News · · By The WTF Editors
Four of Northern Virginia's best Asian restaurants make the Washington Post top 40
Truong Tien, Lighthouse Tofu, Mama Chang and Chef Tan made the Washington Post's 2026 list of the D.C. area's 40 best restaurants, the first by critic Elazar Sontag.
The Washington Post released its 2026 ranking of the D.C. region's 40 best restaurants on October 14, 2026, the first list by new food critic Elazar Sontag, who took over from Tom Sietsema in November 2025. Four Asian restaurants in Northern Virginia made it.
No. 10 is Truong Tien, 6763 Wilson Blvd in the Eden Center, Falls Church. Owner Thanh Huong Thi Truong opened it in 2023 to serve the imperial dishes of Hue. Sontag called it a personal favorite; the best orders are the banh beo, rice cakes with dried shrimp, and the bun bo Hue noodle soup with beef shank and pork hock.
No. 22 is Lighthouse Tofu, 4121 Chatelain Road in Annandale, open since 2002. It serves Korean barbecue staples, but the most famous dish is the sundubu-jjigae, a soft tofu stew in a peppery broth.
No. 27 is Mama Chang, 3251 Blenheim Blvd, Suite 101, in Fairfax, which Sontag sees as the high point of Peter Chang's restaurants in the area. It has weekend dim sum brunch and an all-you-can-eat option; he recommends the lion's head meatballs and the seafood with crispy rice, and coming with a big group.
No. 35 is Chef Tan, 132 Branch Road SE in Vienna, which opened at Danor Plaza in July 2025 and cooks Hunan food. His advice is to follow the servers' suggestions.
First reported by FFXnow.