TNR Cafe - Arlington, Va

I went to Court House for lunch again.  This time I tried a Chinese restaurant called TNR Cafe.  I had high hopes for this place.  The menu had many specialities you see in typical Hong Kong Style restaurants.  I was debating between several dishes and I got the Cha Jiang Mien.  It was pretty bad.  It was very salty and it tasted like it came the bean paste came directly out of a can.  The cucumber slices were translucent which meant it wasn't fresh.  They also had bean sprouts on the side which I have never seen in this dish.  The noodles were the best part of the dish.  Overall, I didn't like this at all.  I might come back to try something else, but this was pretty awful.

China Garden - Arlington, Va

Today, I decided to try authentic Chinese food for lunch, instead of the Korean style Chinese food which is commonly found in Rosslyn.  I'm not a really big fan of Koreans serving Chinese or Japanese food.  I really think they should stick to what they know best, Korean food.

I haven't been to China Garden in years.  I ordered the Szechuan Beef Lunch special which came with an eggroll and fried rice.  The egg roll was pretty good for a Chinese Restaurant and so was the fried rice.  The Szechuan Beef was typical chinese food.  A little oily.  There was a ridiculous amount of red and green hot peppers, but the dish wasn't very spicy.  I thought the sauce could have had a little more flavor.  The portion was the perfect size, just enough to make you full.  Overall this lunch was pretty good and I will go back for authentic Chinese food.

Chen's Kitchen - Herndon, Va

I've been to this restaurant many times.  Most often the food has been mediocre.  I went here for lunch and got the Beef Chow Fun and Singapore Rice Noodle.  The food was actually very good.  The Beef Chow Fun was close to the quality I used to get in Boston.  The only difference was there were no vegetables.  The noodles were cooked perfectly and the small amount of sauce was perfect.  The Singapore Rice Noodle was pretty good also.  Overall, probably the best Beef Chow Fun I've had both at this restaurant and in Virginia.

James Cafe - Leesburg, Va

We ordered take out from this place over the weekend.  I believe it just opened a couple of months ago.  We ordered some spring rolls, hot and sour soup, orange beef and chicken lomein.  Everything we ordered was pretty mild.  A little more spice to the hot and sour soup and orange beef would have made it better.  I didn't try the spring rolls, but the kid ate it, and he is quite picky.  The chicken lomein was a little plain, but the kids enjoyed it.  The orange beef had a good flavor, but way too much breading and the pieces were huge.  The hot and sour soup was not very hot or sour.  Overall this place is average for a restaurant in Leesburg.  Probably a little better than the other Chinese restaurants in Leesburg.  The prices were average also.  We'll probably order from them again whenever we feel the need to have some less flavorful but convenient Chinese food.

XO Taste - Falls Church

We went to this restaurant for lunch yesterday. After moving here after living in Boston for several years, we have been very disappointed in the Chinese food selections. We rarely eat Chinese food, until I heard about this restaurant. It was full and we had to wait for a table, but it wasn't jammed packed.

We ordered the double lobster with ginger and scallions, salty spicy squid, peapod stems with garlic, pan fried chicken noodles. The lobster was very good. The salty spicy squid was good also, however the batter was heavier than at most places we've had it before. The peapod stems were also very good. Overall I really liked this restaurant. It serves authentic Cantonese food, which is hard to find in this area.