Tony Cheng’s Mongolian Restaurant

What happened to this place?! I used to eat here when I worked in DC about 10 years ago. Recently I went there with some friends and both the quality of food and the ambiance have gone down. Won’t be coming back here again.

According to the Nov. 24^th 2015 Washington Post the DC Dept of Health closed it :
«Closed Nov. 17 for operating without a certified food manager and because of insects, rodents and other pests, and gross unsanitary conditions. Reopened the next day.»
I ate there before and thought it was o.k. but after reading this NEVER AGAIN will I eat there!

Had a great time here with friends from APTAC. A little like an omelet bar. You select various vegetables, noodles, sprouts and meat, sauces and oils. Pile your bowl high but not too high. It shrinks a little in cooking but not much. Once the grill chef stir fries it you eat it with white rice (or other choices). Great fun and delicious.

Ok tried their General Tso Chicken, sauce pretty good but this was the hardest chicken I’ve ever had the bad luck in having. I’m pretty sure this chicken was reused. Damn ended you in the trash

This place is pretty good. The place itself is really nice and clean, if that’s what your into. I prefer my restaurants a little dirtier, and a lot cheaper. The food was really good, just nothing to write home about.

Second floor dim sum while ground floor has buffet n hot pot. The food was alright. No surprises. A set service charge will be concluded as well.

Went to the upstairs Chinese restaurant. Pretty pricey for the quality of service. I was disappointed how poorly our waitress served us. The food itself was not spectacular for the price. I’m not sure how the downstairs Mongolian restaurant differed but with so many other Chinese restaurants in Chinatown, I would try a different one if I were you.

Got my bill thrown at me by the waiter as he pretty much yelled at me.
I wanted to like this place as it was recommended by two people. It started off good, then it went downhill. If only I knew this was because the gratuity was automatically added to the bill…
We were quickly greeted and seated by first man. Our server came to get out drinks, we honestly did not understand her English and she did not understand when my dad said he wanted tea. I deal with accents every day where I live, but this was just a little too much. There was a big language barrier that the man cleaning the tables was the one helping us with the drinks. Then another different man getting us water. Way too many different servers. Who was our server? Idk.
Then a different man brought us our bill. That’s where I saw the gratuity included as service. I did not appreciate that at all. The bill was not easy to understand as it was not itemized. It just said «4 adults… $x amount). I paid a couple of dollars left because it is not obligatory anywhere in the country to give tip, and let alone someone add it on.
Server came picked up check and quickly came back running saying we were 3 dlls short. I said,» no we are not. The amount of gratuity is optional” and that’s when he threw the bill with my cash at me and pretty much yelled «you have to pay 3 dollars missing» as he blabbed something about him not even charging us for our drinks… Well hell. I didn’t know that, and as a server please don’t ever assume free drinks mean more tip for you. That’s all on you, buddy.
I was honestly very upset. Because of the added on gratuity, having way too many servers, and him yelling at me.
Food was alright… Wish someone had told me in English that you could serve yourself more than once though… Language barriers.

Tony Cheng’s provides the Cantonese Chinese food I grew up with and the place has never disappointed. Service is prompt and highly attentive. I often make a meal sharing fried pork dumplings, wonton soup and a vegetable dish. When last here, there were as many Chinese customers as non-​Chinese. That for me is a good sign. Mr. Cheng is a most welcoming restaurateur to new customers as well as old friends.

3^rd visit here. Still not disappointed. Every experience is just as good as the first. We will always come here to eat when in DC.

This place has gone down the drain.
The selection is very limited and all the sauces made everything taste salty. We tried different sauces and it did the same thing. It is definitely not worth the money, go someplace else.

I was here to see someone speak on the third floor (though an Asian restaurant is an odd place to see someone speak) and we were given a smorgasborg of things to try including egg rolls, dumplings, fried rice, beef and broccoli, and more.
I was pleased, if not overwhelmingly, with what I had. The egg rolls were flaky and delicious and had a good core, but the fried rice lacked flavor. Beyond that, the beef and broccoli, sweet and sour vegetables, and green beans were as expected. Nothing good, nothing bad. I did not have too many expectations here and was not blown away.
Outside of the food, the décor is okay, but feels dated and like the place could use some revamping. As a speaking venue, I was surprised here. The venue has a stage and no real bad seats the way our tables were set up, along with good sound carrying so that was an unexpected plus.
I would not recommend this place if you are trying to wow someone. More if you want a reliable bit of Asian food that won’t leave you sick or unhappy. I am sure there are better alternatives out there, but I have not had the time to try them yet. For now, Tony Cheng’s gets 3 dumplings out of 5.

Whenever we come into D.C. for Washington Capital games. We make it a point to stop in to Tony Cheng’s…It’s a very short walk from the Verizon Center and usually fills up fast right before puck drop. On non-​game nights, i’ve noticed it to be a little empty inside, but that just means more room for yourself lol
It’s a basic Mongolian Style BBQ. They have a few veggies and meats to choose from including lamb, pork, beef and chicken. Just grab a bowl, fill it up and you’ll be eating in about 45sec.
Negatives:
I love this place, but it is a little on the pricier side. For 2 of us to eat, it was just under $ 50 and yes unfortunately, they do add a 15% gratuity. I usually tip 20% when I eat out, so I did add a little to the bill, but I really think they should let their customer decide what to tip.
Also, They are in need of a re-​design. Hopefully in the near future they will give this restaurant a much deserved face-​lift.

