This may well be the best Chinese restaurant in the entire Baltimore metropolitan area, where we clearly suffer from a shortage of top-notch Chinese restaurants. I really love the Dim Sum that Asian Court features on a daily basis. Offering just over 30 selections from their menu during lunch, if you order in advance, they will prepare them for dinner as well, even though that is not normal for most Cantonese restaurants.

The standard measure of most Dim Sum restaurants is the quality of their Har-Gow, the translucent steamed shrimp dumplings. Asian Court's are top-flight, and every bit as good as my previous go-to Dim Sum joint, Mark's Duck House in Arlington, Virginia. I had the best Peking duck I've had outside of China at Asian Court, and their Hunan spicy shredded pork with scallions and pea pods was a killer dish as well. Not to be overlooked, although it has to be ordered in advance, is their lobster with ginger scallion sauce - perfectly cooked lobster with a wonderful sauce, served sliced in the shell. And I shouldn’t forget - do order their fabulous house fried rice (udon) which is filled with chicken, spicy Chinese sausage and shrimp, while the quality of the rice is impeccable.

As for the wines, we started with a honeyed, mid-weight Giaconda 2011 Chardonnay that was not as great or as complete as the 2010 and 2008 I drank in China in March. The two Châteauneuf du Papes were superb. The Solitude 2007 Châteauneuf du Pape Cuvée Cornelia Constanza, all old vine Grenache, is a sumptuous, complex beauty. The Vaudieu 2010 Châteauneuf du Pape Cuvée Val de Dieu, the first great vintage from this historic estate in decades, signals the resurrection of this property.

Asian Court is definitely a wonderful choice for Chinese cuisine, with an attractive diningroom and very good service, and where they embrace the concept of bringing your own bottle.