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/

Appetite Stimulus Plan in Washington, D.C.

Kim mentioned this event to me the other day… similar to Washington, D.C. Restaurant Week, restaurants in the District are offering discounted lunch and dinner meals starting today, November 17 through November 21. Find out more info here…

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…

Taste of Maryland at the National Harbor
http://www.nationalharbor.com/

I covered the Taste of Maryland at the relatively new National Harbor last month. The event was somewhat of a disappointment. The admission price and tickets were expensive, the ticket booth was disorganized, and there were only a handful of food venders that came out.

The National Harbor, however, is beautiful. And although it's located at the end of the earth (Exit 1 or 2 off 495), it's worth checking out if you have some free time. Several new restaurants have just opened their doors at the Harbor, including Rosa Mexicano, Old Hickory Steakhouse, and Sauciety. According to their website, more restaurants are coming soon.

Hopefully the Taste of Maryland will be more exciting and go a little more smoothly next year, after all the new dining establishments have settled in.

Tom Seitsema's Fall 2008 Dining Guide...

Washington Post's food critic, Tom Seitsema, has released his annual fall dining guide. See it here...

Brunch at Café Atlantico… sans Latin dim sum…

Café Atlantico
405 8^th Street NW
Washington, DC 20004
202.393.0812
http://www.cafeatlantico.com/

José Andrés’ popular Café Atlantico restaurant is one that has been on my To-Do list for quite some time now, so I was very excited when Christina, Stephanie and I decided to go for their Latino dim sum brunch. Unfortunately, we went during Restaurant Week, and because of the RW promotional menu, they weren’t offering their dim sum that day. It was a sad moment.

But then we ordered Bloody Marys and got over it.

The Bloody Marys were really good… They tasted fresh, and were perfectly seasoned. If you’re normally a fan of Bloody Marys, I would recommend trying one from here.

Our server was a little strange, and though he was always around, he wasn’t very attentive.

As usual, Christina was running a little late, and because we love her, we decided to wait until she got there so we could all order together. However, our 1:30 reservation was quickly inching toward 2:30, and finally our server decided to inform us that the kitchen would be closing soon to prepare for dinner. So we had to order for her. No big deal.

We decided to order off the regular menu because we wanted a wider selection than the one offered on the RW menu.

To start, we got the guacamole, which was prepared fresh at our table. It was very good. Steph and I almost ate the entire thing before Christina got there… in an effort to hold ourselves back from inhaling the green goodness, we each ordered another Bloody Mary.

For our main courses, Stephanie ordered the duck pupusas, filled with duck confit and Chihuahua cheese, served with cabbage salad, and foie gras fondant; for Christina we ordered the Cuban burger, topped with sobrasada and fried egg; and I ordered the sobrasada sandwich, with mozzarella, grated tomato, arugula, honey alioli, and served with mixed greens.

Sadly, our server didn’t order Christina’s Cuban burger. Instead he ordered two sobrasada sandwiches, which unfortunately, none of us liked very much. We thought it was too sweet; the honey alioli was just too much. Stephanie’s duck pupusas were pretty good though. Too bad we didn’t get two of those instead.

Since we knew they were trying to get us out of there to set up for dinner, we didn’t order any dessert, and tried not to linger too much longer.

My long awaited Café Atlantico experience left me disappointed. The absence of the Latino dim sum was a disappointment, the food was a disappointment, and the service, while maybe not a complete disappointment, could have been better (he wasn’t a total airhead… at least he was nice).

Despite all this, we’re going to go back for dinner soon, and hopefully things will go a little better. Also, the three of us are planning on trying Café Atlantico’s Minibar later this year… a 30-course extravaganza, which some refer to as Cirque de Soleil for food. Mmm… I can’t wait.

See more about Minibar here…
http://cafeatlantico.com/miniBar/miniBar.htm

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.

Dinner at Todd English’s OLiVES

Todd English’s OLiVES
1600 K St. NW
Washington, DC 20006
202.452.1866
http://www.toddenglish.com/

Stephanie and I had dinner at Todd English’s Olives a couple weeks ago for Restaurant Week. Overall, everything was decent.

Olives offers Mediterranean cuisine in an elegant and stylish dining room. Service during Restaurant Week is known to be spotty and poor, however the service we had that evening was terrific! I don’t remember his name, but he was attentive, informative, and very friendly.

Olives’ Restaurant Week menu was a bit on the skimpy side, and didn’t really have anything that peaked our interest, so Steph and I decided to order off the regular menu instead.

For starters we ordered the beef carpaccio, with Roquefort polenta, shaved parmesan, and balsamic cipollini onions; and the artichoke flatbread… however, our server accidentally gave us the fig and prosciutto flatbread instead, which was pretty good… it was served with sweet-sour fig jam, gorgonzola, prosciuto di parma, on a rosemary crust. I’ll just have to remember to order the artichoke flatbread (served with montrachet goat cheese and caramelized onions) next time I’m there. I absolutely loved the beef carpaccio. I’ll probably get that again during my next visit.

For our main course, Steph ordered the herb ricotta ravioli, with roasted tomato ragout and a pesto ricotta salata. I had the potato gnocchi, with sausage, dandelion greens, pecorino romano, and brown butter bread crumbs. Her ravioli was delicious, however, my gnocchi was very very salty. I was still guzzling down water when I got home because I was so thirsty.

We decided against ordering dessert since neither of us had any room. Despite receiving the wrong flatbread and the super salty gnocchi, Steph and I really liked Olives. I think it’s a place worth visiting again.

Side note: Todd English has a couple of TV shows… Cooking with Todd English and Food Trip with Todd English. Both are aired on public television.

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!

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! :)

Birthday Dinner at Napoleon and the Metropolitain in Adams Morgan

1847 Columbia Rd., NW
Washington, DC 20009
202.299.9630
http://www.napoleondc.com/

The girls took me to Napoleon in Adams Morgan for my birthday, which was nearly a month ago (I know, I’m a little behind on my blog postings). Napoleon is an upscale French bistro owned by the same people who run Café Bonaparte in Georgetown.

The dining room is chic with black walls containing red and gold stripes. We were seated in a cozy little booth in the corner of the room; the perfect spot for us to talk as loudly as we wanted… and it was right next to the bar!

We decided to order a couple of appetizers and a few different entrées to share among the four of us. We ordered: Napoleon Mini Burgers, served on a bed of three sauces—sun-dried tomato ginger ketchup, grilled scallion mayo, and honey mustard; Apple and Brie Crepe Chips served with sautéed apples and melted brie; Napoleon Frites served with ketchup and herb mayo; C&C Risotto, shrimp and duck confit, with green peas and truffle oil; Porc Mignon, sirloin stuffed with spinach and wild mushrooms, served over mashed potatoes and black olive demi-glaze; and Cote d’Agneau, roasted New Zealand lamb rack with potato gratin, sautéed spinach, served with a fresh bay leaf demi.

For dessert, Katherine and Kim shared one of the sweet crepes, while Roman and I shared a glass of Sambuca. :)

After dinner, the four of headed downstairs to the restaurant’s basement lounge, called the Metropolitain. Although it was a little small, it had a fun atmosphere, decent music, and an eclectic crowd. We hung around for a while… Kim tried a couple of their champagne cocktails, which they’re known for. She said they were good. I enjoyed the vibe, and wouldn’t mind coming back… I thought it was a nice place to hang out at after dinner.

Thanks again guys, for a great birthday!!

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