Saturday Brunch at Mark's Duck House

With the unexpected shutoff of the water supply, we debated where to venture for brunch.  Tossing out a few options, we settled on dim sum at Mark's Duck House.  There are probably better dim sum venues in Silver Spring, but MDH is closer.  One day we'll give Fortune and Hong Kong Palace a shot, when we're feeling adventurous. 

Panfried Chive Dumpling

Har Gao

Steamed Vegetable Dumplings

Crispy Pork

Steamed Spare Rib - gelatinous and unctuous

Gai Lan - Chinese Broccoli with oyster sauce

Usually we're pretty satisfied with dim sum at Mark's, although we noticed the selection was not as expansive as usual by 11:30 am.  Some of my favorite items were not in steady rotation, unless they were already nicked from the carts before they reached us.

Honeypig Annandale

I loved Honeypig for many reasons, but never for its service.  For a brief period, it felt like the waitresses were trying a bit harder with the non-Korean speaking clientele.  For the last few visits, there have been more non-Asians dining there, and the service has been returning to the semi-uninterested state from two years ago.  Sigh.

 My boyfriend loves the galbi.  It's a pricier option at $24.99 per order but we were planning to cook spicy pork belly at home soon.

 Grilling the jalapeno slices and garlic on the pan adds nice flavor.

 The waitress came by to turn the meat.

 She returned to use her cooking scissors to cut the meat off the bone.

 Delicious soon dubu with seafood.

Mandu.

Let Him Eat Carbs

Despite my best intentions, my boyfriend does not seem to be ready for a world without complex carbohydrates.  He had a business lunch where the buffet was too tempting and he went wild like a kid in a candy store.  He sounded so bashful when he admitted he had a piece of pita bread with some hummus.  Aww.  My man cannot survive on salads and small portions alone.  Time to dial back the diet.  On a positive note, he said he's feeling ready to start working out again.  I don't think that diets should feel like deprevation.  A mixture of healthy foods and moderate exercise will get him farther towards his goal than a strict diet alone. 

 Arugula, tomatoes, yellow peppers, kalamata olives on 1/2 portion of buckwheat soba with a small piece of roasted cod.  Buckwheat is gluten-free and a slow-releasing carbohydrate, and a nice addition to the salad and fish.

Side of boiled dumplings with soy sauce and rayu, a chili-infused sesame oil.

Dim Sum brunch = big nap later

Organized a dim sum gathering for a grad school friend's birthday at Mark's Duck House. Our table looked like the Model UN and included two dim sum novices who preferred vegetarian items.  One might have caved and tried a shrimp dish or two.  I had heard that bacon was the gateway to meat for vegetarians, but maybe it's shrimp dumplings at dim sum.   Dim sum is a great group dining option that becomes more economical the more people you can gather together.  There's also something fun about sharing bites and good conversation between sips of hot tea. Learned the merits of dandelion tea today too as a foil for the grease. 

We had gai lan, baby roast pork, stuffed crab claws, baby clams in black bean sauce, chive and shrimp dumplings, har gao, vegetable dumplings, chicken feet, vegetable noodles, turnip cake, spring rolls, shumai, shrimp in crepe noodle, sesame balls, mini egg custard tarts and a few others. 

I had everyone meet for the first seating at 10 am.  In hindsight, we could have met a bit later, but it was definitely nice to not have to wait for a hour for a table.  Love watching the carts passing by too.  There's a sense of anticipation and wondering what the next cart will hold.  The only downside about dim sum at Mark's is their lack of congee.   The birthday boy shared a bit of wisdom too...Why do people balk at eating chicken feet but eat pork butt without a second thought?

Great Wall Sichuan Take-Out

I finally tried the ma la dishes at Great Wall on 14th St NW.  Their menu is 3/4ths American-Chinese dishes, but the last page has the Sichuan dishes that make this bare bones take-out place worth trying.  We did carryout and waited only 15 minutes for our bag of spicy treats.

 Mapo Tofu $8.95 Soft tofu with ground beef, chili and Sichuan peppercorns.

 Dan Dan Noodle $7.95.  Fiery mixture of chili, Sichuan peppercorns, scallions and ground beef.

 Baby pak choy with garlic $8.95.  Not bad, but I liked the baby bok choy with garlic at Mark's Duck House better.

Ma La Wontons $5.50.

