Northern Virginia remains a hot spot for Asian cuisine, judging by the five local establishments that found spots on the Washington Post’s annual ranking of the top 40 restaurants in the D.C. region.
Released yesterday (Wednesday), the 2026 list is the first compiled by new food critic Elazar Sontag, who took over the position in November 2025 following the retirement of longtime reviewer Tom Sietsema.
As in past years, the top spots are dominated by the District, but Northern Virginia still made an impression with three Fairfax County restaurants, a familiar name from Fairfax City, and a solo representative for Falls Church City:
- No. 10 — Truong Tien (6763 Wilson Blvd, Falls Church)
- No. 22 — Lighthouse Tofu (4121 Chatelain Road, Annandale)
- No. 27 — Mama Chang (3251 Blenheim Blvd, Suite 101, Fairfax)
- No. 35 — Chef Tan (132 Branch Road SE, Vienna)
- No. 36 — Chaatwala (1050 Elden Street, Herndon)
Located in the Eden Center, Truong Tien emerged as a “personal favorite” of the many eateries available in the historic hub for the Vietnamese business community, Sontag said, highlighting the banh beo — rice cakes with dried shrimp — and bun bo Hue — a beef shank and pork hock noodle soup — as menu standouts…