FoodiePop - a journey through food, love for dogs, and misc.

Ford's Fish Shack, Ashburn VA

2013-08-02T12:23:00.001-07:00

I'm BACK!!!! I think it's time to revive this blog since little J is 16 months and he can start on the food adventure with us. We've been to some nice places lately, but the one that sparked my pallets and interest was Ford's Fish Shack located in Ashburn Virginia. I've been wanting to try out this place for a while, but given a toddler's schedule and the long drive, we never got around to it. On a Sunday after church, I found out the place is only 20 minutes from church and we quickly hopped in the car (yes we strapped J to his car seat before hopping away) and came to Ford's Fish Shack!

Having abandoned this blog for a while, I forgot to take pictures of the restaurant and the decorations. Can you blame me? We had to chase little J around! Nevertheless, the restaurant looked surprisingly elegant and I LOVED the blue theme throughout the restaurant. The lovely hostess greeted us with a big smile and seated us right away in the corner by the window with the *fake* seaside view (good enough for me!)

We took a quick glance at the menu and decided on the following items: kids meal with fried shrimp and sweet potato fries, lobster bisque (soup of the day), fish and chips (a must as I'm told), and Connecticut style lobster roll.

Lobster bisque

Fish and chips (fries in this case)

Connecticut style lobster roll (and more fries!)

kids meal (meh.....)

So to sum up the meal, the lobster roll is probably my favorite in the DC area. Luke's has the next descent one but being Asian, we like our food hot (or is it just me?) and the Connecticut style sauteed lobster meat WINS big time. Fish and chips are A+, fresh cod fillet perfectly fried to golden brown. Just a side note, make sure you substitute some side items if you're sharing the meals, so you don't end up with a lot of fries to toss away, like us. Neither J or us liked the kids meal though, the sweet potato fries were way too salty, and shrimps were a bit under cooked (kids obviously don't like semi-transparent shrimps). I would suggest staying away from these if you can...... Oh, we didn't enjoy the lobster bisque much, way too much alcohol in the soup early in the morning.

Overall, service was A+, our waiter went out of his way to make us and J comfortable; food was a solid A, I think we definitely going to pay another visit when we're in the mood for good lobster rolls!

FoodiePop's rating: 4/5

Ford's Fish Shack
44260 Ice Rink Plz
Ste 101
Ashburn, VA 20147

La Canela, Rockville Town Center, MD

2012-09-13T09:52:00.002-07:00

Wow, it's been a long while since I updated this blog...it's revival time! I have a lot of restaurant pictures from the beginning of the year, hopefully I can finish updating the blog. Then, even though we won't be dining out as much, I'll try my best to 'keep the blog alive'!

For our last girls night out before my big life changing event, my girl friend recommended La Canela in Rockville Town Center. I always love trying new places in Rockville town center because parking is usually a breeze there and it's free on weekends. Then again, we're talking Rockville, don't know why anybody would think about charging patrons parking if we're not in DC..

La Canela Menu

The place is cute and cozy, with dimmed lights for a romantic atmosphere. I didn't bother taking pictures of the interior since the lights were so dim, but it's definitely a good choice for a first date (maybe?). What do I know? My first date was more than a decade ago...lol.

complimentary appetizer

After we placed our orders, our waitress delivered this mysterious complimentary appetizer. I think it had some type of seafood ceviche inside? I vaguely remember I wasn't allowed to eat it.....The girls said it was okay, not anything exceptional. But being that it was free, they didn't mind it at all.

Fried Calamari

I remember the fried calamari was quite good. The breading was just enough, air and fluffy. This wasn't a good picture though, I accidentally focused on the fries instead, oops.

complimentary bread basket

This was surprisingly good! I was on low carb diet so I only had a few bites, but I love it when restaurants serve warm bread, two thumbs up!

Seafood Paella

This was my friend's seafood paella dish, it looked good and she liked it. I snuck in a taste and thought it was pretty good too. The portion was big as well, I think she ended up taking some home.

shrimp ceviche

Beautifully plated shrimp ceviche. This was pretty good as well, I especially love the presentation and the cute little decorations (is that potato ball?).

chicken entree

Since I was on low carb diet, I picked an entree with only chicken and vegetables. It was descent, but the chicken a bit dry inside. The sauce, on the other hand, was excellent.

dessert menu

Here's a sneak at the dessert menu. I think we were all too full for dessert, so we just took a look at the menu. Nothing jumped out at me though, so we skipped dessert...

Overall, I enjoyed the La Canela experience. I even said to bring the hubby back for a romantic evening out, apparently we got really really busy after April so I never got the chance....lol.

FoodiePop's rating: 4/5

La Canela
141 Gibbs St
Ste D
Rockville, MD 20850

Pacifica Cafe, Gaithersburg MD

2012-05-22T05:29:00.005-07:00

Wow, it has been a while since my last post. My friends obviously know I've been busy for the past two months or so, now that things are 'settled' a bit, it's time to revive this blog!

I've been to Pacifica Cafe many times since they opened, except for their special seasonal dishes like 糯米八寶鴨 duck stuffed with sticky rice or 什錦鍋 special hot pot, I haven't found other dishes that are worth mentioning. On a Friday, my sister and I decided to stop by Pacifica Cafe for a quick lunch. I was pleasantly surprised because their lunch specials are cheap and delicious!

You can order two dishes with rice for a lunch special price of $6.99. I ordered the fish sauce egg plant and basil chicken, they were both freshly prepared and delicious! Also, the portions were pretty big for a lunch special, they give you the dishes on separate plates as well so they don't all taste the same. Pacifica Cafe definitely won me over with the lunch specials!

egg plant

basil chicken

My sister ordered their pan-fried udon, which was delicious as well. It was also a generous portion so she got to take some home for the kids.

fried udon

In short, Pacifica Cafe is now my go-to lunch place for weekday Chinese lunch. Can't wait to go back again!

