After letting it soak in for a week, I felt compelled to write about my experience at Mark's Duck House in Falls Church, VA. Robert Parker, the wine critic, called it one of his 10 most memorable meals of 2002... being fans of his my buddy and I had to go. One of the most enticing aspects was the fact that it was BYOB (which I though was illegal in Va). We loaded up with a Martinelli gewürztraminer and some big Hartford and Turley Zins... We needed some big wines to go with the meal.The Martinelli was so big that you could smell it across the restaurant as soon as we opened it. Its the only good CA gewurzt I've ever had. Full of citrus fruit and mildly effervescent. It was not at all sweet, but the alcohol was rather high (but not at all hot). I'm a full blooded Zin freak and drink too many of them. I say too many b/c I get bored with the subtleties of Bordeaux and Cabs sometimes b/c I drink these big wines. Turley and Hartford are of course two of my faves. They are often so big and strong that they over power the food. I found they went nicely with the shoftshells and the peeking duck. This place was very authentic Cantonese and we were the only Caucasians there. The menu was about 5 pages and only one page had translations. All the seafood was swimming in tanks in the back of the place (right next to our table). We took a large group and decided to be daring. Broiled Fresh Salty Frog Grouper Head Duck tongue (not on the English menu, we had to ask for it) Solfshell Crab fried with honey and sorano chilies Crispy Seafood Noodles Peking Duck
It was truly amazing! I am a pretty adventurous eater (my favorite food is sweetbreads) but the frog was a bit much for me. I never cared for frogs legs, and the whole reptile staring at me wasn't much better. The Duck tongue was surprisingly good. It was simply prepared in a fermented black bean sauce with onions and not much else. It was a bit gelatinous and had a funny piece of cartledge in it, but I liked it. The crabs were AMAZING. I don't care for soft-shell and these were great! The peeking duck (carved at the table) was the best I've ever had....
Anyway, if you are in NoVA and have a chance, check out Mark's Duck House!
Marks Duck House, (703) 532-2125, 6184 Arlington Blvd, Falls Church, VA
22044
-N