Merry Christmas 2011 - Call To Action

A very Merry Christmas to everyone! In case anyone was interested in what Anita and I want for Christmas, we'd like for our readers to suggest their favorite restaurants for us to review. That's right folks, all you have to do is comment below with the name of the restaurant and we will try our very hardest to dine there and then write a review. This is your call to action. I wonder anyone is actually going to post a comment. Perhaps in a vain attempt to solicit a comment, I'm going to guarantee that we review the very first restaurant that someone recommends (assuming the restaurant is located in the DC metro area).

Wu's Garden

Wu's Garden Restaurant
418 Maple Avenue East
Vienna, VA 22180
www.wusgardenrestaurant.com

Let me start out this review by apologizing for being later on this week's posting.  There should be another post by the end of the week to make up for the delay.  Now on to the review.

I had driven past Wu's Garden almost every evening on the way  home from work.

Interior Decor

I was very enticed to try this restaurant.  I finally got the opportunity to eat there for lunch with Anita on a Saturday.  The parking lot looked empty as we pulled in.  We thought they may not be open for lunch, turns out they were in fact open they just didn't have a lot of customers.  We walked in to only find one other table of diners.  I was very excited and had high hopes upon seeing the interior decor.  I thought I had found my new go to Chinese Restaurant.

Ornate Ceiling

Anita and I or dered hot and sour soup and wonton soup to start.  The soup came out and it looked like some nice standard bowls of chinese soup. 

Hot and Sour Soup

The hot and sour soup was just blah.  It didn't have the heat or sourness to actually make it hot and sour.  The wonton soup was surprisingly (in a not so good way) different. 

Wonton Soup

The wontons looked liked typical and the broth was rich and and dark.  Apparently, the darkness came from the addition of miso paste, which left us searching for the tofu and seaweed that one would find in miso soup.  That left us confused, were we at a japanese restaurant eating miso soup or were we eating in a chinese restaurant eating wonton soup?  After we finished our soups the bowls were cleared from the table and out came our entrees.

Steamed Rice with Fried Egg

I ordered the hunan chicken as I always do and Anita got the triple delight.  What I was most shocked by was the steamed rice.  It had egg in it!  I'm used to having either plain white rice or in the fancier establishments jasmine rice. 

Hunan Chicken

I was not expecting to see egg tainting my bowl of rice!  The dishes were supposed to come with steamed white rice not something that reminded me of fried rice.  The triple delight was void of a sauce.  It seemed like only steamed vegetable with the trifecta of beef, chicken, and shrimp.  It was simply boring!  The hunan chicken had a sauce but it was a sweet black bean sauce without much heat.  I guess a typical hunan chicken may use a  base of black beans but this was very apparent!The vegetable assortment was also boring.  Seemed to be comprised of primarily broccoli. 

Triple Delight

I was hoping for more carrots, baby corn, mushrooms, and bamboo shoots.

The verdict?  Don't bother stopping by Wu's Garden.  While the interior looked promising, the food definitely left something to be desired.  I guess the search will continue for that go to chinese restaurant in Northern Virginia.

Crawfish in DC

Hot n Juicy
2651 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20008
http://www.hotnjuicycrawfish.com/

Mild Louisiana Flavor Crawfish

When one thinks of crawfish they probably think about New Orleans and not Washington, D.C.  Others might immediately think of crawfish's infamous nicknames: "mud bugs."  Just to set the record straight, crawfish can be had in our very own District of Columbia and I am referring to the crustaceans and not the other various types "mud bugs" that can be found in the city.  One doesn't have to travel all the way to the Big Easy to find crawfish, but just how good could crawfish in DC really be?


I have never been to Louisiana so I am definitely not the creole expert but I have been able to sample crawfish from many places over the years.

Oysters

The crawfish here were in fact hot and juicy, but it may have been too much of a good thing.  We ordered 2 pounds of crawfish - one pound was mild Louisiana flavor and the other pound was medium hot n juicy flavor. 

Large Crawfish with Monster Claws

2 pound orders come with corn and potatoes.  The corn was soggy from being cooked with the crawfish.  The potatoes were boiled redskin potatoes.  The crawfish tails were so juicy that the meat was downright mushy.  I believe this might be from overcooking the crawfish.  I really didn't care for the hot and juicy flavor.  The garlic flavor was way too overpowering. 

