re: Lunch I've been attending this restaurant since I was knee high (and that was 20+ years ago). We had a luncheon with my family in honor of my grandfather who passed away, of which this was his favorite restaurant. The food here is decent and you can tell the restaurant is a little dated. We probably went at the worst time to hold a luncheon as Silver Foundtain has a very busy Dim Sum service. If you're looking for some decent Chinese food, this is about 1 of 5 decent places in Maryland I would consider. WARNING: This shopping center is pretty busy, so be prepared to fight for parking. read more

THIS REVIEW IS FOR THE DIM SUM ONLY!!!!! if you've never had dim sum think asian tapas. i was lucky to be introduced to dim sum in 2006 and have since become a regular at silver fountain. the wait staff is friendly (for dim sum restaurants) and the restaurant is quite small compared to the other dim sum houses in the area. the dim sum is served via carts on the weekends beginning at 11am. i definitely recommend arriving as close to 11am as possible since this place fills up very quickly. favorites: shu mai (traditional chinese pork dumpling), ha gow (shrimp dumplings), sticky rice and my favorite, pineapple buns (basically a freshly baked pastry filled with custard and topped with a sugary crust) read more

Chinese Cuisine and Dim Sum. Not the best dim sum I've ever had in Maryland, but it's good. Being a native New Yorker I have to compare all the food that I eat there to the ones I eat here. Most of the food here is cooked pretty similar, but some of the 'skin' on the dimsum is a bit thick compared to some of the other places I've had in MD. The prices are reasonable and there isn't a long wait, which I'm accustomed to when I have dimsum in NYC. It's the closest place near where I stay when I'm in MD, so for a lazy short drive away, it's still good food. read more

Every Sunday morning I crave dim sum. It stems from my childhood, my parents and I went to dim sum every Sunday morning. Whether we lived in China, New York, Virginia or California. We always had our go to restaurants. Fortunately, I have my own go-to dim sum spot that I force my partner to every couple Sundays. The unfortunate part is that the dim sum place I prefer, and is literally walking distance from me has horrendous waiting lines, and the worst service I have ever encountered in my entire life. So every once in awhile, we venture out and go to another dim sum place - in hopes of finding a replacement. Let me start by saying, this is definitely not a replacement for our usual spot. However, this place is much better than some of the other dim sum places I've been to in attempts to finding "that" replacement. The parking was a pain in the ass. Street parking was full and the parking lot was packed with bad drivers. We had to drive around a few laps before finding a tight spot on the street. Upon walking in, we were seated right away. We showed up during prime time dim sum dining, and amazingly it was too crowded. While most tables were full, we didn't have to wait. We were immediately seated. Asking for tea and water from the servers was an adventure. Not a great way to start the adventure. The carts were pretty full and came by our table pretty quick. The chicken feet here were pretty good, not the best but definitely better than some of the other joints in the area. The tripe was good. All the dim sum we had was fairly good. But they really didn't have much of a dumpling selection. My favorite dumpling was the chive pan fried dumplings. The haw gow was awful. It was bland and over steamed. The skin was mushy and thick. The filling was breaking and not staying together. But the reason why it didn't sit well with me - was the taste. It had no taste or flavoring at all. It was primarily just filling and skin - minus the seasoning. Eh. This would have been alright if the shrimp filling was fresher. I wouldn't mind the natural shrimp taste, but it wasn't. My partner seemed to like this place overall. I didn't love it - but didn't hate it. One thing I couldn't stand was how dirty everything was. Our cups and our plates both had chunks of old food on it. They need to rinse and scrape before just throwing all the dishes in the washer. Service was decent. The people driving the carts were pretty helpful and friendly. The servers and people that handle your payment were colder than a cheating man's ex-wife! I'd like to come back and try out their dinner menu one day. read more

Huge portions! Will definitely go back. Food tastes great. Hot and Sour soup is the best. Crispy spicy shrimp and pork chop combo is more than enough for 2. read more

Silver Fountain - Crispy spicy pork chops and shrimp - Dim Sum Near Me - Silver Spring, Maryland

Not a big fan of their regular lunch/dinner menu, but their dim sum is fantastic! Especially love their chrysanthemum tea with the rock sugar. read more

