The Source

It was a cold February night in the city and I was looking for something warm to eat when I got on my trusty Unilocal app and looked for a spot for good eats. I came across this 4 star rated restaurant that served soup. I hailed a cab and arrived around 7 pm.
The restaurant was quite spacious with two stories and a wall decorated with a variety of wines. The waiter brought over the menu and since I wasn’t familiar with the food I pulled up the pics my fellow Unilocalers posted and went from there.
I ordered chamomile tea, which came served in the cutest iron pot I’ve ever seen. Yielded three cups of tea. I then ordered the table side wonton soup and the dim sum selection. The waiter brought me a bowl with all the cooked and dry items such as the chicken and pork dumplings, a tea poached egg cut in half, crunchy shredded pieces of pork meat, and the noodles. He then added a delicious and aromatic broth on top and a scallion roll on the side. The soup was delicious, it had a lot of flavor and different textures. Although it’s soup, it is quite filling. The scallion bread accompanied the soup well, it was buttery, soft and had chopped up pieces of scallions baked into it.
The dim sum selection was very delicious as well. If I had to rank them I’d say my favorite was the pork potsticker, then the lobster springroll, followed by the chicken dumpling, and lastly the scallop siu mai. Ugh! I was so full I could barely finish the last three pieces. I was really looking forward to desert but it just would not have fit in my belly.
They waiter was very friendly and offered up some suggestions. The manager also walked around and asked if my meal was to my liking. The service was really great and I didn’t wait long for my food.
After I paid and left back to my hotel, I couldn’t stop thinking of that soup… ay Dios mio, I’ll definitely be back.

Came here on a whim when trying to find something to eat on the way to the Smithsonian museums. Little did we know, the restaurant is on the nicer end so we were a bit underdressed in jeans for Saturday brunch. For two of us, we opted for the 8-​taste menu seeing as we were both pretty hungry. Some of the highlights included:
— Lobster and scallop siu mai: this one was our favorite as it’s difficult to find anything but shrimp siu mai in Boston. The sauce complemented the dumplings perfectly.
— XO noodles: these were a bit on the sweeter side but delicious and didn’t have that MSG taste of a lesser quality restaurant.
— Shanghai noodles: a spicier version of the XO noodles with rock shrimp!
— Beef ribs: our waiter actually convinced us to get these over the General Tso wings and I’m glad he did because the spices on the wings were flavorful and unique.
The fried rice and the pork dumplings were good but lacked spice so we used the chili spices from the ribs and other sauces to kick them up a notch. Overall a great meal and we’d definitely come back.

This review is for dinner.
Appetizers:
* Scallion pancake (complimentary): A modern take on the traditionally flaky cong you bing packed with sesame and chive/​scallion flavor. A smaller, more bread-​like, conch-​rolled variation that can’t be beat.
* Wonton Soup with Shrimp & Pork Dumplings and Tea Poached Egg in 20 Hour Broth: A dark broth cooked low and slow (reminiscent of a richer version of phở) with a half of a velvety, soft-​cooked tea egg with a mouthfeel better than a plain sous-​vide-​boiled egg.
* Wagyu beef: Slices of intensely marbled, almost sashimi-​textured beef with a flavor you wouldn’t expect from traditional beef. A different experience altogether.
Entrée:
* Whole Roasted Duckling for Two, Jurgielewicz Farms, Pa: Served three-​ways, as done traditionally.
(1) First, offered as a peking duck platter with six pieces of steamed bun and condiments, including a garlic variation of the usual peking duck sauce (I believe of sesame oil, hoisin, honey/​sugar, soy sauce, but don’t quote me on that), apricot mustard (the dried apricots were a bit too chunky for me), 10-​spice salt, pickled daikon (?), cucumber, cilantro, and scallions. Although the condiments and accompaniments were diverse, I opted for a simpler duck-​bao-​sauce-​scallion combination.
(2) Wok stir-​fry with thighs and legs: Also includes duck meat, oyster mushrooms (?), yu choy, black bean sauce, and basil. I couldn’t really discern the ingredients in the stir-​fry too well because of the dim lighting, but the combination was quite flavorful and fragrant with duck. For this dish, I mostly enjoyed the crispy skin on the thighs and legs. The fat separates quite easily from the skin with a fork/​chopstick and knife. Don’t forget the meat under of all that! (I’m currently enjoying this stir-​fry as leftovers with rice, and it’s still delicious!)
(3) Duck broth with wonton: Having had wonton soup already, I’m glad that this was a smaller dish. I haven’t had duck broth for a while, so it was quite a surprise! Wonderful.
If I were to order this dish again (which I’d most likely do), I’d like to try pairing it with an appropriate wine, since duck is quite fatty.
Overall, on this snowy January evening, the amiable and attentive waitstaff, cooks, and chef helped us create magical anniversary dinner experience. Thank you, Chef Drewno and staff, for a fantastic meal!

