Tag: truong tien

M’s Recommends More Good Eats in the DMV

M's Adventures
L’Ardente’s famous 40 layer lasagne.

You know a place is good when it transports you to your mom or grandma’s kitchen.

Last year, I mentioned my recommendations for where to eat in the Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) area. But I didn’t add photos.

L’Ardente’s pappardelle pasta was pure comfort.

Now I have a new recommendations. From that list, have you been to Cielo Rojo and Y Noodles? Try them!

Y Noodles signature spicy noodle dish.

Now, on to other recommendations.

Cheese and wine at the Italian Store.

The Italian Store: Having lived in Italy, I am obnoxiously picky about my pasta. Luckily most grocery stores in this are now carry good brands of pasta. But, if you want, you can go to the Italian Store. They now have a second location in a off the metro area of Arlington. The original location a few miles away was famous for getting New York City style bagels delivered fresh every morning (New York city is about a four hour drive from here).

Imagine how much sugo gets sucked up by that great pasta shape!

The Italian store also makes fresh pizzas and sandwiches. Plus they have fresh baked bread.

There are seats inside along the front window and they have a few tables and chairs outdoors.

Bread presented in a fun way at the Italian Store.

Sidamo Coffee and Tea: It’s an Ethiopian coffee shop in Washington, DC. (Coffee as a drink was invented in Ethiopia about 500 years ago). The Sidamo cafe serves coffee but what I like is their breakfast sandwiches and the side of banana and honey.

Loved my breakfast sandwich. It tasted homemade.
The giant coffee pot makes for a good photo op.

Good Company Doughnuts: Speaking of breakfast (was I?) and good friends, the Good Company Doughnut makes great breakfasts and doughnuts. They have two locations, one in Pentagon City and the other in Ballston. They make ‘mini’ doughnuts of a good size and of those, I think that the espresso cream is the best. No custard. Just frosting, inside and out. With chocolate glaze.

Look at that espresso cream…

Good Doughnut Company also makes great breakfast sandwiches and meals for any time of the day. Really delish. One time, I was sitting next to a French tourist who said that she came back two days in a row! Mainly for the espresso cream doughnut…

This is a salad of chickpeas. So good you won’t want to share.

Villa Yara: This Lebanese place is so good that it transported a Lebanese person to their childhood and made them cry.

Thin ice cream strands.

While I am not really into desserts, I did enjoy the variety of desserts at Villa Yara. Not only the baklava. I can’t recall what they were called, but one was a sort of floss of ice cream (this is the one that made the Lebanese person cry as they recalled eating this dish in their grandma’s kitchen). The other was a cardamom ice cream, but much more complex. The baklava was excellent too.

I’m a sucker for dairy and the labneh, with olive oil and pepper, served like a scoop of ice cream — made me really happy.

A ball of pure dairy joy.

Misha’s Coffee: The pastries are much better than at many other bakeries. It’s a feel good kind of coffee shop. Independent. Quality. A nice place to be.

The Danish at Misha’s.

Get the “Danish” and the “coffee cake.” I’m sure the rest is good but the Danish was exceptionally so.

2Fifty Barbecue: If you want the most tender barbeque meat, then go to 2Fifty barbecue in Washington, DC. This is the softest moistest meat in this area. Nope, the other places do not compare!

So juicy it fell apart.

Lai Lai Malatang (inside 99 Ranch): Inside the 99 Ranch store in Fairfax, there is a stall where you can choose your own hotpot or dry noodle dish. It’s spicy in a good way.

Lai Lai Malatang where I chose what they stir fried for me.

Truong Tien: This northern central Vietnamese place was trending for a hot moment last year. The food is good. Go for the mini taco style Vietnamese omelet crepe. This blogger described his experience there.

Those small round things are open face dumplings.

As I find other places, I’ll write about them. Happy eating!

Fun Food Places in the DC Area

M's Adventures

Truong Tien to test out your new knees while sitting on a stump and slurping food from Hue. Kudos to them for miniaturizing and taco-izing the crepe. Go for that alone.

TeaDM Plus for the clubbing cool cat feel during the day while drinking boba.

High Tea at the Willard so you can test that pinky finger. Other places like the Ritz also serve British style tea.

Capital Grille for the old boys or old gals club feel. One of the few places where an all American dude can sound like a British butler.

Arlington Cinema and Draft House for a show and popcorn. You might even meet a comedian. There are new chains of drafthouses but this is the old one.

Perry’s for the drag show and sushi. Sashay you stay!

King Spa because nothing is so relaxing as eating with a towel around your neck.

Oegadgib for all-you-can-eat Korean barbecue. Sometimes you just want meat, meat, meat! There are other places but this one is a not flashy and new.

Eden Center – Little Vietnam

M's Adventures
See the contrast between this restaurant and the stark white hallway.

One of the special things about living in the Washington, DC, area is Eden Center. Located about seven miles from DC, this shopping mall is like stepping into a whole different world. It is mainly Vietnamese restaurants, bubble tea shops, grocery stores, jewelers, banks, travel agents, and other businesses catering to the Vietnamese American community. Drive in under the red arch and the open strip mall stretches out on three sides.

In the shops, there are many wondrous things to try.

Most people stick to the restaurants, bakeries, bubble shops, and nail salons on surrounding the parking lot. But, go inside and wander down the hallways to find a travel to another time and place. No English spoken.

The game changer — mini crepe.

That said, Truong Tien, 6763 Wilson Boulevard, #6d, Falls Church, Ca 22044, the new restaurant may have changed all that. They have decorated their place to look like in old Saigon. Or at least in the mind’s eye. A Disney style Saigon.

A standard crepe served with utensils for you to cut and assemble.

A video about them went viral and now the gringos are flocking to them. The food is from Hue. They do have noodle soup but not pho. Even more of a game changer is that they make the classic crepe into three small taco style crepes. This is how this dish will become super popular and I imagine many other places will start to copy them.

Chillaxing at the club and charging the phone.

Another place that will get copied soon is TeaDM Plus, a boba shop located out on the parking lot. They have turned their place into a hangar disco club. The vibe is going out but it is safe for families and during the daytime. I can see many places changing to look like this place. It’s another alternative to hanging at a bar. Like a coffee shop but cooler. I foresee that non-alcoholic drinks will trend in 2024.

Find it next to the giant boba tea.