Distinct Taste

After letting my experience settle for a week, I have decided to write a review. While I want to like this restaurant, I can’t find a reason to come back here. Let me elaborate.
Let’s start with the food:
The only thing unique is the Claypot soup. Every other dish ordered is average (stir fry fish filets, eggplant and pork, braised pork belly, snow pea tips, shrimp and corn). One of the largest regrets is listening to a recommendation of ordering shrimp stir fried with corn. This dish was like taking a can of corn and a bag of frozen shrimp and stir frying them together. Not worth the money.
Now the experience:
The table we dined at was a large round table on the «stage». The linen table cloth was covered by a large plastic cover with a lazy Susan in the middle. This was absolutely filthy. The plastic covering looked like it was reused and sticky. The lazy Susan was greasy and was very difficult to turn as it stuck to the plastic tablecloth. This gave me an uneasy feeling as I kept worrying about food poisoning by the end of my meal.
The restaurant was completely empty. We starting dining at 7:30pm on a Sunday. We did not see another table all night nor any carryout business.
Bottom line:
The flavor of this restaurant is not a game changer and is borderline average. There are just too many other options available in the DMV for Chinese food. The cleanliness is a major red flag and will deter me from returning.

This is about as authentic a Chinese restaurant as you’ll find. PLEASE don’t waste your time with the usual Chinese-​American dishes you can find in every Chinese restaurant. This is a place to throw caution to the wind. Be adventurous. Come with a group of friends and order dishes that are new to you.
Service is excellent, attentive without being intrusive. Prices are reasonable.

Do not go to this place! We ordered five dishes and one soup. The soup is ok, not very good. Sunflower fish is not fresh. Me and my friends got stomach sick after this meal.

I wanted to like this place since it’s a new local business. I liked the previous restaurant (Burma Road) well enough, so was hoping we might get an even better restaurant in its place. Nope.
We ordered Chinese American classics — General tso’s chicken, kung pao chicken, sweet and sour soup, fried rice and egg rolls. Some were mediocre and bland at best (fried rice), and at worst weird tasting (a *distinct* taste) and WAY over spiced (kung pao). In both chicken dishes there were huge chunks of red chili everywhere. My daughter and I both like some spice, but my husband is the true spice afficianado on the house. Not one of us could eat more than a couple bites of the general tsos.
Might try again with clay pot soup as a last shot… Will continue to look for decent Chinese in the area otherwise.

So today I came here for the 2^nd time in about 2 weeks. I used to come here all the time when it was a different restaurant, but they closed. We decided to give it a try to see what it is all about. First thing to know about this place is Do Not ordered the «American Chinese food» when U come here b/​c they are an Authentic place. They are known for their claypot and authentic chinese food. In response to a past review most authentic places fry shrimp with the shells on, just an fyi.
First time I came here we got the pork belly entrée which was great, very flavorful and delish! The pork was nicely seasoned and it came with bok choy… super good! I got the chicken and ginger hot pot that was very good too! It was kinda basic with no veggies, but the flavor was on point!
I just went there again today and it was even better!!! My dad got the Hanan fish and even asked for an additional veggie which they happily obliged. The fish had a great taste of ginger and was lightly fried. The peppers in the entrée were fresh and good. I also have to add that both times we got the hot n sour soup and it was better than most. My entrée was the Schezuan Dan noodles… omfg…was it good! Small noodles with shitake mushrooms, scallions, peppers, onion, tofu and pork, in a nice sauce. When it arrived she mixed it all together for me to make sure all the flavors were incorporated. This puts lo mein to shame! I will never look at noodles the same way as I did before today. It also may be the best ha giver food too, super spicy and a bit greasy (could have been a touch less). All in all a great visit and great food. Will def b back to see what other authentic dishes I can try. I would not order any of the Americanized Chinese food here just out of principle. That’s like going to a steak house and ordering chicken. I will b back and will update this as nessesary. Glad that another good restaurant opened up here and I hope people give them a chance I am happy I did!

Clay Pot Soup. That so far is what’s Distinct here. Let me add the ham hock and radish to what others have praised at this successor to Burma Road. Set up for big Chinese family meals with the larger of two rooms completely filled with round tables seating six or eight, DT boasts of a big menu with many unusual dishes. Sad to say, many of those listed were not available on my visit.
Other Unilocalers did not enjoy the more standard items, so we stuck with the pots of clay and were more than satisfied. Large portions, great broth, terrific ingredients, plenty left to take home; and when you do that you’ll find the mix has mellowed even more, so the flavors are even better the second time around!
The rooms are a notch down from plain and there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of staff outside the kitchen, but give the clay pot soups a try and I think you’ll find Distinct Taste worth returning to.