***4.5 stars***
I’m not sure how I heard about The Source, but my husband and I are really glad we did, everything was really good and I especially enjoyed the Show Me Love cocktail. I had never really been a fan of lychee, but it’s so good in this drink, I really can’t help but consume mass quantities of this — all the time! We ordered: dim sum sampler, chili spiced poached cod, fried rockfish. We also got fried rice to accompany our cod and rockfish dishes.
Our dinner started with our wonderful cocktails and an amuse bouche of scallion buns. The dough was soft and slightly sweet with a hint of savory green onions. Then we got our dim sum sampler of Scallop Siu Mai, Pork Potsticker, Lobster Springroll, Chicken Dumpling. The chicken dumpling was the best, so juicy and delicious. The siu mai tasted like any other siu mai I’ve had — it was good, just not amazing; same goes for the lobster springroll. I did like the pork potsticker, the pork belly was well seasoned and good. Our entrees: Crispy Whole Fish, 2lb Local Rockfish, Brussel Sprouts, Thai Basil Black Bean Sauce and the Fragrant Chili Oil Poached Atlantic Cod, Lobster Fried Rice, Wok Fired Root Vegetables. The skin on the crispy rockfish was so good, I ate that with some black bean sauce and was good to go. The fish itself was cooked well, nice and flaky. It was a little bland, but the skin and sauce made brought it all together. The lobster was really good in the fried rice, but overall, the rice was also bland — which caused me to only give 4.5 stars.
It was all a very exceptional experience and we definitely want to go back and try their set menu and see what other goodies they’ve got going on.
Sidenote: Valet is $ 8

The environment and service was great. The food is high quality and not overpriced. The roast duck steamed buns and lo mein were excellent as was the dim sum plate starter. Portion size is smaller than average for US, but still more than enough.