Cajun Fries

The best part of the meal were the cajun fries because they were nice a thick, just like I like em.  I found it really strange that the waitress warned us that the cajun fries were spicy.  You do need to be careful about heat levels for the crawfish themselves.  The medium heat was spicy.  I've heard from others that anything beyond medium is going to be practically unbearable unless you really like spicy food.  The fries weren't too spicy, what were spicy were the actual crawfish.  The oysters were blah.  They weren't the most flavorful oysters that I've ever eaten and we didn't get sick so they were just ok.  The prices were just slightly more than what you'd pay for the crawfish in Eden Center (I'm not sure of any other restaurant that also serves seasoned crawfish).

Dumb Waiter

The restaurant can accomodate a lot of people and they offer free refills on soda and they have a nice bottles beer selection.  The wait staff are attentive to refilling the drinks because they know that all the cajun spice can make the plastic soda cups go empty very fast.  The kitchen is located in the basement so they use a dumb waiter to bring food upstairs into the dining area.  That's pretty ingenious if you ask me.


The Verdict?  Save the drive into the District of Columbia and stop by Eden Center in Falls Church (just be careful in the parking lot).  The crawfish in Eden might not be as big as Hot and Juicy, but they are tastier and ever so slightly cheaper.

Breakfast Sandwiches at Panera Bread

Panera Bread
5857 Leesburg Pike # D
Falls Church, VA 22041-2324
www.panerabread.com

Exterior of Panera Bread in Falls Church

Occasionally if the morning traffic was a little lighter than usual I would stop in at Panera Bread for breakfast.  I have always enjoyed the Jalapeno and Cheddar Bagel Breakfast Sandwich.  The slight spiciness of the bagel along with the perfect saltiness from the ham and the real egg all bonded together with the melted cheddar cheese made it the perfect way to start off your day.  I had been hearing the tantalizing radio commercials the Steak and Egg sandwich and assumed that it would be as good as the Jalapeno and Cheddar Bagel Breakfast Sandwich. 

Steak and Egg Breakfast Sandwich

Unfortunately it was terrible.  The meat was chopped up into small pathetic tiny gray pieces that had no flavoring at all.  I really don't know how they can get away with calling the meat "steak."  A little seasoning would have been a step in the right direction, but the meat itself was just bad.  The white Vermont cheddar had a weird consistency to it.  The white cheddar was nothing like the yellow cheddar on the Jalapeno and Cheddar Bagel Breakfast Sandwich.  Oh yeah, on one such visit I wanted to get some coffee to go along with my samwitch.  I was dismayed and astonished to learn that they somehow didn't have any more lids for the to go coffee cups.  A cup of steaming hot coffee without a lid is risky business.  I couldn't believe that they had such poor inventory management that they could run out of lids.  I emailed Panera to complain about the situation and they were nice enough to offer me some coupons for my inconvenience.  It was a nice gesture, but they never should have run out of lids in the first place.  The last time that I went they had the lids back in stock.

The Verdict?  Stay away from the Steak and Egg Sandwich but please do try the Jalapeno and Cheddar Bagel Breakfast Sandwich.

China Star - Authentic Chinese Szechuan Cuisine

China Star
9600 Main St # G
Fairfax, VA 22031-3798
www.chinastarfood.com

Exterior of Restaurant

China Star is one of my favorite chinese restaurants.  This is not just any chinese restaurant though.  It is Szechuan style, meaning it's spicy!  If you like heat this is the place to go!  They serve up authentic chinese dishes, but also have the typical americanized dishes like "Happy Family" or fried rice.

Mapo Tofu

We usually get mapo tofu and scallion fried fish.  The mapo tofu is wonderful and just out of this world!  It is a tofu based dish with a fiery sauce with bits of ground pork.  You can see the chili oil glistening on the top.  Sometimes the mapo tofu may seem a little salty but it pairs perfectly with the white rice.  Although uncomfirmed, I'm also positive that the tofu is homemade.  The tofu has such a soft and silky texture that I've yet to find in a regular asian market.  I once tried the mapo tofu at Hong Kong Palace in Falls Church because it is also supposed to be a Szechuan style restaurant but it really had nothing at all on China Star.  We've also tried several other items on the menu including the sparerib with tofu and seaweed soup, crabmeat with asparagus chowder, and lamb in sizzling pot.  They were ok but not our favorites.

