Pho 98 - Chantilly, Va

I have found my favorite Vietnamese restaurant in Western Fairfax County.  Pho98.  The owner of this restaurant is the brother of owner of Viet House in Fairfax.  As expected the food tastes very similiar.  I actually haven't eaten the pho here.  I've been getting the Bun Thit Nuong, which is Rice noodle with Pork.  This is a great dish.  The pork as a lot of flavor, and they give me much more pork than I would usually eat.  The vegetables are fresh and the noodles cooked perfectly.  Overall, I really like this restaurant and will be back.

Rebel Heroes & Choupi

Today, I decided to hit two food carts for lunch.  These are probably the best deals in Rosslyn, but neither one alone would be enough for lunch.  At Rebel Heroes, I had the pork meatball sandwich.  It is a meatball sandwich served with Vietnamese style pork meatballs on French bread.  The sandwiches here aren't authentic Vietnamese sandwiches, the meat and sauces are a little different, but they are pretty close and good. 

I have actually decided not to go here for awhile since, I have gotten a stomach ache the two times I've been here.  Could be mere coincidence, but that's the chance I will take.

Choupi is a great place for a semi-sweet dessert.  I haven't had the savory or lunch crepes there yet.  I is a great deal for $3.50 a crepe.  The crepe is made fresh and is piping hot.

Pho 75 - Arlington, Va

Another lunch at Pho 75 for this wintry cold day.  They are very consistent with their pho.  I guess there's no reason to change a successful recipe.  They did manage to screw up my order, but it's really no big deal.  Pho is Pho.

Pho - 75 - Arlington, VA

Since my last posting, my work has relocated to Rosslyn. Unfortunately, the lunch selection in Rosslyn is lacking. So I will try to do my best at reviewing the better places.

Luckily for me there is a Pho restaurant within walking distance. Pho 75 in Arlington is the original Pho house in Northern Virginia. I remember coming here aboout 25 years ago. It pretty much looks the same and is still in the same location. It's a no frills Pho restaurant, however the Pho is very good.

Pho Herndon - Herndon, Va

I went here for lunch the other day. This is a very no frills Vietnamese restaurant. The food is very authentic. I actually got a dish other than the pho. I got a Ho Tieu which is another noodle soup. It was very good. The only complaint I had was that the roast pork wasn't as fresh as could be. I had a lunch special which included an appetizer, a main dish, and a soda. It was a pretty good meal.

664 Elden Street
Herndon, VA 20170
(703) 689-8900

Present Restaurant - Falls Church, Va

I decided to try this place for lunch after reading some reviews about the place. It's a nice restaurant in a Falls Church. The waitress was very friendly and suggested we get the cha gio re, which is similar to cha gio but it had a flakier wrapping. It tasted pretty good nonetheless. I decided to try the Bun Bo Hue. This is the first time I've actually had this soup. My mom used to order it all the time when we were growing up. My first impressions, was it wasn't spicy at all, even after I put in the crushed chili which came on the plate. Granted I didn't put in the cut up jalapeno, because I know that would have made it too spicy. The soup had a nice lemongrass flavor. It had pork cha, pig's feet, and a lot of brisket. Too much brisket, if that is possible for a beef noodle soup. The noodles were nice and chewy. My husband got the bun thit nuong cha gio, grill pork with egg rolls on vermicelli. He said it was pretty good, but nothing special. Overall, I enjoyed this restaurant. The waitress was very nice and the food was good, but nothing spectacular.

www.presentcuisine.com
6678 Arlington Blvd
Falls Church, VA 22042
(703) 531-1881

Pho 75 - Herndon, Va

Since I've been eating so much noodle soup lately, I wanted to come back here for a comparison. I decided to get a small pho dac biet. Which is the special and includes all of meats. This is actually the first time I've ordered the dac biet. I've always ordered the pho tai, sach or chicken pho. Lately I've only been ordering chicken pho, and the broth there was pretty good, but the pieces of chicken weren't very good. Small odd pieces of chicken. The pho dac biet was quite different by comparison. The broth was very flavorful. It had a lot of brisket, some tendon, a little cook beef (tai) and a little tripe. I didn't like the tendon at all, just tasted like fat. Everything else was fine. It was actually a pretty good bowl of soup.

Four Sisters - Fairfax, Va

We decided to go here for Mother's Day. The restaurant was packed and we did not have reservations. We were seated about 20 minutes later. I've been to this restaurant several times when it was located at Eden Center. It was good, but nothing special. I decided to try it again at the new location because I've read so many reviews about it. The new location is nicely located outside of Eden. It is much more upscale than before. We ordered the dinner for four. Of the options we chose crispy pork spring rolls, papaya salad with shrimp and pork, Vietnamese sweet and sour tamarind soup with shrimp, caramelized fish in clay pot, Chinese broccoli sauteed with shrimp, grilled lemongrass chicken and seasonal fruits. The springs rolls your typical Vietnamese fried spring rolls, nothing special. The papaya salad, was mediocre. The papaya barely had any taste and the sauce was pretty mild. The sweet and sour soup was actually very good. There are many times I've had this soup and it would be too sour, but this was perfect in sweetness and sourness. The caramelized fish in clay pot, was red instead of the normal brown color. The fish was pretty good, but the caramel sauce was pretty mild. The Chinese broccoli sauteed with shrimp was actually very good. The broccoli was cooked perfectly with a bit of crunchiness left. There was only 3 shrimp, but they were quite big. The sauce was very good also, it tasted like a mild garlic sauce. The grilled lemongrass chicken wasn't anything special. Although the grilled chicken tasted pretty good, I could barely taste the lemongrass. The season fruits included some bland oranges. Overall the restaurant was above average. It seems as though they have toned down the flavors to cater to the Americans. Which is probably why they have received such great reviews from the Americans. It is an good restaurant for a Vietnamese meal, however definitely not the best Vietnamese restaurant around. For excellent Vietnamese, I would stick to inside the beltway.

8190 Strawberry Lane
Fairfax, Va 22042

Taste of Vietnam - Sterling, Va

I need to bring my camera. I stopped here to grab a quick meal before a meeting last night. This is a nice authentic Vietnamese restaurant. I used to eat here quite often when I worked in Sterling. It looks like it may be under be under new management since the last time I was here about a year ago.

I had the Bun Ga Nuong, Grilled Chicken with Vermicelli. The traditional Vietnamese dish would be served with pork, however since I am watching my cholesterol, I tend to substitute pork and beef products with chicken. This dish came out very quick and was quite good. The chicken had a very nice grilled flavor. It could have included a little more vegetables, including fresher lettuce and cucumbers. There were a few bean sprouts even though I ordered it without bean sprouts. Otherwise still a good meal.

46005 Regal Plz Ste 110
Sterling, VA
Phone: 703-433-9543