Where is that perfect little French bistro hiding? (Annandale, Centreville: how much, living)

[IndiaLimaDelta]

What I would like see more in NoVA restaurant scene, instead of a "perfect French bistro," is actually Straits Chinese food, often served in places like Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. For me it's the perfect fusion food.

There is one rundown Indonesian restaurant somewhere in NoVA and a couple of places that pretend to be Malaysian, but there is not one I found that is authentically Straits Chinese. And I still dream of the amazing Rijsttafel dinners I had in Indonesia (esp. Bali) before the radical Islamic terrorists bombed beaches and hotels and ruined it for me (and many others, of course).

I still salivate when I think of the duck steamed in banana leaf and grilled fish on Jimbaran Bay. Or that perfect mee goreng I had in a Singaporean food stall (rated A in cleanliness by the super efficient Singapore government).

I would like a taste of that in NoVA, instead of more Thai and Indian joints, let alone French bistros.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by IndiaLimaDelta

There is one rundown Indonesian restaurant somewhere in NoVA

Perhaps you should actually know of what you're speaking before you label someone's business so derogatorily. I've eaten several times at this perfectly nice restaurant run by a very friendly Indonesian family. It's Satay Sarinah and it's in the Van Dorn Station center in Alexandria. You ought to try it sometime as you might actually enjoy it. However you won't get "straits Chinese" there. The satay is quite good as are many of the other traditional Indonesian dishes they serve. Here's the website:

Asian Indonesian Food Restaurant Northern VA-Washington DC Metro Area-Carry out Food-Dine in, Hookah Bar Maryland, MD - Asian Indonesian Food Restaurant Northern VA-Washington DC Metro Area-Carry out Food-Dine in Restaurant Family Restaurant Maryland

As much as you decry chains, you should applaud this independent that's brought a unique cuisine to Northern Virginia. It's certainly not "rundown".

[IndiaLimaDelta]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

Perhaps you should actually know of what you're speaking before you label someone's business so derogatorily. I've eaten several times at this perfectly nice restaurant run by a very friendly Indonesian family. It's Satay Sarinah and it's in the Van Dorn Station center in Alexandria. You ought to try it sometime as you might actually enjoy it. However you won't get "straits Chinese" there. The satay is quite good as are many of the other traditional Indonesian dishes they serve. Here's the website:

Asian Indonesian Food Restaurant Northern VA-Washington DC Metro Area-Carry out Food-Dine in, Hookah Bar Maryland, MD - Asian Indonesian Food Restaurant Northern VA-Washington DC Metro Area-Carry out Food-Dine in Restaurant Family Restaurant Maryland

As much as you decry chains, you should applaud this independent that's brought a unique cuisine to Northern Virginia. It's certainly not "rundown".

Er, first of all, being rundown and making bad food are two different things. I don't recall where I wrote that the restaurant in question made bad food. But I do think it is rundown in the sense that the decor is dated and it is located in a rundown-looking strip mall.

None of this changes my earlier call for more Straits Chinese AND Indonesian restaurants in the area.

And, yes, I do applaud more mom-and-pop joints, rundown or no (my favorite Sichuan Chinese is almost dirty-looking, but that doesn't stop me from 1) eating there and 2) wishing for more Sichuan restaurants in the area).

Moderator Cut

[FindingZen]

No need to have a "food fight" this evening. Bon appetit!

[Alicia Bradley]

What we really need is a good Papuan Japanese snack bar.

[rupeerosie]

Originally Posted by Tone509

Good point. Let's get back to discussing French bistros, the lack thereof, or perhaps even the NOVA culinary scene in general.

That would be awesome!

[IndiaLimaDelta]

Originally Posted by Alicia Bradley

What we really need is a good Papuan Japanese snack bar.

I am not familiar with the genre. Please do elaborate.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by Alicia Bradley

What we really need is a good Papuan Japanese snack bar.

Shrunken head sushi?

[ersatz]

IndiaLimaDelta

I'm sorry if I'm sucking all the fun out of the topic by belaboring the obvious. I think that other board members are mocking terminally ethnically conscious political correctness overload.

Papua New Guinea has been traditionally famous for cannibalism. These days, it has cuisine tending to the local standard Food Papua New Guinea - All you need to have a great time away

[IndiaLimaDelta]

Originally Posted by ersatz

IndiaLimaDelta

I'm sorry if I'm sucking all the fun out of the topic by belaboring the obvious. I think that other board members are mocking terminally ethnically conscious political correctness overload.

Papua New Guinea has been traditionally famous for cannibalism. These days, it has cuisine tending to the local standard Food Papua New Guinea - All you need to have a great time away

Yes, yes, yes. I am well aware of the headhunting practices of SE Asia and Micronesia (I have a close friend who trekked through Kalimantan -- Indonesian Borneo -- and the higlands of New Guinea alone for months). My initital reaction was to post a picture of an IJN straggler ("like this?"), but I decided to play it earnest instead, borrowing a line from Prince Humperdinck.