Temel

Posted on 2006/05/14 by .

Temel, web site, 3232 Old Pickett Road, Fairfax, VA, 703-352-5477 (Metro Trip Planner – opens in new window) [Washingtonian | Washington Diplomat | WaPo | City Paper | food-plan | WAMU | openlist | Yelp]
Mainly Turkish, but has some Greek and Israeli dishes as well, pizza also. Very tasty, fancier than you expect it to be, not as cheap as most other ethnic places. The worst thing is that the service is terminally slow, and without apology. Even at lunch a 45 minute wait to be served is not unusual. Draws a very mainstream crowd and doesn’t have much of an ethnic feel, despite the menu.

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Posted in Falls Church/Seven Corners, Turkish, Virginia | Comments Off on Temel

Kazan

Posted on 2006/05/14 by .

Kazan, 6813 Redmond Drive, McLean, VA, 703-734-1960, closed Sunday. In the McLean Shopping Center. (Metro Trip Planner – opens in new window) [WaPo (orange baklava) | City Paper | openlist | Yelp | Gayot]
Receives less publicity than Nizam’s, but better in my opinion. Closer to real Turkish food. One of the first oases in the dining drought known as McLean.

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Nizam’s

Posted on 2006/05/14 by .

Nizam’s, web site, 523 Maple Avenue West, Vienna, VA, 703-938-8948 (Metro Trip Planner – opens in new window) [zabihah | Washingtonian | Wash Times | WaPo (Phyllis Richman) | City Paper | food-plan | openlist | Yelp | Gayot]

Update March 2013: CLOSED. Now Rumi’s Bistro.

Doner Kebab on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. A full-priced restaurant, and old-fashioned in style, but the food is good. A Vienna institution, pretending to be a real fancy restaurant. I like the ravioli in yogurt sauce.

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Posted in Turkish, Vienna/Tysons, Virginia | 2 Comments

Senegalese

Posted on 2006/05/14 by .

Senegalese
See Nigerian.

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The Islander Caribbean Restaurant and Lounge

Posted on 2006/05/14 by .

The Islander Caribbean Restaurant and Lounge, 1201 U Street NW, Washington, DC, 202-234-4971 (Metro Trip Planner – opens in new window) [WaPo | City Paper | openlist | Yelp | Gayot]
Original, good prices, truly spicy, terminally slow, and I am never sure whether I find it tasty. While I love the culture of Trinidad, is their food really so good? It combines Indian and Jamaican spices, and wraps the whole thing into a big bread called a Roti. I always wonder what the bread adds. Your opinion on this one is welcome. I need to be talked into trying it again.

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Cafe Mawonaj – Closed

Posted on 2006/05/14 by .

Cafe Mawonaj, 624 T Street NW, Washington, DC, between 6th and 7th, 202-332-4480
Closed.
It features “vegan and vegetarian specialties.” It is described as “hip,” if you research it on Google.

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Posted in Columbia Heights/Howard University, DC, West African | Comments Off on Cafe Mawonaj – Closed

Eden Center

Posted on 2006/05/14 by .

Eden Center, web site, directions, use this address for locating on online maps: 6795 Wilson Blvd., Falls Church, VA.

TripAdvisor

Eden Center is on Wilson Boulevard, in Seven Corners, near Rt. 50 and Rt. 7.

To see the restaurants at Eden Center listed in this Guide, click the Eden Center category.

This center is the center of Vietnamese and Asian life in northern Virginia. Excellent stores as well. I suspect no one goes to the Eden Center just once. Not really a strip mall. It is a mall for Vietnamese and Asian businesses, including many restaurants and food stores. If you go on a Saturday, you must arrive before noon to get a parking spot in this mall. All the restaurants are open by 11, so this is not a problem.

Falls Church has held on to the reputation it established in the 1990s for Asian and especially Vietnamese food. Indeed, the Eden Center on Wilson Boulevard — the bustling economic reflection of a county where one in every four residents is now foreign-born — attracts Asian visitors from the entire East Coast. I used to go to this huge mall whenever I wanted; now I worry about whether I can find a parking space.

“Ethnic Goes Exurban: Washington’s Sprawl, As Told Through Its Migrating Restaurants,” by Tyler Cowen, The Washington Post, September 3, 2006

Restaurants, Food Shops, Grocery Stores

  • See the Eden Center category
  • Eden Supermarket, 571-730-4432

More

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Posted in Eden Center, Falls Church/Seven Corners, Strip Malls for Food, Virginia | Tagged , | 15 Comments

West Indian

Posted on 2006/05/13 by .

West Indian
I’ve now put these under Caribbean.

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Sakoontra

Posted on 2006/05/13 by .

Sakoontra, web site, 12300-C Price Club Plaza, Fairfax, VA, 703-818-8886 (Metro Trip Planner – opens in new window) [Washingtonian | WaPo | City Paper | openlist | Yelp | Gayot]
I went here once, and enjoyed the fried watercress salad. The rest was fine but I thought only average. A number of readers have sent positive reports, but I don’t yet get it.

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Posted in Fairfax, Reader Recommended, Thai, Virginia | 2 Comments

Urban Thai

Posted on 2006/05/13 by .

Urban Thai (formerly Thai Smile), 561 23rd Street, Arlington, VA, 703-979-0777, between Fern and Eads, near Crystal City (Metro Trip Planner – opens in new window)
A reader tells me it is great.
There are many other Thai places, more than I can try or list.

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Posted in Crystal City/Pentagon City/National Airport, Reader Recommended, Thai, Virginia | Comments Off on Urban Thai