How did we even start to cull down the list for what would eventually be the best Asian restaurants in Northern Virginia? First we headed to the map and thought about what to rule out: India is a whole other world of food, and so are the countries in Central Asia. We also stayed away from restaurants with East-West fusion tendencies, no matter how delicious.

The following pages highlight food from China, Korea, Japan, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam (with a shout-out to trending Filipino food). While this isn’t an encyclopedic deep-dive into the hundreds (thousands?) of Asian restaurants in the region, it’s a good start.

Written and edited by Stefanie Gans with Amanda L. Andrei, Corbo Eng, Kathy Phung & Pat Tanumihardja Photography by Rey Lopez, Aaron Spicer & Jonathan Timmes

• Dan dan noodles at Uncle Liu’s Hot Pot // 2974 Gallows Road, Falls Church
• Haemul pajun (seafood pancake) at Sō Korean BBQ // 5728 Pickwick Road, Centreville
• House pho at Caphe Banh Mi // 407 Cameron St., Alexandria
• Peking duck at TenPenh // 7900 Westpark Drive, Tysons Corner
• Caramel fish at Little Viet Garden // 6783 Wilson Blvd., Falls Church; 703-532-1069
• Sichuan cha jiang noodle at Sichuan Village // 14005 Lee Jackson Memorial Highway, Chantilly
• Half hot, half soy combo wings at Chi Mc // 6653 Little River Turnpike, Annandale
• Traditional ququr soup at Queen Amannisa // 320 23rd St. S., Arlington
• Pumpkin red curry at Thai Pan // 2 Harrison St. SE, Leesburg; 703-777-9487
• Gyeran jjim (steamed egg banchan) at Kogiya // 4220 Annandale Road, Annandale