Photo by Jay Paul
Pakwaan Indian Cuisine
Woodlake
Lunch buffets trouble me. Execution often falls short, with limited choices that are, at best, bland. Pakwaan, at 14862 Hull Street Road, scoffs at the typical two or three entrees in favor of presenting tables of steaming chafing dishes — 10 fragrant pots, mainly chicken and vegetarian, for $12.
Sometimes the easiest way to assess a place is to check out the basics — in this case, rice and naan. The long-grain rice was fluffy and delicately seasoned, while the naan was tender and flaky, comparable to what you'd find at some of RVA’s top Indian hotspots such as Lehja and Tulsi.
Dinner verges toward the traditional, with a number of vegetarian dishes, including a potato kofta with a creamy nut sauce or pindi made with chickpeas.
GreeX
Ashland
Among internationally inspired restaurants these days, you’ll often find that they’ve updated the cuisine to appeal to more modern tastes and palates. Not so at GreeX, located in the Center of the Universe at 115 N. Washington Highway. The menu is literally what one might rattle off if putting together a Greek menu from memory.
The dishes, from saganaki to pastitsio, are heavily nostalgic, items that Chef Markos Karavias’ grandmother would have served him. The fries in the gyro threw me for a bit of a loop, but it turns out a few fries tucked inside your gyro are a common preparation in Greece.
Photo courtesy Empanadas Market
Empanadas Market
Tuckahoe
A longtime favorite vendor from the South of the James Farmers Market has opened a brick-and-mortar shop so you can sleep in next Saturday and skip the hungry throngs at the market.
In a strip mall at 1110 Westbriar Drive, Empanadas Market’s smart-looking little space is the perfect in-and-out stop. Either grab an empanada from the warming case, or choose from a lengthy list of flavor combinations, be it a spicy steak or a Parmesan-zucchini, and have an empanada made on the spot.
Seating is limited, with just a few stools at the counter, but you can always get a bag of their frozen empanadas to cook at home.