Best Asian Food in Washington, DC

I wasn't a huge fan of Chinese food till Filipa and Joao took us to a Yunnan restaurant during a stopover in Beijing. 

Beijing

During our trip across Southeast Asia we had great food experiences almost everywhere.

In DC I'm having the opportunity to explore more Asian cuisine.

One of my fav Chinese restaurants in DC is Sichuan Pavillion. I highly recommend the tea smoked duck and pork dumplings with spicy sauce. Both are traditional dishes from Sichuan area.

Portions are huge.

Supposedly it's a must go for Chinese people living or visiting DC.

Peking duck is one of my best - loved Chinese dishes.

There is a place in VA where they cook it to perfection, Peking Gourmet Inn. 

The meat is moist and the skin is crunchy. 

Rudeness is part of the cultural experience. 

It is worth the long trip from DC.

There is a Taiwanese fusion ramen place that was in my list for a while, Toki Underground. It's tinny and it's really hard to get a table. 

Finally we went there. It's good but is overrated. Although the pork buns are delicious. A bit spicy.

There is a similar place in Adams Morgan, Sakuramen. It's Korean inspired ramen.

First time I had Korean BBQ it was in Toronto. And I really wanted to try it again. We had a great experience in a place in Chicago (did I already tell you guys how much I love Chicago?!), I loved the seafood pancake. 

This time we went to Annandale, the Korean area in VA, with a Korean friend, Soo. She took us to Honey pig. Everything was delicious.

Soo also took us before to another traditional Korean restaurant in Annandale, to have fish:  To Sok Jip. It's almost impossible to order food there in other language than Korean. You'll need a translator or a Korean friend. 

Another highlight in my food experiences is the Vietnamese mall in Falls Church. I didn't get the same freshness that I had in Vietnam but it's pretty traditional, maybe the best you can get in the US. 

Check my pics here

Lobster and Beautiful views: Maine, I love you

Maine was one of the States that I was missing to reach 50.

It's not the easiest place to visit. During winter, most part of the attractions and facilities are closed because it's too cold. July and August are the high season. 

We were lucky enough to get great weather in the last week of May.

We flew to Bangor and then we drove to Acadia National Park. It's a short drive, 1h.

Acadia is gorgeous. There are many things to do and see. Unfortunately we were there for just the weekend. It wasn't enough to see everything.

Our first stop was Gorham mountain trail. It wasn't the easiest trail but the views from the top are breathtaking. The view over Sand Beach is truly amazing. 

Seafood is my fav type of food. I like it very simple, Portuguese way: grilled if fish, steamed if just seafood and with some salt on top. In Maine I had the tastiest lobster ever. 

A huge lobster perfectly cooked and very fresh. You can't beat it. We paid $20 for it.

After this meal I'm avoiding lobster rolls and clam chowder in DC. It changed my life. For now.

The landscapes are so perfect that is really hard to take a bad pic.

On our second day we took a boat trip. It was a great idea. We could explore different areas and we visited a beautiful island, Islesford. 

In the island we could share a piece of ginger bread freshly baked in the only business opened. 

On our way back the ranger briefly talked about the codfish fishermen that went to the area during the 16th century. And she mentioned the Basque but not the Portuguese. Hey, everyone knows that we are crazy about codfish and we cook it in 1000 different ways. We had to tell the ranger. Hopefully the next tour will hear about the crazy Portuguese codfish fishermen.

Our short stay ended with more lobster.

2 flights after we arrived to DC. But it was worth it. 

We are already thinking to explore more that area in future trips.

BTW, after Maine I visited 39 States out of 50. Still 11 to go. 

Check my pics here