Mark’s Duck House

A place for dim sum. I felt overwhelmed after the meal. Feel like eating a buffet and cannot really enjoy the taste of dim sum. I have to keep in mind not to have too much.

My most recent visit to Mark’s was really good. The food was all fresh, warm and we didn’t have to wait. The moment after we sat down, the line started to build where almost 5 – 6 tables were waiting constantly our entire visit. Come early.
The reason I can’t give this place more stars is the inconsistency. From the 10+ times I’ve been there, it is always different. I can’t have expectations. When it’s busy, it’s better. The food isn’t so cold/​rubbery, and the service isn’t as overbearing. There are times when we come and 4 food carts rush to you all at the same time. This tends to happen more when you sit further back in the restaurant, where the carts come out/​park. It’s too overwhelming. You end up getting a bunch of dishes, because who knows if/​when they will come back.
They have most of the standard food choices at dimsum, shrimp dumplings, spare ribs, pork buns, shumai, chicken feet, etc.
Overall this restaurant is ALWAYS a hit or miss. Sometimes I leave disappointed, sometimes I leave with a happy belly.

I actually rarely come here on a weekend during their dim sum rush. We typically go late one night when I am too tired to cook. I always get pork and shrimp shu mai, shrimp dumplings, garlic spinach, and spring rolls. I let my boyfriend pick the rest which usually involves pork of some kind of soy sauce chicken. I enjoy the food almost always. Try coming on a weekday when it isn’t so hectic, some dim sum items are still available on weekdays.

This was the second time visiting this restaurant for dim sum, we were very disappointed during our first visit, but we always like to give second chance. Unfortunately we were even more disappointed during this visit than the first. To make it short and to the point, lot of items are overcharged, turn cold in the carts, and the servers are pushy, at trying to give you the most expensive plates and more than you want to order. I recommend to finding an alternative restaurant in the area if you crave for dim sum.

We were here twice within a week and both times the food was consistent and tasteful. The service is always good despite how packed the place was. They were also accomodating. The only table they had available was close to the door and because we had a baby and it was windy, they moved us inside, we were just a little squished. Food pics attached.

Having grown up in Hong Kong, I crave for a good dim sum lunch every once in a while. Mark’s duck house certainly satisfies my dim sum craving. They have most of the choices you seek, however, they do not have chasiu puff pastry, which is one of my favorite dishes.
They roll carts around the restaurant and you get to pick your dishes, you can also order items that they don’t have on the cart and they will go and make it in the kitchen and bring it out for you. They have good service and have my favorite tea combo (Ju Hua and Pu Er, AKA Ju Pu).
Their Lo Mai Gai (Lotus leaf wrapped Chicken+Sausage Sticky Rice), and their Lo Bat Go (Turnip cake) are two of my favorite dishes. The Turnip cake is pan fried to perfection. They also serve delicious duck, and taro pastry’s with meat fillings in the middle made with a super crunchy exterior. This place also serves cha siu bao and egg tarts.
Parking: Plenty of free parking out front.

I was very impressed with Mark’s Duck House! My family came here for lunch on a weekday as a special treat. None of us had been there before, though we’ve frequented Fortune (right across the street) a number of times. The dim sum was fresh, service was very friendly and accommodating (even took a couple dishes from the dim sum cart back to the kitchen to make sure it was warmed up enough), and overall it was super cheap for dim sum!
It’s much smaller than Fortune so going on a weekday was probably a good idea. My dad also put in an order for one of the egg noodle soups with roast pork and wontons, and it was delicious! The roast pork was nice and sweet and tender, and the wontons were lovely and fat. Great for a cold and rainy day, I should think.
And you can’t forget the dim sum – all of it was quite excellent! Lots of variation, very yummy, and again, at really reasonable prices. I’m sure my family will be back to dine at Mark’s Duck House again soon!

Went here on Christmas Day for dinner
It was busy but not mobbed.
Got the duck… Some hot and sour soup… And some spicy string beans.
The last two items were good… Nothing. Special.
The duck, however, was phenomenal! Crispy skin… Delicious!
Definitely worth the trip across the river!

I’ve never eaten here but have always gotten their crispy roast pork which to me is probably one of the best in the area. Its seasoned well, not too salty, and is very moist. Ordering can be a little challenging because there are so many nationalities that come and order the pork. You can say «heo quay», «siu yuk», or «letchon» but as for me, I just point and say «roast pork.» My friends say the duck is good but I have not yet to try it. If their food is as good as their pork, then I’ll come back here some day to sit in and try.

Awesome place for egg noodle soups, pan fried noodles, roasted pig, duck, and more. Their dim sum has plenty of selections. The dumplings, fried shrimp/​crab balls are delicious!
Weekends during peak lunch and dinner hours (especially during dim sum hours) tend to be very crowded so be prepared to wait in line for a while to be seated.
Good service from here is a hit or miss. There have been times when I had attentive and friendly service, but there were times where there weren’t.
I’ve been going here for more than 18 years now and they rarely disappointed me so far. Food’s really good!