FoodiePop's rating for lunch special: 4/5

Pacifica Cafe
621 Center Point Way
Gaithersburg, MD 20878

Cafe Deluxe, Gaithersburg MD

2012-03-29T08:33:00.000-07:00

Cafe Deluxe opened in my neighborhood at Washingtonian center a few months ago. On a gorgeous spring-like weeknight, we took the dog out to the lake for a nice stroll, and decided to try the new establishment. I called ahead to make sure they allow dogs at the patio area, and they seem very accommodating to small dogs. Many other restaurants in the area are not dog friendly at all, for example Red Canyon does not allow dogs in their patio area, CPK allows dogs but they need to be 'outside the fence', which I did not like. Guapos has a similar policy with the fence but they are really not that strict once you get there as long as you're not a disturbance to other patrons. On the other hand, Nando is another dog friendly restaurant if you're interested in taking your pooch, but always call ahead to make sure!

from patio area

The patio area is spacious and has plenty of seating, so we were seated right away. The location, of course, is lakefront so it's great for chilling and people watching (or paddle boat watching). We even saw a huge fish jumped out of the water! The place looks great for a happy hour because they have an outdoor bar with great ambiance, I might come back to try! It will be nice in spring and fall to sit by the lake and enjoy happy hour specials and drinks!

Cafe Deluxe menu

I ordered a turkey burger in an attempt to be healthy, he ordered the beef short ribs from the entrees. We chatted and people watched for a while before the food came, but it didn't take unreasonably long. I'd say about 15 to 20 minutes tops.

turkey burger

The turkey burger was good! It was moist and the buns were toasted buttery delicious, the sauce was a great compliment to the burger as well. His short rib was okay, a little dry to my liking but it made the C+/B- passing grade.

beef short rib

Overall, the new restaurant wins with their excellent bar ambiance and nicely setup outdoor dining area. Their food is up to par, but nothing knocked us out of our shoes. They do have a descent brunch menu though, we might have to come back for a Sunday brunch sometime! (with a stroller and the pooch?)

FoodiePop's rating: 3.9/5

Cafe Deluxe
9811 Washingtonian Blvd
Gaithersburg, MD 20878

Season 52, North Bethesda MD

2012-03-26T13:05:00.000-07:00

I've wanted to try Season 52 since it opened couple months ago since it's in a new development area and I'd like to see what the hype is about. So on a misty Saturday night, the hubby and I drove down to Rockville for a late dinner date. As soon as we walked in, we took immediate liking to the whole ambiance. The interior decor of Season 52 grill is gorgeous, up-scale, yet cozy. They have a lobby area with gas fire place while you're waiting, and their bar area is also beautifully furnished with ample open seating and a nice round bar in the middle. On Saturday nights, they even have live piano performance where the piano is situated right in the center of the bar. I was immediately attracted by the beautiful sound of the piano and singing, so luckily we found an open booth at the bar and we got to enjoy the dinner and the show for the whole night!

Front entrance

They have a fairly simple but healthy menu. Most of the yelpers recommended flat bread for appetizer, so we proceeded to do so. We ordered the steak and cremini flat bread with blue cheese. The flat bread came fairly quickly, maybe within 8 minutes or so, it was thinner and crispier than I expected but I enjoyed the extra crunchiness. If you're not a big fan of blue cheese though, you probably want to opt for another flavor.

season 52 menu

steak and cremini flat bread

We order two main entrees, the pork tenderloin and the BBQ chicken salad. The pork tenderloin was descent, not the best we've had but was on-par. On the plus side, the pork tenderloins were served with a herb polenta which I enjoyed more than the usual boring mashed potato as a side, and the broccoli was fresh. Nothing too special or memorable though. My BBQ chicken salad was pretty good, the chicken was tender and full of flavor, and the sun flower seeds added the perfect crunch factor. I finished the salad in no time.

pork tenderloin

BBQ chicken salad

Since I had a pretty healthy main course, I was ready to order dessert! They have these mini desserts in cute shot glasses that are the perfect portion for someone who's health conscious and just want a bite. Instead of a traditional dessert menu, they bring you the whole display of mini desserts and you pick whatever you like! How good does this look?

mini shot glass desserts

I was being semi-good and "only" picked 3 of them. Well, originally I was just going to get two for taste, but they all looked so good! Whoever came up with this idea instead of a traditional menu must be a genius! We picked the key lime pie, mango cheesecake, and mocha macchiato. Key lime pie was actually my favorite, I did wish it was a little bit more tart for my liking though. The other two were pretty good as well.

At the end of night, we probably spent about $50 for party of two, which is honestly pretty descent for such an upscale restaurant. On top of that, we were thoroughly entertained and enjoyed the live piano performance throughout the whole night, it was a date night success with perfect ambiance and good food!

FoodiePop's rating: 4.2/5
(I added 0.3 for the live performance and ambiance, I can be such a girl sometimes :)

Season 52
11414 Rockville Pike
North Bethesda, MD 20852

Sichuan Jin River (formerly Sichuan Pavilion), Rockville MD

2012-03-20T13:54:00.001-07:00

Rockville houses some of the best Chinese restaurants in the area, last year Sichuan Jin River 八山蜀水 opened up and added itself to this list as one of the top authentic Sichuan cuisine. I used to go to Peking Palace in Germantown for Sichuan cuisine, but since Sichuan Jin River opened last year, we've visited this restaurant more since it looks cleaner and the dishes usually do not disappoint. Peking palace is still one of my favorite places, except for the fact they really really need an interior decor makeover!

They have two types of menu, an authentic Chinese cuisine menu and an 'American version'. Of course we always stick to the authentic Chinese cuisine, it has all kinds of dishes that I have yet to try. Additionally, the chopsticks prepared looked clean and sanitized (according to casing), so that immediately won me over!

authentic chinese style menu

re-usable but clean chopsticks (so it says)

We ordered an appetizer and three dishes since it's the beginning of the week and we can always use some leftover for the rest of the week. For the appetizer, we ordered the meat dumpling in Chili oil 紅油炒手. I think it's simply the best in the area! I've tried the same appetizer in several other restaurants and only A&J is up to par with Sichuan Jin River. I know it's a simple dish, but Pacifiica Cafe in Kentland definitely fails the category because their meat dumpling was soaked in peanut butter sauce rather than chili oil...

Meat dumpling in chili oil 紅油炒手

For the dishes, we ordered Sichuan Soft Tofu 四川豆花, cumin chicken 關公孜然雞片, and steamed taro with fatty pork 南乳芋頭燉肉. The tofu dish was mediocre but was what I expected, it was also priced cheaper at $6.25. Cumin chicken was above average, except the seasoning was not distributed evenly. We had to do some mixing of our own to avoid eating a super salty piece. Peking palace definitely has better cumin chicken dish in comparison, good flavor and less salty. The steamed taro pork was excellent, even though it took a good 20 minutes before it hit the table. We were pretty much done with dinner by the time it came out, so I only had a few bites. Nonetheless, it was delicious and the hubby loved it!

