Vaughn F.
Yelp
I had a delicious meal at Han Dynasty this past Saturday. My partner and I ordered too much food for two people: smashed cucumber, dandan noodles, cilantro chicken, and mapo tofu. With the AC blasting away, we settled in and got to work.
The smashed cucumber dish was an interesting take on the cool and spicy classic. The cucumber had been carved into little chunks and covered in a tasty dressing. I liked having a small serving of this between servings of the other dishes; it helped me to pace myself, and tasted quite nice as well.
The dandan noodles were terrific, all the more so because the noodles were cooked to the perfect chewy texture, springy and lively. The portion was rather large: an individual of middling hunger could probably make an entire meal out of it. The ingredients seemed fresh and the ingredients all worked well together. The mapo tofu was also a large serving. Spicy and soft, this dish goes well with rice.
My favorite, however, was the cilantro chicken. This was rated an 8 on Han Dynasty's spicy scale, on which 10 is the hottest. While this dish was spicy, it was also quite approachable. No tears, no upset stomach, just a well-deserved level of heat. But the flavors! The cilantro permeated into the thinly sliced chicken, and the nutty edamame allowed for a palate refresher between bites. I'm used to getting szechuan chicken or changsha chicken when I first visit a restaurant like this, but I'm glad I went with something different. I recommend this dish highly.
There were a couple little things that slightly detracted from my experience. One is that my original server disappeared partway through my meal, never to be seen again, and I was not "assigned" a new one until some time later. If it was shift change or something, that information could have been communicated to me. My other small gripe is that the beer taps kept running dry! It seemed that every beer I wanted to order had either run out or the keg kicked right as the bartender tried pouring it. Hopefully they're able to get their liquor license situation sorted out soon, but in the meantime, it would be awesome if they could regularly maintain their taps.
All things considered, this is a great addition to the neighborhood, and I hope to check out their rooftop bar someday.