For an avowed trencherwoman like me, the best things about Asia are the hawker centers. Think of it as a mom-and-pop mall food court without the mall. At many that I’ve visited, a central bar serves up drinks, but you find food vendors scattered throughout. Many focus on an abbreviated list of items, even just one, at which its cooks really excel.
One of my favorite places in Northern Virginia, Falls Church’s Eden Center, is the closest you can get in our region to Southeast Asia. It only makes sense, then, that it should have a food hall, if not exactly a hawker center. That idea comes to life inside the moody new Pop-Up District.
At the center of the darkly lit, Blade Runner-esque space that becomes a bar and lounge at night (complete with occasional EDM nights), Soul Bar serves up cocktails. The rest of the large room is lined with photo booths, toy vending machines, and food sellers. With $100 in my pocket, I endeavored to try something at each of the five stalls.
Sampling the Pop-Up District Fare
At the entrance, Doppo serves chilled coffees and teas. I ordered the pink matcha latte, which deposits a thick cloud of strawberry cream cold foam over milky ceremonial-grade matcha. The combination was just sweet enough, with the slightly bitter matcha brightened by the strawberry flavor.
The three savory vendors include Thai, Korean, and Vietnamese stalls. I worked my way down the line through each in order. Eatsy, which serves northern-leaning Thai street food, is the only one of the three that doesn’t have ordering screens, and it was nice to engage with a human. I rarely skip a khao soi when it’s available. The chicken curry with noodles had a nice little smack of heat, but the star of the dish was the large, skin-on grilled chicken on top. My only complaint? I could have used more pickled mustard greens to vary the flavor and texture.
I was a little confused by the online menu at Honey Pig Cupbop and ended up not enhancing my bowl of barbecue with corn cheese or mandoo as I’d hoped to. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the oversized container filled with salad, sticky rice, and chapchae (yam starch noodles). I chose beef bulgogi to accompany the starches and kimchi. Eating Korean barbecue that hasn’t been prepared tableside is always a little disappointing, but I thought the $16 bowl was well-rounded enough to order again, next time with the corn cheese.
Choosing was hardest at Sun-C. The owners are from the Vietnamese city of Hue, so a noodle soup was the natural choice. But there were so many good ones that, paralyzed, I got my old standby, the bun thit nuong. Good decision. The vermicelli salad bowl with grill-seared pork was the freshest, most flavorful dish I had at Pop-Up District.
I finished the evening at The Beat, a bakery that had already sold out of several items for the day. That meant no comparing a Portuguese egg tart to the Hong Kong-style one I ultimately ordered. I often complain that desserts are too sweet, but this was the first time I did the opposite. With a dearth of sugar, the flaky pastry just tasted like cheeseless quiche. I felt the similarly about the bitterly nutty sesame tart.
In the end, I succeeded it my quest to try each of the vendors, with money to spare. On return visits, I’ll be most likely to sample more items at Sun-C, but I’m keeping my mind open to see how the offerings transform over time.
Feature image by Alice Levitt
