Peking Gourmet Inn
| Address: | 6029 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041, USA |
| Phone: | +1 703-671-8088 |
| Site: | pekinggourmet.com |
| Rating: | 4.3 |
| Working: | 11AM–10:30PM 11AM–10:30PM 11AM–10:30PM 11AM–10:30PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–10:30PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 5
YV
Yvette Tung
Pitch black. Dirt two-lane road. Your headlights sweep across a sign that reads: Road Ends Ahead. Having yet to reach your destination, you forge ahead only to see a second warning. Refusing to accept reality, you eventually pass a third and final sign "End of the Road" while flying off the cliff into the canyon. Though not quite as tragic, warning signs abound for those seeking authentic Chinese food at Peking Gourmet Inn. Warning #1: The fact that Peking Gourmet Inn is the only Chinese restaurant I have ever been to that has a bar. Denial response: Owners just trying to entertain the never ending flow of guests awaiting a table at the popular restaurant. Warning #2: Aside from a large table celebrating a birthday, our table was the only other table of Chinese people. Denial response: Falls Church, VA is no San Gabriel Valley (in Los Angeles). Warning #3: The restaurant is said to be a favorite of the Bush family. Denial response: Hey, everyones gotta eat. Those brave enough to continue down the road to Peking Gourmet Inn despite the warnings will be rewarded with a rather authentic Peking Duck dish for $38. With the restaurant serving roughly 500 ducks a day, the carvers have developed the masterful skill of shaving the skin off the duck without leaving an ounce of fat. For customers new to the dish, the wait staff is more than happy to assemble a "taco" (pictured below) for you as an example. The duck itself was impeccable: warm, crispy skin with the right amount of flavoring. However, the bing (thin pancakes for wrapping) was overly moist, which as it lost heat, became slightly soggy. A plate of cucumbers can be added for an additional $3. After the duck, the road took a wrong turn. The sauce for the fresh shitake mushrooms with Chinese baby greens (bok choy) was excessively sweet. Chilean sea bass Peking style, a recommendation from our waitress, was the culinary equivalent to a hot tranny mess; barely tasting like Chilean sea bass, it did not blend well with the sauce In the end, Peking Gourmet Inn can only be classified as a one-hit wonder (or a marketing marvel). For the unfamiliar, the restaurant is the simple way to experience the Beijing tradition of duck without hopping on a plane. My recommendation is to just order the duck, and save the rest of your money for Panda Express, which offers the same inauthentic Chinese food for a third of the price.
AL
Alice Wang
Peking duck: the most famous duck dish from China prepared since the Imperial Era and one of the most tastiest dishes in the world. Having grown up as a Chinese American living in the DC area, Ive had my share of Peking duck dishes. Peking Gourmet Inn, Marks Duck House, Peking Restaurant Inn, etc. While none of these Peking duck restaurants are anywhere close to the quality of duck you get in Beijing, Peking Gourmet Inn gets an A- for trying. Part of the fun in eating Peking duck is watching the chefs carve, slice, and serve the duck into skin and meat pieces. Peking duck is prized for its thin, crisp skin. Typically, duck bred specially for the dish are seasoned before being roasted in a closed or hung oven. The meat and skin are eaten with pancakes, scallion, and hoisin sauce or sweet bean sauce. Sometimes theyre also eaten with cucumbers. The servers will generally help you wrap the first, laying out a thin steamed pancake, layering sauce, and topping with duck skin and meat, scallions, and cucumbers. Its such a tasty concoction, you cant eat just one. One thing a lot of people dont know (which is quite unfortunate) is that you can ask for the remaining fat, meat and bones. The remains can be made into a broth with or without noodles, served as is, or the meat chopped up and stir fried with sauce. Its delicious, so next time youre here, ask for the bones! Definitely make reservations before coming here. Its busy and crowded any day of the week. Parking can be tricky but manageable. A fairly unacceptable downside: they charge tea per person.
MI
Mike Tether
Their Peking Duck is to die for, they do it tableside and scrape all the fat off the back of the skin leaving behind delicious duck skin potato chips. If you get a really good father youre sure to get lots of crispy skin. The whole thing comes together in a small rice tortilla with a piece of dark meat, a piece or two of crispy skin, scallions, cucumber sticks and hoisin sauce. Other items of interest are the crab wonton soup, their corn soup, the Chilean sea bass, the dumplings and their Szechuan beef proper. And for dessert you gotta have their caramelized apples, the lechie nut ice cream or the green tea ice cream. Looking for a unique beverage, try the floral tea, its very subtle. This restaurant is a favorite of daddy Bush, if you show up at the right time you might spot him or some of his security staff. As a presidential restaurant youll see lots of pictures of high ranking governmental employees all over the walls. Also a display case filled with coins representing all sorts of governmental and defense department contractor institutions. A great restaurant for the whole family, for a fancy date, a business dinner and they also accommodate large parties with 3 private dining areas with large tables with lazy susans for easy sharing. Peking Gourmet has it all, just expect a wait on busy nights they get filled up quickly, even with their 2 dining rooms.
VI
Vince Forcier
Do not believe the hype. I will start by saying that I contacted the restaurant about their quality slide, and got no response, none at all. This has been my families Chinese carryout since I was 12. We were customers way back in the 70s. It was so good for so long that we just would not go anywhere else. To call us loyal customers would be an understatement. The slide in quality has been notable. Not only is it not as good as it used to be (was truly exceptional in the day). It is now notably worse than other restaurants in the area. Particularly their carry out. I have given them many opportunities over the last few years to prove that the bad experience was a fluke and that they were trying to improve, even contacting them to let them know. After the nearly inedible Kung Pau Chicken from last night, (not the first time) I am done. It is also worth noting that their prices are on average 50% more then all of their competition. I will admit that we seem to get higher quality when we eat at the restaurant instead of takeout, but still not nearly as good as a decade ago. If you do eat here, eat in only, and order the duck. It really is pretty good.
KO
Kody Wolf
This truely isnt the best Chinese food in DC or the East Coast, you guys need to get out more and try Chinese restaurants recommended by Chinese people in the area. I have dinner reservations tonight for Peking Gourmet, but Ive been here at least a half of dozen times already. I do recommend a reservation, unless you like waiting for a long time for a dinner table. Dont be surprised and write bad reviews here if you havent made one. Theres tons of better Peking Duck restaurants yet none of them are near here! Ive never had bad service here, its always been fantastic and although they sometimes forget a dish they get it corrected right away! The dining experience is great, and if its your Birthday the staff sings "Happy Birthday" to you in Chinese and they arent half bad either. Im US born Chinese, a chef and foodie, I have visited over 10,000 different restaurants and I keep coming back to this one because its special in its own way. I do recommend trying it at least once, and hopefully youll agree with me its a nice place to visit.
