We live in a region filled with excellent food from all over the continent of Asia. From Indian sweets to Korean rice cakes, there’s little we’re lacking. But when you’re looking for a fine dining experience to which you can proudly take a date or have a celebration, these are the best bets from the largest continent.
Bansari
Vienna / Indian / $$
A butter chicken enchilada. Puffy naan flavored with truffle oil. An Indian-spiced take on deviled eggs. Chef Deepak Sarin may not be new to the restaurant game, but decades into his career, he’s definitely not afraid of innovation.
He also doesn’t shrink away from hard work. Sarin splits his time between Bansari on the Fairfax-Vienna border and Bhai Sahab in Leesburg. He prepares Indian classics with the boldest flavors in our region at both, but while he specializes in hard-to-find traditional dishes like a vegetarian Rajasthani thali in Loudoun, Bansari is his culinary laboratory for fresh ideas.
That also includes regional recipes you won’t find anywhere else. Amritsari tandoori chicken masala is one such delight. Deeply marinated poultry pieces bob in a spicy tomato sauce calmed by a drizzle of cream. The already complex mashup of flavors inherits additional depth when you upgrade your bread to that truffle naan or, for that matter, pudina paratha, with its refreshing mint leaves.
Don’t miss the Indo-Chinese dishes, either. Fiery hakka noodles and tangy paneer 65 will add spice to your life in ways you probably weren’t expecting. But anything Sarin proffers will likely have your taste buds firing on all cylinders.
See this: A stylish brick dining room is filled with bookshelves and birdcage-shaped chandeliers.
Eat this: Paneer 65, Amritsari tandoori chicken masala, truffle naan
Service: Solid. Ask for recommendations, and you’ll get lots of great information.
When to dine here: A casual night with friends who love spice as much as you do.
Celebration by Rupa Vira
Ashburn / Modern Indian / $$
In the main dining room, brightly colored paintings depict a carnival, replete with a Ferris wheel. At chef-owner Rupa Vira’s modern ode to the cuisines of India, every day is just such a celebration and an occasion to feast. Though there is no tasting menu, it’s a shame not to order something from nearly every category on the bill of fare.
Start with lotus stems fried to a potato-chip-like crispness and drizzled with green cilantro and deep-red beetroot chutneys as well as white yogurt. The mix of hues is worthy of Holi, the Indian Festival of Colors.
Tandoori salmon is marinated and then charred in the clay oven, but it’s a swim in spice-laden mango sauce that makes the fish flourish. Chile sauce, tomatoes, salmon roe, and a pansy all gild the lily in a most welcome manner.
Finish with the Celebration Special, a rosy-flavored, gold-dusted pudding that arrives in a cloud of dry ice. It’s a worthy end to a joyous tribute to everything that makes India beautiful. Vira brings her creativity to the flavor and color of her native country, while servers add the friendliness that will bring diners back again and again.
See this: Colorful rooms (one has a purple theme; the bar area is mostly green) match the vivid art on the walls.
Eat this: Lotus root stem chaat, tandoori salmon, Celebration Special
Service: Cordial and informed, but can be slow
When to dine here: You’re seeking Indian spice in a way you’ve never tasted it before.
Esaan Northeastern Thai Cuisine
McLean / Northern Thai / $$
Too many of us think first of coconut milk and chiles when Thai food is on the horizon. Esaan Northeastern Thai Cuisine is here to remind us that lime, fish sauce, and mint are just as important. After all, the nation’s chefs are famous for their use of the four major flavors: sweet, sour, spicy, and salty. All are prominent in the fresh fare here, but forget about the heavy curries you suck up when supping on Southern Thai food.
The lean, mean cuisine from the North is beautifully represented by a dish called yum kai zapp. The spicy deep-fried chicken salad could make the keto gods weep, but don’t worry: There’s sticky rice on the side if you need it to temper the heat. The juicy, crispy breast meat is lightly soaked in a lime-flavored dressing and gets a smack of heat from dried chiles. Mint, cilantro, and red onion light up the flavor like a sunny day. Just a reminder that there’s so much more than creamy curries when dining Thai-style.
See this: A full-sized motorcycle takes up one corner of this petite, dark wood–lined haven.
Eat this: Kai kra ta, yum kai zapp, sticky rice with Thai custard
Service: Personalized. Expect owner Tu Yutthpon to check in on you himself when he’s there.
When to dine here: Chiles, lime, and mint will revive you during a workday lunch or wake you up after a long day.
Han Gang Korean Restaurant
Annandale / Korean / $$$
The poke trend is hot in NoVA right now. We are thoroughly here for the raw-fish dishes. The only problem is we wouldn’t take a date we wanted to impress to one of the Chipotle-style counter-service spots that serve the stuff.