We came all the way from maryland on Sunday morning around 11 and we have 8 person. Luckily we are seated promptly.
Compared to some other dim sum places near dmv, I like their options as there are many different dishes. But their execution is not so good. A lot of dishes are luke warm to even cold when served. Cold dim sum generally taste aweful. They donot bring out dishes in steamer cart, but by hand, which I find odd.
Anyway, decent selections, but taste just so so.

I’ve been to this place once before and it was great from what I remembered. However this time was slightly disappointing.
I came during lunchtime and it was packed. I walked in starving and wanted to order everything on the karts. They have a pretty wide selection of things, most of which are on the secret menus. The soft shell crab and the roasted pork dishes stood out to me the most, perfectly cooked seasoned and textured. However the rest of the dishes we got were very greasy compared to most dim sum places. The green beans and drunken noodles were just sitting in grease and oil which made it hard to eat. The roasted duck was mostly fatty meats. Half the dishes we got were either cold or room temperature and the bill added up quick.
We picked out no more than 7 items and the bill was about $ 75 which was crazy. Their website clearly says prices of each dish range from $ 2.50 — $ 7.50 so we didn’t understand. We asked waiter to go in detail the cost of each and he hesitated. Sketch. The meat and seafood dishes can be up to $ 14. A lot of the things on the menu sound similar so you never know if they jip you. Beware.
Overall not a satisfying experience in my opinion.

Service: Definitely the best service I’ve gotten from any dim sum restaurant. Right when I sat down I was asked what drinks I wanted and a dim sum cart was pushed to my table. I told my potato boyfriend the food looked a bit old and a woman immediately switched it out for a new plate. Every time I picked something from the cart, the servers gave me the fresh and hot ones. One of the servers kept coming over to our table with food straight out of the kitchen! The servers were attentive and friendly. They know how to treat customers! They gave us the right amount of privacy and checked up on us accordingly.
Food: I wasn’t a fan of some of their dishes like beef chow fun or fried crab balls. Chow fun noodles didn’t really have flavor and crab balls had an unfamiliar taste to it. There wasn’t much variety either, granted I did come around 1. I gotta rave about the Shi mai, it was delicious and I could not get enough of it. You can never go wrong with Shu mai.
Ambience: Straight up rachet. Cracks on the frames of pictures, old outdated lighting, tables, chairs, etc. But I do like that they play light Chinese music in the background, it was very pleasant.
Overall, I was willing to look past the rachet interior because they made up for it in service and sub par food. I wouldn’t mind coming back here again.

Is cockroach a secret menu item? «How do you say free in Chinese? Cockroach. Yeah, that sounds about right.»
My friend and I were craving dim sum yesterday and decided to pop into one of my family’s long-​beloved dim sum restaurants in Falls Church, Mark’s Duck House. Now I’ll preface this by saying that my expectations for «cleanliness» were extremely low going into this meal. While they’re certainly not the cleanest place (beware of their run down, two-​stall bathroom), their delicious beef chow fun and shrimp balls certainly make up for it which is why my family and I have always been loyal patrons. Anyway, yesterday I had the pleasure of sampling one of Mark’s secret menu delicacies — la cucaracha; and boy, was it crunchy?! Now I have eaten a cockroach before. I know I know, gross. To my defense, I was in Thailand walking the streets of Khao San Road and was finally able to track down one of those infamous bug wheelers. After doing a lot of research online, I thought that it’d be fun to try a cockroach or maggot (what happens in Thailand in this case doesn’t stay in Thailand). Anyway, I digress… So what upset me the most about this encounter was the customer service or lack there of that I received after notifying management of my little friend. First of all, the manager did not seem to be phased by the sight of this little critter at all — it seemed like it was a common occurrence for him. Secondly, he had he nerve to say that he’d take 50% off our bill AFTER we asked what he was going to do about this. I’m sorry, but this isn’t the monthly J. Crew Factory sale. I might’ve just eaten a cockroach and you are still expecting me to pay for this meal. Are you kidding me? Sure, I’ll pay for this meal and call the health department immediately after walking out of the restaurant. Third, after we decided to stay and finish our meal (we insisted that the meal be comped), waiters and waitresses continued to walk by and offer us dishes which we gladly accepted. I forgot to mention that the manager did take our ticket when he brought me a new plate and chopsticks, I guess he assumed that we wouldn’t order more food. You know what they say about people who assume… Anyway, I guess he forgot to tell the waiters what had happened because a few of the staff began having a fit when they couldn’t find our ticket. So much so that they began arguing in Chinese right in front of us. It was painfully awkward. Oh how I wish I knew some Chinese (couldn’t tell whether or not it was Mandarin or Cantonese)…all of those soap dramas failed me! After 10 minutes of arguing with his staff, he proceeded to say that the meal was free with a bit of attitude which in hindsight is ridiculous. Why were we apologizing for ordering food we were entitled to after discovering a cockroach in my shrimp dish that had obviously been cooked?! They’re lucky I didn’t call the Health Department or or yell out cockroach for the entire restaurant to hear and see. Long story short, I will never ever go to Mark’s Duck House for Dim Sum Sunday and neither should you. You’ve been warned.