I have their pig feet clay pot soup and sweet and spicy pork and my favorite is the spicy fish head. The hot pepper is really good. I brought the left over hot peppery for the sauce for my noodles. Defiantly yummy and easy to preserve spicy sauce!

HORRIBLE. I really wish we could get our money back.
Listen up Unilocalers, do not waste your time.
I live right down the street. The hubby ordered take out from them and it just plain sucked. Orange chicken, general tso chicken and shrimp fried rice. Both of the chicken entrees had a watered down and bland sauce. There were so many gross and chewy pieces in the tiny bites of chicken we had. Portions were small but it didn’t matter because we didn’t finish it. Something was off, very off. The rice was a miss too, dry and tasteless.
A few weeks later I was craving takeout, decided to forgive Distinct Taste and give them another try.
Major fail.
This time I ordered salt and pepper shrimp/​sesame shrimp and the shells were on!
They fried the shrimp entrees WITH the SHELLS and TAILS on.
WTF.
(In addition to that, they lied about having jumbo shrimp because I specifically asked if they had jumbo shrimp and the receptionist confirmed.)
I had to drive it back up the street and I was so hungry. The manager and chef were unkind, puzzled and seemed unable to keep up with what I was saying. He definitely understood the part where I demanded a refund and he refused, promising to re-​do the order. The manager also told me that if I didn’t want the shells on I should have said so. WHOA.
I waited in the outdated/​oddly decorated restaurant for not even 10 min before my «new» order came out. Now how in the hell did one chef clean, peel, devein, season, batter, fry and then sauce up 10 – 15 shrimp in under 8 min. Magic?
I think they took the shells off, re-​battered and then re-​fried the same shrimp they gave me before. The shrimp were so tough and over cooked. They tasted awful & unnatural, unlike anything I’ve ever had. I was so pissed. I took it back and he refused to refund my money.
The kicker was me noticing there are quite a few suspicious reviews… Obviously written by management to boost the overall rating, begging and pleading for the community to support their small business because they spend hours diligently making clay pot soup.
If you want great Chinese food, go to China Jade or Hunan Café.

The clay pot soup made with yam and pork short ribs was it Delicious !!! Will keep going for clay pot soup this winter !!

Good taste and clean environment. It’s my go to dim sum place now in Maryland.

ok ok OK
Fellow Unilocalers were shouting about the «clay pot soup»…so we had to try it.
Hmmm hmmmm good! * It was the yam and short rib pork soup. The meat tasted like it was boiled nice and long, making it practically melt in your mouth… yummy!
The Flounder Fish was especially tasty. If you don’t like fish, you have to try this because you WILL like it!
This is in the old Burma Road location. It’s still trying to get a foothold. The sign on the building is HUGE and well lit.
Again, HELP the small businesses!

Interesting food, a bit different than the standard Rockville chinese. Not crowded to the point of being earily quiet. Bring a native speaker or work with the waitress to get a great meal. The specials and claypot where very rich, good flavor a bit spicy. Large portions. Will be back.

This restaurant should have a lot more business than now, seriously. Where are the customers?
Stepped in around noon on a Saturday, and there was no other customer except me and my 2 friends (and their baby son). It felt cool bcuz it was like we booked the entire place lol. Maybe everyone’s away for Thanksgiving? We were skeptical bcuz of how empty it was, but man, the food was awesome~!
Service was really good too. I think there was only one Taiwanese waitress, a young teenage boy who was the person at the front «podium», and an older man who hung out in the restaurant (I think he’s the owner). They were all very nice and friendly, and checked on us occasionally.
This place is spacious, so it is baby friendly. They will provide high chairs for babies. But, the high chair is abit too low, where the baby will risk hitting against the table if you’re not careful. So they should get higher baby chairs.
I uploaded some photos so I hope they will show up here? But otherwise, we ordered recommendations by the waitress. She was honest and she told us to get 2 other entrees on top of our clay pot soup.
Chicken and Shitake Mushroom Clay (Crock) Pot soup: the soup was clear and really tasty, it’s not super thick and I think it’s just nice. Very well done and it felt naturally brewed (i.e. no msg). The chicken is so soft from the slow boiling and the mushrooms were great too. However, they literally put in the entire chicken, including the feet and even the head. So juz be aware. This is definitely enough for 3 or 4 people.
Fried flounder fish dish: think it’s named «Gann??» on the menu. Get this, you won’t regret it.
Triple Delight: stir fry of 3 veggies — peppers, potato, and eggplant. It tastes really good~
Will definitely drop by again. I hope their business will pick up bcuz I want them to be around~! Maybe bcuz they’ve opened for only 2 months? Hopefully this review will help them~! :^)

I have been looking for and trying authentic restaurants. This is the one. I love the place when I first tried it. The clay pot soup is fantastic and authentic. Comparing to the effort they cook the soup and the portion of the soup, the price is really amazing. I ordered the soup every time I went. I have tried all their chef’s special written on the outside board, and everything is great.
The service is good but they were short of hands on weekends. Because their food is really good, it doesn’t stop me going back. I have been there several times and the situation is getting better.
For anyone looking for an authentic Chinese restaurant, this is the place you should go. Their clay pot soup is a must have item.

