Market Table Bistro, Lovettsville, VA

While visiting friends who live all the way out in Loudon County, Virginia, we had dinner at the Market Table Bistro in Lovettsville, VA. Because the area is basically farmland, the supply of local ingredients is bountiful, and this restaurant takes advantage of it's location to highlight the food of the area.
We started with a pair of snacks to start our meal. First up was a bag of toasted Virginia peanuts. They were also a little spicy, and very addicting. Our second app was warm olives in a cast iron pan with garlic & peppers.
I decided to make my meal of just starters. My first course was a chilled Kerry Springs Farm asparagus soup. It was topped with Cherry Glenn chevre cheese, olive oil and chive blossoms. The soup was light and captured the flavors of the early summer.







Next, I had the restaurant's version of "liver and onions". In this case, it was a chicken liver pate topped with a sweet red onion marmalade. It came with small house made toasts.









I ordered a second soup, a white bean soup with house made ham. It was rich and hearty.
I followed with a salad called "Spring Garden & Forest Floor" which was composed of seasonal items from local farmers & foragers. This evening, it consisted mostly of asparagus and beets. My favorite parts were the mushrooms.





Everyone at the table ordered desserts and we shared each others choices. I got the dark chocolate creme brulee with homemade ginger snaps. The brulee was sweeter than I expected, but I did love the ginger snaps which seemed more like ginger bread in texture to me.







The hit of the trio of items was the spring strawberry crisp with vanilla ice cream. It had the perfect combination of sweet, tangy, hot and cold.
We also tried the "cookies & milk", a chocolate cookie made in an iron skillet with a glass of milk. The server recommended some chocolate sauce.





13 Broad Way East
Lovettsville, VA
(540)822-3008

The Pure Pasty Co., Vienna, VA

My friend Claus lives in Vienna, VA just outside of DC, and in the past year, The Pure Pasty Co. opened right near his house. They specialize in making authentic Cornish pasties, which are like large empanadas or Hot Pockets.
The traditional kind has ground beef, potato, onion, and veggies. I like mine with a little HP sauce and some strong mustard.
They also offer other kinds of pasties. The Cornish Masala is filled with chicken & potato seasoned with curry. My friend Claus likes the Philly cheesesteak version. This past Easter, they made lamb pasties that were really good.
Pure Pasty started making 1/2 lb. pork pies in the last couple months as well. These are especially good. I particularly like the pork jelly that is between the crust and the pork.

128C Church Street Northwest
Vienna, VA
(703) 255-7147

Pizzeria Orso, Falls Church, VA

Pizza is all about the crust: the flavor, the textures, the char. I had some delicious pizza with amazing crust at Falls Church, VA's recently opened Pizzeria Orso.
We started with several items off their Antipasti menu.
We had some of Orso's Bruschetta made with grilled sourdough bread topped with a garlic rub, olive oil and sea salt.

Accompanying the bread we ate marinated grilled zucchini, eggplant, some smashed tomatoes and sweet onions, and really good lightly pickled Pioppini mushrooms with sweet peperonata.



We then followed with a platter of grilled chicken wings and legs, grilled ricotta salata chicken crostini topped with little onion rings, and arrosticini- grilled lamb skewers.
We tried a platter of fritture which included potato crocche (cheesy potato croquettes) and Suppli al Telefono- fried risotto balls with tomato sauce stuffed with melted buffalo mozzarella cheese. I really liked the risotto balls.

I then had a small bowl of Pappa al Pomodoro, a bread & tomato soup that reminded me a little of congee or French onion soup sans the cheese.