Scallion Fried Fish

We first discovered the scallion fried fish by asking the waiter for a recommended fish dish.  The fish is battered and deep fried and is garnished with chili peppers, cilantro, watercress.  I think there is tumeric in the batter to give it that slightly yellow color.  The fish is a little spicy with a nice crust.   We tried to emulate this dish using a catfish that we caught at Burke Lake.  The dish was pretty close, but I think we should leave it to the pros.

The verdict?  Definitely, definitely, definitely if you're in Fairfax come try China Star!  Heck, even if you're not in Fairfax drive over here to eat.  You won't be disappointed!

A Word From David and Anita

To all of our loyal readers please accept our apologies for not updating the site in a timely manner.  Rest assured that we have definitely been eating over the past several months and we have certainly been collecting images and reviews that we plan on posting to the site.

As a way of saying thank you and as a little holiday present we will be updating the site at least 1 time a week through the end of the year.  Remember you can always eat with us, every bite of the way!

Season Eatings,
David and Anita

Red Mango - Close But Still Not Pinkberry

Red Mango
431 W Maple Ave
Ste A
Vienna, VA 22180
www.redmangousa.com

Red Mango Frozen Yogurt

There seems to be a new frozen yogurt (if you're down with the lingo - "fro yo") store popping up every other day.  Red Mango is actually one of the original fro yo places.  Some suggest that Pinkberry actually stole a lot of the ideas and concepts from Red Mango.  I'm not going to weigh in on that, I will, however, tell you what I think of their frozen yogurt.

I didn't even realize there is a Red Mango in Vienna, VA.  It's really tucked away.  I first discovered Pinkberry in the winter of 2007 and I thought it was the best frozen dessert ever!  The taste was a little tart and yet a little sweet and so clean on the palette.  The choice of toppings only further complimented the sweet and tartness of the yogurt.

Red Mango is a little different from Pinkberry in a couple of ways.  The most obvious difference is that the Red Mango in Vienna is self service.  That means that the customers selects the frozen yogurt flavor and the toppings and the finished product is weighed at the cash register.  Red Mango has a larger selection of flavors than Pinkberry, but the texture of the yogurt itself is a little more watery and therefore more icy than that of Pinkberry.

The verdict?  While Red Mango isn't as good as Pinkberry in terms of frozen yogurt flavor and quality, the self  service option is very appealing!  The ability to mix and match fro yo flavors and toppings can make it more enticing than even Pinkberry.  If you've never had fro yo or even if you have, Red Mango in Vienna is definitely worth a visit!

Vinh Kee - Late Night Chinese Restaurant That Smells Like the Zoo

Vinh Kee
3103 Graham Road
Falls Church, VA 22042
http://www.vinhkeerestaurant.com/

Hot and Sour Soup

After eating yogurt bingsoo at Shilla Bakery a couple of people were hungry so we went to Vinh Kee to eat.  I had never been here before, but I have driven by here almost everyday on the way to work.  Vinh Kee is not to be confused with Miu Kee and Full Kee, both of which I also drive by on an almost daily basis.  I had always wanted to try Vinh Kee.  The first thing I noticed when I walked in was a terrible smell.  I guess it smelled like a cross between a nasty seafood department and an animal exhibit at the zoo.  We ordered hot and sour soup, one of the standards by which I judge a chinese restaurant.  There's only one large size for the soup for a staggering $6.95 and it's not even a seafood hot and sour soup.  We also ordered the Vinh Kee chicken - a dish they are well known for.  it's basically crispy fried chicken.  We got a half sized portion.  The hot and sour soup came out first.  When the waiter brought it out it didn't even look like soup.  The serving container looked more like a chaffing dish than a soup terrine.

