Written by DCist contributor Andrew Chriss

Falls Church offers a diverse array of ethnic cuisine, providing a homespun, lower cost alternative to higher-priced and better-decorated offerings in the District. That being said, it's been a while since the days when I frequented the BBQ, kosher deli, and pho establishments in Loehmann's Plaza. On this night, the destination was Eden Center, Falls Church's Vietnamese epicenter on Wilson Boulevard in Seven Corners. But where to eat? The website for the Center boasts almost 30 restaurants, with a byline for each that doesn't exactly sway the vote one way or another. A couple Google searches later, and Thanh Son Tofu came out on top. Why? Two words: homemade tofu. When a restaurant's web presence is centered on the sentiment of, "TRY THE TOFU!!! THEY MAKE THEIR OWN TOFU!!! OMG TRY THE TOFU!!!" this is likely an experience not to be missed. (Note: Thanh Son is located at 6793A Wilson Boulevard. Oddly enough, it's not even listed on the Eden Center website.)

The first thing one notices upon entering Eden Center is that you feel like you're in a foreign land (just don't look at the building supply liquidators to the right or the Guitar Center behind you). The community feeling is evident in the Vietnamese street names assigned to the parking lot rows, and the seemingly endless array of restaurants and cafes. We had a bit of difficulty finding Thanh Son (something to do with the website, perhaps?) and even had a brief flicker of "Good Lord, here I am specifically seeking out a restaurant to blog about and it's not even open. So much for the information superhighway." Finally, the mystery was solved once I exited the car and walked around. Turns out that Thanh Son's facade neon sign wasn't working, which doesn't exactly make the storefront stand out from far away, or even as you drive right in front of it.

The store is set up cafeteria style, with multiple servers at the ready to dish a healthy portion of various sticky rice dishes and puddings. However, I was confused. I see all these rice dishes and think to myself "Where is all the tofu?" There's also no menu, no chalkboard, nothing written down to really assist you in ordering. Seeing puzzled looks, a kind young man discussed the types of food that are served and ran through what people typically ordered. "Yeah, but where's the tofu?" Thanh Son is not just about tofu anymore. He walked over to the tofu, noting that a lot of the vegetarian selection was depleted due to a festival. He did offer free tastings of the onion and mushroom tofu, as well as their lemongrass and chili tofu.

There's an age-old saying about tofu that it tastes like whatever you cook it in. Legend be damned; their tofu needs no companion. It stands on its own with a depth of flavor that I have never experienced while indulging in the soy product. The texture was sublime, combining a crisp exterior with a moist, silky center. The lemongrass and chili tofu was a particular standout, as we ordered another three pieces for our meal. The best part is that 3 pieces cost $1, and that'll fill you up fast.

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The line had a variety of rice dishes to choose from, notably a white sticky rice dish served with sausage and a green sticky rice dish, made with green bean paste and coconut milk. Our server recommended the red sticky (glutinous, sticky, sweet...call it what you will) rice (xoi gac), which owes its reddish-orange color to the gac fruit in the dish. The taste at first is subtle but sweet, but as you dig in, the cream of coconut flavor really comes on full throttle. The serving was quite generous, as the pile of rice was shaped in the exact mold of our to-go container. This also provided a couple meals worth of leftovers.

For dessert, Thanh Son offers several types of puddings, mainly tapioca and soybean-based. A rice and black-eyed pea pudding was also tempting. But going on recommendation, the banana tapioca pudding was just too hard to pass up. The pudding was scooped into a plastic container and vacuum-sealed before our eyes (cool trick, really). The pudding—though purple in color—has a bright fruity flavor, with bananas and cream of coconut being the main sweeteners. Lychee jellies were added for even more sweetness, though the pudding didn't really need any.

The store looks like it's recently been recently been renovated, based on how new the interior looks compared to the non-lit exterior (every restaurant has to allocate resources as it sees fit, I suppose). One thing that was lacking on the interior was seating space; there are only two tables to speak of. Therefore, all the food that I couldn't wait to eat had to be transported home. But wait, you didn't think that I'd go food-less on the drive home, did you? Thanh Son offers a wide range of bubble teas as well, drawings of which were displayed above the counter. I selected the mango tea, a sweet, thick creamy iced drink with a layer of tapioca pearls on the bottom and a layer of lychee jellies in the center. A new law has been written, similar to affirmatively responding when a demon from another dimension asks if you're a god...and that law is "Give me mangoes and lychee jellies for breakfast, lunch, and dinner...I don't care how they're prepared or what they're served with in any form." The garage door was barely open before the last pearl and the last jelly were being sucked up.

The total cost of the meal was $8, and that covered two full bellies with leftovers to boot. A return trip is definitely on the horizon, if only to load up on more tofu, and walk out with some of their homemade soymilk. Don't be turned off by or scared of the fact that there is no menu. Ask for help and someone will walk you through the selection. Hopefully the neon sign re-illuminates soon, so people buying building supplies and guitars will know that a diverse selection of awesome food (did I mention the tofu yet?) is just a quick jump away.

Thanh Son Tofu
6793A Wilson Boulevard
Falls Church, Va.
703-534-1202
Metro: East Falls Church and Transfer to 26A Bus, or walk about a mile south from the Metro on Sycamore Street/Roosevelt Boulevard