If you ask anyone who is a fan of Asian food in the D.C. area, they will tell you to go to the suburbs. Falls Church and Wheaton are full of Asian food hot spots. This weekend my friend Alli and I decided to visit Eden Center in Falls Church, VA. Now most people who go to Eden Center probably go to have Vietnamese food. And while I have to admit that there seemed to be a lot of great restaurants there, Alli and I hit up this quaint strip mall for the nail polish selection. You see at the very end of the Eden Center strip mall is a nail supply store where you can basically get any nail color for a quarter of the price! It was fantastic.
But enough about nail polish...this blog is not about nail polish! After our excursion to Eden Center, Alli and I ventured on to Mark's Duck House, which is known for its peking duck. I was extremely excited because I love peking duck. In fact, after this meal, I declared peking duck my favorite food. It was so delicious. The skin was prepared perfectly crispy and the duck was nice and moist. Alli and I also feasted on beef chow fun (called dry fried wide beef noodles on the menu), a dim sum favorite at Mark's and had steamed shrimp and pork dumplings to start. While the dumplings were only so so, the chow fun was quite tasty, too. If you are a fan of peking duck, I highly recommend this joint. Note the word joint. If it's ambiance, you are looking for, this is not the place for you, but if you go for that strip mall Asian food kinda feel, then you will appreciate the charm of Mark's.
Mark's Duck House peking duck...you get 5 dumplings out of 5. Chow Fun...you get 4.5 dumplings out of 5. Steamed shrimp and pork dumplings....you get 3 dumplings out of 5. Overall rating? You all do the math.
http://www.marksduckhouse.com/
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Thai Noy - Arlington, VA
If you haven't caught on yet, I am huge fan of Asian food!! I absolutely love a good Thai food meal and one of my favorite places in the Washington D.C./VA area is Thai Noy, which is located in Arlington. While there are quite a few good Thai places to choose from in D.C. (Regent and Thaiphoon in Dupont and Siam Thai in Cleveland Park are good options), my favorite spot has to be Thai Noy. Once again I discovered Thai Noy after a recommendation from my friend Laura. (I am beginning to think she should be the co-author of this blog.)
My only problem when I go out for Thai food is that I usually end up ordering the same thing - Pad See Ew, my favorite Thai food dish. For those of you who are not Thai food connoisseurs, Pad See Ew is one of the most popular noodle dishes to choose from after Pad Thai. The noodles are wide and thick and are often served with broccoli, egg and your choice of meat. The sauce, a thick soy sauce, is what makes the dish so delicious. On this particular trip, I convinced my boyfriend Chris to share this with me along with a new dish, Mekong Chicken. Mekong Chicken is a sauteed chicken dish served with homemade peanut sauce. The peanut sauce was incredible, and I was so glad we tried that dish. I have also heard rave reviews about the Drunken Noodles, a spicier version of Pad See Ew.
I recommend trying Thai Noy in the summer months, which in D.C. lasts for quite some time, so you can sit on the patio. Thai Noy you get 4.5 out of 5 dumplings!
http://www.thainoy.com/
My only problem when I go out for Thai food is that I usually end up ordering the same thing - Pad See Ew, my favorite Thai food dish. For those of you who are not Thai food connoisseurs, Pad See Ew is one of the most popular noodle dishes to choose from after Pad Thai. The noodles are wide and thick and are often served with broccoli, egg and your choice of meat. The sauce, a thick soy sauce, is what makes the dish so delicious. On this particular trip, I convinced my boyfriend Chris to share this with me along with a new dish, Mekong Chicken. Mekong Chicken is a sauteed chicken dish served with homemade peanut sauce. The peanut sauce was incredible, and I was so glad we tried that dish. I have also heard rave reviews about the Drunken Noodles, a spicier version of Pad See Ew.
I recommend trying Thai Noy in the summer months, which in D.C. lasts for quite some time, so you can sit on the patio. Thai Noy you get 4.5 out of 5 dumplings!
http://www.thainoy.com/
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Il Radicchio - Arlington, VA
Il Radicchio is spaghetti heaven!
My friend Laura suggested I try Il Radicchio when I first moved to D.C. and was looking for good restaurants in the Courthouse area of Arlington, VA. She certainly knows how to pick good restaurants and she was right about this one!
What's great about the spaghetti at Il Radicchio is that it's all you can eat and you can select 1 of about 10 sauces that come on the side. My personal favorite is the genovese (fancy word for pesto), but I also can't eat tomato, so my options are more limited. Chris loves the bolognese and Il Radicchio (similar to a bolognese but has sausage) sauces if you are looking for a tomato option. I am also convinced they add some sort of secret ingredient into the spaghetti because it is the best spaghetti I have ever tasted. It must be laced with extra butter or something, but I promise you you don't even need a sauce on top of it. A secret tip would be to order the sauteed mushrooms that are delish and a great topping on the spaghetti.
For those of you who do not like spaghetti (and you are crazy if that is the case) other good choices are the veal picatta, gnoccci bolognese and lasagna. I do not recommend the pizza as much as the pasta dishes. Now if it's ambience you are looking for, Il Radicchio might not be your top choice because it looks like a high-end shack from the outside and once you go inside it feels like you are in someone's kitchen, but the Italian food is superb. And for those of you in D.C., you know good Italian food is hard to come by! Il Radicchio you get 4.5 out of 5 dumplings... or perhaps meatballs is more appropriate this time.
My friend Laura suggested I try Il Radicchio when I first moved to D.C. and was looking for good restaurants in the Courthouse area of Arlington, VA. She certainly knows how to pick good restaurants and she was right about this one!
What's great about the spaghetti at Il Radicchio is that it's all you can eat and you can select 1 of about 10 sauces that come on the side. My personal favorite is the genovese (fancy word for pesto), but I also can't eat tomato, so my options are more limited. Chris loves the bolognese and Il Radicchio (similar to a bolognese but has sausage) sauces if you are looking for a tomato option. I am also convinced they add some sort of secret ingredient into the spaghetti because it is the best spaghetti I have ever tasted. It must be laced with extra butter or something, but I promise you you don't even need a sauce on top of it. A secret tip would be to order the sauteed mushrooms that are delish and a great topping on the spaghetti.
For those of you who do not like spaghetti (and you are crazy if that is the case) other good choices are the veal picatta, gnoccci bolognese and lasagna. I do not recommend the pizza as much as the pasta dishes. Now if it's ambience you are looking for, Il Radicchio might not be your top choice because it looks like a high-end shack from the outside and once you go inside it feels like you are in someone's kitchen, but the Italian food is superb. And for those of you in D.C., you know good Italian food is hard to come by! Il Radicchio you get 4.5 out of 5 dumplings... or perhaps meatballs is more appropriate this time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)