Review #500 goes to one of my favorite places in DC. Full Kee redeemed DC Chinatown for me, and I'll keep going to get a taste of authentic Cantonese food and to support this little local business. I've been putting off my review for Full Kee for over 8 years because I have such mixed feelings about DC's Chinatown. Like many people new to DC, I was saddened by China-Block and discouraged about finding good Chinese comfort food so far from my native California. Is Full Kee the best American Chinese restaurant you'll ever go to in a major metropolitan area? No (I'm looking at you NYC, CA, Boston). BUT, is this the best Chinese food adapted for the environment it's in, specifically DC's historic Chinatown that has been gentrified and caters to tourists while the last of the elderly Chinese residents are being pushed out? YES. Judging by what's available, on metro in DC proper, this and Sichuan Pavilion are the best Chinese restaurants, hands down. I credit my mother with their discovery, as she spent an entire week sampling different places in DC's Chinatown and convinced me that I was just ordering the wrong dishes at some places. My go-to comfort food is the Hong Kong Style soup noodles with BBQ pork and adding in greens (usually gai-lan/Chinese broccoli). Anything on the little yellow menu will be more in line with comfort food (eg. jook a.k.a. Chinese porridge). If you're more of the Chinese takeout person, try their lunch specials! Things can tend to be a little greasy (big surprise, this is a product of American tastes), but it'll hit the spot for the right price. I personally like their Singapore noodles. If you want to have the *full experience,* try ordering off their main menu (dark red leather, the fat one that is full sized). I had a conversation with David Chang at the last Yelp event I went to about how to order authentic Chinese food in DC Chinatown (probably applies to other ethnic foods in touristy areas too). Don't order the General Tso's chicken/Crab Rangoon/Beef and Broccoli or anything you would see at a takeout place! Order things that are more challenging because the chef will be relieved to be doing something different, or order the dishes that are authentic, less generic, or take more time (eg. at Full Kee order any Cantonese or Hong Kong dish, including pan fried noodles, duck, softshell crab, jook, choy sum vegetable in oyster sauce, anything in black bean sauce). Note: I could go further into the long history of Chinatowns, and why they exist (Chinese diaspora, mostly men, taking on "women's work" like cooking and laundry due to job discrimination; housing discrimination concentrating the Chinese into Chinatowns, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882) but I would greatly exceed Yelp's character limit. More info on the history of Chinatowns and Chinese food: http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2017/03/15/515792846/chinatowns-across-the-country-face-off-with-gentrification http://time.com/4211871/chinese-food-history/ https://munchies.vice.com/en_us/article/yp7bx5/the-struggles-of-writing-about-chinese-food-as-a-chinese-person read more

We were looking for great tasting, fresh Chinese food, and were not disappointed here. Full Kee has THE BEST crab rangoon I have ever had, and I order that appetizer almost every time we have Chinese. The sesame chicken had plump, white meat chicken and was so juicy. The sweet and sour pork was tender and delicious. And the shrimp fried rice was so good that I ate too much of it. The portions are huge, and definitely enough to share, especially with a couple of apps. The service was super quick, and they were happy to charge my phone so that I could call for a ride when we were finished. The ambiance is ok, it was a little bright. We will go back to this restaurant for sure the next time we are in DC!!! read more

A friend and I went here for dinner. We weren't expecting much because we'd heard that DC Chinatown was dead, the reviews here are mixed, and we're both from California, but our fears were completely unfounded. The food at Full Kee is great. We had the salt fish casserole with chicken and tofu, crispy beef, and snow pea leaves with garlic. The salt fish was rich, but not overbearingly fishy. The beef was beautiful to look at, with a very crispy fry texture, but no toughness inside. Stir fried snow pea leaves is one of my favorite Chinese dishes to eat. My dad used to make it at home. This place did it right, with big chunks of browned garlic throughout. I'm working my way through all the Chinese places in DC Chinatown, so it might take me a while, but Full Kee is definitely one I plan on returning to. read more

Full Kee - Guan Kung watches out for Full Kee - Chinese Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

One star short of five because the seasoned waitress was impatient with me. I took no more than five mins to check out the menu and place my to-go order. She kept hovering around me, sorta making it hard for me to decide. I had never ate here before and would not have even stopped by the door if it wasn't for the recommendation in a Yelp review of Tiger Fork. Food was good and inexpensive. I will get to-go again but I will review the menu in advance ! read more

