Silver Fountain, Silver Spring MD

For 2 consecutive weekends, we visited Silver Fountain for Cantonese dim sum.  Yes, two consecutive weekends because I haven't had good quality dim sum from this area for so long!  I went with a friend the first weekend, he arrived around 11:15am and there was a sizable wait already.  We got a table around 11:45am for two and ate for two hours (okay we talked a lot too)!  On the second week, I brought the hubby and arrived around 11am to avoid the wait, we got right in!

The place has been completely renovated from 4-5 years ago.  It's the first of my visit in the recent years and we all loved the place!

Roomy and nicely decorated interior

First thing we noticed immediately, the service at Silver Fountain was about 10x better than Oriental East.  Oriental East had what we called non-existent service because they were so busy and the waiters and waitresses all had an attitude.  At Silver Fountain, within 5 mins of sitting down, 3 serving staff asked if somebody already ordered tea for us!  I was very happy because we had literally nothing to drink/eat for the first 8-10 mins at Oriental East couple weeks ago. 

We quickly ordered the usual chrysanthemum tea and the carts came rolling!  These were what we ordered from the second visit (forgot to bring camera on the first visit).  The dishes were all piping hot and delicious.  My favorite dish was the 鮮竹捲 (ground meat rolls wrapped with bean curd skin), it's the best one I've had in the area!  I must add that their 腸粉 (chow fen wrapped with different stuffing) are all delicious as well, we ordered 2 varieties on the first visit but didn't take pictures.  They have a 腸粉 specialty carts and serves it fresh as well.

鮮竹捲 (ground meat rolls wrapped with bean curd skin)

蘿菠餻 (turnip cake)

蝦餃 (steamed shrimp dumpling)



燒賣 (pork dumpling)



小排骨 (spare pork ribs)

鳳爪 (chicken feet)

牛百頁 (beef tripes)

牛肉丸 (beef meatballs)

魚翅餃 (meat and shrimp dumpling, no shark fins..)

韭菜餃 (Chinese chives and pork dumplings)

In conclusion, this will be our go-to place for Cantonese dim sum from now on.  Definitely not going to Oriental East again if we have a choice.  Silver Fountain had much better serving staff and they had better flow with the dim sum carts as well.  It was about every few minutes a dim sum cart would roll past our table.  You won't go hungry like you would in other dim sum joints!

FoodiePop's rating fro Cantonese dim sum: 4.2/5

Silver Fountain
13533 Connecticut Ave
Silver Spring, MD 20906

Buffalo Wild Wings, Rockville MD

We gathered a big group to Buffalo Wild Wings on a Sunday night.  The place has tons of flat screen TVs!!  It's an awesome place to just chill and watch games, with 20 TVs around, you'll definitely find something to watch on a Sunday night.

We ordered a variety of appetizers, entrees, and wings.  Most of them were pretty good, there were a few that stood out such as the chicken spinach anchovies flat bread pizza, it was delicious!

We ordered a couple appetizers to start off:

ultimate nacho platter

buffalo chips (thick cut fried potato)

Southwest bites (has chicken and jalapeno inside)

I liked the buffalo chips even though it's a real simple appetizer.  It's basically thick cut fried potatoes.  It was a plate of hot and crisp goodness though.  The southwest bites,...not so much.  It was lacking identity.  Nachos were descent, but that's how nachos are, a fail-safe dish.

rib & more ribs

This was good.  Not 'finger licking' good, but it made the grade.  Famous Dave still has best ribs in the area, hands down!

grilled chicken salad

My girl friend ordered grilled chicken salad.  I didn't try this, but it looked descent....

spinach & anchovy chicken flat bread pizza

This was probably the best tasting dish besides the wings.  Too bad they didn't have many flavors for flat bread pizza, otherwise we could order one or two more!

BWW wings

Of course we ordered a bunch of wings.  I think we split 50 wings with 5 different flavors.  We sampled mango habanero, mild, wild, jerk, and hot BBQ.  My favorite was the mild, it had a little kick to it but definitely not in the spicy category.  The wings were good, but I think they'll taste even better with a couple beers.....

We definitely had fun in BWW, it's one of those places where you have so much fun that the food isn't the center of the attention anymore.  But I definitely enjoyed munching on yummy wings while chilling and watching games on a Sunday!

p.s.  Please excuse my dark pictures, too lazy to adjust them...

