Short Shots

Every once in a while I get backed up on some of my restaurant reviews. Here are some short takes on recent experiences that you may find interesting.
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"Bagels And …"

There are some good places for bagels in Montgomery County, but alas, DC and the remainder of the metro area have a distinct lack of decent authentic bagels. Let’s face the facts, while Einstein Bagels may provide a tasty breakfast sandwich, their bagels are no more than rolls with holes. A true bagel is a thing to be reckoned with. A true bagel is proofed then BOILED in water before baking. It has some bite, some chew. It shouldn’t just fall flat like a hamburger bun.

Bagel purists rejoice! Our beloved Annapolis is home to the aptly named "Bagels And…"
a true bagelry that knows what it is doing. All the varieties you would expect, including Bialys. All the schmears you would expect. We love the Veggie Light which is packed with hand cut vegetables. Great for breakfast, they also do sandwiches at lunch. What's Patrick's pick? Their Nova Lox are some of the finest I’ve ever tasted.

2019 West StAnnapolis, MD 21401
(410) 224-8686‎
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Mia's Pizza

On our first visit to Mia’s we had just recieved our first blast of lovely spring weather so the patio was packed and it seemed like a festival was going on. I guess everyone knows that the chef Mia (actually Melissa) worked at seminal DC Pizza houses of worship, 2Amys and Pizzeria Paradiso. The menu is very similar to 2Amys and while I have to say she comes pretty damn close to the same quality product it falls just a hair short. That being said this definitely the best pizza in the Bethesda/Rockville area.

Salads are divine. I had the Roasted Beet, Mango and Orange Salad. It was spiked with a good douse of olive oil and fresh baby arugula. Fantastic. Steven had the arugula, gorgonzola and pear salad. Equally yummy.

For Pizza, I had the Di Mare Pizza, which consisted of Mozzarella di Bufala, red peppers, tomatoes and mussels in their shells. For good measure I asked that they add some anchovies. I was glad I did, the pizza was fantastic, flavorful, hot and chewy. As the mussels steamed open on the pizza they released their essence on the crust, just adding another layer of flavor. Steven had the Margherita pizza. He liked it but said he's had better. Service was delightful and it's an attractive place. I can tell that Mia’s will become a frequent stop for us! I spied a Puttanesca pizza on the menu that sounds scintillating! Always good to have a reason to go back!

4926 Cordell Avenue Bethesda, MD 20814 (301) 718-6427
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Lemongrass Too

This is my favorite Thai restaurant and I have eaten at quite a few. Once inside, you would never think you were at the end of a strip mall sandwiched between the likes of a Best Buy and a Petsmart. The decor is hip and inviting. It has a very "Pottery Barn" feel about it.

I know everyone loves the West Avenue, Annapolis, location of this blossoming Thai restaurant mini chain, but I find that location to be too cramped and often difficult to get in. (I guess I suffer from suburban tendencies)

Start with the crispy duck salad, tossed with a spicy lime dressing that's downright addictive, or try the crispy calamari with its sweet and spicy dipping sauce. The squid is flash-fried, tender and virtually greaseless.

For entrees, you can't go wrong with the Pad Thai, which will remind you why you fell in love with Thai food in the first place. Also, their curries are outstanding. We love the Panang Curry with chicken. It's the perfect blend of sweet, spicy, creamy, peanuty goodness. For my money, though, Seafood is the real star. Shrimp Pik Khur will make your lips tingle with spiciness. Basil Mussels are another great entree choice if you are looking for something light. Pad Pik King is another great selection. Your choice of chicken, shrimp or beef is stir-fried in a hot red curry paste with green beans. Presentations are always artful and colorful.

Desserts are good, too. You can't go wrong with the Mango and Sticky rice. We have found the service to always be a strong suit for the place. They seem to have an endless supply of hip young people at each of their locations, adding to the overall chic vibe of the place. Casual, refined and delicious ... What more could you ask for? Oh yeah.. they have outdoor seating, too.

2631 Housley Rd Annapolis, MD 21401 (410) 224-8424
http://www.yelp.com/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lemongrassannapolis.com%2F&src_bizid=knIxAB2W-F_-jJnHQE1_aA
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Big Fish Grille

If you are a devoted Rehoboth Beach Bum like myself then you are probably familiar with the Big Fish Grill on Route 1 in Rehoboth Beach, DE. When we saw the sign go up for the Big Fish Grille in our very own Crofton we had high hopes that it would be as good as our "fave-rave" beach stop of the same name, (sans the "e"). Please note the addition of the letter "e" at the end of "Grille". I guess that's an "e" for effort, which, in this case, may very well be a problem.

Please note, the restaurants are not affiliated.