What a TREAT! The Source is part of the Wolfgang Puck empire, where the menu focuses primarily on Chinese fusion. I had a delicious evening where Chef Russell Smith brought out an array of various delicious bites for our table. We first started off with a Table Side Wonton Soup, which is a 20-​hour broth made with chicken feet, pork ribs, beef and chicken bones, whole chicken, Sichuan peppercorns, chilies, and chili oil — this soup, which tasted like a cross between phở and Hot & Sour soup, was filled with shrimp & pork dumplings, tender pulled pork, perfectly al dente noodles, and a tea-​poached egg (I could eat these eggs all day, as it was literally one of the best, if not the best, marinated eggs I’ve ever had!!!); a Selection of Dim Sum (this had a generous and perfect amount of Scallop Siu Mai (with a kick, as it had some sliced jalapenos on top), Pork Potstickers, Lobster Springrolls (cute little wrapped purses, these look like little gifts! Crispy exterior and bursting with the lobster meat within), Chicken Dumplings (topped with dan dan sauce and crushed peanuts — these were my absolute favorite out of them all, as they were so plump and juicy! The dan dan sauce was a great saucy component!), Crispy Suckling Pig (with apple purée, pickled cipollini, and a sweet bean sauce; these were some decadent pressed-​sushi-​like pork belly bites!), and Lobster Dumplings (with spicy chili oil, grilled scallions, black vinegar, and crispy garlic)); Scallion buns (these were like slightly flattened bao fluffy buns, filled with diced scallions; the use of the duck fat made it even more scrumptious, and I can see myself eating these with soy sauce or use it to sandwich some pork belly within!); Spicy Tuna Tartare (a sweeter seesame-​miso cone filled with spicy tuna tartare, shaved bonito, pickled ginger, and tobiko; the spicy tuna had more of a lox taste to them); a 32 Day Aged Prime Beef (seared with ‘Hot Pot’ flavors and topped with sweet & spicy peanuts; they came as little rolls; I think the sear was not needed and could have been great as more of a carpaccio style); Roasted Red Curry Cauliflower (with coconut mousse and crushed peanuts; this had a heavy Thai curry taste to them, but the cauliflower seemed to be blanched, as they still had a nice crunch to them); and, a Crispy Whole Fish (2lb of a local rock fish, set on top of lovely brussel sprouts, and a side of Thai basil black bean sauce; this fish was perfectly de-​boned, battered, and deep-​fried; the fish itself did not have seasoning, but it was the black bean sauce that gave it the flavors; I really enjoyed the brussel sprouts, as they were just so delicate and yummy, soaking up all of the juices underneath!). To end our meal, we tried 3 of the desserts: the Coconut Lime Semi-​Fredo (with dollops of yuzu purée and a passion fruit gelee; this was my most favorite, as the semi-​fredo tasted kind of like a frozen yogurt ‘cheesecake’ — I loved the yuzu, as it gave it a nice citrus-​y tang to the creamy fredo), the Banana Peanut Crunch (cubed and moist banana bread and a a side of roasted peanut caramel ice cream), and the 15-​Layer Carrot Cake (kind of reminded me of a mille cake; layer upon layer with cream cheese, topped with candied walnuts and a side of ginger ice cream; this was not overly sweet and had a good clean carrot-​like taste to it). I washed all these items down with the Arnold Palmer, which was refreshing and not overly sweet. Our server was Anton, and he was super nice, efficient, and checked upon us throughout our dining experience. To end the evening, we had a chance to thank Chef Russell very much, who was super kind and super awesome! The hubs and I were pleasantly surprised, as we tried Spago recently in Beverly Hills and other various Puck restaurants in the past — however, The Source seemed to be his best one! We’d love to go back and try their other dishes, such as the ‘Whole Roasted Duckling for Two,’ the ‘Hot Pot Tasting Table Experience,’ as well as the ‘The Kitchen at the Moment’ tasting experience! Just note that this restaurant went through massive renovation, and the first floor is a lounge area, whereas the second floor and up is your main dining room. Located on the same block as the Newseum, valet parking is available as well as some limited metered street parking.
+tea-​poached egg!!! :D
+scallions buns: D
+dumplings with dan dan sauce: D
+Lobster Springrolls: D
+Coconut Lime Semi-​Fredo :D
+ask for Chef Russell Smith: D :D :D
+ask for Anton: D
+next to the Newseum
+valet parking available

