Why go: This subterranean restaurant offers one of downtown DC’s best dining deals. The kitchen mingles Thai, Vietnamese, and Indonesian cuisines—a few selections from the outstanding appetizer section could make a meal on their own.
What to get: Roti canai, flaky flatbread with a chicken-curry dip; po pia, spring rolls with eggs, jícama, and hoisin; chicken satay; hearty potato-filled curry puffs; watercress in fermented-tofu broth; spicy-sweet salad of green apples, mango, and crisp squid flakes; stuffed lotus root, which has the texture and crunch of water chestnuts.
Best for: An office lunch that will get you talking about something other than work.
Insider tip: Washington offers few opportunities to sample Malaysian cuisine. For the uninitiated, a picture menu helps sort things out.
>> See all 2010 Cheap Eats restaurants here
Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.