3.5 Stars overall, rounding it up to 4.0. My friends enjoyed their entrees, as did I. The minced beef congee was very tasty. Main complaint with it is that it's a bit thicker than what it should be -- smooth and creamy like in texture, not thick and clumpy. The Chinese donut, which was ordered separately, and is a side normally eaten with congee, was good. It's just that it's not fresh, which I don't expect in this Chinatown where certain dishes may not be ordered as much as the more common favorites such as orange chicken or Mongolian beef. The seafood chow mein with crispy noodles is pretty legit. Good amount of seafood, and nice crispy outer layers of the chow mein egg noodles, without being too greasy. At $15, it seemed pricey, but I had so much left over, that it was like eating 2 orders of chow mein. Though my friends enjoyed their dishes, I found the roast duck to be an issue. It looked as if it has been marinated in soy sauce as the color of the skin was dark, and not a bright dark orange shade. The roast duck my friend received also did not look fresh. Possibly a reheat? Service was good as they were willing to do separate checks for each of us, and there were 8 of us in the party, and they were quite attentive about changing plates, providing iced water and refilling the tea pot. However, I do tend to wonder if service would have been the same had I not been Chinese, nor were able to speak to the staff in both Cantonese and Toishanese? read more

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Upon entering this restaurant you are immediately hit with an overwhelming stench. Like an open sewer stench. Seriously. It smells like poop, piss, and rotting fish in there. There's no way I could dine in there now. The place also looks as filthy as it smells. The food I ordered was absolute slop. Overcooked grayish looking broccoli, gloopy brown sauce. Nothing tasted fresh. I regret giving this place a second chance. I don't know how they are still in business. read more

I used to go here a lot back in the day and always wanting the shrimp dumplings. When done right they're one of my favorite things in the world. But what I got here was the worst shrimp dumplings Ive ever had. I opened the dumplings container and it smelled off to say the least. Like something was sour. They were all stuck together, falling apart with little filling, and were just not tasty. I threw them out. Maybe it's the new ownership, but the food isn't as good as it was before. read more

This is only for the porridge and donut. I did not try any other menu items. After a long flight, I needed a bowl of comforting Cantonese Jook with donut. Pretty basic and should have gotten the beef only instead of crispy pork skin, squid and beef combo. Squid were odds and ends and crispy pork was not crispy. Otherwise, satisfying bowl. read more

Full Kee - Chinese Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

It's reopened under new management. The Hong Kong Noodle soup I always get is better: the broth is thicker, the dumplings more rounded and fuller with meat and shrimp. It looks like the menu has been trimmed but still a good selection. Place seems cleaner and staff friendlier. But lots of regulars dropped by to have a meal. I'll be back! read more

Full Kee - Hong Kong wonton roast pork noodle soup. - Chinese Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Do not go here at any cost or or hunger - came here with the family over the weekend and encountered the worst service ever. Ended up leaving 10% and the lady had the nerve to request more money for the crappy service we received. read more

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Full Kee has a special place in my heart. It is fill of nostalgia because it is full of history, and I have several positive memories from here . I come here any time I am craving authentic Chinese food in the city. This establishment has been around forever and hasn't changed a bit, at least since at least the 80s, when Chinatown was still Chinatown. The staff is always pleasant, and they are efficient. I always get their pea shoots when it is available and their soy chicken and roast pork platter. Their noodle soups are good too. Anything on their chef special is good as well. read more

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Charged $9 dollars for a beef tenderloin soup ! Noodles and the meat is poor little , can't make me go back ! This restaurant is very cheap , I am not recommend ! Thanks for your attention! read more

Full Kee - Chinese Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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While I much prefer to eat Chinese food in Rockville, this is my go to place in DC since there isn't much in the way of good Cantonese food. The food is good here for DC, the service is as you would expect from a Chinese restaurant and they know not to offer my girlfriend a fork at least. By far this is the closest I'm gonna get to good in the city. Strangely enough, my girlfriend is in love with this pickled veggie and pork soup. I'm more a fan of the meat and rice dishes but will also get either wonton noodle soup or beef brisket noodle soup. Just about everything we have ordered has been good so check this place out! read more

