We Washingtonians love a good brunch spot. And if you’re anything like us, we’re always down to expand our weekend dining roster. So when we learned that ChiKo’s Capitol Hill location launched a new Dumpling Brunch menu, we locked down a visit to experience it firsthand.
Co-owned by Scott Drewno (formerly of The Source) and Mandu’s Danny Lee, ChiKo takes fast casual to the next level, serving up dishes like “Orange(ish)” chicken with candied mandarins, bulgogi tots, and chilled peanut noodles.
Now, the popular eatery has an exciting new lineup of menu items every Saturday and Sunday in Capitol Hill. A relatively recent addition to ChiKo’s repertoire, Dumpling Brunch kicked off mid-February following their week of Lunar New Year festivities.
While we wish we could have tried everything on the Dumpling Brunch menu, the plates we sampled had us savoring each bite – and sip:
🥂 Enter the Dragon Cocktail (sparkling wine, pomegranate & lychee syrup)
🥟 Mushroom Dumplings
🐟 Fish & Chips
🍳 Full ChiKo Breakfast (peanut chicken dumplings, furikake rice, soy glazed spam, scallion pancakes, secret sauce, Chinese egg & tomato stir fry)
🍚 Dumpling Fried Rice
🧇 Sesame Blueberry Bubble Waffle
If you were to order only one menu item, we highly recommend the Full ChiKo Breakfast to enjoy a creative savory sampling. We weren’t expecting to love the soy glazed spam as much as we did, but paired with bites of furikake rice was truly *chef’s kiss.*
The Dumpling Fried Rice is also a major highlight. As it turns out, the only thing that can make ChiKo’s house fried rice tastier than it already is is to add bits of chicken dumplings and Chinese sausage into the mix.
Naturally, we had to round out the experience with a sweet treat and the Sesame Blueberry Bubble Waffle did not miss. Topped with blueberries, ice cream, whipped cream, and sesame seeds, the flavor profile was unreal.
Just order at the counter and let the drinks and dishes flow! Dumpling Brunch takes place at ChiKo’s Capitol Hill location every Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm.
📍ChiKo Capitol Hill, 423 8th St SE