Vinh Kee Chicken

The consistency was very thick.  Maybe it had been over reduced after being kept warm all day long, but even so the soup was extremely sour.  The bits of chopped up red pepper skin were tough and hard to swallow.  This probably the second worst hot and sour soup that I've ever eaten.  The worst was from Peking Village II.  That soup was actually sweet tasting which is worse than being overly acidic.  The hot and sour soup did have lily flower buds in it, something that most chinese restaurants omit.  Too bad the rest of the soup was no good.  The Vinh Kee chicken was very crispy with bits of crunchy minced garlic on top.  The chicken was fairly moist, especially considering how crispy the skin was.  The problem was the chicken didn't have any flavor.  Some marinading or some sauce would have made the dish a lot better.  Another person at the table ordered wonton noodle soup.  I got to try a little of the broth, but it was waaaaaay too salty!  Anita said it too was caused from over-reducing.  Beef and cabbage was the final dish that someone else ordered.  I thought it was pretty average.  Nothing to write  home about.

The verdict?  If you're in the Falls Church area and it's late at night I'd probably recommend you go to IHOP next door!  Don't bother with Vinh Kee.

Yogurt Bingsoo

Shilla Bakery
7039 Little River Tpke
Annandale, VA 22003

Yogurt Bingsoo

Bingsoo is a shaved ice dessert from Korea. This is not to be confused with frozen yogurt (fro yo) because bingsoo is strictly speaking just shaved ice.  The shaved ice is not to be confused with shave ice from Hawaii.  Shave ice is totally different because this shaved ice is a little bit hard and crunchy.  Bingsoo can have toppings, which can include frozen yogurt or ice cream. Shilla offers a yogurt bingsoo (along with green tea, ice cream, and some other options, none of which I have actually ordered). The yogurt bingsoo dessert is comprised of a base of shaved ice, sweet red beans, frozen yogurt, rice cake slices, assortment of fruit (banana, strawberry, various melons, kiwi, and other fruits), topped with a fruit syrup, and sprinkled with frosted flakes. It's a large bowl and enough to share with more than 1 person (if you don't mind the germs). The yogurt is the plain and crisp taste of natual yogurt so it compliments the fruit very nicely. The yogurt is very similar to the style from Pinkberry and Red Mango. Of course, Pinkberry is still the best, but this is a little different because of the shaved ice and the because  selection of fruit is predetermined (you don't get to pick what you like).

The verdict? Definitely try the yogurt bingsoo from Shilla, but make sure you go to the Annandale location and not the newer one in Fairfax. The fruit just isn't as fresh at the Fairfax location. Also please note, that Shilla is quite the hot spot so it can be hard to find a seat on a Friday or Saturday night.

Flippin' Pizza - Definitely Not NYC Style Pizza

13916 Lee Jackson Memorial Hwy, store 22
Chantilly, VA 20151
(703) 230-6920
www.flippinpizza.com

Half Cheese Half Sausage Pizza

I first learned of Flippin' Pizza when I drove by Sully Plaza in Chantilly and happened to see a Flippin' Pizza food truck in the parking lot. The truck really sparked my interest. The design on the truck and the name: "Flippin' Pizza" made me think of New York Style pizza. How could there possibly be a good New York Style pizza in the DC area and from a food truck no less? That cannot be!  It sounds too good to be true so I wanted to check this place out.

After many many missed opportunities we finally made it to the Flippin' Pizza in Sully Plaza, the same location where I drove by and saw the food truck.  We went in on a holiday Monday (Memorial Day 2011, that just shows everyone how far behind I am on posting reviews) around 7:30 or 8pm.  There was no one else in the restaurant.  We weren't even sure if the place was open because it was a holiday evening and the place looked dark from the outside.  We ordered an 18" half cheese and half sausage pizza and 2 fountain sodas for dine in  (I think the guy behind the counter was hoping we'd take it to go).  There were only 2 guys working and neither really seemed too enthused about working that evening.  When I tried to pay and the employee asked me something like "don't ya wanna eat your pie first?"  I assumed in this type of pizza place it was normal to pay first and then wait for your food.  I don't know if this is the norm or the guy was just being nice but I was a little thrown off.  Anyway, I paid and got our Pepsi fountain drinks and sat down.  While our pizza was in the oven the employee went outside to check on some other guy's car (I think he worked there too) he told us he'd be back in a little.  Meanwhile another employee who had been out making deliveries came back.  I was worreid about our pizza burning in the oven, but after a couple of minutes the guy comes back inside,  who knows what he's been doing outside for the past couple of minutes.  By the time he comes back inside our pizza is ready!  I get up to bring the pizza to the table.  The pizza is very thin and greasy and I notice the sausage isn't the normal crumbles that I'm used to, it's more like sliced italian sausage links.  This must be normal for this style of pizza because it's certainly not the first time that I've had this sliced sausage on my pizza.  The greasiness may very well be the hallmark of a NYC style pizza.  Anita and I each take a slice and then take a bite.  Nothing remarkable.  The crust is blah and the pizza is dripping with oil from the cheese.  There's no great flavor or crust!  The crust is really mediocre.  There's not much sauce on the pizza.  This definitely not worth $15+ for a "NYC style pizza!"  There's not really much there at all.

