Saravana Palace - View this location on map 'A vegetarian kitchen that offers feasts for the eyes and mouth.You could spend months sampling the 160-item menu at this strip-mall dining room, which serves neither meat nor alcohol and specializes in the vegetarian cooking of India s north and south, and still find it fascinating. If you need guidance, an army of servers in blue polo shirts is there to help, and a printout tacked to the wall lists the month s most popular dishes. There are vibrant stews and terrific curries, but the kitchen soars with its starches. Rice-flour dosas, India s answer to crepes, are crisp, greaseless, and folded around such fillings as buttery onions and peas or masala-style curried potatoes. Uttappams are closer to pancakes, and you ll find the area s best green-chili-and-onion rendition here, plus treats like idli (steamed rice cakes) and vada, which are more like doughnuts and come soaked in tart yogurt or sambar. Don t miss the basmati-rice dishes an aromatic coconut version with curry leaves and mustard seed, or a more assertive tamarind. Subdued lighting has enhanced the functional dining room, and a projector rigged into the ceiling shows Bollywood hits on a big screen, but it s hard to woo much attention away from what s on the table. Open daily for lunch and dinner.' Washingtonian 11725 Lee Highway, Fairfax, VA Budget, Restaurant

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