Shaho

Great recs, definitely planning to check these out. Don, I think the index would be convenient for sure, but cookbooks might be one of those things where there are just more books than things to say about them. It takes acquiring a cookbook, flipping through it and maybe trying a couple of the recipes to really be able to comment on it, so discussion on all but the most popular books might be limited. I like the format of this thread, where you can write a short blurb on one or a few books of interest, and the standouts will naturally get seconded. Although it took the power of Google-fu just to find this topic in the first place, so hey, I'm certainly not opposed to a separate subforum in principle.

Interesting story behind the name. The Chinese name is 西è´@è‚‰å¤¹é¦ (Xi Bei @ Rou Jia Mo). è‚‰å¤¹é¦ is the name for the "burgers." è¥¿è´ comes from a famous restaurant chain in China called 西è´èŽœé¢æ‘, roughly translated as Xi Bei Oat Noodle Village. The founder of this chain is named è´¾, which if you look carefully at the Chinese character, breaks down top and bottom into 西 (Xi) and è´ (Bei). The English spelling (pinyin) of Xi Bei can also refer to the words 西北, or northwest, hence the name. Clever play on words, and yes they serve Northwestern Chinese food. I'm assuming that the restaurant in College Park is appropriating the name è¥¿è´ out of respect, and is not directly affiliated to the larger chain, although I could be wrong. But I also saw the article in the Post and this is definitely on the top of my list to try the next time I'm in CP.

Anyone have any recent cookbook recommendations? I tend to find myself enjoying books with plenty of photographs for inspiration, as opposed to the older, more textual classics (although they are a great reference, and readily available at the library). Some newer ones I've been digging are Edward Lee's Smoke and Pickles and Kenji's Food Lab. Lee's book has some really fun combinations of Asian and southern flavors, while Kenji's is more straightforward, essentially condensing his Food Lab articles and essential recipes into a beautiful, massive tome.

Royal Taj has moved to its new location. Will definitely have to check out their new spot next time I stop by Trader Joe's.

I think the sheer size of the space must make it difficult to estimate waits properly. We got there right before opening a few Saturdays ago, and the line stretched all the way down to the gap/walkway between the two halves of CCDC, maybe 100+ people. We were sure we would have to wait, but the doors opened, the line kept moving, and our party of 4 was seated with tables to spare. The food was uniformly good, although I agree with the comment above that it is not subtle. I liked my Ginger and Scallion Noodles the best out of everything we ordered (ramen, beef noodle soup, pork buns), perhaps because it did have a bit of sharpness to cut through the rich food. Also as stated above, the dessert from Milk Bar was a real let-down. A cold, pre-packaged slice of pie or plastic sealed cookie doesn't seem like the way anybody would want to end a nice meal out. I wonder if they would at least unwrap it and heat it up for you on a plate if you asked. That and a scoop of vanilla ice cream and I would be happy; the crack pie itself was actually very delicious, though small.

Mi and Yu Noodle Bar opened on S. Charles Street a few months back, and they are a welcome addition to the neighborhood. This is a non-traditional "ramen" restaurant in that you mix and match a protein (currently buttermilk brined fried chicken, roast duck carnitas, 5 spiced bbq pork belly, soy-miso braised short ribs, or seared tofu), noodle (ramen, pho, or udon), and soup (spicy kimchi, miso, or adobo duck) to create your meal. I've tried all of the meats except the pork belly, and they are all well-seasoned, flavorful, and tender, although there are some dry bites here and there. The ramen noodles seem to be imported and are pretty good, while the udon noodles are what you would except, but personally don't seem to work that well with the heaviness of the soups. The miso soup is lighter and more reminiscent of your typical ramen place, while the duck soup really packs a punch on your initial slurp, but gets a bit overwhelming with salt and umami as you work your way through. All of the soups come with a soft-boiled egg and a tasty bean sprout/cabbage/carrot salad. The end result is several different combinations of delicious flavors, although some work better together than others. The noodle bowls are $12-$14 for a LOT of food; I've never been able to finish the soup. This is the perfect meal for a cold day or a long week at work. The other thing that I love about this place is the online ordering system (using ChowNow) on Mi and Yu's website. Choose a pick up time, order your meal, pay, and they'll email you when your food is bagged and ready to go. Walk in, take it home, get a BIG bowl ready to go (remember, it's a lot of food), combine, and enjoy.

