Peter Chang China Cafe

The bubble pancake thing was good. Everything else was just ok. I would of been happier just ordering from a Chinese restaurant. The tables are small and with just three people our table had no room once the food came out. I had some beef pepper onion thing and it was pretty much a bowl of onions.

Not that great. It’s the same American Chinese food available everywhere else, but at a much higher price.

Ordered to go, which is primarily the reason why I’m giving 3 out of 5 stars. Bubble pancake was okay? Novel? I ordered the crispy pork belly because the other reviews left me drooling. It was great! Spicy. But since I ordered it to go, with it sitting, me driving back, it wasn’t very crisp. Ordered the hot and numbing combination, and I loved it. I was ordering for myself, and didn’t realize how large these portions would be. Definitely meant for two. Next time I’ll sit down to eat, and also bring a friend. Looking forward to trying Peter Chang’s again.

I love sneaking into this Peter Chang’s café. In Richmond, you have to wait hours to eat at Peter Chang’s– but apparently Fredericksburg has not discovered the glory of Peter Chang’s. I can’t eat chinese food anywhere else. Service is always swift and we have never gotten anything we didn’t like here. Makes great leftovers too!

Really wanted to like this Peter Chang outpost after a past great meal at his location in Williamsburg, but got a sinking feeling in my stomach (pre-​meal!) when we walked in at lunchtime on a Sunday and the place was nearly empty.
Fears confirmed: meal was both bad and overpriced. Had scallion pancakes, bamboo fish, «Golden Mountain Beef,» and a pork lo mein for the kids. The only decent dish was the bamboo fish. The beef was sickly sweet and reminiscent of something you’d get from Panda Express. Lo mein tasted like they spilled an entire bottle of artificial smoke flavor in it.
I asked for tea and given a choice of jasmine or black, because they were «out of green tea» (at 11 AM on Sunday). What kind of self-​respecting Chinese restaurant runs out of green tea? Couldn’t someone run to the store next door and at least grab a few boxes? I felt like I almost needed to hold their hand and explain! You don’t even have oolong or maybe some Pu Erh? I told her «never mind» since I saw she was about to charge me for what I was afraid would end up being Lipton tea.
Peter Chang, you need to channel some Donald Trump — you’d better tell someone here «you’re fired!»

I’ve recently moved to Fredericksburg and was super excited to find an Asian restaurant. Where I lived before, Asian cuisine was very popular.
I had ordered around $ 40 worth of food… for myself. #NoShame. But of course I couldn’t finish it. The food was bland. Nothing special. I’ve eaten better tasting Chinese takeout. I’m not even Chinese and I find this an insult to Chinese cuisine.
I to-​goed my food so I can’t judge the service but as I was saying. Bruh, like wtf are all y’all on here raving about? The food is SO bland. There’s no other way to describe it but BLAND.
#ICantEven

I really don’t understand how this place has four stars. I enjoyed my entrée of scallops and mushrooms. But the service gets a big two thumbs down.
The idiot waiter didn’t deserve a tip in my opinion, but my wife paid the bill and left him a tip. If you never refill my drink, then I have to ask for everything.

So dissapointed. My husband spoke so highly of this restaurant and we have been here about 3 times together.
Today will be our last time here. The wonton in the soup was not done and it was cold! The dissapointment came when we were boxing our food and out crawled a baby roach from the plate. And where there is one… there are several. NO refund offered… not even a discount!!! Only one star because Unilocal makes you.
Sorry Peter… not acceptable!

Stopped by today for a quick lunch. Tried the Tea-​Smoked Duck with Spicy Deep-​Fried Onions (#44 for those of you surfing the menu).
Wow! This really knocked my socks off it was so good. The smokey flavor is smooth, yet complex in the way it stays on the palate without tasting harsh or overtaking the juicy tenderness of the duck. The duck’s skin was crunchy, using the underlying layer of fat to get good and crisp.
The Spicy Deep-​Fried Onions were the perfect compliment dish to serve with the duck. The onions were lightly coated in a batter that added so much to the translucently cooked onions. Brought over ½ of the meal back in a doggie bag and look forward to enjoying again for dinner.
Oh, as usual the service was top-​notch. The restaurant is spotlessly clean. I know, starting to gush, but this place is so very good. Do yourself a favor and visit one of Peter Chang’s restaurants.

