Great meal, good price.
I had a wonderful dinner, with courteous and friendly service. I was particularily happy with the General Tso's Chicken, which had a wonderful flavor, and was much fresher than any I've had before. The crabmeat asparagus soup was delicious, but salty (according to my mom - I don't eat seafood).

I was seated in the back, by a hallway to the kitchen, and there was a bit more noise than I would have liked [glasses, plates, and so forth clanking], but it quickly faded into the background.

The parking was very convenient (on Florida Ave., and free with validation), though it would have been just as easy to take the Metro.    [27 Aug 2001 00:12:26]

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Recommended Dishes: General Tso's Chicken

     ­samiam   

Used to be one of my faves
I have been disappointed in my last two trips to City Lights. It used to be a real favorite, but service was incredibly slow and non-existent after we received our meals.

The food was okay -- there was a time when their Spicy Shrimp could not be beaten for a great meal, but things have changed.    [07 Jun 2005 15:26:12]

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     ­Anonymous   

How An Awful Chinese New Year Meal Just Got Awful-Er and Awful-Er
My Review of City Lights of China, Wash., D.C., Feb 2007

How An Awful Chinese New Year Meal Just Got Awful-Er and Awful-Er

So I took my girlfriend to City Lights of China for the Chinese New Year. I knew it wouldn't measure up to her cooking but we'd heard that this place was good. This being D.C., a town known for bad Chinese, we only hoped for decent. But we were sorely disappointed.

We began with Crunchy Squid rings ($4.95). It was to be the pinnacle of the meal. They were ring-shaped and the batter was crispy. So far, so good. Unfortunately the squid was lukewarm and rubbery. Okay. We ate most of them. This is what we expected.

Then we moved on to soup. I had the crab and asparagus ($4.95). She had the seafood and asparagus ($4.95). The difference between them? Not much. The difference between them and warm water? Not much. Apparently someone forgot the seasonings. I did find one tiny speck of crab meat in mine, though. Hurray.

Undeterred by the experience thus far -- and steeled by our low expectations -- we sallied forth to the entrees. Orange beef ($14.95) for me. Tinkling Bells Pork ($14.95) for her. The good thing about the beef was that there was a lot of it. After several dozen chomps I managed to consume one piece. This stuff had the tensile strength of well-made climber's rope. As for the orange flavor, well, it was not in evidence. There was a piece of something that, by inference, might have been an orange peel. But when I put it in my mouth it was clearly not a food product. Maybe someone used one of those fake plastic fruits by accident? As for the pork, my girlfriend took one bite -- and left it at that. It had no flavor and it seemed undercooked. Which is not just untasty but downright dangerous. I'd like to say the white rice was decent but it wasn't served hot and it had the stiff dry consistency of reheated leftovers. As my girlfriend said, "I do not think this chef is capable."

Capable? Chef? Sweetie, let's not kid ourselves. If there were a chef employed at this establishment he was off celebrating the Chinese New Year somewhere far, far away. It's possible a bus boy was left in attendance at the kitchen. But quite frankly I expect more from a bus boy than that. This meal was the awfulest I ever had. And I am not excluding those in third-world countries where rats ran under the tables in honest fear of the chef's kettle.

So when the waiter came by and asked how it was, a completely uneaten meal for two spread before him, I managed a grimace and said that we would be leaving. He brought the check, which was strangely rounded up to $52 from $51.98, and I left a generous 10% tip, which was strangely rounded down to $4.99. I left it to him to puzzle over the meaning of that.

Then my girlfriend opened her fortune cookie. And it was empty. How totally perfect! We had a good laugh about that and it almost made the whole experience worth it.

   [18 Feb 2007 15:35:36]

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     ­Anonymous   alec_in_dc at yahoo dot com