I have a bit of an obsession with restaurants inside of grocery stores, mainly due to the convenience of being able to get food and groceries in one trip. I first tried I Love Pho (stylized with a heart emoji), inside the Laurel Super Best, for this reason. After many takeout meals from here, however, I feel strongly that their Bun Thit Nuong is worth a trip on its own. The grilled pork is fantastic every time, nicely charred but still tender and flavorful even after the trip home. Rounding out the dish are the usual vermicelli, lettuce, sprouts, Thai basil, cucumber, carrots, radish, peanuts, and a solid nuoc cham. All of the elements blend together wonderfully (chewy, crunchy, sweet, sour, caramelized, smoky), but all highlighting the meat as the star of the dish. The rest of the menu ranges from slightly below average to solid. The rice that came with the grilled pork chop entree was so bad the one time I tried it (dry and stale) that I've been put off from ordering any of their other rice dishes since. The pork chop itself was good, however, and they also do a pretty good Bun Bo Hue (spicy beef noodles) and Bo Kho (vietnamese beef stew). The Pho itself was not great, but in fairness I was pretty sick that day and the soup didn't stay hot on the way home in cold weather. I'm curious whether the soup dishes are improved much by dining in. Prices are in the $8-10 range for entrees. They also do banh mi, spring/summer rolls, and bubble tea.

The Prix Fixe menu is definitely good value (now $28), and seems to be available nightly now. I hesitate to call it great value because the food, at least for me, was inconsistent. The cacio e pepe was a really nice start. I asked for extra pepper ground on top after reading Choirgirl's review, but they seem to have gotten things straightened out because the dish was nicely peppery throughout, with strings of shaved cheese and a little crunch from bits of breadcrumbs sprinkled throughout. The entree, pork tenderloin, was the major disappointment of the meal. The pork was overcooked and not particularly flavorful, and the vegetables and sauces arranged on the plate were fine, but didn't really seem to complement or elevate the pork in any way. One of the onions on my companion's plate, who got the same entree, was raw in the center layers. Dessert was luckily another hit, a honey ricotta eclair with little slices of peach IIRC. This was accompanied by a nice sorbet and some crunchy caramel cookie crust.

