For the longest time, there were discussions on Chowhound that consisted almost entirely of number and letter combinations. “Have you tried A36, J19, or M22?” one would write. Another poster would reply, “No, but A22 is to die for.”
Back when I was a city-dweller, the call letters always intrigued me. They refer to menu items at Joe’s Noodle House, a spectaular chinese noodle house in the lovely suburb of Rockville. Once I became a (albeit temporary) suburbanite, I consoled myself with the knowledge that I would now be close to the infamous noodle house and could partake in its fully noodle glory.
And it has yet to disappoint. I’ve visited several times before, including once with rj3, but hadn’t been back in months. So after shopping at our local suburban chinese market, when zaf and I had a noodle craving, we headed over to Joe’s.
Joe’s has a setup that is unusual in the U.S. You order at the cash register in the back of the restaurant and then your food and drinks are brought to you by servers. But, it’s not fast food style — if, as with our visit, the restaurant is busy, you are greeted at the front door by a host(ess) who makes you wait for an available table. Once a table is free, you are directed to the counter, order your meals, and then claim your already reserved table. It makes for a sightly confusing and hectic ordering process, but given the food, who cares?
Zaf and I shared two dishes. Mine was R27: Beef Chow-Fun, a wide rice noodle with beef and a fantastic sauce. The noodles are either made onsite or have never seen a freezer in their lives. Regardless, they’re stunning, and the chow fun noodles beat even my perennial favorite, Chinatown Express. The beef itself was excellently flavored, but unfortunately the quality was lower than expected. Zaf had N17: Beef Noodle Soup, a gigantic bowl of soup broth, beef squares, and thin noodles. The soup base and the noodles were again fanastic, perfectly spiced and very smooth. I swear they infused the noodles with cocaine of some type, as I couldn’t stop eating them. Again, the beef was less then spectacular, but the noodles more than made up for it.
Recommendation: Get noodle dishes for the noodles and savor the noodles. The meat is just a bonus, anyway.
The entire menu of alphanumeric combinations is available here. Don’t salivate too much.
Joe’s Noodle House | 1488-C Rockville Pike | Rockville, MD 20852 | (301) 881 – 5518 | www.joesnoodlehouse.com
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11Feb
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09Feb
I usually avoid the gayborhood opting instead for slightly … uhm … less tacky locales. Like this one. But regardless, tonight I braved the walk down 17th Street – fully adorned in Mardi Gras beads and screaming underage boys who spell it with an i and clearly need to eat more – to have dinner at Peppers.
Peppers has been around for as long as I can remember, and used to have one of the best brunches in town, though the quality has been less reliable in recent years. Our waitress came to take drink orders, but first she commented that I look like Colin Farrell. Now, I’ve never heard this before, and I’m a bit hurt she didn’t at least add “a much younger” before the name.
Tonight’s meal (Ancho and Veggie Quesadillas, with a Stoli Vanil and soda) was good. The quesadilla came well stuffed with cheese and lovely roasted veggies, and a side of jicama slaw (which is bloody good!) and some rather bland pico de gallo. The drinks were strong, and to be honest, that’s what I was after.
Not fine dining, but a good place to people watch. And waitresses who know how to get good tips (especially since the service was fairly good even disregarding the compliments)!
Peppers
1527 17th St Nw
202-328-8193 -
07Feb
I emerged from Seeing ‘Sideways’ last Friday with two things: some serious trepidation concerning the world’s entire male population, and a resolution to give pinot noirs a second chance.
I know very little about wines besides that shirazes are spicy, merlots are boring, and pinot noirs are bitter. But seeing as none of these are really deep statements we headed on over to Bardeo in Cleveland Park.
Full-bodied and sophisticated, with fruity overtones- that’s how I’d describe the d -
04Feb
I spent this afternoon lunching at Vicino Ristorante Italiano in Silver Spring (959 Sligo Avenue), to mark a coworker -
02Feb
To fast food critics, I say: there’s a time and a place for fast food. That is, when I’m hungry, in my stomach. But even without this highly-ambitious criteria it would be nice to think that we’re in the middle of a fast food renaissance.
