got food poisoning a few hours after having their noodles, would not recommend this place.

They have traditional Zhajiangmian (aka Chinese spaghetti) !!! Enough said (and other delicious hand pulled and knife cut noodles too). Yum! read more

Wasai - zhajiangmian - Dim Sum Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Hand pulled noodles were edible, although the broth was salty and tasted of MSG. The shengjian bao were made from frozen packaged buns and not remotely crispy. The cucumber salad was also tasteless (it's supposed be tossed with black vinegar, garlic, sesame oil etc), and instead had a brown gloopy sauce on it. Workers were rude and dismissive, and refused to even give water. Chinatown deserves much better than this. PS -- no need to tip, it's self serve kiosks and you bus your own tables. read more

I sprinted across 7th street and a bit south all the way from the Gallery Place-Chinatown metro station entrance in this awful cold and rainy weather for Wasai. I'm glad to have found a Chinese restaurant in the DC area that serves authentic Lanzhou style hand-pulled noodles - absolute no frills, not weirdly elevated like most ethnic restaurants tend to be, and at a reasonable price. The noodle soup here definitely warmed my body and soul this evening. There's not much seating, but fortunately, my friend and I were able to squeeze into a small space/table. There was a good amount of people here, but people seem to eat and go quite easily. I like that there is a kiosk here so I can just order easily by myself. The food came out quite quickly (within 10 minutes) and it was piping hot. My mouth was watering because I was so cold and hungry from the nasty rainy weather. For the record, I ravished my entire bowl of noodle soup within 6 minutes. 牛肉拉面 BEEF PULL NOODLE SOUP - 13.95 I love the ability to customize here. You can choose between a non-spicy or spicy option for your broth and three different types of noodles (flat, skinny, or hand pull aka knife cut). I prefer a lighter and non-spicy broth and was curious about the flat noodles. There was a solid amount of beef pieces in my bowl - each slice was tender and easy to chew on. This was definitely a highlight of the noodle soup. I really liked the bokchoy and radish they put in here, which was fresh and crunchy. The flat noodles initially looked really thick which was disappointing, but wow the taste and texture was light and chewy. Absolutely delicious and I'd recommend! This bowl of noodle soup really hit the spot and I devoured it so quickly. I'd prefer a bit more garnish, though. While the broth was a great complement to the noodles, meat, and veggies, it was way too salty for me to enjoy by itself upon finishing all the solids. I do like that it was clear and not very oily. I usually don't eat too much, but dang, I must have been really hungry or something so I ended up ordering more food, lol. 蟹粉肉小笼包 CRAB MEAT PORK SOUP DUMPLINGS (6 PCS) - 10.95 For just six XLBs, this is kind of expensive, but hey if I'm already here I'll splurge. Not sure if I taste too much crab, but hey the flavor of the pork was quite good. Despite how flat it looked, there was a good amount of soup in each dumpling and it didn't feel too greasy or fatty. The skin was a bit thick, but my standards for XLB in the DMV area is pretty low. I'd say the XLBs here tasted good and I'd recommend if you're curious. However, they are expensive, so... Overall, I'm glad I finally tried Wasai after hearing positive reviews from my friends. It's definitely the best authentic (with the hole-in-the-wall, no frills vibe that you won't find elsewhere in the city) Chinese restaurant I've been to in DC, so I'll definitely be back. read more

