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Very Best Restaurants: Hee Been

Very Best Listing | Very Best by Cuisine | Very Best by Location

Hee Been *
Alexandria , $

Every meal at this attractive Japanese-Korean restaurant begins with miso soup and an assortment of kimchee, not only the usual spicy pickled cabbage but half a dozen bowls of pickled and fresh vegetables that vary from evening to evening. After that, it's best to move on to barbecueeither beef short ribs, chicken, pork, or several more exotic meats. Barbecue is a Korean specialty, and if you're not Asian, it's what your waitress will assume you want anyhow.

If two or more people at the table order the barbecue, your waitress will cook it at the table for you and show you how to wrap the grilled meat in a lettuce leaf with some rice, a little shredded radish, and sweet-hot bean paste to make a bite-sized package.

Other possibilities, many not translated on the menu, include very good buckwheat noodles, with or without raw fish, and bibim bap, vegetables and raw beef mixed with egg and spicy bean pastea treat for lovers of steak tartare. Sushi and sashimi are better elsewhere. The meal closes with a cup of cold, sweet, cinnamon-flavored tea and sliced oranges. It's not your usual backyard barbecue, but it's a satisfying experience.

Hee Been , 6231 Little River Turnpike, Alexandria ; 703-941-3737. Open daily for lunch and dinner. MapIt!

QUALITY: ****Excellent; *** Superior; **Very Good; * Good
PRICE RANGE: $$$= Very Expensive; $$ Expensive; $=Moderate; ¢=Inexpensive

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