We were both kind of busy this week, so we didn’t get a chance to go try a new place. Yesterday, however, we did check out the new Wendy’s that opened by Wheaton Plaza, and then ordered Brother Chinese for dinner.
Wendy’s was…well, Wendy’s. Rob’s roommates go there sometimes twice a day and they’ve said that it’s the best drive thru in town. But then again when your main competition is the Taco Bell on University, you don’t have to do much to be the best. We both got chicken sandwich combos with chili instead of fries. Quite surprisingly, we got in and out of there pretty easily – Rob managed to make the light at Viers Mill and the light turning into Wheaton Plaza, and there’s a little entrance driveway right there. Traffic in that area can be pretty bad; I think we just got lucky.
We decided we wanted to get something delivered for dinner, and I had been looking at food pictures on someone’s Flickr stream – she had a lot of pictures of Asian dumplings which got me in the mood for Chinese. We had ordered carry out from Brother on Amherst once before, so we decided to try them again. I was a little nervous because we were had a pretty big order (his roommates ordered with us) and we didn’t have a menu on hand so we just kept our fingers crossed that they’d have what we wanted. I also paid with my credit card which can sometimes be a hassle. Calling in the order seemed a little too easy, so I was curious to see if they got everything right, and for the most part they did. Good job, Brother.
Brother is a pretty standard cheap Chinese place. I got an order of dumplings which were tasty but a little doughier than I would have liked. Sean said the General Tso’s Chicken was “Tso-Tso” and then repeated it like 3 times in case anyone didn’t hear his joke. Rob got Szechuan chicken, extra spicy, which he liked. I got my usual steamed chicken and veggies with brown sauce on the side, which is nearly impossible to mess up, and Andy got combination fried rice. He couldn’t tell what kind of meat was in the rice, but he thinks it was only pork. I'm pretty sure Brother also has subs and wings on their menu, but we didn't get one with our order, so I didn't get a chance to check.
While the ordering at Brother’s was painless and the delivery time was fast (just about 30 minutes), I wasn’t very impressed by the food. I think we’ll keep trying to find a better Chinese delivery place.
Showing posts with label Asian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Asian. Show all posts
Monday, February 25, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
Nava Thai
11315 Fern St. Wheaton, MD 20902
I wanted to write this on Friday while it was still fresh in my mind, but I was really busy at work and then busy all weekend, so I’m just getting to it now. On Thursday, Rob and I went to Nava Thai for dinner and Valentine’s Day, kind of. Nava Thai is tucked away on Fern St. next to the Hung Phat grocery store (that got some giggles) and is a bit hard to find if you don’t know what you’re looking for. I don’t remember too many details about the dining area, other than it being small and yellow. On each table there were 4 small containers with chili sauce, a spicy powdered seasoning, sugar, and something else, but unfortunately I forget. There was also a bottle of fish sauce on each table and a container with chopsticks.
Rob decided he wanted to try the spiciest thing on the menu, and I wanted to try the Ya Ta Fo after reading someone’s review on yelp.com. I suggested that we get the noodle soups and entrees as well. He got the floating market noodle soup (which is the spiciest thing on the menu with three lightning bolts), and both that and the Ya Ta Fo were served in pretty big bowls – we really didn’t need to get entrees, but oh well. Rob enjoyed his soup, but unfortunately I thought the Ya Ta Fo was pretty gross. The fish balls were rubbery, there were a lot of unidentifiable meats, the broth was too sweet. Luckily I enjoyed my entrée – crispy pork with Chinese broccoli – much more. It was served in a black bean sauce and white rice. Rob got the crispy pork and string bean in curry sauce which he enjoyed but didn’t finish. I ate a few bites off of his plate, I thought the curry had a nice heat to it, but I think he wanted it spicier. I think of the Thai places we've tried I prefer Ruan Thai the best, but I wouldn't hesitate to return to Nava Thai.
On another note, we went back to Fajita Coast this past Friday evening and there were hardly any kids there. So maybe our visit a few weeks ago was just a fluke. Rob took some pictures while we were there, maybe he’ll post them later this week.
