House Of Fortune — Restaurant in Germantown

While exploring in Germantown, we decided to get takeout from House of Fortune located in the Churchill Business Center. When we tried to place the order over the phone, we had some difficulty so we placed it through Yelp. We ordered the following: (1) Scallion Pancake, (2) Steamed Juicy Pork Buns, (3) Pan Fried Pork Buns, (4) Smoked Fish, (5) Chow Fun with Beef, and (6) Yellowbird. The food was edible but most of the dishes lacked flavor.

The Scallion Pancake consisted of thin pieces of scallion pancake. It was dry and not greasy. I was surprised that it wasn't served with white vinegar.

The Steamed Juicy Pork Buns consisted of eight steamed pork buns that were not juicy. I was surprised that it wasn't served with black vinegar with shredded ginger.

The Pan Fried Pork Buns consisted of five thick, doughy pan fried pork buns with burnt bottoms. I was surprised that it wasn't served with soy sauce.

The Smoked Fish consisted of big pieces of fish marinated with soy sauce. It was light in flavor and lacked flavors of five spice.

The Chow Fun with Beef consisted of wide noodles stir fried with beef, bean sprouts, onions, scallions, and soy sauce. I liked how it was tasty and not too greasy.

The Yellowbird consisted of four large pieces of dried bean curd wrapped shredded vegetables - shiitake mushrooms, cabbages, beansprouts, and dried bean curd). It was served over a bed of sauteed spinach. It was light in flavor and would been better if they were eight or twelve...

We recently went here for dim sum. Unfortunately their menu was extremely limited and did not contain any standard menu items, and they didn't do off menu items (not for us anyways). Despite the lacking menu we proceeded to order some new items and enjoy our meal. The food was decent, a little on the bland side. The portions were disappointing for the price. However, all of these things are dwarfed by the service we received. Not only were we the first ones to be seated and order but, were also the last to receive our food. We asked for five dishes and got four. The fifth dish we saw come out of the kitchen on the way to our table when the waitress took a detour and gave it to another family. Because the eating area was so small we could clearly hear them say that they hadn't ordered it. The waitresses response was it's fine. We asked for condiments to have for the bland food, unfortunately we only had them at the table for about ten minutes before the waitress snatched them off our table and gave them to someone else. Overall I would not recommend going to this establishment. Ever. Don't try it, it isn't worth it. Especially if you aren't clearly Asian. This waitress was one of the most blatantly racist people I have met working in the food service industry. All the other family's were comprised of asians. I am Asian my gf is white. The lady barely spoke to me and would not even look at my gf. I assume this is why the bad service. I will definitely not...

This restaurant used to be a Chinese takeout place. But since the new owner took over back in August 2013, she added family style dinning area in the back, and now it is regularly patroned by Chinese customers. I discovered this restaurant while driving by, and saw Chinese words for "Shanghai Dim Sum". Since then I've becoming a regular customer, eating there once to twice a week.

They serve well made and inexpensive Shanghai dim sum, in additional to Taiwanese dim sum, which you don't normally get in this neighborhood. The Taiwanese dim sum items are not on the menu, but written in Chinese posted on the wall. And yes, they serve tasty XLB (pork soup dumplings) for you foodies out there! Recently they've added authentic Chinese lunch menu, where you order 3 entrees and one large soup for total of $21 + tax. It is enough to treat a family of 3 or 4 to a nice Chinese meal.

Going there over the weekend for lunch can be tricky, if you want to be seated. The place is packed by noon! But the restaurant opens at 10 am for Chinese brunch, so I would be there...