The crock soup is fantastic. It is really authentic. Nice environment and waitress. Definitely will come back.

This is not your typical American Chinese food that’s everywhere now. This food is even new to me as a Chinese. Their specialty is the clay pot soup. The price for the soup is unbelievably cheap considering it take 6~7 hours to make so they are limited in quantity. We tries the Chinese yam pork short rib soup. It was our first time trying it, and it was really good. We also tried couple other dishes suggested by the waitress. They were also good, but the soup was our favorite. I am pretty sure I will be there regularly when the winter comes.
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Updated 11÷11÷15
I understand the couple negative reviews now. I went back on a Saturday with a group of friends. We ordered corn egg drop and sweet and sour soup for the kids. Not sure about the sweet and sour, but the corn egg drop soup was terrible. Probably, the worst I have ever tried in my life.
The place was much busier that day, and the grade of the food clearly went down. I don’t think they are ready for the heavier traffic yet. If you want to have the best experience, I would recommend going on weekdays when there is only few crowds and avoid the American Chinese dishes.

I fell in love with the ‘clay pot soup’ from the first sip. Long time slow cooking made the broth truly scrumptious. It is really a great deal considering the effort and the taste.
The chef’s speciaties recommended by the waitress, braised pork belly, dongpo pork, and Gannan fish stir fry, are authentic and delicious. A whole page of vegetable dishes was impressive and the price is very reasonable. A generous plate of stir fry pumpkin or stir fry napa cabbage for 7.99 is unbeatable.
This place clearly stands out even compared with other authentic places nearby. The waitress may be understaffed at this moment so be prepared to wait if you see a crowd. It is worth the waiting though.

Compared to the many other tasty Chinese restaurants in the Rockville/​Gaithersburg area this newcomer offers some unique dishes and has a «distinct taste», for sure, of its’ own. We ordered several dishes, some of which I took photos (and were among the more memorable dishes we had). In particular, the Lotus Eggplant was really tasty and different from other places as it was prepared with whole Japanese eggplants that were cooked tender inside but with the outer skin slightly crispy, then topped with a saucy combo of small strips of pork, minced garlic and green onions. Also good was the braised pork belly with bok choy, which was a bit different from some other braised pork belly dishes I’ve had as there were whole pieces of dried chilies and big pieces of ginger incorporated into it which added a bit of spice and zest to an otherwise tasty yet familiar braised preparation. Their stir fried Sichuan string beans (ganbian shijidou) which is a standard offering at most Chinese restaurants was well made, too, as the beans were still firm and not overcooked. The sweet and sour fish was less successful compared to our other dishes. It was a whole fish deep fried and topped in a rather thick and overly starchy sauce. Also less successful, and not pictured, was the Cumin Beef dish that we ordered. The beef lacked in any pronounced cumin flavor and it wasn’t spicy at all even though their menu listed it as a spicy dish. The dish was still quite palatable but it was not as flavorful as the other dishes. Overall, the meal as a whole was pleasing to this group of seasoned Chinese food eaters. The dishes came across as being «homemade» and as their name suggests they appear to seek to differentiate their establishment from their many other Chinese restaurant competitors by delivering on their own view of a «distinct taste». Only time will tell if other patrons will agree…

I tried this place twice to give it a couple of chances. The pork dumplings are good and I had a chicken in spicy garlic sauce that was pretty good. It had white meat and good flavor. I also tried the general tso’s chicken and the texture of the chicken was really weird and rubbery. I couldn’t finish it. I might be back because it is so close to my house but I was not blown away by anything.

This was Burma Road, which in my opinion had much better food. Ordered crispy noodles which came out soggy. Seems that they stopped serving the noodles crispy because it was hard to eat. Turns out the reason it’s hard to eat is that they use a thick noodle. Also had another noodle dish that was ok tasting, but not pretty to look at. Prices are high for the quality of the food. Since this is a new place, I’m rating it 2 stars instead of just 1. Maybe they will get their act together.