Bourdain is coming! Bourdain is coming!
Actually, to be specific, Bourdain already came, saw, and was molested by Jose Andres. Or, at least, that’s what the commercials currently being shown on the Travel Channel imply. (A key moment? Andres pushing Bourdain’s head, pimp-style, into a carton of peaches at the Penn Quarter farmer’s market and shouting, “You must be close to the skin! Smell! Smell!” Oh my god, Andres, what are you doing to us?!) The Washington DC episode of No Reservations will air, appropriately, next Monday night at 10 p.m., on the eve of the Inauguration.
I think it’s fair to say that I’m approaching the episode with more than a little trepidation.
I grew up right outside of Washington DC. I have lived in this city and its surrounding area for 20 of the 24 years of my life. My mother was also raised here, and my father has been living here since my parents graudated from college in 1978. We are natives, and we are proud.
I know a lot of things about where to find food in this city. Sure, there are the high-falutin’ dining restaurants — Gerard’s Place, Citronelle, CityZen, The Inn at Little Washington, 1789, Vidalia, Komi, etc. — and there are the tourist staples — Jaleo, Clyde’s, Old Ebbitt, Ben’s Chili Bowl — and the late-night scene — The Diner, Amsterdam Falafel, the beloved Jumbo Slice (yes, beloved). Most people know about Little Ethiopia around 9th street, and most people have been disappointed by the mostly-sub-par Chinatown (Full Kee, you are an exception, and a beloved one). DC tends to get a fairly bad rap for dining, or at least it doesn’t get the kind of respect lavished on Chicago and New York, who both claim certain universally recognizable foods as their “own” (hello, HALF SMOKES anyone?!) But the real reason DC gets kind fo a bad rap is because people don’t know where to look. Or, rather, people don’t understand where the food is.
DC is not just a city. The city itself, much like the City of London, is very small. It’s a federally dictated territory, part of no state, originally conceived to be the seat of government and nothing else. Hell, until the 1960s DC didn’t even try to organize itself in such a way that people could easily and happily live there. You were supposed to come into the city to work, and then leave at night. That’s not what actually happened — people have always lived in the city — but that’s what the intention was. So, also like London, the “city” spread. What would traditionally be called the “suburbs” became simply known as “the area.” Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Silver Spring, Takoma Park, Arlington, Alexandria, were all small towns outside of the border that simply became, informally, part of the city.
Or, to put it a different way: to get from the South Side of Chicago to downtown Chicago takes roughly 30 minutes by car. That is the same distance and time it would take someone to get from Bethesda to Arlington, through DC. To get from my house in Bethesda to downtown takes 15.
And, so, DC spread its culture around, too. This manifested in a number of ways — some of the best shopping districts are outside city lines — but it mostly manifested itself in food. Markets are everywhere. Restaurants are everywhere. EVERYWHERE. In Bethesda, where I live, we are known as a city of restaurants. There are more seats at tables here than residents to fill them. There are several dozen restaurant within a five minute walk from my door.
There is more food in my neighborhood than in most of Northwest DC.
If you know the area, or you know someone from here, and you want to get certain kinds of food, they will tell you where to go. Silver Spring and Wheaton are absolute treasure troves of Hispanic and Chinese food (the two best Dim Sum restaurants in a 50-100 mile radius, I Swear, are on University Blvd.). Annandale, VA, a mere 15 minutes from the DC city line, boasts some of the best and most authentic Korean food. Burgers and, oddly, British/Irish food thrive in Bethesda. For organic and/or vegan food with a huge side of creativity, go to Takoma Park. Soul Food in Alexandria. There is much to be admired about the food downtown — I wouldn’t think of going anywhere but 9th street for Ethiopian, no way no how — but it is not the be-all, end-all of eating in DC.
My friends who have moved to the city over the past three years have often expressed frustration with the lack of quality, cheap food they find in DC. And they are always surprised, satisfied and grateful when I coax them out to Montgomery County, or down to Virginia, and show them what they’ve been missing. It is my sincerest hope that Bourdain was given at least a little tour of the thriving area around DC, and fed some of its delights. If he wasn’t, well, I’ll be incredibly sad. And maybe we’ll convince him to come back for a real tour of our nation’s capitol.
