pho nam

hands down, best pho in the area.  they also give the most amount of meats and have super fast service.  sometimes i even think they beat mcd in service time!  price is very reasonable as well, 6.95 for regular bowl i believe?  they do add 75 cents per bowl for carry out orders though, just something to keep in mind :)



#1 regular with raw meat (extra good!)

















Pho Nam
15942 Shady Grove Road
Gaithersburg, MD 20877

*composed on android phone

X.O. taste, falls church Va

i found some descent reviews on a cantonese restaurant near john's work, so we met up for lunch on a friday.  the place is about 35 mins from gaithersburg but only 15 mins from where he works, so the location worked out for both of us.

the service was quick, typical of chinese restaurants, and the food was descent.  the bbq pork and duck over rice (雙拼) is one of the best i've had for a while.  roast pork was juicy, not dried up like some other cantonese restaurants in the area.  the duck was very tasty as well, i think they fry the duck before roasting it, retaining all the juices very well!

he ordered the roast pork lo mein, which is a very 'american' dish and not worth mentioning.  we also ordered an extra dish called marinated varieties (滷水什錦) to share, it was a waste of money!  the portion was rather small and it only tasted okay, definitely not worth the $7.95 on the menu.  on top of that, they put a thick layer of steamed bean sprouts on the bottom of the already small dish as a filler.... tsk tsk...
i would probably go back for the bbq pork, duck, and chicken.  maybe even peking duck (whole duck for $26.95)  it might not be worth the drive, but if you are in the area, give the meats a try!

 

marinated varieties 滷水什錦

 

bbq pork and duck over rice 雙拼



x.o taste
6124 arlington blvd
falla church, va

*composed on android phone

Melt Cafe and Gelato Bar, Rockville MD

I grabbed a groupon deal on Melt Cafe this past week, so we stopped by the place for brunch on Sunday.  The cafe is small and cozy, and I loved their gelato selections.  The gelato was not as good as our favorite one in Bethesda row though.

Melt Cafe

nice and clean interior

We ordered one sweet and one savory crepes.  They were both just okay, crepe-a-go-go in Kentland definitely wins in this category.  Another thing I did not like about Melt Cafe is they have restaurant prices but uses disposable plates and utensils, but having gelato as dessert in the same place is definitely a plus.  I was eyeing all the gelato choices while selecting brunch entrees.  The coffee was just average in this place as well.  We ordered one latte and one americano, nothing remarkable there.

savory crepe: lettuce, tomato, and pesto sauce

royale strawberry crepe

They have a $4.99 gelato sampler that is a good deal though.  For $4.99, you get to try six different gelato flavors.  I particularly like the espresso and the tiramisu flavors.  The gelato texture was not as creamy and sticky as I would like though.

gelato selections

Overall, Melt Cafe made average grade for breakfast/brunch selections.  If you're in the mood for crepes, I would recommend crepe-a-go-go over Melt Cafe.  At least you get real plates and utensils, and the food and coffee are better as well at crepes-a-go-go.

Melt Cafe
14955 Shady Grove Rd
Rockville, MD 20850

Volt, Frederick MD

Couple of my friends recently visited Volt in Frederick and loved their food.  So I made an open table reservation and visited Volt for lunch this past Saturday!  It was about 11:50am and they have yet to open so we waited outside with a few others and took some pictures.



volt



The doors opened a little before noon, we proceeded in and the restaurant was very modern looking inside, despite the antique exterior.  We were shown to our seats promptly by a beautiful hostess and greeted by our waiter right away.  We ordered the lunch prix set for $25/person, the meal was excellent!  And the service was impeccable the entire time as well.

We both ordered coffee to start, mine was a cappuccino and his was a specialty coffee with a hint of caramel.  I believe it was called highlander.  It had really good aroma!  Needless to say, we finished the whole pot.

highlander coffee

Then the fresh bread tray was served, we got one of each to try between the 2 of us.  I really like the rosemary herbal bread (dark one in the picture) where he liked the herbal biscuit, but all 3 flavors were pretty good.



2 out of 3 fresh bread



I got the goat cheese ravioli as appetizer, tasted good, but nothing special.  Their plating was beautiful though, I didn't even want to stick my fork in it!

goat cheese ravioli

He got the sheep's milk cavatelli.  He said it tasted pretty good, special pasta like textures with milky taste.  Take a look, doesnt this look like a plate of.....caterpillars?

sheep's milk cavatelli

For the main entree, I ordered the rock fish with forbidden rice.  It was very good use of different textures on one plate.  The rock fish was cooked just right and the forbidden rice added some highlights to the plate, but I liked the pork loin on his plate better!  The pork was cooked perfectly and worked so well with the red cabbage and sweet potato sauces on the plate. 

rock fish with soy 'bubbles'

pork loin, DELICIOUS!!!

