Fu Shing Cafe

Fu Shing Café has CLOSED and is now called Yu Zhou Café.
Two of the chefs are still there cooking the food. Only the owner has changed.

Very good food, good prices, unusual … you order at counter, no «waiter». Perhaps our best old standby. So of course, they are closing, in Gaithersburg. Hurry, will close any day now, before end of October. They will still be open in Bethesda, but MUCH smaller there. So we’ll be back to Unilocal,looking for a new «old standby».

We were regular customers until we found a little critter in a dish last week.
Unfortunately, this was one of the few places with good solid, light, and tasty Chinese/​Taiwanese food. The wait staff are always friendly and efficient as well.

My favorite chinese/​Taiwanese restaurant ever!!! (ps, I am chinese.) My family has frequented this restaurant for as long as I can remember and when I moved to Baltimore, I was hoping to find a chinese restaurant comparable to Fu-​Shing. Ultimate fail… unfortunately no «Chinese» restaurant anywhere in the Baltimore area compared… to my disappointment, I was only left with a handful of Ameri-​nese restaurants to choose from — barf.
After moving back to montgomery county, I couldn’t wait to get my Chinese food fix, I didn’t even wait 2 days before returning to Fu-​shing! mmmmmm… as flavorful/​delicious as I remembered and a menu beyond the American beef/​broccoli, and chicken lomein excited me even more.
Do not come here if you are looking for «fine dining» or impeccable service, because that’s not what you’ll get. Fu-​shing is all about the food… and the do it exceptionally well!!! So come here to eat… and keep an open mind. You’ll be pleasantly surprised!
Note: There are a few delicious specialty items that aren’t on the English menu, just ask the owner/​cashier about them. For those of you who like noodles (but dislike americanized lo-​mein, like myself) try the Sa Cha beef and noodles. It’s no longer on the newer menu, but they still make it :) IT’S DELICIOUS!

I can’t seem to figure out what exactly is so special about this place that keeps my *extended* family coming back again and again. Although the food here isn’t particularly bad, the ONLY dish, imo, worthy of coming back again and again for is their specialty, the duck with a side of a few interestingly deformed dumpling like shaped buns. The duck isn’t the typical Chinese cooked duck either, but a Taiwanese style duck, so it’s slightly fried? Oh but the best thing about this dish is the succulent buns, because the two consumed together, equals a combination of perfection. :b

This is the best Chinese I’ve had. Technically, yes, it is Taiwanese — but unless you know your stuff (and evidently I do not) you won’t notice a difference. Great food, massive portions, and a good price considering the quality.
Everything here is good. I mean everything. I’ve even tried ordering things that sounded terrible. They were good too. I don’t know how they do it.
*As an aside, Fu Shing is about one and a half dollar signs — that is, most things are under $ 15.

Has this place declined or is it just a worthless place to go at lunch? It’s hard to believe that people who know Chinese food ever gave Fu Shing Café four stars!
Lunch started well enough with decent spicy wontons in chili oil, but meh, we’ve had better. The spice crispy shrimp? The menu says that it’s their best seafood dish… meh!
We ordered one dish from the lunch menu. There are some things that you expect to be decent to great in ANY place that serves them, but this was a new low for lo mein. The chicken pieces were small enough to be indistinguishable. The noodles themselves appeared to actually be spaghetti in a coating of an uninteresting brown sauce, and not sauteed at all.
Did I mention that the tea was hot, but flavorless?
I will!

My folks love this place, but I once saw the owner picking her nose digging for some serious gold behind the counter. I threw up a bit in my mouth. But the food tastes pretty good. :)