Anita and I obviously couldn't finish an 18" pizza by ourselves no matter how thin it was so we asked to take the rest of the pizza home with us.  I guess Flippin' Pizza is trying to save money, because when we asked for a box to take the leftovers home with us we were given a sheet of aluminum foil, a couple of paper plates, and a paper bag.  Wouldn't a small pizza box have been a lot easier?  With the "to-go" packaging that we were given we had to be very careful to make sure our precious slices didn't slip out of the open side of the brown paper bag on the the floor of the car.

The verdict?  Talk about a disappointment.  Mamma Lucia in Fair City Mall over by the Shoppers on Pickett is definitely a lot better!  Try Mamma Lucia for a decent pizza in Fairfax or head on up to the Big Apple for  real NYC style pizza.  Flippin' Pizza is way overrated and overpriced! 

A&J - Spicy Beef Noodle Soup

A&J
4316 Markham St
Ste B
Annandale, VA 22003

Dumplings

So it was a typical Friday evening for David and I, as always we were contemplating
on where to go for dinner. We have to meet up with my cousin at Korean bakery, Shilla for bingsoo after dinner. For those who don't know what bingsoo is, it is a ice shaved dessert with assorted delicious toppings. It made sense for us to eat somewhere in Annandale for dinner. Of course, we would go to Korean restaurants since there a a lot of restaurants in the area to pick from. Unfortunately, we just recently had Korean food so we wanted to try something else. David wanted to go to Silverado, I was a little hesitant however I did not have any other idea so I agreed. 30 minutes later, we arrived at Silverado, that place was packed. The hostess said that it will take close to an hour to get a table for two. We didn't have enough time to wait, plus we were getting hungry so we left. David suggested that we try A & J knowing that I wanted to try Taiwanese food. I have never been there before, but David has.

Milk Bubble Tea

A & J is located in the building which appears to be a small shopping mall. The restaurant looks almost like fast food place. The waitress handed us two paper menus and two pencils as we sat down. I was a little confused but quickly realized that she wanted to us to circle what we want. This reminds me the sushi menu at the Japanese restaurant but this is Taiwanese. Not a bad idea I assumed there would be nothing lost in translation.

Spicy Beef Noodle Soup

We ordered dumplings, wonton noodle soup, and a spicy beef noodle soup. David also ordered a milk bubble tea to drink. The dumplings came out first. The dumplings were not typical Chinese dumplings that you used to see. These dumplings are like long rolled instead of traditional half mooned shape. There was a decent amount of filling, however it could definitely needs a little flavor beside the soy sauce dipping sauce. David commented that the bubble tea was very weak and watery. He wasn't too impressed with it. At last, our soups came out. The wonton soup has shredded fried egg and bok choy. The broth didn't have me at hello after I tasted it. It was a nothing memorable about it. What memorable about this wonton was I took a bite of wonton and realized that pork inside was bright pink. Immediately, a flow of thoughts and images of Gordon Ramsay screaming and yelling came to my head. Is this filling raw? We asked the waitress if the filling is raw. She was explained that it is not. They put special ingredient to make the pork pink. I'm not too sure what is it because I couldn't understand her very well. But she offered to bring it back to cook it some more. Meanwhile, I watched David eats his spicy beef noodle soup. I tried the soup, it was alright I didn't know how long we waited for the wonton soup to come back but the two tables next us came after us and left. At that point, I was getting a little agitated and didn't feel hungry anymore. I just wanted to leave.

