Traveling to Shenandoah / Harrisonburg / Massanutten area in Virginia?

If you are looking for any kind of ethnic or spicy food in Harrisonburg, Va, your best bet is Taste of India in a small strip mall at an intersection filled with all too familiar chain restaurants,  Taste of India, rated highly on yelp, tripadvisor, and urbanspoon, offers a lunch buffet for only $8.95 and is well worth it.  Variety is pretty good, mostly consisting of chicken and vegetable dishes, and a choice of 3 desserts. It is not quite the depth of flavors we are spoiled with in Northern Virginia closer to the Beltway, but for Harrisonburg it is well worth the visit if you are craving something flavorful!

If you find yourself anywhere near the beautiful Massanutten resort area in Shenandoah Valley, you must make a stop for a picturesque meal at the Fareways Restaurant and Lounge.  For the most enjoyable experience, come during daylight to enjoy tremendous views of greenery and deer that walk all around the premises. While the Shenandoah area is filled with magnificent views, the Fareways Restaurant is situated in a resort compound that is especially picturesque. The large windows in all the dining halls of the restaurant offer a feast for the eyes.  The main draw here is definitely the landscapes, more than the fare.

Clunky menu

 The smallest portoin of duck you'll ever find

 A nice lean loaf of bread

 Three onion soup

 Chicken Assiago Fettucine

House Salad

Rabieng Thai Restaurant - Falls Church, VA

5892 Leesburg Pike
Falls Church, A 22041
(703) 671-4222

After the first few bites of almost any dish at Rabieng, all the other Thai restaurants seem to kinda blend into a grey background.  The variety and quality of flavors at Rabieng's, combined with its unpretentious calming atmosphere, are tough to beat.  In this post, we are not going to go into extensive comparisons of Rabieng with its parent restaurant Duangrats, which incidentally we found to be inferior to Rabieng, or its well-deserved raves and ratings in the Washingtonian, Zagats, and USA Today, which you can find on its webiste.  To remind our readers, our blog is mainly about our particular dining experience(s) in the restaurant, and all dining experiences at Rabieng for us have been consistently great.

Rabieng is a small unassuming 2-story restaurant that is easy to miss around the corner of a strip mall in Bailey's Crossroads, an area rich with top-notch ethnic dives in Falls Church.  There are only about 7 or 8 booths and 2-3 tables downstairs, all decorated with a fresh orchid stem, where patrons are seated first before the hosts offer upstairs seating.

The Fried Calamari and Plantain Tempura appetizers were terrific. Fried Calamari is served in a bowl on top of lettuce.  When the calamari is gone, the lettuce turns into a salad with the remainder of the sauce as a dressing.  The sauce is somewhat on the sweeter side, but is sweet and sour and definitely has a kick! Plaintain Tempura is basically fried bananas (or plantains), a dish that by its nature is on the sweeter side with a crispy outer layer and a soft delicious middle.  Roasted cashews are a wonderful side to any of Rabieng's dishes, and are prepared in a subtle and simple way.  A bit of a disappointment was the Beef Nam Tok salad, where the meat was quite limp and flavorless, even when covered by herbs and sauces.  This is probably the only dish we wouldn't order again, and actually prefer the way it is prepared at Tara Thai in Tysons, where the meat is a bit firmer and more savory.

All entrees at Rabieng are delicious. We have tried many of them over the few times we have visited on our own and with friends. On this particular afternoon, we tried the Chef's Signature Specials. The Chicken Horapa comes sauteed in a gentle roasted chili sauce served on a bed of noodles.  If you prefer your noodles al dente, you might want to tell them in advance. The Bhram, which is chicken breast pieces sauteed in a peanut sauce, comes out stew-like on a bed of napa cabbage, rendering the cabbage slightly wilted, yet crispy enough to give the dish a pleasant texture.  Both entrees are very well-prepared and well-seasoned, although those with a penchant for more heat can add the delectable fish sauce that they serve upon request.

Our server Nit was efficient, pleasant, knowledgeable and attentive. So was the rest of the small team of servers. Can't ask for better.

We will definitely be back to Rabieng!

Btw, if you decide to be a little adventurous in your own kitchen and want to replicate some of the dishes you tasted at Rabieng, a small aian Asian Grocery Store next door, incidentally also owned by Duangrats, offers all the spices that can make this possible.

 First floor

 Modern and clean

 Second floor

 Stairs leading to second floor

 Fried calamari appetizer

 Beef Nam Tok salad and Plantain Tempura

 Roasted cashews appetizer

 Chef's Signature Specials: Chicken Horapa (top) and Bhram with chicken (bottom)

Imm Thai Cuisine - Annandale, VA

7203 Columbia Pike, Annandale, VA 22003
Tel: (703) 750-0880

In the heart of a dining treasure trove of wonderful Korean dives in Annandale known as "Little Korea," Imm Thai Cuisine offers a small unexpected, yet still Asian, detour. On a cold Sunday evening, we decided to give it a shot. We know how wonderful many of the Korean restaurants, cafes, bakeries and bars are in Annandale, so why not try something that is a little unusual.

Located in a small building neighboring only a boutique called Gloria Beauttie Fashion, which was doing business late into Sunday evening, Imm Thai Cuisine is a small place that is cozy, clean, simple and friendly.

When we arrived, there was only one other party of about 4 people eating in the restaurant. The waitress / hostess with a huge smile and a welcoming demeanor quickly seated us and took our wine order. They offer two kinds of red and two kinds of white wine, a humble, but sufficient selection for a small place like this.

Our food came out quickly. Our Imm’s Duck Rolls and Larb Gai chicken appetizers were very good. They tasted fresh and flavorful, though the Larb Gai wasn’t very spicy, even though it had two “spicy stars” on the menu. As our entrée choices, we both ordered noodles – Pad Thai and a Drunken Noodles, both with chicken. While they were both very good, the noodles were a little too soft for our taste, making for a texture that was a bit disappointing. In fact the next day when I heated up my Drunken Noodles leftovers, they literally disintegrated in my mouth. This is not something that is typical, not sure what kind of noodles they are using or how they are preparing them that is different from the many other Thai restaurants in the area.

The Drunken Noodles were marked with two “spicy stars” on the menu, indicating a higher level of heat, however they were not very spicy at all, just like the Larb Gai. We requested the spicy sauce tray, which helped to infuse some heat into the noodle dishes.

Overall, this place is OK, but not great, as far as Thai food goes. Tara Thai in Falls Church or i-Thai in Vienna make a much better choice. When in Annandale and craving Thai, this place will certainly do. Prices are quite reasonable and on par with other restaurants in the area. However, we suggest to stick to some of the better-known Korean dives that are plentiful and well-known in Annandale.