TOAN Soup in Silver Spring

Pho, a traditional Vietnamese soup dish, is a favorite among my friends and Valina. It’s great on cold, wintry days and absolutely perfect for hangovers. It seems like pho restaurants have proliferated in the area over the last couple of years, setting their existence and the Vietnamese culture on the forefront and a step further into the mainstream dining scene.

Valina is regular pho consumer and if you’re lost somewhere and craving a steaming bowl of beef noodle soup, she could probably tell you where the nearest pho restaurants are if you called her.

There’s a new one in Silver Spring, and the owner is none other than Kim’s new lover’s brother (did you get that?). The restaurant, Toan Soup (named after the owner) opened only a few weeks ago, but has already seemed to have established a regular customer base. When the girls and I walked in a couple Sundays ago, I overheard some people saying goodbye to Toan, and telling him they’d be back again soon. With so many pho restaurants to choose from in the area, developing regulars is not always easy.

The menu is simple, consisting of just a handful of soup options offered in two sizes: small and regular. I ordered a small bowl of the meatball pho and decided to upgrade and get the combo, which included a summer roll and soda. I can see why Toan Soup is quickly gaining popularity in the area. The broth is flavorful and everything tasted great. The décor in the dining room is clean, simple and inviting, which are traits that also exemplify the atmosphere of the restaurant.

Valina has yet to visit Toan’s, but as soon as she does, I’ll let you guys know what she thinks… seeing as how she is the pho expert after all.

TOAN Soup
736 Cloverly St.
Silver Spring, MD 20905
301.879.8626
www.toansoup.com

I Got a Free Lunch in THIS Economy??!

A couple weeks ago, the girls and I were out for a bike ride in Bethesda. We were teaching Kim how to ride a bike (it’s on her list of things to do/accomplish before turning 30). After about an hour of showing Kimmy the anatomy of a two-wheeler and the proper way to balance yourself without falling over, we decided to ride somewhere for lunch.

We were on Bethesda Ave. trying to look for the non-existent Louisiana Express (I knew it closed down, but I thought it had reopened recently… and I was right, it did, but in a different form and by different owners… more on that later). So, the four of us were looking around for a suitable spot to dine, when this man tells us that we should come eat at his restaurant because they were serving free food. Roman thought he was joking. But it turned out that he was not joking at all.

The restaurant was Nest Café, located where Louisiana Express used to be. The former Cajun joint had been transformed into a cozy dining room adorned with small wooden tables and had the scent of Mediterranean cooking lingering in the air. That weekend was their grand opening, and the owners offered complimentary 3-course lunch and dinners on Saturday and Sunday. The menu included a Caesar salad, various brick-oven pizzas, a chicken sandwich, rosemary-seasoned French fries (which the girls thought were amazing, but I thought they were just okay), and vanilla and chocolate ice cream for dessert. The girls enjoyed lunch, and honestly it’s hard to complain when everything is on the house. We’ll definitely be back. You can check out their menu here: Nest Café Menu

Nest Café
4921 Bethesda Ave.
Bethesda, MD 20814
301.718.6378
http://nestwinebarcafe.com

Sushi Damo in Rockville Town Center

I’ve been dining around Rockville more frequently these days, mainly because Rockville is a city that’s located conveniently between Jeremy and me…and also because Jeremy hates Bethesda, which is usually my “go-to” city for restaurants.

Neither of us were feeling D.C. the other evening so we decided to check out Sushi Damo, a trendy and attractive little sushi place in Rockville Town Center.

We had drinks at the bar as we waited for our table. The bartender double charged me for my drinks, which wasn’t really a big deal, but what was annoying was that another bartender charged me as well, and there was this whole ordeal to get the charge taken off my card.

After that had been settled, the hostess showed us to our table. We ended up being seated next to Jeremy’s former co-worker, Mike, who was out with his girlfriend. It was an entertaining evening.

Jeremy and I ordered a several different rolls, including the Dragon and Spider rolls and the special of the evening: spicy tuna slices, rolled with seared tuna and spicy mayo. The tuna special was our favorite.