***

Everything was good, although the last bowl of Dan Dan Mein I had at Sichuan Pavillion on K Street was definitely hotter.  We ordered enough to share and still have leftovers.  The next day I boiled some dumplings and mixed them in the leftover mapo tofu.  Delicious.  If you like Sichuan dishes and don't feel like trekking to Rockville, Great Wall is a solid alternative.

Choong Hwa Won in Annandale

My boyfriend and I have been eating our way through Annandale lately.  It's hard to think of another area with so many interesting and affordable options.  Last night we tried out a Korean-Chinese place recommended by his coworker.  Choong Hwa Won is on John Marr Drive, right behind the Popeye's and near Il Mee and Shilla Bakery on Little River Turnpike.  It's super casual and open until midnight.

 The English explanations for each menu item are ok, although it helps to know a little about Korean dishes.

We were there for the jjambong, spicy red pepper soup with noodles.

 The service was fast, efficient and nice.  The kimchee was good, and I liked the pickled daikon. Never figured out what the dark paste in the middle was.  They serve a warm barley tea when you arrive which helps on cold November nights.

 Large fried dumplings ($7.99).  They were not panfried, but deep-fried with a taste that reminded me of egg rolls.  Inside was a mixture of bitter greens.  Good.

 #31 Sam Sun Go Chu Jham Bbong ($9.99)

This is a fiery red hot pepper soup with shrimp, squid, scallops, mussels, vegetables and noodles.  The server will cut the noodles with a pair of scissors if you'd like.  Excellent and spicy.

#28 Sam Woo Gan Jha Jang ($8.99)

Shrimp and onions in a black bean sauce

 The noodles come on the side with cucumber, and the server will cut them for you with scissors.

All mixed together.  It tastes better than it looks. I wanted it to be spicy, it was not. 

***

I heard about jjanjangmen from my Korean friend who told me about Samos in Baltimore.  I trust his judgement and had wanted to try jjanjanmen for awhile.  Online reviews about Choong Hwa Won rave about the jjangjanmen and jjambbong.  Maybe I'm just a spicy gal, but I liked the jjambbong a lot more than the jjanjanmen. 

The portions are huge.  They provided smaller bowls and my boyfriend and I shared our respective choices with each other.  I would skip the mandu the next time and order a steaming, spicy bowl of #32 next time.  Even without anything else, I doubt I could finish the whole bowl by myself. But I would have a good time trying. 

Vit Goel Tofu (Lighthouse Tofu) in Annandale

While DC lacks a Japan Town, Annandale is a mini-Korea Town with a plethora of restaurants specializing in different dishes.  The hardest part is learning where to go and what to order, but if you're adventurous it's full of delicious and affordable surprises.  Honey Pig is great for Korean bbq  but some times the wait is too long.  Saturday night our HP plans were dashed when we drove through the full parking lot and saw many people waiting.  Instead, we headed down the road to Vit Goel Tofu Restaurant at 4121 Chatelain Road. http://www.menusarang.com/xe/293

 It's a brief menu, and specializes in soon dubu.

 The panfried mandu were flavorful and better than at Honey Pig. ($5.99 small)

 The pan chan are much nicer too.  Water kimchee, fresh kimchee, cucumbers in kochujang, steamed beansprouts in sesame oil.

Large (seafood pancake) hamul pajeon ($12.99).  Baby oysters, crab, shrimp and baby squid studded  pancake with scallions.  A bit greasy but delicious.  We should have ordered a small.

 Soon dubu #3 (tofu stew) with clam, shrimp and oyster ordered spicy. ($9.50)

My boyfriend ordered his #2 (clam, shrimp, oyster, beef) spicy spicy, and it was hot enough to make sweat drip from his brow. 

***

Lighthouse is great in the colder months when you need a hot bowl of bubbling soft tofu stew to warm you up.  Cracking the raw egg into the stew is optional, but the stew is so hot, it will cook the egg quickly.  The seafood noodles (jukumi bokuem) looked good too, fat udon noodles mixed with squid, vegetables and a special sauce.  They serve the rice out of a hot stone bowl, and pour a barley tea into it after serving the rice.  You put the rice with tea into a small bowl and it reminded my boyfriend of ocha-zuke, the Japanese dish of green tea poured ontop of rice. 

Honey Pig Pig-Out

We love Honey Pig.  It's open 24-hours, there's a nice variety of Korean dishes to try, and it's relatively inexpensive.  Now there's even one opened in Centreville near Spa World.  Two of my favorite Korean things have come together.  Mentally planning a trip already.