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Came here for dinner last night and had a delicious meal! We had 3 people dining and decided to go the family-style route and tried quite a few things to get a sense of the menu. Fried Sesame Ball - this comes with 6 ping pong ball sized balls. I always love a fried sesame ball and these didn't disappoint! I know they're listed as appetizers, but i always save them for dessert. F1. Chicken Stir Fried Noodle - Delicious! So flavorful and the noodles were cooked perfectly. I kept pulling more and more noodles onto my plate bc it was addicting! D1. Pork and Chive Dumplings, steamed - Love me a steamed gyoza! These are exactly what they say they are. Yummy! B2. Spicy Cumin Lamb Burger - one of the surprise favorites. Really flavorful and the lamb comes almost ground style with some crispy bits, so it was really delicious and pleasing to eat. We got one to split between the 3 of us, but next time I'd want one all to myself! Zha Jiang Mian, hand shaved noodle - It was good to get the hand shaved noodle so it wasn't too similar to the stir fried noodles. These definitely tasted homemade, as there was a lot more toothsomeness to them. The sauce and ground pork that came on top was absolutely delicious. Next time I think i might prefer a thinner noodle, but it was still really yummy. Xiao long bao - they're not on their online ordering menu or the physical menu above the ordering counter, but we did "self ordering" at the computer next to the counter, and they came up as a special, and I'm never one to decline some soup dumplings. They were tasty and enjoyable. My one complaint is that there were a lot of gnats inside that swarmed around us while we were eating, which was a bit annoying. Some fans inside the door when you walk in might help to prevent that. Either way, it's simple food made really, really well! read more

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Went to Wasai with a larger party on for weekday lunch. It was surprisingly packed with only 1 table available for our party. We all ordered a different variety of noodle soup and 2 appetizers (the toothpick lamb and the vegetable dumplings) I thought the lamb and the dumplings were very authentic and good tasting. My wife did feel like the appetizers were a little on the sweeter side but I thought it was perfectly fine. We all got spicy broth for our noodles which was definitely a good choice. It was flavorful and warm. The texture of the wide noodle however was over cooked and mushy but the knife cut were perfect. Another knock against the place is the service wasn't really great. Very much a "serve yourself" type of place and it took a couple asks to just get napkins from the order counter. The tables were also a bit dirty, granted you can wipe it yourself (if you can get your hands on napkins) but still even with the soggy noodles and ambiance would definitely go again for the food. Just making sure I get knife cut. read more

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Intro: Honestly, this spot left me a bit underwhelmed, but it may have been my fault. I'll explain. Layout: The spot is pretty well laid out with a decent amount of seating. You place your order on a kiosk. I'm really not a fan of this current antisocial/digital age, but at least it's not as bad as the places that make you write your order like you're taking a freaking test. No penalty for that. I'm just a grumpy old man. Food: Okay. So here's where I may have gone wrong. I decided to try something new by getting the beef tendon noodles. I didn't know that it was literally the tendon of the beef, meaning that the texture is not meaty at all. It is soft and mushy and tastes like flavorless jello. Aside from that, I found the noodles to be a bit hard to eat. They seemed to be cooked al dente and were not free flowing - somewhat stuck and tangled together. Also, the broth could have used more flavor. So I definitely added some soy sauce. As for the dumplings, they were tasty on the inside but the exterior was a bit dry. So you'll definitely want to eat these with dumpling sauce as well. Wrap up: All in all, I'd like to give this place one more shot where I order a more familiar dish. Who knows when that will be considering that I paid about $29 (including tax and tip) for an underwhelming meal. However, I'll try to go at least once more to give a thorough review. read more

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The hand pulled noodle soups are the star here. Really delicious knife cut noodles and a generous portion of beef. The soup could've used more vegetables but otherwise was perfect. The shrimp and pork shu mai were delicious and came piping hot. Definitely recommend getting some of the chili oil from the condiments area. Orders were ready quickly after using the kiosk to place an order. A little crowded for 5:45 on a Wednesday, but tables turned over quickly. Bathrooms were single occupancy gender neutral and clean. read more

Wasai - Beef Pull Noodle Soup and Shrimp and Pork Shu Mai - Dim Sum Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Cool fast casual concept in Chinatown with yummy hand pulled noodles! I came here with friends and it was super easy to order on the kiosks and then grab our food trays from the counter when they were ready. I had the beef pull noodle soup that came with a generous amount of beef. They even have good vegetarian options like the veggie dumplings (which are bright green and a (wa)sai-ght to behold!) It's nice to have an affordable and modern spot serving good authentic Chinese food among all of the other fast casual places like Chipotle with the hilarious Chinese signage. Even though I've felt that Chinatown can be relatively safe, there was an interesting character who came in while we were eating which was a bit disruptive. read more