I came here for dim sum with my bestie! We got a table that was a close to the window in the front of the restaurant. Because we were so far from the kitchen, we had to order a lot of the food from the host and other waiters. They brought the food and when they did it was great. I found it kind of annoying that there wasn't an alternate route for the food carts and I hated waiting for an available server. They food is good tho. I have a fear of not getting food, so they kind of raised my anxiety level. lol. If you go, either get there early or get there later so you can sit near the kitchen and get first dibs on the goodies. read more

it used to be good idk what happen order oragne chicken and fried wonton there was literally nothing in my wonton also the aorange chicken was tough. like rhe meat was old i will never go back ever read more

I come here frequently for dimsum on Saturdays with a group of friends. Not the best dimsum in the world, but good for this area (5 mile radius). Must try: har gow, spare ribs, the red tripe. read more

I was here this morning (Saturday) for dim sum! When I first saw the storefront, I thought it looked kind of run down, and tiny. Actually, this place is pretty big, and it is PACKED. We got here a little on the early side, so we were able to get a table to seat our party of 8. A good selection of dim sum foods here, including the usual xia jiao (shrimp dumplings), chang fun, cha shao bao, pi dan shou rou zhou, shau mai, dan ta, etc. Overall, I'm happy with the selection. Everything we had here was pretty tasty--I had a great time. I think they're famous for their chang fun--which was good, but not really anything out of the ordinary. Anyways, if you're a fan, order it as soon as you sit down--they do not have them on the carts, you have to order them, and it takes them awhile (especially since EVERYONE orders them!) I'm not a fan of the luo buo gao (radish cake)--it's very gooey, gelatinous...not quite what I'm used to. Then again, my mom makes luo buo gao from scratch, and it's amazing, so maybe I'm just spoiled. Their pi dan shou rou zhou is a little blander than I would have liked, but...ok :P Carts (and ladies running the carts) stopped by frequently, and i feel like we got a large spread of different foods..so I'm happy. Food was tasty, service was...well, typical of a dimsum place (though more attentive to water than I had anticipated)...Overall, pretty good. We'll be back :) read more

Stopped here for dinner last night on a whim while driving back to DC. Ordered the $10 combination platter including soup, entree, egg roll, and small dessert. Decent portions. Nice service. I've had better garlic shrimp, but you got lots of shrimp and veggies and it wasn't too greasy. Free hot tea and they keep water glasses full. We left full and happy, and will definitely stop again if we're in the area. read more

Love the dim sum here but they don't have enough workers. It's a packed restaurant but only 2 carts going around. By the time the cart gets to us, there's nothing left. The focus seems to be on the takeout orders. read more

My boyfriend was ranting and raving about dim sum. I was like, "whatever." But, because he wanted to go, I agreed. The place is in a strip mall. That threw me off. He told me that we had to get there before 11, so we did. The lobby was PACKED! We got in and were seated almost immediatley. We had some sort of flower tea, which was really good. The food was SO good! I'm now a fan of dim sum. I have no idea what I had, but it was all great. I'll be back, for sure. I recommend getting here at like 10:45. You can't make reservations, so just be there early. The service was good as was everything else. read more

Very good dim sum option in Aspen Hill. If you get there right when it opens you can get a seat right away (but still - don't get there late. It still fills up). Your usual dim sum plates offered, which are pretty good. Plus the baked pork buns are delicious and you can get the ordered to go. Definitely better than Hollywood East, almost as good as Oriental East and their awesome baked pork buns and pineapple buns. Still a good dining option if you don't want to get up early to wait in line at Oriental. read more

I haven't had too much dim sum in my life and I am not the biggest fan. But I honestly enjoyed myself at Silver Fountain. I've been here twice and I had no complains both times. On Sundays dim sum is served till 2. We arrived at 1:40 and the food was still fresh and hot. Shrimp dumplings, beef noodle crapes, steamed pork buns...yum. I try to eat health, but I have no will power so I always indulge in gluttony here. The service was great. Everything we ordered came out shortly after. Usually it's a lot more crowded but we went later in the day so we were seated right away. If you've never tried dim sum this would definitely start you off on the right foot. If you are a connoisseur this won't knock your socks off, but it's a good choice. Another note, this place is always packed with Asians so it must be good. Like I always say Asians know Asian food. read more

