nelumbo

I have possibly acquired +1 or +2. Sounds like we should have enough to try out a good variety of dishes.

The meetup will be on Saturday, 20 February, noon, Thai Taste by Kob in Wheaton. Copious free parking available within a block of the restaurant (garage, street, and lots), and it is a relatively short walk from Wheaton metro station. If you are planning to come, please post here or send me a message so I can arrange for a table, thanks.

Went here for lunch today with several people. The lunch rush hit quickly a little after noon, some people left when they couldn't get tables. The dishes were a bit slow to come out (maybe since they were slammed all at once), with items appearing one at a time. There is a sign up in the window looking for more kitchen help, so they may be working to improve this. I had the hot oil knife cut noodles with tofu topping - these noodles were larger and thicker than the similarish noodles at Panda Gourmet. The tofu was soft tofu cut into small cubes and fried so that it absorbs lots of the sauce. Definitely try to mix the noodles around to get the tasty sauce - not super spicy, but flavorful enough that I was sad to leave a small puddle at the bottom of my dish. The tofu skin skewer is actually the type of tofu used in tofu shreds, but not julienned - different from what I consider tofu skin (the kind available dried or frozen in knots or sticks). I've seen this type sold in sheets or shreds, it is like a very dense pressed tofu that makes a sort of rubbery sheet. A strip about an inch wide was folded through the skewer and dressed in sauce. This half-block strip is about to become all Asian eateries, with Northwest Chinese Food, Pho Thom (mostly Thai), a new tea shop in the works, and something else in between that I am blanking on (sushi?).

Is there anyone who would prefer the 7th over the 21st?

Yes. I'd be fine with the 7th, but if the super bowl thing is an issue, we could do the 21st instead (all February).

Chijeu-buldak (fire chicken with cheese), but with king oyster mushrooms instead of chicken. Very successful, liked it better than the chicken version I tried a few months ago. I used this recipe from maangchi:

I actually thought they had already moved, as there has been a big sign up in the shopping center on RI Ave for a while now. I think their facebook page had a notice about a grand opening in February, but would have to check.

I've driven past Swahili Village on Rt 1 in Beltsville more times than I can count, and finally got around to trying it out. Swahili Village specializes in Kenyan cuisine, which seems to have quite a bit of Indian influence. The menu has a number of familiar Indian dishes, such as samosas, curry, and mango lassi. There are also quite a few goat dishes - goat stew, grilled goat, wet fry goat, as well as beef, chicken, and fish. There is only one vegetarian main dish, which is based on either red beans or lentils in coconut milk. We tried the appetizer platter, which has bhajia (thin ruffle cut potatoes battered and fried), samosas, and mild sausages. The samosas were mostly meat inside (ground beef) and were quite spicy. The sausages were vaguely reminiscent of kielbasa. I had the goat stew, which had chunks of bone-in goat in a lightly seasoned sauce. The goat was tender and nicely cooked, the sauce was quite mild. This came with the choice of two sides, for which I picked plantains (standard fried treatment of plantains) and cabbage with onions, which seemed to have been sauteed as a simple presentation. Some of the fish dishes on the menu looked interesting, and may bear future investigation. I think the traditional method of eating is without utensils, and there were a few tables in the restaurant that chose to eat with their hands. When we arrived at quarter to 7, most of the tables were empty, but it was pretty well packed by 7:30 on a weeknight. Note that they are moving to a new space just a few blocks up on Rhode Island Ave, in the shopping center with Seoulia, sometime this winter.

Hahaha, I probably wouldn't have noticed that until the day before (when the big snack platters go on display at the grocery store). Hmmm...

FYI, I have heard that Cafe Rue moved to Forestville, MD.

Being localish, I eat at Da Rae Won whenever I can convince anyone else to go along with me (so we can get the chicken wings). The garlic fried chicken wings are fantastic, but are in such a huge quantity that you need at least 2-3 people to order it. I usually get either the jja jang myun noodles or one of the spicy soups as well. The "sizzling rice combination seafood" dish consists of big squares of rice with a texture similar to rice krispies treats, over which is poured a mix of seafood and veggies in a mild sauce. This dish is expensive on the menu but absolutely gigantic, enough to be the main entree for 3-4 people. I've also had a few of the dishes in the "vegetables" section, which I didn't find that exciting, at least not compared to the noodles and garlic chicken.