Wasai - Beef Pull Noodle Soup + Fried Sesame Ball - Dim Sum Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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Like wow. I am so impressed by this place. Well worth the price for the portions and it was delicious. Dumplings were filled and soup soup was amazing. The quality here rivals large restaurants I have been to. Service is quick and the place is fast food style but don't let that stop you from trying the amazing food. Can't wait to be back. read more

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Most authentic and best Chinese fast food that one can ever get in DC metro area. The noodles are hand pulled in front of your eyes and super fresh. The cucumber salad was very refreshing. The Xiao long bao was really legit. I wish the beef soup broth could be spicier (I have already selected the spicy option) though. My friend ordered the wonton soup and cumin lamb burger and loved them. We all enjoyed the sesame balls which came in timely for desserts. Will definitely come back again given its central location! read more

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Amazing soup! Amazing Sui Mai! This place has good and fast food! The beef was so tender and soup broth was so flavorful. We had the soup dumplings and they were just okay. Overall, I would definitely recommend this place! read more

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- Authentic hand-made Chinese noodles - High quality meat - Friendly (English/Chinese) services - Clean and cozy environment near Capital One Arena read more

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The advertising made it seem like a sit down restaurants but it's more like a fast casual. The food overall was great, but the cucumber salad and the lamb bites really stood out! read more

Wasai - Beef Pull Noodle Soup, Cucumber Salad, Spicy Cumin Toothpick Lamb - Dim Sum Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

The must try is the cumin lamb piece from appetizer. I haven't found a place that does this appetizer so we'll. The classic beef noodle soup is great, I went with spicy but it didn't end up being too spicy. I though the broth could use more flavor and more onions and cilantro. They also make their noodle dough fresh, I do like their Hand shave noodles and flat pull noodles. read more

Wasai - Dim Sum Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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Loved grabbing lunch here! You can self order or go up to the register and speak with a worker. The food didn't take long after ordering, probably 5-10 minutes and that was at peak lunch, 12:30 on a Saturday. This meal honestly tasted like something my grandma would make, good old comfort food. I got the seafood noodles which came with a good amount of seafood. The noodles were aldente and clinged to the brother really well. I wished I stayed in dc longer to try more of their dishes. read more

This place is a must try!! I walked in and was pleasantly surprised by all the amazing smells. They're menu is simple but executed perfectly. They're shrimp and pork dumplings are absolutely incredible. A beautiful dough and well seasoned. They're assorted beef noodle soup was phenomenal. Incredible broth for a cold day. Each bite of beef was delicious. I recommend trying this place and the hand pulled noodles. read more

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Quick and inexpensive very average food. The inside has a fast food feel; melamine dishes and plastic utensils.

I was really excited to see this place open up in Chinatown, which has a dearth of good Chinese food. I'm not Chinese, but I've had authentic and relatively inexpensive regional Chinese food in New York, so I think I'm pretty familiar with what to look for in terms of flavors and presentation. I ordered the beef lo mein. The service was quick and the portion was generous, although I would have enjoyed a larger portion of beef in my order. The noodles were perfectly chewy and had good wok hay. I really appreciated their station with pour your own black Chinese vinegar, soy sauce, dumpling sauce, and chili oil. I wish the chili had a greater kick, which is why I'm giving this place a 4-star rating. I'll definitely be back to try the rest of the menu, and I'll be sure to bring my own jar Lao Gan Ma spicy chili crisp next time. read more

Wasai - F2. Beef Stir Fried Noodle - Dim Sum Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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A solid add to Chinatown. I've ordered the beef tendon noodle soup, knife cut/hand shaven option, a couple of times and it has been consistently good. I simply had to go with the knife cut/hand shaven version as I haven't seen it in other places in DC. They should have an option to add veggies. On my last visit, I happened to see the chef preparing the hand pulled noodles. It was interesting to be able to see him at his craft. I am looking forward to trying the regular hand pull version of the noodle next time. read more

