October 4, 2007
All in All...Just Another Hole in the Wall?
Written by DCist Contributor Oscar Bunoan
We’ve all heard it before. “You’ve got to try this place out. It’s a complete dive but the food is just to die for!” A friend told me about a hole-in-the-wall place in Chinatown, Full Kee, that's popular with the lunchtime crowd. Is it really? Mythbusters Adam and Jamie should have tried cracking this mystery back in season one, but since they're in San Francisco, it's up to me.
With the deluge of trendy, new meeting spots and renovated mainstays at Gallery Place, it can be easy to see how the "other side” of the Verizon Center can be easily overlooked. But this unfortunate, juxtaposed ghost town is still dotted with many culinary signs of life that appear to be holding their own against the influx of modern and contemporary bullies. Full Kee is one of those signs.
By no stretch of the imagination would this restaurant be worthy of hanging aesthetically with the big dogs at Gallery Place. The drab but warm, yellow paint job and ample amounts of natural light that strikes each tacky decoration in this establishment prevents it from doing so. However, most Chinese restaurants wouldn’t have gone to such decorative lengths. It was all a little strange. To add to this, the efficient staff showed an uncanny ability of being helpful and pleasant without cracking even the faintest of smiles. Spooky.
No, this definitely was not a hole-in-the-wall. A dent, maybe. But no hole.
The menu at Full Kee is presented in what I can only assume is their take on typical Chinese restaurant fashion: one given upon being seated, another posted on the wall, and a third discreetly tucked between the sauces and the shakers. Inconveniently, I only became aware of the menu annex during the course of my meal. So be sure to case the entire joint before deciding what to order. Many diamonds in the rough fail to ever be discovered for that very reason.
With that in mind, would you be at all surprised if my visit yielded more misses than hits?
The first dish to hit the table was the chicken Peking style mixed with broccoli and baby corn. All hopes of any relation to Peking duck were quickly thwarted with my first (and only) bite. In this instance, it’s hard to even imagine chicken and duck being distant relatives. The menu noted this as a spicy dish; however, I couldn't detect even the slightest hint of heat. A rummage through the chicken pieces quickly revealed the answer: no flecks of red or green suggested the kitchen may have overlooked the chilies. Additionally, the presentation was dull and uninspired which matched up all too well with the dryness of the chicken and lack of any real flavor. Result – still hungry.
The wet beef Chow Fun (also available dry) failed to deliver as well. Weighing at least two pounds, minus the serving dish, it’s easy to see how this amalgamation of flat rice noodles, Chinese broccoli, mushrooms, and beef could readily appease the heartiest of appetites. However, the flavor may leave you wanting satisfaction. The pronounced taste here was oil, and it wasn’t even sesame. Please note: my stomach hates me.
Last up was the Kingdom pork chop. Oh, the Kingdom pork chop! All hail the Kingdom pork chop, the savior responsible for salvaging the recently derelict relationship between my stomach and me. The lightly fried batter provided a welcome crunch in sharp contrast to the juicy and tender meat within. All was coated and set in a generous puddle of wonderfully tart sauce powered by rice wine vinegar which was enough to rejuvenate my taste buds, even after their earlier endeavors.
At half past noon, a line of about ten people started forming at the front of the restaurant, all of whom appeared content to wait it out for an open table. The patrons already seated seemed to be reveling over what they had ordered, but aside from the Kingdom pork chop victory, my face was the only one voicing displeasure. Then again, with well over 100 items on the menu, including the likes of duck blood in ginger scallion and jellyfish with preserved hock for the more adventurous, my dismay could simply have been the result of poor decision-making on the day.
So does this hole-in-the-wall really do it better than big name places? I can’t say for certain, but surely, one fantastic dish out of three just doesn’t cut it. If you have a craving for cheap Chinese in Chinatown, head to Full Kee, but be careful about what you order.
Lunch specials available Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. ($4.50 to $5.75).
Full Kee Restaurant
509 H St., NW
202.371.2233
Metro: Gallery Place/Chinatown
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Peking is another word for Beijing. It does not mean that it is the same style as Peking/Beijing Duck. Sort of like how a Philly cheese-steak doesn't have to taste like Philly cheese-cake just because they are from the same city.
Try Eat First if you want a hole in the wall that serves delish food in Chinatown
Next time go with someone who knows Chinese food. I've been eating there for 15 years and have only had 1/4 of the menu. Back then they were famous for the soup.
The best time to go is for a late dinner or before a game.
I've always gone to Wok n' Roll when in Chinatown. Their prices are reasonable, and they have half-decent sushi as well. They're not the greatest place in the world, but they're always safe.
Okay, first of all, Full Kee has been on Chinablock since forever. After a night at the 930, we'd head there for chow and the area was an effing ghost town. No McDicks, no TGI Mcfunsters, nothing. Just the brothel on 6th Street, the guys from the homeless shelter, and some hungry-ass punks who don't want to go back to the burbs.
Second, ordering chow fun at Full Kee is like ordering the vegetarian platter at a steakhouse. Full Kee is all about the entrails, baby: tripes, intestines, pigs blood. You want the the stuff in the "gourmet" section of the menu, especially the casseroles; I can vouch for the brisket and turnip as well as the "assorted meat" casseroles.
