mdjordy

Inside of the NY Mart in Rockville is a small Asian food court. Been some turnover- the main steamtable place has changed. Still have dumpling place/sushi place/bakery. Yanzi Noodle just opened. www.yanzinoodle.com I got a small Rice noodle soup with roast pork and mushrooms- as the add ons. I wanted #4 but they were out of fried pork, so they made it with roast pork. The inside page of attached menu image describes the base for all soups- spicy 'snail' broth, pickled veggies, etc. The soup was fantastic- spicy, with some numbing...no "snail-fish" flavor, a little bit sour- but amazing. Full of silky rice noodles-slightly smaller than Udon, fried tofu, roast pork, mushrooms, pickled veggies and peanuts. Peanuts really were great on the soup. Crunchy and salty. The only downside were the cheap plastic spoons/forks. IMG_1364.HEIC IMG_1642.HEIC IMG_2476.HEIC IMG_5006.HEIC IMG_5144.HEIC

Totally agree about the small grilling area. It could only cook about 1 order of meat at a time- that could be a problem if they really bring 5 items. The grill was quite impressive with a downdraft ventilation system around the perimeter...no "stinky clothes, like Honey Pig".

Opened Wednesday next to MOM's market in Rockville. Mini chain, other locations out west. Soft opening-10% off. I went last night and suggest waiting and paying 100%. Very awkward- from being seated-to waitress-to mgrs-to owners-cooking at your table, etc. They have 2 options. AYCE BBQ or Hot Pot-or both. $24.99 for BBQ at dinner. 16.99 at lunch. more options on dinner selections. I had the BBQ. Your waitress takes your order for up to 5 meats/seafood. They then bring bunch of marinated veggies, nothing special. She also mentioned that you can order as many appetizers as you like. I ordered Japchae. That was delivered with the meats. The meats were just placed next to me. Nobody explained or turned on BBQ/ After about 10 minutes, a mgr asked how everything was- not sure why he didn't notice raw meats sitting there. I asked if I should cook- or how it works. He got the grill going and then he started cooking. Never really answered if I should be doing this. Short ribs with bones, very flavorful. Thick rib eye, just ok-dry, tasteless. Brisket (prime) very thin and boring. Another manager cam by and asked how everything was..I asked if they had sauces I could order. He then said I was supposed to serve myself at the Salad bar...had no idea, nobody had told me. Chalk that up to opening blues. Tried a couple of more BBQ options...still found it hard to figure out who cooked-or to order from. Bottom line is...I think it could be good, just not yet. If/when you're very hungry it could be a good option.

"Alex Ovechkin Celebrated His Birthday with Balloons, a Fruit Tart, and Peking Duck" by Scott Allen on washingtonpost.com

Went for lunch today...small place, seats probably 25-30- Cash only. Pictured- #6 YiBin Noodles and Spicy wontons. Noodles were great- perfect bite/texture. Topped with a dry ground pork mix, some pickled veggies. and ground peanuts. Spicy, both red pepper and sichuan peppers- so traditionally spicy and numbing spicy. Lots of garlic! The wontons had a similar taste and mouth feel with respect to spices, soft wrappers, almost transparent. Couldn't tell what was inside. Would definitely go back to explore the menu- would not order both of these dishes, since they were similar. Most other customers were eating larger soup like dishes.

Yu Zhou.... great Sat/Sun small dishes served from the lunch steam table counters. Lots of choices, many times lots of pointing. I love the long beans with ground pork, vinegar peanuts, plate of rice-with fried pork/hard boiled egg/pickled greens and gravy (sounds strange...try it), etc. Be prepared for the owner to be working the register, which slows things down greatly. He is NOT a multi-tacker and forgets about ringing people up when the phone rings.....

the menu

Opened in Rockville a few months ago. Very unique menu/style of Asian restaurant. Main part of menu are skewers-lamb, chicken, squid, mushroom, tofu skin, corn, escargot, etc... All about $2.00 per single skewer. Heavily seasoned with cumin, lots of cumin and a sweetish ketchupy sauce over top of each skewer. We tried- chicken, eggplant (the best one), squid (chewy and bland), Mushroom, and tofu skin. Would need a bunch to fill up, very small. I don't think I would make these a part of my next trip here. We had "spicy and sour Mungbean noodles"...really good. A bowl of noodles and Chinese Broccoli swimming in a fiery- oily- peppercorn- vinegar sauce. We loved this dish. We also had Singapore Seafood Rice- also quite good. Rice was very light and fluffy, not much sauce/oil. Good amount of squid and shrimp and looked like roasted pork cubes. Had some heat with red pepper flakes. Came out formed like a pyramid with some shredded fake crab...don't judge- it was good. Small restaurant with maybe 20 seats. Very friendly waiters, helpful with menu choices. They were doing a brisk carryout business- one guy was getting large trays of skewers. Interesting place...would definitely go back on focus on menu beyond skewers.

First glance...old School Chinese restaurant. Funky strange light fixtures, banquet style tables and chairs, old carpet, hand written signs, etc. Second glance...large menu full of "non American" Chinese food. 3 entrees and a large bowl of soup special-$21.95, tons of choices. Full Dim Sum menu. As a fan of authentic dishes...my all time comfort food is their house special fried rice at lunch. $6.50, huge plate of comfort. Feeling down..go get some.

Nice lunch today at http://pokepapa.com Much better than the Annandale version of Poke. Similar to the California places I wrote about...choice of rice (brown, while or black) and/or salad, plus scoops of fish (tofu and chicken also) and toppings. Big difference they had 3-4 varieties of salmon and Ahi already tossed with dressing. A Korean spiced version, basic sweet with green onions, and a siracha mayo mix...plus plain Ahi and Salmon, cooked scallops, some ceviche, etc. I had 3 scoops trying the Korean, basic, and siracha. This saves the step of tossing the fish with your choice of sauce...but having 3 different flavors confuses things inside the bowl. Lots of choices of toppings, including fake crab salad, seaweed, ginger, etc. The crunchy toppings are self service, after you pay. Overall, very good. Would be a great place to have your first Poke! I left very satisfied.

Need to get the "best" cheesecake possible in DC...for a birthday and end of diet celebration. Trying to look beyond the factory of cheesecakes. Could also have it shipped.... any ideas?

found a pic...

Was in Orange County last month for 4 days...became obsessed with Poke. There are a bunch of quick service- Chipotle style service POKE places. Poke-Ria was my favorite, I think I had Poke 5 or 6 times on that trip. All places were pretty similar in service style- start of with rice (white/brown) or salad- then choose some base veggies and how many scoops of fish (determines price), along with a sauce. This gets tossed in another bowl and placed onto of the base rice/salad. Then you can add toppings, including avocado, red sushi eggs, fake crab salad (much better than it sounds), seaweed salad, etc. You can have all, without any extra charge. Then some crunchy toppings- like fried onions, crispy seaweed, etc. It was like eating a bowl of springtime weather. So fresh. I tried the place in Annandale--- doesn't even compare to the taste/quality/variety of the California chains. Looking forward to trying the ones above.

The amount of money recently lost by restaurants in this mall is incredible... Naples, Met, Blaze, Lobster Place, Jamaican Place, Dumpling Place, and I'm sure there are many more. Crazy rent- too much food in mall- bad concepts -or a combination?

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