In October, the outdoor Water Park in National Landing debuted with nine restaurant kiosks, a full-service sit-down restaurant, a live performance stage, landscaped greenspaces, multiple seating areas and water features spread over 1.6 acres. I canvassed the kiosks, which represent local, minority and women-owned businesses, and found five dishes that light my fire.
Falafel bowl at Falafel Inc
Owner Ahmad Ashkar isn’t looking to reinvent the wheel with his value-priced falafel bowl, and he doesn’t need to. The combination of fluffy, fried chickpea balls, tabouli, red cabbage, pickled vegetables, cucumber-tomato salad and crispy pita chips hits the spot. Ashkar, by the way, is also founder and CEO of the Hult Prize Foundation, which awards $1 million annually to a team of young people to fund a social entrepreneurship project. ($6)
Bo-khirria banh mi at PhoWheels
This marks the first brick-and-mortar location for the food truck business Huy Nguyen started in 2012 and sold to current owner Tuan Vo in 2017. (The two are partners at Water Park.) Don’t miss their clever mash-up of a banh mi, birria taco and bo kho (Vietnamese beef stew). Crusty French bread is stuffed with five-hour braised beef shank, red onions, gooey mozzarella cheese, cucumbers, pickled daikon radish, pickled carrots and cilantro, and served with a side of “bo ko” broth for dipping. A spectacular mess! ($17.98)
Funnel cake sundae at Dolci Gelati
Gianluigi Dellaccio, the pastry chef owner of this DMV chainlet, got so many requests for funnel cakes at his National Zoo stall that he finally devised a recipe for one after 15 tries. His light, airy and delightfully crispy confections are dressed with a scoop of gelato (your choice), whipped cream and chocolate sauce. ($12)
The Paulie Cicero from Cracked Eggery
This stand specializes in breakfast sandwiches, bowls and topped tater tots. Think of this sammie as breakfast-meets-antipasto: prosciutto, fried egg, arugula, ricotta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes and kicks of sweet heat from Mike’s hot honey on a toasted challah bun. ($13)
Masala uttapam at DC Dosa
This is the second location of Mumbai native Priya Ammu’s eatery (the first is in D.C.’s Union Market) that offers variations on a beloved crepe-adjacent South Indian street food. Ammu offers two versions of her lentil batter-based pancakes: dosas (which are thin, crispy and folded over fillings—like in an omelet) and uttapam (thicker, open-face pancakes). The masala uttapam is crisped on one side, then flipped over on the griddle and topped with crispy, turmeric-tinged curried potatoes, chopped cilantro and three chutneys: onion tamarind, mango habanero and cilantro sesame. ($15)