Sichuan Soft Tofu 四川豆花

Cumin Chicken 關公孜然雞片

Steamed Taro with Fatty Pork 南乳芋頭燉肉

When comparing the only two authentic Sichuan restaurants around the area (that I know of), I'd probably still pick Peking palace if judging by food only. As far as overall dining experience, Sichuan Jin River is much cleaner and it also serves excellent delicious food. A word of warning though, this restaurant apparently is VERY popular on Saturday nights. We waited at least 30 minutes for takeout last Saturday because the restaurant was jammed packed with at least 45 min to an hour wait! If you don't like waiting for a table, try the place on a weeknight.

FoodiePop's rating: 4.3/5

Sichuan Jin River

410 Hungerford Dr
Rockville, MD 20850

Pho Nom Nom, Rockville MD

2012-03-19T08:48:00.000-07:00

We finally made it to Pho Nom Nom to try their food this past Saturday for lunch! Pho Nom Nom (I know, funny name) replaced Bale Vietnamese Pho restaurant, situated across from Wintergreen plaza in Rockville. The restaurant is small, but they did manage to put in more tables by moving the cashier back and they did a wonderful job renovating the place to make it feel more open and new.

The menu looks clean and elegant, has a lot of varieties including specialty noodles and rice. We placed order for a grilled shrimp garden rolls for appetizer. It was delivered rather quickly but just tasted okay. The only difference was the shrimp was grilled instead of 'cocktailed', but there weren't enough shrimp for you to taste the difference anyway. On the other hand, I do love all their white plates and bowls though, they make the food seem more sophisticated.

Pho Nom Nom Menu

grilled shrimp garden roll appetizer

Then we proceeded to order our noodles soups. They have 3 sizes for pho, regular, large, and super large. He was not hungry enough to venture to the super large size, so he merely ordered a large. Now I wonder how big the super large will look like... I order the regular sized special spicy beef with noodles.

garnish

large pho, usual #1 with everything

spicy beef noodle soup

The verdict is in, the pho was just okay. It is probably comparable to pho 95 in terms of flavor or lack there-of. But it definitely tasted more healthy than Pho Nam (less MSG?). So if you're opting for a healthier version, this wouldn't be a bad choice. Pho Nam still wins in the volume of toppings and meats as well though. In addition, I think Saigon Deli in Germantown makes better and more flavorful spicy beef noodles (S4 on their menu) than Pho Nom Nom. Again, maybe this is the 'healthy' light salt version, but I'd definitely pick Saigon Deli over Pho Nom Nom if spicy beef noodle soup is what I'm going for.

So overall, Pho Nom Nom wins in cleanliness, service, and overall elegance in decor. But as far as the food goes, it's merely just mediocre....and it will end up to be a bit more pricey than Pho Nam for sure.

FoodiePop's rating: 3/5

Pho Nom Nom
842 Rockville Pike
Rockville, MD 20852

Updated Lumpia, Pansit, Atbp, Gaithersburg MD

2012-03-17T03:28:00.001-07:00

Since we had a pleasant take-out experience from Lumpia Pansit last time, we visited the place again for their famous lunch buffet. Even thought it's a small restaurant, they had a pretty descent selection of entrees for lunch buffet! I didn't have high hopes going in since the place is so small, but my stomach and I were pleasantly surprised :)

They had about 8 Filipino entrees on the hot bar, I don't remember all of them but some of the good dishes were: chicken curry, ox tail stew, and sweet sour pork. They also had some dishes on the left side that consisted of usual fried rice, lo mien noodles, Lumpia beef spring rolls (my favorite), and a type of fresh vegetable rolls with bamboo shoots. They had a sauce station also where you can pick various sauces. On top of that, they had 2 types of soups! On the dessert side, they had a small dessert tray with 2-3 types of desserts, including a hot coconut milk flavored sweet soup with taro and rice balls. I didn't get to take pictures of the buffet because I was busy filling up my plate, here's a sample plate!

buffet plate #2

chicken soup

Overall, I enjoyed their lunch buffet, the hubby?... not so much since he is not into Filipino food as much. I think he mostly ate the lo mien noodles and chicken soup for the most part....

**** Original post 10/25/11 **************

This post is strictly about my carry-out experience from Lumpia Pansit, the Filipino restaurant located just off Muddy Branch road in Gaithersburg. My friend asked me about this place so I wanted to give it a try. It's only 5 mins around the corner from me anyway!

Lumpia pork appetizer (egg rolls)

I ordered the Lumpia pork appetizer because I love the Filipino style egg rolls. This did not disappoint. I like the crispness and the dipping sauce as well.

Pansit Palabok

Palabok is a very traditional Filipino dish. It is a noodle dish with bright orange colored shrimp flavor and usually topped with cooked eggs and shrimp. This dish had good flavors but they used the thick noodles which I was not a big fan of. I believe the traditional Palabok are usually made with thin rice noodles and it is also more flavorful that way. As far as portion goes, the carry-out portion looked small but it seemed enough for one.

curry chicken over rice

This was our 'safe dish'- curry chicken over rice. I actually liked this a lot better than Palabok because it had good mild curry flavor and both the peppers and chicken were cooked just right. I can't speak for authenticity because I'm not sure what Filipino curry is supposed to taste like, but it was definitely a safe dish that paid off.

Overall, we might visit the restaurant again for their lunch buffets since it seems to be a good value ($12.95?) and you get to sample a wider variety of Filipino food. I'll definitely put up an update when we do!

FoodiePop's rating for Filipino carry-out food: 3.7/5 (adjusted according to buffet experience)

Lumpia, Pansit, Atbp
213 Muddy Branch Rd
Gaithersburg, MD 20878

Gui Lin Chinese Restaurant, Rockville MD

2012-03-13T07:29:00.000-07:00

We've been to Gui Lin Chinese restaurant many times because it's fairly close to home. It used to be pretty descent since we had no other Cantonese restaurants to compare it to, now that we have more choices, I'd definitely pick XO Taste or East Pearl over Gui Lin.

