Uncle Liu’s Hot Pot, web site, 2972 Gallows Road, Merrifield, VA, 703-560-6868 (Metro Trip Planner – opens in new window) [Google | TripAdvisor | Tyson’s Reporter | Ylp]
This is not your Uncle’s Uncle Liu’s! New ownership, mostly a new menu, invigorated once again. They still do have hot pot, but the charms here are the mixed dishes from the Uighurs and central coastal China, the menu is a real hodge podge. The Sichuan stuff is pretty good, but not the magic here. Get the Chinese menu and look for the lead page listing the four special dishes, many with noodles, the Xinjiang lamb with thick noodle dish being my favorite. This is a hard restaurant to summarize, it is somewhat uneven and I suspect the menu has hidden treasures I have yet to discover. At the very least, it is real Chinese food and definitely worth the visit.