Pho-Hiep Hoa, Silver Spring MD

We went to the new theater in downtown Silver Spring last weekend for Transformer Imax 3D.  The Silver Spring theater turned out to be a great choice!  The theater was only about half full with very comfortable tilt back seats and plenty of leg room.  The movie was awesome with jaw-dropping CG effects!  We were starving after the movie , so we hopped on the ever-so-great smart phone and found a Vietnamese restaurant on the same block with 4 star rating.  So we decided to give it a try.

Our dining experience at 3pm in the afternoon was very pleasant!  The food was great, the price was reasonable, and the service courteous and prompt.  We ordered 2 main dishes and an appetizer.

We ordered the grilled beef wrapped in grape leaves.  It's basically ground beef stir fried with some onions and garlic, wrapped in grape leaves and steamed for a bit.  It was a delicious dish!

grilled beef wrapped in grape leaves

For main dish, we had to order a bowl of pho of course.  It's a must for Vietnamese restaurants.  Even though they don't stack meats up to the sky like Pho Nam does, the quality of meat, noodles, and the soup base were all very good.

#1 pho

 














For the second dish, we tried the imperial fried rice with grilled chicken.  It was very yummy!  I love their creativity with the 'edible bowl' that held the fried rice.  The fried rice had good flavor but not overly salty, and the grilled chicken had nice grill flavor.  I also added spring rolls for extra $3 and those were crispy and delicious as well.  Almost forgot to mention, it came with a fry egg on top.  Who doesn't love a fry egg with fried rice?


imperial fried rice with grilled chicken and fry egg















We will definitely try this place again when we're in the area.  They have a very extensive menu so there are many dishes I still want to try.  Maybe we'll visit again very very soon!

FoodiePop's rating for Vietnamese restaurant: 4.2/5

Pho-Hiep Hoa
921 Ellsworth Dr
Silver Spring, MD 20910

Ren's Ramen - Silver Spring MD

Our beloved Ren's ramen finally re-opened after closing its doors last Sept!  After the initial crowd died down a little, we managed to try Ren's ramen for dinner around 8:30pm on a Friday.  We were fortunate that we got seats right away and there was no line waiting to be seated (or staring us down while we were eating).  Since we arrived after rush hour, we managed to find a street meter spot.  From all the reviews I read, be prepared to circle around to look for parking since there are only a few dedicated spots for Ren's ramen parking.

Ren's ramen, Silver Spring location

The interior decor is very simple, but clean.  The banner that was used at the Bethesda location remains and there are a few additional pictures on the wall.  After a brief glance at the new (old) menu, we ordered the miso ramen and shoyu ramen.  After about 5-8 minutes wait, the ramen bowls arrived at our table!

inside Ren's ramen

Miso ramen

shoyu ramen

Both ramen were pretty good.  The noodles tasted fresh and a bit chewy, the broth is on the salty side, but they both mimic authentic Japanese ramen.  The ramen comes with couple small pieces of fatty pork, some bean sprouts, and a piece of seaweed.  Of course I also added the soft boil egg for additional $2 since it's a must with the ramen (plus I don't know how to make it yet). 

Overall, we were pretty happy that the new location maintained the taste and still imported the good noodles from Japan, price even remained the same at about $10 for a regular size bowl.  Even though I secretly wished the new location will come with easier parking, we will definitely go back again!

FoodiePop's rating for ramen: 4/5

Ren's Ramen
11403 Amherst Ave
Wheaton, MD 20902

Fogo de Chao - Brazilian Churasco, DC

For my husband's birthday, I took him to a famous Brazilian Churasco restaurant in DC called Fogo de Chao.  We've had many Brazilian Churasco experiences before but never tried this one since the place rarely gives discounts or coupons.  But for a birthday celebration, I figured we could get fancy a bit!

exterior

The restaurant sits right on Pennsylvania Ave, so it was nearly impossible to find parking.  Luckily, they have valet parking for $7, so we took adavantage of that.  We arrived super early for dinner since his work is nearby.

I didn't take any pictures of the food since we were busy visiting salad bars and devouring endless meats the moment we sat down.  So this is going to be a short review.  Overall, I like Chima better since they have special pricing all the time and they definitely wins out on the salad bar selection.  Also, I find Fogo de Chao's meats a bit salty.  The filet magnon was a nice touch on the all you can eat menu though.  The lamb chops were tasty, but the lamb leg was dry and mediocre.

Of course, by the end of the night we both felt like we've had our meat portion for the whole week.  While it was well worth it, be ready to shell out 100+ for two if you're going to visit for dinner!