Imagine a world where ‘fast food’ becomes synonymous with food that’s better when cooked fresh and fast. Burritos, crepes, pizzas, salads, sushi, all of these are at their apex when tossed together last minute. Bad fast food is the result when freeze-drying and preservatives must be used to force “quickness” on non-intuitive foods. When the last time you saw a roast chicken put together on a moments notice? No? then it shouldn -
01Feb
The How to Tofu post, the recent NYT article on tofu and our recent wintry weather all directed me to wipe the road salt off the windshield of my car and drive to Annandale. Vit Goel, roughly translated as Lighthouse Tofu & BBQ on its bright blue awning, is a cozy, country-style Korean eatery. From the honey-colored tables and wooden floors, traditional faux rice paper-covered walls and a hanoak-style facade, the restaurant strives for a down-to-earth appeal. Quick and casual, you’ll be surrounded by tables crowded with Korean families and friends enjoying a no-fuss meal of soon dubu.
Avoiding the encyclopedic, leather-bound menus you -
30Jan
Believe it or not, this actually isn -
28Jan
Rumors are that the Red Bean, the Mt. Pleasant restaurant profiled in the Washington Post’s Sunday Magazine, will close after tonight. Phone calls yielded no solid answers. I never ate at the restaurant, but followed the ‘Adventures of Frank’ every Sunday in the Post. Based on the articles, the restaurant struggled from the start with constant financial hurdles to get over. However, the opinions of the Cajun and Creole cuisine seemed positive.
Let us know if you have the low down on the Red Bean’s fate. -
27Jan
AOL’s CityGuide has posted their 2005 all around “Best Restaurants”, broken down by category. It’s worth a quick read, especially as they encompass the whole D.C. metropolitan area, and I found a number of restaurants listed that I’d never heard about.
However, I’ve got to comment on a couple of the findings, including:- Best All-Around Restaurant: Lebanese Taverna – Now, I’m a huge fan of Lebanese Taverna; the food is some of the best in the city. But the restaurant came in as the best “overall” restaurant, beating out restaurants that have ambrosia-quality food, such as Citronelle and Galileo. The category itself is probably to blame, however, as it doesn’t account for price range.
- Best Breakfast: Bob and Edith’s Diner – I haven’t eaten here, but I’ve heard it’s amazing, so no arguments. However, The Original Pancake House on Rockville Pike came in #2, and their breakfasts are mediocre at best. And they certainly don’t come even close to the breakfasts at the Broadway Diner.
- Best Chinese: Meiwah – Oh, come on. Meiwah is fine, but it isn’t Chinese for your true Chinese-food lover. Even the ever-venerable Full Kee ranked only 6th, and Gaithersburg’s banquet-hall-sized Dim Sum house New Fortune came in 8th. The amazing Chinatown Express didn’t get a mention, nor did Rockville’s fantastic Joe’s Noodle House. Clearly, these people don’t know good Chinese.
- Best Takeout: Five Guys – Alright, they got this one right. Best fast-food burgers in a 100 mile radius, no questions asked. Although I’m less sure it should rank first for Best Burger all around. It’s hard to compare a fast food burger with a juicy, slow cooked restaurant burger.
The categories were: All-Around; Breakfast; Brunch; Burgers; Cheap Eats; Chinese; Coffeehouses; Comfort Food; Family-Friendly; Healthy Dining; italian; Late-Night Dining; Mexian; Outdoor Dining; Pizza; Romantic; Seafood; Steak Houses; and Takeout.
Let us know what you think in the comments section. If you’ve got other suggestions that AOL CityGuide missed, let us know – we’re always looking for new places to try!
(Link via AOL’s Notebook: Washington, D.C.) -
25Jan
On the east coast there is the joke, if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes and it will change. In Baltimore, if you don’t like the neighborhood, go five blocks and it will change. And as with all good urban villages, each village has its distinctive restaurants. There is Greek-town with its Greek restaurants, Inner Harbor with its tourist meccas like the Cheesecake Factory, ESPN Zone, and the Hard Rock Caf
