KenL

Got the Pyrex set and love them. Thanks for the reassurances! Opinions here are worth infinitely more IMO than random online reviews. They seem very sturdy (both the glass parts and the lids, which were my concern) and bonus that I can open them with one hand (when the other is occupied holding a baby). 

I've had them for years, the rubber on the lid starts to get sticky for a while.  But Pyrex was pretty generous with replacing the lids for free (they actually sent me new glassware+lid).

Growing pains no more!

For the restaurant has closed!

 

For Taipei Cafe, I highly recommend this dish called "Ti Pang"; it's a soy sauce braised pork thigh that is steamed for a very long time.  Saw it on a cooking show and it took them something like 3 hours.  

Oh snap!

I guess they decided to change things up a year out after their former head chef (Taipei Cafe owner) left.

Word on the Taiwanese/Chinese street is that Taipei Cafe is now the preferred spot for Taiwanese food.

Amazing experience.  My fiancee and I loved the food, drinks, and (by some random coincidence) the amazing couple that joined us!

Ferhat was awesome (even entertained some of our rather silly questions), the dishes were delicious.  I would describe the dishes more, but Choirgirl21 pretty much has all the bases covered.

I'm thinking the fiancee and I might make this a regular tradition.

5 stars, 10/10, call it whatever you want, it was awesome.

Menus contain:  Manhattan clam chowder, french onion soup, steak tartare, Carolina pork bbq, a banh mi, a cubano, and the dreaded truffled mac and cheese.

In fact the only item that appears to me to be an "elegant homage to Pennsylvania" is the cheddar Pierogies.

Wait! wait! The brunch menu does have scrapple.  Authentic after all.

The pierogies and scrapple were left over from Mighty Pint menu (might even be the same freezer bag, eww...)

Dining out on Thanksgiving puts me in a quandary.

On one hand, I feel for the person or family who's flying in from elsewhere and unable to prep a dinner on short notice.

On the other hand, I also feel for the dining staff, who are basically spending their dinners at work (some may prefer the comfort of coworkers to terrible family members however).

But it is not my position to speak for one or the other, thus my feels vex me.

I once worked retail, and had to do a few Black Friday shifts, from 4PM to 2AM, I kept asking myself "WTF."

I dropped by with my fiancee during the Anniversary 50% off night.  It was a madhouse, took about an hour to get our sakedon (salmon), gyudon (beef), kaarage (fried chicken) appetizer, and ebi (shrimp) appetizer.

There were probably 200 take-out orders during that hour, so it was a pretty high energy/insane environment.  The food was alright though (since it was half off, my final bill was $14 before tip).

Sakedon - salmon wasn't as fresh as I'd have liked, the rice sauce was a tad salty.

Gyudon - sauce was a tad salty, beef texture was great.

Kaarage - very very good, and was a steal of a deal during the special ($3!).

Ebi shrimp - pretty good, hard to mess up shrimp tempura.

The sauces were a tad saltier than what I'm used to (and I used to eat katsudons every day).  Overall, a pretty good experience and a solid meal!

I mentioned that I remembered Stan from his previous gigs... but he was a bit reluctant to talk about them :\

Well, we were all very excited to try out this new restaurant since we are friends with some of the owners and staff (and fans of Reese's other ventures).  If anything, we hyped it up too much for ourselves (we planned this dinner maybe 1 or 2 months in advance).

The dishes overall were just inconsistent (even the ones from Copperwood Tavern), maybe in a few months they'll have stepped out of the growing pains.

We just got back from the Breadfurst opening party. For sure the best food in Van Ness (that is a low bar) but arguably will soon be known as one of the best, if not the best, bakery in DC. The space is stunning. The bread, pastry, cake, and cucumber soda we tried were fantastic. I expect there will be long lines. Any aspirations of a low carb, bathing suit season diet just went right out the window. Pinching myself that I get to have this world class bakery in my backyard. 

I live right next to it, and saw all the folks getting the soft-opening yums.

The majority of my friends from California who frequent Robek's use it as a substitute for Jamba Juice.

Once Jamba Juice opened in DC, it was pretty much the end for Robek's.  The quality and taste is notably different.

Just called in!

Alright, I feel obligated to post a review here, as it is one of my favorite restaurants in the area, and one which I frequent at least 2 to 3 times a month (I've been here at least 15 times).

