All-you-can-eat dim sum is coming to Capitol Hill with the opening of Han Palace. Owner Chris Zhu—who’s behind dim sum destination China Garden in Rockville, plus two other Han Palace locations in Tysons and Woodley Park—is expanding on her model of all-day dim sum with bottomless options for Barracks Row. The restaurant is soft opening on Saturday, October 1 and will start offering unlimited dumplings, buns, noodles, and more on a daily basis the week of October 3.
The Cantonese restaurant will serve two unlimited tasting menus (with a two-hour limit) in addition to an a la carte menu, available lunch and dinner. A $38 per person ($18 per child) option features eight styles of dumplings—including soup dumplings and pan-fried bundles—pork buns, scallion pancakes, over a dozen noodle and rice dishes, and congees. A second prix-fixe ($48 per person and $25 per child) includes all of the above, plus Hong Kong-style roast meats like Peking duck and barbecue pork, meat and seafood entrees, and vegetable/tofu dishes. Both include Chinese teas—and being a brunch town, there are of course $18 free-flowing mimosas.
At all of Zhu’s restaurants, she eschews cart service for cooked-to-order dim sum. The new restaurant—a former frame shop—is her smallest yet, with around 60 seats. It offers a more limited regular menu than the splashy Tysons flagship, known for elaborate specialties like Han-style stuffed duck, which requires a 48 hour notice.
This is Zhu’s final Han opening (for now), though she isn’t done. Huge Japanese restaurant/music venue Ginza BBQ Lounge & Karaoke Spot (526 Eighth St., SE) is opening nearby on Barracks Row. She’s also involved in Live K Karaoke bar, coming to the Wharf (730 Maine Ave., SW) this fall—with yes, more dim sum.
Han Palace Capitol Hill. 522 8th St., SE. Open daily 11:30 AM to 10 PM.
Sample menu below
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