So far I've had mixed feelings about the Big Fish in Crofton. The decor almost works, but it swings a little too much to the "kitschy" (wavy mirrors, hanging plaster of Paris fish, underwater color scheme complete with blue neon wave) That coupled with homemade signage lends itself to an overall "amateurish" feeling.

The food is good, but somewhat pricey for Crofton. Noted: they offer a fresh Hawaiian fish selection flown in daily from Honolulu and also offer some great local fish. On our last visit I had the blackened Rockfish. It was very good, although, arguably just a hair overcooked. Carlos was with us that night and he ordered a Philadelphia roll and crab stuffed mushrooms. Both were fantastic. We also got a half dozen raw oysters which were sweet and tasty.

My main complaint with the menu is that they try to do too much. In addition to the chef's selection of seafood and steak options they offer 6 fresh fish options with your choice of preparation. No where on the menu is a simple grilled fish selection. Everything is either smothered in spice or hidden under a sauce. Even the herb-crusted fish is topped with Panko bread crumbs and then sauced. I'm always suspect about a place that sauces everything.

Brunch here is very ordinary. Strap on the feed bag and load up on starch, starch and more starch. They put out a beautiful smoked salmon display, but then they serve it with cold, stale mini bagels that taste like they came from McDonalds. All in all this place is really close to being great, but they just don't quite make it. Service is always nice.

They need to retool the menu, slim down the preparations and offer honest, good seafood. That extra "e" at the end of Grille is really unnecessary.

1260 Crain Hwy Crofton, MD 21114 (410) 451-3133
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The Parkway Deli

The Parkway is a long time favorite. A tried and true stand-by when you don't want to make a fuss, but you need some good ole fashioned Jewish comfort food, even if you're not Jewish. Great for breakfast, lunch or dinner, the Parkway is not going to win any awards for decor, but service is always fast, efficient and friendly.

I have a Parkway "routine" when I go. I ALWAYS order the 1/2 baked chicken with gravy and two sides, with a diet Cel-Ray Soda. Sides for me are ALWAYS a salad and potato pancakes. Then I order the "small" matzo ball soup (the "large" is enough to kill ya). The matzo ball soup is delicious, with fresh chicken stock and light matzo balls, real chunks of chicken, noodles and veg.

The potato pancakes are a must. Have them with the apple sauce. You also get your choice of roll, bagel or challah. Portions are HUGE and It's way too much food. I always take some home with me.

Every dinner entree gets a trip to the pickle bar, too, which features yummy, house-made, fresh and dill pickles among other briny things. The carrot and raisin salad is great! You won't have enough room to eat dessert when you leave, so stop at the counter on the way out and pick up a black and white cookie for later. Everything on the menu is great. Truly it's hard to go wrong. Deli sandwiches are not the "stacked" style you would see in a NY Jewish deli, so go to NY if that is what you're looking for, but if you're looking for a decent home cooked meal and mother is far away, this the next best thing.



8317 Grubb Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20901 (301) 587-1427
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Lemongrass Four

Imagine our excitement when we discovered that Lemongrass had opened an outpost in our very own Crofton! We ran in on opening night. You can read my Yelp review of that experience by hitting the Yelp link below. It’s too early for a proper review, but you can expect to read something soon.



2225A Defense HWY Crofton, MD 21114
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My Butcher and More

Think you can't find a great butcher anymore? I beg to differ. My Butcher and More, in Gambrills MD, brings back that old time quality and service that seems to be lost these days, and certainly not available in your local supermarket. My Butcher and More carries an outstanding selection of above average cuts of meat, with a definite nod to beef. Hand cut steaks, pork, sausage and nice variety of Boars Head Meats and Cold Cuts. Cheeses are also available, along with a nice variety of bbq necessities, sauces and even a limited selection of vegetables.

Aside from the excellent product selection is the outstanding service, which starts with Mike the owner. If you have a question about meat, Mike is your man. Don't see what you want in the case out front? Just ask, they probably have it in the back.

1334 Defense Hwy, Ste E, Gambrills, MD 21054 (410) 451-3296
http://www.mybutcherandmore.com/

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So there you have it. What are some of your favorites? I would love to hear from you. Feel free to leave me a post, I'm always up for a dining adventure.

Mandalay Cafe and Restaurant: Lost Gem Found Again

The country of Burma (Myanmar) borders India on one side and Thailand on the other. It’s interesting to see how these two titans have found common ground in the country of Burma which truly seems to be a culinary segue between the two lands.

Some years ago, Steven and I made a few visits to a College Park, MD restaurant called Mandalay, which featured Malaysian, or more specifically, Burmese cuisine. It was basically a “divey” hole-in-the-wall joint in an off-beat locale but with really good food. Alas, we discovered it too late as the restaurant was slated for demolition, it’s location to be turned into condos or townhouses or something. Furthermore, shortly thereafter we moved to Crofton and soon forgot all about this little gem.