You can get Peking Duck in any stripmall in America, but "Frog and Mushroom Casserole"? I'm telling you, when you're at Full Kee, the more revolting it sounds, the better it is. Where the hell else you gonna get a plate of cold jellyfish or pig skin and turnips for $6? Zatinya? Jaleo? Hell, $6 won't even work as a tip for the guy handing out towels in the crapper.
Full Kee takes you back to those days of your youth when you tried to out-gross your friends by putting wierd stuff in your mouth. Tell them monkeyrotica sent you. Then run.
did you really just knock a shitty chinese restaurant for its "dull and uninspired" presentation? yikes!
Try the seafood at Eat First. Yum!
Perhaps you went on a bad day... I live in the area and usually love Full Kee. I say usually because about 20% of the time the food disappoints.
One place that has never disappointed: JACKEY CAFE. That place rocks whether I'm eating dinner at 8 or drunkfood at 3am.
I am Chinese. Eat First is much better than Full Kee.
Word on the street is their seafood is the game. Not to mention the authentic stuff is on the wall, not on the stuff they hand you. Ask for translations.
Agree with Jamie R. Liu - Full Kee is all about the seafood.
This is a problem with Chinese restaurants everywhere, too many things on the menu. I go into these places and I know that there are some things better than others, but you sure as hell can't tell from the menu. Full Kee for example has separate sections titled "Chef Recommendation", "Chef Specialty", and none of those titles means anything. So Chinese restaurants take note: I want to eat what you make the best, I can go anywhere and get generic fried meat bits, so take a machete to the menu so that I don't eat something bad and never come back.
That being said restaurant writers take note: Chinese restaurants ALWAYS do this, so do a little research and find out what the Chinese people are recommending before you go to a place like this and pan a place based on your bad luck with the dartboard. Or at least have the good sense to go back a few more times and try more than 3% of the menu.
You chose poorly. There is a reason there is pork and duck hanging right by the door. Order the roast pork noodle soup off the little menu already on the table and I guarantee you won't be disappointed.
Another vote for Eat First. I discovered it when I went out to eat with a Chinese friend who was new to town yet somehow knew how to spot a good Chinese resturant just by looking at its exterior.
If you ordered from the first menu only you didn't even scratch the surface. My fave is the whole crispy shrimp, which is a specialty in the back of the second menu I believe.
Eat First. Ask questions later.
Clearly Eat First has a lot of fans on this board. I also like Chinatown Express, just around the corner on 6th.
Of course, the sad truth is, nothing within the District Line will be as good as what you can get if you're willing to make the trek to Rockville, Falls Church, etc.
The beef chow fun with black bean sauce at Eat First is very very good.
My girlfriend and I went to Full Kee last June based on all the good word-of-mouth. We tried several dishes and it was horrendously disgusting, all the way around. I think all these people claiming how great the food is are late nighters who are already really, REALLY drunk. In fact, just thinking about the place makes me want to drink to forget.
Chinatown Express is my favorite and has my vote but it sounds like I'll be trying Full Kee and Eat First next week!
Seriously, how can you consider yourself a restaurant reviewer if you've never been to Full Kee? It's one of the only legit Hong Kong-style places left in the city. I'll second the recommendation to check out the casseroles and the roast pork. (Chinatown Express is good for noodles. Eat First is only good if your goal is value for your dollar, and the only reason to go to Wok N Roll is for historical value, as it used to be the Mary Seurrat Boarding House, where John Wilkes Booth and others plotted Lincoln's assassination.)
You have got to be kidding me... Full Kee is by far the best chinese food you're gonna find in "Chinatown"... especially considering your only other options are Wok & Roll (which tastes like cardboard) or ramen at CVS. I don't know why you ordered all that weird stuff, this ain't gourmet...
After every game at the Verizon and after every trip to NYC I go to Full Kee for a meal. Every time.
Chinatown Express has always been my choice. If you go make sure you try anything noodle related including dumplings.
I went here with a couple of friends who said this place was great.
I'll just say that I'll be sticking with the traditional American version of Chinese takeout.
Definitely two thumbs down.
What lemonlaug wrote.
I agree with thefreefood's comment. Full Kee is okay for Chinese food within the Gallery Place area. It is a good place to go to at lunch especially in the winter and have their noodle soups.
However, they are not as good as the food you'll get in the 'burbs. Go to Great Wall supermarket in Falls Church. They have some of the best Chinese food I've had since moving down here. The market itself is great for good shopping. My husband had fun seeing the live crabs, seafood, and they sell whole duck.
Yeah, People have always recommended this place to me, but after 2 tries, I'm not planning on making a 3rd. No flavor, really bad service....bleh.
And agreement about the "spicy." None to speak of in any of the "spicy" dishes I ordered. My veg friends had a hard time finding anything to eat, as well.
Anyone who orders peking style chicken with broccoli and baby corn and expects it to be like Peking duck really has no business reviewing any chinese restaurant.
Perhaps you should a review of the PF Changs chicken lettuce wraps would be more appropriate for you.
You're not qualified to comment on FK till you've tried the shrimp dumplings in soup.