Most legit spot (of the limited options) in DC to get Wonton Noodle Soup, their specialty. This place is overlooked. The chef has these huge pots and makes the wotons in the window. I haven't even bothered to try the other dishes since I typically stick to that I know they do well. You get 5 large plump shrimp and pork wontons per noodles soup order. I love the dumplings are made with aromatic sesame oil which hits the spot for me since thats how much mom made them growing up. Veggies (typically chinese greens or boy choy) are extra. The restaurant is typically never busy so it good for large groups. You can also get $4 Tsingtao & Heineken if you need a cheap spot with seat for pre Caps drinks. Downside it also has that werid lingering smell of dirty water & bleach that's typical with downtown hole in the wall Chinese restaurants. read more

Full Kee has served some of the best Wonton, noodels, and a-la-carte full plates (incl. my favorite Pea Pod Greens and "Steamed" Chicken aka "White Cut Chicken") in the DC area. I just heard form a former waiter that it will re-open 11/02/2018 under new management and continue serving the traditional Cantonese fare. Look for me there. read more

It's so easy to blow money in DC. I often find myself grabbing a quick dinner between the boy and myself and then looking at my empty wallet wondering where I went wrong. This is NOT the case at Full Kee, one of my treasured, long time, late night DC haunts in Chinatown. Sure she's not much of a looker but for what she lacks in aesthetics she makes up in cheap, authentic Cantonese style Chinese food. A recent late night munchie session here was less than $80 for my group of five and that included drinks! I would not say the service was friendly but they were efficient and our food came out so fast that my plans to discuss who was better *N SYNC or the Backstreet Boys were dashed to pieces. A few must gets: fried rice, seafood pan fried noodles, and beef chow fun (get two orders of this, it will disappear quickly!). Always say yes when they ask if you want extra rice. read more

I have the hardest time trying to get my friends to come here with me. The mere mention of pig intestines or jelly fish usually sends everyone running to the high hills. But the real mark of Full Kee is its wide range of Cantonese "comfort foods" that seem to be unavailable anywhere else within district lines. The Hong Kong style shrimp wontons are giant delicious parcels of shrimp and pork - a direct contrast to wontons usually found at Chinese takeouts (y'know, the ones that look terrifyingly like human ears and contain half a teaspoon of filling?). The beef with mixed vegetables on rice is one of the best values in the city. For the same price, I could get a small bowl of edamame from Masa 14. Lastly, the soy sauce chicken, roasted duck, and char siu - the Asian take on "barbecue" - are a delectable balance of salty and sweet. The regular menu has some standouts as well, including the crispy spicy pork chop, the deep fried spicy shrimp/scallop/squid, conch stir fried with yellow chives, and the meat/seafood/bean curd casserole. Traditionally popular dishes? Not really. But it all tastes so good that the devil's work must be afoot. Ultimately, I've come to terms with the fact that nobody will eat here with me. Full Kee is good enough to transcend my urge to invite friends and allow me to overcome, perhaps my greatest fear, eating alone. read more

Bad. Bad. Bad. I'm not sure there are any decent restaurants serving Chinese food in Chinatown, which is like some grammatical double negative or something. But I can guarantee you this place is potentially the worst. Slow service, then I get my hot and sour soup, and about 15 seconds later got my main course, which was chicken and tomato with steamed rice. I stopped two bites in for fear of getting sick. The combination of chicken and tomatoes made the whole plate a sloppy pink mess. Oh, and it tasted worse than it looked. Thank you. Seriously, how do you f-up chicken. And tomatoes. Insert a zillion question marks here. Then I quickly got my check, and made a fast exit out. Well, sorta fast. Took several minutes to give them my money in return for a stale fortune cookie, which I did not unwrap. One of the waitresses looked at me quizzically and asked "you don't like?" Had she studied my completely not touched meal, the answer was right before her eyes. Should have said "loved it. So much, I saved some for you." This is the second time I've had a crappy meal in Chinatown. When will I ever learn??? read more

I love their shrimp dumpling soup, it is one of a kind and delicious. Actually all of their food is very good. This is my go to Chinese cuisine spot when I'm in DC. They have been a staple for decades. read more

This is the first time I went to this restaurant. We ordered Cantonese pork pan fried noodles and beef brisket on rice. The dishes are very much typical Chinese food in the DC area with a lot of oil and brown sauce. I give it a generous three stars because service was quite friendly. For the price, it is okay. But not above average. read more