Wonton Noodle Soup

David came up the counter to pay and said that we don't want the wonton soup anymore. The waitress was telling us that it should be ready soon and they're making a new soup for us. Are they just omitting the special ingredient or cooking the life out of the wonton this time? How come the second time around took so much longer than the first? I don't like to create attention to myself or make a scene but I said I don't want it and left. It was the first time that I have walked out of the restaurant, unfortunately we also paid for the wonton soup. Overall, we were not impressed at all with the food. I had better frozen dumplings and wonton from Chinese take out. It was the worst experience and I don't think I will go back to A& J.

By the way, they only accept cash.

Food Channel or Travel Network?

No the title is not a mistake.  It was intentionally done.  A good friend of mine recently pointed out that the Travel Channel has seemingly become the Food Network with all of their food related programming.  Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, Man VS Food, Food Paradises, Food Wars, I think that's all the food related programming that they serve up [no pun intended]. That's a lot for what's supposed to be a channel about travel!  Granted, you need to travel to these places to eat, but still I think there's a little too much focus on the food.  I know that Keith Famie (best known for being a contestant on Survivor and lesser known for his short lived show Keith Famie's Adventures, which was shown on Food Network) says "you haven't really been there until you've eaten the food" but there is definitely more to a place than just eating!  So the question is really, what's with the Travel Channel encroaching into the Food Network's space?  Maybe the Food Network should start traveling to difference places and reviewing the non edible attractions!

Pho Capital Menu and Hours - Fairfax, VA

I've been checking the Google Analytics and I've seen more than one person has been searching for the Pho Capital's Menu and their hours.  According to Pho Capital, their hours are:  Mon-Sun: 10 AM – 9:30 PM.  It looks like Pho Capital has a website (I'm not going to link to it because I reviewed the site and give it 2 thumbs down for both usability and accessibility and doesn't even appear in Google's top 10 search results) and it looks like they're trying to leverage social media by using Facebook (too bad not everyone has Facebook) and the helpful and genuine folks at Yelp haven't uploaded any pictures of the menu so I'm going to help everyone out by posting some pictures of the menu that I took.  Please keep in mind my previous review when perusing the menu.

Shamshiry - The Best Kabobs That I've Had

Shamshiry
8607 Westwood Center Dr # 100A
Vienna, VA 22182-7506
(703) 448-8883
www.shamshiry.com/

Front page of the menu at Shamshiry

I first went to Shamshiry back in late 2005 with a former coworker. It was and still is the best kabob that I've had. The restaurant is Iranian, which are a little different from the Afghan style. I'd guess that Afghan style are more common, but I'm by no means a kabob expert.

We arrived at Shamshiry a little before 6pm on a Friday night. 

Bread (thicker than usual)

It wasn't super crowded because it was a little early for dinner, but there were still a decent amount of people in the restaurant.  A word to the wise: come early or you'll likely have to wait for a table.  After sitting down a pitcher of water, bread (the bread uses to be about as half as thin before, I'm not sure why it's so thick now), butter, and a spicy pepper relish are placed on your table.  I think they leave an entire pitcher of water on the table because the pepper relish can be a little bit spicy!

Pitcher of water on the table

Anita and I both knew what we wanted so when the waiter came I ordered for both of us.  I always get the Chicken Soltani because you get both a chicken kabob and a barg. Since kabob meat is usually on the thicker side it is often overcooked. Not here!  The large pieces of chicken are moist and tender. The barg is also perfectly seasoned and moist.

Spicy sauce for the bread and/or kabobs

The kabobs are served sans skewer (I think only homemade kabobs are served on those cheap wooden or bamboo skewers) on a huge bed of fluffy rice. The burnt part bit of rice at the bottom of the pan is called "tah digue." This is usually served on the platter when available, but I've rarely seen any on my plate. Just as well, because I personally do not like it, but I know a lot of people love this delicacy. You also have the option of getting a raw egg yolk served on top of the rice that you can mix in. I've tried this once and wasn't crazy about it. I prefer the light individual grains of rice.  Raw onions, a roasted tomato, and lemon wedges are served along with the rice and meat.

You get a lot of food here!  After filling up on a little bit of the bread neither Anita or I could finish out plates.  We packed our individual leftovers to go.  Combined, they completely filled a to go box.  It was literally enough meat and rice to make a new order of Chicken Soltani!  Our meal would have been perfect, except we had to wait for a while for our waiter to bring out check.