But I have a secret: You can get something similar, and just as delicious, at Han Gang Korean Restaurant. Hwe dup bap splits the difference between Hawaiian poke and Korean bibimbap. A bountiful bowl of salad comes to the table topped with rosy-hued cubes of ahi, salmon, and yellowtail.
One of the friendly servers mixes in a bowl of warm rice and then another filled with a crimson sauce of spicy gochujang and nutty sesame. The result is a lovably motley blend of flavors, from the briny fish to bright perilla leaves mixed with the lettuces.
This can be a warm-up for the top-flight meats ready to hit the barbecue grill at your table, but for a light meal, the hwe dup bap here is one of the best bets in town.
See this: Tables and booths in this blue-toned restaurant are usually full of diners grabbing a bowl of bibimbap.
Eat this: Haemul pajeon, modeum gui combination, hwe dup bap
Service: A cast of caring ajummas have been here long enough to know the menu backward and forward. Listen to their advice.
When to dine here: You’re willing to pay a little more for Korean that’s a literal cut above.
Han Palace
Tysons Corner / Chinese / $$
The ceiling is decorated, Sistine Chapel–style, with a gold-and-blue peacock. Blue birds are on each plate, which you contemplate as your wait for a pot of floral tea to arrive. And then the fowl arrives at the table. It may be in the form of Peking duck, but if you called 48 hours ahead, it’s Han-style stuffed duck.
Undoubtedly the most ornate dish of this Cantonese kitchen, the bird is stuffed with rice that absorbs its juices, but also tender chestnuts, salty egg yolk, cubes of ham, dried scallops, and shrimp. It’s not the only upmarket dish here. Try the lobster stir-fried sticky rice or, for a surf-and-turf, add the velvety cubes of Han-style filet mignon.
For many, the main attraction here isn’t the opulent entrées, but the all-day dim sum. Get it at dinner with a colorful cocktail. Whatever you pick, don’t miss one of the sweet buns filled with egg custard. The hot center oozes into the diner’s mouth at first bite. It’s just sweet enough to make you forget the birds and think just about their gooey, lush ova.
See this: An avian theme in the dining room goes from ceiling to the ornate plates. And if you order right, it extends to what’s on the plate, too.
Eat this: Baked barbecue pork buns, Han-style stuffed duck, almond ball with custard yolk heart
Service: Concise. You won’t be learning your server’s life story, but you’ll get what you want, quickly and accurately.
When to dine here: Dim sum is calling, and you want it in a high-class setting.
Incheon Restaurant
Annandale / Fusion / $$$$*
For decades, Annandale has been K-Town, home to Korean restaurants that range from the traditional spots for a kimchi jjigae to new-school entries with fusion dishes like bulgogi pizza. But one thing that I never expected to pop up was the kind of tasting menu restaurant one might find in a far larger city.
Thank chef Justin Ahn and co-owner Brandon Kim for their boldness in trying something utterly unexpected in Annandale—a $60 round of fusion plates, along with cool cocktails and interesting wines and beers.
Though Ahn kicked off the menu with Korean fusion, he says that he’ll cook more from other traditions as the restaurant progresses. Look to dishes on his initial menus for a preview of what that might mean. For example, a Korean steamed-egg dish is showered with prik nam pla, a chile-filled Thai sauce.
You never know exactly what will spring from Ahn’s mind to your plate. But chances are, it will be something new that you wish you could have again.
See this: Faux plants above diners’ heads add a little bit of green to the pragmatic setting.
Eat this: Trust the chef that the tasting will be something to remember.
Service: Often, chef Justin Ahn will personally deliver your dish and describe how he created it.
When to dine here: You and your other half want to keep it casual for a meal full of gustatory surprises.
Nam-Viet Restaurant
Arlington / Vietnamese / $$
Nguyen Van Thoi left this mortal coil in 2005. Far better than a stone monument, he lives on in a restaurant run by his wife, Ngoc Thi Tran, and their son Richard Nguyen that not only serves his dishes with gusto, but also continues to innovate.
Mr. Thoi’s Beef & Pork Belly Skewers are an apt living memorial for any restaurateur. The rolls of sweet-and-tangy meat leave a juicy layer of flavor atop the bean-thread noodles where they sit. Diners soak rounds of rice paper in warm water and wrap up the bullet-shaped roulades, noodles, and pickled daikon and carrots to make the tastiest spring rolls this side of Can Tho.
The Southern Vietnamese city lends its name to the rightfully popular baby back ribs, deep-fried to a legendary fatty crispness. When you eat them, remember Mr. Thoi and his home city, but also appreciate a long future of dining on his family’s cooking in Arlington.
See this: Photos of Mr. Thoi with luminaries like Janet Reno cover the walls in this practical space.