So, I haven't forgotten about this. January is looking problematic, so I'm thinking sometime in early February. The second weekend is Valentine's day, so maybe Sunday 7 Feb?

I am actually really picky, at least in terms of a number of very common ingredients in "standard American" dishes. Since I like a lot of dishes that are often considered adventurous, like offal and Asian desserts/pastries with odd textures, this tends to surprise my friends. Things that ruin whatever they touch or are just inedible: mustard as a condiment, bell pepper, eggplant, olives, banana, pb&j, beer Things I do not like at all but can eat to be polite: most sweet fruits: apples, pears, blueberries, oranges, peaches, plums, nectarines, raisins, most tropical fruits (except coconut, rambutan, durian, lemon/limes, grapefruits, and pineapple) carrots, asparagus, beets, brussels sprouts, arugula, cucumbers salad dressings (except thousand island on rueben and plain vinegar & oil), jam/jelly/preserves, lavendar steak, pork chops, hamburgers, salmon, tuna, any fish that tastes fishy wine The bell pepper and fruit avoidance cause me the most issues. While the bell peppers can usually be pushed aside if they are in large pieces, fruit is often the star ingredient. I think the problem is that I find sweet fruits to be cloying and floral, while I like sour fruits just fine. I have been trying to work on wine with basically no luck, but have had partial success with tolerating cucumbers, brussels sprouts, and salads (vinegar dressing only though).

Nontraditional Thanksgiving dishes: long beans fried with gochujang (hot pepper paste) and chijeu-buldak (Korean fire-chicken) with broiled cheese on top, from Maangchi. Chicken was excellent, although I should have used thigh meat instead of breasts, the fried rice cakes were also key. I think this could be modified to a vegetarian recipe by upping the rice cake to protein fraction, and using some form of soy and/or mushroom (king oyster?) instead of the chicken. Tonight is leftovers, plus a squash "bread" (really, a cake) made with cushaw.

I've found that far-in-advance planning of this sort of thing is difficult, as life tends to intervene in schedules as the date finally approaches. At this point in time, I'm sure I will be free some Sundays in January, but can't nail down which ones. Maybe we can say "a Sunday in January", and then revisit the question a month from now or so?

Well, we can always try to schedule something after the holidays. At some point my availability should open up a lot, in theory at least. (there goes my Trombone though!)

I've been meaning to try out Manila Mart since the Tim Carman review in the Post last year, and finally made it there for lunch today. Manila Mart is tucked away in a shopping center just off of Rt 1 a block north of Behnke's, in between the Korean duo of Gah RhaBreakm and Da Rae Won. Manila Mart is a Filipino market, with a few small aisles of shelf goods, plus a tiny produce section and I think some refrigerated cases along the side. In back, however, is a hot food counter with a small kitchen and a handful of tables for diners. A handwritten sign behind the counter lists the regular menu items and daily specials. The counter includes multiple vats of meats in variously colored sauces, a warming case with several types of cooked fishes and pork, pre-portioned noodle dishes, a pile of bbq skewers, and an array of desserts. About half of the desserts were labeled, the rest of the food was unlabeled, but they were happy to explain what each one was. I got a pancit bihon - vermicelli rice noodles with a mild flavor topped with chicken and veggies, $5.50 - and a halo halo for dessert, $5. The halo halo has shaved ice with various beans, chunks of colored jellies, flan, and something that may have been rice based, with evaporated milk poured over and a scoop of ube (purple yam) ice cream on top. The other meat dishes (mostly chicken and pork from what I could tell) would probably have been more adventurous choices in terms of flavor - I'll have to try that next time, along with the cassava pie. They have a facebook page and instagram that note when special dishes are available. It looks like they may also offer Filipino breakfast on Sunday mornings.

Ha, I think the main risk is of me having to consume an entire plate of crispy pork belly by myself! Anyhoo, I know this time of year is difficult for scheduling. If Sundays are a no-go, a weeknight would also be fine with me, I just figured that it might be harder with work schedules and traffic. That is probably a discussion for the other thread though.

New topic for our meetup accomplished. I'm really only free on Sundays in the near future (well, and Black Friday), am thinking lunch on the 22nd, see above thread for details.

