FOOD: The 10 Best Dishes Over the Past 5 Months

By JIMMY SCARANO
Falls Church Times Staff

As much as I’ve enjoyed scouring the City and surrounding areas for good eats in the last five months, there has been one drawback: I don’t really have a chance to revisit the places I like.

After I write a review I move on to my next subject. Economically speaking, that’s the only way I can do it. I don’t have the disposable income to be going back to my favorite haunts and simultaneously shelling out cash for new reviews. This scenario has produced a short list of dishes and foods that I have seriously craved since writing about them.

Hmmm, a list of memorable foods — that sounds like a great column idea.

So here is my own compilation of the 10 most unforgettable, etched-in-my-mind foods that have crossed my lips these past five months. It’s a mix-up of sweets, small dishes at hole-in-the-wall dives, and artfully presented restaurant entrees. In effect it is my current list of the very best bites in and around the City, but of course it is subject to change. A few months from now, with some more restaurants under my belt, the line-up may be completely different.

Here’s the list, in order from most to least obsessed with:

Green Papaya Salad at Present Restaurant. In my story about Present I called this salad “other-worldly.” I literally think about this dish several times a week. I can’t recall a more perfectly balanced salad in terms of texture, flavor, and temperature.

Mango Salad at Myanmar. Even though I didn’t love all the food I sampled at Myanmar in my two visits, I really enjoyed eating there. There’s just something inherently likable about the place. Also, the mango salad I devoured on my second trip was unbelievable. In my review I described the cilantro and fried garlic-topped salad as a “spicy, savory Burmese coleslaw concoction,” but that doesn’t do it justice. It’s a unique dish that you really have to try to understand.

Bo Luc Lac at Present Restaurant. Yep, another item from Present makes my list, which should tell you how highly I regard the Vietnamese gem. Bo Luc Lac, otherwise known as shaken or shaking beef, appears in various incarnations all across Vietnam. Usually it involves cubes of beef quick-seared and served over lettuce or watercress with a sauce redolent of soy sauce, rice vinegar, fish sauce, and black pepper. Present’s rendition is near-perfect.

Salteñas at Luzmila’s or La Caraquena. It’s too hard to choose between the two. All that matters is that both of these places serve up awesome versions of the sweet-savory turnovers that Bolivians go crazy over.

Cha Gio at Huong Viet. An expertly fried cha gio (that’s a Vietnamese spring roll) is hard to come by. Huong Viet’s rice paper-wrapped beauties are greaseless, crunchy, and irresistible when paired with the accompanying herbs and nuoc cham. If you want to turn someone on to Vietnamese food, take them to Huong Viet and order the spring rolls. They are the gateway drug into one of the most fascinating cuisines in the world.

Lentil Burger at Kasha’s Kitchen. This was the most pleasant surprise of anything I’ve eaten for a Times review. I really didn’t expect much from it at all. I mean, come on, how good could a pressed lentil patty on wholegrain bread really be? The answer, as I found out after one gloriously garlicky bite, is really, really good.

Chicken Shawarma Sandwich at The Lebanese Butcher. It’s been several months since I downed this pita-wrapped delight, but I can still taste the garlic sauce. Man, was that potent. But it was so good and so worth avoiding human contact for the rest of that day. All garlic-lovers in the City should have this sandwich as part of their regular repertoire.

Vanilla Milkshake with Oreos at Elevation Burger. For all the bad things I had to say about Elevation, my milkshake really hit the spot. It had the right consistency and, well, it was loaded with ice cream and Oreos. With those two ingredients as starting points it’s hard not to be delicious.

Almond Croissant at Baguette Republic. When I think about Baguette Republic the first image that comes to mind is the super-sweet grandmotherly owner, Mirjana Varga. The next is the almond croissant. Almonds, butter, and sugar are a recurrent theme in many of the great pastries all over Europe, and there’s a reason why. The combination is tough to beat.

Fried Yucca at Super Chicken. The most vivid memory from my Peruvian chicken binge a few weeks back is actually the fried yucca from Super Chicken. Starchy yet creamy, it was some of the best I’ve had.

So, that’s my list. What’s yours?