grover

I second that idea about the sauce pouring over rice. It works on fried rice (when it is mediocre), too.

A&J is the only place I've tried the noodle for authentic Zha Jiang noodle. For the Korean variation, I like China Castle (best so far), Da Rae Won (the second best) and Jang Won Bahn Jom.

I compared Tom's Mussel Bar review with his Brabo Tasting Room review because Brabo Tasting Room serves similar menu as Mussel Bar does under the same ownership. The messages are basically same but a harsher whip was given to Mussel bar. Both places got no star and food quality is under his expectation.

It is a significant wake-up call.

If somebody would like to create a Zha Jiang Noodle thread, please do it and move my post.

I know Chinese one and Korean one are different. We call the sauce Chum Myun Jiang (甛麵醬) which is same as Zha Jiang sauce Chinese people use but Korean one is darker and sweeter because caramel is added. Even though many people call it as black bean sauce but it is from soybean not from black bean.

Zha Jiang Noodle was introduced by Chinese people from Shandong (山東) area (we call them Hwa Gyo - 華僑) who lived in Incheon and they opened Chinese restaurants there. The first known Chinese restaurant in Korea was Kong Hwa Choon (共和春) in 1905. After that more than 90% of Chinese restaurants when I grew up were run by Hwa Gyo. It is not any more though. I just simply asked if you tried the Korean version.

I've been impressed with Jamie at Home. Oliver does a nice job of relating easy, accessible recipes that are seasonal and uncomplicated. It's no-frills at its best, and conveys an eating local/healthy message without pretense.

It is my favorite, too.

I am using the cable service without movie channels (HBO, SHO etc) from Comcast but I am not sure I can call it as a standard service. I was able to watch the channel in the bedroom but not in the living room. So Escoffier call them up and made it work in the living room without charge.

"digital package"

The Cooking channel is not aired in HD mode. It doesn't make any sense to put it in the digital package category.

I don't think we get that one on Comcast.

I am using Comcast and live near Bradley Shopping Center. I can see the Cooking Channel at 122. Unfortunately it is not HD but still not bad to watch.

I just found out that Bloomingdale's carries Thomas and Rosenthal China. I am still in love with "Suomi" line from Rosenthal but I had a really great bargain when I got "Trend" line from Thomas.

For Indian food, I would recommend Rasika. How about Zaytinya for Lebanese food? Zaytinya serves not only Lebanese but also Greek, Turkish and Mediterranean food in general. It would be a fun place to go.

goodeats,

Zha Jiang Noodle is a comfort food for Korean people, too. It is the most selling Chinese food in Korea. Have you tried it at any Korean-Chinese place?

Would you prefer Zha Jiang Noodle here to A&J's? I like the Zha Jiang Noodle at A&J though it is a bit greasy for me.

Hope they have an upscale menu, too.

I am using "Trend" dinnerware from Thomas (part of Rosenthal China). I like them because I can use them for both Asian or Occidental dinner. If it is too modern, then Rosenthal Baronesse White could work for you.

Those were dried anchovies cooked in soy, sugar and chili powder reduction sauce aka Myulchi bokkum.

Seems like we made the right choice in their view and we got rewarded with deep fried little fishies with the texture of leather and a sweet salty taste that encourage me to imbibe a wee tad more soju then I really needed.

Does it look like this?

DanielK,

Not every Yelp review is bad. It doesn't mean that I totally trust them but I found many quotations from Yelp site in this forum.

is this restaurant metro accessible?

You probably need to ride a cab after getting off the metro.

I read comments from Yelp and the place got barely OK reviews.

Found their website. Their online menu unfortunately don't have their Korean dishes.

Hmm, they posted the take-out menu without listing Korean/Chinese food. Try sweet and sour pork and order it without ketchup (the American version uses ketchup).

I took a picture of the Korean menu but it won't help you a lot. Maybe we can arrange a dinner with you some time later.

If you expect this place to serve typical American-Chinese food, then it might be dreadful as you said. Chef Chen's specialty is Korean-Chinese food. Remember the food I ordered at Jang Won Bahn Jom? This is what you said. I think you would like K37(Stir fried shreded pork and chive) on the last page of the menu. It would be enough for two. Ask if it comes with steamed buns. The black bean noodle I had is K03 and Jjampong(spicy seafood noodle soup) is K06.

House of No MSG!

I heard about this place from menusarang.com which introduces Korean restaurants in the DC Metro area. According to the website, Chef Chen used to work at a Chinese restaurant near the city hall in Seoul, left and came to the U.S. and opened this place. The website also added his black bean noodle and Jjampong (spicy seafood noodle soup) is fantastic. Escoffier and I tried the black bean noodle, Jjampong and Szechuan spicy shrimp. The black bean sauce has a deeper and earthier taste than usual. I am wondering if it is homemade. Diced pork, chopped onion and julienned zucchini were stir-fried with the black bean sauce. The sauce was very well done. I could tell the chef is very skillful. The texture of the noodles was okay, not as remarkable as Da Rae Won's. I ordered Jjampong and asked them to make it spicier. It wasn't very spicy, however, it was very tasty. The Szechuan spicy shrimp was good. It also could have been spicier. One thing I was disappointed with was that he made the dish very saucier therefore, it lost crunchiness. Overall, I ilke this place a lot and I will visit this place again soon.

'House of No MSG' was written on top of the menu. After I tasted his foods, I can trust the statement.

Is this bar menu available at lunch time?

Lion's Head meatballs

I would say their peak time was early 2000's. They got awards from Washingtonian magazine a couple of times. After the chef/owner's wife got pregnant around 2005 (?) they moved to Centerville. I don't know if they opened a new Sushi place or not.

Could it be 油淋鴨? 油 means oil, 淋 means sprinkle and 鴨 means duck. 油淋鷄 (Yuling Chicken) is more poppular in Korea, though. The sauce includes soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, chopped scallion, chopped garlic, ginger and Chinese wine or Sake.

The smell your wife doesn't like is from Korean Natto stew. I don't like it either but To Sok Jib doesn't smell like it all the time. You just happened to be there when somebody ordered it.

I had their bo ssäm at the Centreville location. Quite a lot of rather bland and fatty pork. It being the only time I've ever had bo ssäm, I didn't know what to make of it. I have no problem eating pigskin or pig fat but I generally like them flavored. It was accompanied with a nice garlicky chili paste. Any suggestion as to where else to try bo ssäm (other than Momofuku)? No oysters though.

Pork Bossam consists of steamed pork belly, Kimchi marinade, fresh oyster and brined cabbage leaves. Korean people start Winter Kimchi making after mid October. Once the Kimchi is made, the left over brined cabbage and the marinade is used in making Bossam. This is what Pork Bossam comes from. If a Korean restaurant carries good Kimchi, then you can trust their Bossam quality because the marinade controls the flavor. You can buy small sized Bossam packages at Super H. To Sok Jib has very good Bossam but their portion is rather smaller than Gom Ba Woo's and has fewer fresh oysters. You didn't like eating oysters with it? Too sad