At Peter Chang’s the underdog of all vegetables, the humble eggplant hadokens all other vegetables (including the mighty potato) out of the water. Using very little oil, the aubergine is coated in a batter and toasted in a wok with greens and red chilies. The result is a french fry like presentation with a very Chinese and very delicious taste.
Halfway between my apt and the beach, I always head out of my way to consume this dish as a reward for making it through the hot mess of traffic that is always 95.
Other favorites:
Lo Mein — I know so boring but the the heart wants what it wants. Their lo mein is the BEST version I’ve ever had. Not too oily and chock full of veggies and meat. Everything seems thicker and plumper here. Must be that Peter Chang magic.
Dan Dan Mian — Cold wheat noodles topped with ground pork in a numbing pepper sauce. I’ve avoided this dish for years because that description does not sound appetizing at all but once you try it you will think about it for days after.
Xiao Long Bao — Quite honestly this was not my favorite version I have tried but it’s so hard to get at other restaurants in the area I can’t be too disappointed. I was happy because sometimes the soup usually gets absorbed right away by the dumpling shell if you do not eat it fast but that was not the case here.
Dry Fried Pork Belly — EAT ALL THE FRIED THINGS! Equally as delicious as the dry fried eggplant but porkier and with 100x the guilt. I think I could eat an entire basket by myself.
Scallion Pancake — Presentation is awesome because the pancakes come out in a little puffed shell that is literally bigger than my face. And I have a big, fat face y’all! You can dip it in a curry sauce (ask for extra) which makes for a great snack.
Totally worth the stop if you are in the area! (There is also one in Arlington, VA if you are looking for something a little bit closer but I like to save this as my special occasion treat)

I just wrote a negative review for another restaurant, so I wanted to balance out my guilt/​bad juju by writing a positive one.
Based on my experience, Peter Chang’s serves the best food in Fredericksburg. The only reason this isn’t a five star review is because the décor is pretty ‘meh’, but that’s part of the allure (make sure you read the New Yorker article on Chang before dining as it explains some of the ho-​humness of the place). That said: the food here is exceptional. Make sure you get the Dry-​Fried Eggplant, the Scallion Bubble Pancakes, and the Bamboo Fish (which does have some heat to it). If you’re with a picky eater or someone who doesn’t love Chinese food, the Golden Mountain Chicken is pretty plain and still delicious. Maybe not the best spot for a first date (it’s in a strip mall and looks like they just moved in), but the food will leave you smiling. It’s a perfect place for a group to go and eat family style.

Most likely the best chinese food in town, I was a little disappointed to find out it was a chain but even then I have dined here twice and gotten lunch to go once in a span of 3 weeks. All three times I have gotten the crispy pork belly. Keep in mind, this is a Szechwan restaurant so everything will have at least a little bit of spice to it.
Eggplant with spicy garlic sauce was cooked perfectly with a great spice. I highly recommend this for anyone, whether you’re vegetarian or not.
Hot and numbing combination pot was a great deal. It gives you a chance to try a little bit of everything, fish, chicken beef, vegetables you name it. The dish does have a numbing feel to it even though we got it with one chili rating. From the dish I liked the fish component the best which prompted me to order the fish with bok choy the second time I went.
Scallion bubble pancake: unique presentation but it didn’t really taste all that different from roti and curry that you could get at any Indian restaurant.
Steamed buns w/​chicken/​beef (shanghai dumplings): bad! I would not recommend anyone getting this. The dumplings skin was too thick, the soup was flavorless, just all around bad. The only decent thing about the dish was they managed to keep a little bit of soup in them.
Peter Chang Duck in Stone Pot: a okay dish and I can’t say I would order it again.
Orange chicken: great addition to the meal, since it was a little sweet compared to the rest of the dishes. However I can’t say it was anything special

