Food

30 Great-Value Dishes

Our critics pick their favorite bang-for-your-buck dishes.

Chicken and waffles at Marvin.

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Two grilled-shrimp tacos at Surfside, $9.95

Hanger steak with mashed potatoes and creamed spinach at Ray’s the Steaks, $19.95

Chicken and waffles at Marvin, $16

Silken Shawl Imperial Autumn Rolls filled with pork and prawns at Present, $3.95

Fried-oyster po’ boy with coleslaw at Hank’s Oyster Bar, $15

Sorbillo’s Original, a ricotta-mozzarella-and-salami-filled turnover at Pete’s Apizza, $7.95

Crab masala with jumbo lump crab, onions, and spices, $9.95 at Passage to India

Macaroni and cheese for two at Westend Bistro, $10

Adana kebab of skewered ground lamb, house-made harissa, grilled tomatoes, and sumac onions at Zaytinya, $7.50

 

Pad thai at Nava Thai.

Mini-jars of red and black caviar with house-made blini and crème fraîche at Johnny’s Half Shell, $19.75

 

Eel kamameshi, glazed eel over rice with four side dishes at lunch at Kotobuki, $10.95

Charcuterie board, which two can share at the bar at Restaurant Eve, $16

Roast-to-order chicken, $14, and truffled cheeseburger, $12, at Palena Cafe

Half order of pasta for half the price of a full order at the bar during lunch at Tosca

Four lacquered, grilled quail halves with blood-orange slices at Four Sisters, $8 to $9

Bun cha, northern-style grilled, marinated pork with vermicelli noodles at Minh’s, $9.75

Sambusas, $2.75 each, and yebeg wat, $11, at Etete

Lamb karahi for two at Ravi Kabob House, $19.99

Pot of mussels for two at Café du Parc, $19.95

Floating Market Noodle Soup for two, $7.95, and crispy mussels with hot sauce, $9.95, at Nava Thai Noodle and Grill

Grilled stuffed calamari with green sauce, $7.95, and Margherita pizza, $10.95, at 2 Amys

Duck confit with savoy cabbage and roasted beets, $15, and grilled flatiron steak with rapini, $14, at Cork

Lamb sausage with lentils at Brasserie Beck, $14

Roast chicken with mustard sauce at Leopold’s Kafe & Konditorei, $18

Boudin blanc, boudin noir, or merguez sausage with braised red cabbage at Mannequin Pis, $12

What are your favorite bargain dishes? Tell us in the comments below. 

Related Links:

This appeared as part of the 100 Very Best Restaurants section in the February, 2009 issue of the Washingtonian. 

→ 100 Best Restaurants Database

→ Printable List of 100 Best Restaurants

→ Best Restaurants in Washington, DC

→ Best Restaurants in Virginia

→ Best Restaurants in Maryland

→ Critics Pick the 25 Best Dishes

→ 30 Great-Value Dishes

→ Restaurateurs of the Year

→ The 2009 Foodie In and Out List

→ 100 Best Photo Slideshow

Ann Limpert
Executive Food Editor/Critic

Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.