We ordered a soup and two dishes. The soup was minced beef with egg white broth (west lake beef soup), a pretty standard Cantonese soup dish. It has minced beef, cilantro, and a thick broth with egg whites. The soup was pretty good, a bit on the salty side though.

minced beef in egg white broth

I proceeded to order a dish called 'sizzling triple delight' priced at $13. It was basically just chicken, beef, and shrimp stir fried and poured over a sizzling fajita plate. I was not very happy with this dish because they used all canned vegetables and the sauce was way too salty. For its price, you would think they need to put some fresh vegetables in there! Well, they did put a few fresh broccoli in there since they probably couldn't find any canned broccoli....

sizzling triple delight

He ordered a ham and bean noodle stew. It was average or maybe a little below average. The dish had a lot of bean noodles but not much of anything else, only bits of ham and bits of vegetables in it. Overall, it was too salty as well.

We probably won't frequent this restaurant too much since we have other Cantonese restaurant choices in the area such as XO taste and East Pearl. Both of them are much better restaurants and the decor at both places are much better than Gui Lin as well!

FoodiePop's rating: 2.5/5

Gui Lin Chinese Restaurant
10054 Darnestown Rd
Rockville, MD 20850

Cheesecake Factory, Bethesda MD

2012-03-12T13:47:00.000-07:00

I've always loved a good meal at Cheesecake factory restaurant, but due to the long wait, we don't eat there very often. On my birthday we decided to go for lunch since there is also a 10 off 50 deal on AMEX & Twitter. So we went a little early for lunch around 11:30am on a Saturday, the timing was perfect because we got a table right away!

The waiter was extremely pleasant and courteous. We were checked upon immediately after we sat and he brought us water within minutes. We placed our orders after looking over the menu and out came the complimentary hot bread basket! I absolutely loved the rye bread with nuts on top, it was warm and tasted delicious with butter.

Cheesecake Factory

complimentary bread basket

I ordered the chicken samosa small plate as appetizer. It's a fried Pakistani appetizer with ground chicken and herbs wrapped with what seemed like wonton skin. It was hot and delicious! I loved the cilantro dipping sauce as well, I actually ate 3 out of the 4 on the plate since he doesn't eat fried food. Yum.

chicken samosa small plate

For our main entrees, he ordered the steak Diane which was steak medallion and mashed potato. I ordered the herb crusted salmon lunch special for $13.95. They were both awesome entrees! The steak medallions were seasoned perfectly, the meat was cooked medium tender, and the mashed potato complimented the steak well. Meat and potatoes, what's not to like? My salmon was also cooked perfectly and the seasoning was on point, I especially enjoyed the grilled asparagus on the plate as well!

steak Diane

herb crusted salmon

Of course, we had to order a cheesecake since this was a birthday occasion. Waiter recommended Dulce de Leche Caramel cheesecake or the chocolate, since I was trying to be semi-good, we picked the former. We only asked for a candle and no singing because we didn't want to draw attention to ourselves.... Look at the beautifully plated cheesecake here! The waiter really won us over with this :) The flavor was rich and had the right amount of caramel flavors to it, not overly sweet. It was a perfect ending to a great meal.

Our check was just a bit over 50 and I ended up with 10 dollar cash back on my AMEX card! What a great deal! If you haven't signed up for the AMEX/Twitter deal, now is it the time to catch it before it's gone!

FoodiePop's rating: 4.7/5

Cheesecake Factory
11301 Rockville Pike
North Bethesda, MD 20895

Il Porto Restaurant, Gathersburg MD

2012-03-05T14:01:00.000-08:00

We decided to try out the little Italian restaurant right in my neighborhood called 'Il Porto' on a Saturday night. Little did we know, the place was crowded! We only waited about 5-10 minutes though before seated at a table. Just a side note, apparently this little Italian spot is very popular and they try to fit a lot of tables, so there aren't a lot of room to move once you're seated. Definitely not a good place for family with kids that require room and high chair.

We were served water and bread right away. The bread was just okay, it was cold and a little dry. They brought the olive oil and I ate a piece with oil, salt and pepper, definitely not my favorite. We proceeded to order fried calamari for appetizer since I was in the mood for fried seafood and wanted to try their marinara sauce. The appetizer turned out to be the best out of the entire meal! The fried calamari was airy and breading fluffy, tasted very fresh. I'd probably order it again even though it was priced at $10.50.

Then we proceeded to order the entrees. We ordered the sausage with eggplant, chicken Marsala, and I ordered the rock fish market special for $24.95.

sausage and eggplant with side of linguine ($13.99)

chicken Marsala with side of linguine as well ($13.99)

rock fish topped with crab meat ($24.99)

my low carb selection in place of linguine

The sausage with eggplant was pretty good. The marinara sauce was flavorful but not overly sweet or sour, sausage had good flavors, and eggplant, well, tasted like eggplants. We didn't like the chicken Marsala dish though, the chicken was cooked in this overly sweet sauce and the linguine pasta was very mediocre (a bit overcooked). My rock fish, on the other hand, tasted pretty good and the sauce on top was delicious. The side of vegetables with broccoli and carrots was especially good, not that it was difficult to cook though.

Overall, I would give a B- based on food. I actually like Olive Garden better because they have better deals and I absolutely love their soup and bread sticks, but I guess it wouldn't be fair to compare a family restaurant to a large chain restaurant like Olive Garden. We did have issues with our waiter, he was impatient and wanted to take our plates away several times while we were still eating. He succeeded one time and already took both plates away and then had to 'give it back' since we said we were still working on the appetizer, how weird!

FoodiePop's rating: 3/5

Il Porto Restaurant
245 Muddy Branch Rd
Gaithersburg, MD 20878

Super Q Mart, Germantown MD

2012-03-05T07:47:00.000-08:00

We've been to Q mart food court numerous times for lunch and dinner, and we were pleasant surprised to find they have renovated the food court lately! The food vendor has been combined into one central one with Chinese dishes and Korean dishes, and the dining area looks fancy now!

Fancy dining area

food vendor with lots of options

I always loved the food court here since you can get delicious food cheap and fast. We ordered 3 entrees for dinner since we both knew what we wanted but they also advertised this 'award winning' beef noodle soup that we both wanted to try, so ....we just ended up ordering all 3 dishes.

Korean style jia jang myun, $4.75

spicy seafood noodle soup, $5.75

beef noodle soup, $5.75

They were all pretty descent, the beef noodle soup had good flavors even though not a lot of meat. It had thinly sliced beef instead of big chunks. But for $5.75, I definitely had no complaints. Jia Jang Myun actually went up from $3.50 to $4.75, but still pretty cheap compared to Korean restaurants. I've heard Lotte serves better Jia Jang Myun though, so I'll have to give it a go to compare. Lastly, the spicy seafood noodle was descent, but Lotte spicy seafood noodle definitely wins on both the noodle texture and soup base.