FoodiePop's rating on Brazilian Churasco: 3.7/5

Fogo de Chao
1101 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20004

Green Cactus Grill, Gaithersburg MD

I didn't have the slightest idea on what Green Cactus restaurant is about.  But since it opened up near me, I wanted to give it a try.  It was actually a pleasant surprise!

green cactus

As we walked in the door, the mystery unraveled.  Green Cactus is a fast food style Mexican restaurant.  The inside is brightly decorated and very clean.

refreshing interior decor



everything is clean and new






















We ordered 1 steak burrito and 3 tacos.  The steak burrito was about 1/4 smaller than chipotle but it definitely packed more meat.  There were no fillers like beans & rice inside the burrito, only some roasted peppers, onions, and lots of yummy steak!  The burrito was around $8, which is a steal since you're getting a real steak fajita platter wrapped up in fresh tortilla shell.

steak burrito and my 3 tacos

I ordered one fish taco, one asada taco, and one shrimp taco.  I loved them all!  These little guys were about $2.75 each but they packed great flavors and ingredients. 

asada taco

shrimp taco

fish taco

We both concluded the steak burrito is our favorite in the area for the price.  If you're in the area and want some Mexican food, give it a try!  Don't forget to try the different salsa from their self help salad bar as well!

FoodiePop's rating: 4/5 tacos & burritos

Green Cactus Grill
818 Muddy Branch Rd
Gaithersburg MD 20878

Labrasa, Rockville MD

Sometimes I look for different cuisines when I'm in adventurous mood.  After browsing on yelp for a bit, I found a Latin cuisine restaurant in Rockville that had awesome reviews.  So we stopped by Monday after work to give it a try.

bright and simple exterior

We're not experts in Latin food so I went with recommended dishes from yelp.  We ordered Carne Asada and Lomo Saltado because we both love beef!


carne asada, $9.50



lomo saltado, $9.50

I personally liked the carne asada better since it's grilled perfectly and had a charcoal grill taste to it.  The beef was very tender and juicy.  Lomo saltado was pretty special since the fries underneath soaked up a lot of meat juices and tasted good.  The rice was made with some herbs and lime, pretty refreshing as well. 

Overall, both dishes were pretty good.  If you're a Latin food fan, you'll probably love the place!

FoodiePop's rating for Latin cuisine: 3.6/5

LaBrasa Latin Cuisine
12401 Parklawn Drive
Rockville, MD 20852

Famous Dave's BBQ, Kentland Gaithersburg

Who doesn't love a good plate of delicious BBQ (vegetarians excluded)?

We went to Dave's Famous BBQ in Kentland after being out all day in the sun.  What's better than BBQ wings, ribs, briskets, and beer!  Nothing else came to mind.....

We've been to Dave's Famous BBQ on several occasions.  The place never disappoints!  For the second time in the row, we got the all American BBQ feast which includes: A full slab of St. Louis-style spareribs, a whole chicken, 1/2 lb. of either Texas beef brisket or Georgia chopped pork, coleslaw, Famous Fries, Wilbur Beans, four corn-on-the-cob, and four corn bread muffins.  (I think I drooled on my keyboard while typing this).

It was D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!  A picture is worth a thousand words, so here are my thousand words :)

TA-DA!

FoodiePop's rating: 4/5 for BBQ goodness!

Famous Dave's BBQ
917 Quince Orchard Rd
Gaithersburg, MD 20878

Quick recent movie reviews

It's been a while since I did movie reviews!

Here are my recent movies and their reviews, enjoy :)

R.E.D. - 2.8/5: Entertaining but story sucked.

Bounty Hunter - 1.8/5: The movie sucked.

Life as we know it - 3.5/5: Sweet story, even though predictable.

Knight and Day - 3.8/5: I thought I was going to hate the movie, but it's so corny that it actually made it very funny.

Love and other drugs - 4.2/5 LOVED IT.  Good story, makes you think, visually entertaining & it's JAKE, need I say more?

127 hrs - 3.7/5: I liked it.  One of those think movies, I thought I'd be bored but surprisingly not so.  I must admit I closed my eyes for the bloody gruesome parts though.

The Greatest Game Ever Played - 3.8/5:  True story made it that much better.  Amazing story!

Burlesque - 4.5/5: LOVED IT.  Christina Aguilera is mesmerizing.  Story is corny of course, but I'd watch it again for the singing, dancing, stunning choreography.  And did I mention she looks so hot in the movie?

X-men First Class - 3.8/5:  Entertaining since I've always liked the X men series.  A must watch for any X men fans.  There are many 'ah-ha!' moments in the movie.