Chicken Soltani

The verdict? If you've never had kabobs you definitely need to check out Shamshiry. Even if you have other kabobs, come give Shamshiry a try. I'm pretty sure you're gonna like it!  Make sure to come hungry!

Pho Capital Fairfax, VA - NOVA Pho Challenge

Pho Capital
9412 Main St
Fairfax, VA 22031
Mon-Sun: 10 AM – 9:30 PM.

Picture of the outside of Pho Capital

I've heard of and seen other pho challenges in other states, most notably California (I guess there's a large Vietnamese population there), but nothing around here.  I've been trying to eat at practically every pho place in northern Virginia but there are a lot to choose from.  A brand new pho restaurant named Pho Capital opened up in the Picket Shopping Center (the former location of Popeyes,

Unusual seeing booths at a pho restaurant

I still don't know why they closed that location AND the location in Fair Oaks Mall, luckily there's a new location in the same shopping center as Fast Eddies in Fairfax). I first saw the coming soon sign a few weeks ago and then a couple weeks later the sign changed to say Grand Opening.  This was about as exciting as when I found out about Pho Deluxe (until I ate there and was disappointed).  Sadly, Pho Capital was also a disappointment.

Condiments with disposable chopsticks on table

The first thing we noticed when we walked into Pho Capital were the booths.  Anita commented that this is probably the first pho restaurant that she's been to that has booths.  Normally you only find tables.  Once we sat down at the table I noticed that there was no napkin dispenser, toothpicks, or spoons.  In my opinion these are requirements for a pho restaurant.  The chopsticks were also disposable.  Anita said that's a good thing because the traditional long plastic chopsticks could be dirty especially since they're stored eating end down.  I think it's easier to eat with the longer traditional plastic chopsticks.

Summer rolls

We ordered our "usual" order of summer rolls, order of spring rolls, and 1 large and 1 small bowl of the "everything" pho.  The summer and spring rolls came out first.  The summer roll's peanut dipping sauce appeared to be very brown and thick, which is a good thing. 

Greasy spring rolls

Anita said it wasn't bad especially when you compare it to some other pho restaurant's thin sauces.  The spring rolls were very greasy.  I believe they were par cooked before and then fried again to give the final crisp.  I think the oil temperature wasn't hot enough.  The summer rolls weren't rolled very nicely.  There was probably too much vermicelli noodles inside and barely any shrimp.  I didn't care for the basil in the summer roll, but that's just me.  I know a lot of other restaurants include basil since a lot of people like it, just not me.

Pho soup

When our bowls of pho arrived I noticed how thin the beef was sliced.  1 "slice" was actually 3 or 4 thinner slices that were still stuck together.  Thinly sliced meat is usually a good thing, however, not if it's done as a means to make a little bit of meat go a long way!  There wasn't too much meat in the soup.  The broth had a very mild flavor.  It was in fact too mild!  The temperature of the broth wasn't quite hot enough either.  The bean sprouts didn't really cook.  What a shame.  Anita said the noodles were a little overcooked.

Bean sprouts, basil, jalapenos, and limes

They were ok for me.  I was hoping that this pho restaurant was going to be a hit.  I was cautiously optimistic because of 2 favorable reviews on Yelp.  Just one more reason you can't always trust those reviews on Yelp.  If you want the real scoop you gotta hear it here first!

Menu's description of the Pho Challenge

While I didn't take on the SUPER Bowl Challenge, I did inquire about its size.  The waiter said that it's equivalent to 3 large bowls.  WOW that's a lot of pho to eat in 15 minutes!  Maybe I could do it if I was really hungry and I had more time.  The real challenge is trying to ingest hot soup and noodles in a very short amount of time.



Here's the description of the SUPER Bowl Challenge transcribed from the menu:

Are a self-proclaimed pho-natic?  Do you have what it takes?  Have you tried and sampled all the Pho at every corner of the street in the Nation's Capital?

Now, do you dare to explore out biggest and boldest challenge to conquer our ginormous bowl of Pho: the SUPER Bowl Challenge.  It's going to take colossal determination to finish our whopping Super Bowl Pho Soup.  The contestant has exactly 15 minutes to finish the entire bowl of soup to its last drop of broth. (sorry, no sharing!)  Whoever finishes within this time frame accordingly shall eat it for free, without paying even a penny!

