The mapo tofu—my barometer for quality at restaurants serving Szechuan food—at Kungfu Kitchen in Alexandria isn’t anything special. In fact, the mala and minced meat I look for are entirely absent. The service is equal parts friendly and inept. So why is it my latest obsession? It turns out my mapo test isn’t always accurate.
In fact, it’s still early, but I’m declaring the Szechuan chicken dry noodles (at left in the above photo) my dish of the summer. On hot days, I’ll be craving the cold, hand-pulled noodles like little else. Toppings are piled so high that when the dish was placed on the table, I was afraid the noodles were missing. Nope, there were plenty of the ropey, slippery strands, just hidden under a mound of chicken, matchsticks of cucumber, tomatoes, cilantro, scallions, and peanuts. The spice? Incendiary, but cooled by the chilly vegetables. It’s the kind of plate that you return for again and again, seeking the burn and relief in one.
The soup dumplings, too, will garner repeat visits. Are they the best I’ve ever had? Nope, but they’re the best I’ve tried so far in NoVA. No great feat, but when the desire strikes, I’ll head to Alexandria for the gingery bites. Though they are missing the thin skin and collagenous richness of the broth that I hope for, every single dumpling retains its filling perfectly, without a drop of errant soup spilled. This is an accomplishment in itself. They are very good soup dumplings, more than satisfactory in a region where they’re hard to find. And when I’m slurping up my spicy noodles, you can bet I won’t be able to resist a side of dumplings, too. 3221 Duke St., Alexandria
Feature image by Alice Levitt
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