Astoria continues to be one of my favorite spots in DC. While the service can occasionally be a bit…read morespotty, the food and overall vibe are exceptional. Every dish I've tried has been mouthwatering, consistently flavorful and generously portioned. Some of my current favorites are the dan dan noodles and the garlic eggplant, but honestly, you can't go wrong with anything on the menu. If I could, I'd eat here once a week.

Astoria is known for their Sichuan-style food and drinks, and we decided to come here for an early…read moredinner as a group. We knew it was stone crab season, so we were excited to include this in our eats - we ordered the Mala Lobster, which was prepared in fermented chili sauce with ginger garlic scallion; we also ordered the Pea Shoots (stir-fried in garlic; we liked that this didn't come 'watery'), the Walnut Shrimp (with a nice honey sauce with candied walnuts), Mapo Tofu (with beef, chili, garlic, scallions, and sichuan peppercorns), and the OG La-Zi (a fried chicken thigh with peanuts, chili, and sichuan peppercorns). My counterparts enjoyed their drinks, and the the bartending staff were great. Portions are generous and easily shareable! The space is beautiful, which is like a railroad-style; the staff were friendly and attentive. Metered and some restricted residential parking can be found in the area. +sichuan-style shareables +friendly & attentive staff +metered street & restricted residential parking available

One of my favorite restaurants in DC! I always recommend it! Love the Orangish Chicken, Fried Rice,…read moreand Coconut Custard. The space is small but typically not full. You pay at the register which makes it easy to itemize the bill and pay per person.

Omg so good! Orange chicken delicious! Crunchy outside tender inside. No nauseating taste or…read moretexture like normal Chinese food sauce great rice great service fast Bubble tea amazing! Fresh and floral. Love the pearls and the flavor combo I wasn't crazy about the egg roll from what I remember. The chicken was much better

Okay - 4 months have passed since my last review of New Dynasty so it's time for an update…read more The hot & sour soup is still the best I have ever had anywhere in the world. The egg rolls are crispy but not too oily - and they're delicious on top of that! I also had some beef and broccoli and it was super good too. The flavor was savory, strong and pure. The broccoli was crispy, the beef was moist. No thickening flavor like flour or corn starch was evident in its tasty sauce. It wasn't even too salty. Go figure! So, it's surprising that a place that looks so old and dirty can churn out such great tasting food BUT NEW DYNASTY DOES!!! I have to admit that the people at the ordering counter are pretty darn friendly too. Please do not avoid New Dynasty because of the way the outside looks. As your mama told you time and again, it is what's inside that counts. And inside New Dynasty, the food is really, really good!

I only got takeout, but it will be the ONLY place I get takeout from for my sesame chicken, egg…read morerolls, and lo mein from now. You can request all white meat chicken (with a small upcharge) which my mom and I appreciate. But everything was exactly what I am looking for in a chinese-american spot. Again, cant speak to the physical building but they were efficient and made all needed/requested modifications. Order it!!

Five stars for service and takeout, well packaged and delicious dishes especially soft shell crab…read more(a pleasant surprise, done just right). Simple dishes such as the tomato egg stir fry are delicious; felt like home made 番茄炒蛋. they also have Mongolian stir fry, Thai curry, Japanese sushi, the whole range. Owner is Chinese. No ambiance to speak off as it is in a half basement; no decor; a bit sad. But I came here to pick up food, having placed my order on UberEats. They told me it's cheaper to call instead of using the app, but the app is convenient as I can multitask. They said they have their own driver and can deliver. Will keep that in mind next time.

Cucumber salad: A far cry from any of the versions I had while in China. No herbs, barely any…read morechili's and no vinegar to add a tangy flavor. These were just cut up cucumbers... Steamed pork dumplings: I've never had dumpling dough so thick. I could barely taste the pork inside. The filling was rather bland IMO. Orange chicken: Hefty portion and tasted fine. It does come with rice, which is not mentioned on the menu. Ambiance: I did take out and the interior has an odd smell. Maybe it's from the sushi counter and as someone who doesn't like seafood, I am more sensitive.

We came early on a Saturday for the all you can eat dim sum brunch. Some of our favorite dishes…read morewere the crispy duck rolls, duck bao, Mongolian beef, green beans. We loved the magnolia blossom oolong tea. Some misses on the menu for us were the chicken wonton soup that had too subtle a flavor palette for me, veggie dumplings which had a little too strong a flavor for both of us, and the charcoal bao with custard that was overall just not to our preference. Service was super fast and friendly. We ate to our hearts' content and finished in about 45 mins of the 75 available. They have runners to bring out the food as it's prepared; no carts. Despite being a big restaurant with a lot of hard surfaces, the place never got super loud and everyone was quietly conversing. The music was also a comfortable volume for having a nice conversation over a delicious meal. 20% pre-tax service fee/gratuity is automatically added to checks regardless of party size.

