mdjordy

Great meal here last night, large group of 8 including one in a high chair. The shrimp dumplings in hot oil are fantastic- whole shrimp inside of a thin skin sitting in a pool or red oil loaded with garlic and scalions. The leftover sauce was amazing on rice. Large portion of perhaps 10 dumplings. Main dishes included roast pig on rice. Great, juicy with crspy skin-served with bottle of sweetish sauce. The whole pig is hanging in the case. Lotus root with veggies-very good, fairly mild. Salt and Pepper fried flounder- not a drop of oil full of flavor with tiny slices of hot peppers and fried garlic.. Prok Z-Fu noodles- we get this everytime. Noodles are the perfect chewy texture, must be made in house...some of the noodles could be 2 feet in length. A couple of other dishes I can't remember. The staff is so friendly, so happy for non-Asians to be trying their menu, beyond the standard American junk. Perhaps it was the baby, but they brought over a bunch of buns for the table to try. Also sweet rice dough...which was great. I hope they are making it...such nice people, clean restaurant, and interesting menu.

will there be vegetarian options?

Not sure if there are previous posts, but these lunch boxes are a true find. The smaller Asian markets (same center with Michaels noodles in Rockville, Thai Market in SS, by Sam;s in Wheaton, plus more...) All have hot food cases full of prepared dishes. Generally you get a huge portion of rice-plus 3 choices....for 5$ ish. It's a great way to sample authentic foods without a huge investment. Some have a few tables. Most of the time you end up pointing at what you want... Yesterday I had fried tofu cubes in a spicy red carmelized sauce, chicken with mushrooms, and fresh bamboo with pork. 5$ They also gave me a few pieces of beef stomac to try, which was very good. This lunch was at the Rockville market.

wow...Had a fantastic lunch yesterday. Burger was amazing, I almost needed a bid to keep the juices off my shirt. Are they so juicy because of a high fat content? Not complaining, just wondering.... Also sweet fries were great, they had a snap to them-almost like a really good hot dog. Some tell me how to make this burger at home!

Great vegetarian meal last night late. Scallion pancakes, not greasy-many light layers-great for soaking up sauces on other dishes. Crispy Fungus & Pickled Peppers Salad was fantastic...you could taste the variety of heat. Soft tofu with greens- huge bowl of silky soft tofu with greens in a white sauce, kind of bland-but soothing after the mushrooms (fungus). Eggplant with garlic sauce- not too sweet, had a kick....a little greasy, but very good. Next time will try the crispy eggplant dishes. No beer yet, really could have used it. English is tough, wanted to try desserts- but menu was only in Chinese and nobody was able to help. Looking at the carryout menu-it is translated so we could have used that. Can't wait to go back with some meat eaters.

Had a late meal Saturday evening at Central. Had a nice drink at the bar waiting for our table. I have had great memorable meals here before...many of them. This time however, I was in search of vegetarian choices- as my date is a vegetarian. I thought that a cutting edge restaurant would have lots of choices, but I was wrong. Beyond an appetizer or two, we ended up just ordering a bunch of side orders. They were good, but doing this lacks the excitement of a meal and feels like an afterthought. Besides the cheese puffs, nothing was spectacular. Two days later, I can barely remember what we ate or ordered....except the creamed spinach which was way too salty...perhaps when eaten as a side order it is ok, but by itself not. Also, I was shocked to see the bill at 100$, we did each have a drink... I guess in the end it is my fault for not researching the menu more...just an assumption that this would be a good modern bistro that would have vegetarian options.

thanks... I think we may head to Franklins or go to Silver Spring.

Any recommendations for a quiet restaurant/bar in Greenbelt or close by for a date? 40 somethings... Should not be a college scene, a bit more upscale. Thanks

I had lunch at Blacks last week... Two us had the pumpkin soup, poured into the bowl table side. Luke warm and very under salted, almost bland. It was the first cold day and we both ordered soup to warm us up. We shared the Mahi Mahi BLT and the Oyster Poorboy. The oysters were coated with such a thick batter/breading you almost could not bite into them. They were also cooked well done, perhaps they were cooked too long and this affected the coating. Perhaps it is just me but I think fried oysters should be wet inside. The roll looked like a ballpark hot dog roll (but thicker)...but was so crispy it flaked away when you took a bite. The best part of the sandwich was the carrot slaw and the fries. The Mahi Mahi BLT was a bit better. The major complaint was the bread was seared on the grill too long and tasted burnt. It was also very difficult to eat- everything slid out of the bread. It was not possible for me to give this information to the server or the manager at the moment, but I did reach out to them in an email. It really bugs me that they never even wrote back or called.