After dinner, the lights dimmed and the music got louder. People started gravitating toward this small area in the middle of the room to dance. We stayed a little while to people watch.

All in all, it was a fun night. Food was decent. Dining service was good (bar service could use a little work). And atmosphere was great.

Sushi Damo
36 Maryland Ave # G
Rockville, MD 20850
301.340.8010
http://www.sushidamo.com/

Photos from the 19th Annual Taste of Bethesda

The Taste of Bethesda was a hit this year… as it is every year. The weather was gorgeous, the food was delicious, and the crowds were great. I don’t usually have any complaints when I attend this event, and this year was no different.

My friends and I have been coming to this event for several years now, and we’ve finally gotten to the point where we know exactly how many vendors we can visit and how much we can eat without feeling like bloated pigs by the end of the afternoon.

There were a few new guys on the block this year, including Visions Restaurant, The Burger Joint, and Doraku.

Here are some photos from this year…

Cocktails, Bachelors, and Chicken Fingers…

It was like old times Saturday night, with Roman and me gallivanting around Bethesda… intoxicated. We patronized the usual bars, mingled with other barflies, ran into a bachelor party and played bar games with them (one dude was a little too loud and obnoxious, I wanted to push him every time he opened his mouth), and ended our night at our usual late-night destination: Tastee Diner.

It’s been a while since we’ve had a drunken Tastee Diner night… we used to be regulars there. Oh if those diner walls could talk…

Roman and I ordered our usual dish: chicken fingers and fries, with an extra side of honey-mustard sauce. This time, however, we decided to be a little different and add onion rings into the mix as well. They were good.

It was a fun night, but I totally paid for it yesterday, when I woke up with a pounding headache and slight nausea. I was definitely out of commission, and spent the entire afternoon napping. I think I’m getting old… either that, or I’m out of practice and need to have drunken Tastee Diner nights more regularly again.

All-You-Can-Eat Crabs at Bethesda Crab House

4958 Bethesda Ave
Bethesda, MD 20814
(301) 652-3382

We went to Bethesda Crab House a couple weekends ago for their all-you-can-eat-crabs… We had two hours to pick and shovel crab meat into our mouths and not get sick. This was my first all-you-can-eat experience for crabs… it was OK. The crabs were small, and there was a little too much Old Bay (in my opinion) on it. The service was slow, but I think that’s because our server was swamped with other tables. I guess I wouldn’t mind going back for another round one day, but I think I would prefer getting a couple bushels somewhere and picking away on the deck in my backyard or something. My parents usually go to this place on Georgia Avenue in Wheaton, Md called Crabs and Shrimp to buy their bushels. My Dad said they have the “biggest males in the area”. I’m assuming he was referring to biggest male crabs.

Sushi at Doraku in Bethesda

7820 Norfolk Ave.
Bethesda, MD
301.654.7851

My cousin, Janine, was in town from New York last weekend, and after doing a little shopping we decided to have dinner at Doraku, a relatively new Japanese restaurant and lounge in Bethesda.

I’ve been to Doraku a few times, but mainly only for drinks. We shared several rolls and specialty sushi… the spicy salmon roll, the fatty tuna nigiri, the dragon roll, and the spider roll. She also had miso soup, and I had the seaweed salad. Both Katherine and Jason recommended the spider roll, and we’re glad they did… it’s was really good!

Follow-up to Trans-Fat Ban in Montgomery County

Last year I wrote about the trans-fat ban that Montgomery County was about to implement… here’s a follow-up clip to that news. The package is by Ian Rushing at WJLA-TV. The clip is from my broadcast news instructor’s website, http://irisup.blogspot.com/.

Drinks and Grilled Lincolns at Growlers in Gaithersburg

227 E Diamond Ave
Gaithersburg, MD 20877
(301) 519-9400
http://www.growlersofgaithersburg.com/

Jason and I met Leny and Jason at Growlers in Gaithersburg last week for drinks and a performance by The Grilled Lincolns. I don’t venture out to Gaithersburg too often, but Growlers was fun, and we all had a great time.