I wanted to write this on Friday while it was still fresh in my mind, but I was really busy at work and then busy all weekend, so I’m just getting to it now. On Thursday, Rob and I went to Nava Thai for dinner and Valentine’s Day, kind of. Nava Thai is tucked away on Fern St. next to the Hung Phat grocery store (that got some giggles) and is a bit hard to find if you don’t know what you’re looking for. I don’t remember too many details about the dining area, other than it being small and yellow. On each table there were 4 small containers with chili sauce, a spicy powdered seasoning, sugar, and something else, but unfortunately I forget. There was also a bottle of fish sauce on each table and a container with chopsticks.
Rob decided he wanted to try the spiciest thing on the menu, and I wanted to try the Ya Ta Fo after reading someone’s review on yelp.com. I suggested that we get the noodle soups and entrees as well. He got the floating market noodle soup (which is the spiciest thing on the menu with three lightning bolts), and both that and the Ya Ta Fo were served in pretty big bowls – we really didn’t need to get entrees, but oh well. Rob enjoyed his soup, but unfortunately I thought the Ya Ta Fo was pretty gross. The fish balls were rubbery, there were a lot of unidentifiable meats, the broth was too sweet. Luckily I enjoyed my entrée – crispy pork with Chinese broccoli – much more. It was served in a black bean sauce and white rice. Rob got the crispy pork and string bean in curry sauce which he enjoyed but didn’t finish. I ate a few bites off of his plate, I thought the curry had a nice heat to it, but I think he wanted it spicier. I think of the Thai places we've tried I prefer Ruan Thai the best, but I wouldn't hesitate to return to Nava Thai.
On another note, we went back to Fajita Coast this past Friday evening and there were hardly any kids there. So maybe our visit a few weeks ago was just a fluke. Rob took some pictures while we were there, maybe he’ll post them later this week.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Pho Hiep Hoa
Tracey and I went to Pho Hiep Hoa today, next to our 2nd favorite beer store.
It had a cafeteria-like feel. I tried to order a beer unsuccessfully...I don't think they sold beer there. There wasn't much english spoken.
The different types of pho were very similar - there were lots of options but they just had different kinds of meat. We got a P9 with brisket, well done flank, and skirt flank. I put sriracha, hosin sauce, and lots of jalapenos in my pho. Tracey didn't spice hers up as much.
I liked the pho overall and I'd go back again. It was cheap and filled you up.
It had a cafeteria-like feel. I tried to order a beer unsuccessfully...I don't think they sold beer there. There wasn't much english spoken.
The different types of pho were very similar - there were lots of options but they just had different kinds of meat. We got a P9 with brisket, well done flank, and skirt flank. I put sriracha, hosin sauce, and lots of jalapenos in my pho. Tracey didn't spice hers up as much.
I liked the pho overall and I'd go back again. It was cheap and filled you up.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Woomi Garden
2423 Hickerson Dr. Wheaton, MD 20902;301-933-0100
I must admit, as much as I like to go out to eat, I had not been very adventurous in my choice of dining establishments. I think it’s because my mom is a bit of a picky eater, so growing up she didn’t make us anything too crazy and we didn’t really go to many international restaurants. Plus I grew up in a small town so there weren’t many restaurants around anyway, and especially not international ones. Anyway, I now live in an area that has SO MANY different types of restaurants, all authentic, and Rob and I want to try different types of cuisines. Luckily a lot of the restaurants in Wheaton/Silver Spring are pretty inexpensive so we can go out a few times a week and try new things. That’s one of the reasons Rob wanted to start this blog, so we could keep track of the new places we try and see where we’d like to go again.
I’ve wanted to try Woomi Garden for a while, and I got my quarterly bonus yesterday so Rob and I went out to celebrate. Woomi is a sushi, Japanese, and Korean BBQ place, but the reviews I’ve read online focused mostly on the Korean BBQ. When we walked in, Rob immediately commented that he liked the look of the restaurant. To the right of the entrance was the sushi bar, which I didn’t get a good look at, and immediately in front of us were 6 or so large tables and shoji screens for walls. There may have been more seating on the other side of the screens, because the building was pretty big. There was also a koi pond right up front which we took a closer look at on the way out – it was kind of neat.
