Peking Gourmet Inn in Falls Church, VA: ★★★

Pitch black. Dirt two-lane road. Your headlights sweep across a sign that reads: Road Ends Ahead. Having yet to reach your destination, you forge ahead only to see a second warning. Refusing to accept reality, you eventually pass a third and final sign "End of the Road" while flying off the cliff into the canyon, Thelma and Louise style.

Though not quite as tragic, warning signs abound for those seeking authentic Chinese food at Peking Gourmet Inn.

Warning #1: The fact that Peking Gourmet Inn is the only Chinese restaurant I have ever been to that has a bar.
Denial response: Owners just trying to entertain the never ending flow of guests awaiting a table at the popular restaurant.

Warning #2: Aside from a large table celebrating a birthday, our table was the only other table of Chinese people.
Denial response: Falls Church, VA is no San Gabriel Valley (in Los Angeles).

Warning #3: The restaurant is said to be a favorite of the Bush family.
Denial response: Hey, everyone's gotta eat.

Those brave enough to continue down the road to Peking Gourmet Inn despite the warnings will be rewarded with a rather authentic Peking Duck dish for $38. With the restaurant serving roughly 500 ducks a day, the carvers have developed the masterful skill of shaving the skin off the duck without leaving an ounce of fat.

For customers new to the dish, the wait staff is more than happy to assemble a "taco" (pictured below) for you as an example. The duck itself was impeccable: warm, crispy skin with the right amount of flavoring. However, the bing (thin pancakes for wrapping) was overly moist, which as it lost heat, became slightly soggy. A plate of cucumbers can be added for an additional $3.

After the duck, the road took a wrong turn. The sauce for the fresh shitake mushrooms with Chinese baby greens (bok choy) was excessively sweet. Chilean sea bass Peking style, a recommendation from our waitress, was the culinary equivalent to a hot tranny mess; barely tasting like Chilean sea bass, it did not blend well with the sauce

In the end, Peking Gourmet Inn can only be classified as a one-hit wonder (or a marketing marvel). For the unfamiliar, the restaurant is the simple way to experience the Beijing tradition of duck without hopping on a plane. My recommendation is to just order the duck, and save the rest of your money for Panda Express, which offers the same inauthentic Chinese food for a third of the price.

Tips:
- Make a reservation. Do not attempt to visit on the weekends without one.
- Research beforehand so that you know what to order besides the Peking duck. You can only count on Chinese waitresses to recommend the most expensive item on the menu.

Peking Gourmet Inn
6029 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA
703.671.8088
www.pekinggourmet.com
★★★

additional pictures:

Peking Gourmet Inn

Es-ca-pade

A recent night, while waiting for our dinners to digest, my grandfather passed me a note across the table. The penmanship may be unclear, but the message certainly is not:

行萬里路勝讀萬卷書

(translated from Chinese: We gain more from traveling ten thousand miles than studying ten thousand books.)

Without knowing, my grandfather has always instilled those values in my mother, who has passed them onto us. I logged more miles as a child than many people in a lifetime. Though some of the memories have faded with time, the experiences remain--eating, traveling and learning--and have shaped my view on the world.

It is those experiences and views that I want to share. And so begins v3.0 of my blog.

♫ Es-ca-pade

We'll have a good time

Es-ca-pade

Leave your worries behind...