Four Sisters Restaurant
Vietnamese Food
F Sistas!
8190 Strawberry Lane, Suite 1
Falls Church, Virginia 22042
Phone703.539.8566
After working out early and skipping breakfast this morning I was really hungry. Today was a rare day off, although I did spend about 3 hours at the car wash taking care of some loose ends, and meeting with our bankers. By the time 12:30 rolled around I was starving. I didn't plan, not eating, but after the past few months of having a regimented food schedule it was very strange not having to eat on a specific schedule.
This is a new restaurant from a family who ran a very successful Vietnamese restaurant in the Eden Center on the other side of Falls Church. Because it's new the place is very modern, with a nice bar, and outside dinning. They are clearly catering to a different clientele then the ones who frequented their old place.
Again this was my first venture into Vietnamese food beyond Pho.
For appetizers we had the "Goi Cuon" which are fresh spring rolls with shrimp and pork and a peanut sauce. We also ordered the soft shell crabs. The "Goi Cuon" was the typical Vietnamese style roll with the clear rice paper wrap. The vegetables were very fresh but it's nothing out of the ordinary. The soft shell crabs on the other hand were great, they came fried on a fresh salad. They also provided a small bowel of salt and pepper and lime juice. This was provided the right compliment to the soft shell crabs.
For our main courses my girlfriend ordered the "Banh Hoi Bo Nurong Xa" "#44" on the menu. This is grilled lemongrass beef served with Steamed Thin Vermicelli patties and a special sauce. As a wrap type meal this also comes with fresh lettuce, basil, shredded carrots, shredded cucumber, and daikon radish. The beef was cooked to perfection. It was cut very thin so it was cooked all the way through yet it maintained a very soft and chewy texture, with a great "clean" "grilled" taste. The lemongrass really was a nice flair to the beef itself. When you combine the lettuce, rice noodle patty, beef, basil, and the sauce together you really get a yummy combination of fresh, sweet, savory, hot, and cold, it really is a nice combination of flavor profiles.
I ordered the "Suon Non Ram Man" caramelized short ribs with onions. Again the meat was cooked to perfection. Short ribs can be really "F-ed" up if not done properly but they were fall off the bone tender. The sauce clearly hadn't had a chance to penetrate into the meat itself. So flavor wise it was lacking. It actually had no flavor at all the cook found a way to neutralize all the flavors in the pork. So it was like eating really soft and tender meat, not pork…but just some unidentified protein. Having said that the pork was really tender and cooked really well!!! I didn't figure out what the flavor of the sauce was until I stuck my spoon down into the dish that the pork was served on.
Overall I would say this a good restaurant, but I was a bit disappointed because the Washingtonian calls this the 26th best restaurant in DC…I would have to disagree…this place ranks in the top tier but to be 26th I don't quite think it is that good. In fact I give it a Man Boobs Rating, 3 stars.
Good place to impress your white friends at an Asian restaurant that won't:
- Scare the shit out of them
- Make them puke from the smell
- Ask were they hide the cats and dogs
it will make them think they can handle asian foods!
My new rating system:
BELLY FAT = 1 Star = It's only good to fill your stomach in the event of a nuclear fall out.
FAT ASS = 2 Stars = It's good enough that you can sit hear and add some junk to the trunk.
MAN BOOBS = 3 Stars = It's good, so be prepared to develop man boobs.
FAT
HEAD = 4 Stars = It's really good so after the fat is packed onto your
gut, rump, and boobs, it will have to find a release in your big fat
head.
SUMO = 5 Stars = It's
good enough that you should use this as a primary source of consumption
to become a professional sumo wrestler.