Hailing from SoCal, where AYCE KBBQ can be found on every block, I have boiled down KBBQ to one of two options: Quality vs Quantity.

Iron Age falls under the Quantity group.  And for the price, they really can't be beat (though they've increased prices by about $2 / year).

My girlfriend I almost exclusively order Gogi A.

For $20, Gogi A includes:

• Beef brisket
• Garlic pork belly
• Soy sauce marinated pork belly
• Teriyaki pork

Banchan includes:

• Kimchi
• Pickled daikon
• Potato salad
• (Various other pickled vegetables)
• Note: You can ask for whatever you're missing, they're really generous about it.

You also get:

• Salad (lettuce salad with onion, sesame/ginger/fish/soy sauce, my GF loves this stuff).
• Steamed egg (Gyeran Jjim)
• Tofu soup (with bits of beef)
• Bean sprouts (on grill)
• Rice (optional, they used to give red bean fried rice, but people complained about how the rice was touching the meat while cooking)
• Pancake (Pajeon)

Remember, this is ALL YOU CAN EAT, so you can get refills on EVERYTHING, without limit.

Gogi B is $25/person now, and I believe adds bulgogi, kalbi, chicken, and some other stuff (I've only ordered B once, and didn't feel it was worth the money).

When I go, I order roughly 5 to 6 rounds of brisket, with 2-3 rounds of garlic pork belly.  (After doing squats and deadlifts at the gym of course, gotta get my protein up).

I've had KBBQ at many places (I daresay, about 85% of the ones in Annandale and Rockville), and while Honeypig does marinated bulgogi extremely well (secret marinade recipe), it costs $14+ a plate.  If you compare quality, then yeah, Iron Age meat quality is not as good, but you're also paying 1/3 of the cost of a similar meal at another restaurant.

If you truly want quality meats indiscriminate of prices, I would recommend Yechon (Quality), where you can get lobster and all sorts of seafood.  Yechon probably has the best KBBQ in the area, and it's also one of the most expensive restaurants in Annandale.

So don't go to Iron Age if you're expecting gourmet food; go if you want to get stuffed on cheap KBBQ and banchan.

My average bill @ Iron Age: $42-50 (2 people).

My average bill @ Honey Pig/Yechon: $75 (2 people).  Usually go with a larger party, so the bill ends up being something like $200 between 4.

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Aside:  The only other comparable KBBQ places are Hee Been, Il Mee, and Kogiya.  Of which you'd have to consider the distance from where you live, since AYCE bbq at low prices are all more or less the same.  Il Mee basically dumps their meat in the buffet "troughs" at 9PM and you can get AYCE (of many different kind of meats, and whatever dishes they have left over) for around $14.

Thanks for posting the menu. It's like reading a travel magazine and planning a vacation.

Any additional description for: T20 Night Market Style Lamb?

I was back in LA for about 2 weeks, and had 羊肉串, spicy lamb kabobs (http://ediblyasian.info/recipes/lamb-kebab-yang-rou-chuan-).

Perhaps they're those!

Unfortunately I'll have to pass on tomorrow since I happened to be up there today and stopped in for the first time.  Excellent meal -- pork chop on rice, "not stinky" tofu, tong zai mi gao (I think), salt & pepper chicken.  Much better than most of my past meals at Bob's 66, including at the new location.  Cleaner space; cleaner and fresher tastes.  FWIW, you might want to order the lobster, since virtually every table other than mine seems to have received the memo explaining that that should be the centerpiece of the meal! 

Great choices!

SO and I are interested, I'll pop the deposit in when confirmed.

So, I've spoken to Dean, and he's happy to host a DR.com farewell dinner! Wednesday December 4th, 7pm.

Assuming we get enough interest to do more than just one large table, he would like do something around $35-$40pp, served family-style. Drinks a-la-carte, though he might come up with a pairing depending on the menu and crowd size.

Post here or send me a PM if you would like to go, and as long as we get enough interest, it's a go.

NOTE: Once we're a go, each person/group will call the restaurant to give a credit card for a deposit. No shows for an event like this would be very difficult for them.

Thanks for posting the menu. It's like reading a travel magazine and planning a vacation.

Any additional description for: T20 Night Market Style Lamb?

