DanielK

Last season (I told you, I go to Nationals games ) I called about this on a Sunday morning, and was told that they would be happy to seat me at 11 for either Breafast or Brunch. Don't know if this was a one-time shot, or just unofficially the practice.

Bis is my favorite place to dine before going to Sunday afternoon Nationals games. The brunch menu is wonderful, and they've never batted an eye at our casual dress and (well-behaved) children.

If we can get a decent sized crowd, we are considering doing lunch at Shanghai Cafe in Potomac this Sunday at 12:30pm. See here for restaurant details. Post here or PM me if you're interested.

Moved to the "on a whim" topic.

I might be able to pull off lunch this weekend if we can get critical mass...

correct From downtown Rockville, head West on Rte. 28, left on Darnestown Rd., mile and a half to a left on Travilah, and then go 4 loooooong miles. From the Beltway, I'd probably take River out to a right on Travilah. There are shorter routes, but they involve a lot of poorly marked turns on windy roads in the wilds of Potomac.

I've been going to Shanghai Cafe for about 5 years. It's one of those neighborhood Chinese restaurants that you don't think much about - it's just there. It's not a destination Chinese restaurant like Joe's Noodle, Bob's Noodle, TemptAsian, A&J, etc. It's not crappy Americanized fare, either, like most neighborhood places - there are always a few interesting things to get. They probably do more takeout and delivery business than eat-in, and they're so far west in Potomac, that they're not really convenient unless you're in the neighborhood. However, something changed recently that's made me think about recommending this place to others. The Chinese menu, which has long been available only in Chinese, is now available in English. So rather than picking and choosing the few things that I knew were interesting, I now have 8 pages of treats to choose from. I'd list some here, except the translation has not yet filtered down to their take-out menu. So, if you find yourself in Potomac, or the western part of Montgomery County, consider dropping in. Don't miss the Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings), which aren't as good as the famous NYC versions, but certainly equal to Chinatown Express in DC. Actually, any dumplings here are good - they have almost a dozen varieties on the menu available during lunch or dinner. Shanghai noodles are clearly homemade, but others aren't, so order carefully. Shrimp and fresh fish are reliably good, and make sure you order whatever vegetable is on special. And don't forget to ask for the Chinese menu. ETA: They also have a Thai menu and serve some sushi, neither of which I've ever gotten.

Neither of us tried the lumpia (Filipino eggrolls), though I think you could have chosen that as one of your two meat dishes. I also had the braised beef, and a chicken stew as my two choices. I thought the chicken was tasty, but not hot enough. Not as in spicy, as in served at room temperature. Weird for a steam table. I would definitely go back. They had a lot of other stew-type dishes there, several other pork choices, and an oxtail stew that looked interesting. On the way out they were putting a soup in a crock; it looked like congee! I'd never had Filipino food before, but I couldn't differentiate it much from Malaysian. A lot of the dishes were described as "sweet", so that seems to be a preferred taste. Nothing was labeled as spicy, though the manager did suggest that people like to put on their own hot sauce afterwards.

There will be a trip report!

See you there.

On the East side of 355, a half block south of Shady Grove. Next to Momo Taro, in the same spot where the Vietnamese place (and before that, Peking Eastern) was located. Didn't catch the name when I drove by. All lurkers welcome, of course...

This link will take you to all places listed by the Post within 3-4 blocks. I'm not necessarily recommending any of these, or even saying that they're open for lunch, but just cutting and pasting from the resulting search: 1. Azi's Cafe 2. Vegetate 3. The Original Buffalo Wing House 4. Morrison-Clark Inn 5. Coeur de Lion 6. The Blue Bar 7. Marrakesh Restaurant 8. A.V. Ristorante Italiano 9. Acadiana 10. Dakota Cowgirl

Attention Rockville Pike Lunch Club: A last minute work from home day tomorrow (Tuesday). Anybody up for a meeting? Perhaps the new Filipino place? I'm flexible...

You mean, people buy these books for reasons other than the hotel, car rental, movie ticket, and merchandise discounts? Strange... Coupons I have used in the past from the MD/DC book: DC: Ben's Chili Bowl, Bukom, Ella's, Meskerem, Old Europe, Sequoia Bethesda: Napa Thai, South Beach Columbia: Nichi Bei Kai Gaithersburg: Ay Jalisco, Golden Bull, Ichiban Germantown: Agro Dolce Rockville: Amada Amante, Ay Caramba, Il Pinito, Samwoo, El Patio Silver Spring: Cubano's

Slightly off topic, but the cafe that is connected to Yekta makes mighty fine kabobs. Especially the cornish game hen.

Theo's has been recommended, or Mrs. K's? Theo's is adequate Greek-American, but there are far better choices in the area (Mykonos, for example). Mrs. K's wasn't even worth it when I went last year and someone else paid...

I think you could make a lot of money by filling the trunk and reselling to the DR.com crowd!

I hope so - my wife got called into work, so I'm going to call porcupine in a bit to see if I can bum a ride to/from lunch!

Caribbean Feast?

You read, I type, we both drink, right?

Anybody up for a meeting of "The Rockville Pike Lunch Club" tomorrow? I've got the car in the shop in the AM, but am working from home the rest of the day, so lunch is in order...

The Post map is still centered on their old location in Laurel - they moved to Columbia a few years ago. Manually enter the address in a map site, and you're fine...

(4 tapas + 4 desserts + 1 pitcher) / 4 people = one tapas, one dessert, and one glass per person. Would this be more money at Jaleo? It sounds comparably priced to me. If you enjoyed yourself and the food, nobody is going to argue. But I don't think this is any cheaper than Jaleo for the same amount of food and drink. It's up to the individual as to whether the food/drink and/or atmosphere is better at one place or the other.

Finding Le Mannequin Pis is a pain in the ass even if you ARE familiar with Olney. I second Sergio's or Jackie's in Silver Spring. In Bethesda, I would consider Persimmon, Black's, Grapeseed, or Centro.

Great first post, Pork Belly. Welcome to the club!