House of Foong Lin: Washington, DC's newest Tiki Bar - Locating Tiki

DC Dr. Coruba Tiki Socialite Joined: Jun 02, 2008 Posts: 333	DC Dr. Coruba Posted posted on Sun, Mar 10, 2013 9:48 AM This restaurant was just featured in a Event posting http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=44969&forum=4&1 and this is an after visit wrap-up. A partial disclaimer here. Their previous place, Foong Lin, which closed last September after 26 years (the building is being torn down), was a particular favorite of mine. I got to know the owner and the manager very well and consider them friends. When they re-opened recently in an new location as House of Foong Lin, I helped them with things like their new logo. As for the March 9 gathering, 8 Rummys showed up for drinks and a nosh, not too bad for a very last minute invite. We had most of the bar, most of the night. I like the L shaped bar which is so much better than a long bar where the people on the ends are cut off from the folks in the middle. The restaurant isn't tiki at all, but they have these cool hanging lights over the bar which gives sitting at the bar a mid-century mod vibe. (next time I'll take pictures) They have done very well with their tiki drinks. Mai Tais, Navy Grogs, Scorpions, and Hurricanes were tried and shared hits. The first round of Sneaky Tikis were a hair too sweet for some, but to their credit, the bartender was open to a bit of tweaking (in this case, swapping out the Cruzan Light for a 2nd shot of Coruba). A HoFL off-menu drink choice, the Izquierdo, (the invention of one of our cohorts) was very good as well. Speaking of Mai Tais... The house Mai Tai, which is what you will get if you just ask for a Mai Tai, is a good, solid Mai Tai, made with with a house mix (similar to the TV Concentrate). However, if you like something much closer to a Trader Vic's Mai Tai made from scratch, ask for a "Mai Tai '44". Their Mai Tai '44 kicks it up a notch with a better rum (Coruba Dark along with a gold rum) and they use Orange Curacao and Orzata (a type of Orgeat). In my opinion, a very fine version of a Mai Tai. If you visit, I suggest you try both versions and compare them yourself. Food was another big plus. Unless you count Sweet and Sour Chicken as Polynesian, this is a straight up classic Chinese menu. But a very, very good one. Like the original Foong Lin before it, imo, it has some of the best Chinese food in the entire Washington region (and I'm including DC's Chinatown). The Chef/Owner, Fu (yes, that is his name) has upped his game, especially for those who like spicier choices, and everyone particularly enjoyed their dishes. Btw, they still do the classic wooden Pu-Pu platter with the flaming hibachi in the middle - which is now a pretty rare sighting in the Washington area. On the downside, we picked the absolute peak dinner time for our visit. For those of us who got there at 7 pm, the restaurant was slammed. Not a single empty seat in the place and a line out the door. Unfortunately for our visit, they only had one bartender, and she had to answer the phone, seat people, AND deal with take-out. Waits just to order drinks were long and getting them was even longer. Fortunately, after about 45-minutes, things eased up a bit and bar service was much better. The bartender (who is also the restaurant manager) did slip people in our party some free drinks to try to compensate for the rough start to our evening. Lesson learned. If you want to really enjoy the bar, stay away from the peak dinning room times (for now). Hopefully they will find a way to have a second bartender for their peak times which would take care of this problem. I'm willing to give them a wait and see on the service issue because they are still staffing and working out the kinks. Sadly for Tikiphiles, Washington DC has lost every bit of what Tiki it once had. However, there are a handful of bars which still practice the art of the Tiki drink. I would rate House of Foong Lin as far, far superior to the average Chinese restaurant for their food, and especially their Tiki drinks. I've been to places with great Chinese food but disappointing drinks, and vice versa. But to find a place with great drinks and great food is pretty rare in my opinion. This is one of those rare places. Worth a visit if you are passing through the Washington, DC area, and worth frequenting if you happen to live in the area.

This restaurant was just featured in a Event posting
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=44969&forum=4&1
and this is an after visit wrap-up.

A partial disclaimer here. Their previous place, Foong Lin, which closed last September after 26 years (the building is being torn down), was a particular favorite of mine. I got to know the owner and the manager very well and consider them friends. When they re-opened recently in an new location as House of Foong Lin, I helped them with things like their new logo.

As for the March 9 gathering, 8 Rummys showed up for drinks and a nosh, not too bad for a very last minute invite.

We had most of the bar, most of the night. I like the L shaped bar which is so much better than a long bar where the people on the ends are cut off from the folks in the middle. The restaurant isn't tiki at all, but they have these cool hanging lights over the bar which gives sitting at the bar a mid-century mod vibe. (next time I'll take pictures)

They have done very well with their tiki drinks. Mai Tais, Navy Grogs, Scorpions, and Hurricanes were tried and shared hits. The first round of Sneaky Tikis were a hair too sweet for some, but to their credit, the bartender was open to a bit of tweaking (in this case, swapping out the Cruzan Light for a 2nd shot of Coruba). A HoFL off-menu drink choice, the Izquierdo, (the invention of one of our cohorts) was very good as well.

Speaking of Mai Tais...
The house Mai Tai, which is what you will get if you just ask for a Mai Tai, is a good, solid Mai Tai, made with with a house mix (similar to the TV Concentrate). However, if you like something much closer to a Trader Vic's Mai Tai made from scratch, ask for a "Mai Tai '44". Their Mai Tai '44 kicks it up a notch with a better rum (Coruba Dark along with a gold rum) and they use Orange Curacao and Orzata (a type of Orgeat). In my opinion, a very fine version of a Mai Tai. If you visit, I suggest you try both versions and compare them yourself.

Food was another big plus. Unless you count Sweet and Sour Chicken as Polynesian, this is a straight up classic Chinese menu. But a very, very good one. Like the original Foong Lin before it, imo, it has some of the best Chinese food in the entire Washington region (and I'm including DC's Chinatown). The Chef/Owner, Fu (yes, that is his name) has upped his game, especially for those who like spicier choices, and everyone particularly enjoyed their dishes. Btw, they still do the classic wooden Pu-Pu platter with the flaming hibachi in the middle - which is now a pretty rare sighting in the Washington area.

On the downside, we picked the absolute peak dinner time for our visit. For those of us who got there at 7 pm, the restaurant was slammed. Not a single empty seat in the place and a line out the door. Unfortunately for our visit, they only had one bartender, and she had to answer the phone, seat people, AND deal with take-out. Waits just to order drinks were long and getting them was even longer. Fortunately, after about 45-minutes, things eased up a bit and bar service was much better. The bartender (who is also the restaurant manager) did slip people in our party some free drinks to try to compensate for the rough start to our evening.

Lesson learned. If you want to really enjoy the bar, stay away from the peak dinning room times (for now).

Hopefully they will find a way to have a second bartender for their peak times which would take care of this problem. I'm willing to give them a wait and see on the service issue because they are still staffing and working out the kinks.

Sadly for Tikiphiles, Washington DC has lost every bit of what Tiki it once had. However, there are a handful of bars which still practice the art of the Tiki drink. I would rate House of Foong Lin as far, far superior to the average Chinese restaurant for their food, and especially their Tiki drinks. I've been to places with great Chinese food but disappointing drinks, and vice versa. But to find a place with great drinks and great food is pretty rare in my opinion. This is one of those rare places. Worth a visit if you are passing through the Washington, DC area, and worth frequenting if you happen to live in the area.

Post #670494 by Dr. Coruba on Sun, Mar 10, 2013 9:48 AM