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Best Bargain Restaurants: China Inn

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China Inn
Washington

Long-time regulars who can't find their favorite dishes on China Inn's recently condensed but still impressively long menu need only ask about their availability. Unless the kitchen is out of a key ingredient--say, the asparagus to be stir-fried with beef in black-bean sauce--chances are good that it will satisfy requests for boneless roast duck with watercress, roast duck wonton soup, "dry-cooked" spareribs with black-bean sauce, or stir-fried bok choy with Chinese sausage.

Newcomers looking for the dishes that have made China Inn a neighborhood landmark for more than 59 years need look no further than the Chef's Specials printed on the first page of the menu: "Smoked" crabs with ginger and scallions, Fish Dipped in Boiling Water With Spices, steamed chicken with Chinese sausage, and chow hoy shin--a stir-fry of seafood in a subtle garlic sauce--are ample reasons for China Inn's longevity.

Daily at lunch, the kitchen also offers dim sum, which waitresses dispense from trays and rolling carts. Purse-shaped dumplings stuffed with pork and shrimp; shark's fin dumplings; mixed seafood dumplings; stuffed bean curd; steamed shrimp balls; and spareribs steamed with black-bean sauce and fresh green chilies are exemplary of the best Cantonese tea luncheon in the metropolitan area.

China Inn , 631 H Street NW, Washington; 202/842-0909. Open Sunday through Thursday 11 am to 1 am, Friday and Saturday 11 am to 2 am. Dim sum daily from 11 am to 3 pm. AE, DC, MC, V. MapIt!

QUALITY: ****Excellent; *** Superior; **Very Good; * Good
PRICE RANGE: $$$= Very Expensive; $$ Expensive; $=Moderate; ¢=Inexpensive

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