You may miss Mr Chen's when you're getting off the Woodley Park Metro station. It's a dinky little basement restaurant, sandwiched between the brightly-lit Jandara Thai and a Mediterranean... More

You may miss Mr Chen's when you're getting off the Woodley Park Metro station. It's a dinky little basement restaurant, sandwiched between the brightly-lit Jandara Thai and a Mediterranean restaurant. As you descend downstairs, your nose is greeted by the smell of bleach, not grease. Inside, there are booths along the sides of the room, with smaller tables. This restaurant is open until 10pm, and they do delivery and take-out. While the "organic" part in their name is dubious at best (the menu notes that organic vegetables and meat are based on "availability"; however brown rice available upon request), this place is without a doubt, one of the better Chinese restaurants in the city. One thing you will notice in DC is that for the past decade or so, more and more Chinese restaurants are moving to the Maryland and Virginia suburbs. Chinatown? Ha! I can count on one hand the amount of good Chinese restaurants in Chinatown! But anyway, I digress... The advantage of Mr Chen's is they offer their entrees in two sizes: small and large, so it's great for small groups or large parties. The small sizes are good enough to feed two people. A party of two can feast well on (at most) three [small] dishes, with leftovers to spare. Anything beyond that is overkill. They also have a decent lunch combination that will give you more food for your money. Service here is attentive, and the staff speak English well, so you don't have to worry about language barriers. While I haven't eaten everything at Mr Chen's, here are a few dishes I did enjoy: Beef with Broccoli This dish wasn't very inspiring. It was good but in contrast with the other dishes I've tried, it ranks as "meh". I gave our leftovers to a homeless bum we befriended named Reggie. If you are staying in the Union Station area, maybe you'll see him. Buddhist Vegetables A good choice entree for an organic restaurant, the Buddhist Vegetables are crisp and sliced into neat portions, perfect for picking up with your chopsticks. If I remember correctly, this had tofu, onion, green bell pepper, baby corn, onion, and mushrooms, stir-fried in a light brown sauce. If your mom calls to check up on you, tell her you've been eating your veggies. You'll get bonus points if you say they're organic. Chicken Fried Rice Okay, your stereotypical Chinese food. One thing you will notice is that food here is light on oil and all the vegetables are very fresh. The chicken fried rice will actually have chicken in it, and here they actually cut the chicken into thin, pinky-sized pieces. It's cooked with egg, onion, peas, and carrots. This dish, along with Buddhist Vegetables, is one that I order regularly. Crispy Fried Eggplant I don't eat eggplant unless it's fried. And of course, everything tastes better fried. This is a good alternative for vegetarians looking for something similiar to sweet and sour meat variants. The eggplant is sliced into pieces about a third of your hand, lightly coated in tempura batter, and tossed with a sweet and sour/garlic sauce. Tart, not too sweet, crispy. This dish does not make for good leftovers due to the fried eggplant going soggy. Eggdrop Soup My boyfriend got this the last time we visited. Me: Did you like it? Him: Yes. I like eggdrop soup :) Hot and Sour Soup I don't think it's too hard to mess up hot and sour soup, but some places go heavy with the hot. This was a good balance between the two. I am not a fan of spicy foods but I don't mind a little heat, which this has. My 13-year-old brother enjoyed it, too. Kung Pao Chicken If you've read reviews on other food sites, such as The Washington Post or DCFoodies.com, they'll praise the Kung Pao. When we ordered it, you had to try to find any Kung Pao. It was swimming in a sickenly sweet sauce. Not very spicy, either. Maybe we got a bad batch. Mongolian Beef One of the first dishes my friend Dave and I tried. I think it was overshadowed by the awesomeness of the Crispy Eggplant. We didn't hate it. I think it may have used the same sauce as the Eggplant so the flavors start to run together, but I may have that mixed up with General Tso's Chicken, which has a similar sauce. Szechuan Beef I struck gold with this dish. The beef is cut into thin strips, flash-fried and served with scallions (green onion). Very crispy with a light sauce--less sweeter than a General Tso's sauce, I'd imagine. I've had this dish at other restaurants and the strips were always soggy with sauce. I had it again at some other point, but the beef wasn't as crispy, so I'm not sure if this will be a repeat dish for me. Wonton Soup I didn't like this so much. The soup was a dark yellow urine and murky. There were two large wontons in it. I don't think I finished mine. Well, that's my review in a nutshell. I'll be sure to add more dishes as I sample them!
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Mr. Chen's Organic Chinese is a pretty solid little restaurant. The staff is friendly and efficient and the food is really good. The only quibble I have with this place is that they have ORGANIC... More

Mr. Chen's Organic Chinese is a pretty solid little restaurant. The staff is friendly and efficient and the food is really good. The only quibble I have with this place is that they have ORGANIC right in the name and then on the menu it says "organic ingredients used when available." Um, okay, that doesn't really seem like much of a comittment. Delivery is sometimes sporatic, so I would recommend just stopping in - very close to the Woodley Park metro.
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Mr. Chen’s is a solid Chinese restaurant on Connecticut Ave. All of the dishes are of very good quality, nothing blew me away here but everything always is consistently good. I've only ordered take... More

Mr. Chen’s is a solid Chinese restaurant on Connecticut Ave. All of the dishes are of very good quality, nothing blew me away here but everything always is consistently good. I've only ordered take out here so I cannot comment on their service. My wife loves it because they serve organic dishes. If you are looking for a good Chinese meal and are in the area you will not be disappointed.
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Mr. Chen's is an excellent choice if you are having a serious Chinese food craving, but you're really not looking to gain a couple of lbs. in the process. The restaurant boasts a large menu with a... More

Mr. Chen's is an excellent choice if you are having a serious Chinese food craving, but you're really not looking to gain a couple of lbs. in the process. The restaurant boasts a large menu with a considerable amount of the items prepared with only organic ingredients. They also offer the brown rice alternative for those of you that don't really like white rice. If you're a seafood fan, definitely check out their shrimp dishes, they're pretty good! The prices are more than reasonable, and the food is quite tasty. And like most Chinese restaurants, they do deliver to a limited area.
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