As luck would have it, just the other day Steven eyed a short article in the Washington Post heralding the Ginger Salad at Mandalay in Silver Spring, MD. Eureka! We found them again!

We have a couple of regular dine out nights so this past Monday, when Steven asked me what I was thinking for dinner, I gave him a few ho-hum options then added, “but I would really like to go to Mandalay.” In a flash we were off.

The once “divey” hole-in-the-wall joint, has blossomed into a great big “divey” joint. Let’s just say the place is not long on atmosphere. Not to say anything unpleasant, it’s clean, it’s functional, it’s comfortable, but it’s certainly not going to win any prizes for décor… but with food this good, they could serve it out of the back of a pickup truck at the entrance to a dump and I would line up for it.

We started with the Ginger Salad, which is very similar to a Thai Green Papaya Salad. Shredded cabbage is topped with a spicy lime, fish sauce and peanut dressing with shredded ginger and fried garlic chips. You can ask for this dish “vegetarian” which means they will leave off the fish sauce. You can also ask for it “College Park” style, which means it will be really spicy. Apparently, they got complaints that the salad was too intense so they toned down the ginger. We ordered it “College Park” style and didn’t find it overwhelming at all. In fact it was absolutely addictive. As you sit in Mandalay, you will notice that the Ginger salad goes out to almost every table and I understand why, it is simply delicious.

We also ordered the Burmese Samosas, which are smaller than a traditional Indian Samosa with a thinner and crisper shell. They look like Spanakopita triangles filled with well seasoned mashed potatoes and peas and served with a snappy chili sauce that is slightly sweet and really spicy.

For entrees, I chose Mandalay KyetThar which is served room temperature. It’s described as “White meat chicken strips boiled, and served with lemon-soy, crushed peanuts, and sesame seed sauce”. Sounds pleasant enough… but they forget to mention that it’s spicy. The waitress advised that the sauce could only be served very spicy or moderately spicy. Mild was not an option. I like spicy, but I know better than to order something very spicy until I understand exactly what that means to a specific restaurant or cuisine. Steven ordered the Shrimp in Tomato Onion Curry, also ordered moderately spicy. We decided to split everything.

Thank God we ordered them moderately spicy. Both dishes had that sneaky burn that you don’t notice at first, but which continues to get spicier and spicier the more you eat, until your lips are tingling and your mouth is quite literally on fire. Water won’t help you, the rice is little comfort, and it tastes so damn good that you just keep eating making matters worse.

As an added bonus I unwittingly ordered a small bowl of the AChin Yay “Lemon and garlic with hot chili sauce”.

“It makes things a little hotter” said our lovely waitress.

I didn’t realize that Satan made a hot sauce, but apparently he does. It’s called A Chin Yay, and it comes from Burma. It definitely makes things a little hotter. I put some on the Shrimp Curry and the first bite actually made me cough. I am also smart enough to know not to douse my food with an unknown hot sauce until I have gauged the intensity of what I am about to eat. Needless to say, the AChin Yay was used only sparingly after that.

Despite the intensity of the heat, this is really fantastic food. Everything is fresh and tasty, with simple presentations that highlight the direct flavors of the dish. Service was incredibly attentive and friendly. Our waitress gave us many suggestions and we felt like she helped us to choose wisely.

We both had a dessert. In hind sight I would skip it next time around. Steven ordered the ShweJi “cream of wheat, coconut cream, sugar, raisins, and milk, topped with poppy seeds, then baked until light golden brown” and I ordered the Sticky Rice with brown Sugar & Coconut. Stevens’ dessert was the better of the two, mine having been overheated in a microwave. The ShweJi, however was unique and flavorsome, but I have some sugar free fudge bars at home that I would have liked more.

We are delighted to have found this little gem again, and I have the feeling this will be the first of many visits to Mandalay.

Mandalay Cafe and Restaurant
930 Bonifant Street
Silver Spring, MD 20910
301-85-0500

Jackie's: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

Mickey, Carlos, Steve and Patrick

Carlos needed a ride to Silver Spring to meet his own darling chubby hubby, Mickey (a.k.a. Mickey-do) so we agreed to take him there after work. After picking up Carlos, we found that we had about an hour and half to kill so we decided that we should go ahead and have dinner. Steve had read about a restaurant that opened a couple of years back called Jackie’s. I don’t quite know how this place flew under my radar screen (Steve swears he told me about it), but it did.

So let’s talk about the good stuff first.

Jackie’s has been retrofitted into a restaurant from an old garage. It has a funky, upbeat interior that reflects a style of restaurant that Steve and I are always saying we don’t have enough of in Washington DC. I know there have been some changes to this genre recently, but it seems that you either have to go high end or low brow in DC for dining with not much choice in-between.