$14.95 Finish it all and it's FREE!

The verdict?  If you've been in search of a pho challenge in Northern Virginia then Pho Capital may be the place for you.  As of this writing 2 or 3 people have been able to successfully complete the challenge.  That means it is possible, but I don't think 15 minutes is enough time especially considering it is a hot soup.  You could of course just order the challenge sized bowl for a seemingly good deal at $14.95 for the equivalent of 3 large bowls, but I wouldn't waste the money on a below average bowl of pho.

P.S . a coworker pointed out that the restaurant is named Pho Capital, but they have a picture of the Capitol building in their logo.  Does that mean the name of the restaurant should be Pho Capitol instead??

Ethiopian for Lunch?

Skyline Cafe
3821 S George Mason Dr
Falls Church, VA 22041

Page 1 of menu with no descriptions

A few people in the office were going to Skyline Cafe for lunch.  Initially I passed on the offer.  I think when I was 7 or 8 my dad took me to an Ethiopian restaurant (it may have been a completely different cuisine, but all I can remember is that the main course was a glob of something that was served on a banana leaf with no utensils).  I guess you could say that experience scarred me for life, but upon "further review of the play" I reverse my decision and decided to go because it would be good team building as well as great meal to review on this blog.  I had heard of the infamous injera aka Ethiopian Bread.  Someone in the office compared eating it to "chewing on a neoprene suit."  Mmm sounds delicious right??  The injera is a spongy chewy flatbread made with yeast and some sort of unique type of flour.

Page 2 of menu with no descriptions

Skyline Cafe is conveniently located just a block or two away from work.  So close in fact we actually walked there.  Skyline Cafe is situated in a very diverse strip shopping center.  One could easily get confused as to which restaurant is Skyline Cafe because frankly they all seem to be Ethiopian or something else very "exotic."  I guess there's technically only one other Ethiopian restaurant in the same strip mall, but there are several other middle eastern restaurants.  I think one of them is Egyptian, I'm not sure about the others.

Page 3 of menu with no descriptions

The restaurant itself is very small and doesn't seem to accommodate large parties very well.  We managed to get a large enough table to seat 6 people.  We were expecting a vegetarian lunch buffet, but for some reason there was no buffet on the day we went.  Maybe it's hit or miss?  There's a big sign on the front door that says there's a daily buffet for $8.99.  Maybe this wouldn't be too bad afterall.  Some of the diners were a little apprehensive about going to a vegetarian only buffet.  They like their meat!  Half of our table got a vegetarian platter for 3 and the other half of the table got a meat platter for 3. 

Drink page of menu

After placing our order we waited and waited and then waited some more.  The restaurant didn't seem that busy.  After I think 40 minutes of waiting someone finally asked where our food was.  Our waitress said 5 minutes, but only a few moments after walking into the kitchen she emerged carrying both platters of food.  It makes us wonder if the food had been prepared a long time back and they just forgot to go check to see if it was ready.

The platters that our food was served on were very large!  On the vegetarian platter there were spicy brown lentils that were surrounded by what looked like yellow lentils, chopped up greens (I think it was spinach - or something else green, maybe collard greens?), salad, and then some type of veggie curry. 

Meat Platter

The surrounding dishes repeated 2 more times around the perimeter of the platter.  The meat platter featured some type of chicken and hard boiled egg dish.  I guess the eternal question still remains: which came first: the chicken or the egg?  Surrounding the chicken centerpiece were 2 different lamb dishes (we had to ask, we thought one of the meats might have been beef) and the chopped up greens described above.  One of the lambs was spicy and the other was not.  One of the hard boiled eggs was really over cooked and dark green from the sulfer in the egg.  I think this happened because the eggs were overcooked since they were twice cooked: hard boiled and then cooked again after being peeled and put into the gravy (sauce).

Vegetarian Platter

The verdict?  Don't bother coming here if there's no buffet and you have a limited lunch break.  The food wasn't bad and the spongy bread wasn't as bad as others have made it out to seem.  Some of the dishes had a little bit too much heat in them, but they were nothing like Biryani Point.