Great food suitable for both Americans, Chineses, and Chinese Americans.
Fast, enough food for lunch！

Good typical Mongolian style food. Make you own bowl and hand it over to the fryers and back in 1 minute as you stand and wait. Nice and comfortable seating and a great place to go on Christmas Day for a nice. meal.
Negative, 15% tip added directly into bill for a table of two. Would have tip but this was shameful and typical for these types of businesses.

Traveling on business. Starving. Love Mongolian BBQ. Took a risk on a 3 Unilocal star restaurant across the street. Ordered a beer, poured it in a glass and took a few sips.
Grabbed my bowl, filled it w/​noodles, went for the onions, and a ¾″ cockroach was crawling across them. Choked back a gag, told the host, and said I was leaving. He said I needn’t pay for the beer.

I’m not really a big fan of Mongolian BBQ, but my friend wanted to try it, so here we came. The selection of food was good, everything appeared fresh, and the place was clean.
They probably couldn’t get a 5 star out of me, but they could have gotten 4 if they could have told me what tea they served. It was good, I wanted to buy some to take home while I was in the city, and for some reason no restaurant can‘ever answer this question. If the answer is Lipton, tell me. If you only know the chinese name, write it down for me. Also, I had to talk my friend through the process. There were no chefs out when we got there (we were there at an odd time), and the wait staff didn’t think to offer an explanation for how it worked.

Went with a friend using Living Social the other day.
Didn’t even get a fortune cookie or sherbert like the other people’s reviews on here.
We ordered 2 beers and they charged us 11.00 for them.
At the end of the day, we paid 58.50 total?!! Minus the $ 40 living social, it was $ 18.50 left.
We were charged a 7.00 service fee. We asked the server what that was and he said it was the tip.
Never will go back again.
The nearby buffets are better than this. They even charge 2.99 per plate if you want shrimp.
The free bread was dry, rice tasted room temperature and old, the mongolian dish tasted so so.

Ever since BD’s Mongolian Barbeque closed in Bethesda, I’ve been on a quest to find a replacement. I got a Living Social deal for Tony Cheng’s Mongolian Restaurant, and was excited to give it a try.
The first nice thing was that this place stayed open til 11 pm on a Sunday, while so many other places in DC close surprisingly early. It was almost empty when we went, and our food was cooked instantly. Really, within 30 seconds we had our food back and were ready to eat. Everything was pretty good, but the sauces were a little confusing, and it wasn’t until my 2^nd plate that the food really had some flavor. I’d suggest trying a small plate at first if you’re not a pro at using the sauces, or just ask for advice from the cooks.
I was a little disappointed in the variety of food that was available for cooking. There were your standard ingredients like meat, broccoli, carrots, etc., but some other things I’d wanted were missing. I was really hoping for baby corn and some water chestnuts, but maybe that’s just me. The other Mongolian BBQs I’ve gone to have always had a much wider selection. That’s not to say Tony Cheng’s is bad, because it’s still really good. It’s kind of hard to mess up Mongolian BBQ, so it’s going to be good either way.
One touch I liked was the dish of crushed peanuts on the table. I’m definitely a fan of peanuts on top of my food, so this was nice. White rice is also on the table, so you don’t need to load up on pasta at the buffet, but I did anyway.
If I return, I’ll be drinking water. There are no refills on soda, which strikes me as a little odd considering the all-​you-​can-​eat food. There’s a decent amount of ice, and the cups are small, so unless you want to spend another $ 20 on drinks, just stick with the water.
The décor is nice, and somewhat on the fancy side, but possibly a little dated. At the end of the meal rainbow sherbet and a fortune cookie is served.

Hey folks — this place is open again.
I’m not sure what kind of renovation they did since the grill looks as old and dirty as ever and none of the décor actually changed. I also noticed the furniture and silverware was the same as ones I remember from early days when I dined here 20 years ago.
But who gives a shit, because the food here is still pretty solid. This is really one of the few «authentic» Mongolian BBQ joints that actually feels and tastes like what you would find in Asia (which is kind of silly if you think about it — since there’s actually nothing Mongolian about Mongolian BBQ — it was invented by the Taiwanese decades ago and modeled after the Japanese teppanyaki model — but I digress).
Anyway — I like how you can pretty much gorge yourself with tons of meat, veggies and other crap that will literally make you crap in your pants hours later because of all the sheer tonnage in your stomach. But it’s oh so worth it. The flavors of the meat when coupled with the sauces they use for cooking (that you can technically choose — but usually the cooks pick it for you — all the while asking if you like garlic and hot sauce … the answer to both of those is YES!) is just oh so tasty.
As for people saying you can’t pick your sauces — you can choose what you want — just ask the cooks to do it for you. But one mistake people often make is they go apeshit on the sauces and overkill it — that’s why it’s better to rely on the chefs to pick for you, since they often craft a concoction that is more balanced and less salty.
In addition to the meat and veggie options they also give you pickled cabbage, peanuts, rice and chinese biscuits (shao bing) as well. Personally I think the latter tastes quite good and is the normal starch compliment for Mongolian BBQ in similar restaurants in Asia. But they are rather generous with the rice here too.
The service here is decent and overall this is a great place for folks looking to grab a nice meal with friends, family and kids too. It’s also a decent place to visit before a Wizards or Caps game given the proximity to the arena.
Yes this place is old school to a crazy degree, but I’m glad it’s still here. It’s hard to find a decent Mongolian BBQ place around town (even in NYC as well).