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I tried out this new Afghan restaurant for lunch today with a friend & had an excellent meal. Tucked in a small strip mall, near Bozzellis & a giant Puppy Palace (the Olde Towne Pet Resort), there were 2 tables seated when we arrived & it was full when we left, with several people coming in for takeout orders. My friend & I split an order of the spicy beef dumplings, mantu ($4.95) & we both ended up getting the chicken kebab ($9.95) which came with basmati, salate, avocado chutney (I thought it was more of a green yogurt sauce & delicious) & they very kindly subbed out the potatoes it came with, for eggplant. It was all delicious, great service, & I look forward to going back & trying some other dishes. It looked like quite a few people were going for the beef shank qabuli or the lamb shanks. It's an excellent choice for dining near Ft. Belvoir or the Newington area.- 45 replies
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Okay, so service and swallowability go a long way when it comes to Tex Mex in DC. I had the WORST food and the most unwelcoming service of my life at Austin Grill after An Inconvenient Truth on Wednesday. It was late and the people I was with don't really love their gullets as much as you love yours, so I bit my lip and invested in my company for the night. I'm pretty indifferent about Austin Grill (though I had stronger feelings in like 1994) and I my expectations are realistic. That said, I had to send back my dinner because the romaine in the salad tasted like it had mistakenly taken a swim in sanitizer (blue # 40). Ask all the pimps and whores: I'll eat anything when washed down with magaritas (so long as there's melted cheese near by-Tex Mex is my weakness), but this was foul and so was everything else we ordered. We felt so unwelcome and they kept telling us the kitchen was closing in 15 minutes and that it would soon be last call for drinks. That's all good, but why stay open if you're gonna be brisk and your food's gonna suck ventworm cock between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m.? I don't think I've sent food back more than twice in my life, and it wasn't just me; I had everyone try it and we all agreed that it tasted like Homer Simpson made it (at the power plant). No one would touch their food after sampling my salad. I appreciate this place for its work with DC Central Kitchen, etc. and for giving people on the street a chance, but please don't give me chemicals anymore. And please, don't make me wait in the front like an idiot for 10 minutes upon arrival if you're fully-staffed. Yours truly, Panda Bearito -
I just realized this little gem of a Vietnamese place did not have its own listing in the Dining Guide, just a few passing mentions in other categories. Because the establishments that dot this plaza apparently are all closing as part of a construction project, I figured now was a good time to pay tribute. Coming in the door, the first thing you see is the bakery. A wide assortment of cakes and sweets are on display, and a book of cake decorations is available to order from. To the right are prepared foods, and I scored some rolls with pork sausage and a fine dipping sauce from the table. The case and the refrigerator have a goodly assortment of pork buns and jars of various vegetables and pickles. To the left is the seating area, with a nice looking buffet of about 8 options, including Don't favorite everything meatballs, pork cutlets, pig belly in sauce and a few other tempting delights. I noticed that most of the diners were indigenous, always a good sign, and a noticed quite a few polished-off bowls of pho with some deeply brown broth left in the bottom of one bowl. I had the combination banh mi, which for $2.75 included ham, head cheese and pate, along with maybe the least industrial bun I've had with banh mi in memory. This was an overall better combination banh mi than the dozen or more I've eaten at DC Sandwich. The aforementioned pork spring rolls were 3 to a pack, loaded with vermicelli, lettuce, shredded veggies and disks of pork sausage, with a tangy-sweet peanut dipping sauce. The pack was about $4.50, and the total with the banh mi and tax was $7.61. I'm stuffed to the gills. Out of fear that it may close or relocated sometime soon, I will put it in my near term rotation and make sure it gets a steady flow of revenue. But as long as it's open, there is absolutely no need to run to Falls Church for my banh mi fix. -
Springfield might not have everything, but Cervantes Coffee Roasters is here, and it's darned good coffee. I'm not a fan of the industrial park location on Fullerton Road, and the corresponding lack of parking, but I am a fan of the coffee. I should also point out that they won the award for best cold brew at the CoffeeFest in New York this past week. Congratulations to the crew at Cervantes!
