Oh please. Maybe because I live in London, which is the definition of culinary purgatory, or perhaps because I was born and bred there, I must take issue.

You're telling me that you haven't been to Eden Center and partaken of the legendary Pho 75 or the other restaurants in the Vietnamese center of Virginia? How about Dim Sum at Fortune at Seven Corners or Reston, where the former President Bush used to take his entourage, even though I much prefered the Golden Dragon in Chinatown (long since closed). Or, Thai... Herndon's Chao Phra Ya (known to the high-tech community as "The Cow," a name I coined back in 1999 when it opened at the height of the dot.com insanity) has the best Drunken Noodles in America (and trust me... I've tried to find better). Or Pan Asian at Pacific on Route 7 in Ashburn.

There's not just good Asian food. There's the quiant La Cote D'Or restaurant in Falls Church, right off I-66, which is fantastic French bistro cuisine, the small chain of Hard Times Cafe with the best chili in these parts (I recommend the half and half Cinny-Texas Mac) and the Clarendon Grill.

There's also the Serbian Crown with their yummy ice blocks filled with Vodka. Or Great Falls' legendary L'Auberge Chez Francois. Go for old fashioned, over-the-top decor and decent prime rib and other Comfort Food at Tom Sarris Orleans House in Rosslyn. And, a real hidden gem--the Peruvian chicken at Pollo Rico, near the corner of Wilson and Washington in Arlington--note the long line out of the building, filled with us gringos.

Back in Tyson's Corner, specifically, there's the fantastic Taste of Saigon on Greensboro Drive or Da Domenico, where the owner, a former Opera singer, will sing for YOUR supper (and quiet the room in the process--what a voice!). Plus, as they say, he makes the best Veal Chop in town.

If you're willing to settle for P.F. Chang's, you're really missing out. I can't believe the concierge wouldn't have given you a single, decent suggestion. Maybe you should tip more?

Sorry for the long rant, but if you mock my hometown's food. I *MUST* throw down.