Brief reviews of 88 China & Woo Lae Oak

Chilli Fish

88 China,
Chantilly

One of my favorite local Chinese restaurants is China Star, located in Fairfax, Virginia. We recently went to 88 China in Chantilly, whose management used to run China Star. This new establishment serves similar fair for a very decent price. 88 China specializes in a particularly spicy take on Szechwan cuisine. We tried their Chilli fish and crispy duck. The duck was served with a tangy and spicy sauce. They also provide complementary boiled peanuts as an appetizer. Highly recommended if you miss the old China Star.

Chicken and veggies being barbecued

Woo Lae Oak, Korean Barbecue
Leesburg Pike, Vienna, VA

My trip to Woo Lae Oak served as my first experience with Korean barbecue. The meal began with fried calamari and cucumber kimchi. The kimchi was spicy and perhaps an acquired taste. We were not particularly fond of it. The calamari was bland, which was mitigated somewhat by a spicy side sauce.

Korean Kimchi

We opted for the platter of four types of meat : chicken, shrimp, scallop, pork and beef. This item was priced at $56 but was intended to be shared by two. The meats were marinated and barbecued at our table. Several types of vegetables were served on the side along with fresh lettuce, a bean sauce, and sticky rice.

My bottom line is that this was not an experience I would go out of my way to repeat, though I can see how it could appeal to lovers of red meat.

The New Haven experience

Crunchy shrimp

On a recent trip to New Haven, I stopped at Weehawken New Jersey for dinner. There we found Chart House, a seafood restaurant overlooking the Hudson River. The meal began with a crab stuffed mushroom baked in a white sauce. This was a nice appetizer that went well with the warn complementary bread. We also tried their coconut crunchy shrimp that was served with crab fried rice and a chilli sauce served on the side. I did not like the sauce much and  without it  the dish came off dry. The meal was pricey but worth it for the ambience. 

Andhra chilli chicken

While I stayed at Milford, Connecticut I had the opportunity to visit Coromandel, a South Indian sea food restaurant chain in Connecticut. I would without hesitation declare that this place is one of my favorite Indian restaurants in the country. I had the best Andhra chilli chicken that I've for quite some time. This was served with some masala papad for appetizers. Their menu also had other ethnic specialties from the Malabar coast of India, including Goan prawn balchao, Kerala fish moillee, Nilgiri chicken and Mangalorean prawn . I tried their Halibut curry cooked in a Kerala style and loved it. It was spicy and delicious. When I left this place I wish I had gone with a larger group so that I could try more dishes on their menu.

I ended up spending a day in downtown New Haven. Two of the three establishments (Oaxaca kitchen and Roia) in this university town had the most obnoxious service I have ever experienced in the United States. Perhaps due to their student clientele, the servers were blatantly rude and so inconsiderate that I decided to go to another restaurant next door to Pacifico Restaurant, a Latino restaurant for Sunday brunch. For $20, the meal was filling. I tried their sundried tomato chimichurri with bread as an appetizer. I also tried their shrimp and corn chowder, which turned out to be pretty good. For the entree round, I had the plantain crusted tilapia served with a green mole sauce, corn salsita and shrimp enchiladas. The brunch was capped with a sorbet. Although the wait for the food was longer than I would have liked, the meal was worth the wait and the price point was reasonable. The tilapia with mole sauce, which was a complete novelty to me, was especially good.