I honestly wasn’t existing much from this restaurant, but ended up pleasantly surprised! We started out with the bang bang shrimp, which is nothing like bonefish grill bang bang shrimp. The sauce is more sweet and not creamy at all. There were sesame seeds on top and it has just the tiniest bit of heat.
I started with wonton soup which is broth with two works in it. I wasn’t in love with the soup but I could taste salt and I don’t like salt, so it just wasn’t my cup of tea. My friend had hot and sour and said it was deficits but definitely spicy!
Lunch comes with spring rolls which were fairly basic with some extra heat. For entrée I got orange chicken with no peppers. I think I may have been able to handle a tiny bit like in the appetizer, but I didn’t want to risk it getting too hot for me. It was a bit sweet, but the chicken tasted fresh and juicy. My friend got the spicy chicken with green peppers and onions. The only problem with that is there were no green peppers, just fresh sliced jalapeño peppers! It was almost too hot, green peppers and jalapeño papers are two different things!
All in all our meal was delicious and our server lavar was perfect! Just attentive enough without being overbearing and to top it off he was adorable! Definitely a great deal for lunch, try them next time you crave Chinese!

Dropping this a star after our latest visit. I’ve been wondering whether Chang’s quality would start dropping now that he’s opening restaurants willy-​nilly all over the place, & I fear that it’s beginning.
While we were pleased to see that they now offer Japanese Sapporo beer instead of just Tsing Tao, the cans were served alongside these absolutely bizarre tall narrow lightweight PLASTIC «glasses». I can’t tell you how many times we nearly knocked them over. What the h*ll happened to the nice frosty chilled glasses??? Too much trouble now that you’re becoming a chain, Mr. Chang?
Our favorite Dry-​fried eggplant wasn’t fried properly, as in most of the pieces were blonde instead of golden-​brown & were stuck together in clumps instead of separate pieces. The oil obviously hadn’t been hot enough. Another favorite — Hot & Numbing Tofu Skin — was this time cut ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ with julienned celery & scallions, where previously it was 100% tofu skin with just a garnish of slivered scallions & cilantro. Come on guys — tofu skin is NOT a high end product. There shouldn’t be any reason to cut it. (But then again — there are those plastic beer glasses, so perhaps things aren’t going all that great in Wonderland after all, huh?)
Husband’s «Bamboo Fish» was «okay», as was my «Seafood in Clay Pot» (although it wasn’t served in a clay pot as it has been in the past. Hello?).
All in all, I found the experience disappointing based on past Chang experiences. I can only hope & pray that the Charlottesville location — which is the one we usually visit — hasn’t dumbed down the way this newer location has.

When I took my parents here they almost hated the food, because like most other Chinese restaurants they put syrup into a lot of dishes. We ordered the eggplant and specifically asked that no sugar or syrup be put into it, but when it came out it was painfully obvious the vegetable was drenched in syrup.
The fish soup and spicy chicken we got were okay, although portions were rather small, especially for the prices paid, and in Fredericksburg (this ain’t DC or New York my friends). The food was also lacking in flavor in general; I’ve definitely had much better seasoned fish and chicken. The silver lining was our waitress was really nice and attentive. She promptly filled our water bottles with hot water as requested and consistently checked to make sure we were doing ok.

