Ren’s Ramen
Aaah, ramen! Nothing like a hot and tasty bowl of the good stuff when you have a salt craving. I finally got to try Ren’s Ramen a little while ago, after hearing that it reopened in Wheaton. The place is located in a tiny strip mall on a side street. (The parking lot is pretty small, so it’s better to park on the street).
The ramen comes in one size, ranging from $10~11. Slightly pricy for ramen if you ask me, but it’s not like there’s a plethora of ramen shops to choose from in this area, so I guess it’s a markup for the novelty of it. They have the classic choices of miso, shoyu (soy sauce), and shio (salt) in addition to things like tonshio (I’m guessing it’s a mix of tonkotsu – pork bone stock – and salt), and a spicy variety.
I got the tonshio, which came with bean sprouts, pork, bamboo shoots, and scallions. I ordered corn for an extra 75 cents. In all, I think it was really tasty, though for this price point, I’m not sure about how often I’d come. I actually felt a bit ill afterward too, but perhaps it was just that I haven’t too much oily foods in a while.
Ren’s is cash only, and no reservations, so you might have to wait a few minutes to be seated!
Red Hook Lobster Pound
The Red Hook lobster truck has been around for a while by now, but I did have occasion to try them a few months back. I took an hour out of my lunch break to wait in line on a cold winter’s day in a queue that went down the length of a city block. What was I thinking? But I suppose that the blogger part of me felt somewhat obligated to give it a go! By the time I got to the front of the line, I ordered practically everything on the menu, just because I doubted I’d be back again very soon. I got one Maine style lobster roll ($15), New England clam chowder ($7), apple cider ($3) and a whoopie pie ($3.50). The service was really nice, and I think they appreciated that you’d waited in line for so long.
I think I made a mistake when I ordered the Maine style. Actually, I didn’t even know there were two different kinds of lobster rolls, which was an oversight on my part. I don’t remember if they asked me what kind I wanted, because I would’ve asked them what the difference was and would probably have ordered the other kind had I known. Anyway, the Maine style is served cold, with mayo. The Connecticut style is warm, with butter. Clearly the Connecticut style sounds superior! I was expecting it to be warm, so was very disappointed when I bit into the cold lobster meat. I think the flavors are more robust when they’re warmed up. The bread was nice and buttery though, so that was good.
beverage lunch restaurants: bistro coffee hawaii oahu tea
by Lindsey
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Panya Bistro
My last Hawaii post takes me to Ala Moana shopping center, where I had lunch at Panya Bistro. Unlike the Panya I covered in a previous post, which was just a small bakery outpost, this one is a full on restaurant with savories as well as sweets on the menu. The food was not bad, though nothing to really call home about. Pictured above is the coconut chicken curry with fried rice. The curry was on the mild side, and creamy. I liked how the chicken was on the bone – it gave the dish a very hardy feeling to it.
And the rest!
beverage lunch restaurants: hawaii kauai seafood soups
by Lindsey
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Hanalei Dolphin
A foodie friend of mine highly recommended the Hanalei Dolphin restaurant on the north shore of Kaua’i, so of course I had to go check them out! The drive up was scenic and lovely, though riddled with quite a few narrow roads and some one-way bridges that made me a little nervous at first. We spent most of the morning driving and stopping at various lookouts, and then stopped at the Hanalei for lunch. …And not a moment too soon! Half-way through the meal, it began pouring outside! Rain was coming down in sheets. Apparently this is pretty typical Kaua’i. (So, apparently, are the roosters that kept me up the night before with their infuriating cockadoodle doos!) The drive back to the airport after our lunch was pretty harrowing, but we made it back in one piece. Thankfully, we were able to make it back before some of those aforementioned one-way bridges were closed off from the flooding.
Pictured above is the poke – ahi with sesame. This was just okay. I don’t know, maybe I had heard too much hype about the poke, but it wasn’t as memorable as I expected.
The rest:
Toi’s Thai Kitchen
During my stay in Honolulu, my friend and I popped over to Kauai for a weekend trip. It’s just a quickie plane ride from Oahu. We arrived early and spent a good portion of the morning driving up the long and winding road to Waimea Canyon. The roads were very narrow and somewhat harrowing for an urban ninja like myself, but I managed to get us to the top in one piece! Unfortunately, many of the views were foggy, so we could barely see anything at all. (^__^);; But what we could see peeking through the mist was absolutely gorgeous!
After a morning of hard driving, we made our way down to the pier near Hanapepe for a quick bite before our boat tour to the Na Pali Coast. Our guidebook recommended a little place called Toi’s Thai Kitchen right near the docks. We ordered a pork pad thai to share (pictured above), and it was fabulous! The portion was enough to share, and the flavors were spot on.
They gave us a side of papaya salad as well:
L & L
Some time during the trip, we naturally had to stop at by the L&L Hawaiian Barbecue for a quick bite. L&L is a fast food joint that serves Japanese-esque comfort food. They do franchise their brand – mostly in the west, though they do have a branch or two in New York.
