds!)!
So far we've only had Americanized Chinese takeout (although we're planning to go and have a more authentic meal in the near future), and the General Tso's, Sesame Chicken and Jumbo Shrimp Hunan Style were really good. The pan fried chicken dumplings were pretty good. The fried wontons and the egg fried rice were only ok.
So far it's the best Chinese food I've been able to find in DC!
The food here is rancid. The beef with snow peas left my breath reeking of rotten meat. Avoid at all costs.
Sichuan Palace (Chongqing Lou) is located just a few blocks from my school, and it's the go-to place for my Chinese friends and I when we want to have a good meal out. Most of the dishes are quite good, but for a true Chinese experience, it's best to order off of the Chinese menu. Some dishes that I haven't had but would like to try include the Squid w/ Pepper Salt, Dumplings in Sichuan Sauce, Five Flavors Beef Tendon, Crispy Whole Fish, and Dan Dan Mian. If you order the Sichuan Style Fried String Beans (ganbian siji dou), ask that the chef cook it drier than usual for a more authentic result.
4.5 for the food, 3.5 for the service.
Due to an obnoxiously long wait at Founding Farmers, the 4 of us deferred to one of the supposedly good Chinese restaurants in DC. Walking in, I was thinking that this may have been the cleanest asian restaurant I have ever seen at moderate prices. I was extremely suspicious, but was too hungry to demand answers. Started with Dumplings and Spring Rolls which met expectations with glistening oil. I ordered the seafood pan fried noodles, which was decent, but had fried lo mein noodles rather than the thin noodles that most other places serve. The sesame chicken, which I condemned my friend for ordering was actually better than my dish. FML.
I went their last night with missus and a friend.
the soups were good but the main dishes were just okay.
I ordered fish and tofu (after server recommended it twice). It turned out to be just okay. Missus ordered chicken chailang (something listed in their chef specialty). I got to finish it. Very bland with almost no taste.
The friend ordered something with 10 ingredient (from sea cucumber and scallops to beef and pork). Surprisingly, this daring dish turned out to be pretty good and missus ate a lot of her food with it.
For desserts we had litchi nuts. which was really just litchis without their seed dipped in what I think was diluted litchi juice. Litchis were very sweet and fresh. So, after entries being such a huge disappointment, it was good to finally have something that was yummy !!
I will probably not drive again to DC just to go to this Chinese place (which we did last night).
I'd recommend skiping the dumplings in sichuan sauce, but the Ma Po Tofu was delicious - just the right amount of spice. Bok-choy with mushrooms was wonderful too. $66 seemed a little too pricy for lunch for three people. Lunch menu is only available during the week. Next time I go back it will be for dinner.
Finally, FINALLY, after so much searching for a truly decent Chinese restaurant in DC, I think I have found my place.
Very nice, clean atmosphere (cozy but not huge), reasonable prices, decent service, and high quality food. They use white meat by default for most of their chicken dishes, unlike many other Chinese restaurants, and pretty much all of their dishes seemed like a notch higher quality than most other Chinese restaurants, for the exact same price. Portions are generous, too.
An added bonus is that the bathroom is spotless. That really says a lot about how an establishment is run, and Sichuan Pavilion definitely aced that criterion.
Oh yes, and as other reviewers mentioned, they bring out a complimentary pot of hot tea for your table as soon as you come in. What other Chinese restaurant does that these days?
I'm so glad Sichuan Pavilion has revived my hope for awesome Chinese food in DC, just when I was about to lose all hope.
Best Chinese food I've come across in the district. Very large menu and fair prices. Also offers free delivery to the area.
I trusted the Yelp reviews of this place and took my uncle here when he was in town. He loved it so much that the next time he was in town he asked if we could go back! Success! We ordered wine the first time we came but decided to stick with beer the second time. Take that as a hint. Also we got different kinds of grilled vegetables which were good. The mu shi is always a staple in my book and this place didn't disappoint. I agree with the other reviews that this place is filled with Chinese immigrants which I definitely trust as a good sign. It can get a bit crowded at prime dinner time but they take reservations and definitely honor them.
Neighborhood: Logan Circle
Category: Chinese
Washington, DC
Category: Buffets
Vienna, VA
Category: Mediterranean
Neighborhood: Georgetown
Category: Chinese
Washington, DC
Category: Chinese
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