Full Kee - Chinese Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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Thank you yelpers for leading me to another lovely food find! After happy hour, a small group of us headed over to Full Kee Restaurant. Modest in appearance, the restaurant has plenty of seating room. We were in a group of about 7, and were seated immediately at around 8pm on a Thursday night. Although I barely remember our waitress, our service was great! Our food came out quickly and in large portions. Although I only ordered some eggdrop soup and an order of egg rolls, both were fresh and full of flavor. Nothing tasted too heavy. The meals that everyone else ordered looked delicious as well. After we were presented the bill, our waitress brought out wedges of the sweetest orange - a nice and refreshing touch. What is also awesome about this place is that it is open until 2am daily - a great option for a quality late night meal! read more

Full Kee is a little slice of New York City. That's what it is. It reminds me of those stalwart little eateries (albeit a dying but persistent breed) that line the narrow streets of Manhattan's Chinatown. Full Kee just plays the part well: the cramped, spartan interior, the minimalist decor, the perfunctory dining furniture, the beat up stainless steel tea kettles, the list of esoteric specials written on the wall, the laminated cards that list the noodle and rice dishes (as if to suggest that these are really the items to get), and, most importantly, the soup and noodle station at the FRONT of the restaurant (with hot steam rising so precipitously up - up toward a window that looks out onto an actual STREET, with pedestrians walking by and cars rushing past, rather than a static, antiseptic suburban parking lot in full view). All of this gives Full Kee a decidedly Gotham-like aura about it. If I didn't know better (either with one eye closed or having stumbled into town half-drunk and naked), I would swear that I was somewhere on Mott or Bayard Street (or, perhaps, on 8th Avenue in Brooklyn). No other place in DC (in the city or the surrounding area) really can duplicate this unique set of characteristics. That alone gives Full Kee a sort of psychological appeal for whom such factors really matter (particularly, for Chinese patrons - and, especially, for Cantonese ones). This appeal plays out, as on my most recent visit, by the way I strolled confidently in (like any customer in the know) and raised my hand accordingly as if hailing a cab. Before I knew it and without delay, I was seated, eating, and sampling a host of selections from the well-positioned laminated card (a humble yet representative array that would be worthy of any food critic). The roast duck on rice featured a rather small portion of duck that had been unmistakably microwaved. The bed of rice that the duck rested upon, curiously, itself rested further on a drizzle of soy sauce. Oddly, the chef had laid down a layer of wet soya prior to plopping down the rice (strange, indeed). The wonton noodle soup with beef brisket featured noodles that were slightly overcooked (but, which offered plump satisfying wontons). The broth was as such broths usually are: slightly salty, slightly thin, bolstered by MSG (although, acceptingly and lovingly so). The brisket and tendon pieces were, on this visit, rather dry and not particularly flavorful. The seafood chow mein was hearty (albeit the egg noodles were less crispy than they should have been). The mix of seafood toppings, which included shrimp, scallops, squid, black and straw mushrooms, carrot slivers, and stalks of Chinese broccoli, all were bound together by a less than adept corn starch gravy that had not been mixed in its preparation stage with enough water. The resulting concoction was too thick (though, on the whole, passable nonetheless). In the end, the overall effect was actually slightly oily, and the chow mein was not quite salty enough either. The baby shrimp and eggs on rice consisted of a generous portion of baby shrimp in a silken, translucent gravy, wedded with strands of egg yolks and runny egg whites (all of which were kissed by zesty bits of scallion). In a word...delicious. The real winner, however, was the beef chow fun (which was requested "wet" rather than in the more traditional "dry" style). This heaping dish of rice noodles, beef, mushrooms, and Chinese broccoli, unexpectedly, exuded a fair amount of wok hei (even as the noodles were smothered in a cover of very dark, unforgiving gravy). Wow...was I pleasantly surprised! A genuine yet fleeting smoky essence wafted through the noodles, made a definite impression, and, then, dissipated as the chow fun was poked, prodded, and slowly devoured. Ultimately, this meal of hits and misses was par for the course (and, fairly, representative of the DC standard). No, Full Kee would not outrank the best in, say, Brooklyn or Queens, San Francisco, or Vancouver. The less than stellar state of Chinese food here in DC is a conversation (or diatribe - depending on your position or mood) that has been played out ad nauseam. There is no need to rehash it. Suffice it to say, Full Kee is an undeniable asset. It is for our little part of the world anyway. Indeed, our little Chinatown (struggling as it is) would be that much poorer without it. read more

