Roti Canai
MalaysiaDough pulled thin, slapped, folded and griddled to order. It comes with dhal or chicken curry and it is meant to be torn, not cut.
Cooking that refuses to pick one country
Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand share a coastline, a spice route and a great deal of argument about who invented what. This kitchen cooks all three, properly, in one room on Fairfax Boulevard.
Why the menu is comprehensive
Because three cuisines do not fit on a short one. Cutting it down would mean dropping either the rendang or the khao soi, and both are the reason somebody drives here.
The dishes are grouped the way you would actually order: something to start and tear with your hands, a rice or noodle plate each, and one large thing in the middle for the table. The chef’s specials are that large thing. Whole crab, whole snapper, curries that were started yesterday.
Spice levels are real. Where a dish is marked spicy it is because it is supposed to be, not as a warning. Tell the kitchen if you want it turned up.
The first dining room opened on Fairfax Boulevard in 2023. In 2026 Washingtonian put it at No. 88 on its 100 Very Best Restaurants, which called it a place that pulls off Thai, Malaysian and Singaporean cooking with confidence. Two more rooms are on the way, in Ashburn and Rockville.
Southeast Impression is part of IVEA Concepts, the restaurant group behind a growing set of Asian dining rooms across the DC, Maryland and Virginia area. The group supplies the buying power and the back office. The cooking is this kitchen’s own.
Three master chefs
They are not fusing anything. Malaysian, Singaporean and Thai dishes are cooked separately, to their own recipes, which is why the menu runs as long as it does.
Master Chef
Michael Foo
Malaysia
A Malaysian native who cooked his own cuisine professionally before joining the group. He runs the Malaysian side of the kitchen: rendang, sambal made in house, and roti pulled to order.
Master Chef
Toh Hon Pin
Malaysia
The second Malaysian native on the line, brought in when the plan grew from one cuisine to three. Between him and Foo, the hawker-centre cooking of the Malay peninsula and Singapore is covered.
Master Chef
Arom Saduakdee
Thailand
The Thai kitchen is his. He came from MyHome Thai Bistro in Reston, and the restaurant was originally planned around him alone before it became a three-cuisine room.
Previously MyHome Thai Bistro, Reston
What the critics said
4.6 out of 5 across 659 Google reviews, and two straight years on Washingtonian’s list.
- WashingtonianNo. 80100 Very Best Restaurants2025
- Northern Virginia MagazineImpresses with vibrant flavorsAlice Levitt, July 2024
- WashingtonianSpotlights Singaporean, Malaysian, and Thai cuisinesIke Allen, April 2024
- FFXnowEight Fairfax restaurants ranked among the region's 100 bestJanuary 2026
- The BurnConstruction underway at new pan-Asian restaurant in LoudounMay 2026
Four dishes that explain the place
Bak Kut Teh
MalaysiaPork ribs simmered with herbs and spices until the broth turns dark and medicinal. A hangover cure, a breakfast, an argument starter.
Hainanese Chicken on Rice
SingaporePoached chicken and rice cooked in the poaching stock. Three sauces on the side, because the chicken is deliberately plain.
Khao Soi
ThailandNorthern Thai curry noodles under a nest of fried egg noodle, with pickled cabbage and chili oil to cut the coconut.
Where to find us
Ground floor of Scout on the Circle, on Fairfax Boulevard. Two more are on the way: Bram Quarter in Ashburn, and the old Spot food hall in Rockville Town Center.
