West Coast Gem on the East Coast

Those who know me know that I am always on the lookout for curious and/or incredible eats, and I found just that in A&J, a Los Angeles chain serving Taiwanese food in Annandale, VA.  I do not exaggerate when I claim that this place leaves most other Northern Virginia Chinese restaurants in its dust.

Walking into the small space, the restaurant immediately set off triggers in my mind.  Chinese people eeeeeverywhere.  And not predominantly Chinese-Americans--Chinese.  There were small dishes cluttering every table, with young and old folks alike slurping and chomping away.  The air was cooled but not modified otherwise as an enveloping aroma of good food hit me like a wall.  There was a clamor and sense of urgency to the customers eating and the employees working, giving off a bustling liveliness (热闹).  A lady from behind the counter shouted a question at me and caught me off guard: "两位?" "Two seats?"  She might as well have said "Welcome home."

I went with a friend, and we both ordered noodle bowls, despite the summer heat, and some side dishes.  I ordered a Taiwanese spicy beef tendon noodle soup, picture below.  When they asked us whether we wanted thin or thick noodles, I thought the thin noodles would be too thin so I ordered thick.  Turns out the thin noodles are fairly normal and the thick noodles are thicker than I prefer, but it did not ruin the overall taste.  The thick noodles taste like they were made in-house, but they are most likely made by machine, not hand-pulled.

For side dishes we ordered everything pictured below, in order from left to right:

• Chinese scallion pancakes (葱油饼)
• Steamed vegetarian dumplings (花素蒸饺)
• Spiced spare ribs steamed with rice batter (粉蒸排骨)
• Chicken and mung bean noodle salad (雞絲拉皮)
• Seaweed beansprout salad (芽菜海带)

IMPORTANT: This place only accepts cash.  I highly recommend this restaurant without any reservations whatsoever.  Thanks a bunch to a colleague who suggested I check it out!

There is No American Cuisine, But There Could Be

A friend shared this video with me from the BigThink YouTube channel.  I think it is the beginning of a very curious discussion about what could be an American cuisine.  Every other nation and/or congruous culture has had many hundreds, even thousands of years to develop a cuisine that was heavily driven by environmental factors.  America has existed for slightly over two hundred years.  In this video, Dan Barber starts to get into the idea that the lack of similar environmental pressures in a temperate, bountiful land has created a food culture of excess but no creativity.

Tots, Beer, and Grilled Cheese

A daily rotation of beers on tap, 24 of which are served each day.  Killer tater tots.  Heavenly Grilled Cheeses.  There may not be a better reason to come to Falls Church.

Before a friend in college re-introduced me to the tantalizing world of grilled cheeses, I did not have a very high opinion of these sandwiches.  At that point, my only prior experience with grilled cheese was the nasty chunk of questionable dairy product on bread that American grade schools serve for lunch.  Living in Cleveland for a long time, I did not even manage to visit Melt Bar and Grilled.

But this piece is not about the Melt.  It is about an unassuming 21+ dive bar tucked away between two corporate office buildings in Falls Church, VA.  I am writing about Spacebar.

I have been there a few times now, and each time I visit, there is something new to try.  Of their grilled cheese specialty, they serve 20 different house sandwiches.  If you do not like what you see on the menu, you can customize or put in an order with your own sandwich build.  Below are three sandwiches from the two times I stopped in.  Because the interior is pretty dim, some of the photos are grainy.

Bacon, roasted red pepper with feta and mozzarella on sourdough.

Pulled bbq pork, crispy fried shallot, sharp cheddar on rye.

Roast beef, garlicky sautéed spinach with feta and mozzarella on sourdough.

And of course, the meal would not be complete without beer (not shown) and their amazing tater tots.  Next time, I want to try out their other tots item, tatchos, which is tots with any cheese or ingredient on their menu added on top.