Second best dim sum place in the area in my opinion, and I have tried just about all of them. This place gets PACKKKKEED expecially on holidays. I beleive they open at 10:30, well lets just say if you get there at 11, you will be waiting. I have waiting almost an hour for dim sum before. Its quite spacious inside, with traditional chinese decorating. Recommendations: Pineapple Glazed Bun Chicken Feet Shu Mai Turnip Cake Har Gow Sticky Rice Spare Ribs with Black Bean Sauce Tripe Duck Blood read more

READ THIS IF YOU'RE NEW TO DIM SUM. I didn't realize that when I employed the knowledge of my Chinese-American friend, whose parents at one point owned a restaurant in NYC, that I had never had dim sum before. I'm not really sure how I escaped the wonders that are dim sum, but I'm glad I asked for his participation in finding the best in the DC area. According to him, Silver Fountain is among the best he has had. The fact that he drove all the way from Ashburn, VA, and said he would do so again is a testament to the food. Here's my take: Unfortunately, I did not catch the Chinese names of these dishes. In the case of dim sum, many of the dishes are squishy. The turnip and radish cakes, as well as the dessert cakes, have a very gelatinous quality to them. I am generally a texture person - some I avoid - but I was open-minded because I was curious. The savory and sweet flavors are quite tasty, and the texture was something to overcome. The pork rolled in bean curd skin and drizzled with hoisin sauce had a lovely flavor, but the bean curd skin was again, kind of squishy. The rice crepes, squishy. Now the dumplings and the buns were divine. Spongy dough, with a variety of fillings, though I found myself missing the typical dumpling ginger/soy sauce that was not on the table. The roast pork was absolutely perfect - tender and sweet with the Chinese BBQ sauce turning the edges pink. The roast chicken was so tender it fell apart from the Lazy Susan to the plate. This being my first dim sum experience, I am glad I went with someone who knows the landscape and I'm excited to try others. We did not encounter the problem with service that others in Yelp have complained about, but I was told by my friend that that is how dim sum is - it is hard to get the cart to the far end of the diningroom without running out, that's just how it is. It was worth noting that there were more Chinese dining at Silver Fountain than not. As I am a person who prefers authenticity, I was happy to see that. read more

This place has no clue what service is. We ordered about 6-7 dishes and after two hours we received one dish. I had to wait another 5 mins for a bowl of rice. The table behind me had been there for 3 hours and they still were waiting for some of their dishes. After asking for the bill for the one dish the waitress said our food was ready. I told her if it was ready then bring it out. I waited and guess what? No food. They wouldn't let me pay for my one dish so I just put the cash on the table and walked out. I should have just ordered for Chinese delivery from somewhere else and ate it there. read more

Silver Fountain - After 2+ hours this was the only entree of 6-7 that I received - Dim Sum Near Me - Silver Spring, Maryland

On a Saturday afternoon at 2:30pm, Silver Fountain only had 4-5 tables filled and 2 carts doing their last circles. Best time to arrive is 2pm on weekends. How'd I know this? From their friendly staff...before I arrived, I called in regarding the hours and a very kind gentleman gave us the tip to come after 2 so that we could still see carts and order off the menu. The waitstaff was also very attentive and kept asking us what we wanted, if we were satisfied and if it tasted good. We were checked up on by nearly every waiter who walked by. Highlights: -Friendly/attentive service -Fried chive dumplings -Egg tarts, only if it is freshly baked and piping hot... they gave us fresh orders. Otherwise, if it was right off a cart and sitting for a while, it'd be just like any other tart. -Fried radish cake with shrimp was yummy as usual...will fill you up fast. Eh: -Roasted duck with sticky rice was good...but where on earth was the duck? We got a delicious rice that came out of a huge steamed leaf...but no duck to be found; only some thin slices of Chinese sausage. Disappointments: -Steamed shrimp dumpling (or known to many as har gau) is my favorite to order at any dim sum location, but it was missing the ginger and consistency that I love -Turnip cake (luo bo gao) was way too soft/thick. Lacked a char and crisp to it. -My stomach feels like poo poo a couple hours after. Heavy and kind of pained. I think the downside of showing up later is that the dishes aren't as freshly cooked... I knew I should have avoided one of them that looked a little stale. read more