Meetup at Thai Taste by Kob for some firey Thai street food, anyone? Less blistering dishes are not out of the question, although I personally would like at least one or two Thai-spicy options.... My schedule is really difficult, the best day this month is probably Sunday 22 November, I'm thinking lunchtime. Other Sundays in November might be possible if the 22nd is terrible.

Have been a few more times - the standout dishes that I recall were the Lucky Bag, also the papaya salad (quite spicy), and the Kua Kling ("mouth on fire") which we had with pork belly. Was there ever interest in doing a meetup here? I'd totally be up for that although my schedule is a bit difficult for the rest of the year.

Second hand info: Lefty's Barbecue in Waldorf had a "grand opening" this weekend. It had closed a while back (two years ago?) due to a fire. Their website also indicates that they are open again: http://leftysbarbecue.com/ordereze/splash.aspx eta: A Steak in the Sack (seems to be a localish greasy spoon chain also in Temple Heights and Fort Washington) may be opening in the empty Griffin BBQ spot in Charlotte Hall.

I wish that K-mart building across from the main gate would get taken over by H-Mart, and include a food court. Thousands of professionals are trapped just across the street with almost no food options....why is that shopping center so terrible? Anyway, I haven't tried going there without a translator, but the server was pretty excited when we ordered a bunch of stuff exclusively from the authentic menu. Hopefully there won't be any problems ordering with the translated version.

I live and work in Greenbelt, and lets just say that decent dining options in the immediate area are....limited. In the Greenway Center (the one with the Safeway on 193 next to the B-W Parkway) is a small Chinese restaurant that seems to have held tough while other nearby Chinese restaurants have come and gone. They mostly serve what you would expect - the standard Americanized Chinese menu options, not the best quality and not the worst. I pretty much have only eaten there for work-related outings and when we needed a quick takeout option. However, they have another menu that is not translated into English (see attached file for what may be a phone photo of a scan/fax that is mostly illegible). I had read some reviews which said they had some better dishes on this menu, but when I went in the restaurant, the staff were not keen to tell me what any of the dishes were, and kept trying to steer me back to the regular menu. Finally, one of the summer interns at work got a copy of the secret menu and had his parents translate it before we had a group work lunch there. Below is that translation of the top section of the menu (he said the bottom section were repeats of the Americanized menu) left column: capital spare rib salt-sweet spiced spare rib dry-dofu with shredded pork stir fried hot pepper chinese beef black pepper beef green onion stir fry beef mustard stir fry beef pickled cabbage stir fry beef salty dry veg stew pork 8-treasure stew dofu stew tulip beef tendor salty fish & chicken stew dofu salty fish ground pork stew chinese eggplant xisi (beauty queen) dofu right column; celery chicken slice stir fry salt-sweet spiced shrimp pepper squid salt sweet squid salt sweet three treasure guangdong fire duck (half) steamed chicken (half) green onion chicken garlic spinach some kind of green veg hundred flower eggplant hundred flower dofu hundred flower three treasure butter shrimp ball salt sweet shrimp ball We had six dishes at the lunch - snow pea shoots, 8 treasure stew (various seafoods in a hot pot), one of the shredded pork dishes, one of the chicken dishes, a beef dish, and a dish of deep fried flounder in a spicy batter. I'm not sure of which dish was which because said intern negotiated the entire order with the server, and the translated menu is a little hazy. The fish was nice - the batter was light and delicate, with a flavorful spiciness. My favorite was the shredded pork dish, which was salty and I think had pieces of hot pepper and black beans. The chicken had thin slices of meat in a very mild sauce with a variety of vegetables. I would have liked a little more garlic or other seasoning on the snow pea shoots, but they weren't bad. I can't remember details of the beef or 8-treasure dishes (this lunch was about a month ago, sorry). Was the food on the order of Grace Garden, Panda Gourmet, or others? No, but it was waaaaay better than the regular menu, and there really aren't many options for non-Americanized Chinese food in the area. I'm sure I will be back again, and plan to copy the translated menu onto my phone so I can actually order some of the dishes. I have posted it here in the hopes that if enough people try to order off of the secret menu, that they will translate it and make it more accessible.

Great, thanks!