Dear Yelpers, I woke up last Sunday with a craving for dim…read moresum, so I drove into DC to try this place because they offered an unlimited dim sum menu. Overall, I do not think I will be coming back here for dim sum. And they dont have the dim sum ladies that pushes the cart around. To me this place did not give me the real dim sum experience. See my review below. Food: Their unlimited dim sum selection is very tame. They do have some signature plates, but I felt it was lacking in many areas such as veggies, pastries, and other dumplings. The taste overall was just okay. I've honestly had better elsewhere, probably because it was unlimited. It didn't taste fresh, and everything was very greasy. The food came out neither hot nor warm. It was room temperature, which was disappointing. Nothing on their menu really stood out as different for me. Also, you have to ask for sauces and other condiments that are often placed on the table during dim sum service (e.g., chili oil, soy sauce, vinaigrette). Dim sum is part of my upbringing, and the food was definitely catered to Western palates, which contributed to it tasting just okay to me. Price: I believe it was $36 or $38 per person for their unlimited dim sum. We ordered a pot of tea that cost $12, which is insane to me. I do not believe the total price we paid matches the quality of food we received. Service: The service was pretty good. The staff were attentive and checked in throughout our meal. They were quick with our requests for sauces and refills of water and tea. Everyone was very nice, and they cleared finished plates pretty quickly. Ambiance: This place offers a quiet environment for dim sum. It felt light and airy, calm, and without a lot of hustle and bustle. This is very different from the kind of environment I am accustomed to when going out for dim sum. It is usually loud, and everyone is yelling over each other. That, to me, is the real dim sum experience.

Do not sleep on the coconut ice cream!!! The BEST I've ever had!!! The atmosphere was adorable!!…read moreFood was amazing

This Thai place is aboveground in a splendid brick building. I got a seat near the window. The…read morevarious menus I searched through online were a little unclear, but their current one at the time of my visit offered ample detail on vegetarian/vegan items, of which there were plenty. I sampled a crispy rice salad and some drunken noodles, expecting to eat about half of each. The salad was fantastic, with the light texture of the crispy rice allowing the aroma of lime, chili, and various other flavors to percolate through it. I asked them to hit me with the full spice level for my drunken noodles, and they were venomous, even once I had gotten used to them. The people were preparing some spice trays to be used for ad hoc seasoning, but I had no need of any further chili. A Thai iced tea with lychee I thought was going to be a milk tea, as the term Thai iced tea normally connotes, but it was in fact just tea with fruit. Still good though, and it came with one full lychee. Some of the other people eating around me noted that they planned on leftovers and instead ate everything they got, a comment that the portions aren't huge but also that the flavors are captivating. I finished mine too.

Fantastic food, wow!…read more Sweet and Sour whole fish is crunchy out and moist tender in. The sauce is divine. Noodles with meat sauce is a must. Wonton soup is spiced perfectly. This is my new favorite Chinese restaurant. Perfection. We will definitely be back.

Sichuan Pavilion is something of an institution, providing solid Chinese food to dine in or carry…read moreout to generations in Downtown. The challenge of the menu is its size: it includes old school standards that your father may have ordered, yet has some much more interesting and tongue-tingling szechuan options also. So it behooves the diner to take time to read through thr long menu carefully and to order selectively. Service is efficient and special requests are handled with grace, rather than the eye rolling of their peers. We first ordered crispy beef, which wws well executed with the beef shreds still juicy despite their crackle coating. The sauce had a mild bit of chili heat and subtle sweetness, and was generously salted with a medley of julienned veggies. Our second dish was General Tao Chicken, which is more commonly known as General Tso. It was again, a very well executed version of what has become a popular classic, with perfectly coated and fried nuggets of tender chicken breastfeeding in a sweet and spicy sauce served with broccoli and chili peppers. Sichuan Pavilion is very snug, amd something of a "rabbit warren" with a series of rooms connected by tight pathways. Tables can be small, so try to book in advance. Also, some of the best dishes are the more traditional szechuan style, do take the time to ask your server about them and be prepared for some heat.

Food was delicious and tasty! I'm already planning two additional trips back. A little pricey but I…read moreguess expected for the area.

Went here for a girls dinner on a Friday night. We did not make a reservation and really don't…read morethink most would need to. It never got packed which was nice after a travel day for us both! The service was great and the place is gorgeous! Very moody, very authentic. GREAT place for those of us who are Gluten Free not by choice (Celiac). The food was amazing. We definitely both overate considering how good everything was. Sticky rice wasn't my fave but the Pad Thai certainly was! I even ordered it delivery the next night to have for my travel day. Delicious! The mocktails were also great! Would absolutely come here again, we were in a nearby hotel so parking wasn't a concern but seems ample from what we saw.

