Shaho

The deli counter at the Rockville Great Wall is our go-to for cheap, authentic Chinese food. To be honest, most of the Chinese food around the DMV is just OK, so why not grab a takeout box filled with 3 entrees + rice and soup for just $5? There's about 16 options lined up in buffet trays, most of which don't change too often, and seemingly made in-house using ingredients from the store. If you get there right before closing (8ish?), they'll fill up your box with as much of the leftover food as they can fit. This isn't high cuisine by any means, and it's fairly greasy, but it's authentic Chinese he fan (box lunch), according to my girlfriend who grew up in Beijing. Some of my favorites are the mapo tofu (no meat), the eggplant, and the dim-sum style pork ribs. On another note, there's a new-ish Great Wall open in Catonsville, a few minutes down the street from H-Mart. It's much cleaner and less crowded than the one in Rockville, but the deli lines both there and at the Virginia location don't look nearly as appetizing as the Rockville location.

The recent discussion of Le Diplomate reminded me that we had a very nice meal at Chez Billy in Petworth. Comparatively, I would rate the food at Chez Billy a bit better, though both were good. While the standouts at Le Diplomate were the bread and the lovely outdoor patio, I can definitely recall a lamb sausage dish and a ratatouille at Chez Billy that were excellent. I think we also had an Endive salad, a gazpacho, and an order of fries that were very good as well (incidentally, the fries reminded me almost exactly of the ones at Fishnet). Their patio is not nearly as nice; dimly lit picnic benches under a partially covered roof, with fans constantly blowing and people smoking at the adjacent tables. But ironically, I thought it fit the food and the style of the restaurant quite well, and on that Friday night you could easily walk in and grab a seat. The single waiter/bartender tending to the patio did an excellent job. I'm sure there's plenty of reasons why Le Diplomate seems to get so much more attention, but I'm glad that we have a number of options for solid French bistro fare throughout the city.

The Pho here is definitely great, but more often than not I drop by Pho 88 to get their chicken and shrimp fried rice to go. It's tasty, nothing special in and of itself, but they give you an absolutely HUGE portion size. One of those square styrofoam takeout boxes filled to the brim with greasy goodness. It's literally enough food for 3-4 full meals, at the very fair price of $12.

Yep, both times I've been for the buffet have been on the weekend. I love the fact that a majority of the dishes were different between each visit.

Was here last weekend. My favorite dish was their folded over crepe. We got the vegetarian version, with marinated sprouts, carrots, and lettuce packed into a folded over, crispy but thick crepe. It came with lime, peppers, basil, and dipping sauce on the side. The entire thing was huge and I had no idea how to eat it (fork and knife? tear it apart with my hands), but I literally couldn't stop until I finished the whole thing (I ended up tearing off pieces using chopsticks). We also had a pork rib soup and a combination fried rice dish that were good in a home cooking kind of way. Everything was a ridiculous portion for its cost. My girlfriend noted that when she was there another time, she had a great hot pot dish. On a cold night, Huong Viet and Rice Paper were packed out the door, while the other restaurants along the same row had plenty of empty seats.

Salt of the Earth and Legume were the best restaurants I've been to in Pittsburgh. Had dinner twice at Salt, I can't really recall any specific dishes, but everything I tried there was delicious. I agree with Waitman it was on par with several popular DC restaurants, although I remember both times feeling portion sizes for the main courses were a bit small for their price. Sitting at the kitchen bar is definitely a worthwhile experience. I only had lunch at Legume once, but it was a great lunch. The Summer Vegetarian Explosion is a steal at $12, with a salad, slice of quiche, soup, and a piece of grilled bread. The salad had a bit too much vinegar, the quiche was solid, but the bread paired with the soup was spectacular. I had a corn soup, and it was rich, complex, and extremely satisfying on a slightly chilly day. The bread was fresh off the grill, fluffy, and complemented the soup perfectly, both in terms of flavor and being able to use it to mop up every last drop. I finished off with a pair of fresh chocolate chip cookies for $3. Point Brugge Cafe, Smiling Banana Leaf, and Noodlehead were all reliable places to grab a meal. Noodlehead in particular does a variety of Thai noodle dishes at $6-9 apiece, which are packed with flavor and heat if you ask for it, although my last visit there was a bit disappointing. The Porch was pretty tasty the one time I went, although it seemed to close down every so often with hygiene issues. If you're ever in the mood for Chinese near Pitt/CMU (not recommended), the best of the bunch was Little Asia. There's a place called Teppanyaki Kyoto in Highland Park that makes traditional Japanese dishes in front of you at the kitchen bar, including their specialty Okonomiyaki, made with your choice of filling and optional soba noodles. This was the only Okonomiyaki I've had and I didn't particularly care for the combination of cabbage and mayonnaise, but the restaurant as whole seemed authentic and I enjoyed their other dishes.

It's available as an add-on. I don't remember if they roll out the entire cart or just describe the cheeses to you and let you pick.