Sounds like stir fry lamb (similar to Mongolian Beef).

For ya'll Rockvillers, my personal top 2 choices are Pho 75 and Pho Hoa Binh (buy 10 get 1 free!).

Went last night for a light dinner.  Hard to evaluate as we are not Taiwan food experienced.

Not Stinky Tofu is bean curd skin rolls, deep fried and topped with some sort of a mild pickled veg.  Super.

Handcrafted fish ball soup - no flavor tot he broth, fine if not exciting fish balls.  Amazing flavor from Chinese celery.

Radish & Egg pancake- pickles radish, chopped other stuff to small to really know what it was, very fresh and tasty, but deparately in need of a sauce to pull it together from food into a dish.

Very friendly help, nice space.  Will go back and order more widely from the menu,

Great choices!  The radish and egg pancake (frittata) is traditionally a southern Taiwanese farmer's dish (my grandma eats this every day, 365 days a year).  It's primarily made out of salted/preserved radish, green onions, and pan fried eggs.

More info here! -- http://taiwanfoodculture.net/ct.asp?xItem=48195&ctNode=2682&mp=1502

It's usually eaten as a quick appetizer, since it takes less than 10 minutes to prepare.

Ken, thank you for such a glorious second post - you may have been primarily a lurker here, but you more than made up for it with this.

Do you know the chef's name, and whether or not (s)he came from Bob's Noodle 66, or Bob's Shanghai 66? (This is resurrecting the nightmarish confusion I had in trying to sift through the various Bob's restaurants, Big Boy not included (I really should stop discussing my penis on a family website.)).

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Mary, what do the Chinese characters transliterate to?

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Note that there are also two "Taipei Tokyo" cafes in Rockville, and this is unrelated to them.

Unfortunately, I do not recall the name of the chef, but he was the former head chef of Bob's Noodle 66.

I heard there was quite a lot of drama when Bob came back from China actually; he was in China for an extended "research stay" (about 3 years), came back and opened Bob's Shanghai, while moving Bob's Noodle to the old Shabu Shabu place.

Greetings folks,

I've mostly lurked on this website (and have admittedly been extremely inactive).

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3 months ago Taipei Cafe  took over the the space formerly occupied by Ambrosia Grille (Mediterranean grill).

What is most interesting about this new restaurant is that it is headed by the former head chef of Bob's 66.

Rumors suggest that Bob and the chef had a falling out of sorts, and the chef decided to (quietly) open a restaurant about a mile away from Bob.

The menu is nothing new, in fact it more or less contains every item that Bob's 66 sold before the location moved.  If you frequented Bob's in years past, you will find the exact same dishes at Taipei Cafe.  It seems like the chef is adding a lot of more traditional Taiwanese desserts/appetizers as time goes on (things that Bob's did not offer before).  I saw items like "not stinky tofu", "ba wan (Taiwanese gelatinous meatball)", and "tong zai mi gao (sweet rice with sauce) on the menu.

Taipei Cafe also accepts credit cards.

I ordered 2 plates of pork chop rice (pai gu fan), oyster pancake (oh ah jian), sweet rice with sauce (tong zai mi gao), 2 braised pork rice bowls, and a 4 gods soup.  The dishes were all delicious, and tasted the way I expected them to taste.  This is a description that I understand is hard to visualize, but the closest term I can think of is "it tastes legit".

I will be back to test out the other dishes, I used to frequent Bob's 66, but since their move the dishes have started to taste a little off.  My family heritage is Taiwanese, and my parents currently live in what is basically Little Taiwan in California.

For a 1 person test drive: I suggest you order 1 order pork chop rice, 1 order oyster pancake, 1 order 4 gods soup, and take 1 order braised pork rice to go.  The pork chop rice (depending on how much you can eat), may be enough for 2 people though.  The portion sizes were ridiculous(ly huge).

Hello,

New to DonRockwell, in previous years I spent my time lurking and checking out the various restaurants (usually alone or with my GF). I've been to a majority of the Korean restaurants in Annandale, as well as the majority of Chinese/Taiwanese restaurants in DC and Rockville. I read and speak Chinese fluently so I suppose that offers an advantage when I'm trying to order pig intestines cooked in szechuan peppers.

Cheers,

Ken