Two Northern Virginia restaurants are getting praise from New York. The New York Times released a new list of its 25 Best Restaurants in Washington, DC, and two NoVA spots are represented: Mama Chang in Fairfax and Bostan Uyghur in Arlington.
It’s part of NYT’s Where to Eat: 25 Best series, which highlights its critics’ favorite restaurants in cities across the U.S.
Restaurant critic Brett Anderson (one of four who contributed to the list) lauded Bostan for its chicken and lamb skewers. He described them as “juicy, hot-from-the-coals, heady with cumin.” The sides also garnered positive attention, including a flat-noodle dish called saozi, cold noodles with chili oil called rangpiza, and a beef-and-onion-stuffed flatbread called goshan.
Bostan was on Northern Virginia Magazine’s list of 55 budget-friendly restaurants. It recently opened a new second location in Herndon.
The other NoVA spot that made the list was Peter Chang’s Fairfax concept, Mama Chang. A perennial on our Best Restaurants list, Mama Chang serves zippy Hunan, Szechuan, Hubei, and home-style Chinese cooking.
The Times writeup, also by Anderson, said that standouts at the restaurant included fish ball and lamb soup, lychee pepper chicken, and a stew filled with sweet potato noodles, sour cabbage, and pork. “Eating this dazzling food at this elegant Northern Virginia restaurant, lined with comfortable booths and blond wood surfaces, feels like an occasion,” he wrote.
Bostan and Mama Chang are repeat winners from last year’s list.
Mama Chang: 3251 Blenheim Blvd., Ste. 101, Fairfax
Bostan: 3911 Langston Blvd., Arlington
Feature image of Mama Chang by Rey Lopez