After we sat down we ordered our drinks and beef negimaki for an appetizer. The menu was nice because it had pictures of everything, and since I have never really been to a Korean restaurant, I had an idea of what we were getting. We both ordered BBQ items for the main course – bulgogi for me and jyeyooh gui (that’s what I wrote down, but I think that’s wrong) for Rob. We were served a surprise bowl of miso soup while our waitress brought the raw meat tableside and cooked it on a little gas grill that’s built into the table. Along with our meat we were served steamed rice and an assortment of pickled vegetables, which I now know is called banchan. The veggies were kind of a mystery to us; we didn’t really know what each was before trying it. We were also served a plate of leafy lettuce that we had no idea what to do with – we didn’t end up eating any of it. I knew two of the sides were kimchi and sprouts, and I think the others were yams or potatoes (or something else starchy), kale, a sweet slaw of some sort, and a few other things that I couldn’t identify. Oh and there was a really good ginger dipping sauce for the beef, Rob didn’t try it until after most of his food was gone and was mad that I hadn’t told him how good it was earlier.
For dessert we were served a small bowl of sweet juice with I think rice and some nuts floating in it – we had no idea what it was or how to consume it. Since we didn’t have any spoons on the table I figured we were supposed to just pick it up and sip it, although I felt silly doing it. This started a conversation about how stupid we feel in new places sometimes when we’re not familiar with the customs, how we should eat things, how I’m not very good with the chopsticks, etc.
Although Woomi wasn’t terribly expensive, it was still pricier than most of the other restaurants in Wheaton; most of the main dishes were around $20. We both saw other things on the menu that we’d like to try and the experience last night was great, so hopefully we’ll be back soon to check out their other offerings.
I must admit, as much as I like to go out to eat, I had not been very adventurous in my choice of dining establishments. I think it’s because my mom is a bit of a picky eater, so growing up she didn’t make us anything too crazy and we didn’t really go to many international restaurants. Plus I grew up in a small town so there weren’t many restaurants around anyway, and especially not international ones. Anyway, I now live in an area that has SO MANY different types of restaurants, all authentic, and Rob and I want to try different types of cuisines. Luckily a lot of the restaurants in Wheaton/Silver Spring are pretty inexpensive so we can go out a few times a week and try new things. That’s one of the reasons Rob wanted to start this blog, so we could keep track of the new places we try and see where we’d like to go again.
I’ve wanted to try Woomi Garden for a while, and I got my quarterly bonus yesterday so Rob and I went out to celebrate. Woomi is a sushi, Japanese, and Korean BBQ place, but the reviews I’ve read online focused mostly on the Korean BBQ. When we walked in, Rob immediately commented that he liked the look of the restaurant. To the right of the entrance was the sushi bar, which I didn’t get a good look at, and immediately in front of us were 6 or so large tables and shoji screens for walls. There may have been more seating on the other side of the screens, because the building was pretty big. There was also a koi pond right up front which we took a closer look at on the way out – it was kind of neat.
After we sat down we ordered our drinks and beef negimaki for an appetizer. The menu was nice because it had pictures of everything, and since I have never really been to a Korean restaurant, I had an idea of what we were getting. We both ordered BBQ items for the main course – bulgogi for me and jyeyooh gui (that’s what I wrote down, but I think that’s wrong) for Rob. We were served a surprise bowl of miso soup while our waitress brought the raw meat tableside and cooked it on a little gas grill that’s built into the table. Along with our meat we were served steamed rice and an assortment of pickled vegetables, which I now know is called banchan. The veggies were kind of a mystery to us; we didn’t really know what each was before trying it. We were also served a plate of leafy lettuce that we had no idea what to do with – we didn’t end up eating any of it. I knew two of the sides were kimchi and sprouts, and I think the others were yams or potatoes (or something else starchy), kale, a sweet slaw of some sort, and a few other things that I couldn’t identify. Oh and there was a really good ginger dipping sauce for the beef, Rob didn’t try it until after most of his food was gone and was mad that I hadn’t told him how good it was earlier.
For dessert we were served a small bowl of sweet juice with I think rice and some nuts floating in it – we had no idea what it was or how to consume it. Since we didn’t have any spoons on the table I figured we were supposed to just pick it up and sip it, although I felt silly doing it. This started a conversation about how stupid we feel in new places sometimes when we’re not familiar with the customs, how we should eat things, how I’m not very good with the chopsticks, etc.
Although Woomi wasn’t terribly expensive, it was still pricier than most of the other restaurants in Wheaton; most of the main dishes were around $20. We both saw other things on the menu that we’d like to try and the experience last night was great, so hopefully we’ll be back soon to check out their other offerings.
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