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I’m surprised that I’m the first to talk about 9 Pad Thai. I first visited last year, on Mother’s Day, shortly after they took over the space last occupied by Bangkok Noodle. I went again this last weekend, & it was very good. I went with the kids & unfortunately, none of them were adventurous-3 Pad See Ews w/ Beef! We shared an order of larb gai (delicious & perfect level of spice) & I got gai pad kaprow (nice & spicy). I don’t go out that much anymore, so I’m happy when I get a great lunch.
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I worked in Springfield for almost 8 years--until June 2005, when SouthPaws picked up and moved to Merrifield. It didn't take me long to realize what we'd lost in terms of sources for lunch. We were right next door to Kate's Irish Pub, which was convenient, if inconsistent. I used to always order their liver and onions lunch special to share with the dog who went to work with me every day. Their food could range from pretty good pub grub to eeeww, depending on the day. A bakery down at the other end of that shopping center had wonderful cookies and other baked goods, as well as great home-cooked Hispanic specialties for breakfast and lunch. I don't remember the name, but it's near the mattress store and the day spa. Dragon Sea Buffet was very popular, and often crowded. For steam table food, it was pretty good, and they had sushi, dim sum, and some exotic soups at times. I really miss Delia's. I never set foot in the place, but their long and varied delivery menu kept us all very happy. Their entree salads, their sandwiches and subs, and even their barbecue were decent, filling, and reasonably priced. Malek's also had decent delivery, but we generally liked Delia's better. I think they made at least one delivery, and sometimes several, to our hospital every day. Saigon City opened a couple of years ago, and offered good pho and chai gio and other Vietnamese specialties. A few blocks away, TK Thai produced decent carry out and delivery. I'm writing this in the past tense, because I haven't eaten at any of these places since May 2005. A new kabob place was opening even as our moving vans pulled away last year, and I never got to try it. The El Paso Tex Mex place on Commerce was good, but too slow for our short lunch breaks. I write this with a great deal of nostalgia. I have not found the lunch choices in and around Merrifield to come anywhere close to what we had in Springfield.
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We had takeout from Aabshaar Restaurant last night and it was amazing! Pakora came off the steam table of the buffet, but was delicious and crispy nonetheless. Keema was the best version I've tried (out of 3). Daal Mahani was full of wonderful flavors. Tandoori chicken was moist and flavorful, although some pieces were more bone than meat. This is really good cooking and we are so glad we tried it! -
Up front admission -- I'm not a fan of GAR. I think their restaurants are too loud, and the food is just not that creative. There has to be a central kitchen behind all of that ubiquitous short-smoked salmon and garlic mashed potatoes. No real chef can be in those individual kitchens, pouring out all those dry pork chops and too-salty ribeyes. Tried Mike's tonight for what might be the 15th time. Never my choice, but I get invited out a lot. First of all, I like the decor. I'm a big baseball fan. But who the heck decided that the sun-dried cranberries are a good addition to every salad? You get the same cloyingly sweet sensation and texture of Gummi Bears. I thought I finally found something on the menu worth ordering -- breaded chicken cutlets over pasta with a brown butter sauce and mushrooms. Sounded good, bit I wish I tasted more than salt. The food is consistently dreadful, which makes it consistent with Coastal Flats and Sweetwater. You can consistently count on these places to be incredibly loud, have consistently mediocre food and consistently perky wait staff. They are, uh, consistent. The GAR restaurants are, in my humble opinion, a waste of a good opportunity to eat well at another restaurant.
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I had been in Osaka a few times in the past. It's a few doors down from Thai Cafe, which is in the Dining Guide, but I was surprised that Osaka was not in the Dining Guide. I actually was aiming for Thai Cafe but girlfriend did a last-second vector to Osaka, and it was worth the detour. Girlfriend and I had a very pleasant dinner at Osaka tonight. We ordered liberally throughout the sushi menu, with plenty of nigiri, including medium fatty tuna as well as salmon belly, and three rolls -- spicy tuna, crunchy real crab and avocado and eel. Among the nigiri was plenty of tuna, salmon, white tuna, yellowtail, eel, salmon roe and quail egg. There appears to be some kind of all day 'happy hour' going on during the weekends and a few other days of the week, so the pieces were nicely priced, albeit a bit small. Tuna, for example, priced for one piece per order was $1.95, so two pieces at $3.90 isn't bad. The one piece per order concept threw me off a bit, but we had more than enough food between us. The fish was uniformly fresh and colorful, almost glistening, and as good as sushi gets in the general Springfield-Franconia-Lorton-Burke area. A full carafe of wine, priced at about $27.00, along with all the sushi we could handle, plus miso soup and salad for two, plus tax and tip, came to just under $100. I will return.
