A few weeks back, my girlfriend and I were in Bethesda and wanted to order some good Chinese food. We decided to try North China Restaurant, because they had a menu that looked to have more then your regular Chinese delivery place.
We ordered over the phone and the food came fast. Really fast. Definitely gets points for speediness. We ordered the fried pork dumplings, dan dan noodles, crispy squid, and the beef brisket stew (extra spicy).
For $5.95, we got six pork dumplings and they were excellent. Dan dan noodles were something I’ve wanted to try for a long time. Dan dan noodles are a mixture of vegetables, minced pork, chili oil, Sichuan pepper, and scallions served over noodles. This dish was really spicy and probably my favorite thing that we ordered. The crispy squid was great and had just enough breading on it. We asked for the beef brisket stew to be spicy, so it had a nice added kick. It tasted great served over rice.
We were very satisfied with this meal. The prices were good, the food was great, and the service was extremely fast.
North China is old Bethesda – they’ve been in the same spot since at least 1984 if not earlier. The restaurant used to be much larger, occupying the spaces on either side. No idea if it’s been the same people all along, though.