Weekend Round-Up

Two big events are on the horizon for this weekend (in between World Cup games, of course):

Saturday

DC Caribbean Carnival: Get ready for beads, feathers, and reggae galore at the annual DC Caribbean Carnival. The parade will take place Saturday starting at 11, and will wind down the Georgia Ave. corridor. Once the extravaganza is over, head to the the international marketplace at Banneker Recreation Park (Sat. and Sun. from 12-7 p.m.), where food, crafts, and live music await. I’m also planning to make a pit stop at Sweet Mango Cafe, which I’ve heard serves the best jerk chicken in DC. Click here for more details.

Saturday and Sunday

Safeway’s National Capital Barbecue Battle VXIII: This sounds like it’ll be an event of EPIC eating proportions. Featuring free food samples, cooking demos, 30 bands on 3 stages, the national pork championship, and much more, Safeway’s Barbecue Battle won’t disappoint barbecue aficionados–or foodies looking for to score some smoky, succulent barbecue samples. The festival, located on Pennsylvania Ave. between 9th and 14th Streets, starts Saturday from 11:00 a.m.-9 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. Click here for more info.

Enjoy the fun, sun, and festivities!

Photo courtesy of DCCaribbeanCarnival.org

China Boy’s Handmade Noodles

Chinese New Year parade in Chinatown

A few weeks ago, the Washington Post’s food section published a great article about hand-pulled noodles made right in the middle of Chinatown. Authentic Chinese noodles in D.C.’s Chinatown–who knew?! What a novel idea to  have Chinese food in Chinatown! (For those who have not been to D.C.’s Chinatown, it has very few actual Chinese businesses. The streets are filled with chains like McDonalds, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Chipotle, all of which have their names translated into Chinese characters, as if to justify their being there.)

Since I was in Chinatown on Sunday to watch the Chinese New Year parade, I decided to check out China Boy, one of the noodle purveyors listed in the article. China Boy occupies an unassuming store front on one of the quieter streets in Chinatown (a welcome respite from the crowds on 7th and H). The restaurant is tiny with only a few tables for dining in (most people take out).

Yet surprisingly, this small storefront churns out “1,800 to 2,000 pounds of rice noodles for more than 100 Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean and Thai restaurants in the District, Maryland and Virginia,” according the Post article.

The menu is pretty straightforward. You can order rice noodle crepes, which is a large rice noodle sheet folded over fillings which include beef, shrimp, and roast pork, or char siu ($2.75-4.00). The rest of the menu has regular rice noodles, which you can order in noodle soup or stir fried as chow fun.

I ordered the roast pork noodle soup ($5.95), a hearty and simple soy-sauce based broth filled with soft, chewy rice noodles and sweet roast pork. It was a very large portion for six bucks and I was certainly too full to order the shrimp noodle crepe I had been eyeing during my meal.

China Boy’s noodles were a cheap and filling end to a great day. I’ll certainly be back again soon to try those delectable looking noodle crepes.

China Boy

817 6th St. NW

Washington, DC 20001

202-371-1661