Steve's Notebook Blog

We had a break in tradition this Thanksgiving.  Instead of making the 3-hour drive down to my parents’ home, we stayed close to home and went out to a restaurant.  We figured it would be better for the baby that way.

Honestly, none of us really like roasted turkey, so for our Thanksgiving celebration venue we decided on the non-stop Brazilian-style meat-fest that is called Chima.  They did a good job at making Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant still feel special (they even had turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce).  While we didn’t get to spend Thanksgiving with all the family this year, I’m at least thankful that we got to spend a first Thanksgiving with our healthy, beautiful, and clever baby girl.  As you can see, she was the guest of honor tonight sitting at the head of the table.

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving.  Let the Christmas shopping madness begin

Tyson’s Corner Center has a new rotating sushi bar called “Wasabi”.  I haven’t seen one of these in the US before.  I’ll have to try it next time I visit the mall.

We found this place called “Hot Bakes N’ Cakes” in Springfield, VA a few weeks ago and went back last night for a second visit.  You wouldn’t be able to tell from the name, but it’s actually an Indian restaurant.  Indian/French fusion that is…

One half of the restaurant is a typical looking French bakery, while the other half is an Indian restaurant that seems to me (as a non-Indian) to be more authentic than most Indian restaurants in America.  I say this because almost all of their customers and staff are Indian, and they serve dishes that I’ve never seen or heard of before at other Indian restaurants.

For dinner last night, I had one of their Indo-European fusion dishes – a Chicken Tikka Panini sandwich.  It was interesting and good, but a little dry for my tastes.

For an appetizer, we tried the Bhel Puri, which we never heard of before until we saw it on the menu last night and ordered it.  What came to the table was completely unexpected, but tasted good:

Apparently, Bhelpuri is a popular dish sold by street vendors in Bombay (er, Mumbai).  It’s basically Rice Crispies stir-fried with potatoes and tamarind sauce and is best consumed as soon as it’s prepared.  If that sounds interesting, read more about it at Wikipedia, then look for it at your local Indian restaurant.

There is a classic episode of Seinfeld where Jerry and friends encounter The Soup Nazi, with his famous catch-phrase “No Soup For You!”.

Apparently, the Soup Nazi was inspired by a real soup kitchen in New York City run by an Iranian immigrant. Just like in the Seinfeld episode, Soup Kitchen International had a set of strict rules for ordering the soup. Customers violating the rules might by asked to move to the back of the line or denied service.

It makes me kind of want to try this restaurant out. Too bad it shut down a couple years ago.

We ate at a few really good Asian restaurants in Northern Virginia over the past couple weeks:

A&J Restaurant – Delicious Taiwan-style “fast food”.  This restaurant is really way too small for how popular it is.  9/10

Huong Que (Four Sisters) – One of the best Vietnamese restaurants around.  I can’t decide which has the better pho soup, Four Sisters or Pho 495.  We’ll call it a tie.  9/10

Canton Cafe – Authentic Chinese food and a good dim sum at lunch time.  The service can be lousy at times though.  7/10

I can’t say I’ve been to many Mexican restaurants before, but out of the 3 or 4 I’ve been to, Tequila Grande is the best.  I had the Grilled Chipotle Chimi.   The steak inside was so tender!

444 Maple Avenue West, Vienna, VA 22180

Steve’s Rating:  9/10 

I didn’t have a chance to mention a few restaurants that I tried last month:

Sakoontra (Fairfax, VA) Good Thai food at good prices. I thought the food at Neisha was better though.

Kabul Kabob (Springfield, VA) About as good as it gets for Afghan food in the area.

Potbelly (Alexandria, VA) – After Quiznos fell out of my favor, now this place builds my favorite sandwiches.

Pollo Rico (Springfield, VA) – New location next to Springfield Mall. The yuca here is awesome.

Ye Chon Restaurant

4121 Hummer Rd, Annandale, VA 22003

An all-around good restaurant, but there’s something that I can’t quite put my finger on that I don’t like about Ye Chon. Maybe it’s lackluster service, though I can’t complain about anything in particular I don’t like about the service. Maybe it’s about the food, but again, there’s nothing in particular I don’t like about the food. Maybe it’s the “busy” and “loud” atmosphere. Maybe its everything put together, or maybe it’s another reason altogether. Just for some reason I don’t care for the place. There are a whole lot of other better and much more colorful Korean restaurants in and around Annandale. Maybe what I don’t like about Ye Chon is just the fact that it’s so average. Come to think of it, there’s nothing that I can say that they do especially well.

Steve’s Rating: 6/10

Neisha Thai Cuisine

One of the best Thai places I’ve been to in the area.  The fish dishes were the most impressive.

Steve’s Rating: 9/10

Latino Pollo a la Brasa (Peru’s Chicken)

Authentic Peruvian chicken at the heart of Springfield.  We were the only non-Spanish speaking people there, and honestly you might feel a bit uneasy going there if you don’t speak Spanish.  But regardless of whether you speak Spanish or not, the chicken is very good.  Nothing amazing compared to other Peruvian chicken places, but very good.

