Peter Chang McLean — Restaurant in McLean

We ate at Peter Changs in McLean on Christmas Eve, so maybe that was part of the problem. But my dish (garlic pork) was flavorless and swimming in a full bowl of congealed slime. Completely inedible, not even any garlic flavor really (let alone any ginger, soy sauce, salt, or green onions or anything else that could help it out). I didn’t say anything, but it was so bad my waitress noticed and apologized profusely. When I asked if it was supposed to look/taste like that, she said “no” and that she would take it off the bill. The rice was dry and slightly undercooked.

The Brussels Sprout appetizer (basically a couple of sprouts stir fried and served on a tiny plate) had no seasoning and was lackluster. The chicken in fish sauce appetizer had no flavor (it appeared to be a small amount of stir fried chicken with fish sauce, sugar, and tossed with raw red onions). It had a vaguely Thai taste, but without any flavor. It made me wish we had gone to Pasa Thai instead.

In general, from an aesthetic POV, I thought it was a little odd to serve mini stir fried dishes as appetizers. It looked sloppy and too close to what the full sized entrees looked like. I think the only way you could really get away with it is if they flavor is truly exceptional or unique. By contrast, these items had no flavor.

My daughter had sesame beef which was passable flavor-wise, but made her feel sick afterwards. She told us that she won’t ever eat Chinese food again after the experience. I’m really sad about that because she loves all other types of Asian cuisine, and we had worked really hard to get her to try it.

We also ordered mixed vegetables, which is what was the dish I the most of, mostly because it had some flavor. I particularly liked a white root vegetable that was in there and thought it gave the dish a unique flavor. But overall the dish contained the standard vegetables but was certainly not as good as the same dishes I’ve had in other Chinese restaurants. I’ll admit I was hoping to see some unique vegetable dishes with Chinese vegetables, but didn’t see that here.

There were 10 people on one group who all ate different things and unfortunately no one thought the food was very good.

I really wanted them to do well, as I haven’t really found an go-to Chinese restaurant in the area, the staff were really really nice, and their renovations look great. But they have to do something radically different with their food, if they are...

I love Peter Chang and what he’s done for authentic Chinese food, so I’ve been on a mission to try one of his restaurants wherever I go. This time it was the Peter Change in McLean, which is the Tysons Corner area.

I went with friends who also appreciate the authentic flavors of Szechuan food and was promptly seated for lunch on a weekday. A side note – by the time we left, the place was packed! So, make reservations! Our server, Christine W was AMAZING! She did an EXCELLENT job explaining the menu and was very enthusiastic about the various items we needed a further description of. I told her about some items I normally get at other Peter Chang locations and she gave me a rundown of what I might like. She also explained that each location does have slightly different items, based on their local chefs. But she also said that there are certain items that are staples at all his restaurants, such as Bamboo Fish.

We started with hot tea and she advised they have a few to choose from, to which we chose Jasmine, which was excellent! Next up was their cucumbers. This is another item that many Szechuan places have, but each style varies. Here they used a heavy amount of sesame oil which really made it taste great! We also choose their Dan Dan Noodles, which were more of a peanut-paste style sauce, rather than a minces pork sauce. They were good, but not exactly what I expected. We also got their bubble scallion pancake which was so very tasty!

For entrées they have a dish called Spicy Beef Rice Crispy which isn’t at all what you might think based on the name, it’s a “bowl” made of rice and hardened to be a single, crispy rice bowl. The idea is the beef has such a spice to it, that you pluck off pieces of the crisp rice to eat with it and balance the heat from the stir fried beef. The beef was so very tender and flavored so very nicely! We also got an order of Bamboo Fish, because this is one of the popular things Peter Chang does perfectly at all locations! They use flounder here, like the others and it was perfect! Other items we tried were the Signature House Braised Pork Belly as well as the Dry Spicy Combo Hot Pot with all three proteins; shrimp, beef, and chicken – Another excellent items with lots of flavor!!

Everything was excellent and as I mentioned, the service was incredible! Definitely would return and highly recommend stopping in for a unique,...

Based this experience, I can only give a 'reluctant' 4-stars only because the ingredients used were really fresh. Past Peter Chang visits at other locations seem like the entrees were created for tourists and this theme seems to have permeated to this location as well. It's been a mystery on what the Peter Chang created cuisine is meant to celebrate since the Chinese entrees carry marketed Sichuan or Chengdu flavors that are very muted, lackluster, and just brand-name expensive.

What is carrying the 4-star is the use of very fresh ingredients which is an absolute must if a restaurant wants to survive in this super-affluent McLean neighborhood; otherwise, I would have assigned a 3-star rating. We ordered the Dry-spicy combo hot pot, Chengdu seafood with crispy rice, Dragon eggplang with garlic sauce, and Amish duck bone soup with pickled radish.

What made dinner enjoyable? ..... the highly considerate staff. Again, good staff service would be a must in this affluent McLean neighborhood. Other than fresh ingredients and considerate service, I can pass on visiting Peter Chang moving forward.

Why pass on Peter Chang for me? We ordered the most Sichuan/Chengu spicy entree and nothing was ma-la/chengdu/sichuan spicy at all (this was the biggest let down of the entire dinner). The eggplant was cloyingly, aggressively too sweet. The Amish duck soup was supremely salty. And the Chengdu seafood entree was only adequate. Now the plating is another awkward story. The plating for all dishes were not practical at all and the spoon utensil seems more for show than ladling any liquid at the bottom of the bowl or plate. The dry hot pot swiveled like a gryoscope whenever you are mixing ingredients to prevent burnt food at the bottom. The huge bowl for the Chengdu seafood had such a small base, it could tip at any moment. Come to think of it, the plating and dishware seem to be prioritized higher than the flavor of the food. On top of all this, the price for each entree is nose-bleed high for the lack of authenticity in the entree recipes. To add insult to injury, each bowl of white rice was billed separately and didn't come with...