Mandarin Express

this place is one of my absolute favorite restaurants in Rockville - I’ve been going here regularly with my family for over 15 years. there’s usually no wait on a weekday night and it’s pretty easy to find parking. This place does offer the classic Chinese restaurant dishes but the real gems are the ones listed below. here’s what to get: 1) the crossbridge noodle soup (過橋米線) , cooked (you can order it “raw” with piping hot soup and put the raw ingredients in yourself, but I prefer it to come out cooked). This noodle soup is so comforting and delicious, and filled with a ton of good ingredients like fresh veggies, shrimp, meat, and tofu skin 2) crispy sweet and spicy tofu (干辣豆腐) , it’s fried to order and super crispy when it comes out. delicious. 3) the rice cakes with mustard green and pork (炒耳塊) I love rice cake and the way they make it is super chewy and umami and delightful. Recently I also tried the thinly sliced chili oil bean curd (紅油豆乾絲) which was super refreshing and sliced so so thinly (how do they do that!!) and the seasonal Chinese mahogany with egg (香椿操蛋) Both were 💯💯.

For the suckling blue crabs stir-frying experience, you can stop by this little family restaurant. Due to the small female size we paid 17.50 for the crab dish, but the flavors were abundant with yolks. The price might vary depending on the size. The Crossbridge noodle was always a-must in this chill fall weather. The Dill dumpling was featured on the Chef’s Special Board, liked by the table next to us. We’ll try next time!

Food is very good. Owner doesn't understand engilish very well. I placed an order on a Saturday evening well before they closed. She substituted egg rolls for BBQ spare ribs because that we out. She didn't tell me until after I got home and found no ribs in my bag. She said because they were out, she substituted but without telling me. She also forgot a won ton soup and 1 dish. Again she said that they were out so they just skipped it without telling us. I'm really pissed of when I tried to explain to her she didn't understand me.

I come here for Yunnan rice noodles and their Yunnan speciality dishes. My favorites are 小桥米线Small Bridge Rice Noodle, a sour & spicy version of Cross Bridge Rice Noodle, and 避风堂虾仁 Wind Shelter Shrimp. My husband like their dumplings.

I have been a customer for over 6 years. Never had any problem until today. Overall the food is pretty good for it price. However, their business practice is pretty dishonest because the owner does make up the price for market price items to overcharge you….. I read few negative review and they had the same problem. Long story short, I ordered 2 Cross-bridge noodles ( ~$13/ each ) plus a stir-fried bean sprout ( market price ) and it costed me 46.50 + tips, which mean the bean sprout costs ~$20…. Which is SUPER expensive for a vegetable dish. My advise to you : Do NOT order market price item… if do , be prepare to be overcharge.