My dad learned of this place through some co-​workers and took my mom and me there to celebrate their 25^th anniversary. Maybe it was the special occasion, but our service was fantastic for 90% of the evening. The hostesses welcomed us and warmly congratulated my parents. Our waiter was attentive and kept our water topped, and also presented our table a complimentary tuna tartare appetizer and carrot cake dessert! The only blip was that the waiter forgot my mom’s order of wonton soup, which she really wanted to try but didn’t bother after finishing half her main course. Service 4.5÷5.
Food: We each tried a little bit of each others’ dishes, as we always do! The textures on EVERY plate we had were ABSOLUTELY MASTERFUL. The fish, wonton wrappers, fried shells and crusts, and even the vegetables — cooked to perfection. However, there wasn’t much creativity (especially in the sauces), and seasoning wasn’t always on point. Food ⁴⁄₅. Down to the nitty gritty:
Appetizers — Tuna Tartare and Dim Sum Selections — The tuna was served in a delightfully crunchy sesame-​miso cone, and all sorts of flavors and textures came together in each bite. The Dim Sum came out in pairs of each selection, with a beautiful crust around the lobster spring roll and pork potsticker. But they were a little salty which made for questionable soy sauce dipping.
Mom’s dish — Crispy Quail — The breading was divine. So crisp, yet so light. The perfect golden brown. And once you bite into it, the juiciness just gushes from the quail. Again, a little salty, but otherwise perfect. The fingerling potatoes were nicely seasoned with quite a bit of spice. Be ready for it!
Dad’s dish — Salmon — God, that salmon was amazing. Soft, buttery, and luscious throughout, just cooked through and not a second more. The water chestnuts and lotus didn’t seem to impress him, though. Neither did the aged soy, where the nuances apparently didn’t penetrate the rest of the flavors in the dish.
My dish — Poached Cod — I can’t say the flavors of either the fish, the vegetables (with an edible flavor on top), or the lobster fried rice on the side were very remarkable. The fried rice was tender but even greasier than the ones you might get with take-​out and, in my opinion, a waste of lobster meat. But the cod had the silkiest texture I’ve ever experienced in a cod. I am almost glad the flavors were so muted so I could fully enjoy it.
Dessert — Carrot Cake — So balanced! Went nicely with the flavor of the ultra creamy ice cream, and they even had «Happy Anniversary» written out for them in some good dark chocolate ganache!
It’s easy for me to remember food first and foremost for its flavors, and you can find tastier dim sum, vegetable dishes, dumplings, fried rice, and a greater variety of interesting, complex sauces at a good Chinese or Japanese restaurant. But the way the food cracked, dissolved, and melted in pure harmony has me looking past the imperfections in taste for the most part.
With some more jazz and «Asian fusion» in the sauce and seasoning, I’d be ready to give ⁶⁄₅!

If your looking for spectacular Asian food, top-​class cocktails, or a romantic spot to take a date The Source is the spot for you. Let me start by saying the service is unbelievable. Everyone was so nice, pleasant, accommodating, and there to make you feel welcomed. There is a romantic seating on the main floor with couches and a awesome bar setup as well as a full upstairs for a more conventional dining experience. The food was absolutely amazing. I would HIGHLY recommend the duck fried rice. It’s the single best fried rice dice I’ve ever had and definitely the best Asian dish I’ve had in DC. Their wings were delicious and very different than any traditional wing I’ve ever had. The cocktails were a bit too pricey for us for the time of day we came in, but from what I saw I’ll definitely be coming to back grab drinks with my friends.