Overall, we were happy with the prices and the selection Q mart food court provides. We even picked up a few grocery items after so it was super convenient as well. When you're in the area and in a mood for a quick bite, definitely give this 'upscale' food court some consideration!

FoodPop's rating: 4/5

Super Q Mart
19721 Frederick Rd
Germantown, MD 20876

Luke's Lobster, Washington DC

2012-03-05T07:24:00.000-08:00

Yummy lobster rolls!! We took a spontaneous trip to the National Gallery of Art on a Saturday morning and stopped by Luke's lobster for lunch since it's close to the museum. We loved everything we had there! The rolls were buttery and seafood fresh, and I even loved their lemon lime soda! Luke's Lobster is a small restaurant situated across from the AARP building on E street, luckily there were plenty of street parking when we arrived, oh how I love the new mobile park app/feature!

Luke's Lobster

lively chalk board menu

dining space

order window

We picked a roll combo for each of us, additionally we also got the clam chowder and 4 Jonah crab claws as side items. They were all pretty yummy!

Maine soda: lemon lime and root beer flavors

crab roll, full of yummy crab meat and seasoning, combo $13

lobster roll, look at all the meat! Combo $17

I forgot to take a picture of the clam chowder. It was really good though, definitely worth the $7 price tag. The soup had enough creaminess but not overly salty like most places, and the potato pieces were small rather than large (i hate clam chowder loaded up with huge pieces of potatoe - cheap!). I'd definitely get the soup again if we make it back to Luke's Lobster.

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed the lunch at Luke's. Word of warning though, the portions are all pretty small, so you're really hungry, you will be spending a fortune since one small roll will unlikely fill your stomach. But they're definitely yummy and worth a try if you're into seafood rolls Maine style!

FoodiePop's rating on seafood rolls: 4.2/5

Luke's Lobster
624 E St NW
Washington, DC 20004

Mosaic Cuisine & Cafe, Rockville MD

2012-02-28T14:27:00.000-08:00

We've actually been to Mosaic cafe 2 times already, the food is always descent, but does not stand out when compared to other brunch venues. But since IHOP and Original pancake house all had at least 30 min wait on a weekend morning, we've decided to support the local small business and brought ourselves to Mosaic cafe again.

From exterior

I like the interior decor, it's decorated with nice pictures and the lighting provided was warm and cozy. I took this picture with some minor adjustments to show the interior decor. It's one of those small places that makes you feel welcomed as soon as you walk through the door. The menu is clean and shows a good selection of menu items for brunch, with lunch menu on the back.

view of interior

I ordered a decaf Cafe Au Lait to start the morning. Then we proceeded to order our brunch dishes.

my decaf Cafe Au Lait

I ordered the egg white omelet with sauteed vegetables. It was pretty good, nothing too surprising here though, basically egg white omelet with some vegetables smeared with a bit of pesto sauce. It came with a side of a half waffle. The waffle was good, it had light and crispy crust on the outside and was soft in the center. The best waffles I've had from restaurants is still none other than Pocahontas Pancakes in Virginia beach though....

egg white omelet with vegetables

He ordered the traditional breakfast with couple strips of bacon, one piece of waffle, scrambled eggs, and a potato hash. Again, nothing too surprising here, the scrambled eggs were delicious and fluffy though. The potato hash made the grade too.

traditional breakfast

Overall, we enjoyed the brunch at Mosaic cafe. Everything was descent and the restaurant had great ambiance. Would we come back just for the food? Probably not, but I'd come back to skip the 30 minute line at IHOP again.

FoodiePop's rating: 3.6/5

Mosaic Cuisine & Cafe

186 Halpine Road
Rockville, Maryland 20852

East Pearl, Rockville MD

2012-02-22T14:10:00.001-08:00

We had a hard time deciding on what to eat for lunch on president's day, and finally decided to try Pho Nom Nom (opened where Bale used to be on 355). When we got to the spot, we saw the new Cantonese restaurant opening sign on the same strip, so we changed our minds and figured we'd give it a try!

The restaurant just opened its doors on 2/15 Wednesday, so not many people know about it yet. We arrived a little after 1pm and the restaurant seemed busy still. We were greeted by nice waitresses and handed a couple of menus, including lunch special menu and a nice pot of pu-er tea (typical of Cantonese restaurants).

special noodles and rice menu

regular menu

roast meat display case on the left & bar on right

plate setting, Paris??

We wanted something quick and easy for lunch. So we each ordered the Cantonese style noodles. I ordered the wonton without noodles, and the hubby ordered the dumpling noodles. Of course we can't settle for just two bowls of noodles.....so we also ordered the double roasted meat platter with roast pork and roast duck. We were later informed they ran out of roast duck, so we got the soy roast chicken instead.

wonton soup, look at the size of these Wontons, $7.50

dumpling noodles, but they forgot the noodles, $7.50

double roast meat platter, $12.95

They made a mistake in the order and gave us dumpling in soup (sans noodles) instead of dumpling noodle soup. But their lady manager quickly fixed it and gave us another big bowl of noodles with soup, so it was all good! The wontons and dumplings were all excellent and portions were big. The roast meats tasted fresh, definitely freshly made on the same day! Hopefully they will keep the quality of the meats up and not use overnight leftover meats like ** some other restaurants (no names given here.....)

We liked the overall quality of lunch and the restaurant seemed new and clean. The lady manager kept apologizing because they made a mistake in our order and their staff still needs training, but we were compensated nicely and we will definitely be back again to try the other dishes!

FoodiePop's rating: 4/5

East Pearl
838 B Rockville Pike
Rockville, MD 20852

Clyde's Tower Oaks Lodge (revisited), Rockville MD

2012-02-21T11:46:00.000-08:00

We gathered at Tower Oaks Lodge situated off Wootton Parkway to celebrate two friend's birthdays last week. I've always liked the place, and definitely enjoyed the food again this time! We had a reservation for 8pm and were seated promptly at 8 when we arrived. Parking was a bit difficult since the place was packed Friday night, but you can always opt for the valet park option.

