Gastro888

Oh, JPW, great minds think alike! Today was a bleah day for moi and I decided to get some pho therapy. Granted the best thing to have when you're under the weather is congee but I'll take what I can get! My coworker and I went to Pho Real in the Briggs Chaney Shopping Center near the Autopark in Silver Spring, MD/Burtonsville. It's a nice, clean pho joint that also serves spring & summer rolls. The summer rolls were good and so was the cafe su da (if a bit on the strong side but hell, we all could use a little oomph every now and again). As for the pho, it was very good. We both got the #3 - the toppings were a bit skimpy but I have yet to go to a pho joint where the toppings are overflowing - eh, it is what it is I suppose. Broth was light and not oily. Oh and they have REAL Sriracha - not generic Sriracha in the Sriracha bottle. The best is in Eden Center and the 2nd best if Pho 75 IMHO. But for a solid bowl of pho, go here.

I forgot the name of the place but there is a Belgian chocolate shop up on Wisconsin - upper G-town. It's on the right hand side if you're driving up from M Street, a block and 1/2 above Marvelous Market. Very good.

I would love to stop by and will try but can't promise anything. Practice and coaching are priorities. Competition is next weekend. Must get back in touch with my foodie side...<whimper>

Try it next time and let me know how it is. It just seemed really odd that there was no sesame oil. Borderline sacreligious!

'Cause it goes along with the conspiracy that we all look alike.

Oooh, bilrus, that looks good. One question though - I noticed the recipe didn't have sesame oil listed as an ingredient. Did you feel the lack of it affected the taste? I find it a little odd that it's not used. (Of course, this could be just me as I am a sesame oil addict. I put it in my ramen noodles!)

Forgot mention if she waps you on the head with said chopsticks, you're going to have a REALLY expensive wedding to pay for... Dinner last night was leftover shrimp with lobster sauce made by my father. Best cook in the world, my pappy is. Tonight I have kal bi on the menu!!! Yippy!

Oh, yes and do tell which end of the chopsticks she grasped first. If she went for the bottom part, it means she'll marry someone from nearby - if she grasped the top part, it means she'll marry someone from far away. Old wives' tale but cute nonetheless...

Um, no. You're gonna have to venture out to the 'burbs for the good stuff. Da Wah closed a few months ago.

Me and the girls headed to a Chinese-American joint on Capital Hill SE last night near the Ugly Mug. We were looking for something cheap and filling. Being underpaid forces you to do that, ya know... Lo and behold, a restaurant run by Cantonese people! (it's rare nowadays - seems like alot of Chinese-American joints are run by non-Cantonese people) We had: chicken and corn chowder baby shrimp chow fun roast pork with mixed veggies The soup wasn't bad - not too much cornstarch and had a decent amount of chicken and corn. The roast pork with mixed veggies was good - firm veggies and nice roast pork. The chow fun could've been done better - it was just mixed together and not "chowed". And the chile oil blew my brains out. Holy crap!

Last night was spent at Maria's Bakery and Cafe in Rockville. Yeap, I'm there at least once a week feeding my HK diner jones. We had: Milk tea Wonton Lo Mein Fresh Veg w/ Oyster sauce Baked Portugese Chicken with Rice Strawberry Cake 'Twas, as always, great comfort food for me. I had the leftovers today for breakfast/lunch.

Nope, can't do it. We've got our competition on the water May 28-29. I'll be heading to some Italian joint to carb up on Friday.

Saturday night - tapas at Jaleo in Bethesda followed with ice cream at Giffords. The tapas were okay, nothing spectacular. Sunday afternoon - fantastic meal at Huong Viet: lotus root salad w/ pork & shrimp, banh xeo and caramel fish along with a perfect ca phe su da. My time has been and will be consumed with practice for our upcoming competition so my foodie side must be put on hold for my hypercompetitive, kick butt and take names side.

Ooooh, that looks divine. Lovely, Bill! I'm debating whether or not to do Ray's for my birthday or go to NYC. Hmmmm.

<sighs with happiness> Ahhhhh, pork fat. Oh wow. Pork fat ON the burger. Yippy!

The potatoes shouldn't have been cold - sometimes the fry plate can be off. One time I ordered it and the lemons were sliced a bit too thickly and they had extreme pucker power instead of the gentle sourness that I liked. My 2 cents about the burger - great for me. (But see, I didn't fancy the chicken so much...)

Huh? There was no outing yesterday?

Yep, I was also told the Monday night menu has been expanded. The panini (BLT and artichoke) are great - definitely try a Saturday lunch there. I was surprised that Palena wasn't very busy this past Saturday. That was strange. Great food - I need to move beyond the cheeseburger, though...but it's just tooooo good.

Ah, crap, can't go....have practice that night. Eat well!

New(ish) face here. I'd love to come but I can't - perhaps next week?

The original Hollywood East is not bad and the reason why it's above standard Chinese food is because it's not your typical Chinese-American restaurant. However, if you judge it as an authentic Cantonese restaurant, it needs some work. It's been very difficult to find a good authentic Cantonese place here in the DC metro area. Ask most any Cantonese person around here and they'll tell you the same thing. Most of the places here are not consistent w/ their cooking. Good bets are Oriental East for dim sum and Mark's Duck House. New Fortune in Gaithersburg is pretty decent - we're going there tonight for an early Mom's Day celebration and we'll see how the food is.

I haven't heard good reviews of the place from my parents, my friends and my family's friends. I am curious to go to see what it's like but no one in my circle has anything good to say - food's poorly done and overpriced. Tom's review makes it sound pretty decent but I don't know how Sietsema's palate is when it comes to Chinese food. They should've opened the 2nd place in a different location - it's puzzling that they opened the 2nd one so close. Just 'cause it works for Starbucks (well, that's another thread in and of itself) doesn't mean it'll work for them.

Sabang's sounds great as does Malaysia Kopitam. Can I play?

Yechon in Annadale - 24/7 full service Korean restaurant with BBQ. It's really neat to be there at 3am and see tables full of rice rocket boyz and grrlz grillin' galbi and bulgogi afte ra night at the clubs and such. The food's decent - I wouldn't say it's the best I've ever had but it's cool to know I can get my galbi fix at any time. They'll only let you grill the meat at your table if you order a certain dish - otherwise it comes to the table grilled. The service can be touch and go at times but heck, if you were working at 3am serving a bunch of rowdy kids wouldn't you be a bit cranky?

Just wanted to start something new and different. I usually hit the big ones - Han Ah Rheum, Lotte, Maxim, Kam San, Eden Supermarket, Asian Market (Southeast Asian grocery store) and Hung Phat. (Yes, there is a trend here...) For non-Asian stuff, I like to go to Rodman's next to White Flint Mall in Maryland - I can get my Cadbury fix and scope out some interesting stuff from the UK as well as Russia. Where do y'all like to go? (Sidebar: Funny thing is that for me while I growing up, I thought of the local Giant and Safeway as ethnic markets! )