People were excited for Momofuku + Milk Bar to move to DC, but little did we know the best Asian food and cookie place was right under our noises. A solid 5 star rating for The Source. The restaurant itself is very simple with no art on the walls. Just solid color walls and simple tables. One would think you were in a fancy Soviet restaurant, but do not be fooled. The food and service are both fantastic.
We went here for my wife’s birthday and they made her feel very special. During the course of the meal, they surprised us with an appetizer and dessert at the end on the house. In reading all the Unilocal reviews before we went, we decided to NOT order an entrée and just get several appetizers and sides. It ended up being more than enough food for the two of us and some of the best food we’ve had in DC. Here’s what we ordered:
1) The won ton soup. They prepare it right in front of you and it was the BEST won ton soup we’ve ever had full of flavor.
2) Spicy tuna tartare. They brought this out on the house and my wife loved it. It comes in two small cones and had the perfect balance of spice and a little sweet kick.
3) The selection of dim sum. This is the perfect dish to share with one other. Each dim sum comes out in pairs and each had great flavor especially the shrimp one.
4) Seared wagyu beef. If you don’t mind your meat served rare, you’ll love this. It’s premium meat with a few sauces on the side to add to the flavor. If you shy away from rare meat like me, don’t order this.
5) Wok fired Thai drunken noodles. Wow. Just wow. My wife is a drunken noodle connoisseur and she said this was the BEST she’s ever had. Even I loved the taste. It wasn’t too spicy.
6) Fried rice. If my wife is a drunken noodle connoisseur, I am a fried rice connoisseur and this was the BEST I’ve had… EVER. It comes with a soft fried egg on the top making it perfect.
7) The chocolate chip cookies with a glass of milk. Amazing. The best cookies I’ve had in DC hands down and probably the best I’ve ever had second to Levain Bakery in NYC. They come out warm and more than enough for two people (I think there was 8 cookies total).
8) Cocktails. One of the best we’ve had in DC. My wife ordered her usual negroni and said it was the BEST she’s ever had anywhere in the world. It comes in a very cool glass and is premium alcohol. I ordered two drinks that were perfectly sweetly crafted– Passion’s something and Pandora’s something. :)
Wolfgang Puck, you got it right… AGAIN!

My wife and I came here to celebrate our anniversary. Disclosure: I am a Chinese and I know my dim sum very well.
Service: ¹⁄₅: My wife was seated first while I look for parking. 10 mins in but no one attended to her. She had to flag down a waiter, and order a drink. This waiter was very helpful and took her drink order, but then told her he will bring the actual waiter for our table. Our waiter showed up as I arrive and got seated. He said he will give us some time to look over the menu, without even offer me a glass of water. 12 mins in and could not find our waiter. I had to flag down another waiter to place our order. Overall, we had 3 – 4 different waiters over the one hour meal. Not sure what’s going on but we were very disappointed. ¹⁄₅
Food: ²⁄₅: Ordered 8 tastes for $ 48 from dim sum menu, Sichuan Bloody Mary and a cocktail.
Turnip cakes: the texture was too soft and way too salty.
Crystal Chive dumplings: Very tasty, but can’t seen to find any crab in it.
Shrimp & sea scallop siu Mai: I like the siu Mai but not the «curried lobster emulsion.
Lobster & shrimp spring rolls: Very creative and very tasty. The dipping sauce was great too.
Scallion pancakes: total failure. Only a few scallion bit spotted in the pancake and it was overly dry. Some fresh sliced scallions were sprinkled on top but that’s not what a scallion pancake is about. You can find better scallion pancake from frozen section in Korean grocery store.
Sichuan Dan Dan noodles: I know the chef is trying to be creative but this dish doesn’t work. It is a bowl of sad looking noodles soaked in bland chili oil with roasted pork topping. The roasted pork tasted more like BBQ pork, not the Chinese
roasted pork you can find in dim sum restaurant. The noodles have no flavor, can’t taste garlic or vinegar like Dan Dan noodles should.
Wok fried XO noodles: very delicious. A hint of «wok» flavor can be tasted. Roasted porks was cubed ham, not the roasted pork I know. One more problem: it was too salty.
Roasted pork fried rice: With sunny side up egg on top, I really want to like this dish. But this is probably the worst fried rice I ever had. If you have been to any Cantonese dim sum restaurants, you would know what a roasted pork is. What I found in this «fried rice» were cubed ham. It felt like you went to an American southern style restaurant and ordered a good ol’ deep fried chicken but a General Tso chicken were served to you. General Tso chicken is a deep fried chicken dish too, no? Also it tasted like the rice wasn’t even fried, more like mixing it in with other ingredients before they serve it. Again, it was pretty bland. I wonder if they only have salt at one side of the kitchen.
Drinks: ³⁄₅ nothing to brag about.
Overall, it was a disappointment. Do not recommend their brunch dim sum menu. I have not try their other menus.

