Chinese food, finally

Current mood: so, so full. and yet, somehow, wanting to eat more

Because I am too d*mn lazy to trek up to Rockville, I don't usually get to eat Chinese food. Sure, I could get American Chinese in lots of places in sunny Virginia; however, that is a whole different animal (snerk) from hometown, Boston - or New York-worthy Chinatown food. So, imagine my delight when I found out that one of the Rockville restaurants touted as being "authentic" has an outpost in Annandale, just a hop, skip, and jump down the street from me!
I was lucky enough to try A&J Chinese Restaurant with a person who knew virtually the entire menu by heart. It took us a little while to negotiate (because we both wanted everything), but we settled on 9 terrific dishes, listed here in increasing order of I must have this again (soon!):

5208 - Vegetarian delight w/ gluten, dry bean curd, and mushrooms (cold dish): the mushrooms were well marinated, but I've never really cared that much for gluten. Non spicy, soy sauce-based flavor. Great dish if you like gluten.

4109 - Thousand-layer pancake (hot dish): it's fun to pull this apart, but it's a little messy and tastes mostly of fried dough (nothing wrong with that, just kind of boring). Nice, thready texture.

4104 - Scallion pancake (hot dish): good, with lots of layers (probably the best I've had around here), but a bit thick and heavy. Also, I prefer to have vinegar sauce with my scallion pancake, rather than just straight vinegar and soy sauce.

2102 - Spicy wonton w/ hot red sauce (hot dish): tasty, but not very spicy. Not exactly swimming in hot oil, as you'd imagine after having the spicy baby wontons a la Chef Chang.

5102 - Sliced beef (marinated & cooked w/ bean paste) (cold dish): these slices were good wrapped in pieces of the thousand-layer pancake. Mild, flavorful, and very prettily (and thinly) cut.

5203 - Cucumber salad in hot garlic sauce (cold dish): spiciest thing on the table! Fiery and vinegary, yet cooling. Great summer dish.

5207 - Bean curd skin w/ mustard greens and soy beans (cold dish): mustard greens for the weak! The greens are diced up and doused with vinegar, so they aren't bitter at all. Tossed with edamame and light curd skin, this mild, salad-y dish is very refreshing.

4101 - Pan-fried beef bun (hot dish): SQUIRT! Juicy, beefy inside, crispy outside, nice thin dough. Tastes like home.

5101 - Smoked chicken (cold dish): hands down the best thing on the table. Delicately smoked with both the smell and flavor permeating the meat. Large portion of beautifully-arrayed chicken slices.

At ~$16 each (for 2) with a LOT of leftovers, this meal was quite a steal. Of those dishes I liked least, I would still order each one again (though maybe not all at once). Even so, I already have a whole new meal picked out for next time. This place is right down the street from me, and apparently they also serve breakfast foods on the weekends! I'm going to be in deep-fried trouble!!!