It was the perfect spot for a quick bite to eat! I got the edamame and the handmade chicken…read moredumplings. Both so delicious! The restaurant itself was really cute and very clean. I definitely recommend coming here if you love dumplings! I'd love to come back and try the soup dumplings.

After spending the afternoon with my friends in the area, we decided to try this place out for…read moredinner. Everything started out good. We were sat down quickly since it wasnt crowded for a sunday evening. The servers were helpful with the menu. We ordered about 10 minutes into our visit. We ordered appetizers to include Taiwanese popcorn chicken, spicy wontons, and cucumber salad. We also ordered our meals, too. A beef lamen, pork soup dumplings, crab and pork soup dumplings, and I originally wanted the fried chicken curry lamen but he talked me against it due to spice level and I opted for the sake chicken, per his recommendation. The soup dumplings came out abt 15 min later at which I was told that the cucumber salad was sold out and asked if I wanted anything else. I passed since I had ordered the popcorn chicken already. My friend wasnt a fan of her pork soup dumplings and didnt finish them at all. She stated a severe lack of flavor. The crab/pork ones were a hit for the other friend. I cant eat pork nor beef, so I was still sitting and waiting for my popcorn chicken appetizer to hold me off a bit. About another 20 minutes passed then the beef lamen came out for one friend and then an order of the curry lamen. We were confused on if this was our actual order until he realized that he wrote down the wrong dish for me after I explained that he told me to get the sake chicken instead. He apoligized but by this point, I hadnt had food in roughly 6 hours, I was starving and asked to keep the wrong order, please. He refused and said he would get me the correct item because it's just in the back. Keep in mind that the spicy won tons were still missing and so was my popcorn chicken. About 10 minutes later, the spicy won tons finally made it and she enjoyed them more than her pork soup dumplings. Then the other server comes to tell me that there is more cucumber salad. Im not sure how we go from sold out to availability nearly an hour later but I still refused since I was ready for my main entree at this point. The other friend ended up ordering it instead. She said it was good. I didn't try out of frustration of how this experience was unfolding for me. My entree finally came out after another 15 or so minutes, which meant it acrually was NOT sitting in the back and ready. Im exhausted. Im starving. Ive sat here and watched my table eat while my orders were fumbled for some odd reason. The sake chicken was okay. Its really like katsu chicken with a ton of yum yum and eel sauce over a bed of rice. Best way to explain it. I probably would have enjoyed the original curry dish more. About another 10 minutes later, my popcorn chicken arrives, which beyond upset me because I asumed this order wasnt put in at this point. It had been over an hour! I gave it to my friend instead after trying one and not enjoying the flour-heavy taste. I'm not sure if this was an off night or what but I cant say that I will return just from the sheer time it took to get our orders! An hour and half was beyond ridiculous when the place wasnt even full. No one explained the delays nor came to give us updates while we were waiting, either. I gave them a star for the food being half enjoyed by some of my party and another for pricing because it really wasnt expensive, which was a plus. If you have hours to spare and dont arrive hungry, check this place out!

I finally had the opportunity to try Planta Queen in Dupont and it did not disappoint. I'm not a…read morevegan, but I was genuinely impressed by the food, ambience and drinks. The atmosphere was lively and welcoming, making it a great spot for dinner. We decided to sample a variety of dishes, and everything was deliciously presented. Drinks: Cherry smoke show and Emperor's old-fashioned. Food: We ordered the bang, bang, broccoli, thousand layer crispy potatoes, beef, and broccoli, spicy tuna roll. Sweet ending: The sticky toffee pudding Moriah, our server was friendly and attentive, adding to the overall experience. Definitely a good time.

I came back to attend a birthday dinner and it definitely redeemed itself from a couple years ago…read morewhere they didn't have any other other things that I wanted to eat so then I picked something that I ended up not really liking. This time was a little different. I had the red dragon roll and I couldn't quite tell it's vegan and not actual dragon roll of some sort. And then I also tried the thousand layer potatoes, which was nice, but I don't know if I liked it that much. And I got the Unagi eggplant which was really really good. I also really like eggplant at baseline. Other people got the sprig and run drink (it's under free spirits and it's a mocktail) and they loved it. Two of my friends got the udon and mushroom - they loved it (clean bowls). So I enjoyed it but only for special occasions. It's not very affordable to come to Planta regularly you see (or maybe I just need to have a better paying gig hahah) ... a roll and a nigiri plate came out to be over $30 ... which is somewhat typical in the expensive city of DC. In the end, we all concluded Planta Bethesda has more options whereas this one is more Asian fusion type of food (which I love). But I'm still dreaming of that miso salmon tofu from Planta Bethesda (now a year later? Also higher end prices for me and can't afford to go too often). They do only have two bathroom individual stalls and for some reason it took a while for my friends to use the restroom (she said one person was trying on outfits in there?!) and it can get a little messy in there with the trash bin, but it probably isn't consistently so...