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Need a place to take out a few NY style pizzas to Springfield, preferably between 95 and Burke. Any ideas? Yelp is sending me to Malek's right near the mixing bowl if anyone's tried that.
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Ravi Kabob III in Springfield is now Karahi Kabob. Same place, same menu, same clientele, same Hajj posters on the wall, but different name and different owner. I was thinking of tucking into the all-you-can-eat lunch buffet at $7.99, but I had a hankering for saltenas and headed over to El Sabor Bolivano across the street. But I will be back.
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Continuing in my attempt to eat at most Thai restaurants in the southern half of the county, I picked up lunch today from Bangkok Noodle, which is located at the intersection of Commerce & Backlick. I got Tom yum goong ($4.95), larb gai ($6.95) & sukiyaki noodle soup-chicken, beef, pork, cellophane noodles, napa cabbage, Chinese celery, egg, watercress, & sesame seeds in spicy red bean curd soup ($9.95) for Tom. The food was excellent, great blend of hot/sour/salty/sweet for my tom yum (I've been eating this soup several times/wk lately) & the larb had a perfect amount of heat (marked on the menu as 1 rooster-American hot). It looks like they specialize in Thai noodle soups-next time, I want to try the Paradise soup ($14.95)-cellophane noodles w/ seafood, ground pork, fish balls, bean sprouts, crushed peanuts, topped w/ crispy bacon & boiled egg in a hot & sour broth-this one is 3 roosters-Thai hot. It's a lovely space, looks like a beach house w/ blue, green, & tan lapped siding & a colorful mural of photos. Definitely a contender for a Springfield $20 Tuesday (happy hour specials from 4-7), I'll be going back to sample more menu items.
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On the advice of my Vietnamese barber, who knows a thing or two about Vietnamese food, I tried Pho 495 today for lunch. Emblazoned on the menu is "Best Vietnamese Noodle Soup in Northern Virginia' (or words to that effect) and I am inclined to accept that assertion. I had the No. 1 beef combo with added meatballs, and I was very impressed. This was a deeply rich and hearty broth, easily simmered for a very long time based on how much deep flavor and complexity it displayed. It was loaded with all the basic bits and pieces -- tripe, tendon, cartilage, beef pieces and the added meatballs. I can't say that I've had any better at all the various places I've tasted pho in northern Virginia, and I'm not stretching the truth. Too bad we're nearing the kind of weather where I tend to avoid hot soups, but I know I'll be back often in the autumn, or the next time we have a raw, rainy day. 7215 Commerce Street, Springfield www.pho495.com
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Fine dining has apparently arrived in Springfield! Monty's Steakhouse recently opened in the Whole Foods plaza on Old Keene Mill and Rolling Roads in Springfield. I haven't yet eaten there, but I stopped in today for a look-see. It's a nicely appointed dining room with white table cloths on the tables and a tidy bar in the front corner. Monty's is independently owned and touts itself as "best value" upscale, casual dining. The owner is Springfield native Donna Montazami, with a Cafe LaRuche and Vapiano pedigree, and the executive chef is CIA graduate Marco Camacho, who worked at the Woodmore Country Club and the Mayflower. I glanced at the menu and was impressed by the reasonable prices -- dry aged, locally sourced beef and lamb chops in the mostly $25- $40 range, plus fresh seafood options and specialty burgers. Lady Kibbee and I will likely drop in for a meal in a few days. http://montyssteakhouse.com/
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I just finished a couple of slices of mushroom and pepperoni pizza I brought back from Pennsylvania. I forgot how much good pizza is to be had in the area in and around Philadelphia. Not the very best pizza you could ever eat--and not artisan gourmet pizza--but walking into a pizza shop off the street and walking out with a tasty pie kind of pizza. Capitol Hill just does not have that. When I first got the pizza yesterday afternoon, it was a little too soggy but quite satisfying. After a night in the fridge, it made perfect cold pizza for breakfast, lunch, and now dinner. One pie: $15 and change=4 meals. Not a bad deal. I have to say, I think I actually prefer leftover cold pizza to pizza to steaming hot. I just walked into this place [Gaetano's, 210 S. Springfield Rd., Clifton Heights] because I was nearby and hungry, but it turns out it gets some pretty rave reviews, at least here and here and on Chowhound. From my research, I learned that I should ask for my pizza a little well done (that probably would have helped with the slight sogginess) and that having the cheese under the sauce (where I was at first having trouble determining if there was cheese on it) is their trademark. A nice touch when I picked up the pie was that the woman behind the counter lifted the lid on the box so I could see that it was what I had ordered. -
