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Vegetarian curry puff from Ratee Thai Photo by Beth Furgurson
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Picado, with sausages, pork cracklings, grilled chicken and beef, yucca and plantains from ¡Colombian Restaurant! Photo by Isaac Harrell
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Chicken taouk, grilled lamb chops and a selection of small plates at The Phoenician. Photo by Chris Smith
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Owner and chef Tudtuu Montague of Ratee Thai Photo by Beth Furgurson
Over the past 40 years, Richmond's cuisine has gone from predictable to an explosion of Technicolor flavors. To be a Richmonder no longer means that your parents and your grandparents were born here: Real Richmonders can come from all over the world, and they've brought their food with them. Gone are the days when an American invention, chop suey, passed for exotic. Authentic cuisine from Peru to Korea is now just a car ride away — luckily for us, cardamom and fenugreek, and cumin and cilantro have circumnavigated the globe and found a resting place. Here are a few of the newer entries in our endlessly faceted global dining scene.
Trailblazers
Chris Tsui of EAT Restaurant Partners
Suwit Roygulchareon of Beauregard's Thai Room
Mexico
Latino Village
6003 W. Broad St., 285-5850
The plight of Mexican food in the States can be a sad one — cheese, beans, beef and tortillas are reused and recycled in every possible configuration. For the most part, the chimichangas and nachos that we're used to were dreamed up right here in America. Authentic Mexican cuisine is loaded with fresh vegetables, tropical fruits, white cheeses, flaky fish and a number of other ingredients leftover from the country's Mayan and Spanish heritage. Those in the know are happy to leave you to your burritos while they frequent nearly invisible spots like Latino Village, a tiny eatery tucked inside a market. Here, you'll order pupusas (thick tortillas stuffed with fried pork and beans), lengua (beef tongue) tacos and hearty sopes (too exciting to call a sandwich and piled too high to call a pizza), grab a Mexican Coke and watch the experts make tortillas by hand while you wait. English isn't the language of choice here, but the staff is happy to help reorient your taste buds for a more genuine, more satisfying and infinitely more interesting Mexican dining experience. —SH
Peru
Rocoto Chicken
8046 W. Broad St., 680-2323
Peru takes chicken seriously. The rule of the Spanish conquistadors and the stream of immigrants from all over the world established a spicy, eclectic culinary legacy in this South American country, but it was a patent filed by two Swiss residents of Lima for a special kind of rotisserie grill that made possible the tender, juicy bird marinated for seven to eight hours that restaurateur Julieta Brain hoped to recreate in the tiny shop she and her husband, J.C., opened in 2011. Rocoto Chicken's loyal following prompted a move to a larger location. "We started inside of a market," Julieta explains. "But now we want to reorient." This spring, their fans' patience will be rewarded [Rocoto Chicken was still planning but had not opened as of press time] in their new, ABC-licensed, roomy space on the 8000 block of West Broad. —SH
Colombia
¡Colombian Restaurant!
