Are you craving Asian food? Because D.C. is at the heart of international diplomacy, there is an expansive selection of Asian restaurants from spicy Sichuan noodles to delicately carved bluefin tuna sashimi. Piedmont Avenue Consulting, Inc provides you with the top 5 must-try Asian restaurants in Washington D.C..
1. Astoria
Do you like spicy food? Located in Dupont Circle, Astoria is a restaurant and bar that serves bold Sichuan dishes with equally complex cocktails. Each plate or drink is priced at $14. Chef Devin Gong recommends ordering one dish for a snack and two dishes for dinner. The ambiance is undoubtably unique: the narrow restaurant is styled to feel like a New York subway with art-deco embellishments.
2. Baan Siam
Growing up in Thailand, Chef Jeeraporn Poksupthong learned to cook Thai food authentically. Her restaurant Baan Siam offers popular dishes coupled with lesser-known regional ones with the hope of expanding customers’ palette all over Thailand. From their spicy Northern curries to creamy mango and sticky rice, you will leave the restaurant satisfied.
3. Anju
Started by iconic Chefs Danny Lee, Scott Drewno and Angel Barreto, their mixed culinary training on French and Korean techniques produces a menu full of twists. From their grilled kalbi (short rib) and eggs to rice porridge with pecorino, it is no wonder that Anju was ranked #1 restaurant in D.C. by the Washingtonian. The restaurant offers a variety of customer experiences by dividing their menu into 4 categories: Anju, Mains, Mama Lee’s Classics and Panchan. Anju, in Korean, means “food eaten with alcohol,” which is quite fitting since the first floor is a bar while the second floor is for dining.
4. Bad Saint
Filipino food is rarely on people’s restaurant radar, but Bad Saint certainly created a buzz in D.C.. Earning rank #2 on Bon Appetit’s list of best new restaurants in America, Bad Saint fully captures the flavors of the Philippines by embracing the influences of colonialism on the country, including Spain, Mexico and the United States. Choosing dishes to order out of their diverse menu may be a difficult task but getting into the restaurant is even harder; with 24 seats in the entire room, the line to get in used to seem impossible especially with no reservations allowed. However, in tandem with the COVID pandemic, Bad Saint now offers online ordering, which allows much more people to try amazing Filipino food!
5. Sushi Nakazawa
Sushi Nakazawa has three chains: New York (the original restaurant), Washington D.C. and Aspen. Chef Daisuke Nakazawa was trained by famous Chef Jiro Ono and even starred in the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi. While this fine dining restaurant is highly priced at $120 for the classic Omakase set menu, each dish is given the utmost attention to detail and executed with precision. This experience is hard to find in D.C. and takes you back to Japan by a perfectly seasoned piece of wild-caught fish.
If you are looking to open an Asian restaurant, or any other type of restaurant, contact Piedmont Avenue Consulting at 510-761-5895 to schedule a free consultation with Restaurant Expert David Mitroff, and visit our website to learn about our philosophy.