Hello 1978. How I've missed you. The decor, the waitstaff uniforms, the surprised look on the waiters face when I, a white guy asked for chopsticks. No really. He looked shocked. Egg drop was khaki colored. Spicy pepper steak was ok, but not spicy, unless you count black pepper. I'm guessing that I got the American menu and food. I need the delights that the Chinese family next to me were enjoying. And my itemized receipt was written on a piece of scrap paper from a past concert. Not kidding. read more

My rating is purely based on Dim Sum. I'd give Silver Fountain 5 stars if the service was better. It's improving (no longer chaos on the weekend), but still some room for kinder wait staff. Then again this is a Chinese restaurant! We've tried many Dim Sum places in Montgomery County and this one is #1 on our list read more

The Chinese food and dim sum is good. But the wait staffs are not so great, the kind that you think they saw you but they pretend they didn't. Haha. The front desk staff are nice. If you don't care about the wait staff or getting a carry out or only care about the food then I recommend :) read more

Made the mistake of going here on Lunar New Year Day like everyone and their mom. My husband and I waited 75 minutes for a table, which wouldn't be so bad if it were the best dim sum that I have ever tasted. Sadly, it was not. I guess I shouldn't have had my hopes up too high because nothing compares to San Francisco dim sum. I would say the food was decent though. The carts were out on the weekend. The caveat is that the carts start in the far end of the restaurant where all the big tables are. By the time they get to the smaller tables, there is nothing left! The Chinese broccoli we got was cold, and they ran out of bbq pork buns and egg custards at 12 pm! WHAT?! On New Year's Day, you run out of pork buns and egg custards at the peak of the day? Well, they said that it would take 20-30 minutes for a new batch but tack that onto the 75 minutes I already waited to sit down...The staff is friendly though. The gentleman who served us tried to accommodate us, looking for dishes that we requested. The dim sum is decent given the area. read more

Came here with the fam for chinese new year during dim sum hours. Food was pretty good. I enjoyed it, though my parents/aunts/uncle not so much... This place is large, with ok decor, and offers ample (if not cramped) parking. Located in the aspen hill shopping center, you can find the restaurant all the way in the back (or rather, the right most area of the shopping center if you're facing it, a couple stores further down from hair cuttery)...or...go back towards chipotle to find this place. We came Sunday morning. The place was crowded, but there were many carts that rolled by and our table was never lacking in the food. However, table service was definitely slow. We had to ask for water several times, but this is pretty typical for dim sum. Whenever going to dim sum, I would ALWAYS recommend ordering a couple of large dishes. The small dishes on the cart don't really fill you up and they can add up really quick. To conserve, order some noodles for the table. MY FAVORITE? The seafood combination crispy egg noodles (thin) and the flat noodles with beef or pork. read more

This place has the best General Tso's chicken I've ever had. This isn't the regular Panda Express/Shanghai Café type of General Tso. The one offered at Silver Fountain is exceptional; each bite is made of lightly breaded, deep fried dark-meat chicken later sautéed in a light, sweet, savory brown sauce. The spicy peppers were absent which would have made the dish even better. Each gigantic nugget is tender with a texture reminiscent of McDonald's chicken nuggets. Like how Red Bull will give you wings, each piece of chicken inches you closer to an impending food coma. The broccoli used as decoration is fresh and crisp; it compliments the chicken and cleanses the palate for the next bite. It's worth a try if it's the only dish you can find at the restaurant. Service: The service was below average. After getting seated at my table, the waitress never offered our table water or hot tea. All beverages at the event was self-served, we poured our own wine and 2Liter soda on the table. I was personally asked to open every pop open every cork wine bottle because the waitress didn't know how to open it. The dinner was scheduled to start at 6p.m but at the first dish came out around 7:30p.m. Verdict: I would give this place a visit if you pass the northern Silver Spring/Aspen Hill neighborhood. Instead of dining-in, I would order the meal to go to bypass the service offered at the restaurant. General Tso's chicken is a must if it's the only item ordered. This is a dinner review, but from Yelp reviews this place offers good dim sum on the weekends. If I'm within the area, I will give it a whirl. 2 1/2 stars out of 5. read more

