We decided it was a good day to celebrate. And what day isn’t? At a bar we had a drink of Green Hat gin, my favorite thing made in the District of Columbia, before we went to eat at Doi Moi. The name, dổi mới, means “renewal” in Vietnamese, and refers to the 1986 economic reforms initiated by the Vietnamese communist government. The name is also meant to be associated with the redevelopment and/or gentrification of 14th street, which would sound ironic if it weren’t openly volunteered on the restaurant’s website.
Most restaurants have a dominant texture or taste: There are restaurants that are all about beef and potatoes, others where cheese comes up as an ingredient in every dish, others where the food is so hot and spicy that you nearly forget about flavor. There are others, such as pizza parlors, where the main idea is stuffing yourself with bread. At Doi Moi, based on what we ordered, the word I would use is “meltiness.” The dumplings are ready to fall apart, and the chicken on skewers is soft enough to really bring out the spices. I tried a chicken curry dish with a fatty red sauce that reminded me of ramen. Some of the noodles in the curry were soft, and others you had to chew.
(Photo: Great Falls Park, Virginia.)
365 Days of Food 