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Rockville, Maryland Restaurants


JennyUptown

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I've read plenty about dining options in Rockville, but of course now that I'm spending some time in the area, I find myself drawing a blank each trip. I know good food is out there, but...

I only saw one place that I rang a bell - Addie's right on the pike - and would love recommendations for future time spent furnishing my SO's new condo. Anything - cheap eats? good spots for quick lunches? something more extravagant for a nice dinner? favorite watering holes?

He has a lot of purchases to make so I expect to be able to try a few new places - happily!

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sietsma always recomends mykonos in on eof those shopping centers on the pike...i have never been.

when i am in the area i always make it over to lebanese taverna cafe, which for the money has some good eats. up aways on rockville pike near shady grove road is momo taro sushi, some of the best in the city, believe it or not.

vegetable garden is a vegan/vegetarian place my brother loves...

Nothing quite like a meal with my beautiful wife.

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Just went to Joe's noodle house last week and I can definitely recommend it for good, (and what seems to me) authentic Szechuan Food. I've heard that there are other great Chinese places in Rockville, but I haven't experienced any besides Joe's.

Although I've only been there once, I too can recommend Addie's. It's worth going to Clyde's Tower Oaks Lodge just for the decor, but the food is just OK. They do have a raw bar that is exactly the same as the one at Old Ebbitt, which is great, so I'd presume that it's great at Tower Oaks as well, though I haven't tried it.

http://joesnoodlehouse.com/

http://www.clydes.com/restaurants/tower_oaks.html

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Hey, I live here and have trouble fiding decent places to eat sometimes. Here's where we go:

Addie's

A & J Restaurant

New Fortune

Lebanese Taverna Cafe

Tara Thai & Tara Asia

Benjarong

Thai Farm (in King Farm subdivision)

HaKuba (in the Kentlands)

Momo Taro Sushi

Cuban Corner

There's more but it's too early for me to think of their names. We haven't been to the Tower Oaks Lodge yet - nice to hear about the raw bar.

Heather Johnson

In Good Thyme

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I also am a big fan of Lebanese Taverna.

Taipaie Tokyo (my spelling is wrong I am sure) on Nicholson is a sushi bar and take out Chinese place. The noodle soups from the Chinese side are really good.

Tamari Cafe, on the Pike, has great Japanese. Lots of Donburi and noodle soups. Not a great place for sushi though. Across the way there is a Korean restaurant that is suppose to be good. I haven't gotten around to trying it yet though.

True Heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic.

It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost,

but the urge to serve others at whatever cost. -Arthur Ashe

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If you like Indian food there is a resturant near the courthouse called the Bombay Bistro that everyone loves.

How could I forget Bombay Bistro? I was just there two weeks ago. :unsure: It's great, and owned by the same folks as Indique.

The Korean restaurant mentioned above is Sam Woo, and it is good.

Also, check out El Pollo Rico, also on Rockville Pike, for Peruvian rotisserie chicken with special sauce.

Edited by hjshorter (log)

Heather Johnson

In Good Thyme

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The places I go to several times are year are:

(1) Fortune Star Buffet: the best of its kind, and a step above the usual Chinese buffet because of the excellence of the cooking, the authentic offerings, and the large-ranging and ever-changing selections. It's on Nicholson Lane at Rockville Pike, behind Eatzi's.

(2) New Fortune: a little north of Rockville, in Gaithersburg, but the best in the the area for traditional dim sum from carts. It also offers critically and popularly acclaimed dining from a superb menu, but I have only ever had dim sum here.

(3) Seven Seas: where I go for dinner and for holiday banquets, especially when my seafood-loving parents come to town, for excellent Chinese cooking and fresh seafood. It's behind the Federal Plaza that is on Rockville Pike.

(4) City Lite Buffet: actually in Gaithersburg (on Lost Knife Road), but I mention it because it is another Chinese buffet that offers authentic dishes and is better than most.

I guess all my recommendations are for Chinese restaurants, as that is what I tend to have when in Rockville. Maybe I ought to branch out more when in Rockville . . . nah! :laugh:

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I live in Rockville (lifelong Montgomery County resident, too) but am not as high on the food options as most.

The only two places I can recommend unconditionally are the aforementioned A&J and Joe's Noodle House. Haven't ever had a bad meal at either place.

Cuban Corner and Il Pizzico (both at the northern end of the Rockville on the Pike) are both good-but-not-great options.

Benjarong is okay. So is Seven Seas, but we've been eating there since I was a kid and the place has gone downhill IMO. And it's overpriced.

One Chinese place my family has frequented for years is Tony Lin's, located in the same shopping center as Tara Thai and The Sports Authority, on the Pike just north of Montrose. My sister had her wedding rehearsal dinner there. It's slightly more expensive than most Chinese joints but still cheap by most standards.

I am not a big fan of Fortune Star Buffet. It's certainly better than most buffets but that's really not saying much. How good can food sitting under a heat lamp really be? Their sushi options are passable but not great by any means.

Still need to try Bombay Bistro (my Indian friends say it's decent but nothing special) and El Pollo Rico at some point.

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Working in Rockville (28 just West of 270), I have bemoaned the lack of decent lunch options. I usually go to Safeway and get a sandwich (fave is the Grecian Delight) For a workaday lunch, the best of the office building diners is Research Cafe on Research Blvd just east of Gude.

Bombay Bistro is OK to pretty good. The best deal is the Friday buffet.

