We’re counting down Put up meals critic Tom Sietsema’s Best 5 eating places in and round Washington for 2022 over the following two weeks, highlighting one eating place every weekday till Tom’s complete fall eating information publishes on Oct. 5.
Cash determines the place diners cross, how regularly, what dishes they order — in the event that they even consume clear of house.
Some other difficult yr requires a distinct more or less fall eating information. This season, the focal point is on eating places I love that supply unique price. Other as they’re, they percentage memorable meals, hospitality — and various bang on your dollar.
No. 5 Himalayan Wild Yak
The Nepalese newcomer west of Dulles Airport makes itself arduous to omit. I imply, there’s a crammed yak close to the doorway, and he even has a reputation: Rocky. The beast stocks its level with a attractiveness — the cooking — and a menu that shrugs off provide problems with greater than 30 dishes.
Each and every different desk appears to be dressed with momos. Be sure to ask for one of the vital steamed dumplings, too. They display up as 8 supple, see-through bites at the rim of a bowl containing roasted tomato sauce. The eating place’s theme has me springing for the momos full of floor yak, deftly seasoned with coriander, cumin and garam masala so you’ll be able to nonetheless admire the sophisticated beefy taste of the mountain cow. The chow mein could also be required consuming. A reminder that China is Nepal’s neighbor to the north, the road meals staple is a tangle of skinny yellow wheat noodles with a confetti of scallions, purple cabbage, carrots and extra, every chunk smoky from the wok and splashed with sweet-salty oyster sauce.
You’ll be able to just about level any place at the record and get a hold of a luck tale. Luscious chunks of beef, crisp from their time in a clay oven, resonate with mustard oil, ginger and garlic. Hen stir-fried with onion and bell peppers is done with a chile sauce that leaves an exhilarating wake of warmth. New to the menu are vegetable fritters shaped from floor cabbage, cauliflower and carrots and draped with what tastes like barbeque sauce: ketchup, chile flakes and soy sauce. The orbs are meatless and marvelous. Appetizers are apportioned like major lessons, and crowds of Indian shoppers induced the householders so as to add to their menu such prizes as lamb korma, cushy bites of meat in a depressing golden gravy thickened with yogurt and cashew paste — as mild and luscious as I’ve had any place.
The eating place places its shoppers first. Floating close to the Himalaya-high ceiling are material panels to sponge noise, the beverages record is as attention-grabbing as in a D.C. scorching spot, and the individual ferrying meals from kitchen to desk may well be one of the most two chef-owners.
22885 Brambleton Plaza, Ashburn, Va. 703-760-3710. himalayanwildyak.com. Lunch and dinner day by day. Indoor and outside seating. Mains $12 to $23. Takeout and supply. Sound test: 70 decibels/Dialog is straightforward. Accessibility: No obstacles at front; ADA-compliant restroom.