FOOD: A&J Restaurant Worth Driving the Extra Mile

By JIMMY SCARANO
Falls Church Times Staff

How far are you willing to drive for a meal?

It’s a question I ask myself often, usually when I’m stuck in traffic in search of “the perfect dumpling” or “the juiciest kabob” in some far away suburb. Sometimes I sit down at a place, take a few bites of the offerings, and feel like a fool for going so far for such ho-hum food. Other times I clean my plate and pat myself on the back for driving that extra mile.

My two recent trips to A&J Restaurant in Annandale definitely fall into the latter category. Of the myriad of small plates at the northern Chinese dim sum spot there are far more hits than misses, and the experience of eating a Chinese meal with no gloppy sauces, virtually no rice, and no fortune cookie at the end of the meal is a welcome change from Americanized take-out (and a reminder that Chinese cuisine is more vast and varied than you could possibly fathom).

So, even though you’ll have to schlep fifteen minutes into the heart of traffic-plagued Annandale, I still recommend this place as a fun eating-out venture for City residents on the lookout for something different but approachable. A&J, in spite of its homey appearance, is a veteran, well-run restaurant and actually part of a Taiwanese-based chain with locations in California, Maryland, and Virginia. Rather than being a turn-off, this should put you at ease. This place has been serving a mostly Chinese clientele for years and has stayed in business for a reason.

The menu — which dabbles mostly in food from the Shandong and Szechuan provinces, occasionally stepping down into Taiwan — is comprised mostly of shareable soups, dumpling and bread-based savory treats, and chilled vegetable dishes redolent with garlic and vinegar. A lot of it may sound unfamiliar, but I assure you that almost across the board the flavors are simple and comforting. My only caution is that you may be caught off guard by the oiliness in some of the pan-fried items. Just know that they are supposed to be somewhat oily (after all, beef and pork fat do taste pretty good) and that if you order wisely you won’t be bogged down by the grease.

I’d recommend a mix-up of items in the area of three to four plates per person—enough to leave you blissfully plump but not uncomfortably full. Ordering is easy as pie. When you sit down, a waitress will place a paper menu and pen on your table. All you’ve got to do is circle the items you’d like. The only hard part is narrowing down the choices to a manageable few.

Perhaps I could be of some assistance.

The first thing you should do when you get a menu is put a big fat circle around #4105, the pan-fried pork pot stickers. Whereas most restaurant pot stickers are doughy and bland, A&J’s are crispy, chewy, porky, just oily enough, and highly addictive. Eat them on their own or concoct a makeshift dipping sauce with the soy sauce, vinegar, and chili paste on the table—you just can’t go wrong with well-made dumplings.

Steamed pork buns, which are actually more like dumplings, are another must-order. The four little treasures that come with an order are steaming hot, full of juicy pork goodness, and a nice contrast to many of the other bready options. Again, dip them at your own discretion.

Don’t be afraid to circle at least a few more carb-centric items—they are undoubtedly the strength of the menu and the biggest reason for going. Scallion pancakes and the pan-fried beef bun, a giant doughy member of the dumpling family, are both good bets. A lighter option is the Szechuan-influenced wontons in hot red sauce. Slippery and swimming in a slightly sweet vinegar chili sauce, the morsels are best slurped one by one with a Chinese soup spoon.

To balance out the gluten gluttony I’d flip to the back page, where a slew of intriguing vegetable dishes await. The cucumber salad in hot garlic sauce is the simplest and best accompaniment I’ve come across so far. It won’t bowl you over with flavor, but its tangy pungency is nice in between bites of pork and beef-rich dishes. Bean curd skin with mustard greens and soy beans is slightly blander but also a nice respite from the heavier stuff. Slightly more adventurous are the pickled long beans with ground beef, which taste exactly like they sound, and the vegetarian delight with wheat gluten, which is a full-flavored spongy brown thing with a salty-sweet finish.

But there are also some dishes I’d never touch again, one being the smoked chicken. The bird is reminiscent of smoked turkey in the deli aisle but is cut thick and served at room temperature. The much-touted spicy beef noodle soup isn’t much better. Though the beef is shockingly tender and the handmade thick noodles (which you must ask for in place of regular thin noodles if you want them) pleasantly al dente, the broth is watery and off-tasting. I just don’t understand the legions of fans behind it.

Handmade noodles also show up in the restaurant’s rendition of dan dan mian, one of my all-time favorite Szechuan dishes. Too bad the sauce is bland, overrun with peanuts, and just plain bad. Several of the vegetarian dishes are just as forgettable. I wouldn’t order the seaweed salad, boiled peanuts, or dry bean curd with cilantro and peanuts again.

But when the prices range from a few bucks per plate to slightly more than a few bucks per plate (there are a few items in the six dollar range but most are under four) it’s hard to complain about some misses here and there. It’s also hard to complain about the service, which was pleasant, friendly, and swift on both of my visits.

I’ve not been on a weekend, when the menu expands to include some Taiwanese breakfast treats and lines are commonplace, but I’d recommend going on a weekday if you want to linger and really enjoy the experience of drinking tea and noshing for an hour or longer. I’d also recommend bringing cash if you plan on paying for the meal—they don’t take anything else.

Other than that all you need is an open mind.

A&J Restaurant is located at 4316 B Markham St, Annandale, VA, 22003. Phone: (301)251-7878. The hours are 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Friday and 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Cash only.