What to Order at Yunnan By Potomac on Your First Visit
Walking into Yunnan By Potomac for the first time can be a genuinely exciting and slightly overwhelming experience. The menu spans a cuisine most Americans have never encountered before, the dishes have names that are unfamiliar, and almost everything on the table looks worth trying. That is, without question, a good problem to have. But it helps to have a guide.
We have put together this first timer's walkthrough to help you structure your meal, understand what you are ordering, and make sure you leave having tried the dishes that best represent what Yunnan By Potomac is all about. Consider it your cheat sheet for a first visit that feels like a tenth.
First, Understand How the Menu is Structured
The menu at Yunnan By Potomac is built for sharing. This is not a restaurant where everyone orders their own entrée and eats in isolation. It is a restaurant where the table orders together, dishes arrive throughout the meal, and the experience builds course by course in the spirit of how food is actually eaten in Yunnan.
The menu flows through several categories: Xiaochi small plates to start, Bao Buns, Jiaozi Dumplings, Shaokao Barbecue skewers, Mixian rice noodle dishes as the main event, and Tiandian desserts to finish. The star of the menu is Mixian, described as a slippery, light and almost fluffy rice noodle, served with broths, flavorful sauces and braised meats.
For a table of two on a first visit, we recommend two to three small plates, one or two dumpling or bao orders, one to two Mixian bowls to share, and at least one dessert. For a table of four you have room to explore much more freely. This is exactly the kind of restaurant where ordering more than you think you need is always the right call.
Start Here: Xiaochi Small Plates
The small plates section is your opening act and your best opportunity to understand the range of flavors Yunnan By Potomac works with before the heavier dishes arrive.
The Wood Ear and Mint Salad is the first dish we recommend to every first time visitor. Wood ear mushrooms are one of the signature ingredients of Yunnan cuisine, with a satisfying crunch and a mild, earthy flavor that you will not find in most other Chinese restaurants. Paired with fresh mint and a bright, clean dressing, this salad is one of the most refreshing and distinctive things on the menu and the perfect way to calibrate your palate for what follows.
The Twice-Fried Potatoes and the Little 4 Cucumbers are also worth ordering if you want to work your way through the small plates section. Both dishes showcase the Yunnan approach to vegetables, treating them as the main event rather than an afterthought, with bold seasoning and careful technique.
The Dumplings You Cannot Skip
Old Town's noodle house does dumplings justice. Six-top orders, served pan-fried or steamed, are packed with smoked tofu, duck, lump crab, minced chicken, pork, and more. At the Pentagon City location, that tradition continues with a dumpling lineup that has become one of the most talked-about parts of the menu.
The Hometown Pork Jiaozi is the classic starting point. Reviewers describe them as silky and spicy, and the kind of dumpling worth ordering again. These are hand-folded to order and represent the foundational Yunnan dumpling tradition at its most straightforward and satisfying.
For something more adventurous, the Peking-ish Duck Dumplings are the menu's most playful dish. The name says everything you need to know about the spirit of this restaurant: deep respect for Chinese culinary tradition combined with a genuine sense of humor and creativity. They have become one of the most ordered dishes in the room and the one guests most consistently tell us they did not expect to love as much as they did.
The Bao Buns
The Crispy Pork Belly Bao is the essential order from this section of the menu. Eater staff described the bao buns at Yunnan By Potomac as giant and juicy. The contrast between the crispy exterior and the pillowy bun around it is exactly what makes this dish so satisfying, and the pork belly filling is rich without being heavy in the way that Yunnan cooking almost always manages to balance.
The Main Event: Mixian
This is what you came for. Mixian rice noodles are the soul of the menu and the dish that most defines the Yunnan By Potomac experience. As the restaurant itself describes it: Mixian is the bedrock of Yunnan cuisine, the base for dishes from soups to stir-fries, prepared in almost endless variations throughout the province. It is the people's soul food at home, and for those travelling away from Yunnan, their comfort food.
The Norwegian King Crab Mixian is the crown jewel. It is the dish that stops conversations, the one that ends up in every photograph, and the one that most clearly communicates what Yunnan By Potomac is reaching for: a Yunnan tradition elevated by exceptional, premium ingredients. If you are visiting for the first time and you want to understand what this restaurant is capable of at its highest level, this is the bowl to order.
For something more deeply rooted in the traditional Yunnan style, the Mogu Shiitake noodle bowl is the dish to try. Reviewers have described the shiitake broth base as stunning in color and deeply flavorful. It is a bowl that makes the case for vegetarian Yunnan cooking as powerfully as the King Crab makes the case for luxury.
If your table is split between wanting something classic and something showstopping, order both and share them. That is the right way to eat here.
The Barbecue Skewers
The Shaokao section of the menu draws on the night market barbecue tradition that runs through Yunnan's street food culture. Eater staff singled out the assertive spicy lamb skewers as a standout during their visit to the Alexandria location. At the Pentagon City location the A5 Wagyu Skewers represent the premium end of the skewer lineup, bringing a depth of flavor and tenderness to the format that makes them unlike any other skewer you will have tried.
The Pork Wuhuarou is the traditional choice and the one to order if you want to understand how Yunnan barbecue is meant to taste in its most authentic form. Order a selection and share them across the table alongside the small plates while the noodles are on their way.
Do Not Skip Dessert
The Tiandian dessert section is short but it deserves your attention. The Winter Melon Cheesecake has become one of the most talked-about desserts in Arlington, a dish that surprises guests who did not expect to find a dessert this refined and this distinctly Yunnan on the menu. The Bacon Egg Yolk Donuts are the more playful option and the one to order if your table wants to finish on something unexpected and fun.
Order both if you can. Neither will disappoint.
How to Make the Most of Your Visit
A few practical notes for first timers. Make a reservation, especially on Friday and Saturday evenings when the dining room fills quickly. The weekday Lunch Bento is an exceptional way to try a range of dishes for $27 if you are visiting for the first time at lunchtime, six plates that give you a solid overview of the menu's range.
If you are coming with a group of four or more, consider the Chef's Endless Table at $49 per person, which allows you to explore the entire menu without limits. It is one of the best value unlimited dining experiences in Northern Virginia and the format that best reflects the communal, exploratory spirit of how this food is meant to be eaten.
Happy Hour runs Monday through Friday from 2pm to 5pm with half-priced wines, beers, cocktails, dumplings, and small plates. For a first visit during the week it is an excellent way to try more dishes at a lower cost while the dining room is at its most relaxed.
However you choose to come in, come hungry, come with people you like sharing with, and come open to the idea that you are about to discover a cuisine you did not know you had been missing.