Stop me if you’ve heard this one. A pair of Vietnamese Americans from Louisiana walk into a mall … It may sound like the start of a bad joke, but the business partnership between Alan Vo and Kevin Tien — the award-winning chef behind DC’s Moon Rabbit — is more delicious than funny.
Not that a restaurant with dishes named Piggy Stardust and Don’t Curry, Be Happy! isn’t endowed with a sense of humor.
The team behind Hot Lola’s in Ballston Quarter is reinventing food-court fare again with Chao Ban, located across from Andy’s Pizza on the third floor of Tysons Galleria.
The restaurant’s name translates to “Hello, Friend,” and service is suitably convivial. Portions are plentiful and flavors oversized at Chao Ban. It would be possible to make a meal of just a couple of appetizers. The boneless wings, baptized in fish sauce caramel and piled with fried garlic, team admirably with thinly shredded cabbage salad that’s dressed in a spicy combination of coconut and tamarind and finished with puffed rice noodles.
Banh mi sandwiches are more than twice the size here than they are at most mom-and-pops. They’re served with shrimp chips and amplified with cheffed-up flavors. Try the Catfished, which introduces curry mayo and hot honey to a thick slab of flaky fish, along with jalapeños, pickled roots, and cilantro on a crisp bun.
Ducking Around is a must for poultry aficionados. The bowl of aromatic pho broth contains multitudes of locally manufactured egg noodles, along with shiitakes and al dente bok choy. On top, a housemade, pho-spiced confit duck leg remains almost magically crisp thanks to time in the fryer. It’s the kind of dish that one would expect to see at an upscale Vietnamese fusion restaurant.
But Tysons Galleria isn’t just any mall, and Tien isn’t just any chef. Early in Chao Ban’s run, he’s adjusting the menu weekly, so customer feedback matters. “If you see me, don’t be shy to say hello,” Tien says. “If there’s something you particularly love, please let us know. I don’t want to take it off the menu if you love it a lot.” Chao Ban, 2001 International Dr., McLean
Feature image by Michael Butcher
This story originally ran in our June issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