We were greeted with menus and filtered water after we sat. The menu consisted of variety of dishes, from seafood to steak (even cow liver ??). The February month special is the cowboy steak for $19.95.

filtered water pitcher, cute

We had 2 orders of the jumbo shrimp cocktail. It was fresh and delicious, nobody opted for the raw oysters this time since we had people with limited diet (okay, that person is me....)

4 jumbo shrimps in one order

The hubby ordered the cowboy steak so I could steal some off his plate. I ordered the rock fish with mussels. Everything looked and tasted delicious! The cowboy steak was especially a steal for $19.95, it was cooked perfectly medium with some red and darn tender to the bite. Rock fish portion was a tad small, but it had great flavors and flaked easily with the fork.

Feb month special, cowboy steak $19.95

rock fish with mussels

At the end of the night, we all enjoyed our entrees and each other's company. It was a fun night and a shout out to my two best girls for their birthdays!! Happy birthday and may the two of you look 18 forever :)

FoodiePop's rating: 4/5

Clyde's Tower Oaks Lodge
2 Preserve Pkwy
Rockville, MD 20852

Panera Bread (revisited), Gaithersburg MD

2012-02-21T11:14:00.001-08:00

I have been trying to eat a low carb diet, and since I love the Thai chopped chicken salad at Panera. I visited Panera bread twice in the last week.

I usually end up getting the half and half deal, which consists of a half salad and a bowl of soup. It's the perfect combination for a stomach warming meal in winter!

Thai chopped chicken salad

hearty chicken stew with scone on top

To stick with low carb diet, I picked an apple for the side item, I'm glad they had it listed as a choice! Even though I love Panera baguettes, I had to opt for the low carb option.....

On the second visit of the week, I picked the salmon salad for a $1 more. The salmon was a little fishy for my taste. Thai chopped chicken salad still wins hands down! I picked the vegetable tomato soup to go with the salmon, it was just okay as well.

salmon salad

vegetable tomato soup

I still love Panera and will always give the place high ratings. My only gripe is, it's so hard to find seats during lunch hour! Apparently everyone loves Panera as much as I do, on top of that, they provide free wi-fi so I'm guessing a lot of guests linger all day. But, I'd definitely go back and fight through the crowd for their yummy lunch combos again!

FoodiePop's rating: 4.2/5

Panera Bread
285 Kentlands Boulevard
Gaithersburg MD 20878

Ren's Ramen (revisited), Wheaton MD

2012-02-21T08:43:00.000-08:00

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, a few friends and us visited Ren's ramen again at their new location in Wheaton. We've visited the spot once before and we both thought it was really salty the first time, plus parking was not easy for the location. Since a friend of ours wanted some ramen, we came back again to give it another shot (yes the one who wanted ramen ended up not making the trip.....)

They had some daily specials that looked very enticing. One was the Bakudan ramen which was extra spicy and the other was 'ga-tree miso ramen' which had extra bean sprouts and cabbage toppings. We ordered both to try!

today's special menu

We also ordered 2 gyoza small plates. They were actually really good! The wrapping was thin and the meat abundant, even though it was pricey, I'd probably order it again.

gyoza $4.95

Then the ramen came! This was the Bakudan ramen, it was more spicy than I thought but I loved it. Their imported ramen noodles were good and chewy as always, broth a bit on the salty side but acceptable.

Bakudan ramen $11

This was the 'ga-tree miso ramen', it had extra cabbage and bean sprout toppings that shaped into a tree top. It was pretty good as well from what I heard. Reminded me of pho toppings though with all the extra bean sprouts!

ga-tree miso ramen $12

This was a regular tonkotsu ramen, it was consistent with what we had before. Still, everything was on the salty side, but nothing a glass of water can't fix afterwards (or maybe 2 or 3....).

large tonkotsu ramen $12

We thoroughly enjoyed the ramen experience on Sunday, the wait wasn't too bad. We waited about 15 minutes after arriving around 1:15pm on a Sunday. The only issue I have with the place is the 'cash-only' policy. There are very few restaurants that don't accept credit card nowadays, especially when the prices are toward high-end such as $10 and above. I really hope they can add a credit card machine so people don't need to be surprised and stranded with not enough cash...

FoodiePop's rating on ramen: 4/5

Ren's Ramen
11403 Amherst Ave
Wheaton, MD 20902

Kushi, Washington DC

2012-02-15T11:27:00.000-08:00

We had the early Valentine's dinner at Kushi on a Saturday night. We both loved the place! I made a reservation on open table so we were seated right away at the grill bar. The grill bar is situated at the center of the restaurant and it's where all the action happens at the grill and the robata grill. I love watching the chefs cook, it's almost like dining and entertaining all in one!

daily menu

view from grill bar

They have a paper daily menu with date printed on top. From what I've observed from yelp reviews, they constantly adjust their menu for variety and to add something new. We order some dishes from the get-go and kept ordering more when the plates emptied. We ate for almost 2 hours by the time we were done!

This was the charamushi (steamed egg). It was delicious, the egg cooked perfectly and had the right flavors. I believe it was around $4.50.

charamushi 蒸蛋

Grilled jumbo shrimp: it was A+ even though pricey. $6.00 for 2 shrimps. I'd order it again though.

grilled jumbo shrimp

Grilled pork belly. Everybody raved about it on yelp, we thought it was good but not over-the-top like most claimed. This was about $4 as well for one skewer.

Grilled squid body, LOVED it! Grilled just right with a side salad garnish. I finished everything on this plate.

grilled squid body

Grilled squash, the only dish we didn't like. It had some unexpected texture, maybe it's not the America squash that we're used to? Anyway, this is not on my list for next visit. I'd probably order the grilled mushrooms instead since I saw a few other people ordering that.

grilled squash

Another mediocre dish. The only reason I ordered it is because the girl chef in front of me kept preparing fresh batches of seaweed salad and it looked enticing... This had a lot of vinegar dressing it it, so if you're not a big fan of vinegar, don't order it.

seaweed salad

This was the duck sausage. The flavor was actually really good, but ours came out luke warm..... Maybe that chef on the robata grill needed to pay a little more attention.

duck sausage

Yes, I ordered a miso soup. The descriptions look good, but this was just okay. Just like any other Japanese restaurant.....$4 wasted, my fault...

Grilled chicken breast with wasabi. Nothing special about the chicken, but the wasabi itself tasted fresh and had exploding great flavors.

grilled chicken with wasabi

Now onto the better items: we absolutely loved the crispy dusk thigh. It definitely made the top 3 items of our meal. We observed the chef later on and found out this was first steamed, then fried, then put on the grill for the char. Absolutely delicious and worth the $10 high price tag!

crispy duck thigh

We also ordered the miso marinated grilled halibut for $12. It was yummy as well, the fish flaked easily but not over-cooked, with a hint of miso flavor. We finished this in no time..

grilled halibut

We were actually pretty full at this point. So we called it quits....time to look at the dessert menu! This was their special dessert menu for the day.

dessert menu

Sea salt gelato?? That sounded like a must try! Of course we ordered the sea salt gelato. It looked ordinary but it had very interesting flavors. Good thing they leave you the whole water bottle because even though it didn't taste very salty at the time, you'll be drinking a lot of water afterwards! It tasted like sweet caramel with salt, so it was a good kind of sweet and salty!

sea salt gelato

We thoroughly enjoyed our Kushi experience. The restaurant had the right vibe and the food was mostly excellent. The service was prompt and courteous as well. The center grill bar is where I would recommend if you're bringing a date or just hanging out with a friend. It's not ideal for large groups but perfect for two. The restaurant tends to be pricey though, all the little things add up (similar to tapa restaurants), if you don't watch your wallet or if you're really hungry, expect a large bill!

FoodiePop's rating: 4.7/5

Kushi
465 K St NW
Washington, DC 20001

Ikea Cafe, College Park MD

2012-02-09T10:59:00.000-08:00

We needed to buy a couple pieces of furniture, and what better place than Ikea? Ikea has descent quality furniture at reasonable prices, even though it requires massive amount of time to assemble... So on this past Saturday, we ventured out to Ikea in College Park looking for dressers and a night table.

Ikea cafe has always been a 'tourist attraction'. The place has amazing deals on breakfast and their Swedish meatballs are tasty for lunch or dinner. So as soon as we arrived, we tackled Ikea cafe immediately to get some good breakfast.

I picked up the breakfast sandwich for ...I want to say $2.99. It was pretty good, nothing surprising though except for the price tag. It was a good deal! The baked potatoes were ordinary but good nonetheless.

breakfast sandwich

He picked up the big breakfast for $2.99, it was also descent. There were some scrambled eggs, french toast sticks, bacon, and baked potato on the plate. Nothing extraordinary but the price tag made up for it.

big breakfast

We also picked up the Swedish pancakes since we were greedy. This was 3 for $1.99. I have to say the pancakes were very disappointing. I make much better pancakes.....but for the price I guess I can't complain much.

Swedish pancakes

We got 3 plates of breakfast and a juice, came to a whopping $8 for breakfast for two. Not bad at all! Even though the food was not over the top, it was okay for a quick and easy fill up before furniture shopping.

We ended up stopping by the cafe again before we leave to pickup some Swedish meatballs for lunch. The meatballs were delicious as always, and the gravy just right. This IS the best dish in Ikea cafe, hands down!

Swedish meatballs

FoodiePop's rating on food: 3/5

Ikea
10100 Baltimore Ave.
College Park, MD 20740

Matchbox, Rockville MD

2012-02-08T14:12:00.000-08:00

I've visited Matchbox in Rockville several times after it first opened, but haven't gotten a chance to write a review. On this past Sunday, we made a reservation for brunch at Matchbox again since they have a live jazz band performing during brunch hours. We had a very relaxing dining experience!

huge fire pit outside Matchbox

matchbox logo

Small food/bar area at the door

I made a reservation through open table, and we were seated immediately upon arrival. We had a very nice table right by the Jazz band, the music was great and the atmosphere relaxing. We were greeted with smiles and handed matchbox regular menu and a special brunch menu.

matchbox regular menu

special brunch menu (Sunday 10am-3pm)

After going over the special brunch menu, we placed orders for a breakfast pizza since the toppings all looked really good and I've always loved the pizza there. He ordered the steak and egg on flat iron skillet. While we were waiting for food, we just chilled and enjoyed the Jazz live band, they were great!

Our food arrived in 10-15 minutes, which was descent. My breakfast pizza was delicious, the crust was charred perfectly from the brick oven and the breakfast toppings were delicious. What's not to love? Scrambled eggs and sausages! Not sure what dressing they put on top of the pizza but it was the perfect companion for the toppings, maybe close to a thousand island & mayo combination?

The steak and egg entree was presented beautifully. The steak was tender and cooked just right, the baked potato on top was delicious as well. The dish had a lot of egg though, we ended up taking some of it home to avoid egg overdose :)

the steak and egg skillet

We both had a pleasant experience at Matchbox for brunch. When the weather warms up, maybe we could try taking our dog and sit in their patio area! I can't wait!

FoodiePop's rating on brunch: 4.2/5

Matchbox
1699 Rockville Pike
Rockville, MD 20852-1619

Uncle Julio's, Washingtonian Center, Gaithersburg MD

2012-02-06T13:40:00.000-08:00

My in-laws came to visit us last weekend, so we really wanted to show them a good time accompanied by good food. After much consideration, we picked Uncle Julio's because I had a coupon for $10 off plus we could take some pictures by the beautiful Washingtonian lake. It turned out to be a good choice and we all enjoyed the meal very much.

Uncle Julio's is a chained Mexican fine dining restaurant. I've always loved this particular location because it's right by the lake. On a warm day, you can enjoy outdoor dining overlooking the lake and it's also great for people watching. Their menu is extensive and has everything from chips and dip to fajita platters that are to die for. We picked several courses to share since it was already close to dinner time.

beautiful lamp

We ordered the crab meat guacamole appetizer to start. It was freshly made and very delicious! I love regular guacamole to begin with, with crab meat, it was even better. We couldn't finish the big chunk of guacamole of course, so I even used some with the steak fajitas to make a fine burrito!

crab meat guacamole

We also ordered 3 entrees to share: fish tacos, steak fajitas, and chicken quesadilla. They were all delicious and the portions were big!

3 fish tacos, YUM-O

sizzling steak fajita platter

chicken quesadilla

We were very happy with all three entrees. Since my parents-in-law live in Asia, they rarely get a nice Mexican meal treat, so it worked out perfect. After the satisfying meal, we walked around the lake a little bit and took couple gorgeous pictures. I love the convenience of Washingtonian center and the abundance of good restaurants there!

