Ballston Quarter

Announcements about new openings for the much delayed food hall at Ballston Quarter (it was originally scheduled to open in the fall) led me to make a stop there this afternoon. Or try to. The "getting there" was difficult. Wilson Blvd was shut down from Henderson to Randolph and walking from a parking spot a few blocks away meant trying to cross an intersection without functioning signal lights, traversing through a recently sodded field and using a sidewalk that has big signs around it saying "will close April 1st." No foolin. When you finally get there you have to navigate through and behind a covered walkway to access the plaza, and finally the food hall. Inside are the following: A sports bar. A barbecue joint. A sandwich place with four sandwich offerings -- all meat. A pizza place with no pizza. A "bao bun" shop with one veggie option. A rice bowl place which had run out of salad greens and was running low on rice. And an ice cream place. Four of the establishments had no visible menus. If one were to pull out glasses and squint, you could see the offerings at the ice cream place and if you didn't mind cutting the line you could borrow a paper menu from the register at the rice bowl place. I ended up with a decent rice bowl and a scoop of ice cream but the bottom line is that this place is nowhere near ready for prime time. Don't buy the hype and wait a few more months.

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Afghan Bistro

With family members moving to Springfield, it has been a struggle to find good places to eat so far afield. After flirting with some chain restaurants near the mall, we tried a Pakistani restaurant (there are many, many Pakistani restaurants there), but it fell flat. Finally, someone suggested this amazing place. It's a little hole-in-the-wall in a strip mall. With oilcloth table coverings, the vibe seems questionable. For about a minute. Then you are warmly greeted and given menus with a plethora of choices. My party ordered a great number of items and every dish rose above expectations. The staff are eager to please and checked in to make sure everything was okay, from food to drink needs. When a member of my party dropped a piece of silverware on the floor one of the waiters swooped in with a replacement before we could even ask. But onto the food. We ordered the Potato and Leek turnovers, the Aushak (leek and sc...

Dera

Was looking for a good Pakistani restaurant in Springfield and this one had some of the best reviews, so I gave it a shot. Arrived for an early dinner to find some regulars around a table in a cavernous room. The restaurant staff looked at us like we had interrupted a private party. We sat and were grudgingly given menus after asking. Tepid water in questionably clean glasses were eventually brought. One member of the party ordered a salad. It arrived in a large mixing bowl and was mostly iceberg lettuce. A plastic basket of cold bread was literally "dumped" on the table, then the waiter disappeared. Eventually we were able to get someone to take our orders, which included a curry, a biryani and a kebab. Portions were huge and the rice, again, came in what looked like a mixing bowl. It was enough to feed ten. The food wasn't bad. Sometimes the seasonings were a bit heavy handed (particularly for the rice) but it was...

Junction Bakery & Bistro

Everything here was good. My party got a Tofu Stir Fry, Roasted Chicken Breast Sandwich, Crispy Flounder Sando, Sweet Potato Fries and a Chocolate Cream-Filled Croissant. The food took a while but arrived literally hot off the grill. The two sandwiches came with a plethora of side salad and a great homemade dressing. Portions were large and all of us took home enough for a second meal. The bill, with tax and tip, came to just under $75. As mentioned, it was good. Very good -- but not great. Everything came close to being great it just didn't cross the line. The cross-cut sweet potato fries were extremely munchable but the "Harissa Sour Cream" had a lot of sour cream and very very little harissa. The Tofu Stir fry had a nice mix for a cold day but needed a little more oomph (I borrowed salad dressing from my companions). Everything, including the Tofu and Flounder, were breaded and fried but didn't seem greasy until later....

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