Wasai - Beef Tendon knife cut noodle soup - Dim Sum Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Convenient place that has Asian food and Gong Cha boba tea. We had XLB and soup noodles( hand cut) The noodles were good, nice and al dente The beef and soup were a bit bland. I'm felt the tendon was way overdone. No bite to it but might be personal preference Overall a good meal. read more

I just tried Wasai which recently opened in Gallery place. The pros: ordering is easy, you can do it on a screen and not have to wait in line. It's nice and clean. You can watch them making fresh noodles. Staff works really hard and they could probably use an extra person. The cons: I'm sure the noodles are great based on the other reviews, but I ordered other things. At $7.95 I thought the dry chili french fries would be something interesting, but they're not. Just a regular portion of fries with something akin to seasoning salt on top. Kind of a lot for basic fries. Fortunately I had ketchup packets laying around. The spring rolls ($4.95) don't taste locally made and are the same soggy cabbage filling that every other place in DC uses. The fried tofu ($7.95) is just strips of tofu with nothing on it, no sauce, just soaking in oil in the to go container. It also took about 20 minutes, which isn't too terrible, but kinda long for something just dunked in the fryer. They have sauces out by the registers to use but no napkins for the inevitable mess. To be fair, I'll go back at some point to try the noodles, but I wouldn't reorder anything I tried today. read more

Wasai - Dry chili fries and a spring roll (ketchup not included) - Dim Sum Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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We really liked this new Chinese American fast food restaurant! It's clean and the food is good! We especially liked a their pork and chive dumplings, the seafood stir friend noodles, and their combo fried rice! We also tried their beef noodle soup - most of the beef pieces were tender but some were on the chewier side. However, still pretty good! The cucumber salad was refreshing so I definitely recommend that as well. Give it a try and let me know what you think! read more

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Food was good, but not great. The cucumber salad was sweet - I don't like the added sweetness but at least the cucumber was fresh so that's the most. Important thing. The noodle was good, but the soup was lukewarm which really hurt the overall taste. What's really weird is that they gave me take-out while I was clearly here to dine in. What a waste of all the packages. Also I won't recommend takeout food here unless you have a microwave. Many foods are okay when served lukewarm but definitely not noodles. read more

Wasai - Cucumber salad, assorted beef pull noodle soup - Dim Sum Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

I ordered the spicy beef pull noodle soup and the cumin lamb toothpicks. The food comes out quickly and finding seating for a small group was easy. The lamb was soooo good. It was so flavorful and juicy and fatty. I kept thinking about the lamb for the next few hours. The soup was also good. Really enjoyed it. My only knock would be that it wasn't very spicy and there was no option to adjust the spice. read more

Wasai - Spicy Cumin Toothpick Lamb Beef Pull Noodle Soup - Dim Sum Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

It's alright. The broth of their signature pulled beef soup - meh. Not complex, a little salty to make up for it. But the kicker is that, for that price (especially for fast-food), it doesn't even come close to restaurant-served bowl of ramen or pho. read more

Ok Chinatown definitely needed Wasai! From the hand pulled noodles literally right in front of your eyes, to the immensely delicious broth of the soup, the cumin lamb bites on toothpicks (my FAVE) to the classic fried rice, everything I put in my mouth was a burst of flavor! Everything is so fresh, and the portions are definitely sharable and huge. I am so happy to welcome Wasai to Penn Quarter/Chinatown and will be spending many lunches here !! read more

Wasai - Spicy cumin lamb burger - Dim Sum Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Great beef noodle soup! The noodles were freshly made and the broth was excellent. Also tried the lamb skewers. A little on the dried side, but great flavors. Just the right amount of spice. Order it to go at their kiosk and the food came out pretty quick. They have several other dishes I want to try, so I will be back. read more