Eat this: Green papaya salad with beef jerky, Mr. Thoi’s Beef & Pork Belly Skewers, Can Tho Crispy Glazed Baby Back Ribs
Service: Chances are, Richard Nguyen will be personally helping you. He’s been working for his parents since he was 12 and knows hospitality—and this restaurant— better than just about anyone.
When to dine here: You and your friends want to shake things up at lunchtime with unique dishes and a cocktail or coffee.
Sense of Thai St.
Ashburn / Thai / $$
The Chumphon province of Thailand, located in the country’s long, skinny Southern tail, is not a culinary destination on the level of Bangkok or Chiang Mai, but if Sense of Thai St. is any indication, maybe it should be. Chumphon-style pad thai, for example, combines the tamarind-treated noodles and shrimp with peanuts that we all know and love with coconut-curry paste, sweet radish, and meaty chunks of jumbo lump crab.
But the hits at Sense of Thai St. aren’t limited to bold Chumphon flavors. The best dishes at the stylish (and usually packed) restaurant range from Southern Thailand to Northern specialties like khao soi. The chicken curry with egg noodles and pickled mustard greens is unusually packed with poultry here, but it also brings a serious slap of heat.
Fusion also finds a place on the menu. Quesadillas made from Thai roti are available filled with either crispy duck and hoisin, for a take on Peking duck, or chicken and green curry that stretches with mozzarella and proffers a pleasant burn. Pair it with a cocktail from ballyhooed bar manager Jeremy Ross. He uses exotic flavors like lychee and ginger to produce elevated tipples ideal for cooling down your palate.
See this: Curry pastes encircle the open kitchen, but Thai movie posters are just as likely to catch your eye.
Eat this: Green curry quesadilla, khao soi, Thai tea crème brûlée
Service: The servers’ Hawaiian shirts signify a low-key vibe, but expect efficiency, too.
When to dine here: You and your date are in search of a little spice.
Tachibana
McLean / Japanese / $$
Historically, austerity has been a benchmark of Japanese cuisine. At Tachibana, you will find rolls that combine pickled plum and Japanese mint, not foie gras and truffle mayo. Looking for the latter? Go somewhere else. This warhorse has changed little since it moved from Arlington to McLean in 1996. And purists like it that way.
There are precious few Japanese-owned Japanese restaurants in NoVA. The fact that this has been one since its 1982 inception (original owner Hideo Eiji Yahashi passed away last year) speaks volumes. The menu is packed with greatest hits.
To bear witness, just order a bento box. For $18, it contains five Nipponese kitchen favorites. A few soybeans whet the palate for crackling shrimp and vegetable tempura. A salmon fillet is lightly seasoned and grilled to a uniformly crispy sear. Yakitori, made from Rubenesque chicken thighs, avoids the sugary pitfalls many other iterations endure. The tamago is striated with paper-thin layers that make the sweet omelet a particular pleasure. Egg appears in the chirashi bowl, too, a well-curated sampling of some of the best fish the restaurant has to offer. This is a destination that not only resists trends, but long outlasts them.
See this: There’s a vintage feel to the atmosphere, but the kimonos and wall hangings are timeless.
Eat this: Bento box, chirashi, ume-shiso roll
Service: Strictly business.
When to dine here: You want to keep your workday lunch efficient and light.
Yume Sushi
Arlington / Japanese / $$$$
A meal at the sushi counter passes like a luxe fantasy covered in gold leaf, a maximalist reverie of wagyu and otoro. In short, this is not traditional omakase. The restaurant is aptly named for the Japanese word that means “dream,” after all.
Yes, there are spicy tuna rolls and individual pieces of nigiri, but that’s not the point. The reason to visit Yume Sushi is to indulge. Chef Saran Kannasute presides over a kitchen stocked with some of the most expensive ingredients you’ll find. If you aren’t enamored with the silky, sweetly briny melt of fresh Hokkaido-harvested sea urchin, his oeuvre probably isn’t for you.
In a seven-course tasting, uni first appears in the form of a pasta dish, with lobes of the shellfish reposing over skinny noodles dressed in garlic butter. Globes of gleaming orange ikura and a small shower of French caviar sit on top, ready to be mixed in with the noodles, popping with each bite. You’ll see it again in at least one other application, perhaps over a torchon of monkfish liver, the foie gras of the sea. But as the word omakase, which means “I shall leave it up to you,” suggests, it is best to simply sink into a meal here and lap up the decadence.
See this: Sit at the sushi bar for the best view of both the chefs at work and the graffiti-style mural behind them.
Eat this: Uni pasta, A5-wagyu-foie-gras nigiri, The Winner
Service: Though not as sleek as the kitchen operation, the team gets the job done.
When to dine here: You’ve got a date who’s wowed by the finer things.
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