Moving to DC was one part dream fulfillment, one part escape route, one part rash decision due to hanger. Despite working in the food industry surrounded by delicious food all the time, my everything craved something else, from somewhere else. I missed ethnicity and diversity, and everything that came with it. So when it came time to leave Black and Gold country, I grabbed onto that first job offer and didn't look back.
So here I am, in the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia), and my, what a change a mere 4 hours does. This densely populated swamp lives up to its name in the summer, but thank goodness for air conditioning. The humidity and constant afternoon thunderstorms does quite literally put a damper on things, but with a plethora of patios to be sat on, and craft cocktails and beers to be drank, and happy hours to explore, one simply must just eat on.
I used to say that any city I moved to had to have a large and frequented international airport, access to higher learning, great food and culture, and a large body of water. Pittsburgh on paper sounded like it could have worked out, until it didn't. There was a marked lack of ethnic diversity that made me hunger for anything that wasn't Americanized [insert any cuisine here and supersize it]. DC's location as the nation's capital makes it a very natural place to come work, study, visit, and settle. Ethnic communities and restaurants can be traced back to international events that our country played a part in, which, while sad for displaced peoples, delicious for my belly (and well, crucial in my own existence and life story).
Oh, to see whole roasting ducks hanging from a window again... and people just barking out their orders in Cantonese/Mandarin/Vietnamese, and the rough looking butcher man wielding a cleaver like an extension of his arm, expertly whacking away at the slow roasted meats, sliding it neatly into a styrofoam box....
I'll admit, it's still not on the same scale, or maybe even standard of Asian that I'm used to, coming from California, but coming from Pittsburgh, it's an oasis. I do have to search high and low for these gems, but someone has to do it.
Note: Just because DC has a "Chinatown" does not mean it's a Chinatown, even if "The Body Shop" is written in Chinese. To find Chinese/any Asian food, one must venture into the M and V parts of the DMV.
And now, food porn.
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| Shaanxi Style Handmade Noodles, Panda Gourmet |
Panda Gourmet, 2700 New York Avenue NE Washington, DC 20002
Located inside on the side of New York Avenue, adjoining a Days Inn Motel on the way to the Baltimore/DC Parkway, on the border of a predominately black neighborhood, a Szechuan/Xian makes its own biang biang noodles. And, it's only 10 minutes from my house. Score. The cumin and lamb flavors are far from my Canto/fish sauce/seafood roots, yet the rude servers made me feel right at home, despite my inability to order in Mandarin.
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| Japchae, Yechon Korean Restaurant |
Yechon Korean Restaurant, 4121 Hummer Rd. Annadale, VA 22003
24 hour Korean bbq place. I don't think I need to say anymore than that. Come hungry, and with friends, so you can order more.
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| Xiao long bao, Bob's Shanghai 66 |
Bob's Shanghai 66, 305 N. Washington St. Rockville, MD 20850
Would you believe I used to hate going to dim sum? The bad company, the wait, and the fact that we never ordered enough har gow... yet it is now a favorite ritual, once I got rid of the bad company. One can find calm and peace, sipping jasmine tea in the midst of cart ladies yelling their wares at you. Bob's however is more a cha chan tang than dim sum palace, with small plastic tables squished together, and a paper menu that gets white-outed and reused once you've made your order. If I was in the area, and there was no wait/or good company to wait with, I'd go back to this place, but it was far enough from my Canto requirements as to what proper dim sum is (no har gow!!) that I can't envision craving it.
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| Seafood soondubu, any Korean market |
There's a food court in most, if not all Korean markets in the DMV. Not only that, some have Latin panaderias located in them as well. I love it. That being said, to avoid grocery shopping hungry, eat first. Under $9 for a boiling pot of whatever tang they have, but I always have to go for my seafood tofu stew....
Missing from this list of food porn is Vietnamese food. The often talked about Eden Center is a sad substitute for San Jose, Santa Ana, or my relatives, but when I'm (home)sick, nothing beats pho or banh cuon. The food unfortunately has not been food porn worthy, and I usually inhale it too quickly. I will say this: guanabana shakes.
Anyone have any recommendations, or would like to audition to be a dining partner?
