Eating in My Hood
Hanna and I are fortunate to live smack dab in the middle of a restaurant mecca. Without leaving a relatively small radius, you can have just about any sort of cuisine you desire, from Peruvian chicken to sushi to Uyghur delicacies.
While we’re just a short ride (traffic permitting) from downtown Washington, D.C., increasingly the most compelling food in our area is in the suburbs. That’s where various ethnic groups typically find it easier and more affordable to cluster and introduce the variety of their food and culture to the broader community. For example, not far away from us there is a shopping plaza called the Eden Center that features over 30 different Vietnamese restaurants. In Annandale, just a bit down the road, there are multiple great Korean barbecue joints. Within a mile of our house there are two stores specializing in high-end olive oils, and while I’ve never visited or shopped at either of them, it’s a sign of what people in our area value – premium ingredients and authenticity.
Most of the content on our site relates to distant places. When we’ve featured food, it’s often been relatively exotic. Today, however, I’m going to highlight four restaurants within 2 miles of our house that we consider go-to destinations. They’re consistently good, so we’re happy to go as a couple and we particularly enjoy taking visitors.
Elephant Jumps
I absolutely love Thai food – and I’m happiest when I’m sweating bullets after ordering dishes that are too spicy for gringos like me, yet nevertheless flavorful. We have a ridiculous wealth of Thai options near us, including longtime favorites like Busara (in Tyson’s Corner) and Natta Thai (in Vienna) but tiny Elephant Jumps is my favorite. I could live on a diet of papaya salad and num tok, the spicy beef salad. Hanna likes to take her “cheat day” for their tom ka gai (spicy chicken coconut milk soup). Nevertheless, we try to always stray a little from some of our familiar favorites and get a recommendation from the wait staff. Their self-described “serious authentic Thai cooking menu” always offers some great options, and when they’re in season the sauteed soft-shelled crabs are excellent. Be sure to get plenty of water, and if you haven’t tried it before ask for a Singha beer, a perfect complement to any fiery meal, but especially this one.
Captain Pell’s
If there’s a regional cuisine to our area, other than the DC-style half smoke, it’s likely the Chesapeake Bay crab house. In that respect, Captain Pell’s is a throwback – the type of place with brown paper rolled out on the tables and a persistent smell of Old Bay seasoning. They had to move locations since I moved here, but lost none of the charm, authenticity or efficiency they’ve always offered. Most people go for the Maryland style steamed blue crabs, but they have a wide variety of other options, including snow crabs, shrimp, oysters, catfish and a seafood tower. I usually stick to steamed seafood of some kind, but my guilty indulgence is the hushpuppies. When Oklahoma pro OT Fears stayed at a friend’s house down the street about a decade ago, he ate here every night. It’s not necessarily inexpensive but it’s a good value. They don’t have a traditional Maryland beer like Natty Boh, but there are plenty of domestic and a handful of foreign brews available.
Four Sisters
We are blessed with an overabundance of Vietnamese restaurants, more than I’ll ever be able to try, and I’ve really come to appreciate the breadth of their offerings and the intricacies of the flavors. For those of you who’ve never had it, think far less greasy than much American Chinese, and less spicy than Thai. While there are numerous hole-in-the-wall options near us, Four Sisters – within the newish Mosaic District shopping center, is one of our favorites when we take large groups. The presentation is flawless and the menu is beyond voluminous. I like the spring rolls, but if you’re trying to avoid the fried stuff the shrimp and pork garden rolls are just as good. You can get meats like lemongrass chicken of Hanoi style grilled pork either on vermicelli noodles or deconstructed with large lettuce leaves and accoutrements to build your own wraps. The restaurant has a particularly deft touch with beef, including grilled black pepper beef, lemongrass beef and cubed “shakey” beef. The pho is fine, but frankly for that I’d rather go to one of the many pho-only restaurants nearby. Beer of choice: Vietnamese 33. Be sure to make a reservation, because they fill up fast at prime hours.
La Campesina
Most of the Mexican and Tex-Mex food in our area is not prepared by Mexicans, but rather by people from El Salvador. This shoebox of a restaurant, within walking distance of our home, is no exception. Proprietors Alfredo and Pedro are warm and the food is exceptional. That includes not only the traditional Mexican-style options (think tacos, fajitas), but everything else. I almost always get the carne asada, which is more flavorful than the steak from just about any local premier steakhouse. It comes with a house-made hot sauce that I love, and tortillas that are thicker and doughier than what you might expect. They’re almost dessert-like, and I treat them as such, trying to limit myself to one. They also make a chicken soup on Fridays and Saturdays that’s not on the menu – it includes a massive bowl of broth with various vegetables and multiple pieces of perfectly broiled chicken. Hanna gets it and it’s enough for dinner plus two lunches. Get a large Pacifico to go with it. I feel like Norm from Cheers when I walk in, and they always ask us with interest about our travels to Central America. My only complaint is that it’s getting increasingly well-known and harder to find a seat. Eventually they’re going to need to find a bigger space.
