Maryland’s Route 193, a sprawling four-lane highway littered with thrift stores and strip malls, is not the place one would expect to find a fine-dining establishment. But a number of the Washington, D.C. area’s best restaurants are located along this sad swath of concrete. And Route 193 is by no means anomalous: Indeed, D.C.’s strip-malled suburbs offer a number of excellent dining options for the business or pleasure traveler sick of the trendy (and pricey) restaurants downtown.

Foremost among these is Woodlands (8046 New Hampshire Ave., Langley Park, Md., 301-434-4202), a vegetarian South Indian restaurant that is consistently ranked among the best in the area. Sandwiched between an Indian grocery store and an auto repair shop, the interior feels surprisingly chic. With a crisp new paint job, no tablecloths, and paper napkins stuffed faux-elegantly into wine glasses, Woodlands looks like a cross between a cafeteria and a fancy restaurant. But one does not come to Woodlands for the decor.

Before making my first trek out to Route 193, I fancied myself something of an Indian food connoisseur; not an expert, but someone who knew his palak paneer from his baigan bartha. Woodlands changed all this. Although it has all the well-known, traditional North Indian dishes on the menu and does them quite well, the restaurant specializes primarily in South Indian food, an entirely different cuisine I knew nothing about. These days, I turn my nose up at tandoori and butter chicken, preferring instead the spicy, earthy fare of the South (entrees range $7-$13).

On a recent Friday evening, Woodlands was filled with Indian families (and one somewhat self-conscious food writer). Most everyone in the room had ordered dosai, a traditional South Indian “thin rice crepe” filled with anything from potatoes and onions to hot chutney. Having tried and very much enjoyed the dosai on a previous visit, I decided to order the South Indian thali dinner special, a sampler of nine different dishes served with rice and roti in a ring of stainless-steel finger bowls.

Thali is especially good for those who are new to South Indian food and/or can’t find anyone to come all the way out to Route 193 at the last minute, because it allows one to try a number of different dishes. Woodlands’ thali includes pickled lemon, cardamom green beans, yellow dhal, and a thin lentil soup called sambar. The only problem with thali is figuring out how to eat out of those little stainless-steel finger bowls. Judging by the looks I got from the children at the table next to me, I wasn’t doing it correctly.

One of D.C.’s best-known culinary trademarks is Salvadoran food. But while it’s easy to get cheap and tasty finger food like pupusas and empanadas, a good sit-down Salvadoran restaurant is a bit more difficult to find. With this goal in mind, I took my friend Sarah to El Gavilan (8805 Flower Ave., Silver Spring, Md., 301-587-4197), a popular neighborhood Salvadoran restaurant in Silver Spring, Md. Although El Gavilan (“sparrowhawk,” according to my dictionary) offers many of the options one would expect from a run-of-the-mill Tex-Mex place, it is also peppered with traditional Salvadoran offerings (entrees range from $9-$15).

After watching at least a dozen sizzling-hot plates of shrimp and lobster sail by, we concluded that El Gavilan specializes in shellfish fajitas and decided that it was therefore our duty to order that in addition to a more traditional Salvadoran dish. Knowing Spanish better than I do, Sarah suggested Combinacion Guanaca, which the menu described as “ocacion para saborear nuestros tipicas comidas salvadorenas.” As it turned out, the fajitas were excellent: a skewer of grilled, buttered shrimp served with roast vegetables and a batch of oven-fresh tortillas. Combinacion Guanaca, however, was nothing more than scrambled eggs, refried beans, and rice. Apparently that’s what people typically eat in El Salvador.

Anything that our ordering may have lacked was redeemed tenfold by the entertainment. Halfway through our meal, a portly, mustached man ambled up to the makeshift stage, set up his synthesizer, and began crooning Latin American pop ballads. It was dinner and a show. What more do you want? According to our waiter, none of the songs were typically Salvadoran, but the singer is there every Friday.

Way on the other side of Route 193 is a nondescript Chinese place called Good Fortune Restaurant (2646 University Boulevard West, Wheaton, Md., 301-929-8818), a low-slung building near a suburban metro station that I would venture to say serves the best dim sum in a 30-mile radius. There are those who contend that Oriental East (another Silver Spring establishment) is better. But in my mind nothing can compete with Good Fortune’s service and selection, both of which are an integral part of any good dim sum experience.

There’s not much to say about the decor. But with one eye on your food and the other on the metal carts circling the room, you will hardly notice the wooden dragons and Chinese calendars positioned randomly around the banquet-sized room. As a relative newcomer to the world of dim sum, I took my friends Ben and Mia along with me, both of whom eat it at least twice a week. Although their allegiance lies stubbornly with Oriental East, they were both impressed by Good Fortune’s variety and service. Our water glasses were always full and there was a constant stream of carts passing by, each piled with a new assortment of delights.

All in all, we had about 12 dishes, and tasted everything from the quintessential shrimp and pork dumplings to 8-Treasure Sweet Rice in Lotus Leaves, Pan Fried Turnip Cake, and Chinese Broccoli. A number of dishes passed us by, either because we were saving space for other things or because no one was adventurous enough to try them. For the record, these included a rice and intestine porridge called Congee, Steamed Bean Curd, and Stuffed Duck Feet.

I can’t speak about those dishes, but everything we ate was delicious. I was particularly impressed by the perfect greasiness of the shrimp rolls, and I’ll always have a special place in my heart for steamed pork buns. Ben and Mia said the steamed shrimp balls were inferior to those at Oriental East, but I think they were just trying to justify their obstinance. At the end of the meal no one was complaining, especially when I offered to pay (dim sum ranges from $2-$4, but you’ll need a few to get full).

While any of these three restaurants are well worth the trek out to the suburbs, they are especially well-suited to those who have to pay for their own meals. But even for those with an expense account, it can be nice to eat something other than chicken and salmon.