*uses Oprah voice*....I GET IT, PEOPLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLE! Wow, I can't believe this is the first Peruvian chicken for me--after reading so many rave about it. Those chickens schmeared with crack. So juicy, so tender. I had 1/4 chicken at Pollo Coco Rico and the seasoning made me swoon on the first mouthful. The green chili dip isn't for me. I like to keep my buds fully cabable of tasting. The mayo (white sauce) however, was used liberally. Very, very good! The dish came with fries or yucca, and a small side salad. -
I had a delicious DR dinner at House of Siam (I loved the larb) & tried a couple of times to meet a friend there for lunch-once they were closed on Mon. & the next time they were just closed, permanently. I saw that they had reopened as Thai Ghang Waan & decided to pick up lunch for my friend, who's moving cross country. I picked up larb & som tang, both very good, pad kha prow (I would have liked it hotter, but I didn't specifically ask for that), & pad lad na (wide noodles w/ broccoli & brown sauce)- I didn't try this, got it for those who like not-spicy, but I liked that they packed the noodles & sauce separately, so it wouldn't spill or get soggy. Fried rice was,well, fried rice -it was all good, average sized servings & pleasant fast service. It's not too close to me (I have several good options), but if I were in the area, I'd definitely try some more dishes.
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Please see the post here. If anyone wants to use the picnic as a springboard to prime this pump, please do.
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Rolling Cooking is a restaurant that has only been open since 2016 on Rolling Road near Old Keene Mill Road in Springfield. It's in the same plaza as Afghan Kabob and TCS Computer, behind Einstein Bagels. However, this version of Rolling Cooking is only 4 weeks old, according to the hostess, meaning it changed ownership at the end of January 2018. In the past 3 days I've ordered delivery and carry out, and right now, this is the best of Springfield's Americanized Chinese restaurants. What strikes me is how greaseless the fried dishes are -- the shrimp tempura has a heavier crust than I'm used to, but the greaseless crunch on the outside gives way to soft shrimp on the inside, and the salt-and-pepper flounder filet are delightful pillows of deliciousness. And I had this latter dish after delivery and carry out, both, and in both cases, it was delectable. In my delivery order a few days ago came shredded pork with chili peppers and General Tso's chicken. The pork was OK, not spectacular, but tasty. The General Tso's chicken was a nice rendition, with perfectly portioned chicken cubes bathed in a not-overly-sweet sauce that had a nice kick. In my take-out order tonight, I repeated the salt-and-pepper flounder to prove I wasn't imaging its goodness a few days -- I wasn't -- and I added the whole fried rockfish. The rockfish was a bit over-fried, so it had some dryness, and when the dryness co-mingled with the bony fish, it was as pleasant as I would have liked. This appears to be a dish to be eaten in the restaurant as soon as it comes out of the fryer. As I was waiting for my carry-out order, the hostess brought me a plate of warm, salty peanuts, followed by a cup of hot and sour soup, and a nice tumbler of hot tea. These treats were gratis, but inspired me to add a nice tip to the carry-out check. I also noticed a six-top occupied by a Hispanic family, and a beautiful dish of chicken fried rice in the middle of that table. A four-top with an Asian family speaking Chinese to the hostess is always a sign that the indigenous population enjoys the food here too. I'll keep an eye on Rolling Cooking to make sure that it stays consistent, but it ranks at least a nose ahead of Springfield's other Chinese offerings at this point.