I like Lebanese Taverna and Thai Farm. Addie's is very good, but since it is more of a high-end type place, the pacing is not always fast enough for a work day lunch (great on the weekend). Anybody ever do dinner there?

If someone writes a book about restaurants and nobody reads it, will it produce a 10 page thread?

Joe W

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Addie's is very good, but since it is more of a high-end type place, the pacing is not always fast enough for a work day lunch (great on the weekend). Anybody ever do dinner there?

I have only ever had dinner at Addie's, and it's been good to very good.

Never tried the lunch buffet at Bombay Bistro, but I've heard it's a good deal. Their breads are good, as is anything grilled.

Cuban Corner is good for lunch, but I've personally never tried anything but the sandwiches. It's next to to Carribean Feast which had a decent goat curry as of a couple years ago. Both of these places are on the Pike north of the White Flint area. :smile:

If you find yourself on North Washington Street near the courthouse, stop by Giuseppe's Pizza. Not the best pizza I've ever had, but it's good and a Rockville institution.

Heather Johnson

In Good Thyme

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Please keep in mind that I orient myself according to White Flint Mall and Rockville Pike.

Have you seen that giant piece of public art on the corner of Randolph Road and Rockville Pike? Profound not for it's artistic merits, but for its commentary on bureaucracy, and what surely must be decision by committee. My evil twin has fantasized about sneaking up to it in the middle of the night and affixing something large and phallic to one of the figures so it can be on display for morning rush hour.

How bad can bad art be? Look!

http://www.glyphs.com/moba/deardorf.html

scroll down and look at "Red Figure With Braids," and then click on it to view the close-up.

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Rocks,

You love phallic art! Remember when you said this:

"...Next time you're at the intersection of Virginia Ave and 18th St, walk underneath the equestrian statue of Simon Bolivar and look up at his horse: its testicles are the size of cantalopes and its retractile penis (which may have been amputated by a vandal) looks just like a fried egg."

Well, I finally saw the statue on my run Sunday afternoon. Wow, you're so right about the fried egg description, but do you really think vandals could get up there that easily? I mean, to do so without being caught, they'd most certainly have to be a Rockstar like you. That horse is HUGE! Those vandals had to have had some serious penis envy to go to the trouble.

PS: Was it a dream... or where did I read about a Spanish restaurant opening in Rockville (maybe same people as Andalucia in Bethesda)?

Edited by morela (log)

...

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Don't go back to Rockville...waste another year.

OK, Michael.

Please spare us the trite REM jokes..

:wink:

If someone writes a book about restaurants and nobody reads it, will it produce a 10 page thread?

Joe W

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I grew up in rockville and have fond childhood memories of saturday lunches at Bagel City (on Rockville Pike, somewhere between Montrose and Twinbrook), and picking up Theo's pizza (on Seven Locks Rd, b/w Montrose and Wooton Pkwy) for Wednesday nights. Ofcourse that was quite a long time ago so I don't even know if Theo's is still there. And please don't ostracize me for suggesting it, but I have always had good burgers and french dips at Houston's. There I said it, begrudgingly.

Poste

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Bagel City is still there. It's in a run down shopping center with TGI Friday's and Office Depot.

That piece of "art" is awful but it makes a good landmark. :smile:

I had no idea that Houston's was a chain until a couple of years ago. I love their cole slaw and the burger with cheddar and BBQ sauce.

Heather Johnson

In Good Thyme

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HJ,

Having suffered through the drought of good pizza in DC (Vace and Pizzeria Paradiso being the exceptions for real Neapolitan pizza) I decided to take up your suggestion of Giuseppe's.

Being a Pittsburgher, I instantly noticed all of the photos on the walls of infants in Steelers jammies. It turns out that the family is all from my old neighborhood. The son (about 45) used to work at a legendary pizza place there called Mineo's and brought all of the recipes with him. I mis-spent a large part of my youth in Mineo's. On the weekends after drinking beer in the park, that's where everyone congregated.

It's not Neapolitan or New York pizza, but it was a damn good Pittsburgh style pie (a little bit thicker than New York). Combine that with the memories and I was in heaven.

Thanks :biggrin:

If someone writes a book about restaurants and nobody reads it, will it produce a 10 page thread?

Joe W

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You're welcome! I love Giuseppe's. So glad you enjoyed the experience. Their pizza and chicken parm subs were a staple of both my pregnancies. :biggrin:

That shopping center is being torn down, but they will be relocating to the building next to Regal theater. I hope they keep the linoleum and video games.

Heather Johnson

In Good Thyme

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Momo taro the best sushi!!!! http://www.momotarosushi.com/

all have hit the big ones but here's my picks in no order:

Grosvenor Market: Killer inexpensive sandwhiches...nothing particualry different, just good all around sandwich on their homemade bread. Located off Tuckerman, off Grovesnor place, in the bottom of a building.

Mike's Sub Shop: on Randolph crossing parklawn next to seven eleven, a dump with arguably the best steak n cheese in the city!

Ambrosia: a mountain of gyro!!

benjarong

addies

tony lin's

tara thai

momo taro: sushi deluxe

lebanese taverna

Chez la lu: my house

mama lucia: super cheap on mondays

taste of saigon

california burrito: courthouse and cabin john mall

sutton place gourmet: sandwiches and anything else you got $$$ for

houstons

that's it for now......go eat...and report back..

Let's hear some deap cuts

Well don't just stand there......get some glue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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