News & Politics

June 2004 Good Fortune

This is the place to try the stuffed duck's feet, beef innards with turnip, and chicken feet with black-bean sauce.

If you're after weekend dim sum, arrive early: After 1 or so, the pickings get slim. This is the place to try the stuffed duck's feet, beef innards with turnip, and chicken feet with black-bean sauce. Less esoteric plates also grace the carts that make the rounds in this lively Hong Kong-style dining room. Baked roast pork buns, pan-fried pork-and-chive dumplings, beef shu mai, and slippery rice-noodle crepes filled with shrimp or beef are among the treasures. Offerings are not as numerous as those at New Fortune in Gaithersburg or Oriental East in Silver Spring, but there's plenty to satisfy. There are also several sweet options, including shiny baked pineapple buns and crunchy fried sesame-seed dumplings.

From the menu you can assemble a repast with the likes of Cantonese-style roast duck or fried chicken, an oyster casserole thick with ginger and scallions, beef chow foon noodles, and sautéed greens–get the Chinese watercress with garlic if it's available. If you've never had Hong Kong-style chow mein, this is the place to sample it. Forget the goop of your childhood. The dish put before you here is another experience entirely.