One cuisine that my wife Jun and I had struggled to find a go-to place for since we arrived in the DC area two years ago is Chinese. Unlike NYC which has a very compelling Chinese dining scene, it was hard to pinpoint a place that we genuinely enjoyed our food in the District and beyond despite the fact that it has a fairly decent number of Chinese population. Aside from the occasional trips to Peking Gourmet Inn in Virginia to take visitors to the Peking duck the touristy restaurant was known for, our dinner dates had been focused on other cuisines. To that end, Queen’s English in Columbia Heights felt like a much-needed oasis to expand our culinary journey.

My best guess of why we hadn’t explored Queen’s English up to this point is a few mediocre meals at other Chinese restaurants around the area, despite the restaurant being featured #2 in Washington Post’s Fall Dining Guide last year. Unlike those other pedestrian peers, Queen’s English featured a soulful and alluring Hong Kong cuisine that is hard to resist. Take a simple dish of royal trumpet mushroom with pickled shimeji mushroom. The robust texture of the mushrooms was quite fantastic, especially with the addition of tofu ranch sauce. Jun’s favorite dish of the night was ingeniously prepared daikon fritters with baby shrimp.

For me, I couldn’t stop digging at the scallion pancake with Mapo octopus and bonito; it looks not too dissimilar to the Japanese pancake okonomiyaki, but the unmistakably colorful flavor of Cantonese tradition was so remarkable that I swear I could’ve had a full meal just eating a slice after slice. The last savory course of drunken duck noodle with hot chili and sour cabbage was also a standout dish with spicy yet well-balanced flavor and the spot-on texture of the noodle. The lone dessert in the menu, a housemade ice cream with blueberry sauce and fortune cookie crumble, was also a delightful dish helping to neutralize all the flavors from the savory dishes.  

Getting a reservation at Queen’s English is not terribly difficult so long as you plan a few days in advance and wouldn’t mind dining outside of prime time. The inviting dining room with traditional Hong Kong-style décor is another draw for the restaurant that could work for both romantic date nights and casual get-togethers with friends and family. Another reason not to miss Queen’s English? It’s unique wine list focusing on natural wines from around the world (it even has a wine shop with monthly subscription options). I’m by no means the biggest proponent of natural wine, but a few wines I’ve had by the glass had unique characters without the funk that sometimes scared me off these types of wine. It took us a while to find a Chinese restaurant we think we could go back again in DC, but I’m so glad that we checked out Queen’s English and look forward to visiting the restaurant again in the near future.

KenScale: 8.25/10 (Jun’s Score: 8.0/10)

Address: 3410 11th Street NW, Washington, DC 20010

Website: https://www.queensenglishdc.com/

Reservation via Tock