Now, who can write a diatribe like that without some recommendations? Please, please, please take my word and eat at this places at least once in the next month:
Hollywood East Cafe on the Boulevard
2621 University Blvd. W.
Wheaton, MD 20902
240-290-9988
This is not an exaggeration: this is the best Dim Sum in Maryland, Virginia, and DC, bar none. They have everything from chicken feet and shark fin dumplings to the good ol’ standbys of hargao and shumai. Dim Sum runs daily until 3 p.m., but weekends are where it’s at: come early, stay long, and don’t get pissy if you have to wait. Absolute necessities include their succulent hargao, the deep-fried green peppers stuffed with shrimp (spicy green peppers!), baby clams in black bean sauce, and chinese broccoli with oyster sauce. Just about everything I’ve ever had there is incredibly delicious, so pick a variety from the carts. And finish the meal with their excellent pineapple buns. If the wait is really too long for you and your belly to deal with, then you can go across the street to…
Good Fortune
2646 University Boulevard W
Wheaton, MD 20902
301-929-8818
Also not an exaggeration: This is the second-best Dim Sum in MD, VA, and DC. No doubt. And while Hollywood East is the premiere dim sum spot, Good Fortune, I have found, is more reliable and fantastic for a family meal. Bring two people, bring 12, go alone: the menu is huge and real (none of this boring Americanized crap, though it’s there if you really must have it), and the quality of cooking is consistently wonderful. I’ve been eating at Good Fortune for 15 years and haven’t once experienced a bad meal. Bonus: they have fish tanks for fresh whole fish.
El Pollo Rico
2517 University Blvd W
Wheaton, MD 20902
301-942-4419
Noticing a trend? I swear, it’s not bias, it just so happens that this little stretch of University Boulevard, between Viers Mill Road and Georgia Avenue, boasts some of the best little hole-in-the-walls ever. There are two El Pollo Ricos, one in Arlington (that seems to, unfairly IMHO, get all the attention), and one in Wheaton. The Wheaton restaurant has been embroiled in some trouble over the past two years — first there was an immigration bust, a money-laundering scandal (the owner and his wife are currently in jail), and then a fire that burned down the original (and unbelievably charming) location on Ennals Ave., as well as most of the shopping strip it was part of (the fire was electrical, and happened when the store was closed). It’s taken a while, but Pollo Rico is back, and thank god. This place does Peruvian rotisserie chicken, and that’s it. Your chicken (1/4, white or dark, 1/2, or a whole chicken) comes with two of the following three options: fries, cole slaw, or tortillas. The skin is crispy, the meat incredibly juice, the whole shebang deliciously spiced. It also comes with yellow sauce (mild and elusive) and green sauce (hot, extremely finely minced green chiles), both of which should be mixed together and consumed liberally on both your chicken and fries (I recommend getting at least 3 extra of each sauce). All of this for $5-$10. There are also South American drinks for sale — horchata, Inca Kola and Champagne cola, all of which are somewhat acquired tastes and unbelievably good with the chicken. But what makes the Wheaton store the one I’m calling out (Arlington, after all, is also a suburb)? It’s the rotisserie guys. They dudes who work in the Wheaton store are just better at making chicken than the guys in Arlington. I’ve got nothing against the Arlington dudes — both Pollo Ricos, on their worst days, are heads and shoulders above all the other chicken places around here. But the Wheaton guys are just magic. Magic, magic, magic.
Yechon Japanese Korean Restaurant
4121 Hummer Road
Annandale, VA 22003
703-914-4646
Open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, serving authentic Korean food with authentic Korean atmosphere, authentic Korean accompaniments, barbeque you can make on your table, unbelievably spicy and delicious stews, bi bim bap in sizzling stone bowls, and oh yeah, It’s Open 24 Hours A Day! It’s 35 mintues from my front door and I go at least twice a month. Go. Go, go, go!!! Now!
Alright, I’m at work, and now I’m officially falling behind. Sigh, I could write a list of delicious DC Metro Area places all day. Here are a few more you can look up for yourself:
Ri Ra in Bethesda
The Harp & Fiddle in Bethesda
Jackie’s in Silver Spring
Crisfield Seafood in Silver Spring
Hard Times Cafe in Bethesda, College Park, Arlington
A&J Restaurant in Rockville
Joe’s Noodle House in Rockville
Faryab (Afghan) in Bethesda
EatBar in Arlington
Pho 75 in Arlington
Olazzo in Bethesda
I’ll do more in-depth reviews soon, I promise.