Pictured above is the pork katsu (breaded and fried pork), which came with a side of rice and macaroni salad. I’m not sure what was up with the macaroni salad, but that seemed to be the usual accompaniment to the meal. I thought the pork was really tasty, if a little bit overdone.
I had the beef teriyaki:
lunch restaurants: comfort food hawaii noodles oahu sandwiches
by Lindsey
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Victoria Inn
I really wanted to get a genuinely local experience of Honolulu, and my friend – who grew up there – was more than happy to oblige. On Day 2, she took me to lunch at the Victoria Inn, located in the neighborhood of Kaimuki. Its decor is really dated (or nostalgic, perhaps), and probably hasn’t changed for decades. My pictures here turned out with a sepia hue, which I suppose is rather appropriate. There were definitely no tourists to be seen here. It’s actually kind of a dive, but I can understand the nostalgic value of the place, and it serves up cheap local comfort food that people have probably been ordering for generations.
I decided to go full-on local and got the saimin, which my friend described as being like “Hawaiian ramen.” It wasn’t until after I ordered it that she also informed me that she doesn’t care for it much. She and I share a lot of the same taste in food, so I wasn’t surprised to find out that I didn’t care for it much either. In fact, I found it rather bland and unappetizing. The broth wasn’t like any kind of ramen broth I’d ever had before – and I suppose that’s fair enough, since it’s not technically ramen – but it was kind of this bizarre chicken broth-flavored thing that didn’t have much going for it. And then there was the egg! Too much egg. It overpowered the blandness of the noodles and broth until all I could taste was egg. I couldn’t finish it at all, and in fact it rather turned my stomach near the end.
I found out later from a saimin-liking friend that in fact, good saimin does exist…just not at Victoria Inn.
The rest of the meal was an improvement:
beverage lunch restaurants: comfort food hawaii oahu seafood smoothies
by Lindsey
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Crouching Lion Inn
Continuing along with day 1…
We drove from Honolulu, heading east along the shores of Oahu, stopping at various lookout points to admire the view. Around lunch time, we took a lunch break at the Crouching Lion Inn Bar & Grill, so named after a rock formation located behind it. (I don’t think they’re actually an inn where you can stay…?) It’s located right by the water, which you can view from the restaurant’s patio seats. They also had an indoor seating area, and in retrospect, we probably should have sat there. The view was just as pretty from the inside if you got a window-side seat, and more importantly – there would’ve been no mosquitoes. It turned out that the day before I arrived, it had rained a lot on the island. It had cleared up in time for my round the island drive, but it also called out all the mosquitoes in the area, and they just had a holiday under the patio table. I took the brunt of it, as I was wearing a dress. I was probably bitten dozens of times. (;____o) (I also had an allergic reaction, which wasn’t very fun). The people at the restaurant were really nice and let us borrow some OFF spray, but it was too late by then.
Mosquito Hell put a damper on the meal, but the food was still pretty good. Nothing out of this world or anything, but I liked it! (^__^)
Pictured above are the drinks we got – a mango smoothie and the virgin “lava flow” with pineapple, coconut and strawberry. I thought the mango smoothie could’ve had more mango flavor. The lava flow was extremely sweet, which I suppose is good if you want dessert in a drink?
For the food, the three of us decided to get three pupus (appetizers) to share:
beverage lunch restaurants: japanese rockville sushi tea
by Lindsey
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Rolls ‘n Rice
I had driven past the Rolls ‘n Rice a number times while en route to the Whole Foods in Rockville and was rather curious about it…so one day, I stopped in there for lunch with my mom. The interior was nice, with wide spaces, high ceilings and warm colors that were welcoming. I liked the wood paneled shelves on the walls, but the large stone fireplace confused me a little, as it seemed more hunting lodge rustic than zen.
The format is the same as the Taipei Tokyo across the street – you order your food at the front, get a number, take a seat. They’ll bring the food to you. I never really know what I’m supposed to do with tipping in such places. I usually leave a couple dollars, since they do bring the food and then bus your table later, but it’s just a little confounding.
Pictured above is the sushi combo A (8 pieces of nigiri with California roll). Price point was pretty good at $12.95. I thought the fish was decent, though maybe the rice could’ve been more tightly molded.
Againn
I visited the Againn Rockville branch for lunch a little while ago (actually, it was quite a while ago XD;;). I thought that the Rockville branch would be somewhat more affordable, but it was still on the pricey side – especially for lunch. The food was pretty good though, and I thought the decor was nice and cozy (if a little on the dark side).
There was one glitch in the service – my waiter removed my drink (peach iced tea) when it was still half done. When he brought me a fresh one soon after, I thought he’d switched out the old for new so the ice wouldn’t dilute my drink. I was a little vexed later to find out that he’d charged me for the second drink that I’d never asked for. I probably should have said something, but I don’t like causing too much fuss.. Aside from that minor incident, the service was good and attentive.
On to the food! Pictured above are the mussels with white wine and garlic broth. These were very succulent and lovely. I enjoyed the broth very much, and would love to try it out at home.
