Though much of D.C.’s ever-diminishing Chinatown can now be found over in Rockville, a few stalwarts remain to pacify the tourist set with beef and broccoli, while delighting locals with more obscure fare. Eat First, along with Full Kee and Chinatown Express, is part of what we consider the trifecta of D.C.’s great Chinatown dining.

The tiny vestibule that leads into the restaurant is festooned with all manner of coloful photocopies of local food media accolades, but the actual dining room is decidedly drab and spartan. We’ve read testimonials to the excellence of some of the standard Chinese restaurant fare listed on the main menu, as well as some of the hot pots and assorted offal-oriented appetizers on the shorter menu at each table, but our attention is always commanded by the specials posted on the far wall, which serve as a showcase for Hong Kong cuisine. The specials are not cheap, averaging around $14 each, but two specials are plenty for two to three people to share.

We find that it’s best to consult one of the waiters about a special that seems intriguing, as the perfunctory descriptions posted on the wall tend to leave out any references to all but the main ingredient. The best example of this phenomenon is the tersely worded “Sauteed Lotus Root,” which turns out to be accompanied by just about everything in the kitchen: sweet and spicy pieces of Chinese sausage, roasted fatty bits of pork belly, snow peas, carrots, scallions, at least two types of unusual mushrooms, menacing slivers of garlic, and, of course, the fibrous and Swiss cheese-holed slices of lotus root.