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Ethiopian Restaurant · Near Northeast · 49 tips and reviews
Washington Post: ** stars in Tom Sietsema's Fall Dining Guide 2011 ("The city's best source for kitfo -- Ethiopia's fiery, butter-splashed version of steak tartare," writes Tom.) http://wapo.st/pFL1z9
3017 Clarendon Blvd (at Garfield St), Arlington, VA
Pizzeria · Clarendon - Courthouse · 60 tips and reviews
Washington Post: 2 stars in Tom Sietsema's Fall Dining Guide 2011. "I'm partial to the 18-inch white pizza strewn with tender clams," writes Tom. http://wapo.st/oB3G9Z
11403 Amherst Ave (at University Blvd W.), Wheaton, MD
Noodle Restaurant · Wheaton-Glenmont · 53 tips and reviews
Washington Post: ** stars in Tom Sietsema's Fall Dining Guide 2011. (Tom recommends the "piping-hot miso-flavored feast wrought from wiry yellow noodles imported from Sapporo.") http://wapo.st/pALURb
Chinese Restaurant · Downtown Columbia · 15 tips and reviews
Washingtonian Magazine: If the prospect of driving to Columbia for Chinese food doesn’t appeal to you, focus on the specifics: the best tea-smoked duck we’ve found and superlative dim sum that’s cooked to order.
Washingtonian Magazine: What to get: Shrimp-and-yam patties; bun cha, charred pork meatballs in spicy fish sauce; Hanoi-style sizzling catfish with dill and mint; clay pots of pork or catfish; lemongrass-marinated short rib.
Washingtonian Magazine: Some of our favorites—deviled eggs topped with piquant green sauce, gorgeously fried prosciutto croquettes—never leave the menu. Look to the specials for interesting spins on seasonal veggies.
Washingtonian Magazine: There are moments in nearly every meal here—a soup that activates every taste sensor, a salad of Technicolor intensity—that make you think you’ve never really eaten Thai food before.
1612 20th St NW (at Connecticut Ave NW), Washington, D.C.
Greek Restaurant · Northwest Washington · 68 tips and reviews
Washingtonian Magazine: If you’re after something quick, the excellent pork souvlaki wrapped with feta in warm, soft pita is the way to go—it’s one of our favorite sandwiches in the area
4441 Wisconsin Ave NW (at Albemarle St NW), Washington, D.C.
Indian Restaurant · Tenleytown · 23 tips and reviews
Washingtonian Magazine: The flavors of the kitchen’s chicken makhani are at once amped up and complex, and it’s hard to resist sopping up all the tomatoey gravy with blistered rounds of cilantro-sprinkled naan.
Washingtonian Magazine: Try the tender meatballs blanketed in terrific red sauce (now sold by the jar) and fluffy tiramisu. To drink, there are wine carafes and interesting draft beers.
Washingtonian Magazine: Pies at this Hill-staffer gathering place are best when leaning toward the creative, including an outstanding barbecue pizza topped with smoky shredded pork, cheddar, and fried onions.
Noodle Restaurant · Colonial Village · 132 tips and reviews
Washingtonian Magazine: Enhance any of the phos with accompanying plates of bean sprouts, basil sprigs, lime wedges, and jalapeños or with a dollop of the Sriracha chili sauce found on the tables.
Washingtonian Magazine: The produce here is bright and fresh and tossed into an array of salads, including a noteworthy one with shredded beets, walnuts, and garlic. Also good: Carrot salad with garlic and chili peppers.
Mexican Restaurant · Colonial Village · 67 tips and reviews
Washingtonian Magazine: The kitchen’s skill is evident in its mole, a sauce that involves no fewer than 15 ingredients and lots of hours. The rich and nutty version here comes ladled over chicken enchiladas.
Peruvian Restaurant · Ballston - Virginia Square · 93 tips and reviews
Washingtonian Magazine: Considered the king of the area’s Peruvian-chicken houses. A tip to up your chances of a getting a great chicken: Prime time might mean waiting in line, but the birds won’t sit in a warmer.
Thai Restaurant · Arlington Heights · 57 tips and reviews
Washingtonian Magazine: We recommend: Shrimp salad with lemongrass; crispy fish with green mango; crispy pork belly with chili and basil; coconut ice cream.
Washingtonian Magazine: We recommend: Fried risotto balls with mozzarella and roasted eggplant; Margherita pizza with buffalo mozzarella; chorizo pizza with onion and roasted red pepper; prosciutto-and-arugula pizza.
Washingtonian Magazine: Begin with the superb veggie combo platter, which includes fine renditions of baba ghanoush, hummus, tabbouleh, and foul (fava beans). It’s a good primer for the zesty, garlicky flavors that abound.
