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Peter Chang

Critics are correct -- this is the best Chinese restaurant in the DC Metro area and one of the best Chinese restaurants I have ever been to, period.  Chinese food is not, by its nature, particularly veggie-friendly but the expansive menu at Peter Chang provides enough options for your average veggie/vegan to get full on.  Favorites include the much mentioned Dry Eggplant (kind of like spicy eggplant fries), Grandma's Noodle (served cold but I typically get take-out and warm it up) and the Mapo Tofu (three peppers!).  Food is particularly spicy and it is worth asking your server about the heat as one companion spent a meal scarfing down water glass after water glass (hint:  go for rice, rather than water, to quench the heat).  Yes, the sauce is a traditional "hot and numbing" sauce, which means that your tongue will taste the flavor before going ever-so-slightly numb.  It's a nice tingling sensation.  Vegetarians can peruse the two pages of appetizers, one hot and one cold.  They can also jump to the Vegetables and Kids page.  A little insulting, I know, but the food is worth it.  Do be specific.  I have never ordered the Mapo Tofu without having the server ask, "With Beef?  Chicken?"  "No" I always say, "Tofu only."  Challenges aside this is my go-to Chinese restaurant and has been a fave for a good many years.  A recent family visit had us sitting at a large table with an accompanying large Lazy Susan.  It was not only good food but great fun.  My only question to Chef Chang is why the proud Szechuan cook doesn't have a Szechuan Tofu (my favorite style of tofu).

White Cloth Napkin Table Service, Authentic Chinese
Two DC area locations:  2503 N. Harrison St in Arlington and 20-A Maryland Ave., Rockville.
http://peterchangrestaurant.com/

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