Bollywood Bistro - Contemporary Indian Cuisine in Great Falls, VA

9853 Georgetown Pike
Great Falls, VA 22066
Tel: (703) 865-0450

We've heard lots of positive reviews of the year-old Bollywood Bistro, so we invited our friends to join us for dinner at this Safeway shopping strip in Great Falls this past weekend.  

Bollywood Bistro impressed us at the outset with its welcoming modern decor that bridged the old and the new styles of India. True to its name Bistro, this is not a fancy traditional restaurant with mahogany deities and a 10-page menu. Rather a short-and-sweet selection of well-known favorites that not only burst with flavor, but they are also served up by a most accommodating and friendly staff.

Our waiter, Jude Lopez, was all the personality of the restaurant. Originally from Goa, he was incredibly helpful and charming, suggesting specific dishes and explaining the intricacies and differences in flavors typical to Northern Indian, Southern Indian, and Goan cuisine, which was very much appreciated.

The unique decor offered an ambiance of both intimacy and hospitality. Dim lighting in no way sacrificed the feeling of cleanliness, defining a calm and pleasant mood for a wonderful dinner.

Our food, pictured below, can be summarized in one word - delicious. Perfectly seasoned, perfectly presented, all in all terrific.

We will definitely be back to Bollywood Bistro!  Thank you for a great dining experience!

 Wonderfully crispy and delicious Samosa $4.95

Tallest Samosa we've ever seen

 Creamy wonderful lobster bisque $6.95

 Perfectly baked Kesari Chicken Tikka $13.95 and Delectable Fiery Chicken Vindaloo $13.95

 Mouthwatering Lamb Kabob $15.95, a vegetable medley by request $10.95, creamy Makhan Palak $10.95 and delicately tasty Garlic Naan $3.50

 Don't you just love these veggies?

Almost too pretty to eat

 Ceiling a-la-Medici

Modern, intimately-lit clean and welcoming dining room

Two Awesome Lunch Buffets - Bangkok Golden (Thai / Laotian Cuisine) at Seven Corners in Falls Church and Saffron (Indian Cuisine) Falls Church City, VA

Bangkok Golden - Thai and Laotian
6395 Seven Corners Center
Falls Church, VA
(703) 533-9480

Saffron - Indian
1077 West Broad Street
Falls Church City, VA 22046
(703) 992-0077

You could easily drive or walk right past them without noticing them! And you probably have! Both hole-in-the-wall tiny places with barely a store front to notice. BUT THE TASTES - WOW!

First, Bangkok Golden, which serves both Thai and Laotian cuisine.  Situated in the Shoppers Food Warehouse plaza, this is a tiny place. As you walk in, you will barely notice a wall display of multiple well-deserved awards, such as Washingtonian's best restaurants.  We came here for the lunch buffet we heard so much about from our friends. And now we can definitely say that the lunch buffet is perfection both in the variety and the flavors.  The value is also perfection: on weekdays for a mere $10, Bangkok Golden offers a delicious selection of veggie and chicken dishes, ideal especially for those who don't eat other meats.  The papaya salad alone is worth the schlep through the Seven Corners traffic.  On weekends, Bangkok Golden adds several fish dishes that are out of this world delicious, for just a few dollars more.  Most dishes are on the spicy side, especially the Laotian ones.  If you are the type who usually puts extra spices on your food, you will definitely not need to do that here. Every buffet item is flavorful and spiced to perfection.

What makes Bangkok Golden more interesting is the Laotian side.  The chef owner Seng Luangrath is leading the much welcomed Lao Food Movement in the Washington, D.C. area.  Recently, her 21-year-old son, young chef Bobby Pradachith, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, also joined his parents at Bangkok Golden, while also working at D.C.'s well-known Minibar.  We look forward to returning here and ordering off the menu, but for now we are delighted with tasting the variety of offerings from the buffet. NOTE: Bangkok Golden is CLOSED ON TUESDAYS!!! We found out the hard way, so if you're planning to go, pick any day of the week but Tuesday.

Bangkok Golden

Second, Saffron. We wrote up Saffron in this blog several months ago, and since then have returned here at least a half a dozen times, bringing friends and relatives, who all enjoyed their meals here.  Saffron serves South Indian cuisine, which generally tends to be spicier than North Indian.  Their Goan specialties are great.  Usually, we order off the menu. Their Chicken Vindaloo is addictive, especially when prepared personally by the chef-owner with 20+ years of experience.  Their Chicken Tikka is also one of our favorites, complemented with an order of garlic naan.

Saffron's lunch buffet does not disappoint. Make sure you arrive for the buffet early, as the crowd likes to arrive at the opening of the restaurant and stay around for a while to enjoy the plentiful delicious buffet selections.  As we have described this restaurant in our blog only recently, we will not linger, other than to emphasize that the value for the lunch buffet is not only worth it, it is a steal! And definitely leave room for dessert, which is a plain and simple vermicelli-based Kheer (a white pudding), only offered at their buffet. At other times, their rice-based Kheer is offered as a menu item. Both are absolutely delicious.  Like all Indian food, it is quite complicated to make and requires ingredients most non-Indians typically don't keep around at home.  Incidentally, here is a demonstration of how to make

Seviyan Kheer - Vermicelli in Milk, Indian Dessert Recipe by Manjula.

 Saffron

Saffron

Saffron - Vermicelli-based Kheer