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For the sake of completeness, Moe's deserves a place in the Springfield section of the Dining Guide. It also deserves a place on the oldest restaurant list, having opened in 1971. Moe's is named for Mohammed Traish, who passed away in 2014. The restaurant opens at 7:00am, when it offers a hearty breakfast of everything from eggs, bacon, ham, sausage, scrapple, short stack, you name it. The restaurant closes at whatever time the crowd thins, maybe 11:00pm or midnight. If there is a central Springfield, and it's certainly not the hideous "town center" that occupies what was once Springfield Mall, then it's the complicated swath of roads and overpasses on the other side of the mixing bowl that encompasses JW's, Moe's, the Paper Moon strip club, and Mike's....more or less on a jagged line up Backlick Road. And Moe's is an anchor in that area, feeding the hungry workers at the start of the day and sopping up the JW's and Paper Moon's booze at the end of the day. Moe's burger has been my standard, topped with a fried egg and a few squirts of hot sauce. Keep your expectations in check -- it is what it is -- and you won't be disappointed or impressed.
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I remember going into Saigon City a few years ago when it was mostly lunch-counter pho, where you place the order at the counter and wait for your number to be called, then take your tray to a set. I don't know why I haven't been back in a few years -- it wasn't bad but it wasn't great -- and I don't know what compelled me to try it again today. But I'm really glad I did. Saigon City Restaurant is now a real restaurant, with a full Vietnamese menu and table service. And on a Friday afternoon, of the 25-30 patrons in the place, at least two-thirds were Vietnamese. That's always a good sign when an ethnic restuarant draws its peeps. Although there are many dishes I want to return for on what appears to be the most complete Vietnamese menu in Springfield (yes, I realize that's not saying much, and you can throw in Burke, Lorton and Occoquan as well!), I went with the cha gio and the meat combo pho today. (Note to self -- whenever writing about pho, taste it before you squeeze in the lime, dump in the basil and sprouts, and squirt in the hoisin and sriracha...) Anyway, it was good enough to return for. The cha gio scored high on taste, but they were a little smaller than the many Falls Church versions I've had. I will return and sample my way through the menu -- Shaky Beef and Lemon Grass Chicken, here I come! -- but I wanted to post this so that those of you with a hankering for Vietnamese in the Springfield area would have this place on your radar. http://www.saigoncityrestaurant.com/
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Chef Feliciano in Springfield was a catering business until about a month and half ago, when it opened a weekday lunch counter. I'm thankful for that decision, because these are the best sandwiches in our area. The first thing you see when you walk in the door are empanadas, and trays of fresh baked goods....so one empanada and 3 chocolate chip cookies went home with me. I haven't tried the chocolate chip cookies yet, but they are large and dotted with half-inch chunks of chocolate all over. The empanada was delicious, just as I would imagine a good empanada to be. On to the sandwiches, and I took home the triple club and the Cubano. I only ate half of each one so far, but they were both excellent. The slabs of sliced pork on the Cubano made the sandwich almost perfect. The club sandwich on a sub roll was really good. Chef Feliciano tells me he orders his buns fresh-baked every day from the International Gourmet baker, about a mile away. They were indeed very fresh. Bread snobs would be impressed. He also showed me the beef for the special sandwich today -- beautiful slices of raw sirloin steak in a tub, marinating in herbs and garlic, to be blackened on the flat top and served on a fresh bun. Can't wait to try that one sometime soon. Oh, and sandwiches come with rice and beans (or chips). The bad news is that it's only open from Monday through Friday for lunch. The good news is that we have a genuine family-run business serving up very nice quality sandwiches (with a few salads and soups thrown in).
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And now with Village Chicken open at the southern end of the shopping center (4 doors down from Delia's) it's becoming a chicken's worst nightmare . -
Replacing the BBQ Delight outpost in Hechinger Plaza (next to Saigon Quan), is a new Yemeni restaurant: Marib Restaurant. I think it's been open a couple of months now. After waiting for the Verizon tech to fix a screeching box in my closet, I decided to head on over and get some lunch. Seeing as my entire knowledge of Yemeni cuisine is saltah and chicken mandi, and I've had neither, I figured now is as good a time to try it! I picked saltah and paired it with a Vimto...mainly because I'd never actually tried Vimto as well. I must say, it was quite good. The saltah was pretty much every vegetable in a roiling stew with some sahawiq (spicy condiment, it seems) and a very yummy fenugreek foam around the edge. Couple that with some just perfect bread for dipping and a great lunch was had. And, lucky me, I couldn't eat it all so I have some leftovers tonight/tomorrow. I'm sure I'll be back to get some chicken mandi and, maybe someday when I'm with about 7 others, get the bint al-sahn. The picture of it on Yelp helps one understand why it's $40. Not a slice...the whole thing!- 6 replies
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