Lao Sze Chuan

Amazing restaurant with the best Peking duck you can get in the US. I knew of Lao Sze Chuan because I thought it had the best Peking Duck in the US when I visited the ones in Chicago. When I found out that there is one that I can order Uber Eats while in DC I decided to give it a try and it was so good I decided to come to the restaurant the next day to try the duck while it's warm. The restaurant is huge and very very well decorated. I almost felt like I was in China when I stepped in because of how well decorated it is. The people working here are interestingly not Chinese but I think they did a great job and you can tell they try their best even if they can be inexperienced at times. I'm surprised how much I liked the non Chinese servers here because I usually am picky about that for Asian restaurants. The duck is phenomenally roasted and extremely authentic. It's pretty much the best you can get here in the US. The skin is crispy with the right amount of crunchiness. The cuts are well balanced between meat and skin even though it's not done by a Chinese duck cutter. The girl did decent job even if there are cuts that should look more effortless but I like that she is certainly trying her best. Overall it didn't distract from the amazing taste. The price is also extremely reasonable. The spicy appetizer of beef tendon is also on point. It has the correct amount of spiciness. I know Lao Sze Chuan sometimes is a fusion restaurant and sometimes do mix some Cantonese food such as dim sum and Chow fun but I don't recommend them. I think you should order the duck and some Sichuan food here only. Overall I'm super glad it's expanding to more places and hopefully someday it will come to NorCal. I do hope they can survive because this location is amazing but I'm worried it's not as popular as it should be.

Food was good and so was service but plating of food wasn't setting the price. We ordered a cocktals like Golden tiger: 5/10 Dragon sour: 6/10 Berry Delight: 5/10 We ordered appetizer: Pan Fried pork Dumpling: 6/10 (good taste but plating was ok) Crunchy Cucumber Salad: 8/10 Entre we ordered Cumin lamb served on sizzling iron plate: 4/10 (it was not served on sizzling iron plate) Chef special dry chilli kobee beef: 7/10 (food was good but plating was not at all setting the price) Overall food was good taste was good service was good but not worth the price.

We have come to this restaurant twice recently, the first time just me and my husband, and the second time brought my whole family along. As Sichuanese, I would give it three stars. The small plates are definitely better, the main dishes are very salty and oily, flavor wise, nothing is too impressive. I took good pictures of their food, but we probably won’t come back.

Very large restaurant yet very comfortable. The bar is beautiful! We had reservations right when dinner opened, it was quiet by the time we left it was became livelier, mentioning this to help you determine what you are interested in. The hostess greeted us happily. I got the espresso martini, probably the best one Ive had! Not bitter, not overly sweet. For dinner we ordered pork soup dumplings and Peking duck which was delicious! We also got orange chicken, it was also very good, battered really well, loved the flavors. The server Justin was very attentive and friendly, he made sure we had everything we needed and made suggestions on food options. I loved the food robot, very nice feature. Will be back to try more food options as the menu is very big!

We went in with high hopes, it was rocky for a moment, but ended up being spectacular! The boohoo moment was our soup dumplings tore when lifted from the wax paper in the steamer, so soup ended up on the table/plate instead of the spoon...bummed! But then we found out that the wrappers are hand pressed each morning, so grace to the hard work. The rest of the items more than made up for it...the cumin lamb, dry chili chicken, the dry chili cauliflower (!!!!), and string beans with yai cai were fire! But the desserts...Crispy Sweet Rice w Brown Sugar, Crispy Golden Pear (not a pear) and Sesame buns were all homemade too and amazing! Will definitely return, highly recommend.