Kibbee Nayee

More like 6.5....

Hai Duong still does not appear in the Springfield Dining Guide, and it is notable by its absence. This is pretty good Vietnamese food, probably middlin' by our high standards in northern Virginia, but definitely holding its own among the Springfield outposts of Vietnamese food. The phở is the draw, and of the 15-20 people here for lunch today, almost all were having some version of phở . I opted for the vermicelli bowl with grilled pork and chả giò , and it was good. This place is not fancy, and does a spirited carry-out business. I would give it a solid B- on a scale of 10.

Average? That's actually a compliment.

Whenever I work at my firm's Tyson's offices, my selections begin with Lebanese Taverna for sit-down lunch, Paul or the Ritz-Carlton for sit-down breakfast -- I never voluntarily go to Starbucks -- Andy's Pizza on the 3rd floor for edible pizza, and Sen Kao for a bracing bowl of slurp when I don't have to worry about keeping my shirt clean. I look forward to giving Lady M a try.

Frank Ruta's famed Palena Burger is coming back....

If "energy" equates to noise, as it frequently does, then it lands squarely on my "avoid" list. If, on the other hand, it means joyful bustling, but allows realistic conversation below the shouting level, please clarify.

The Tysons demographic may be changing with the high-rise housing coming in and around the Metro, but for the past couple of decades it's been fairly consistent. The Tech industry (mostly) calls for expense account lunches and steak-and-cigar dinners for the executives, with a healthy mix of inexpensive lunches and happy hours for the junior workforce.

Lady KN and I were puttering about the house and watching college football on and off, so we decided to Door Dash 9 Pad Thai. We hadn't tried it before, so we wanted to give it a try. It took 50 minutes to get our meal. We ordered the chicken wings and the spring rolls, not for authenticity but for general comparison to other similar items in the area. From the seafood menu we ordered the Pad Chad Talay 3-star spicy seafood combination, the Duck Stir-fry with Basil from the original Thai menu, and the Chicken with Cashews from the specialty menu. All three were disappointments. Spice was muted to well below American-spicy, and the Duck was fried to the point where all we could taste was the fry, not the duck. The gloopy sauce on the dishes reminded me of bad Americanized Chinese food. I realize we ordered delivery, so that must be taken into account. Dishes should be enjoyed as soon as they pop out of the kitchen. We also need to sample more dishes on the menu. But if I have a hankering for Thai in Springfield, nothing that we tasted today would divert me from a visit to Thai Ghang Waan.

No, I don’t think he was being flip. He was being bombarded by questions, and I was trying to convey, however weakly, a blind spot for true Lebanese cuisine in our area. I respect his writing a lot.

That was my question in his chat today. His answer was a bit flip. He probably hasn't eaten at Mama Ayesha's in a while -- it has been reviving itself of late. And Lebanese Taverna may have over-expanded, but as I said, the flagship in Westover is a very good restaurant, and so is Tysons Galleria. I'm looking forward to his review of Me Jana. He sort of confirmed my point....earlier in his chat, he was excited about going to a new Turkish restaurant, and his answer to my question indicated he hadn't eaten at a true Lebanese restaurant in quite a while. In Sietsema's defense, he has quite an expansive food scene to cover in the DC metropolitan area, but I think I hit on a blind spot of his.

Lebanese Taverna is a wonderful local story. I have been a frequent visitor at their original location on Washington Blvd in Arlington since 1980, even before it expanded to the place next door and before the Abi-Najm family opened up 10 more locations. I think the original Westover location, and the Tysons Galleria location, are the best of this group's restaurants. These two, along with Me Jana and Mama Ayesha's Calvert Cafe, are the best examples of sit-down Lebanese dining in our area. Lebanese cuisine is western Syrian cuisine with touches of French influence here and there. For some reason, it doesn't get the appreciation of food critics like Sietsema, but when fused with the rest of the eastern Mediterranean, like Zaytinya or Agora, it somehow gets more love.

I was unaware of some of the history of Addie's that appeared on this topic, so Lady KN and I took her elderly father there for dinner. It was very good. The bread basket was a paper bag in the shape of a school bus, filled with decadent biscuits. The story to accompany the biscuits was that Mr. Black's grandmother was the namesake Addie, and she made him these same biscuits as he went to school on the bus, devouring the biscuits along the way. I enjoyed the octopus appetizer, which was a generous tentacle, lightly fried, and served on a bed of house-made and olive-heavy tartar sauce.I would have been content with another tentacle or two of this dish as a main course. It was delicious. My main was the special of lightly dusted and fried rockfish on a bed of white green beans and polenta, and it was the best rockfish dish I've had this year. The fish was cooked perfectly, and the crunch of the fried coating gave way to the tender fish beneath. Lady KN also had it and loved it. Her father started out with a half order of mussels and then the seared scallops. He happily cleaned his plates, which was not a bad performance by a 92-year-old who claims to have no appetite. With a $48 bottle of Chalk Hill Chardonnay, the total bill without tip came to $180 for 3 covers. Or $220 with tip. Service was very gracious and smooth. Our server mentioned that starting soon, Tuesdays will feature half-price bottles of wine and Wednesdays will feature reduced price oysters of 5 varieties.

I knew Simon Mandros -- his son runs it now, and I watched him grow up. I was at Franklin and Marshall in the mid-70s and lived in an apartment around the corner on Charlotte St. Simon was my landlord, and my grocer. Just a block and a half away was the West End market, where I got the rest of my provisions some 40 years ago.

From my friend Michael Bozzelli at Bozzelli's flagship in Springfield. I would take a Bozzelli's chicken parm sandwich over all of them.

Setting the bar kind of low, but my go-to for a gut-bomb burrito is Tippy's Taco. I know, I know, but don't judge....