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I won't say it's fine cantonese cuisine but every Hong Kong dish that I ordered surpassed my expectation. I liked their wonton noodles so much I ordered it every time but I decided this time to try the Frog Legs, Black Mushroom and Chinese Sausage Casserole. My friend ordered the Salted Fish Chicken Fried Rice. The rice came out first - the pungency of the salted fish was noticeable but one taste of it - it was perfectly balanced in seasoning, the salted fish exuding umami and the fluffiness of the eggs and rice made it very palatable. The chicken was not overcooked and dry like many places that made chinese food poorly. The sizzling of the casserole pot - like the ones I am familiar with back at home, could be heard from the kitchen. The frog legs were chopped into small pieces, deep fried and coated with this amazing gingery sauce. The black mushroom and chinese sausage are two important ingredients in the Cantonese cooking, they were so tasty, absorbing all the flavors amalgamated in the pot. How do I explain the awesomeness of a sizzling pot of casserole? It quintessentially represented classic cantonese cuisine. It really reminded me of the late nights, especially that first night I landed in Singapore - went straight to Geylang Rd for the same frog leg dish. I can safely tell you this restaurant is solid in making Cantonese cuisine with spot-on execution. Just taste that wonton noodles already! I say it's unjust to give this restaurant 1-2 stars for ordering American-Chinese food when this restaurant is known for Cantonese cooking. It's like ordering sushi from american-chinese take-out when clearly that's not their expertise. read more

Get the soup. Or the dumplings. Or roast pork on rice. Or the spicy chicken and scallops. Everything we ordered had a great flavor. Also, the servers were very friendly and kind. read more

Full Kee - Chinese Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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(Review based on Noodle Menu alone) Full Kee does what it is supposed to do: good food, low price, enough to fill you up. It isn't a new fusion noodle boutique that servers you 5 tiny slivers of roasted pork and a cute little clump of noodles for $10. So often I want DC's China Town to be like New York's China Town. This is one of those rare occasions where a link can be found. I want ducks hanging in the window's and bright red BBQ pork roasts out for all to see. I read some people complain about the bad smell in Full Kee. You know what it smells like? A Chinese restaurant! They have traditional Chinese fare that produces smells that most restaurant goers are not used to. Have you ever walked into an Asian market and thought "Oh! What a lovely smell!" NO! And if you don't want grease, don't order fried stuff! I had the Hong Kong Style "Roast Pork and noodles in soup" (egg noodles). I added the veggies and dumplings. It was exactly what you would expect and it was good! My only suggestion would be to get the pork on the side. The texture of the meat is better if it doesn't soak in the soup too long. If you want fancy Americanized Chinese food then you may want to head to the burbs and hit up PF Chang's. read more

Full Kee - Roast pork w/ vegi's and dumplings - Chinese Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Alien went there for dinner. Foods are great, but they are a bit pricey. The table Alien sat smelled like mothballs, which decreased Alien's appetite. Alien liked their shrimp fried rice. A lot of shrimps were in in! Sweet Sour Rib Hong Kong Style was also yummy. Ribs were juicy and crispy. read more

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Full Kee used to be my frequent go to weekly place before I made a lifestyle change and took a sabbatical for about 2 years. I used to frequent the one in Baileys' so much, I would walk in and they would greet me like old friends. Now, one of their employees that transferred to this location looks at me and says "where have you been?"...Ha - a good sign that I'm changing for the better:) Inside you can sit anywhere and don't be discouraged by the minimalist decor that's just functional, the food is just plain good and the prices aren't going to break the bank. Anyway, I've tried many dishes so here's my humble opinion on the ones that I've tried over a span of 8+years. -Deep fried spicy shrimp w/ head - always a winner -Seafood fried rice - I could eat entire dish -Deep fried spicy pork chop - delicious, spicy and crispy -Shrimp dumpling soup - one of their specialties and a must-have -Chives flower - discovered this grass-looking veggie awhile back and love it -Beef chow fun - can't go wrong -Fresh steamed tilapia (Baileys) - tried this at the VA location and its so good. I could devour this all by myself. -Pan fried noodle - great dish with a variety of meat and seafood -Eggplant casserole - pretty good -Congee - nice and hearty You basically can't go wrong with any of the above. So, try it out, order many dishes to share and you'll leave feeling full and satisfied:) read more

