Mark’s Duck House (Falls Church, VA)

If you consider yourself a native Washingtonian, but have never been to Mark’s Duck House for dim sum, grab a friend or two and rush over there for lunch. Cantonese dim sum is served 7 days a week from 10am – 3pm, and all the favorites are av ailable each weekday.  But if you don’t mind waiting, weekends is when Mark’s really shines, when it provides a much wider variety of dim sum specialties.  Some of our favorites include shrimp rice noodle crepe, chicken feet with black bean sauce, and pork and shrimp turnover.  All selections are priced between $1.95 to $5.50.

A&J’s (Rockville, MD; Annandale, VA)

If you love dim sum as much as we do, you probably already know A&J’s serves one of the most authentic northern Chinese-style dim sum in town.  Everything is priced from $1.10 to $5.65, allowing diners to sample a wide variety without spending big bucks.  For those of you who are still skeptical about trying things like beef tendon with garlic sauce or sliced pork ears with spicy seasoning (our favorite), try either the fried pork chop or chicken served on rice as a main entrée.  They are both served with a bowl of chicken broth.  If you prefer noodles, we suggest the spicy beef noodle soup or Zha Jiang Mian (noodles with ground pork and bean paste sauce).