High Side — Restaurant in Fairfax

This is a cute little place in Fairfax. There is parking behind the restaurant. A sign will indicate where parking is but easily missed. There are free public parking around.

I wouldn’t say the dishes we tried at High Side are authentic Taiwanese food. The flavor is tailored more toward to American taste buds or fusion style. They do have Happy Hour (HH) offers in both drinks and appetizer, you can ask the server for additional details. As you use the QR code to see the menu, some appetizers (Small Plates) will also indicate what’s included in the HH. We ordered the following: • Taiwanese Pork Belly Bao • Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken • Braised Pork Belly over Rice • 3 Cup Tofu over Rice • Ube Cake

The Taiwanese Pork Belly Bao is flavorful. The authentic way is with ground sugar peanuts but our bao did not have that. Instead, we had the chopped up peanuts, which loses it’s overall authenticity. Still good though.

The Taiwanese Popcorn Ck was first marinated then fried. The authentic way is to douse plentiful of the salt/pepper mixture. This dish did not have the heavy presence of salt/pepper. The chicken is very crunchy. The dish also came with a sweet chili dipping sauce to give it a different variation.

There are two styles of the Braised Pork Belly over rice offered. One kind is the diced up pork belly and the second type is the big slab of the pork belly over rice. We picked the big slabs instead. This dish has very strong flavor of the 5 spice and also cinnamon. The pork belly was very nicely braised (definitely the highlight). Pork fat tender and melty and the meat was soft. This is the same pork belly as the bao. Initially, we thought there isn’t enough sauce to go over the rice but at the end, we didn’t think the rice was dry. The rice they used in the rice dishes are good rice. Bouncy and chewy texture of the rice also able to soak the sauces. YUMO!

The most ‘unauthentic’ dish would be the 3 cup tofu over rice. The tradition flavor of the 3 cup wasn’t there for me but still a good dish to eat. There was a lot of sauce (a bit too much for me) but with rice, it was good. The tofu was fried to the level of VERY crispy and for me, missing that tender middle of the tofu texture. The marinated cucumber was very much on point. I would say it was my favorite ‘dish’. The cucumber was crunchy and with good flavor from the marinate (garlic, sugar, vinegar and hot oil). The dish is very garlicy and great tasting. If you go on a date, I would suggest you reframe from ordering the popcorn ck and the cucumber unless you and your date both like garlic.

The Ube Cake was a nice finish. The flavor of the ube was good. The texture of the cake is soft but not chiffon cake soft. Still great flavor.

The experience was pleasant and good. The atmosphere was relaxing and inviting. We will definitely return to try out other dishes (Beef noodle soup...

We tried this place in Fairfax City for the first time. They have a nice selection of beer and spirits. We tried the braised pork belly over rice. It comes with a braised egg. This plate tastes like home cooked meal. It was delicious! I would highly recommend this place! It tastes like my mom's home cooking! Absolutely the best. The other plates were also delicious. We ordered the lemon grass fried chicken over rice with a fried egg. The chicken has a nice flavor and moderately spicy. The scallion pancake with stir fried beef was okay. I will definitely come back to try all the other menu items and order the braised pork belly again! It is the menu item and always consistent. If you like hard seltzer, they have Smooj and the Humble Bumble is the best if you like a fruity tropical seltzer water. They taste like spiked fruit juice... So delicious. We got the beef noodle soup, there are some flavor of anise in it is basically a very concentrated flavor of pho. It comes in a smaller bowl than the pho. The Dan Dan noodle is pretty decent You can add chicken or pork belly with it. It is pretty flavorful.

Three cup tofu rice bowl is pretty sweet in flavor. If you don't like sweetness and prefer savory, then I don't recommend this plate.

We like the fried chicken sandwich is really good. It has a little bit of sour taste from the Asia's slaw with carrots and pickled daikon with cilantro adds an awesome twist to the fried chicken sandwich. It is very tasty! Come during happy hour on Tuesday and Wednesday and you can get it for 50% off.

They have happy hour on Tuesday through Thursday from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. lunch special include pork belly rice bowl and a fried chicken sandwich from 12:00 to 3:00 p.m. for $10. You can check out their specials online.

We also got the dessert ube custard cake which was not that sweet and it was delicious. Can't wait to...

An interesting place, in a small building on a busy road. The parking in back is fairly limited, so requires some plan B, C, D to think about where to park your car. The fact that the restaurant is small does make for a bit of congested environment. The tables are a little small and understandably close together. Luckily we ate before it got really crowded. Had a really fun dinner and beers. Extensive beer menu provided opportunity to have some known favorites or be adventurous and try some new things. We went during Restaurant Week, one member of our party had the set menu, while the others ordered dishes to share. That resulted in a collectively sampling of 7 small plates and 2 large plates. The presentation of some of the dishes also provided some visual enjoyment as well. Of the small plate choices, we really enjoyed the Taiwanese Sausage, the Scallion Pancake w/Fried Beef and the Tornado Fries. Of the other 4 small plates I would not recommend the Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken, it was more breading than chicken and lacked any distinctive flavor to make it worthwhile. On the large plate side we really enjoyed the Pork Chop Rice. The Sesame Noodles were a hit with some of us, but not a universal home run. The serving sizes were fair, but I would say it was actually a little pricey cost-wise. Considering it is semi-service, meaning you order your drinks and food at the bar. You carry your own beers to your table and they bring the food to your table as its ready, so it comes out in shifts. Overall, really enjoyed our visit, and will dine & drink again. Now that we have some experience with the menu, we expect our next visit to be...