Quick shout-out to Pop Tacos, which is probably my favorite lunch spot in Baltimore. It's basically a family-owned version of Chipotle run by a super nice Korean couple. You can get burritos, quesadillas, burrito bowls, or tacos with your choice of chicken, pork, steak, fish, or Korean-marinated pork. Onions and peppers are sauteed to order and guacamole can be added for no additional cost. I'm not sure if it's the marinade, salsa, or what, but I've always thought that Pop Tacos' food is everything Chipotle should be. You can also get some Korean specialties like bibimbap and great breakfast burritos as well.

Café Rue is a new place that opened up in the strip mall on Route 1 next to CVS and Myong Dong (Oriental Noodle). It replaces the Vietnamese restaurant which used to be there. Their specialty is Chicken and Waffles, which they do well. I had the classic version, which was three pieces of nicely fried chicken breast on top of a fluffy waffle. The chicken ran a little bit on the dry side, but it was still tasty for white meat, which I usually avoid. Hot sauce and maple syrup came on the side. Next time I'll definitely try one of the specialty versions, which include Red Velvet Chicken and Waffles and a Sweet Sriracha Glazed version. The rest of the menu has a lot of interesting items that I'd like to try. I had the Sautéed Kale Greens with Honey & Balsamic Vinegar, which had chewy bacon bits and was sweet and tangy. It was a little heavy on the sauce, but still delicious. Other things that caught my eye were Crispy Lobster Mac&Cheese Bites, Truffle Fries, and Rue Tableside Smores. There's definitely a French influence to the restaurant, including beignets and macarons on the menu. There's even a waiting area with a couch and food-related books ranging from the French Laundry cookbook to Kitchen Confidential. The restaurant itself is is a little rough around the edges, but service seemed friendly. I wasn't able to get through by phone to order takeout in advance. The hours are also limited, from 12-8 W-F, and 10-3 on weekends. Still, there's not many (any?) restaurants near Beltsville serving interesting food like this, so I can live with these minor quibbles.

I thought I had tried all of the Korean places in or around Beltsville, but I had also never heard of Gom Tang E. For my money, though, Seoulia is the best Korean in the area. I always end up rotating between the same three dishes: Dolsot Bibimbap is a classic done well. The dish comes in a large clay pot, with assorted vegetables and meat on top of (steamed?) rice. Hot sauce comes on the side and adds a nice kick. The best part of the dish is getting to the perfectly crispy rice on the bottom of the pot, which I have to chip out with a spoon. We always order a well-done egg on top, but they should be able to do the traditional soft-boiled egg. Japchae is another classic dish, stir-fried sweet potato noodles with sesame oil and assorted vegetables. The dish is a bit sweet, but delicious. This is a really simple dish, but they do it as well as anyone. Seoulia's specialties are their stews, and they don't disappoint. For about $32, you get a huge pot of spicy broth filled to the brim with different items, which is cooked tableside on a portable burner. I always get the version with octopus, udon noodles, tofu, barbecue beef, and more. The soup is absolutely packed with flavor, and the portion size is big enough for two people to eat and still have leftovers. The soup goes great with rice as well. Appetizers range from decent to really good. Their barbecue is fine, but nothing to write home about (although I feel that way about restaurant Korean barbecue in general).

Eager to give Crane & Turtle a try, we popped in around 8:30 Friday night to try and grab a couple of seats. The place was packed - not hard since there are only 7 bar seats and maybe upwards of a dozen table seats - and the wait time was estimated at an hour and a half. Starving and slightly disappointed, we made our way up the road to Chez Billy, where we had a great meal in and of itself. When it came time for dessert, however, nothing really caught our eye, so we decided to head back to Crane & Turtle to try our luck again. The hostess remembered us ("you came back!") and graciously led us over to two now vacated bar seats with an intimate view of the kitchen. Although the initial plan was just to get something sweet, Big-Eye Tuna Tataki looked so good we had to put in an order. The three thin slices of hay smoked tuna were tender and flavored with smoke and salt. A small bud of blooming coriander was delicately clipped and arranged with tweezers on top of each slice. The satay sauce with crushed peanuts was tangy with a hint of salted fish, and fried chickpea crepes added a crisp texture to the plate. To our surprise and delight, Chef Hamamura then brought out a bowl of Pork "Ramen" to thank us for coming back through. The "noodles" were strands of fried pork rinds, which immersed in the broth slowly transformed from crunchy to chewy to soft. As full as we were coming in, the richness of the noodles threatened to overwhelm until we dug up the layer of Chinese greens underneath. Pork cheek, oyster, and green onion rounded out the dish. While the broth wasn't as complex as some of the area's best ramen, it was tasty and slurped down happily. Both Chef Hamamura and the chef working closest to us were extremely gracious and more than happy to talk food and any other questions we had throughout the meal. Finally, after two unplanned courses, the Drunken Fish I had been eyeing all night arrived. Taiyaki marinated in syrup was set atop a wave of toasted meringue and fig jam. The taiyaki was also stuffed with fig rather than the usual red bean paste, and the meringue was fluffy with a marshmallow-like consistency. This was another fun dish to round out the evening. We left stuffed silly, and with what seemed like the entire staff bidding us a fond farewell. Overall, from our limited sample the flavors were quite good but not spectacular. However, the creativity of the menu, ambiance, and especially hospitality will definitely bring us back to try more