Food here is actually pretty good. But carry out service is HORRIBLE. The lady who takes carry out orders doesn't seem to really know her restaurants menu. She never understands what we ask for and almost always messes up our orders. We always let it go. But not anymore. Tonight she messed up our order again and when I called back she just said she'd give us the right food next time we come in...She didn't even bother to take my info down and just quickly hung up on me. I wont be ordering from them again. Just so fed up of paying for food we didn't want. read more

Silver Fountain - Definitely Not ma po tofu! - Dim Sum Near Me - Silver Spring, Maryland

Terrible rushed service and we couldnt order things that were on the menu....i would never go back or give them business. Its a shame that even post covid these places lose all of there unique features because owners are cheap and lazy read more

Actually went for dinner tonight and it was horrible. They did not have fried rice. Didn't tell us that. Food took forever and they never came to explain. When I complained they just said sorry. We ordered shrimp chow mein and one of the orders came out with a lot of liquid in it. I had to pour it out. We have had lunch there many times and it has been great. Do not recommend going to dinner there. read more

3/15/08 update: I came here for dim sum once again, and I realized that the selection here is a bit limited. There are about a million kinds of dumplings, but they started cycling through the same 6-8 dishes after a while, and I had to assume that my pork ribs were not going to make an appearance. I totally dig the chrysanthemum tea with the sugar cubes (Shh - I was downing them like candy!). It was a bit frustrating because I couldn't communicate with many of the servers here. I don't speak a lick of Chinese, and I wasn't able to communicate to a server that I was looking for a specific dish. Original 2/26/08 review: I came here once for dim sum and once for dinner. The dim sum was great! I'm not Chinese and I've had dim sum a handful of times, but it was all I needed! Dinner was also good - They sort of have a packaged deal for large groups, which was pretty convenient. Service was alright - Has anyone else noticed that it's impossible to get water refills at most Asian restaurants?? Why is this? read more

Authentic Dim Sum spot. Order it with a pot of good tea and you are ready to roll!

i went here for dimsum and the quality of the food was pretty good! I got various different types of shumai and lots of things with shrimp in it. Overall pretty good! I would say that they're selection wasn't as big as other dimsum places I've been to, but I definitely recommend coming here because it's pretty good =). For dimsum, it does the trick =) read more

We recently wanted to try something new in our area because the closest Chinese places near my house which are Lee's Kitchen and another one in Plaza del Mercado, which close early. Sometimes before their stated hours of operation. I called Silver Fountain at like 10:45 and they said they closed at 11, in 15 minutes. We placed our order and picked up our food and were greeted by this really nice young man. He was telling us that a lot of people place last minute orders and never show up, but since I begged him he was kind enough to wait. I thought the food was quite good. It felt like It had less salt or MSG whichever most Chinese places use, so it tasted different and the food was great! I cant wait to try their Dim sum which I hear is also good. Apparently it gets very packed on Sundays. Open for 37 years, great service and the family who owns it is very friendly and nice. read more

Tried the Dim-Sum cart service today. Overall, it was a good experience. Many more Chinese than westerners showed up, and the restaurant was packed with patrons in the waiting area within 45 minutes of opening. Taking that as a good sign, we were not disappointed. The food was pretty good, comparable to other Dim-Sum places I've tried in the area. From what we tried... The shrimp dumplings were a little tough with a coarse ground filling, but tasted good. Spare ribs had chopped spicy green peppers instead of the usual black beans, which I thought was a good change. Radish cakes had good texture and flavor, but could use some more sauce. Shrimp spring rolls were full of shrimp and had a delicious peppery herb flavor. Rice porridge was smooth and warm, a good dish to have on a snowy day as it was. Sticky rice had a lot of red sausage inside. There were many hot entrees that we could not try in one sitting... several kinds of noodles, clams, vegetables, rolls, etc. Service was better than average, even as busy as it was, and is probably the reason I give this 3 stars. There were plenty of staff available to take requests, and the carts came around frequently so we were never sitting without something to try on our table. Servers were polite and would take time to explain what their dishes were, or bring you a request if you wanted something they didn't have at the moment. Ambiance was a little loud, but not annoyingly so. Pretty much what you would expect in a crowded hall full of people trying to talk over one another. All said and done, I would come back again if in the area and in the mood for Dim-Sum. Especially now that I know what they have and what to wait / ask for... nothing like getting satisfyingly full and then seeing something new and delicious-looking rolling by on the cart! read more

