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Sea Side Crab House is a cute little restaurant. When I went there in June, the outdoor dinning area was packed with Vietnamese families. Most tables had several pitchers of cold brew and a big bowl of crawfish. We ordered oysters, spicy salt soft shell crab, and clams. The oysters were a dollar a pop, definitely a bargain, however its flavor was mediocre, not briny and clean like those from Hank's. The spicy salt soft shell crab was seasoned just right, crisp, but not too oily. The portion was also very generous, it didn't occur to me to count at the time, but my guess would be that there was about 3 crabs per order. The clams, however, was the worst I have ever had. They were not tender little neck that I originally expected, but instead huge almost palm size clams that were way over cooked. It was flavorless, gritty, and rubbery. Overall, this is a place worth a visit if you are in the Eden center and if you know what to order.

Yes, it used to be Sambo.

Yep, there's a new sush/sashmi place by Bon Chon chicken on little river turnpike. The reason I don't have a name for you is because I don't read Korean and the place is so authentic that they don't even have an English sign We ordered three rolls and a galbi dotsot bibimbap. The rolls were really good value with nice quantity of fillings. I hate those places that skimp on the filling and put mounds of rice on everything. I regret not trying any sashimi, as it seemed to be their speciality. There were two tanks in the front, with the top tank filled with live lobsters (for lobster sashimi) and the bottom tank filled with some really weird looking fish. Their sashimi ranged anywhere from $50 to $200. There were no further description on the menu, but judging by the food on other tables, it appears to come with more than 10 sidedishes and soup. Like most Korean restaurants, everything is meant to be shared. A table of five sat close to us probably ordered one of those giant sashimi dish and the thing came out on a 1X3 feet board. The amount of plates on their table was mind boggling. I felt like a noob as there were pieces of paper with Korean writings on the wall advertising specials not on the menu. This place definitely worth further investigation on my part.

We went to Thirsty Bernie's on Friday night. The food definitely warrants going back, however, there were also some kinks that need to be ironed out. We ordered the meatball sliders, grilled wings, and the Kielbasa sandwich. The meatball sliders were excellent. Good seasoning and good texture, not too firm, not too mushy. The grilled wings were mediocre. The sauce was flavorful, but the wings themselves were dry and bland. The Kielbasa sandwich was the star, nicely seasoned and bursting with juice, however the onion rings that came with it were not edible because it was cold. For some reason, there was a 40 min gap between the time our appetizers arrived and the time when the sandwich arrived. I had to feed my son, so it wasn't that big of a problem for me. We were also not thrilled at the price of the beer. Ten dollars per mug, it was a big mug, but I doubt it contained 2 pints. Lastly, the hostess was inexperienced and didn't do a good job of seating people efficiently. We arrived around 7:30 PM, and there was already a wait. We put our name down on the wait list anyways, but the way the hostess worded the wait, it really discouraged people from wanting to wait. I saw several potential customers left, but by the time we had our appetizer, only an hour later, there were already empty tables in the restaurant, and this was before 9:00 PM on a Friday night.

I have been wanting to try HEOTB for a long time. Is there any way to get there using the Metro?

I have been to this restaurant several times and its always crowded with Chinese families. The food at Hong Kong Palace is not as spicy as some of the other Sichun restaurants I have been to, such as Lao Sichuan in Chicago. http://www.laoszechuan.com/menu.htm Its possible for me to order all spicy dishes and not need any none spicy dishes in between to balance the flavors. I haven't had anything bad there, but for almost every dish I tried, I have had a better version in either Chicago or Ann Arbor. For example, Lao Sichuan had better water cooked fish, the broth was spicier, more flavorful, and the fish was more tender. Middle Kingdom in Ann Arbor had better fish with bean curd flower (bean curd flower means very soft tofu, but Hong Kong Palace uses medium firm tofu) and Sichuan cold noodle. The two dishes I liked the most in HKP are Corn and egg yolk and Fei Teng fish. Corn and egg yolk was a surprisingly good dish. The kernels were sweet and juicy on the inside and crunchy and eggy on the outside. You can't get this dish to go because the steam inside the container will destroy the crunchiness of each kernel. Fei Teng fish used to be a special on the wall, which has no English translations, but now they put it on the menu due to popular demands. Its basically a live tailapia from the tank, hacked to pieces, and boiled with a spicy hot pot like broth. The fish is savory and tender and its a dish that I saw alot of tables ordered. Next time, I am going to try the fried fish with peanut and the kong pao chicken. Saw several tables ordering fish with peanut and it looked very intriguing. I like to order my food and constantly look at other tables and figure out what I am going to savor next time.