6395 Seven Corners Ctr (at Leesburg Pike), Falls Church, VA
Thai Restaurant · 58 tips and reviews
Washingtonian Magazine: The kitchen makes its own lemongrass-laced pork and roasts a perfect, plump quail. But there are rewards up and down the menu, and many of the best dishes don’t make meat the star.
Washingtonian Magazine: Good starts to the meal include a simple dish of cold cucumber with cilantro. Pork with crunchy cucumber and seaweed-like mushrooms is good for those who shy away from spice.
Middle Eastern Restaurant · Landmark - Van Dorn · 8 tips and reviews
Washingtonian Magazine: Appetizers of sambosa and bulanee, perfectly fried triangles filled with beef, potato, or leeks, make for outstanding starters. For entrées try one of the stews or rice dishes.
Washingtonian Magazine: Start w/ something from the fryer—such as batter-dipped squash batons or bundles of watercress fritters dipped in tamarind-chili sauce—then balance it with the crunchy, earthy pickled tea-leaf salad.
Washingtonian Magazine: Try one of the soups, such as the restorative beef soup with noodles, egg, and turnips or the clam-and-tofu soondooboo with a red-pepper broth and an egg whisked in for richness.
Washingtonian Magazine: While you don’t want to miss the grilled meats, other parts of the menu are worth exploring. Those include chul pan stocked with baby octopus and pork, as well as a scallion-studded seafood pancake.
Washingtonian Magazine: The 149-item menu has many good entry points, but we like to start with the shrimp toast—airy baguette halves slathered in shrimp paste and deep-fried to a crisp —or a round of spring rolls.
8110A Arlington Blvd (Gallows Rd., Entrance to Shopping is on Gallows), Falls Church, VA
Thai Restaurant · 31 tips and reviews
Washingtonian Magazine: Try the crispy salmon, a moist filet encased in a crunchy shell and set on steamed jasmine rice. Or a dish of deep-fried bay scallops tossed with basil, scallions, and red peppers.
8607 Westwood Center Dr (at Leesburg Pike), Vienna, VA
Persian Restaurant · 123 tips and reviews
Washingtonian Magazine: The stars of the menu are the generous entrées, particularly a spicy, cilantro-rubbed chicken tandoori kebab. The juicy ground-beef chelo kebab kubideh impressed with its meatloaf-like flavors.
Washingtonian Magazine: There might not be a better value than the $4.99 refillable bowls of sul leung tang, a soup made by simmering beef bones for 48 hours and studding the broth with beef slices and rice noodles.
Washingtonian Magazine: Accompany all the meat on the menu with a generous plate of the sweet, fragrant rice-and-carrot pilaf called shirin polo and a dish of warm eggplant dip.
Washingtonian Magazine: Jaeger schnitzel is a thin cut of veal topped with a homey mushroom-cream sauce and served with a mound of sautéed vegetables such as carrots and zucchini.
Washingtonian Magazine: The warm pita holds spit-grilled pork and is finished with a handful of crispy French fries. Dips such as kalamata-olive tapenade and tyrokafteri make nice shares with lightly griddled pita.
Washingtonian Magazine: Note the color coding on the menu. For most people, yellow will be plenty hot; red means the kitchen has seasoned with abandon.
Washingtonian Magazine: We recommend: Tuna burger with grilled pineapple; Greek-style lamb burger; Wellington burger with blue cheese and roasted mushrooms.
4926 Cordell Ave (at Old Georgetown Rd), Bethesda, MD
Pizzeria · 16 tips and reviews
Washingtonian Magazine: Kids can order spaghetti and meatballs while adults supplement the wood-fired pizzas with interesting salads such as one with arugula, pears, and Gorgonzola.
9629 Lost Knife Rd (at Odendhal Ave.), Gaithersburg, MD
Taco Restaurant · 32 tips and reviews
Washingtonian Magazine: The best of the tacos, the al pastor, features glistening, spice-rubbed pork sliced from a spit and piled into a nubby, two-ply corn tortilla.
Peruvian Restaurant · Central Rockville · 37 tips and reviews
Washingtonian Magazine: Even if you’re stuffed, you can’t leave without a bite of Perez’s homemade alfajores—anise shortbread cookies filled with caramel. Sublime.
100 Gibbs St Unit B (btwn E. Middle Ln. & Beall St.), Rockville, MD
Indian Restaurant · Town Square · 19 tips and reviews
Washingtonian Magazine: Interesting small plates include kathi rolls, the cool potato salad called papri chaat, and tandoori chicken wings—sample them with abandon during the weeknight happy hour.
Washingtonian Magazine: Consider the superlative lamb chops, marinated in a paste of ginger, chili flakes, and garlic, set over a charcoal flame until the surface darkens, then sprinkled with sumac.
Washingtonian Magazine: While the soondubu is the star of the menu, there are other gems. The selection of pa jun—egg-and-scallion pancakes with seafood, kimchee, or vegetables—make for good additions to the table.