I call the following creative writing piece, «Of Porcelain Plates»…
The grease glistened beneath the fraction of light shining down from the ceiling fixtures. On top the off white porcelain plate, everything looked like a stain — something there that wasn’t supposed to be. Very much like the shining coat of what one can only assume to be grease which slathered the green beans. They held no taste different from being steamed and yet, the sticky coating and sparse garlic pieces which lay throughout made it appear as though flavor was present. A slight shake of the table, a small push of the plate, the light once again reflected off the oils clinging to the food for dear life. Maybe if the lights above were brighter we would know why they clung on so dearly. Until then though … we may never know.
Anyways… Food is a tad espensive, layered in grease, and some dishes were sitting at room temperature. I wonder if I waited a few more minutes if I could see the fat transform and coagulate. If you’re not trying to spend more than 50 dollars on tiny plates of fat and grease, ask the server for the price of each dish. One dish that actually stood out to me was their roasted pork or whatever the hell the pork dish with crispy skin is called. They managed to get the skin to a nice, even crisp without making the meat dry as I’ve experienced with most places. Far from what I can say about their duck, which maybe due to the fact that I was eating it, just exploded juices of fat all in my mouth. Happy eating :)

My family and I always go here for dim sum on the weekends. It’s busy all weekend but you can do a call ahead *FYI*
But the service we get is hit or miss. This time, the lady helping us barely came around and wasn’t very friendly. The food is always the same though — really delicious. You can also order food through the server if there’s something not on the rollers that you want.
Love this place for Dim Sum.

I’ve been coming here as long as I can remember. This is one of the best dim sum place to go to in the NOVA area, IMO. It could get pretty packed during the peak hours when dim sum is being served but thankfully they accept reservations.
The service is moderate, attentive but could be somewhat slow. The food is great and always fresh. I love the hargow, fried shrimp ball with a crab claw, steamed chinese broccoli and shumai from the dim sum cart. And we normally always order combination fried rice, wonton noodle soup and stir-​fry chinese watercrest with garlic. Never had a bad experience or been disappointed. Prices are fair.

Growing up in VA, my parents used to bring us here all the time.
One of my favorite things at Mark’s Duck House is obviously, their duck. It can be on the greasier side but the flavors are all there. This isn’t the best duck in the VA area but I still enjoy eating here. Their other dishes are good but I wouldn’t say great. Service can be a hit or miss. Sometimes you’re warmly greeted and get a great server and sometimes it’s a complete miss. Service has improved greatly from past years.
I’ve been here for dinner many times, but a friend suggested we try out their Dim Sum. B and I brought my cousin here. Came super early and found a seat immediately. The only thing about being one of the first customers is that not all their dim sum items were ready at that time. I still suggest coming early, since this pace does get packed but maybe not the very first ones in the door. This way you will have a larger variety of items to choose from as time goes by. We enjoyed ourselves and left more than full!
Mark’s Duck House is a solid dim sum joint. May I also suggest Hong Kong Pearl Seafood Restaurant in Falls Church.

Here’s a list of the items we ordered and if it’s a buy, pass, questionable:
Special: Crab Dumpling — Questionable, the $ 7 price point was steep. Not balling like that to be ordering 3 dumplings for 7 bucks.
Special: Chicken Dumpling — Questionable, Ground chicken, Ginger, Scallions, Onions
Hargow: Buy, best Hargow around the block. tender meat and fresh. Order 2
Shumai: Questionable, it wasn’t special and the wrapper was stuck together like it was overcooked
Steamed roasted pork bun: Buy, comes in a order of 2. The bao is soft and there’s plenty of stuffing in the middle. Served warm and delicious
Fried tofu roll: Buy, It doesn’t look appetizing but it taste amazing. Bamboo shoot, pork, ginger, and onions wrapped like an egg roll.
Shrimp steamed rice roll: Buy, ask for additional sauce on top.
Potstickers: Pass, the dumplings are flat and cold. it’s not worth it, there are better options on the same cart.
Steamed Custard bun: Buy, special ordered because it’s not on the steam cart. It was the perfect way to end a salty, savory dim sum session.
The spicy pepper flakes was pretty mild; it wasn’t as spicy and fresh as the Fortune hot sauce. The service was decent, the waiter came around a few times to fill up the ice water and tea kettle. The waiters pushing the carts had serviceable english to explain the dishes that were special to MDH. We didn’t feel rushed to pay and leave once we were done with the meal. It came out to $ 25 for each person after tip. Overall it was an enjoyable service.

This place definitely has a lot of variety. The dishes come out quickly and there are lots of choices. The food tastes great. My favorite was the taro balls. It has some kind of meat in the middle but I couldn’t figure out what kind. My least favorite was the steamed oysters. They were too big and had a metallic taste. Also, unfortunately too pricey. Definitely not worth it for $ 7 a piece. No wonder the waitress kept pushing it.
I didn’t have to wait long to get a table. They are pretty efficient at getting you in and out but you feel rushed. 3 Stars for the pricey oysters and feeling rushed.
I’m a Marylander so I would rather go to Far East in Rockville where the service is superb and the food is great.