6346 Midlothian Turnpike, 447-0752
Colombian food is a mash-up of savory pastries, roasted and fried specialty cuts, and tropical treats, like plantains and passion fruit. ¡Colombian Restaurant!, operated by partners Felipe Lopez and Sebastian Duque, serves homemade blood sausage, fried yucca and soupy kidney beans alongside wicked good chicken empanadas for $1 each on Thursdays. A mixed grill of steak, fried egg, sausage, chicharron (fried pork rinds), beans, rice, plantains and corn arepa for sopping is a house favorite. Picada, a mountain of chopped and grilled cracklings, morcilla (blood sausage), green plantains, chicken and fried yucca comes with a garlic-stomped chimichurri. "We're expanding our menu and adding breakfast," Lopez says. Agua frescas (fresh fruit waters) and malta, a non-alcoholic, unfermented wheat drink, complement the richly flavored main dishes. —Genevelyn Steele
Cuba
Kenn-Tico Cuban Bar and Grill
204 E Grace St., 225-9216
No national cuisine represents a country's spirit better than Cuban food. With their garlicky kicks, vibrant colors and soft breads, the sandwiches and spicy dishes of Cuban cuisine easily conjure an image of hot, dusty and passionate Havana. Traditional Cuban flavors are the menu's foundation at Kenn-Tico Bar and Grill, the brainchild of two brothers who swam to Guantanamo Bay from Cuba in search of a better life. After slinging hot dogs and the like on a food cart downtown, Kenny Sanchez, along with brother Tico, decided that it was time for his own place. Kenn-Tico's lively menu includes pollo salteado (boneless chicken pieces sautéed with peppers and onions to an impossible tenderness) and macitas de puerto frita (pork smothered in Sanchez's own mojo criolla sauce), in addition to classic Cuban pork sandwiches. —SH
Lebanon
The Phoenician
4401 W Broad St., 359-5590
America has fallen in love with Mediterranean food. With its fragrant penchant for garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, chickpeas and all that lamb — what's not to like? Since its opening in 2008, The Phoenician has held down its position as one of very few local Lebanese eateries among a slew of Greek establishments, serving up falafel and kebabs in a resplendent atmosphere fit for a sultan. The Lebanese of yore hobnobbed with the Ottoman Turks and the French, and their ancient treks brought them into contact with Middle Eastern cuisine. As a result, they've put their own spin on baklava, flan, and rich dips like baba ghanoush and, of course, hummus. At The Phoenician, the starter portion of the menu easily outweighs everything else, as a selection of mezze, or small plates, is the preferred way to construct a meal. This tradition gives Lebanese-food novices an opportunity to sample some of the country's best. — SH
Ethiopia
Addis
9 N. 17th St., 308-3649
Ethiopian dining is a social experience. Sharing a giant platter of stewed vegetables and spiced meats using torn pieces of crepe-like injera rather than utensils, it's impossible not to bond with your tablemates. Addis in Shockoe Bottom makes its injera fresh daily, and the crater-faced bread, made from the grain teff, instead of flour, is perfect for the gluten-intolerant — and for scooping bites of hearty stews. Traditional ingredients include meats, onions, lentils, peas and potatoes, flavored with berbere, a popular Ethiopian seasoning made from red chili powder and other aromatic spices, and mitmita, a spicy mix with chili pepper, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, cumin and ginger. In dishes like tibs, a meat-and-vegetable sauté, and wot, a thick stew with meat or vegetables, Ethiopian cuisine is at its best: colorful, fresh and flavorful. Vegetarian options abound, and fresh salads accompany each dish. —CA
Afghanistan
The Box Afghan Kabob House
8151 Hull Street Road, 745-3060
At The Box Afghan House, diners who love Indian, Middle Eastern or Mediterranean will recognize staples like tandoori naan and kabobs with rice, spiced with saffron, cardamom, coriander and mint. Meats like lamb and beef are common, along with vegetarian dishes featuring onions, pumpkin, dried fruits and nuts. Since 2011, The Box Afghan Kabob House, a modest restaurant attached to a gas station on Hull Street Road in Chesterfield, has delivered Afghanistan's bold flavors delicately. Owner Parwin Ayubi's husband's cooking shines in dishes like bouranee baunjuan (fried eggplant in an herb yogurt sauce with naan) and mantu (onion-and-beef ravioli with yogurt-and-beef sauce). —CA
Pakistan
Kabab Bistro
7801 W. Broad St., 672-3663