We went in around 1:30 and the restaurant was slightly full. Even still, we (6 people) were seated very quickly. However, the table was quite dirty and it did not look like it was wiped even a little bit. The chairs had crumbs all over them and there was a lot of trash on the floor. The table had no plates, cups, or chopsticks. Went to the bathroom and it was ok - a little dirty though. Came back and waited about 10 minutes for someone to come - no one did. Eventually got up and asked someone for tea and utensils. The plates, cups, and chopsticks did not look clean and it was even a little greasy. Still no dim sum carts had come at this point. The one cart that did come out never reached us. It ran out of dishes. Went up and asked again, they said they were still making the dim sum and we were told to wait. The waitresses were quite rude and had nasty attitudes. However, they did look a little short staffed which might explain this. Waited 40 minutes and finally one cart came out. We got 2 dishes. Asked another waitress, waited another 10 minutes and got 4 more dishes. The food was very doughy and not that good. We then ordered 2 noodle dishes. Waited maybe 30 minutes for that. It was undercooked and again, did not taste very good. I even found a gnat in the noodles. We left still hungry after that. Overall, lots of complaints, food was not good, and staff was not nice. The owner shouldn't open the whole dining room when they are short staffed. I will not be going back ever again. read more

The first time I attempted to come here was a terrible experience. Granted we came late on Chinese New Years eve. It was so busy they had empty table because they ran out of chairs for the larger tables. So we ended up leaving. We decided to come back and give their dim sum a try. Silver Fountain has redeemed themselves... if you get here early on a Saturday or Sunday you should have no problem getting a table. The dim sum is delicious! My favorites were the radish cakes, clams, egg plant, and beef chow fun. The radish cakes had a crispy exterior and creamy inside. Beef chow fun was nicely seasoned and had that perfect wok burn flavor. Just get here early cause the place gets packed! read more

I've tried many different dim sum restaurants in the DC, MD and VA area ever since I moved here 3.5 years ago from New York. Up until now, I haven't found one that I'm a fan of - there always seems to be something missing .... Finally, a friend who grew up in the area suggested I try Silver Fountain - claiming that it's the best dim sum restaurants around. I arrived around 12:30pm on a Saturday and very much to my surprise, my wait was only 20 minutes for a table for 4 (compared to over a 1 hour wait at Oriental East in Silver Spring)! The food came out in little carts, which I love because you can eat right away! Food was hot and authentic Chinese. Prices are extremely reasonable for dim sum too. The only cons about this place would be that 1) it's not on a Metro line (hard to get to without a car) 2) the wait staff can be really busy and might forget to give you tea or napkins and 3) the cashier was a bit rude when we asked her for change. Despite the cons, I would definitely go for dim sum here again - it's now on my list of top restaurants in MD! read more

The food was excellent, the process (Sun. brunch) is not for the faint of heart, but the food was so good you endure. I will keep going but I wish they would tweak the bunch menu and develop an 'order-ahead' operation. read more

Came here for a family dinner. We had a party of 10 and ordered one of the set menus. There was lobster, shrimp, fish, duck... all your standard banquet fare at a really solid price. Great value. Clean and plenty of parking. read more

See all

This place gets no points from me. I went with a friend and totally embarrassed by the service and the lack of tasting food. Ordered a Sesame chicken and Shrimp with broccoli dish. After being dissatisfied I spit up a piece of broccoli. How can u screw up broccoli when it wasn't over cooked. I was brought another dish of broccoli with Chinese vegetable which was dumped in oil. Ordered some chicken wings and sent them back - one wing had an extremely dark area and I pulled another a part that had an order. Worst atmosphere it was drafty and service was slow. Won't see me there again because I know what excellent Chinese taste like and demand good service read more

This was my 3rd time coming after 8 years and I still think it's pretty freaking good. Loved the roast duck, beef and broccoli was pretty tasty and dim sum was good. Today is Thanksgiving so it was pretty packed and I'd probably come back on a less packed day but overall it was pretty good. I'll have to come back again but sooner this time. I'd definitely recommend this place. read more