The Source is the restaurant adjacent to the Newseum. Note — you do not need to go through the Newseum to get to the restaurant. It’s attached to the same building, but you can enter directly from Pennsylvania Ave. I visited for lunch and liked the food and atmosphere, but felt that the portions were a little small for the price. I was seated immediately without a reservation and ordered the salmon salad. It was tasty, but for $ 20, it wasn’t really a filling portion.
I also wanted to try some of their sushi and ordered the Yellowfin tuna sushi, which was a fun fusion of sour and salty flavors. I liked this a bit better. I would recommend going for a sushi or rice/​noodle dish, since it’s definitely more filling than the salads.
Bottom Line: Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant The Source is pretty decent. Not the most authentic Asian food — it’s definitely fusion (and I do generally like fusion). It was a bit overpriced for small entrees. But I still really enjoyed the different flavors.

Horrible customer service!!! I made a reservation for this Saturday around noon and understand that The Source has undergone some renovations in the last month. I just called to confirm if the dim sum menu was still available as that was the reason I wanted to come with a guest.
I used a softphone application to place my call, and when Natasha couldn’t hear me well, she hung up on me. That’s understandable but she was incredibly short-​tempered.
So I called back right away on my cell phone. It took many more rings to answer the phone, and when I identified myself again, she didn’t do a better job in trying to understand my question.
V: «Hi, I just called. I have a reservation for Saturday brunch at noon. Can you confirm if the dim sum menu is still offered?»
N: «The what is still offered?»
V: «Dim sum.»
N: «What’s that? What’s dim sum?»
V: «You’ve had that on the menu for awhile now. I just want to know if the dim sum menu is still offered or if there has been any changes to the menu as I understand The Source has undergone renovations.»
N: «Oh yeah, the only thing that has changed is the dessert menu.»
V: «Ok.»
N: «Can I get your name?»
V: «Veronique.»
N: «What’s your first name?»
V: «Veronique.»
N: «What’s your last name?»
I told her my last name, and this proceeded in her not being able to pronounce my name after she found my reservation. It was incredibly insulting.
This is not the type of interaction I expect from a «fine dining» establishment who has received many awards and accolades. This is a terrible way to usher in a new chapter at The Source.
Just as an update: I gave this a one star review earlier this afternoon and then received an apology from management and comments from others on Unilocal.If you look at the one star reviews, most people comment about the service here. I think most can agree the food is good. You can decide whether customer service is important to you. As one person wrote to me, Karma is a bitch.

Let me start by saying that on an average day, this place would be out of my budget. Thankfully, my boss gave us gift cards for Christmas (even with this bump, I would still consider this place pricey). But guess what … you get what you pay for! This is quite possibly one of the best meals I have ever had in my life! The service was exceptional, ambiance was comfortable and the everything was delicious. Given my food allergy, the waitress was extreme knowledgable about the menu and was able to point me and my friends in the right direction. They specially made the bao buns for me as they weren’t on the menu at the time (delicious and mouth watering).
My favs are the the green bean/​walnut starter, the Arctic Char, drunken noodle and fried rice. Just when it couldn’t get any better … they brought me milk and cookies!
I can’t wait to come back … maybe when I win the lottery :)

Memorable dining experience. Birthday meal. Noted it was such on Open Table rez and was greeted accordingly. Also given an amuse bouche (maybe standard) and dessert of cookies on house.
GET:
Crispy suckling pig!!!
Halibut with shrimp and Thai curry!!!
Drunken Noodles!!!
SKIP:
Hot sausage fried rice
Tuna tartare
SERVICE:
Friendly. Impeccable. Anticipatory. Seamless.
Very pricey and dinner portions, especially on small plates, tiny. Unsure of overall value due to price – factor holding back from 5 stars.
Will return.