The rest:
Yellow Bulgogi Truck
A few weeks ago, I was walking back from lunch when I spotted a yellow truck parked at the corner of 12th and G that I had never seen before. Naturally, I had to get a closer look, and it turned out to be a bulgogi truck! They seem to keep a low profile both on the street and online. I found their Yelp page and rather sparse Twitter account, which isn’t very helpful in pinning down where they’ll be everyday.
They have a short and sweet menu, bulgogi, bibimbap, or chicken teriyaki. You can also choose between medium or spicy on the spiciness scale. I got the medium beef bulgogi, pictured above, which came with sticky rice and sides of kimchi and iceberg lettuce with citrus vinaigrette. I thought the portions were pretty good for the money. The kimchi’s spiciness was a nice addition to the relatively muted flavor of the beef. Apparently the bibimbap is a better deal because you’ll get more veggies with your meal.
They don’t tweet their location on a daily basis, but it seems like they try to hit the same spot on the street everyday…at least, for a month. Their last tweet seemed to indicate they’d be on 12th street for a few weeks. The last I saw them, they were at 12th and F, by the metro entrance.
Zaytinya
I’m browsing through my food photos folder and realizing how horribly behind I am with my posts. (o____o);; I’m just getting lazier and lazier as the hot summer heat continues to simmer outside. You’d think that it would be conducive to a nice indoor activity like blogging, but I think the heat just drains all energy from you. I’m gonna try harder, really!
So, on to the post!
Some co-workers and I headed over to Zaytinya a little while ago to take advantage of their lunch specials. For about $12 or $13, you can get a tasty sandwich and a choice of sides – fries with yogurt or maroulosalata, a Greek style green salad. The portions are pretty generous, and I usually end up saving half of my sandwich for lunch the next day, so I get two lunches for the price of one. (^O^)v
Pictured above is the “cerkez on toasted olive bread with “shredded chicken, walnut cilantro sauce, roasted red peppers, feta, mache, caramelized onions.” I didn’t have any of this, but it was well received. Looked like a lighter fare than the other sandwiches at the table.
The rest:
Oro Pomodoro
I poked around on the internet a few weeks ago, looking for a restaurant I’ve never tried before in Rockville. I’m actually not sure how long Oro Pomodoro has been around, but it’s one of the restaurants in the Rockville Town Center area, which has seen quite some development in recent years. I decided to wander in for a lunch one sunny weekend afternoon.
I really liked the interior of the place, which had great high ceilings and a very airy feel. It was a lovely spring day, so the glass wall panels had been opened up to the alfresco dining area in the front. Even though I sat inside, I could still enjoy the pretty weather and nice view.
Of course I had to try their pizza, so my main course was the Margherita, pictured above. I thought it was pretty decent. I wouldn’t say it’s the best in the area, but not too bad!
The rest:
El Floridano
OMG an update. (o____O)!! It’s been a lazy month, what can I say? I think once you get out of the habit of posting, it’s easy to just put things off until the next day, and the next day. Pretty soon, you end up giving up the month for a lost cause. And now here we are in June. (What?) June 2009 is actually the month I started this blog, though I’m too lazy at the moment to go back and figure out exactly which date it was. So, happy 1st birthday, blog! XD ♥
Today I saw on Twitter that El Floridano (on Twitter @FLmeetsDC) was around my neck of the woods, so I decided to give them a go. They are one of the newer food trucks to hit the streets of DC, and I don’t think they’ll be the last, either.
I tried their “Turkey Bahn Mi with Pickled Green Mango and Tamarind BBQ Sauce.” As you can see from the photo, it’s like a turkey meatloaf type thing, and it also had arugula, cilantro and julienned carrots. My first bite was excellent! But then…I’m not sure what happened, but the flavors didn’t quite come together again for me. Perhaps there wasn’t enough cilantro, which (for me, anyway) adds that extra something. I think the tamarind sauce could have used some more punch, especially since the turkey was a little subtle (or under seasoned). Something needed to counteract the sweetness of the pickled mango.
However, this was a pretty big sandwich, so you definitely feel like you’re getting your money’s worth. Sandwiches are $7, and the other two kinds are: “Classic Roast Pork and Ham Cuban Sandwich” and “Chicken Chiang Mai with Charred Tomato Salsa, Avocado and Pickled Onions.” They also have soup, but I didn’t try any.
On a non-food related note (re: Floridano’s Twitter feed): It’s a pet peeve of mine when I click on a link in Twitter and it takes me to a Facebook update that just reiterates what was just posted on Twitter. Ah, a petty critique, I know. XD;;;
Tara Thai
Aah, Tara Thai. I used to come here a lot back in my college days. It’s relatively affordable, and it’s not sports bar food, which was usually the other option back then. I poked around their Yelp page today, and was amused by how varied the reviews are, ranging from “I love it!!” to “Worst Thai food evar omg!!” (paraphrasing). I can’t vouch for its authenticity, having never been to Thailand myself, but it’s fairly decent. I don’t think I’d go out of my way to dine here, but it’s a nice option if you’re in the area. Some people might find the underwater themed decor a little cheesy, but I don’t mind it so much.
My brother and I went to their Rockville restaurant last week when he was visiting for the weekend. I got the pad thai, pictured above. I think it was okay, if a little on the bland side.
The rest:
