If you had to pick one restaurant in which to dip your toes into the Eden Center, this bistro should be it. The encyclopedic menu encompasses dishes from nearly every key culinary region of food-mad Vietnam, and the kitchen is strong across the board. The vermicelli salads are stellar, and the memory of the fabulous, thrice-cooked chicken will haunt you for days. The smoky stuffed grape leaves amount to the best DIY dish in the area.
See all of our 2013 Cheap Eats picks.
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.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