Went to Dino's last night to check out the happy Hour. Very nice and informal. Don't think its ever going to be a huge party scene, but I am guessing that was not the plan. Bunch of interesting olive and pickled type of things set in big bowls on the bar and a cutting board with some pate and a salami. Great warm bread brought to the table. It was a bit hard getting to all of the items on the bar- as all seats were filled. Felt kind of like I was stealing someone elses treats. Overall fun night...would recommend it. Thanks Dean, and I will be checking out the Pig BBQ place.

Just noticed that it has opened in the old homestead space... Anyone been?

ok...so what is the deal with RTC and hard liquor? I have enjoyed a few drinks at the bar in the past...

Lunch? Went by there on Thursday to meet a friend for lunch..locked up tight at 12:10. SOmeone was on the phone at the front desk...but did not see (or want to see) me at the door. Is Ray's not open for lunch any longer?

has anyone tried this yet in Tysons? Wonder how it compares to Fogo?

Just got my water bath on ebay... This week: country pork ribs with marinara sauce cooked for 12 hours at 63 C brisket rubbed with spices (oregano, paprika, brown sugar,garlic, onion powder, slat and pepper) cooked for 36 hours at 61 C short ribs just went in the bath for Sunday evening. seasoned with onion,garlic, fresh thyme, black pepper, and salt. The brisket came out awesome, very tender but firm...juicy and medium cooked. finished it on a hot gas grill and then sliced it. Ribs were good, used cooking liquid to toss pasta.

Recently I had F25- Stir ffired fresh bacon with hot peppers....fantastic. I think pork belly slices stir fried with2-3 peppers, green onions, and a light hint of black bean sauce. next time I am going to try T21 homemade bacon with leek....has anyone had this?

Don't think that it is open yet. I went to a business party that was catered by them...very good and interesting. Kobe beef skewers with shitakes and purple potatoes, vast sushi display (rice cooked perfectly), lobster spring rolls, plus more that I forget.

Has anyone heard anything about this? Did this really happen?

Whole Foods on Rockville Pike has Oregon Black truffles... 1ounce for $29.99. In the produce section packed in rice. Anyone tried these?

Just wondering...how much did this meal cost?

my point about the timing was more to the pauses and delays. A 2 hour meal at a restaurant can be a luxury...but not if you sit wondering why things are taking so long...wondering why your dirty plates are sitting in front of you...wondering why we can not get the check. I understand that restaurants need to evolve...the best way is to hear comments both good and not so good...then learn from these. Just saying everything was great, when it was not- does not give the operators the ability to learn and improve. Silence is not golden. I am hopeful that my coments and thoughts are taken with good intentions...If I did not care I would not have said anything.

Report from Thursday evening 9/7/06 After grabbing a last minute reservation at 6:45 my daughter and I headed over. Traffic was tough and we called letting them know that we would be a few minutes late. This was my third visit, with one being the opening party. My overall impressions are that the restaurant is reaching beyond its abilities. I really want the place to work, but it needs to find its place- not every restaurant should be or is capable of being a 3 start establishment. Service was choppy and awkward. Lots of long pauses, very poor flow. The appetizers took 20 minutes, salads another 15 minutes and the main courses arrived 25 minutes after the salads were picked up. The service flaws appeared to be a combination of the new restaurant, unorganization, and too busy. It also took a very long time to order dessert, have our plates picked up, and get the check. The overall meal lasted from 6:50 until 8:45. Food was good to great. The biscuit appetizers were fantastic; however the sauce was very odd. It felt like velvita mixed with salsa? The sweetbreads were good, but not crispy and room temperature. Perhaps they say for a bit in the kitchen. The Caesar salads were great, my daughter scraped her plate. They also delivered us 2 small slices of bread on a little plate; I guess we could have asked for more--- Fried chicken was good; the very dark breading was falling off the meat. My daughter enjoyed it. I had the hanger steak which was very tender. One of the pieces of meat had a very gamey (sp?) taste. The sauce was ok and the sweet onions were very sweet. Because it was getting late we took a slice of key lime pie home...and enjoyed it in our kitchen. Bottom line is that I think they need to shift back the restaurant somewhat...perhaps shrink the menu, rethink some of the sauces, and decide where RTC is going to fit into the culinary world. I would much prefer a well executed scaled down restaurant than a place unsuccessfully trying to be better than it can be.

Does anyone know the phone number for reservations?

any news?

can someone point me to the pdf of the menu? We are going on Sunday and I would like to be prepared...thanks in advance