Not every meal a restaurant critic eats is intended to result in a review. Like everyone else, I have my go-to spots for every occasion. These are some of the businesses where I spend the dollars that I earn by eating other things.
When I’m Craving Comfort
I didn’t grow up loving butter chicken. I was always more of a tandoori-meat girl when I frequented my favorite Indian restaurants as a kid. In fact, my earliest memory concerns the flavor of tandoori chicken. But I’ve become older and wiser. Sometimes you just need cream, butter and chiles. In those cases, I get takeout from Tatva Indian Cuisine. The best part? They give so much sauce that I use it to dress steak or chicken the next day. // 2443 Centreville Road, Suite G1, Herndon
When I’m Celebrating Small Victories
This is where I marked my first Thanksgiving in NoVA, but any excuse will do to sup on grill-crisped brisket and gooey corn cheese. Finished a project? Time for Gogiville. Resisted going to Gogiville for a few weeks? Also time to celebrate with Gogiville. My favorite cut is the pricey-but-worth-it seasoned cube rib. For diners who love galbi, it’s an alternative worth savoring. // 14101 St. Germain Drive, Centreville
When I’m Pretending To Be Healthy
There are days when I might eat multiple pasta dishes or do a food crawl that results in the equivalent of three lunches. How do I combat it? Whether I’m in Leesburg or Alexandria or somewhere in between (there’s a new location in Oakton), I can find a Souvlaki Bar, which serves salad bowls topped with my choice of veggies as well as Greek-style chicken or pork gyro meat carved from a spit. I feel like a meal there returns me to a bit of balance. // Multiple locations
This story originally ran in our March issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to our monthly magazine.