I live in Alexandria.

The beers are great. I usually go for the IPA and my husband likes the Raison d'Etre. I thought their crab dip was good, but the pizza didn't do it for me. The onion was almost raw and the crust was thin but it resembled more like a tortilla than neapolitan pizza crust. Its also right by Hongkong Palace. I can bribe my husband with beer and then get some spicy Sichuan food later.

Want to give my favorite food a bump. I live in Virgina, therefore haven't made the hour drive to Maryland for dim sum yet. I have tried China Garden, Fortune, and MDH. China Garden is my favorite. Easy parking, large bright banquet room that gets filled up fast on the weekend, good variety, and lots of carts going around providing fresh food. The only item I didn't like was the Radish cake, which was too mushy. Fortune was decent, although the ladies who push the cards were overly aggressive and wanted you to get everything. MDH was the most disappointing of the bunch. I don't understand the hype and the long line of wait for dim sum. Its possible that it used to be very good, but now just stays in business due to its reputation. The restaurant is dark and dingy. The dim sum didn't taste fresh, which was really weird for a restaurant this busy. It seemed like the same 3 carts carrying old dim sum were making the round over and over. I tried the suckling roast pig, a weekend special, but the skin was barely crispy. A big no no for roast pig. MDH's smallest table seats four people, however, if you come here alone or with one other person expect the hostess to seat every 4 people party before you. I had to wait 45 min once, and only got seated because a bunch of people and I complained that several 4 people parties who arrived late got seated before us.

6653 Arlington Blvd. Falls Church, VA Anyone tried Miu Kee in Falls Church yet? This is my go to place for Cantonese right now. The menu selection is smaller than Mark's and Full Kee, but I find the flavor more clean and authentic. Their cantonese bbq is a must try. The soy sauce chicken was very tender and fresh. I saw another table ordered the ginger and scallion chicken and that looked scrumptious too.

I live very close to Van Dorn and decided to check out Sakulthai. We ordered Thai Ice Tea (satisfying, cheap compare to other thai places, but light in quantity). They really need to charge more and making it with free refills or at least 2 refills so I can relish in a sugary coma. Pan fried mussels (looked and tasted like Bahn Xeo, not what I expected and pretty greasy) Spring rolls (crispy and oily, not good, not bad) bean thread salad (spicy and refreshing, but I really hate the ground pork in there. They didn't use good quality pork) Beef Panang curry (generous amount of beef, decent coconut flavor, but too much on the sweet side) Overall, its Thai food at a good value, but not worth the trip if you don't live in the vicinity.

I have been there twice and I enjoyed their food. I am still confused at the various cooking surface they have. I have seen concave ones, convex ones, and the grill with large grid. Is there a particular type of meat that goes with a particular type of cooking surface. Here is a copy of their menu http://hostmaxi.net/adf/detail.asp?Blobid=89 , however I have seen various pieces of paper in Korean posted through out the restaurant about specials. Anyone have any idea what they are?

I don't really understand the bad rep MSG gets. MSG is basically salt of glutamic acid. I can understand that some people can't tolerate a high salt diet, but it seems to me that alot of people have an unnatural fear of artificial additive as oppose to many type of fermented food that already contains copious amount of naturally formed glutamate.

Hi, I am Lily. I recently moved to Virginia from Michigan with my husband. One of the finer pleasure of moving to a different place for me is that I get to go on a hunt for my new favorite restaurants. There have been lots of hit and misses, and so far I have enjoyed the vegetarian meze at Zaytinya, Cantonese food at Miu Kee, Pho at Pho Hot, Dim sum at China Garden, Honey Pig BBQ, Oysters at Hank's, and most recently Ray's hell burger (juicy beefy goodness, yum!). My only complaint so far is that I can't find a mom and pop Ramen shop like this one in Michigan. http://www.worldramen.net/World/USA/Review...uchanRamen.html Overall, the culinary scene here is better and I can't wait to explore more places.

I was not awared that there is a farmer's market so close to where I live, so thanks for posting. I went there yesterday and got corns from two different vendors (75 cents each) and peaches ($4 per box). The bicolor corns with smaller kernels tasted more sweet and tender than the white corns. The peaches looked small, but they were some of the most fragrant and juicy variety I have ever had, completely different than the dry and hard stuff you get from super markets.