This place is a fantastic addition to the area. I can't wait for the oven-roasted entrees to join the menu, because everything coming out right now seems to be on point. Logistically speaking, it's a small but beautiful restaurant with a ton of helpful staff. They seem to have sorted out some of their early communication issues, because service was smooth despite multiple people dropping by our table over the course of the meal. The only problem is that it's just a lot of people to fit into a small, and what looks to be popular, space. We got there around 6:20 on a Saturday evening and were quoted a 45 minute wait for a 4 top, although we managed to get seated after a 20 minute grocery run at the nearby Safeway. I'm not looking forward to when the weather gets colder and people start crowding around the door to wait. Some of the tables definitely get exposed to a good amount of breeze every time the doors open as well; the 6 bar seats, close to the comfort of the pizza oven, may be the way to go. We ordered a lot of the same things as DanielK. The burrata here is close to a must order, although I wasn't as much of a fan of the Shaved Fall Vegetables salad. For some reason, it reminded me of the Chik Fil A side salad with the prepackaged fried peppers: good spice level, all of the components were there (sweetness, crunch, olive oil), but it just didn't all come together for me. I still enjoyed it, but I'll look to try something else next time. We shared three pizzas, the Ember Roasted Potatoes & Onions with bacon, the Organic Egg, and the DOC Margherita. I was expecting crispy bacon bits, but instead we got plenty of beautiful pink and chewy little pieces of bacon, which combined perfectly with with the potatoes, onions, cheese, and rosemary for an incredibly meaty, hearty slice of pie. The egg pizza was fantastic as well, a nice runny yolk that burst open as we cut through the middle of the pizza, and a generous portion of shaved truffles on top. The margherita paled a bit in comparison to the other two, though it was still quite good. On a side note, why does it seem like all the margherita pizzas I try never seem to have much basil? Three leaves were not even enough to split among four people, and based on the other pizzas, skimping on toppings doesn't seem to be a concern here. My only other comment would be that it might be nice to have a better cutting knife than the butter knives provided. Overall, really good pizzas, and yes, I enjoyed the crust. They seem to have started rolling out new dessert options than just the ice cream and cookies listed online. We tried both of the new additions, one a Vanilla Custard with Stewed Apples and Rosemary Pie Crust, the other a Sweet Potato Custard with Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt. Both came in mason jars, although I question their usage for the sweet potato dessert, since the jar was about 4 or 5 times too big for the custard and made it look like a really small portion size (it wasn't). The sweet potato custard was a lovely dish, where you could really taste the sweet potato, and the shaved dark chocolate with a pinch of salt kept the sweetness to a nicely understated level. In comparison, the vanilla ice cream was very sweet, with two large chunks of pie crust arranged on top and spiced apples layered throughout; essentially a cold apple pie with a generous scoop of ice cream. If you get both, definitely try the sweet potato dessert first, because the sweetness of the vanilla dish will mask a lot of the more subtle flavors of the sweet potato one. I can't wait to be back.

Had dinner at Fusion Supper Club tonight. Per the name, they seem to offer a bit of everything from all different regions in China, including some carryovers from the previous Taiwanese menu. Predictably, this resulted in almost everything being uniformly bland, particularly the spicy beef tendon and beef chow fun. The basil clams, handmade noodle soup (with super thick noodles resembling long dumpling wrappers more than anything), and steamed fish in soy sauce were slightly better. Nothing was outright bad, but it really felt like just going through the motions of various recipes. In fairness, the prices were reasonable and the Yangzhou fried rice was pretty tasty.

"Garfield's Salt of the Earth To Close its Doors in August" by Melissa McCart on post-gazette.com

I'm not sure what cut the beef is, but I don't think it's dried and it seems to be the same kind as you get just about anywhere else. This is my little sister's favorite dish, and although she's not an adventurous eater, she mentioned that the Chow Fun here was noticeably better than anywhere else, and the beef tasted more "real." I think Chef Li was originally trained in Cantonese cooking, then later in Szechuan cuisine, so there is an interesting combination of styles here.

I'm sure that's exactly how it's done. This was my first time having this dish, so I guess I was just relating it to something familiar and wishing I knew where to find fresh paneer to try this at home (I've tried making it but it ends up too crumbly to skewer). The paneer itself is yellow with a brownish rub, and very well cooked. I only mention the dryness because it's a pretty large serving size for one person, and coupled with rice I think it would have been difficult to finish towards the end without some sauce to balance out all of the dry ingredients. The first bite of the paneer, sans sauce, was fantastic.

This has been my family's go-to Chinese in Gaithersburg since the Fu Shing days. Personally, I think they've gotten a lot better since the change in name and presumably ownership, particularly with their spicy dishes. They kept a lot of the staff and some items on the menu the same, and there's a distinct contrast between the old dishes, which are mostly bland and semi-Americanized, with the newer spicier stuff. I've never been the one to order here so I couldn't tell you the names, but the cold spicy beef tendon, some of the meat dishes sauteed with green chili peppers (and sometimes okra?) and hot pot casseroles are really good, with heat, depth of flavor, and tenderness for the meat. Overall I would say it's an average Chinese place (good relative to the area), with some above average to very good dishes.