For consistently fast service and good food, Fu Shing Café is hard to beat. The location is a little hidden being behind a shopping center next to the fairgrounds, but once you find it, parking is ample.
The ordering system is a little different than a regular restaurant but it’s easy. You get a menu and a pad and pencil; you write down what you want and bring it to the counter where you place your order and pay. Your food is brought to your table just like a normal restaurant after. Take-​out is also available.
As for the food itself, it is pretty good and consistent in quality for the many years I’ve gone there. For appetizers, I’d recommend the smoked duck, the spicy wontons in chili sauce and five-​flavour fried tofu. If you’re looking for something more adventurous, try the spicy sliced snail with scallion, it’s just spicy enough and very tasty. Main courses are also varied and you’ll find a nice mix of traditional cooking and more Western-​style Chinese as well. For something visitors might find noteworthy, if you are Chinese or Asian, you could receive a menu printed in Chinese as well. This menu contains most of the items in the English menu but also some dishes not listed; so, if you can read Chinese, I recommend asking for one if it would piqué your interest.
As I mentioned, service is quick and with the portions being quite generous, you’ll probably have plenty of leftovers to bring home. Overall, if you’re looking for some quick, authentic Chinese food in the Gaithersburg area, I’d say Fu Shing is a good bet.

3 strikes and you’re out!
My first experience was about 2 months ago when I decided to try carryout on the recommendation of one of my co-​workers. The food was barely warm and had obviously been sitting for a while. A week later, I decided to try dining in and no one told me how to order. I was a little uncomfortable tipping in advance, but thought leaving a nice tip would ensure a good meal. Wrong! The kitchen staff was loud and disruptive, just like I was warned from a review I read here. The soup, again, was not hot, and when I got ready to leave, I asked if I could get dessert to go, and was told they didn’t have any! My next trip, I was seated by the door on a very cold night and had to keep my coat on the entire time. I again, left a nice tip in advance, hoping for a better experience. I never even received my soup this time! My last visit was a total disaster. I decided not to tip in advance, and made sure I had plenty of ones in my purse to leave on the table after I was finished. The couple who sat next to me was halfway done with their meal before mine was served, and I ordered before they did! I even noticed a man order take out about 20 minutes after I arrived, and he got his food before I did, too! The restaurant was not busy, and I didn’t order anything elaborate. The lettuce that came with the minced chicken and shrimp was brown on the ends, so I asked the waiter why, and he said he didn’t know. He then came back a few minutes later and told me the cook told him «that’s the way it comes».
This is your basic iceberg lettuce, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out! Did the manager ever come over to my table when I was obvoiusly upset? Of course not! I will never go back.

The food here is great. When I don’t feel like cooking, I can always fall back on this place for good quality food. When I feel like taking company out, this would make the list of places I’d throw out as suggestions.
1) Crispy Whole Fish — It’s actually written in chinese on the wall… not sure if it’s made it into the regular menu yet. Basically it’s a sweet savory sauce poured over a whole fish that’s been flash fried. If you like spicy, I’d recommend a little spiciness to it
2) Pi Pa to fu — It’s stuffed fried tofu balls. It’s delicious and served on a bed of veggies. I can’t describe it any more than balls of yumminess.
A side note: you order at the cashier. If you like this place, make sure you pick up their frequent buyer card =)

Fu Shing gets 4 stars because its reliable. It’s funny how some people in America just generalize food from any part of China and food from «that side of the world» into just one category… Chinese food. They don’t understand how vast and unique Asian food truly is. Fu Shing is Taiwanese food, so the foods are a little different from your usual run of the mill Chinese restaurants, who usually serve up more Cantonese-​style dishes. A little more greasy, but still pretty darn good.
I like how versatile Fu Shing is. It can accommodate larger parties for big family/​friend gatherings, but can also be great for carry out orders. Take your pick, I guess.
Here are a few of my favorites at Fu Shing:
–Crispy Beef
–Sesame Chicken
–Spicy Shrimp & Chicken Chow Foon
–String Bean Szechuan w/​Chicken
–Tea Smoked Duck
–Shredded Pork & Tofu
–Cod Fish with Crispy Bean Sauce
…to name a few…

I am not a very good critic of food… I think it’s due to my very unpicky palate. But the food I had here was so bland, so cold and so reheated, it was borderline terrible in my book. We (a party of 8) ordered up front and sat down only to have ½ the orders come immediately and the ½ come 25 minutes later. I ate only a third of my food and felt bloated and full, something that doesn’t happen to me very often. I hope this is only a lunch time experience, but I don’t think I’ll go back to give it a 2^nd chance.