Panchan.  These free little dishes vary each visit. 

Soju and Cass beer.

Mandu ($7.99)

Fried beef dumplings. 

Jumuluk ($13.99)

Seasoned boneless ribs.  These were recommended to me by a Korean friend, and they are tender and delicious.

Pajeon ($6.99)

Hamul pajeon is a scallion pancake with seafood, but we mistakenly ordered just a pajeon.  It was still crispy and wonderful with beer and soju.

Soon doobu ($6.99)

Bubbling soft tofu stew with seafood.  One of my favorite Korean dishes.

***

I've noticed that the staff at the Annandale Honey Pig has become more friendly towards English speakers in my last few visits.  I haven't seen the surly Korean server in the last year or so, and I've enjoyed the dinners there much more.

Mandu in DC

If you don't have a car, or do not want to make the trek to Korea Town in Annandale, Virginia, Mandu http://www.mandudc.com/ on 18th Street is a good substitute in the District.  There is a shocking lack of Korean restaurants in DC.  It's really a shame.  Mandu's flavors are a little less spicy than what you'll find in Annandale, and you won't be able to cook your bulgogi on your table, but it's a great introduction to Korean food for the uninitiated.  They also have a delicious selection of sojutinis.

Vegetable somen soup with carrots, mushrooms, bok choy and egg ($10)

Very light. 

Dolsot Bibimbap with tofu ($12)

Bibimbap is fantastic.  Rice in a hot stone bowl is topped with carrots, mushrooms, spinach, tofu and a fried egg.  Add in the desired amount of kochujang for spice and mix.

Duk Bok Gi ($11)

Thick rice cakes in a spicy chili paste with beef and onions.

Kimchee (part of the pan chan provided to each table)

Fried Vegetable Mandu ($5)

While the steamed version is healthier, I prefer the crispy texture.

***

Mandu has energetic servers and a menu that provides a nice introduction to Korean food.  It's great for those times you end up with a large group with different dietary needs and you're looking for something affordable. 

Sichuan Pavillion and Service Issues

My better half loves spicy food. During the long weekend, we headed over to K Street for some fiery Sichuan noodles at one of his favorite places, Sichuan Pavilion, http://sites.google.com/site/sichuanpavilion/

Unfortunately, the weekend crew included a bizarre rotation of uniformed people lackadaisically tending to the tables. I'm pretty patient, but when we're waiting for 10 minutes without anyone bringing hot tea and water over to the table, and 2 tables who arrived after us already have theirs, it does not bode well.

After a rocky start, we finally had hot tea, water, cold Tsingtao beer and placed our order.

Pork Dumplings in Sichuan Sauce ($3.95) Jellyfish in ginger and scallion sauce ($5.95). Interesting texture and the flavor was a nice contrast to the spicier ma-la dishes. Egg drop soup with corn ($2.50).

Not really remarkable(Peking Gourmet Inn's version is miles better) and the corn did not add much to the overall flavor.

Dan Dan Mein Noodles in spicy sauce ($9.95) Ma-la dishes have a numbing and spicy composition that is quite addictive. The heat builds from the spicy sauce and your lips begin to feel both on fire and numb at the same time. A side order of sauteed spinach and the jellyfish are great to offset the heat. Super long noodles to slurp. Sichuan Pavilion's noodles are thin and very long, while Great Wall on 14th St uses thicker egg noodles.

Joe's Noodle House

I'm that special kind of person that thinks...fall down, hurt your hand, visit urgent care... eat some spicy ma la food from Joe's Noodle House. I luckily have a great friend who not only took me there, but did not for a minute question my desire to eat with chopsticks with a non-functioning hand. Despite the hurt hand, it was great to try out this Szechuan restaurant in Rockville. If I lived closer, I'd try more things from the ridiculously long menu. http://www.joesnoodlehouse.com/

Spicy and tasty fried tofu ($9.95).

The ma-la dishes are definitely mouth-numbing. This was fiery.

steamed dumplings ($4.95). A nice counterbalance to all the szechuan peppercorns and heat. cabbage and mushroom soupup close...see the fiery flakes? Man...this burned...

Beef Noodle Soup Szechuan Style ($7.50). This was a large bowl of fiery soup. Definitely large enough to share.