Dude, Wolfgang Puck — you let me down. I was expecting fireworks from your reputation and prices.
Tried the Japanese salmon appetizer — very good/​fresh, dumplings — meh (could get something just as tasty @ Costco), Duck confit curry. also shared the Cod w/​fried rice. the fried rice was a mistake and bland. you could easily make something better at home. the fish’s black bean sauce was also too salty.
Dessert looked better than it tasted. it was one of those style over substance things. (Perhaps a metaphor for the restaurant. Pick the jasmine pudding, if you must)
Restaurant Week helped allay the cost, but it also provided us with mediocre, not-​so-​adventurous asian-​fusion cuisine. Perhaps a regular day’s meal would be better, but this wasn’t worth the hype. The night was *not* horrible, but it was just… uninspiring…something was missing.
It’s situated next to the Newseum, along Pennsylvania (BTW — lovely street to drive down at night + see the the glorious stone buildings all lit up!)
Nice atmosphere for drinks/​wine downstairs at the bar with light fare, but don’t go hungry for a fancy night out.

Their Restaurant Week 2015 lunch menu is superb!
I had the Spicy Wonton Soup (noodles & beef dumplings) for my appetizer, fried Catfish for entrée, and for dessert, Jasmine Rice pudding.
My FAVORITE part of lunch was definitely the catfish. The breading was super light, thin, and crisp. Inside, the catfish was PIPING hot and had just the right juicy flavors oozing out. The papaya salad that complemented the cathfish was just the right touch to balance the entire dish. I loved every bite!
My second favorite was the Jasmine Rice pudding. It was not too sweet and a soothing way to end our meal.
I wanted to give this review 5 stars but I am holding 1 star back because of service. Granted, it IS restaurant week so I’m sure the staff was floored with the high volume of guests but still.
A) My friend and I each ordered 1 glass of wine and it arrived when we were almost done with our entrees. What the heck.
B) We were given forks instead of spoons for our Jasmine Rice Pudding. We had to ask another server for spoons since our server was nowhere to be found.
But other than that, I loved their food!

My friends and I dined at The Source for Restaurant Week. Food 4.5 stars, service 2 stars.
I opted for beef dumplings for the first course, the curry chicken for the main, and the chocolate torte for dessert. Of the restaurant week offerings that I’ve experienced thus far, The Source offered one of the most flavorful and pleasant dishes. The curry chicken was pan-​fried, boneless, and succulent on a bed of brussel sprouts and candied vegetables as well as a delectable green curry. I foresee craving this dish in the near future. While the beef dumplings were salty, the broth was flavorful and the noodles perfectly chewy. The chocolate torte was a wonderful balance between sweet chocolate and fresh yuzu ice cream.
While I am not usually bothered by the restaurant’s selection of ambiance, I thought that the choice of Miley Cyrus and Rihanna were odd for an upscale restaurant that specialized in Asian cuisine.
Additionally, I can’t give higher than 3 stars despite the delicious food because the service was terrible. We dined for more than TWO HOURS when probably 3 other tables were occupied. The servers brought out the next courses prior to some of our party not being finished with their dishes. Our waters weren’t refilled despite asking twice. We weren’t given utensils for our desserts. The waitress was quite ambivalent about making us feel welcomed, and I actually felt that she was annoyed that we were there. I can’t justify spending the normal price tag here when so many things are lacking for an upscale restaurant, and would rather go to Rasika or Joe’s Seafood for special occasions.

For the price this place costs, there are one too many set backs. The food was good, but there are many other places in DC with great food.
I dined at The Source for lunch. We live in Washington, DC. For the most part, unless we are tourists or students we work here and have a timeline in which we have to return to work. I asked for tea and it took them 45 minutes and two reminders. That’s a little ridiculous. Then with my tea (after it finally arrived), they only brought artificial sugar– this is after I had specifically asked for «non-​artificial sugar.»
I use tea as only one example, to demonstrate the consistent theme of how long it took for us to get everything – well, almost everything. There was the bill which showed up before we were even finished with dessert.

