The Lantern House - my favorite Vietnamese restaurant in Falls Church

 

Caramelized fish in clay pot

Not too long ago, The Lantern House, a Vietnamese restaurant, opened near our home. While the Eden Center (Little Vietnam of the DC area) is not too far from where we live, this place would actually be walkable on a nice day. 

We have already visited it twice for dinner and once for lunch and would not hesitate to crown it our current "favorite" restaurant in town. If you are in the Falls Church, you must try it - you wont regret it. 

Vietnamese food has become one of my favorite cuisines - mostly because it feels lighter in comparison to most Asian food, yet flavorful enough that I can develop an appetite for it. And most importantly, if you are like me, i.e. middle aged and counting your calorie intake, you don't end up feeling guilty after gorging on it.  

We tried their chicken Bahn mi sandwich for lunch. Served with pickled cucumbers, onion and extremely well flavored grilled chicken inside a fresh baguette, it was a delicious protein-packed lunch for a reasonable price of $10. You may be able to find a bahn mi at the Eden center for $5 (and I have had it there too) but this one definitely weighs more on the meat and you get to enjoy a nice(r) ambience (it has limited outdoor seating too - definitely a plus)! 

Chicken curry stew with noodles

For dinner, so far, we have tried their shrimp summer rolls (vegetables, vermicelli and shrimp rolled in a rice paper and served with a peanut sauce), lemongrass chicken with chillies, caramelized fish in a clay pot with sticky rice, and chicken curry stew (where you have an option of either pairing it with a baguette, or noodles). I would highly recommend the caramelized fish in the clay pot, which has always been my favorite of the dishes on a Vietnamese menu. It is fried fish in a sweet and spicy sticky sauce, served with sticky rice. To me, the lemongrass chicken resembled the "Indian style chilli chicken" - cooked with peppers, onions and soya sauce. Finally, the chicken curry stew with the vermicelli is simply so refreshing that you can't just have enough of it.   

There are lots of others dishes on their menu I haven't tried and I look forward to trying their popular soups (phos), salads, noodles, and other specialty rice dishes, after which I will update this blog. Lots of pork and beef on their menu too!

The last time we were there, the servers gave us a complimentary milk tea. There are several other drinks on the menu (e.g. the sugarcane juice) that I look forward to trying.