An exotic addition to McLean’s restaurant scene, Fahrenheit Asian is a destination that offers patrons a range of, well, Asian foods. Small and tidy, the restaurant takes its customers on an Asian trip, minus the airfare and hotel costs.
Its basic offerings are a range of soups, from chicken hot soup, to Thai hot soup, to a Keto diet veggie hot soup. Patrons can order from an assortment of noodle dishes, including the popular Chinese dan dan noodles, spicy potato noodle chitterlings, and on Mondays only wonton soup, either spicy or mild.
Daily specials, such as pickled long beans with ground beef and Ants on the Tree (bean thread or cellophane noodles with bits of meat) may round out the meal. So, too, will the appetizers that include spicy cold noodles, onion cake, leek cake. Handmade dumplings are about 12 to an order, and delicious.
Oddly, you may not find these items listed on the in-house menu, so check the website before you go. And if you can read Chinese characters, you may be able to figure out what the white message board is advertising.
But focus on the soups, after all. And plan to bring along some friends — that way, you can sample different soups and hope that one of your friends can help you polish off the big, big bowl of meats, veggies, and noodles placed in front of you.
When you order your soups, you can ask for a spicy-hot edition, and that’s what comes with the Thai Hot Soup—you can order this as a regular seasoning, or super/hot Thai hot, with a blending in of chili paste.
Served with a pair of chopsticks, for the locals who know how to use them, plus a soup spoon, the Thai soup arrives at the table on its own flaming-hot portable gas stove. This causes the soup to bubble away, and also cooks the very thin slices of meat and warms up the pieces of tofu, plus the noodles, clams, and shrimp. If you like Thai hot, then go ahead and take the fiery plunge into soup heaven.
Another taste treat is the lamb soup, also piping hot (temperature) and for anyone who likes lamb, the thin strips awash in the broth with veggies and noodles makes for a memorable soupy meal. Note that management offers patrons the choice of regular broth, bone broth, or veggie broth.
While the soup shop has been around for a few years, it really warrants a full house. Although indoor seating is limited, there’s always the take-out option, and in warm weather, management offers patio seating. After all, as management claims on the website, their food is very traditional and not Americanized, and the staff uses the freshest locally sourced ingredients available.
Fahrenheit Asian, 1313 Dolley Madison Blvd. (access 6800 Fleetwood Rd.), McLean, Va. Phone: 703-646-8968. Hours: Mon.-Thurs., 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Fri., 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Sat., 11 a.m. to 10 p.m; Sun., 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.