Han Palace-Woodley Park — Restaurant in Washington

A few nights ago, my family and I dined at this establishment and had a truly enjoyable experience. The food was exceptional, the service was solid, and we left a generous 20% tip, grateful for a great night out. Naturally, we were excited to return and support the business again.

Unfortunately, our return experience could not have been more different.

Upon arrival, we politely requested a table for “2 ½” — a light-hearted reference to dining with our toddler, who is extremely well-behaved and causes no disruption. The hostess didn’t respond, simply stared at us, and then a male staff member Jett or Jeff, who appeared to be the manager, rushed over and abruptly told us they had no availability. When I asked whether they took reservations (thinking we could return the following evening), he responded that they don’t accept reservations.

However, he then contradicted himself by telling us the tables were “reserved.” I counted six completely empty tables and even took video footage of the empty dining room. When I asked for clarification, we were told again that there was no availability and asked to leave.

Something felt off. So, I walked back in to speak with him directly. While I was waiting, I watched as two separate couples, who had just arrived after we did, were seated immediately, without issue. I asked the manager why they were seated while we were told the restaurant was full. He repeated that they had a reservation. However, when I asked those couples directly, they confirmed they did not have a reservation and had just walked in, like we did.

When I pressed further, the manager seemed to pretend not to understand my questions and gave no clear explanation. At that point, it was evident that we were being selectively turned away and targeted for reasons unknown.

This is especially troubling given that my husband speaks Mandarin, and his family has worked for years supporting and teaching Asian scholars in North Carolina. His sister is from China, and we are deeply familiar with and respectful of Asian cultures. We felt welcomed during our first visit, so we’re left wondering what changed and why a young, respectful, paying family would be treated this way on our second visit.

I have video documentation of both visits, including our initial positive experience (I run a TikTok page where I post life style content and had an intention of posting a positive review) , the generous tip, and tonight’s events, as well as the contradictory statements made by staff. I plan to submit a formal report to the Better Business Bureau and share this story publicly across my social media platforms.

Businesses deserve to be celebrated when they provide great service, as I intended to do after our first visit. But they should also be held accountable when they treat customers unfairly and inconsistently, especially when young families and children are involved. We were paying customers, respectful, kind, and ready to support this establishment again but instead, we were dismissed without cause.

Shame on this management team for their...

Excellent despite a couple of glitches. Delicious dim sum — available daily! — in a lovely setting with responsive and efficient service. A bit crowded. Tables closely spaced. ** Details: We dropped in around 4 pm on a Sunday, hoping to avoid the rush. No such luck: Han Palace was doing a brisk business. By 5, the front section of the restaurant (where we were seated) was packed. If you’re concerned about COVID, ask to see if you can be seated in an uncrowded area, if available.

The setting is delightful, decorated as a treed, lantern-filled garden. Service is pleasant and efficient. Tables were turned rapidly at the time of our visit.

We came hungry, ordered 7 dim sum split between 2 people, and left very satisfied: replete but not stuffed.

The dim sum were generally excellent, albeit with a couple of glitches, both on seafood items: the shrimp with chives dumpling arrived with a cold interior. The server apologized and the item was replaced; the substitution was delicious. The scallop dim sum, by contrast were overcooked, the seafood unrecognizable.

Companion, a spring roll enthusiast, thought the spring rolls were excellent, although I (not a spring roll fan) was more equivocal (very good filling, average wrapping.)

The other dim sum were flawless, with bright, distinctive flavors: -Soup dumplings: perhaps the best I’ve tasted, including top places in New York City. Tender wrapping, zesty and ample meat filling and perfect balance between broth and meat. -Pickled radish: Very fresh, sharp and sweet flavors combined beautifully in the pickling sauce. -Pork ribs: These are the small, simmered Chinese rib pieces, served soft on the bone. (Don’t expect spare ribs.) Perfumed thoughtfully with garlic. Far better than most renditions of the dish. -Steamed pork buns: The best I’ve tasted. Fluffy dough, generous filling and not overly sweet. Outstanding rendition of a dish that is often mishandled. -Dipping sauces are superb: one dish contained a swirl of mango dressing and a companion swirl of Chinese mustard. Delicious combined or separately. The soy sauce and vinegar dressing is distinguished by slices of fresh ginger.

Han Palace is a welcome addition to the DC dim sum scene. Highly...

TL;DR - Food was bad and portions were stingy; dining ware was dirty; service not great. We will never return.

Our table was a group of Hongkongers who had been beaten down by disappointments of dimsum in the DMV and came in without expectations.

*DIRTINESS - Several of our stemmed glass still had lipstick marks on it. We got tea and were provided tea cups as well which were dark-colored, a quick wipe on the table cloth showed significant amount of tea stains. (Attached photo, all came from one tea cup). We ended up rinsing our dining ware at the table which I have not done since the 1990s.

FOOD - Every single dim sum item was extra small, for example one siu mai order only has 3 siu mai while virtually everywhere else gives you four. There was only *3 chicken feet, it was the first time we ever nickel & dime chicken feet in our collective lifetimes. Everything looked depressingly small with how much empty space there was in the bamboo baskets and dishes. It would've been better to just buy supermarket frozen dim sum and microwave them.

Due to the bad dim sum and microscopic portions, we also ordered a Singapore style noodle dish thinking it was relatively safe, but it was extremely salty.

*CUSTOMER SERVICE - We were seated immediately at 11:05 and were promptly giving the check at 11:45 for our large table.

I had been to the Tysons location and gave it 3 stars, all the negatives there were multitudes worse in this DC location. Through the meal our table just looked sadder and sadder, we eventually felt better when we took a walk in the DC heat. All of us were so troubled by how bad our...