Steve’s Rating: 7/10

My Karma Indian Bistro

Finally found another place I can recommend to everyone who wants good Indian food.  This place is simply amazing.  Great food, great service, great atmosphere.  The menu features Indian dishes as well as “Indian style Chinese” dishes.  The interior is tastefully designed to create a unique modern art type atmosphere.  The food is surprisingly elegant considering that most dishes are inexpensive.  They have a full bar.  I’ll be back next chance I get.

Steve’s Rating: 10/10

The Oriental Regency

Very elegant Chinese restaurant with excellent service and good food.  They are known for the Peking Duck, which was good, but a bit bland.  The Peking Duck I’ve had at most other Chinese restaurants I’ve been to fit my tastes better.

Steve’s Rating: 8/10

Tony Lin’s

Another elegant Chinese restaurant that strikes me as pretty authentic.  Not much else to say, except it was pretty good and the dishes were well-prepared.

Steve’s Rating:  8/10

Bonefish Grill

I wasn’t expecting much after being severely disappointed at the Legal Seafoods in Tyson’s Galleria.  However, I was pleasantly surprised that the fish was downright delicious, despite the fact that I ordered the cheapest dish (Tilapia).  It was so tender and seasoned very well.  I’ll definitely be back to try the more expensive dishes.

Steve’s Rating: 9/10

Chima

All you can eat meats, grilled Brazilian-style to perfection. The salad bar is stocked with all kinds of rare treats. Elegant dining experience – most guests dressed up, valet parking, and there was a Lamborghini parked out front when I visited. I thought it was a bit over-priced for what you get though. I think it was $44 per person for dinner, with drinks costing extra.

Steve’s Rating: 8/10

Delia’s Pizzeria & Grille

Mediterranean and Peruvian food… what a combination!  I tried the Peruvian food and found the chicken to be a little bland, but the sides were great, especially the fried yucca.

Lunch: $14

Steve’s Rating: 8/10

Legal Sea Foods

Dry and bland seafood that would have been excusable if it didn’t cost so much.  It was Friday night and the place was only about a third full.  Now I know why.

Steve’s Rating:  6/10

I tried a number of restaurants for the first time over the past few weeks:

Magic Wok

The food’s a little bland and they seem to cater mostly to Caucasians, but everything otherwise looks fresh, well-prepared, and authentic (as far as I can tell).

Steve’s Rating: 6/10

Smoketown Grill

Small local restaurant with a nice atmosphere and friendly people. We saw several local Amish people eating here. But you would think a restaurant in Lancaster County surrounded by Amish farms would serve fresh food. Everything was canned, frozen, or otherwise preserved.

Steve’s Rating: 3/10

Manhatten Bagel

I came in to grab something to take with me to work for lunch. I had the Nova Lox, which is smoked salmon and onion sour cream on a bagel. It was really good, but it came in a big box, making it difficult to carry with me on the Metro.

Steve’s Rating: 7/10

Johnny’s NY Style Pizzeria

No link yet because this place just opened up (replacing Mama Mia Pizza). They have an amazingly delicious vegetarian pizza.

Steve’s Rating: 8/10

This time I tried four new restaurants in four different areas featuring four different styles of food.

Malek’s Pizza, Springfield, VA

A nice casual family-run Mediterranean restaurant that’s been in business for over 25 years. The food is fresh and the service friendly.

Steve’s Rating: 9/10

Bob’s 88 Shabu Shabu, Rockville, MD

We didn’t have the Shabu Shabu (soup hot pot), but instead ate the authentic Taiwanese-style lunch special entrees (I know there are always people who take offense when you say authentic, but authentic is relative). Whatever you have, you gotta get the shaved ice for dessert.

Steve’s Rating: 10/10

Chart House, Alexandria, VA

Fine dining in Old Town Alexandria overlooking the Potomac. The seafood dishes are a heavenly experience. The waiting staff was also extremely professional. Be sure to order the chocolate lava cake for dessert. It takes 30 minutes to prepare, and it was hands-down the best tasting dish of the evening. It’s also good for sweetening up the mood before you pay the bill, which comes out to about $40-50 per person for dinner, after taxes and tips.

Steve’s Rating: 10/10

California Tortilla, Washington, D.C.

Great place to stop by after a long day at the National Zoo. This place is like a Baja Fresh, but much better. The size and variety of the menu had us zombified for a few minutes, but we eventually settled on a buffalo wing burrito and blackened chicken fajitas. The coolest thing about the place is they have the Wall of Flame – a wall of different kinds of hot sauce for you to use as you please.

Steve’s Rating: 7/10

For those in the Washington D.C. area, I have never gone wrong with any of Washingtonian Magazine’s Best Bargains.

I was playing around with Google Maps and put together a map of Kingstowne, Virginia area restaurants. I’ve tried most of those restaurants, so I’ll have to figure out a way to attach reviews and comments to the map.