This is possibly the most authentic Chinese we’ve ever had in Virginia/​Maryland/​Pennsylvania/​West Virginia.
We were a party of 3. We had the Crispy Pork Belly, Soup Steamed Buns, Duck in Stone Pot, Tea Smoked Duck, and Stir-​Fried Chicken w. Snow Peas. We came on a Saturday afternoon and were seated right away. Friendly and prompt service. When we ordered the Soup Steamed Buns our server let us know they take 20 minutes to make as they are cooked to order and asked if we were ok with that. Great communication and service! She also made sure to check the order we wanted our dishes to come out in. Really very nice service.
Crispy Pork Belly… very, very good. Decent appetizer size for 2 – 3 people. Spicer than you would expect.
Soup Steamed Buns… delicious. Large serving. More than 2 people can finish as just an appetizer with a full meal to follow. Perfect for 3 – 4 people. Also, they came out faster than expected. :-)
Duck in Stone Pot… soooo good. Nice and spicy but not too much. The broth was fantastic. You don’t need soy sauce for this. Great as stand alone entrée or for sharing family style. Large portion.
Tea Smoked Duck… tasty but unusual. The flavor might night be to everyone’s liking. We enjoyed it though. The cuts of the bone in meat were odd and made getting meat from bone frustrating. The fried onions that came with it are like crack. So ridiculously good. If only Outback Steakhouse had this recipe their Bloomin’ Onion might not suck so much. Lol. Fried onions may not be the most authentic Chinese side dish (not Australian either), but it was good enough to get a pass. Not sure I’d want this dish as my only entrée though. No fresh veg at all. Great as one option on the table when doing family style though.
Stir-​fried Chicken w. Snow Peas… surprisingly flavorful. This dish usually also has mushrooms but out guest preferred to have them left out. They customized it for her without hesitation. Often when you get light or white sauced dishes at Chinese places it kind of tastes like a layer of flavorless moisture. I was expecting that. Boy was I surprised! So much flavor! Quite delicious. Again large portion. Dish-​wise it would work well as either a stand alone entrée or family style.
We will definitely be back. I’d love to come back again with a larger group and do a big family style.

First world problems, I know, but I have had one too many meals where nothing was memorable. The flavors would just mesh together and I would leave neither excited nor disappointed. The odd thing is that I have never quite considered this until dining at Peter Chang’s.
Peter Chang blows away every other Sichuan restaurants in the DMV. Its seafood hot stone pot is CRAZY GOOD. The assorted seafood acted as a neutralizer for my palette as the sichuan peppers created fireworks on my tongue. Every other bite was mouth numbing and burning, but then, just a minute later, I came to my senses and then would reach for another taste. Every bite was exciting and refreshing. I think it’s really commendable when a chef can balance the flavors in such a way that you are provoked to the core, but not so much so that you are left in a hot mess. (As you can see, I took pictures of every other dish except this one… because I was too busy eating.)
The service was absolutely remarkable. Our server was so attentive without being overbearing. My friend, who had been driving us around, wanted coffee and asked if it was on the menu. It wasn’t. But the server brought out the coffee from the kitchen, anyway! I mean, that isn’t just service. It’s as if you are invited to someone’s home.
Contrary to other reviews, however, I did not find the scallion pancakes to be remarkable. Granted, our group of 3 was a little greedy and ordered five dishes total (including smoked lamb, which came with string fries, and flash-​fried zucchini, which was also on the heavier side). If you do order the scallion pancakes, I suggest that you don’t order anything else with fried things in it.
Nonetheless, I look forward to coming back here the next time I am in the area.

Our on drive back to DC, my husband and I decided we wanted to treat ourselves to a cuisine that we’d craved many many times prior but not readily accessible. Yes, DC has Chinese foods but the options are mediocre at best. We have yet found an acceptable restaurant for us to go to.
After reading all the raved reviews of Peter Chang, we decided to it was worth a detour to check out what the commotions were about. The two of us made the wise/​unwise decision of ordering their signature Peter Chang’s combo hot stone pot, Hot + Numbing mixed, scallion pancake bubble balls, and pork soup dumplings. Wise = every single dish was damn good, unwise = it was enough to feed a family of 6.
Signature hot stone pot — loaded with fish, scallop, squid, shrimp, and mixed veggies in bubbling, creamy sweet curry sauce. My husband and I literally drank the sauce. so so so good.
Hot and Numbing — loaded with fish, shrimp, beef, chicken, tofu skin, sweet potato clear noodle, and veggies in the peppercorn and red chili oil — the flavor was authentic and beyond incredible.
Scallion pancake bubble balls — amazing presentation which I still have yet to get over. With its pairing of curry dipping sauce, it reminded me of Indian roti.
Soup dumplings — the dumplings were decent sized, the filling was flavorful, the skin was not too thick. Nothing extraordinary but they were well made. My only complaint was the dipping sauce — instead of black vinegar, we were given a mixture of soy sauce = way too salty.
Price was fair especially for the size of the family styled entrees. Our waitress was extremely sweet and attentive. When my scallion bubble balls were being served, I was way too excited and wanted to immediately grab + take pics. She kindly reminded me they were piping hot and I would burn myself. Overall — definitely would return! — so happy that they had now opened two additional locations — Rockville and Arlington that my husband and I can return/​take my parents to!