I had a lot of great food in Beijing, but unfortunately my Chinese wasn't good enough to learn or remember most places' names. The ones that stood out were: Da Dong (木樨园 location). I'm apparently not a huge fan of Peking Duck, because I went to a few well known ones and couldn't really tell the difference, even enough to say they were definitively superior to the ones in the US. However, Da Dong's other specialty, their Braised Sea Cucumber, was one of the single best dishes I've had in my life. The order our party of 4 got was so big I'm not sure you could wrap your arms around the plate, and obscenely expensive at over 1500 yuan, but in my opinion well worth it. Braised in a brown sauce with large green onion ends, this was decadent and luxurious, with huge chunks of sea cucumber that melt in your mouth, and addicting enough to ask for several extra bowls of rice. The rest of the menu is something like Chinese molecular gastronomy, my favorite being cherries paired with foie gras spheres painted with a red glaze to look like cherries. Beautiful presentations, and mostly solid execution on dishes with a few standouts. The duck came last and was fine, although I admittedly may not have enjoyed it as much after filling up on the sea cucumber earlier. Either one is easily rich enough to be the centerpiece of a meal. 望京一å·, just outside the northeast corner of Fifth Ring. Excellent Sichuan in an expansive courtyard. Their 水煮鱼 was unlike any I've had before, served in a clear broth with plenty of peppercorns. The stewed frog legs were more like the usual 水煮鱼, with a deep red spicy broth. The heat and ma la built up gradually throughout the meal, with a pitcher of plum juice on the side in case you needed to cool yourself down. 三å§å®¶ä¹¡èœ. Yunnan cuisine. Great pineapple rice (served inside of a hollowed-out pineapple), rice noodles, and wood-ear mushrooms sauteed with peppers and ground pork. Hai Di Lao. Huge and rightfully popular hot pot chain. As silentbob mentioned above, they have pretty much anything you could want for hot pot, and the noodles are hand pulled tableside with a sort of ribbon dance show. The spicy broth was really spicy, to the point I was happy when they added soup to water it down. Not sure of the name, but there was a very good sushi place in Wudaoying Hutong to the west of Yonghe Gong, the huge Buddhist temple.

Everyday Noodles on Forbes is a pretty decent rendition of hand-pulled noodles. We got there pretty late so they weren't pulling them fresh anymore, but they were still nicely chewy. The beef tendon soup wasn't spicy at all, but that was easily fixed with a copious spoonful of spicy paste. The beef tendon and beef cubes were perfectly cooked; I usually go for beef tendon to counter overcooked beef, but the beef here was so tender it was almost unnecessary. The soup dumplings and potstickers were forgettable, the soup dumplings so dried out they barely had any soup.

Haven't had a bad dish here. The wok breath is really evident on dishes like the Beef Chow Fun, which is just a level above any other place in the area I've tried. The Dan Dan Noodles taste like lunch at home, but the pork is crisped in a way that would be impossible in any home kitchen. The sauce that came with the Black Pepper Beef Short Ribs was so good we took it home by itself, tangy with a peppery kick. Even the chive flowers simply sauteed with garlic were excellent. Sichuan Fish Filets and sauteed bok choy were just OK. The flavor of the Sichuan Steamed Pork with Rice Powder, and particularly the potatoes underneath, was great, but the last time around the pork belly was almost entirely fat, which was a little too rich.

Their Paneer Tikka is fantastic. Tandoori-charred cubes of paneer are brought out with peppers and onions on a sizzling hot plate. Smoky and crisp on the outside, tender on the inside, with an excellent spice rub, the taste is how I'd imagine the perfect kebab coming straight off the barbecue, if I knew where to get fresh paneer. A spicy tomato sauce on the side helps balance out the eventual dryness. The complimentary chai latte and gulab jamun were nice touches as well. (For all of their excellent service on the floor, though, they don't give you any utensils with your take-out order unless you ask )

I got takeout from here last week. Didn't have a menu on hand so the guy on the phone helped me order. I ended up with the Mango's Grill Combo, which was a bit of everything: shrimp, steak, and chicken fajitas, rice, pico de gallo, guacamole, beans, and a roasted pepper, with 3 steaming hot tortillas on the side. Everything was solid and the meat was still tender by the time it reached home. A little expensive at $18, but enough food for two meals. I'll definitely be back to try their specials next time.