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...kee "Full Kee Restaurant" in mind. This weather. Ugh. The rain wouldn't quit and I was in a mood to match... So...I went in search of the familiar: shrimp dumplings and noodles H.K. style in soup. When you're in DC, where does that lead you? Chinablock of course. Full Kee Restaurant! I hopped on the train at Federal Triangle. Did the transfer. Yes, I know, that is SO lazy, but hey, it was raining out and I had the gym bag in tow. Hopped off at Gallery Pl. and trudged two blocks (slaloming between the people waiting to board the Chinatown bus) to Full Kee. I marched right up to the cashier, placed my order, and took a seat to wait the "ten minutes"... Then I thought to myself "Hey woman! You betta get to yelpin!" Yes, this place is a Top 100 Chinese Restaurant 4705 and 4704. But can they puh-leez update the signs on the wall? Right now, they're 72-pt times roman bold laser prints covered in plastic. Meh. Kinda cheezy for a top restaurant. So are the 13-inch glass anchor hocking pie plates they serve the family style entrees in. But I can't fault them for everything. I'm a fan. The service and food are great. Really great! My soup, a standard fall back option, was plentiful, I mean plentiful! Enough for 2 really. Other offerings, Americanized and traditional, I've eaten have never disappointed me. They were during my pre-yelp days, so I'll reserve the comments until I revisit and retry each and every single one of those delicious lil morsels...mmmm....mmmmmm....mmmmmm..... Since I was waiting for takeout, I could actually see the fellow preparing my dumplings and soup. He's stationed right in the window, behind the ducks and in front of the largest boiling cauldrons ever. (see photo of me w/ducks) All in all, the soup was delicious. The perfect ending to a rainy, dreary Friday. The broth was flavorful, and not too salty. The dumplings had huge pieces of shrimp inside, and the wrappers were lighty and tasty yum. I'll get that again, of course. As for the other full kee offerings, look for an update to this yelp for comments. read more

Food is good not great. They were rude when I asked for extra chopsticks on the phone.

I came here twice. The first time I got the Roast Pork, it was pretty dry and not very fresh. I also got the jellyfish, it had a weird taste to it. The beef with broccoli was average, nothing special. The second time I came here I got the Walnut Jumbo Shrimp with Mayo. It was not very good and it came with like 8 shrimps and dry broccoli. Unless you are really really really craving Chinese food and are stuck in DC I wouldn't recommend coming here. read more

This review is for a dining experience a couple of years ago. I will be updating this a couple of weeks from now when I dine there again. Walking by, I'm not sure I would ever select this place to eat at. It is old fashioned, sparse, a bit disheveled but clean. Only if you are up for "authentic" and low-key would you try it. I am that way, as was my friend who dined with me. So we ordered various fish and vegetarian dishes to split. Every single item was delicious, came to us quickly. Service was friendly and efficient. Excellent quality. read more

Overpriced and "meh no thank you I won't come again" Chinese food. I ordered the Peking duck. The duck was so dry it had absolutely no taste. Cracked bones mixed with dry duck meat is what I got on my plate. Not $20 worth for that plate. The walnut chicken was OK but too overpriced for what you are getting. Regular not giant shrimp and you'll be getting more broccoli than shrimp. I guess is makes the portion look bigger. read more

Full Kee - Peking duck - Chinese Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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My date and I dined here upon a four hour non-stop bus journey from New York City for a weekend to view the Sakura Matsuri Festival. We were completely appalled at the quality of Dim Sum. This restaurant serves Dim Sum, unorthodoxly, on metal containers rather than the traditional bamboo steamers. We only ordered four dishes which came to a whopping $20.00. The pork in the naho chong fun was not truly pork as it was really beef which is deceiving as it alters the traditional Dim Sum dishes. In observing other patrons in this restaurant, there were a handful of other local Chinese patrons which had no comment about the food served on metal tin trays rather than traditional bamboo steamers. My date and I were appalled with our nation's capital, as they do not have any good quality authentic Chinese cuisine. For good quality authentic Chinese food or Dim Sum go to Baltimore, MD as all the good restaurants are in the suburbs. read more