There's a fusion of flavor at Kabob Bistro, tucked in a strip mall off Broad Street. The menu is rooted in Pakistani cuisine from the home country of owners Zafar and Saara Siddiqui, but they also serve Indian and other Middle Eastern dishes (and only halal meat). The three regions tend to use similar spices — cumin, turmeric, paprika, garlic — though there's a difference in preparation. Indian food tends to be spicier; Pakistani is less so, according to Zafar. There's a little of everything on the menu, from vegetarian channa masala to lamb korma. Bragging rights go to the chicken seekh kabab, which is ground chicken with honey and cilantro rolled tightly like a sausage, and tender meat stews simmered with traditional spices and cooked in a karahi, a pot similar to a wok. Ask for a cup of Kashmiri tea, a chai tea steeped in milk and served with salt or sugar. —RM
Thailand
Ratee Thai
9031 W Broad St, 967-2133
Tudtuu Montague understands why most area Thai restaurants adapt their menus to fit the less adventurous American palate. But she respectfully declined to do so when she opened Ratee Thai, preferring instead the vibrant flavors and often intense heat of perfectly prepared Thai cuisine. Her mother, Ratee, was the inspiration for Montague's venture. "I wanted to do something real," she says. "And I loved my mother's cooking, so these family recipes make us unique." Since Ratee Thai opened in January, it's attracted a growing crowd of mostly repeat customers ordering peanut-dotted and lime-kissed pad thai; the very spicy, dry pork-rib curry from Southern Thailand, kua kling; and popular vegetarian curry puffs. —SH
India
Karaikudi Indian Cuisine
201 Towne Center Blvd. W., 716-2546
Attention spicy-food lovers: Karaikudi Indian Cuisine by way of Short Pump will sound the three-chili alarm bell, according to owner Jacob Christie, who opened shop last November. Not to be confused with creamier and milder North Indian dishes, a medley of 21 spices, called Chettinad spices after the region from which they come, create the flavor base for his South Indian fare. "We use mostly pepper and green chilis," Christie says. The specialties are spicy dishes like veg kara kuzhambu (veggies cooked in spices), Karaikudi chicken (chicken cooked in spices with cashew gravy), and mutton sukka masala (goat marinated in peppercorns). The lunch buffet is an effective way to sample the different options, including rice-based biryani. If the heat leaves a mark, end with a cooling sweet mango lassi. —RM
China
Peter Chang China Café
11424 W. Broad St., Glen Allen, 364-1688
In Chinese, "ma" means "numbing" and "la" means "spicy," and when you put the two together, it's the hallmark of Sichuan cuisine and Peter Chang's cooking. Not to be confused with Thai-spicy that's balanced by sweet, mala is straight-up spicy, accomplished with a combo of red chili, jalapeno and green hot peppers. Chang, who has showcased his skills at the James Beard House and acquired a rabid cult following aided and abetted by food writers like Todd Kliman of The Washingtonian and Calvin Trillin of The New Yorker, settled into Short Pump last year with a seven-page menu containing dishes like "Hot and Numbing Combination," a medley of fish, meat and mixed vegetables over Sichuan noodles, traditional scallion bubble pancakes and hearty steamed buns. Restaurant manager Chuck Ye Ye recommends the tea-smoked duck fried with onions. It's — naturally — spicy, too. —RM
Vietnam
Tay-Ho
7927 W. Broad St., 346-8888
Kim Tu and her siblings, Sam and Yuki, built Tay-Ho to be a towering homage to Vietnamese cuisine — only one with a contemporary look and feel. But the vaulted ceilings, granite bar and accents made from South American lava don't imply a departure from the cuisine of her forefathers. That would be tough for the three Tus, as their parents' popular traditional Asian market, Tan-A, still features prominently in their lives. "We want you to feel like you're eating an authentic Vietnamese dish," says Tu, who along with her sister, combined their grandmother's recipes with their own to create a menu full of pho, stir-fries and noodle bowls with enough spice complexity to make even a Tan-A owner proud. Tu did allow herself to branch out with six carefully developed cocktails, featuring traditional Vietnamese flavors like lemongrass, but for the most part, Tay-Ho's dishes are loving tributes to generations past. —SH
Korea
Korean Garden
6827 Midlothian Turnpike, 675-0511
It's not just Richmond's Korean community that stands firmly behind Korean Garden. Non-natives flock to this Midlothian Turnpike location for pungent kimchi, the tasty tomato-and-fried-egg combination of bibimbap and a seemingly endless parade of bowls of banchan (traditional Korean side dishes). Originally an Asian market and karaoke bar, Korean Garden made the decision to devote more resources to delighting the palates of Korean-food experts and novices alike. Now, the restaurant connects to Young Bin Market, so if you fall deeply in love with the sauce used to smother their signature wood-smoked short ribs, you could be lucky enough to take a jar home for yourself. Korean Garden's menu runs the gamut from street food to lavish, elegant entrées. —SH