3.5 stars.
My wife and I came for their brunch dim sum (which is all they do on weekend brunch). The brunch menu has either 5 taste options or 8 taste options. Our waiter suggested either doing 2 of the 5 taste options (choosing 10 items total) or doing 8 taste options (8 items total). We did the 10 total items one. This restaurant is very close to the National Archives metro station (about 1 & ½ block walk from the metro). It is in a safe area.
Pros:
Service was quick and attentive. Restaurant/​décor is modern looking and very clean. Atmosphere was nice and relaxing, not too loud/​hectic. The general tso’s wings were good, the red miso doughnut is very good (our favorite), and the pork belly dumpling was also very good.
Cons:
A lot of the food seemed oversalted. Especially the dan dan dumplings and dan dan noodles. Both were really salty and I ate them because I didn’t want my pregnant wife to consume too much salt. The dress code on here says «dressy». so for brunch there were only a few of us that were in business dress. everyone was wearing jeans and polos, t-​shirts, button up shirts, sweaters. I felt overdressed wearing black slacks and a dress shirt during brunch. If I go back, I’m wearing jeans to brunch. I’m sure dinner is more dressy, but I didn’t find any info about brunch on Unilocal

I wanted to come to the Source for their brunch dim sum tasting for some time. With the option of 5 or 8 tasting, I waited and waited for a better opportunity than to go with just my husband. What a better opportunity than to go with my in-​laws in town?
We started off with two 8 tastings to share upon the five of us but added on 5 more dishes as we learned which item on the menu we thought was worth getting second or third for.
Pot belly stickers — tasty but tiny — and we each had half of bite since it only came in 3 (skip)
Shui Mai — very meaty (packed with shrimp/​scallop in each) enjoyed the Thai curry sauce dressed in (maybe)
Penang curry pork — where my pork at? flavorless and mostly just rice (skip)
Chive dumplings — came in 4 big pieces, each packed with flavor (not so chivey though), loved the blue crab and pork combo! I would def get again (yes!)
Scallion pancakes — tasted like salted crackers with peanut sauce (skip)
Fried clam — reminded me a bit of the fried chicken in Japanese izakaya — the dipping paste was a nice touch (maybe)
Shanghai noodle — there were two small pieces of their braised oxtail — delish! But their udon was so undercooked that we couldn’t get past one bite. (Maybe — it’s a filler portion if you aren’t full)
Turnip cake — wasn’t expecting a stir fried cubed pieces. Unique flavor and came in generous portion to share! (Yes!)
Fried rice — flavorless and stale rice (skip)
Sliders — worst item we ordered, dry everything (skip)
Spring rolls — honestly there was one spring roll split into half — everyone gets half a bit — good but nothing special (maybe)
Duck buns — best item on the whole menu, came In two per order, we ended up ordering 4 more. Best bao we had anywhere! (Yes!)
Dan dan dumplings — again 3 tiny dumplings this time drenched in peanut sweet sauce — the skin was so drenched that it turned mushy (skip)
Crab cake Benedict — one per order, nothing Asian or unique to it but tasty nevertheless (maybe)
Shrimp toasts — basically smushed shrimp with lots of duck sauce on top, I like duck sauce but not that much (skip)
General Tso’s wings — juicy, meaty wings with delicious glaze (yes!)
Red miso donuts — can’t tell you what red miso taste like but these were the perfect treats (yes!)
Overall, not bad for white people dim sum — lots if hits or misses among the 21 dishes (we repeated a few!). Price — it’s a bit more expensive than your typical dim sum but competitive/​comparable to the higher end dim sum places we’ve gone to! Service — standard for the most part — ordered tea but never given a tea cup. With much more interesting options at the Source, would love to return for dim sum when they change up the menu (don’t get rid of the duck bao!).