Finally, after all these great appetizers, we got to the pizza. Orso specializes in Neapolitan style pizza cooked in a wood burning oven. One particular thing about their crust is that the pizzaialo uses a sourdough starter to give it a very special flavor and texture.
The crust is thin, ballooning out a little at the edges with excellent char. It stays crispy with a little squish in the middle, and it is important to note that the pizzaialo does not cut the pies as it allows them to continue to cook after leaving the oven and prevents what he calls "soupiness".
It reminded me strongly of the pizza I've had at Pizzeria Mozza in LA, but it seems more like a genuine pizza crust at Orso than the "bakery" feel from the crust at Mozza. I do think I prefer Orso's because of this.
I tried several pizzas at Orso. I ordered the Romana- tomato, anchovies, capers, olives, basil, garlic w/o cheese.
The Margherita DOC with tomato, buffalo mozzarella, & basil was bona fide. Impressive was also the Vongole with grana, capers, parsley, cockles in shell, & hot pepper flakes, and the Cotto e Funghi with cream, provola, ham, mushrooms, & basil.
Orso also had an interesting choice of stuffed pies as well.
We finished dinner with to go pizza boxes and tasty cannolis. I had a pistachio.
I drove 90 min to eat here, and I would be happy to go again.

400 South Maple Avenue
Falls Church, VA
(703)226-3460

The Plaka Gyro, Plaka Grill, Vienna, VA

My friend Claus lives in Vienna, and he recommeded one time we try out his local Greek takeout joint, Plaka Grill. I really liked their specialty, the Plaka Gyro which, instead of lamb, was made with marinated pork. It has the usual tomatoes, onions and tzatziki sauce, but they also stuff french fries in it as well. It is truly a meal unto itself.

110 Lawyers Road, NW
Vienna, VA
(703)319-3131

DaMoim Korean Restaurant, Annandale, VA

Korean fusion food can be great. Eating at the Kogi taco trucks in LA was one of my favorite eating experiences last year. When I heard that the Korean restaurant DaMoim in Annandale, VA was trying to serve Korean fusion cuisine, I had to give them a try.
We started with an appetizer of summer rolls. They came with rice paper loaded with vermicelli noodles, shrimp, mango and veggies. I particularly liked the spicy dipping sauce.
We ordered two sets of Korean tacos: the galbi (beef rib) and jaeyook (spicy pork). I was disappointed that the tacos were more like those from Taco Bell than from a tacqueria, using flour tortillas and loaded with shredded cheese and lettuce. I liked the spicy pork a lot, but would have liked it better with a fresh corn tortilla and possibly kimchi rather than the toppings they chose.
On the other hand, the DaMoim sliders were outstanding, and actually quite good sized. They were topped with cheese and yummy caramelized kimchi.
We also tried an order of their Korean style fried drumsticks. They only had a straight soy flavor, but their frying was just the right crispiness I love about Korean fried chicken.

7106 Columbia Pike
Annandale, VA
(703) 354-3211

A Second Eden Center Food Safari

We did another mini Eden Center food safari this past weekend. This time, Fougoo and Redneckhunter tagged along.
We started at Cho Cu Saigon, a Vietnamese Chinese restaurant. We ordered their Roast Pig, and we were told not to mistake it for the roast pork. The pig came out chopped up with amazing thick and delicious pieces of crispy skin.
Redneckhunter also wanted to try Cha Gio (Vietnamese eggrolls), and the ones at Cho Cu were great- nice thin crispy skin.

Our second stop was for Banh Mi, Vietnamese sandwiches. We went to the Nhu Lan Sandwich Shop.
When you first enter, the place smelled of stinky tofu. We ordered a No. 1 sandwich with Vietnamese coldcuts. It was amazing. Their bread was chewy and delicious. Fougoo noted also that the bread was buttered as well.
I got a white gourd drink which was interesting- not great.

Our last stop was Thang Tong. We ordered their Banh Xeo, or Vietnamese crepe. It was made of thin crisp dough loaded with pork and shrimp and filled with bean sprouts and mung bean. We dipped it into fish sauce and chile sauce. It was really nice- reminded me of the south Indian dosa.

Eden Center is so big that we expect to have enough for a few more of these food safaris in the next few months.

The first Eden Center safari here.