Then, it was dessert time!!  My favorite part of the meal because they all looked delicious.  I ordered the textures of chocolate: dark chocolate ganache, chocolate caramel, raw organic cocoa.  It looked better than it tasted though.  Definitely a nice art piece but only the raw organic cocoa was special, everything else was just regular plain chocolate.

textures of chocolate

He ordered the honeycrisp apple: mascarpone gelato, opal basil.  This was an okay dessert as well, nothing special or extraordinary.  Can't complain though, it was also beautifully presented.

honeycrisp apple

Overall, I enjoyed the lunch at Volt and it was excellent food for a good price ($25/person).  A word of advice though, don't go on an empty stomach, the portions are small and you might be too hungry to savor every bite.  The place will be great for a date since it is elegant and the lunch prix price won't break your wallet!  Almost forgot to mention, chef Bryan Voltaggio from Volt was on the show of top chef Vegas and came in second!  Something to brag about if you ever make it in this venue, that is, if you want to :)

Volt

228 North Market Street

Frederick, MD 21701

http://www.voltrestaurant.com/

Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers - easy and tasty lunch!

I went to Walmart to pick up a few things this past Monday, so I also picked up some 'frozen entrees' for lunch at work.  I picked up this healthy choice cafe steamers and it tastes pretty good!  The fact that food is separated from the sauces during the heating process makes it taste much more fresh (almost like freshly made entrees). 

The concept is great and cooking is very simple.  Just take out the paper carton piece, pop it in microwave (no puncture needed) and heat for ~4 mins.  After it's fully heated, remove the strainer with the food and dump it into the bottom container with the sauce.  Mix it up and you have a fresh healthy lunch!  The meals contain no preservatives, good source of protein and fiber, and really tastes fresh compared to other frozen entrees!

Best part is, only $2.75 from Walmart.  If you need 2 for lunch you're still pretty square with $5.50!

21 flavors available



dump food from top strainer portion into bottom container



simply mix it together and your lunch entree is ready!







http://www.healthychoice.com/frozen-meals/cafe-steamers.html

Hook, Georgetown Washington DC

Last Friday, we've had our first day of summer (yes we skipped spring for some reason). It was about mid 70s outside all day, almost made me want to turn on the AC!  We decided to meet up at Georgetown for lunch since it was nice out and I bought a groupon for the restaurant Hook.

It was so crowded in Georgetown!  I had the lunch reservation for 12:15pm but it took me 30 minutes to find parking.  Even after I found parking, the meter was broken so I had to search for a machine that actually worked.  Then waited in line to pay parking tickets.  But the time I was set it was way past my reservation.  Luckily the restaurant was not busy at all.  I was kind of hesitant at first since the place was almost empty, but the food turned out to be pretty good!  Oh and I got to mention that I love the lights in this place, very pretty!

This is the complimentary bread, it was just okay, nothing too impressive here.

Then we ordered this appetizer without knowing what the word 'crudo' means.  Apparently, it means 'raw fish dish dressed with olive oil and spices'.  It was actually pretty nasty with fishy taste.....I had to wash it down with the soup.....Needless to say, we did not finish this...

Soup was pretty good!  This was the cauliflower soup, yummy.

I ordered the Cioppino based on my friend's recommendation.  We both loved this dish!  My husband usually dislikes tomato based dishes but he enjoyed this one.  I especially enjoyed it since it was a little bit spicy :)  The dish consists of a spicy tomato base with king crab, bay scallops, clams, and laughing bird prawns.  Loved it!

We also ordered the jumbo lump crab cake sandwich.  A word of warning, if you're looking for jumbo lumps of crab meat, you're going to be disappointed.  Other than that, the sandwich tasted pretty good and the fries on the size were delicious.

Overall, I'd give it 4/5 stars.  The place is a tad pricey though, so if you can get a deal or groupon, it's a nice place to try!

Hook
3241 M St NW
Washington, DC 20007

Lobster & seafood salad sub at Quiznos, Germantown MD

I received a coupon for lobster & seafood salad sub at Quiznos today.  So of course I rushed over to Quiznos in Germantown and redeemed my coupon for lunch.  The result?  Not so impressed...

The advertised picture looks like this, pretty right?

special lobster & seafood salad sub

A large sub is priced at $8.29.  I had a $2 off coupon so it ended up around $6.50 with tax, not bad at all.  The sub had way too much gooey stuff though, I'd say about 50% sauce and 50% chunks of seafood salad.  There were some tiny bits of lobster meat but overall it wasn't very good.  Looks like I'll be buying some real seafood tonight to satisfy my seafood cravings.....

does not look like the advertised picture....

Quiznos
13044 Middlebrook Rd
Germantown, MD 20876