Da Hong Pao, a hot spot for Chinese cuisine is Logan Circle, is one of Chinese teacher Ms. Yin Chang’s favorite restaurants. I was welcomed by the bright red letters and characters reading “Da Hong Pao”, meaning “big red pouch” in Chinese. 

When I first walked in, I was surrounded by a few elderly couples, but to be fair, it was 6:30 on a Wednesday in March. As the night went on, couples, families, and friends of all ages began to fill the restaurant. I was seated at a table with neatly folded red napkins and we were quickly greeted by a kind server.

I was soon overwhelmed by the vast menu, which was a bit difficult for my aging parents to read. The menu contained sections for chicken, pork, 5 different categories of noodles, and everything in between. Luckily, I was guided by Ms. Chang’s recommendation of the roast duck. My family ordered a hodgepodge of various foods, hoping to make a dent in the menu. 

Our food, and some chopsticks, came astonishingly quickly. I devoured my first ever hot and sour soup which was quite flavorful, and began to soothe my throat from the mysterious winter sickness I had contracted. 

I consider myself to be a fried rice enthusiast, and Da Hong Pao’s fried rice surpassed my standards. The egg fried rice was quite scrumptious and I stole a few bites of my sister’s chicken fried rice which was equally as delicious. 

I had some bites of the chicken with snow peas which was a solid dish but didn’t jump out to me one way or the other, but I definitely enjoyed the sugar peas. 

To be honest, I was a bit underwhelmed by Ms. Chang’s favorite Peking duck. My limited and inexperienced taste palette did not enjoy the unidentifiable sauce that was spread over the duck. On top of that, I think I was eating it wrong, I’ll have to get some tips from Ms. Chang on that. 

I was quite stuffed after my introductory meal to Da Hong Pao but I wrapped up my experience with a tasty fortune cookie. My fortune revealed that I would be receiving an important email soon. As an avid email reader, I was excited to hear this. I was quickly disappointed when the next email to arrive in my inbox was simply detailing the 10th grade town hall. 

Overall, I had a good experience with Da Hong Pao and will definitely be returning to dive deeper into their menu.