100 Very Best Restaurants: – Northwest Chinese Food

Photograph by Jeff Elkins

About Northwest Chinese Food

cuisines
Chinese
Location(s)
7313 Baltimore Ave
College Park, Maryland 20740-3274

Spicy and spicier is the mantra at this color-­splashed cafe. That translates to chili-spiked peanuts (leftovers make a great cocktail snack), chili-oil-slicked dumplings, a “sandwich” of crispy pork belly doused with mapo chili oil and set on a housemade bun, and a lineup of chili-laced noodle bowls. The wide-noodle “omelet” in a pool of fiery oil is a must-order. Nearly as good—and even more incendiary—are black-vinegar pork noodles showered with garlic. Juice drinks, such as a pineapple-cucumber fizz, cool things down. Inexpensive.