Yes. YESSSS. Go here and eat all the things because the food was incredible. Rather than driving up to Arlington to visit the new Peter Chang restaurant, we decided to drive south to Fredericksburg instead for easter brunch. We were there at 11, starving. Lemme tell you, totally worth the drive.
Location: Large restaurant in a strip mall area. The restaurant itself was nice: very clean, no smell at all despite the insane amount of cookery going on, floors were spotless and non-​sticky, bathrooms were super clean.
Service: Super good and attentive, but she also knew when to let us just enjoy the food. Our hostesss (sorry, forgot to ask for her name, but she’s the cute asian girl with glasses) made sure we had everything we needed, refilled drinks without having to flag her down. but really, just made sure the food kept coming and let us alone to just eat everything in sight. I think it helped that we were the first large group that morning, so everything came out very quickly.
What we ordered:
1) Scallion bubble pancake — two big puffy spheres of fried dough (hollow inside) with accompanying cilantro/​curry dip. Fun to order because it’s funny looking. The dough puffs were yum, the dip was good (it tasted a LOT like japanese curry, to be honest.)
2) Beef Tendon and Tripe in szechuan sauce– oddly enough, it tasted more like beef strips. I didn’t find any tender melt in your mouth tendon or any bouncy tripe. It looked like strips of beef. But the spicy sauce and green onions was amazing. I ended up just pouring that on my rice.
3) Steamed soup buns (aka xia long bao) — Oh man. There was actual soup in the soup dumplings. It was pretty good; the skin was still a tad bit too thick, but shit, I refuse to complain because SOUP DUMPLINGS IN NOVA.
4) Dry Fried Eggplant — definitely get this. Imagine creamy and slightly sweet eggplant in a light yet very crunchy batter, which is perfectly seasoned. Bit into it, and it’s like… it’s like eating the best kind of battered fry where the insides are nearly melting soft. This was so damn good.
5) Crispy Pork Belly — uhmn, this was so tasty we ended up ordering two. Get this. GET IT.
6) House Special Fish Filet — battered fish cooked in a deeply savory sauce with vegetables. Look, I have no idea what spices and what nots they threw in here, but I wanted to pour it on everything. This is the kind of dish that you keep eating even though you’re so full you’re about to heave. But you insist on just a few more spoonfuls with your rice because it’s just that good.
7) Shanghai bok choy with tofu skin — I’ll be honest. I didn’t eat any of this because it looked too freaking healthy.
8) Other things: Fried rice, egg drop soup, hot and sour. I didn’t try any of these either but the rest of the family liked it a lot.
TL;DR — visit early, order everything, spend very little.

Being my first time here, I paid close attention to Unilocal reviews and my waiter. The Bubble Pancakes have a great wow factor. These scallion pancakes were deep fried and came out look like balloons. They were crunchy and warm, accompanied with a mellow and tasty sauce.
The hot and numbing hot pow was the most amazing dish I have ever eaten at a Chinese restaurant. With beef, fish, chicken, shrimp, mushrooms, vegetables, tofu skin and rice noodles. The presentation was magnificent as the flame underneath kept the pot boiling. Each item had it’s own distinct flavor as I ate… Providing a new experience with each bite. The Szechuan peppers astounded me as they briefly numbed my mouth, leaving a citrus aftertaste.
What a great start to, hopefully, a long relationship with Peter Chang. By the way, the portion size is very big… Expect to take food home.