Peter Chang — Restaurant in Falls Church

Peter Chang is the great Sichuan restaurant that DC has been lacking. Since its opening, we have brought many friends here & tried dozens of dishes -- at least half the menu. This is fine Chinese cooking at an entirely different level, despite some inconsistency and a few pedestrian items to be avoided. My observations & advice:

1. Don't fear the spicy dishes. Peter Chang is not about overwhelming heat. He's about bright flavors where the spices dance on your tongue rather than just burn it.

2. By all means DON'T come here & order typical American takeout fare like lo mein, bang bang shrimp, lettuce wraps, or General Tso's. That's not why you're paying these prices. Seek your waiter's advice & ask for Chang's original specialties.

3. Order fish. I haven't had a single fish dish at any Asian restaurant that rivals Peter Chang's various fish fillet dishes.

4. Try something with tofu skin. It's a specialty hard to find on menus around here -- tofu in firm, noodle-like ribbons.

5. Order judiciously unless you want a lot of leftovers. Appetizers are large & many entrees easily serve 2+ people.

6. Request that they use plastic tubs for your leftovers rather than styrofoam (it's the waiter's discretion).

I have tried practically everything on the menu. Here are the HIGHLIGHTS:

Dry Fried Eggplant: The only "must have" specialty appetizer. You won't find this anywhere else. A little salty, a little spicy, a little savory, a little crunchy.

Cilantro Fish Rolls: If you like cilantro, these little cigars filled w/ minced fish & herbs are crisp & bursting w/ flavor.

Grandma's Noodle: Unique, chewy, spicy, not as complex as some of the other choices but very good.

Hot & Numbing Combination: I am so grateful that this was recommended to me. Even w/ the variety of meat & fish, everything is melt-in-your-mouth tender. The sauce is addicting. The sweet potato glass noodles at the bottom take it to the next level. PS it's huge -- like 4+ meals.

Hot & Numbing Flounder w/ Tofu in Clay Pot: Outstanding. The combination w/ wood ear mushrooms is perfection, & that sauce...

Braised Seafood with Spicy Bean Sauce in Clay Pot: Spectacular. Left me speechless. Get this if you prefer firm button mushrooms over the exotic wood ear mushrooms.

Spicy Hunan Flounder Fish: Puts other restaurants' "Hunan" dishes to shame. Unlike the dishes above, this one is NOT in a pot of sauce, and so you can ask for it in any spice level you choose.

Ma Po Tofu: the classic dish that separates hum drum chefs from artists. Complex instead of just spicy.

Peter Chang Seafood in Stone Pot: NOT SPICY. The best seafood curry you'll ever eat. This is like the non-spicy version of the braised seafood w/ spicy bean sauce dish.

Fish w/ Oyster Sauce: NOT SPICY. Lunch special can be requested for dinner. Brilliant salty flavor. Perfectly cooked. Not at all like the thick oyster sauces at other Chinese places.

There are many other very popular items that are fine, but I would skip them in favor of the above selections. In particular, I would skip the Golden Mountain Chicken, Flounder with Pine Nuts, House Special Flounder, Fried Pork Belly, and Sesame Pancake. Mushroom dishes can be brilliant or just good, depending on what mushrooms are in the kitchen. Ask...

Where Peter Chang goes, others will follow. This Sichuan chef, famously known for his frequent movements and disappearances from restaurants, is back in Northern Virginia after years of bouncing around Charlottesville, Fredericksburg, Richmond, and even Georgia and Tennessee. It's been years since he was last seen in Northern Virginia, but he's back and he's got two new restaurants up his sleeve - one in Arlington that opened on Saturday, March 14 and an upcoming restaurant in Rockville Town Square, opening sometime in April. His movements have inspired a movement of fans and admirers who follow him online. He's like the Where's Waldo of the food world - people are always hunting him down, looking for that chef with the big smile, and most importantly, looking for the master of Sichuan, of ma la (麻辣).

Peter Chang Arlington had a soft opening this past weekend, where the former Oriental Gourmet is located in the Lee-Harrison Shopping Center. Chef Chang has been in the kitchens all weekend for the opening of his newest restaurant. I went Sunday evening for dinner. Initially they told me it may be up to an hour's wait but they called only 30 minutes later, so it wasn't as bad as I thought it may be. The menu boasts a decent selection of appetizers, chef specialties, and grandmother homestyle cooking.

What we ordered: +Appetizer of crazy beef with ghost chili ($10 and 5 pepper symbol) +Peter Chang's seafood in stone pot ($20) +Double cooked pork belly ($15) +Mapo tofu ($11)

Everything was delicious. The crazy beef with ghost chilies was probably the spiciest dish (although I eat Sichuan food all the time so have numbed off my tongue at this point and can't say objectively). The seafood in stone pot (not spicy) consisted of a medley of seafood - jumbo shrimp, sliced flounder fish, scallops, and mixed veggies cooked with curry powder. The other classic Sichuan dishes, double cooked pork belly and mapo tofu, were also cooked very well. Flavors all work together and there's just the right amount of spiciness and numbness.

I was surprised to see that "squirrel fish" (松鼠鱼, or as the menu says, boneless whole fish with pine nuts) was on the menu. This is a very popular Huaiyang, not Sichuan, dish. It's a dish that my family knows and loves but hardly see in this area (aside from Golden China in Chantilly).

Would also recommend the following popular Sichuan dishes: #66 - hot and numbing flounder with tofu in clay pot #27 - sautéed diced chicken with Sichuan chili pepper

Also recommend getting appetizers of scallion bubble pancake and Peter's Big Bun (essentially a ginormous soup dumpling).

Service was pleasant and quick. And now that the restaurant is fully opened, I expect this location to be quite busy in the coming weeks. Thankfully, you can make reservations over the phone. For now, Peter Chang is back in...

Our on drive back to DC, my husband and I decided we wanted to treat ourselves to a cuisine that we'd craved many many times prior but not readily accessible. Yes, DC has Chinese foods but the options are mediocre at best. We have yet found an acceptable restaurant for us to go to.

After reading all the raved reviews of Peter Chang, we decided to it was worth a detour to check out what the commotions were about. The two of us made the wise/unwise decision of ordering their signature Peter Chang's combo hot stone pot, Hot + Numbing mixed, scallion pancake bubble balls, and pork soup dumplings. Wise = every single dish was damn good, unwise = it was enough to feed a family of 6.

Signature hot stone pot - loaded with fish, scallop, squid, shrimp, and mixed veggies in bubbling, creamy sweet curry sauce. My husband and I literally drank the sauce.. so so so good.

Hot and Numbing - loaded with fish, shrimp, beef, chicken, tofu skin, sweet potato clear noodle, and veggies in the peppercorn and red chili oil - the flavor was authentic and beyond incredible.

Scallion pancake bubble balls - amazing presentation which I still have yet to get over. With its pairing of curry dipping sauce, it reminded me of Indian roti.

Soup dumplings - the dumplings were decent sized, the filling was flavorful, the skin was not too thick. Nothing extraordinary but they were well made. My only complaint was the dipping sauce - instead of black vinegar, we were given a mixture of soy sauce = way too salty.

Price was fair especially for the size of the family styled entrees. Our waitress was extremely sweet and attentive. When my scallion bubble balls were being served, I was way too excited and wanted to immediately grab + take pics. She kindly reminded me they were piping hot and I would burn myself. Overall - definitely would return! - so happy that they had now opened two additional locations - Rockville and Arlington that my husband and I can return/take...