Our tab consisted predominantly of drinks, but Jason did order the Growlers pizza and a sandwich of some sort (I don’t remember the name). The Growlers pizza consisted of pepperoni, proscuitto, chorizo, bacon, mozzarella, and tomato sauce (a.k.a. the heart attack pizza). It complemented my vodka on the rocks just fine. :)

Photos below are courtesy of Leny’s camera. Thanks Leny! :)

BGR: The Burger Joint

4827 Fairmont Ave.
Bethesda, MD 20814
301.358.6137
http://www.burgerjointdc.com/

A new burger place recently joined the Bethesda neighborhood… it’s called BGR: The Burger Joint. I love burgers, and get cravings for them all the time, so I was pretty excited to check it out.

The place is cute, colorful and small. When it’s really crowded though, seating can be a bit of a problem. However, if the weather’s nice, you can try to get a seat outside at one of their outdoor tables.

The menu offers various types of unique burgers, such as The Cuban and The Greek. They also have a burger called The 9 Pounder, which, according to their menu, actually weighs 15.4 pounds once the bun and condiments are added. If you can eat the entire burger in one sitting, it’s free!

We each ordered “The Burger”, served with cheese (your choice) and their special mojo sauce, on a toasted, buttery, sesame seed bun. I have to admit… I honestly wasn’t really that impressed with my burger. I think my favorite is still the So-Cal burger at Urban Burger Company, which I have not written about here in my blog yet, but will soon.

Although I didn’t find their burger to be anything to brag about, I really enjoyed their fries a lot. They were double-fried and oily, and were heavily seasoned with parmesan and garlic. Very tasty!

Even though the burgers are just “eh”, I’ll probably still come back here again. There are a couple of other items that I wouldn’t mind giving a try, such as the Ahi Tuna burger and The Greek. And of course, I’ll probably get an order of fries to go a long with it.

burgers, tasting journal

Dinner at Sushi-Ko in Chevy Chase

5455 Wisconsin Ave.
Chevy Chase, MD 20815
301.961.1644
http://sushiko.us/

Sushi-Ko is apparently the oldest sushi establishment in the Washington, D.C. area. The first location, on Wisconsin Ave. in Glover Park, opened in 1976, and according to reviews, remains popular to this day.

Recently a second Sushi-Ko opened up in Chevy Chase, and is said to not only be just as good as the original, but prettier too. I wanted to see what made this place so desirable, so Jason and I went to check it out a couple of weeks ago. For all the fashion mavens out there, the new Sushi-Ko is located near the Collection at Chevy Chase (with Louis, Gucci, Jimmy, Ralph, Tiffany, and the rest of the high end gang).

We arrived a little early for our reservation and were offered to be seated immediately since there were open tables available. We were hungry, so we said yes.

The menu included a wide variety of options… there were soups, salads, small dishes, entrées, and of course, sushi… We decided to order a couple small dishes and several different types of sushi from the sushi a la carte section.

A couple of my favorites were the crab cakes served with a delicious orange-colored sauce (these actually looked more like little crab balls… and I’m sorry, I don’t remember what kind of sauce it was), and the spicy tuna sashimi rolls, which were absolutely amazing.

For dessert, Jason ordered ice cream served with bananas that were lightly battered and fried in tempura. He loved it. I, on the other hand, don’t have much of a sweet tooth, so while he went to the restroom, I ordered myself seaweed salad for dessert. I didn’t finish it because I was stuffed from dinner, but it was really good, and tasted even better the next day for lunch.

Everything we had that evening was fantastic. In addition to the great food, the service was also perfect. Our server was attentive and informative with the menu. I’m ready to go back for another visit, and I’d also like to check out the original Sushi-Ko as well.

restaurants, sushi, tasting journal

2006 Taste of Bethesda

Last week, the girls and I stepped out into the cold dreary weather to attend the Taste of Bethesda. The temperature was low, and the rain was sprinkling on and off. However, this event has become somewhat of a tradition for us, and so to not go was hardly even a question. And so we added a couple extra layers, some rain boots and a hat, and then off we went to taste Bethesda. Here are some pics from this year…

restaurants, Bethesda, MD, Taste of Bethesda, food, Tasting Journal

Sunday Brunch at Jackie's

Jackie’s Restaurant
8081 Georgia Avenue
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Tel: 301.565.9700
http://www.jackiesrestaurant.com/

In small quiet corner not too far from the bustling streets of downtown Silver Spring there is a colorful little restaurant called Jackie’s. What was once an old auto garage is now a super groovy restaurant with chic décor reminiscent of the 1960s.