I can't believe I'm giving this place 4 stars. It wouldn't last a month in california. Really. It's too salty. lacks steamed fish, or really fish of any persuading variety, my frog claypot (they call it casserole. lolz. or something) was overcooked and tough, and my chair was wobbly. But you know what? It's largely pretty edible and a pretty solid step up from the bajillion take-out places that serve burgers and subway sandwiches with their "chinese" food. The roast duck there looks mad old btw. like days old. Makes me wonder what a half kee is like. (get it? lolz?) read more

This is one of the more popular hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, DC. The strong Chinese food smell hits you as you walk in - you get used to it in a couple of minutes - so don't run away! Waiting for a table is the good old way - you know your place in line and raise your hand when a wait staff asks on "Who's Next". The place is small and there is a whole lot of activity happening - food coming in, used dishes being bussed back! We were waiting for a crash to occur but that never did! It was driving in crazy streets of India - cars come too close but never touch :) So now back to the food - menu is very extensive and the prices have recently been upgraded to be more in line with East Coast restaurants. We ordered Wonton Soup, Hot and Sour Soup for appetizers. Just like others have recommended - stay away from the dumplings - mediocre at best. Soup broth was tasty though. Hot and Sour was good! Both soups were warm at best - not hot as expected. For the main course we shared Szechuan Pork, Shrimp With Lobster Sauce, Pan Fried Chicken noodles. All dishes were good with the Pork being the winner. Shrimp with Lobster sauce was very close to the same dish my Chinese friend makes at her home! Pan Friend noodles was yummy too - in my wife's words - one of the best she has had in the East Coast. Service is quick and we witnessed all our neighbors being "requested" to leave once their food was done as others were waiting for a table. Flow of people coming in was constant - many looked like regulars mixed in with occasional tourist or Full Key newbie. Bottom line - good Chinese food in a non-fancy setting. read more

I've eaten at every Chinese restaurant in Chinatown and I would have to say this place is the "best". Side note- the standard is not very high in Chinatown. This is your basic dingy looking Chinese restaurant but the food is good. - Hot and sour soup- decent but Ming's is better; the consistency is a little off here - Beef and broccoli- beef was extremely tender; must get - General Tso- must get - Combination fried rice- solid - Beef chow fun- this was ok; it was missing flavor and the noodles were stuck together Overall, I would go here over any other Chinese place in Chinatown. read more

On our road trip through Philly, the parents were craving Chinese food. All the other spots in the neighbor were jammed pack so we decided to give this one a shot. We ordered a couple of beef/veggie dishes which came with rice. The rice came under cooked and the amount of salt used was too much. I was disappointed, but we were starving so it was doable. read more

A great spot for Chinese food, especially if you are in the Chinatown area and want a good and cheap lunch. They have $6 lunch specials and have never had a bad meal there. The food is fresh, hot and is served fast. Last time I had the lo mien from the $6 lunch special and it was fresh and not too greasy/oily. They also have an "authentic" Chinese food menu if you are adventurous but I have not given that a try yet. read more

Mehhhhhhhh 1. There is no dim sum here. 2. On a scale of 10, this place gets a 3 for quality of food. 3. Service wasn't terrible but I won't rave about it. 4. Expensive for what you're getting. 5. You should just pretend that DC does not have a Chinatown and lose the "I feel like Chinese tonight" feeling. Just get over it now. Roasted duck was soaked in soy sauce and tasted old. Wonton didn't taste fresh, as if made a few days ago. Seafood crispy noodles was all starch in the sauce and no flavor. Upside: they provide lots of condiments to cover up the blandness of the food. Oh and my fortune was: "God will give you everything you want." Pfft. Please. read more

We ordered takeout for our family from Full Kee. We had egg rolls, crab Rangoon, Pan Fried noodles with beef and broccoli, pork lo mein, and General Tsao's chicken. The egg rolls were a little salty, but that was the only complaint we had. We all really enjoyed our food, but my husband the most. He always gets General Tsao's chicken wherever he goes, and he rarely is as excited about it as he was here! Added bonus: it wasnt processed chicken, it was real chicken. Full Kee is also now open for inside dining, but the place was empty when we went to pick up our order. Given how good the food was, I hope people start going back soon! read more