Fu Shing Café is hidden on the side of a strip mall, off the main road in Gaithersburg, MD. I probably would never find the place if I was looking for it. However, the restaurant can be seen while heading to the Hilton Hotel on Perry.
The service here is strange. Write down your selections, and bring them to the cashier at the back of the room. The menu items have numbers, so I dutifully wrote them down. I bring my selections to the cashier, who asks, «What are the numbers for?» Oops.
My dishes were: Hot & Sour Soup, Fried Dumplings, and Tea Smoked Duck. Soup was fine, with chicken rather than pork. I enjoyed the dumplings. They were a bit greasy, but very tasty. I was puzzled by the main dish, however. My understanding of Tea Smoked Duck was as a dry-​smoked dish. This was served sliced, with plum sauce and scallions and buns. Still, it was pretty good.
Final negative is no American Express. Makes it tough when I am on business travel.

Another good time to visit this place is the weekends for dimsum and other yummy stuff. You still order from the counter and the dimsum selection is limited… but there are other things to try!

For the most part, I like their food. I always come here with my parents because they always know what to order :) plus, they like getting the little stamp on their card for every $ 20 you spend. We used to come here more often a few years back on the weekend for their taiwanese style «dim sum». I guess we got lazy.
They have been pretty consistent in terms of taste and quality of their food. We’ve witnessed several price increases over the years but that’s inevitable. I’d say they are one of the better taiwanese food you can find in the area! This last time that we visited, the parents wanted to try something new and ordered a tofu and ribs in a hot pot. That was a pretty good call :) They have pretty decent portions, we always have leftovers. We and our bellies came home happy :)

Good food. Bad customer service.
When you dine there do not expect friendly service with a smile. Just know what you want to order, order it and eat. The staff there is very unprofessional they stand around behind the counter, chit chatting, loud and sometimes even eating. It disturbed me because after my first two experiences here I told myself not to come back. Since my taste buds just cant resist the chicken fried rice instead of dining in and leaving a tip, I just order to go.
I must say that the wait staff here are darlings unlike the rest of the staff they have their hair pulled back and are dressed in black and white, with all of the lack of effort at this establishment the wait staff gets two thumbs up for their effort. They try their best and HEY that’s all I ask.

Fu Shing is really good. I’ve been here dozens of times and will return because the food is consistently good. You order at the counter and go back to your table, so it’s not really a place for a first date or if you want regular table service, but there are very attentive people who bring your food and make sure you have everything you need.
Food prep is FAST and they give you a lot eat for your money. It’s also great for larger parties. This place is a winner.

I love this place! The food is as good as I’ve had in any Chinese restaurant, and I love the fact that you don’t have to wait for someone to take your order or deliver your check. Just write the order on a piece of paper and take it to the cashier and pay; it will be delivered to your table.
I almost always order the sizzling beef in a hot pot. It’s heavenly. As another Unilocaler pointed out, this place is usually filled with orientals, so you know it’s authentic. It’s good food for the money, too.

This started out to be a somewhat weird dining experience — I was craving something Asian — and saw this place very close to my hotel — so I opted to check it out.
The weirdness begins when I am seated. The waiter hands me a menu and an index card and a pencil and asks me to write down my order and then I have to hand carry the index card up to a cashier.
Somewhat mystified as to why I need to do this since there is a waiter present, I do so. They make you pay for your order up front. Then the waiter (s) bring your food out to the table.
I am somewhat predictable when it comes to Chinese food — I’ve tried most everything that Chinese restaurants have to offer — so I’ve settled down to routinely enjoying my few Chinese menu faves. I ordered the Hot and Sour soup, spring rolls with a side of authentic Chinese mustard, and Kung Pao Chicken — extra spicy.
I was somewhat annoyed with one of the servers, I asked for low-​sodium soy sauce — and she brought me the regular stuff. I looked around and did not see what I was looking for — and I seemed unable to communicate to her what it is I wanted. It was kind of strange — she was a Hispanic waitress working in a Chinese restaurant.
Everything was just outstanding! The Chinese mustard was some of the best (and when I say best — I mean strong enough to make your eyes water and give you that O’ so wonderful and elusively sought for nasal headrush). The Kung Pao Chicken was served with the broccoli off to the side — which I’ve never experienced before — so you have to mix it in yourself. I could not eat it all, and I had no way to take the leftovers with me as my hotel room does not have a refrigerator.