Favorite Undiscovered Places

[Robin Shuster]

I will start this off with my new favorite lunch place. Mocha Hut on U Street between 13th and 14th. It it is a hidden restaurant. I thought it was just a coffee shop for months, but it is actually a great place to have breakfast and lunch -- all day long. They make the best (crustless) quiche I have had in years (although they call it a frittata). Very creamy. Similar to what I have achieved when I have made Thomas Keller's quiche recipe in Bouchon. The beans soups have been very good. I tried waffles and skillet fried chicken for the first time there and was impressed -- very light waffles and moist fried chicken (breasts). Friends have had very good sandwiches. I have been there twice a week for lunch for a month now.

Good jazz in the mornings and early afternoon as well...

[houkah]

Hello, i'm new here and thought i'd chime in with a place that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere... mainly because it's in gaithersburg. It's called the Chicken Place, and is an authentic (as far as i know) Peruvian restaurant. I usually get the Bistec a la Pobre here, (flank steak w/ fried egg on top) and sometimes i get the rotisserie chicken. Service is generally very slow, and the last few times I went the restaurant was getting more and more crowded (I guess more people are discovering it).

The Chicken Place, 117 N. Frederick Ave. 301-519-9100 Open Wed - Mon.

The other place i'd like to recommend is Arirang on E. Gude in rockville. It is a Korean restaurant, but is not well known for bbq meats. This place is known for it's Jhiggae which is a type of Korean stew. I will warn that it's an interesting dish that not everyone likes, this is authentic Korean food. (I hated it as a kid and love it now) So.... i recommend their soon doo boo jhiggae which is a spicy tofu stew served bubbling hot in an earthenware bowl w/ white rice (also served in an earthenware bowl). Be very careful as the food will be extremely hot and will remain hot throughout the course of the meal. After you're done w/ the rice you pour some water/tea into the rice bowl and get a kind of burnt rice porridge. I'm also not sure if the servers speak any english as the clientelle is almost 100% Korean. Other good dishes that my friends seem to enjoy, dol sot bibimbap, and khalbi dol sot bibimbap.

1326 E. Gude Dr. Rockville, MD 301.279.0023

[foodgeek]

Well, now it is finally getting press since Sietsema gave them a good write up, but I really like a newish alregian lunch spot called Couscous Cafe. I've mentioned it on other sites, but it probably hasnt been mentioned here. 20th and M in DC. It's not hidden, but people wlk right by ti and don't notice it.

I like Cafe Tirolo, which is in a hidden location in Ballston, behind Tara Thai. It has been in the press for many years, but it can not be seen from any street.

El Charrito Caminante and Taqueria Distrito Federal are 2 taco dives that are popular enough in the media and food boards, but you might not notice them if you happened to wander by.

I actually like a couple of things in the Mexican place in the ballston mall foodcourt. It is an extension of a Merrifeld restaurant, but I don't remember the name (La Choza?). Mainly, I go there for beef empananadas, and that in itself is a compliment.

El Pollo Rico in Va Square i(for rotisserie chicken) s in a hidden location on an odd sidestreet, but people know about it, especially GMU grad and law students.

[Busboy]

Hello, i'm new here and thought i'd chime in with a place that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere... mainly because it's in gaithersburg.  It's called the Chicken Place, and is an authentic (as far as i know) Peruvian restaurant.  I usually get the Bistec a la Pobre here, (flank steak w/ fried egg on top) and sometimes i get the rotisserie chicken.  Service is generally very slow, and the last few times I went the restaurant was getting more and more crowded (I guess more people are discovering it).

The Chicken Place, 117 N. Frederick Ave. 301-519-9100 Open Wed - Mon.

The other place i'd like to recommend is Arirang on E. Gude in rockville.  It is a Korean restaurant, but is not well known for bbq meats.  This place is known for it's Jhiggae which is a type of Korean stew.  I will warn that it's an interesting dish that not everyone likes, this is authentic Korean food. (I hated it as a kid and love it now)  So.... i recommend their soon doo boo jhiggae which is a spicy tofu stew served bubbling hot in an earthenware bowl w/ white rice (also served in an earthenware bowl).  Be very careful as the food will be extremely hot and will remain hot throughout the course of the meal.  After you're done w/ the rice you pour some water/tea into the rice bowl and get a kind of burnt rice porridge.  I'm also not sure if the servers speak any english as the clientelle is almost 100% Korean.  Other good dishes that my friends seem to enjoy, dol sot bibimbap, and khalbi dol sot bibimbap.

1326 E. Gude Dr. Rockville, MD 301.279.0023

←

Thanks for the good recs, houkah, and welcome (belatedly) to eGullet. I look forward to hearing lots more good stuff from you.

[akur23]

Luisita Grill in Cloverly. Nice new Mexican/Latin place. We went because of a coupon in the Gazette, and were very pleasantly surprised. The banana strawberry pie was heavenly. Everyone was very happy with their dish (group of 4), and service was very attentive, although there was a bit of a language problem (I speak Spanish, so played translator). I had the fried fish (tilapia, whole), DH had the shrimp skewers (2 with 5 large shrimp each), and our friend had the beef fajitas ("This is STEAK!" he said happily). They were doing some carry-out business, but we were the only dine-ins. We promised to come back and spread the word.

Luisita Grill

15535 New Hampshire Ave.

Silver Spring 301-879-0723

This is on the back L-bend of a strip mall and a little hard to find, but worth it!

[Busboy]

I like The Hitching Post at 2nd and Upshur for Southern Cooking and a great jazz and soul juke box. Any place with not one but two kinds of hot sauce on the table is OK by me.