They have kept much of the dimensions of the original space with exposed brick walls, high ceilings, bright paned windows and they even dangle workers lights from extension cords overhead. We loved the open kitchen, and the opportunity to watch the chef’s in action. The seating is colorful with multi-patterned booths and varied colored plastic chairs with a serious 60’s feel. In the front of the restaurant by the bar hangs a large mobile of large pastel colored plastic disks. Very Fun.

The first courses were fantastic. We ordered the melon with proscuitto, one of my favorites. I love it when a chef has the balls to get out of the way of great food. The melon, cantaloupe in this case, was perfectly ripe, sweet and musky with a beautiful color. It was topped with generous portions of ultra-thin slices of a good quality proscuitto. Jackie’s prides itself on using high quality organic meats and vegetables and it truly showed in this dish. The whole affair was lightly sprinkled with a nice olive oil. Sublime.

Next was the Gazpacho. It was a true Gazpacho made in the Andalusian tradition with soaked bread, fresh tomatoes, garlic and sherry vinegar blended to create a creamy texture and rich tomato flavor. So often when you order Gazpacho these days you are served a watered down version of chunky vegetable salsa, which has very little to do with the actual dish or its origins. The Gazpacho had a nice garnish of chopped cucumbers and onions, and was finished with a golden thread of fine olive oil, visible on the surface of the cold soup. The dish was perfectly seasoned and the flavors were well-balanced. We were off to a great start, but alas, there were rocky moments ahead.

Carlos ordered the roast chicken breast. It was by far the best of the entrees. An airline chicken breast, a chicken breast with wing drummie attached, was perfectly cooked. It was very juicy and meaty with a crispy skin. It was served over a huge portion of mashed potatoes and green beans. The chicken was then topped with a creamed wild mushroom sauce. The dish was elegant, yet homey and comforting at the same time. What more could you ask for?

Oh, but here is where the trouble begins. I ordered the Flat Iron Steak with Chimichurri Sauce. It was accompanied by roasted shallots and a liberal portion of French fries. The steak was ordered medium rare, but the griddle grilling of the meat produced a steak which was unevenly cooked and frankly, a little overdone. I also couldn’t help but feel the portion size was a little small. The chimichurri sauce, however, was the major downfall of this dish and not like any chimichurri I have ever seen before.

Chimichurri Sauce, an Argentinean steakhouse staple, is a great condiment to grilled meats, with a pungent flavor of vinegar, garlic, olive oil and fresh herbs. Jackie’s chimichurri had a peculiar color and a flavor that was acrid and unpleasant. I suspect that they made it with Dende Oil, a Brazilian palm oil that has a light orangey-peach color, but I really can’t be sure. The herbs were all brown as if the sauce, which is traditionally always served at room temperature, had been heated, wilting any sense of "freshness" out of it.

The French fries were exactly as I liked them, thin swatches of potato fried to a delicate crisp and the roasted shallots were sweet and tender. Too bad they chose to drown the steak with sauce. If it had been served on the side I could salvaged my meal, but no such luck for me.

Poor Steven really got the raw deal with his meal. He ordered the house made linguini with meatballs off the daily specials menu. Jackie’s features a daily specials menu that is designed to present home-style comfort foods in a modern way.

First off, the portion size was the size of an appetizer and at $20; they could have thrown a few more noodles his way. The noodles were delicious, but they weren’t linguini, they were fettuccine. They were tossed with the most minimal amount of marinara sauce possible so that the noodles simply had a pinkish hue to them. Because the noodles were so minimally sauced, they clung together like a solitary "noodle cake" which could, literally be cut with a fork and knife into a wedge. The whole mess was topped with three small, dry, unadorned meatballs. I know that they were going for a modern interpretation, but did the chef grow up in an eastern block country? What was “comfort food” about this?

It was accompanied by sautéed spinach and garlic bread. The spinach was seasoned on the plate so it had a furious salty first bite then nothing else to carry through the rest of the side dish. The garlic bread was adequate.

Service was casual, friendly and really, really slow. I had to remind our waiter that we had ordered the Gazpacho. Service was so slow, in fact that we didn’t have time for dessert, as we were now a half an hour LATE in dropping off Carlos. That means we had been there for two hours for those of you who don't want to do the math.

Upon closer inspection of the menu, I think I would order differently from Jackie’s in the future. They definitely have their starters down, including one we didn’t order, but wish we had, the mini Elvis Burgers, at $3.00 a burger. We eyed a plateful as they were presented to a nearby table and felt the deep pang of "oops-I-ordered-the-wrong-thing" envy. Despite what were some big disappointments, I would definitely return to Jackie’s. There was enough good in the experience to warrant a second visit. Hopefully, this was just a bad first trip, so keep an eye out for a second review of this dining spot coming soon.