Cho Cu Saigon
6763 Wilson Blvd
Ste 6D

Nhu Lan Sandwich Shop
6763 Wilson Boulevard

Thanh Tong
6795 Wilson Boulevard
Falls Chuch, VA

Eden Center Food Safari

My friend, Mike, and I went on a mini food safari for lunch at the Eden Center, a giant Vietnamese shopping center located at the Seven Corners in Falls Church, VA.
We started at Bánh Cuốn Thang Long, and ordered their #1, which was the name of the restaurant. Bánh cuốn is a dish consisting of thin sheets of rice flour, in this dish, filled with either pork, crushed shrimp, or fried onions.
It came with bean sprouts, crispy shrimp cakes, and sliced of pork "bologna". We dipped everything in fish sauce mixed with chilis.

Our second stop was a restaurant called Tay Do which had at one end a stage set up for a band to play.
At this restaurant, we noticed that most of the Vietnamese places in Eden Center have ubiquitous mason jars of fish sauce to go with meals.






Here, I ordered a drink called Nuoc mia, made of sugarcane juice. It was not too sweet as I imagined, and it had a nice hint of lime flavor to it.

For our entree, we ordered the Bún Cha Hanoi, which consisted of vermicelli rice noodles that came with a bowl of grilled pork, pork meatballs, & shrimp and a large pile of veggies including bean sprouts, pickled cabbage & carrots, basil, and cilantro.




To put the dish together, you place the noodles and veggies in a bowl, and then pour the meat items along with the sauce on top. Certainly adding extra fish sauce is good as well.
This was a really nice version of Bún I had never had before. Normally, I was used to the Bún dish with the fried eggrolls and pork, but this had a really nice sauce that was used to cook the meat and shrimp.


Our third stop was Bánh Cuốn Saigon. Mike tried the pennywort drink which had a flavor reminiscent of wheat grass, but at least it was sweetened.
Our dish here was the Bún riêu cua (top). It was like pho, but the soup broth was made with shrimp and tomato. It came with the usual side vegetables: bean sprouts, basil, cilantro, and chili peppers.
All together, the ingredients tasted delicious.




After lunch, I went to Saigon Mart, a grocery in Eden Center and picked up a few tins of Frentel for Fougoo. It's a French butter that was popular in Vietnam thanks to colonial occupation. It comes in tins and is mainly used as a spread.





Bánh Cuốn Thang Long
6737 Wilson Boulevard, #22
Falls Church, VA,
(703)534-1746

Tay Do
6793-C Wilson Blvd.
Falls Church, VA
(703)536-5728

Bánh Cuốn Saigon
6795 Wilson Blvd.#54
Falls Church, VA,
(703)534-4482

Ray's the Steaks, Arlington, VA

I finally had dinner at Ray's the Steaks in Arlington a few weeks ago. They are opening a new branch in Ward 7 of DC in the next week.
I was with a friend so we ordered the Chateaubriand to share. It was delicious and cooked perfectly. I got a side of the brandied mushroom sauce, and we shared sides of broccoli and mashed potatoes.
I got to try a nice bottle of Bell's Hop Slam, and we had dessert. Total bill for the two of us was $80. Great meal and great price.

2300 Wilson Blvd
Arlington, VA 22201
(703) 841-7297

(new branch)
905 Dix St NE
Washington, DC 20019

Gooldaegee Korean B-B-Q, Annandale, VA

Northern Virginia is the home of good Korean food, and one of my favorite places is Gooldaegee Korean B-B-Q, aka "Honey Pig", in Annandale, VA.
Their specialty for the BBQ is pork belly which you can get straight up or in a spicy marinade. It goes well with the salty sesame oil dip.

The last time we ate there, we also got Kalbi as well.
In addition to the meat, the servers also throw kimchee and sprouts on the grill, which I haven't seen done a whole lot. It was nice to have the option of heated kimchee witb the tasty meats.

We also ordered the Bibimbap with pork and baby octopus. Also special to Honey Pig is that they place a large cast iron pan on the BBQ and cook up the bibimbap on the grill. While not as crispy as when they use the stone bowls, it was still really delicious and spicy.





7220-C Columbia Pike
Annandale, VA 22003
(703) 256-5229