I was there at least a year ago and tried this dish. As far as I can remember, Simul perfectly described the flavor as "intense." The combination of scallions, garlic, goat meat, spices, and everything else absolutely bombards your senses. Personally, while I thought it was well executed, the flavor was a little overwhelming for me. It did pair nicely with the fried rice, but that came towards the end of the meal and I was too stuffed to fully enjoy it. It was one of those dishes that I'm glad to have tried once, but am not in a rush to return for. The banchan was great though, and I specifically remember one of them changing the way I see kale (perfectly cooked and lightly dressed with sesame oil). [Just as a side note, we were really interested in trying North Korean food (and this was definitely different than any other Korean I've had!), but we asked the waitress about it and she told us that it was actually a South Korean restaurant. I think the confusion is that Bang Ga Nae is located in "the former location of the only North Korean restaurant in the area" to quote Simul above.]

Thanks mainly to this post, managed to find and snag a last minute reservation at Al Fiori on a Saturday night a few weeks ago (most places were completely booked until 10, but they had openings at pretty much any time). The prix fixe menu is up to $97 for four courses, but still a decent price for the quality of meal. I had the Insalata di Alstice (nova scotia lobster, sunchokes, pine nuts, golden raisins, truffle vinaigrette), Corzetti pasta (fennel sausage, ricotta, pomodoro, basil), Capriolo (pan roasted venison chop, sweet potato, chestnut, parsnip, golden oak mushrooms), and Semifreddo (white chocolate, pomegranate, citrus, meringue). The lobster salad and dessert in particular were incredible. I think you might get a smaller pasta portion with the prix fixe menu to avoid getting full, because the people ordering just pasta next to us appeared to get a larger portion, but I didn't look closely enough to be sure. I thought the portion sizes ended up being just right for a filling meal, with some leftovers. Some other dining companions had the butternut squash soup, octopus, pasta with crustacean ragu, ricotta & marscapone ravioli, veal chop, caramelized brioche, and chocolate mille fuille. From what I tried, everything was great, especially the fatty, perfectly cooked veal chop. For vegetarians doing the prix fixe, they'll let you do a second pasta (and presumably appetizer if you ask) in place of the protein course, or a vegetable plate comprised of all of their side dishes (finger potatoes, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, hen of the woods mushrooms, and a creamy polenta), which we went with and ended up being a ton of food. Highlights in pictures below:

Dropped by Rose's last Thursday. Put our name in around 6, got the call around 9. Ended up killing time at the Southeast Neighborhood Library, which was nice. Ironically, they had the issue of Bon Appetit with the feature on Rose's on prominent display, so we got really hungry waiting... Once we finally got in, we were welcomed with a loaf of Japanese milk bread and whipped butter with sesame seeds. As usual, fresh out of the oven and a perfect way to combat the cold. Crisp crust, fluffy interior, slightly sweet. I thought there might have been a strong flaxseed taste in some bites, possibly baked into the bread, but maybe it was just the sesame seeds. The GRILLED AVOCADO W/ TOMATILLO, POBLANO & COTIJA CHEESE was ridiculously good, great balance of creamy, crunchy, and chewy textures, a huge half avacado sized to share, although that didn't stop us from fighting for the last bite. Had the PORK SAUSAGE, HABANERO & LYCHEE SALAD with the vegetarian sausage. I'm sure enough words have been devoted to this dish here, suffice to say it's awesome, get it, it's sweeter and less spicy than I imagined, and the sausage is cooked beautifully to the point of just crispyness. Like Rioux said, the MARTELLI SPAGHETTI W/ LEMON, BUTTER & CURED DUCK EGG was disappointing. Not really much lemon or duck egg flavor, very rich, and a bit salty for our taste. More boring than bad, but didn't live up to the standards set by the first few dishes. Our server was nice enough to send out a complimentary dish of HONEY-GLAZED CARROTS, MASCARPONE, MATZO MEAL & DILL. This was pretty good if you managed to swirl the carrots around to get a taste of everything, but there wasn't that much sauce on the plate, and the carrots by themselves were just sweetened carrots. The family-style EGGPLANT PARM... REAL NICE, WITH A LITTLE HAND-PULLED MOZZ & "HOUSE" SALAD was way bigger than we imagined, two huge pieces good of fried breaded eggplant, a salad bigger than the the lychee salad above, two pieces of really great garlic bread. Very classic preparation perfectly executed, but we were getting stuffed at this point so ended up taking most of it home (our server mentioned it would make a great sandwich the next day, which I could definitely see). For dessert, we had the Pear Napoleon and the Pea Cake. The Napoleon was a little dry from the combination of the puff pastry and sesame paste, but the cooked fruit inside was nice and lighter than a typical Napoleon. I wasn't as big a fan of the pea cake, it's definitely different from any dessert I've ever eaten, but it didn't completely work for me. Sour from the buttermilk, minty (not my favorite flavor), and grassy like alfalfa. Maybe I was just full, I can see how others (including the +1) would like it. Overall, a great meal, with the highlights being the bread and the first two dishes. With two glasses of wine, including a very strange orange, got out for less than $75 a person. Probably will not be making the wait for a while, but I can't say I regret it either.

Located in the same strip as Marathon Deli, Krazi Kebob is one of the better options for a quick bite in the area. Basically the same layout as Chipotle, but instead of tortillas you get a burrito wrapped in freshly cooked naan. You have some similar ingredients, like rice, lettuce, cheese, salsa, and corn, and sour cream, but also chickpeas, lentils, and different chutneys and sauces. Fair warning, some of the ingredients and sauces are extremely spicy, so ask if you aren't (or are) a fan. For protein, you can get chicken tikka, steak, falafel, or paneer. Everything is good and comes together well, particularly the naan. There are also burrito bowl, nacho, and naan quesadilla options.

Shagga is located near the intersection of Routes 1 and 410, just a few minutes south of College Park. As a disclaimer, this is my only experience with Ethiopian food to date, but it's set the bar high for sure. I've only ever tried one dish here, and the Vegetarian Combination is so good that I almost can't imagine getting anything else. Nine different items laid out on injera, each perfectly cooked and seasoned, for the price of a single entree (you can double it for two, although one order may be enough to share if you're not starving). Some cold items, like a house salad, beets, and lentils. Some cooked or stewed items, such as split peas, collard greens, potatoes, cabbage and carrots, string beans and carrots, and chickpeas. A fine balance of sweet, sour, savory, and spicy across the board. Also visually striking with the multitude of colors. It's served with injera on the side, which is helpful because the bread on the bottom tends to get too soggy to be enjoyable, despite soaking up so many flavors.

You have to get the coco bread here. For less than $2, you get a plate full of soft, buttery, slightly sweet little rolls hot from the oven. These pair perfectly with the complimentary soup, so much so that I ended up with one last bite of bread to soak up the very last drops of soup from the cup. Easily some of the best bread I've had in recent memory. I agree with your take on the jerk chicken. Very tender and flavorful, served in a pool of sauce and with no real trace of grilling. I had the curry spinach and mac and cheese, and both were good. The mac and cheese used penne pasta and the cheese was on the runny side. The vegetarian stew was cooked well, but the flavor was pretty similar to the curry spinach and, well, on the forgettable side. The pineapple ginger juice tasted exactly like you'd imagine if you combined those two ingredients and added a bunch of sugar. Still, one of the best meals I've had around College Park and yet another place I wish existed or I had known about when I was going to school there.