The food was very fresh and quick. Staff were friendly and helpful. Very fair price for dinner

Wasai is a fun fast food noodle shop serving authentic Chinese food. I really liked the open fast food kiosk concept, which made ordering east. This was a much needed addition in Chinatown because the vibe is great. However food can be improved. We ordered the beef noodle soup, dumplings and stir fry noodles. Dumplings were on the pricier end and the noodle textures were solid. However I wished there was a bit more complexity with the soup as I had found the broth to be lacking. Would come again to support this business as I understand it might be working through the kinks of launching. read more

Wasai - Beef Pull Noodle Soup - Dim Sum Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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AH-MAZING. The hand-pulled cut noodles in spicy beef broth are so good that I'm still thinking about them 3 hours later. The dumplings are made fresh, and the pan-fried ones are so perfectly chewy and crisp on the outside. The shrimp & chive dumplings were so fresh they melt in your mouth. Only thing wrong was my stomach got too full to eat more dumplings! read more

Wasai - Beef noodle soup,spicy with hand cut noodles, mixed seafood noodles, Schezwan dumplings, shrimp & chive dumplings, pan-fried pork dumplings - Dim Sum Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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Busy restaurant with lots of people and lots of food for selection. Only need self cleaning like Mac's style.

What a pleasant surprise to find this place for lunch! Beef tendon pulled noodles - pulled right before your eyes. Simple, delicious, great value. Will come again. read more

Wasai - Beef tendon pulled noodles - Dim Sum Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Parking is impossible in Chinatown. But the food was amazing. I got the Seafood Stir fried Noodles and spring rolls. Portion size was huge. Reasonable $$. I received my food fast. Seating was plentiful. read more

Wasai - Dim Sum Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Quick service, delicious hand shaved noodles (great texture, very "q") all around good Chinese comfort food! It's a smaller space but they pack up the noodle soups well for carryout, too. The boba is good (it's the powdered drink kind), and you can pick the sweetness level, which I appreciate. read more

Food taste good. Good for taste and good for value. Ambience. Love the technology. Quick to order. Food is cooked well. The only complain i have is that it would be great if it is a little colder where the mosquitoes and the flys could fly off. read more

My new favorite lunch place! They have a fantastic array of Chinese staples. In fact, almost every customer I saw during my early lunch was Chinese! Fast, delicious, large helpings of noodles, reasonably priced. I ordered the Zha Jiang Mian with shaved noodles and the sesame balls through the easy kiosk, and then I stood back and was mesmerized watching a fellow nonchalantly pull a wad of dough into a bowl worth of noodles. My shaved noodles were so great too - who needs a pasta maker when you have a giant piece of dough and a scraper? One more nice touch is that for dine in, they use real dishes (a great big ceramic bowl for noodles) which makes you feel like you're having a proper meal that's also not producing so much waste. I'll be back very soon to try all the other dishes. read more

I was very impressed by this more "fast food" like Chinese place. The menu is really expansive and I was tempted to eat way more than I physically could. We had some very high-quality hand pulled noodles and also tried their cucumber salad (absolutely incredible) and tested their dim sum options (mandatory). Will definitely be coming back! read more

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Best noodles ever!!! Nice small location and variety of food. It was nice to see the noodles been made in front of you. read more

Wasai - Beef Flank Pull Noodle Soup - Dim Sum Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

A solid quick noodle restaurant. Stopped in around 9 pm and the place was practically empty. The cash register was closed but I could walk up to the monitors and place my order myself. As someone who had never been to the place before this was a little intimidating but I after asking one of the staff I ordered the beef tripe hand pulled noodles soups (hand shaved). The noodles were a good thickness and I had nice pieces of trip in the soup. Also the soup had decent depth to it. There was also some mini bok choy, cilantro, scallions, and daikon radish. The cilantro was a bit overpowering for my tastes and I generally like cilantro. However overally the noodle soup was good. read more

Wasai - Beef tripe noodle soup (hand shaved) - Dim Sum Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia