DCReview
Chang Chang, a Dupont Circle spot from celebrity chef Peter Chang, is a dual concept Chinese restaurant with two different menus and two different experiences. For the lunch and takeout crowd, that means great food you’ll want to eat over and over, again. The dinner crowd, on the other hand, is going to leave disappointed.
Déjà vu is bound to hit OG Dupont diners when they enter Chang Chang as the set-up looks remarkably similar to the previous spot, Mai Thai, and is still full of coworkers on lunch breaks and business people at dinner. There’s plenty of space for group dinners in the front of the restaurant, including a few round tables that’ll let you hear everyone at the table and not just the people on either side of you. If you end up in a booth, get one of the ones along the wall, which are more intimate than the ones running down the middle, where you’re basically eating with the table right next to you.
photo credit: Reema Desai
photo credit: Reema Desai
photo credit: Reema Desai
The restaurant breaks down into what they call Chang In and Chang Out. Chang Out, which is both the takeout and lunch menu, gives you plenty of classic Sichuan flavors and that awesome mouth-numbing feeling (literally) from dishes like the tofu skin salad. Chang In, the dinner menu, has a lot of great ideas, but that’s where the greatness stops. Take the restaurant’s signature dish, the duck four ways. You get four different servings of duck, including a crispy wing, that all lack flavor and consistency.
Chang Chang stays pretty busy and has a rush during both services. Make a reservation if you’re planning on dining during primetime hours, otherwise you might have to grab a seat at the often empty bar.
If you’re in Dupont for lunch, Chang Chang is one of the best places to grab a bite, whether you have time to sit or you’re taking your food to go. At dinnertime, though, there are much better options nearby. Save yourself the trouble.
Food Rundown
Kung Pao Chicken
Everything in this lunch dish is perfectly bite-sized, from the crunchy chicken to the onions and bell peppers. Add in some chilis and peanuts and top it off with a sweet, but spicy sauce and you have a winning dish.
Chicken Nuggets With Ghost Chili
These joints are spicy spicy, so proceed with caution. But the chicken is nice and crunchy, and makes for great lunch bites.
Green Beans With Pickled Cabbage
The vegetables are cooked nicely, full of flavor, and pair well with the spicier foods. Grab these to help cut back on the heat and numbing powers of the other dishes and give your lunch some balance.
photo credit: Reema Desai
Duck Four Ways
The signature dinner dish doesn’t live up to its moniker or its $120 price tag. The fried wings are so tough it might feel like you’re going to lose a tooth. The breast is underwhelming and the confit pie feels like it was just thrown together. The bone broth and foie gras dumplings are the best part of the dish, but that’s not saying much.
photo credit: Reema Desai
Knife Cut Clam Noodles
The dish is flat in color and in taste. It’s brown sauce coating noodles with nothing to add a pop of color, so it looks pretty unappealing when it lands on the table. And the dish is missing brightness and acidity to give it any depth of flavor. The whole thing is just… blah.
photo credit: Reema Desai
Crab Fried Rice
This is the best dinner dish, so if you’re ordering off the evening menu, this is what you want. The flavors work really well together, and even though the rice doesn’t have the usual crunch from the frying, the ham comes through and adds the texture you need.