Food is religion in Singapore, and one of the great things about being posted as a diplomat representing Singapore in Washington D.C. was that I got here just as the city was on the cusp of a foodie explosion. One thing I learned, however: the places that Asian diplomats go to when they are hosting people to lunch are very different from where they go to on weekends when they just want a taste of home. So here’s my list of the D.C. area’s best restaurants, based on asking diplomats where they go to eat their home country cuisine.
As you can tell by the tone, this list started as an email that I wrote to a former U.S. Ambassador to Singapore who wanted to know where to get good Asian food in the D.C. area. It’s been updated over the years, even after I left the Singapore foreign service, so some of the recommendations are supplemented with my own personal experience. But people keep asking me for the list, and tell me they’ve found it useful, so I’ve put it up on Medium to make it easy for me to keep sharing it. Let me know on Twitter what you think!
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Singaporean/Malaysian — Penang in Bethesda. Not that great, but it helps with culinary homesickness. Spices in Cleveland Park has a Malaysian owner, and she does do some dishes well if you tell her that you know Malaysia. The best Malaysian food I’ve found is oddly enough at Rasa Sayang, which is this restaurant in Wilmington, Delaware that makes a great rest stop if you’re driving from DC to New York.
Indonesian — Sarinah, on Van Dorn Street in Virginia, took top spot but unfortunately it closed. Philadelphia has great Indonesian food. Hardena/Waroeng Surabaya Restaurant is where I would go to in Philly — a hole in the wall, but delicious.
Dim sum — For the traditional dim sum on carts, I would go with Oriental East in Silver Spring, Hollywood East in Wheaton, Mark’s Duck in Falls Church, and China Garden in Rosslyn, in that order. Oriental East has good dim sum, but the queue is long. Hollywood East takes top spot if you don’t want to wait in line.
Chinese — XO Taste in Falls Church has very good soy sauce chicken, roast pig, and roast pork (what we called char siew in Singapore), and roast duck. XO Taste used to be my favourite Chinese place, but that spot is now held by House of Fortune in McLean which I think is even better (try the shrimp and squid). Tricky thing about House of Fortune is that you have to ask for the Chinese menu, which is really an English-language menu but with dishes that supposedly ethnic Chinese people like. Otherwise the regular menu is just a standard Chinese takeout. On top of that, I’ve come to really love A&J Taiwanese restaurant in Rockville for Taiwanese-style dim sum, and I want to try Panda Gourmet, Langdon Days Inn, 2700 New York Ave NE — supposed to be the best Sichuan around. I also like Mala Tang in Arlington for Chinese hot pot in a nice setting. China Garden in Rosslyn has surprisingly decent food, but it really depends on what you order. Mark’s Duck has good roast duck, but poor Peking duck. Uncle Liu’s Hot Pot in Falls Church is pretty good hot pot. Great Wall on 14th St NW is good if you know what to order (the owner is from Szechuan). Meiwah was so-so, as was Peking Gourmet.
Korean —My theory is that all Korean restaurants in D.C. are good at at least one thing, but unfortunately most feel compelled to put everything on the menu (this is true of Chinese restaurants too). I’ve become really hooked on Nak Won, which is a little unassuming Korean place in Annandale that does Korean BBQ on charcoal. Really good soups (I like the seafood hotpot). The various branches of Honeypig are very good too. I love the marinaded BBQ (get the galbi beef), but the non-stop Korean music videos can be jarring. Oe Gad Gib is a good deal if you take the all-you-can-eat barbecue. I also like the Korean-style fried chicken at Bon Chon chicken, on Little River Turnpike and various other places around DC (nearest one to DC is in Arlington).
Vietnamese — Within the Eden Center cluster of Vietnamese restaurants, I find I like Hai Duong for pho (which is what the Vietnamese Embassy people recommended to me) and Lacay Cho Lon for this beef stew with French bread. For Pho, I’ll go with Pho 75 and then Pho 14 in Van Ness and Columbia Heights. Nam Viet (aka Pho 96) and Vietnam Georgetown are passable if you just want some average pho.
Japanese — Makoto, if you can get past the no-cell-phone and other strict rules, has some spectacular food. Even the Japanese officials at the World Bank think it would be a high quality restaurant back in Japan. Sushi Taro can also be very good. Sushi Taro has the best lunch deal in town. I also do like Kaz Sushi Bistro, even if my Japanese friends think of it as kind of a bastardisation of Japanese food.
Indian — Indique and Bombay Club are all decent; my favourite of that lot is Indique. I like Rasika a lot, but it’s a different, fancier kind of restaurant.
Thai — Bangkok 54 in Arlington is very good — their whole fish is excellent. It had a good Thai market next door where you can get pre-made Thai food plus standard Southeast Asian staples such as canned kaya and Milo. The Thai Embassy folks go to Bangkok 54 or Siam Square down the road. There’s also a Thai restaurant run by Laotians in Virginia that has a separate Lao menu that you have to ask for. This doesn’t count Little Serow or Thai Xing, which are both amazing, but again in the upscale market.