FoodiePop's rating: 3.4/5

Buffalo Wild Wings
33-C Maryland Ave
Rockville, MD 20850

Cava, Rockville MD - revisited

A girl friend and I wanted to hang out and have good eats for lunch, so we came back to Cava again!  Apparently they weren't really busy for lunch and we got a table right away upon arrival.  Totally different from the night scene here where you have to wait for hours for a spot!

special lunch menu

bar area

We quickly placed our drink orders and both decided on the crab cake sliders lunch special for $11.  We chatted for a while and were surprised that they didn't serve bread basket right away.  So we asked the waitress and she brought them with the meal.  I love their pita bread basket!  The red tomato sauce for dipping was amazing, got a little kick to it but not too spicy.

pita bread basket

tomato dipping, olive oil, olives

Then we got our crab sliders!  The crab cakes were small but had great flavor and not too much filling.  Just enough sauce and veggies on butter toasted bun.  These are the best crab sliders I've had in a while!  The fries were good too, I think I finished everything on this plate!

crab slider lunch special, $11

We will definitely be back for their lunch specials again!  Maybe I'll even be brave and pick something else off the special menu....!

FoodiePop's rating for lunch: 4/5

Cava Restaurant
9713 Traville Gateway Drive
Rockville, MD 20850

Bd's Mongolian BBQ, Bethesda MD

On a sunny Sunday, we took the pooch out to Bethesda row for a nice long walk.  On the way there, we stopped by Bd's Mongolian BBQ.  They actually already closed the outdoor seating section but just to accommodate us and the pooch, they seated us outside upon request!

sitting outdoor at BD Mongolian

If you never tried Mongolian BBQ, let me give you a little background.  Typically, diners choose various ingredients from a buffet of thinly sliced raw meats (beef, pork, lamb, chicken, tofu for vegetarian option), various vegetables, and stack them high on a bowl. After that, you would add a mix of sauces to your own liking from the sauce bar.  Then the bowl is  given to the 'griddle operator' whom transfers them to one section of the large hot griddle in the middle of restaurant. When the bowl is cooked, it is transferred to another clean plate and given back to the customer to enjoy.

Since BD is not very authentic, they also added many menu items for a twist.  For example, they have shrimps, squid, sausages, and meatball.  I actually made a seafood plate that I loved!  BD also gives you tortilla or white rice (brown rice upon request) to go with the stirred fried goodness.  We each created several plates, here are some of our master pieces.

chunky beef rib eye stirred fried with pasta and veggies (his)

sweet and sour shrimp with noodles (mine!)

Overall the place is good for a casual lunch.  The price is reasonable, about 16.99 for all you can eat Mongolian creations.  Soda/drinks not included.  In terms of being authentic, definitely a no, but everything tasted pretty fresh from the bar and it was fun creating different combinations.  We had no complaints!

FoodiePop's rating: 3.5/5

BD's Montgolian BBQ
7201 Wisconsin Ave
Bethesda, MD 20814

Aka Friscos - Frederick MD

lombaBest kept neighborhood secret of Frederick MD.  Yes, please keep it a secret so I don't have to wait in line when we make it there :)

My friend found this best kept secret while he was working in Frederick, and it's been our favorite sandwich place (among various other things) ever since!  The place is always nice and clean, and the food is always consistent and absolutely delicious.

love the casual dining atmosphere

I ordered the embarcadero sandwich, it is a cold sandwich with roast beef.  I only got half the sandwich to leave room for their always delicious soup and 'explode potato'.  The explode potato consist of warm potatoes, bacon bits, and various other stuffing.  Super super yummy.  The explode potato is a must try item!


my half sandwich & small explode potato as side item





The soup I picked today was white bean chicken chili soup.  Actually jalapeno chili was my original choice but 2 of my friends ordered the chicken chili and it looked absolutely irresistible.  So I changed my order and definitely didn't regret the choice!

white bean chicken chili soup

Hubby ordered the BBQ beef and potato sandwich.  It's basically thick cut roast beef smothered with BBQ sauce, then comes with a side of explode potato as well.  This was delicious and the portion was huge.

bbq beef and potato sandwich

The best part of dining at Friscos is their ice cream parlor is ALWAYS open year round.  I love their soft serve ice cream, it's one of the best in the area if you ask me.  I get the 'kiddie' cone just because by the time the meal was done, I am always stuffed (never fails).  I have to recommend the swirl chocolate dipped, but make sure you finish it quickly or it will get real messy soon!  It's also real cheap priced at under $2 for the kiddie size.

ice cream & dessert - open year round!




















how good does this look???

 

All in all, aka Friscos is our favorite sandwich place.  Lombard and Alcatraz are also two of my favorite sandwiches, make sure you try these when you go!

FoodiePop's rating for sandwiches & more:  4.8/5

aka Friscos

4632 Wedgewood Blvd
Frederick, MD 21703