Last week the girls and I decided to have brunch at Jackie Greenbaum’s popular hot spot. We arrived early to a nearly empty dining room. Once we were seated we sat back and admired the vibrant colors and eclectic shapes and textures that adorned all four walls and everything in between.

Although the brunch menu was limited, I still had trouble deciding what to order. Katherine, Kim and Roman all ordered crispy fried chicken served with biscuits, on top of gravy. After a few more minutes, I decided to order the bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon. And of course, we ordered a few sides of home fries as well.

After about half and hour of gossiping, we started to wonder why our food was taking so long. Our server walked by as we were looking around the room to see if any other tables had gotten their food yet. He mumbled something that sounded like “Your food is coming… frying the chicken…”. So I guess the crispy fried chicken was the hold up.

Finally just as we were on the verge of starvation our dishes arrived. The girls’ chicken looked great and tasted delicious. The home fries were perfect except for that there could have been a little more. My bagel arrived in a lovely presentation, embellished with red onion, parsley and capers. I thought it was a bit too chewy, but other than that it tasted fine.

Although Kim was pining for a scone when we first arrived, we ended up opting out for dessert after our meal.

Jackie’s has been quite a hit since it first opened a couple years ago. I can see why… despite the meal delay, the great atmosphere and tasty food is a surefire recipe for success.

restaurants, brunch, Silver Spring, MD, Tasting Journal

Attention Local Foodies:

I forgot to announce that this week, July 17-23, is Bethesda - Chevy Chase Restaurant Week!! There are about 30 participating restaurants this year. Each restaurant will offer either a prix fixe lunch or dinner menu (or both).

2-Course Lunch - $12
3-Course Dinner - $30 or $22

For more information, see here...

restaurants, Bethesda, MD, dining out, Tasting Journal

Praline Bakery and Restaurant
4611 Sangamore Rd.
Bethesda, MD 20816
Tel: 301.229.8180

Open for lunch Monday through Friday,
11:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.;
Dinner, Monday through Thursday,
5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.; and
Saturday, 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.

There’s a delicious new kid on the Bethesda block. Praline Bakery and Restaurant opened its doors not too long ago in a cozy little spot in the Shoppes at Sumner Place on Sangamore Road. To celebrate Nick’s birthday, he and I enjoyed a lovely dinner at the two-story French restaurant with his family during his short stay in town.

“The bread is very good, and they have a nice selection of pastries,” said Nick’s mother. “If you don’t get there early enough though, there won’t be anymore left!” The scoop on the downstairs bakery is that everything is made in-house except for the bread, which comes from Baguette Republic in Falls Church, Virginia. Praline bakery offers an assortment of croissants, Danishes, cookies, cakes, and brownies.

Owners, Patrick Musel and Susan Limb, first met at the White House while doing contract work under former executive pastry chef, Roland Mesnier. They were also long-time co-workers at Filomena Restaurant in Georgetown. Musel heads the bakery at Praline, while his good friend, Jean-Pierre Petit, runs the show in the upper-level kitchen.

The menu offers some classic French-style dishes, such as duck confit, steak au poivre, and seafood fricasee. In addition to its Parisian fare, Praline also presents less pretentious, but by no means at all any less appetizing entrées, including the bacon cheeseburger with fries (which is what I ordered); the spinach salad, with sliced pairs, crumbled blue cheese, toasted pecans, and dried cranberries; and the braised short ribs, served with red wine sauce and vegetables.

No French restaurant is complete without mouth-watering desserts to choose from. The selections includes the opera cake, pastries, brioche pudding, and crème brulee, all garnished deliciously with macaroons of various flavors.

Praline’s full bar and bakery is open seven days a week, and offers brunch on Sundays.

restaurants, Bethesda, MD, bakery, French food, bread, Tasting Journal