FoodiePop's rating: 4/5

Uncle Julio's
231 Rio Boulevard
Gaithersburg, MD

Sushi Taro, Washington DC

2012-01-30T10:40:00.000-08:00

I've heard of Sushi Taro for a while, but never got a chance to try because we don't eat a lot of sushi/sashimi. We also tried to make it there for their last ramen special of 2011 but couldn't get a table. So this time when they had the first tonkotsu ramen special of 2012, I made reservation right away for two!

We drove to Sushi Taro about 5 minutes before reservation time, but luckily we found a street parking spot right away for 2 hour free, so we definitely had a good start compared to our last attempt to the joint. Sushi Taro has a small entrance off the 17th street, you could easily miss the sign if you're not paying close attention.

street entrance

good reviews and ratings everywhere!

The restaurant is small, but has great ambiance. We got a table next to the window and were promptly waited on for drinks and menu. Of course we were also offered the ramen special for $14.95 and we quickly ordered two ramen specials and some hot tea to keep ourselves warm in the mean while.

lunch menu

We were unaware of what's included in the ramen special, so we were pleasantly surprised with the two little side dishes that were served. They were both really good! The pumpkin salad was made with shreded pumpkin and other vegetables and an egg type dressing, it was delicious! The other one was some type of marinated vegetable root, it was palate cleansing and yummy as well.

delicious pumpkin salad

vegetable root side dish

So we chatted and munched on the side dishes while the ramen was being prepared. Then the steaming goodness came to our table! The ramen was comparable to Ippudo in New York since it had excellent pork broth (definitely made from scratch). The toppings were generous and it even came with a small bowl of rice. The topping that day was buta kakuni which was braised pork belly, there were about 3 generous pieces, pure deliciousness. We even put some of the pork on top of the rice to make pork rice special. The egg with running yolk was cooked just right and the red ginger tasted awesome with the slow cooked pork broth. On the other hand, the noodle itself was just okay,... it was the thin kind and lacked chewiness like authentic ramen. But hey, I'm not really complaining since everything else was excellent!

tonkosu ramen

Sushi Taro has rave reviews on yelp and everywhere else and I definitely see why. Their dining area is small but cozy and the food is great. I do wish they have a parking lot instead of street parking, but that would be asking too much for DC area. I'd definitely go back and eat their ramen again!

FoodiePop's rating on ramen special: 4.2/5 (added +0.5 for the small dishes!)

Sushi Taro
1503 17th St NW
Washington, DC 20036

Recent movie reviews - 1/23/12

2012-01-23T12:27:00.000-08:00

"Midnight in Paris" - 3.5/5 It was just okay, too much expectations I guess....

"Something borrowed" - 3/5 The story was predictable, the actors/actresses were good though.

"Friends with benefits" - 3/5 Two words, "too predictable".

"Crazy, Stupid, Love" - 3.8/5 Made me laugh at certain parts of the movie, not bad for a romantic comedy.

"Bad Teacher" - 2/5 Sorry, story sucked and Cameron Diaz looked ....old!

"Horrible Bosses" - 4.2/5 Hilarious!

"Water for Elephants" - 4/5 Corny but yet done beautifully. I actually enjoyed the movie (>> Twilight)

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows" - 3.5/5 Not much to say about this one, just wanted to finish the series.....

"那一年我們一起追的女孩 You are the Apple of my Eye" - 4/5 溫馨小品, something different.

X.O. Taste, Germantown MD

2012-01-19T11:03:00.000-08:00

***** Updated 1/19/2012 *******

We visited XO taste again for their 'peking duck special' for $27.95. The whole duck for 27.95 is a descent price plus you can have 鴨骨湯 duck bone soup for $8 additional. So we ordered the duck feast plus a vegetable dish!

The Peking duck at XO is probably not your authentic Peking duck, it was plated beautifully and tasted good. But it was more similar to Cantonese style roast duck instead of authentic Peking duck where the skin is usually crispy and paper thin. It was still delicious nonetheless and we 'almost' finished the duck by the two of us :) The best Peking duck I've had in the area is still the duck from Peking Gourmet Inn 北京飯店 in Falls Church, if we visit the place again, I'll definitely post a review!

peking duck $27.95

This was the duck bone soup with vegetables and tofu. It was tasty, but again, not very authentic. If you're looking for authentic duck and soup, I still recommend Peking Gourmet Inn.

duck bone soup, $8 additional

our veggie dish for the night

****** Original post 12/5/11 ******

We've always loved the X.O. taste in Arlington, but it's about 40 mins away. So when Germantown opened the second X.O. taste, we were ecstatic and wanted to try right away! (okay, just me being ecstatic....lol)

I've already visited or gotten carry-out 3-4 times so far but always forgot to bring my camera. Luckily one of my friend has a nice camera on the phone and sent me these pictures from our lunch, thanks!

X.O. taste is famous for their roast meat section, this one also made the grade. I love all their 燒蠟 meats! This is their roast duck, chicken, and BBQ pork platter for $18. We shared and finished this in no time!

roast meats platter

We also ordered beef chow fan as well. It was a safe descent dish. It was not overly salty like some other Cantonese places would make, so I liked it.

beef chow fan - 干炒牛河

For the veggie dish, we ordered water spinach with fermented bean curd (?) 腐乳空心菜. It was pretty good! I've always like this veggie dish but the fermented bean curd gave it a nice twist plus a little spice. I think I'll order this again!

water spinach with fermented bean curd 腐乳空心菜

My friend ordered the Yang Zhou Fried Rice 揚州炒飯. This was good but my friend said he's had better in a Chinese restaurant in Rockville. I'll have to give it a try when we're in Rockville next time!

Yang Zhou Fried Rice 揚州炒飯

The hubby ordered minced beef over rice. It was not good at all so we didn't take a picture of it. But if you want to order this dish, order at your own risk! This is a picture of our crowded table for lunch...*drool*

lunch at XO!

We spent quit a lot for a 4 person lunch, totaling about > $80. We also ended up taking a lot of food home though, so I wouldn't say the food is overly expensive. I'd definitely come back again since it seems to be the best Cantonese restaurant in the area by far! Nothing beats fresh roast pork and BBQ pork! They also advertise Peking Duck for $27.95, I'll supplement another review if I get to try it next time :)

FoodiePop's rating: 4/5 for Cantonese restaurant

X.O. Taste
11540 Middlebrook Rd
Germantown, MD 20876