Bob's Noodle 66- Rockville, MD

My cousin has been craving "Stinky Tofu" so a bunch of us went to Bob's Noodle 66 in Rockville. It's a very popular Taiwanese style restaurant. You won't find General Tso's chicken on this menu.
Located in downtown Rockville behind Orange Ball Billiads, there is plenty of free parking. The closest metro stop is Rockville on the red line.

Top: The place isn't very large, but there are a good number of tables. Nothing fancy about the decor.
Bottom: The entrance wall is FILLED with awards. Always a good sign!

The table next to us had staff making wonton dumplings. It reminded me of when my mom used to make them.

Drinks aren't on their regular menu. They have a separate one that you need to ask for. My cousin ordered a 'Lycee Bubble Tea'. It was so good and fragrant because they used actual lycee fruit and canned juice in it.

Here is the reason for eating there: 'Crispy Smelled Bean Curd- Deep fried smelled bean curd with pickled cabbage served with Chef's special sauce' ($4.95) AKA Stinky Tofu. It doesn't look so bad, right? However, before we got our we could smell it from the next table. To me, it smells of like a horse stable/barn. It is made by fermenting the tofu. Usually a brine of milk, seafood, veggies are made to sit out for months, then tofu is added for a few days to a few months. Then only white mold is allowed to grow on it, which signifies that it is good and ready to eat. I think it smells worst than it tastes.

Since the word 'Noodle' is in the restaurant's name, I wanted to try their noodles. I ordered the 'Pork and Egg Thick Noodle Soup- homemade noodles served in chicken broth with shredded pork, vegetables and egg' ($6.25). The bowl was huge! I couldn't finish it. The broth has the consistency of an egg drop soup. The noodles were normal, nothing unique.

The bf and I shared the 'Oyster Pancake- sweet potato powder pan-fried with egg, oyster and vegetables served with Chef's special sauce' ($4.95). I loved it! It was so flavorful, and had great texture. You might not like it if you don't like slimy things or seafood flavors.

The bf ordered the 'Beef Stew Noodle Soup- homemade noodles served in beef broth with beef stew & spinach' ($6.25). He said he liked it and finished the whole bowl.

I'm going to mention some of the other items people ordered. This is the 'Oyster Vermicelli' ($3.50). It comes in a small portion.

'Fried Rice in XO sauce'($9.95) was actually the bf's favorite dish there. Wikipedia says XO sauce is a spicy seafood sauce.

Top: 'Shredded Beef with Long Horn Pepper'($10.95)
Bottom: 'Drunken Chicken- chicken with wine sauce'($4.95)

Very authentic Taiwanese menu with a packed restaurant. The food came out fast. Our server didn't really speak English, so we just pointed to the items we wanted. The prices are so cheap! When do you ever see dishes for $4 anymore? It is a 'Cash-Only' restaurant. It's a good place to be more adventurous and try items like intestines, blood, ears, stomach, tripe, and kidneys.

305 North Washington Street
Rockville, MD 20850
(301) 315-6668
Mon-Thu. 11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 11:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Sun. 11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Spice Rack Chocolates Contest Winner

The winner is R.P. who suggested Roy's Hawaiian in my last contest. Thanks everyone that participated. It meant a lot, and it was really fun to do. Stay tuned for the next one!

Metropolitain Cooking Show Recap and Contest

The Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show was fun, but crowded! The bf and I got to see Giada de Laurentiis (Food Network) cook live, but we were so far away! Luckily there was a large TV screen in order to see her.

This is what the floor looked like early in the morning. It wasn't as crowded as the afternoon. It was filled with over 200 food vendors! We went crazy with the free samples.

I'm going to show you guys some of the vendor's that I found to be memorable.

Gracie's Garden
They had really cool savory jellies in herbal flavors that tasted really good on crackers. I thought it was cool since I usually think of jellies as being sweet.

Millhouse's House of Rolls
(240) 221-3007
The owner James L. Millhouse Jr. was very memorable. He was one of the nicest people out of the whole place, didn't have a fancy booth or anything, but he was super passionate about his Angel Biscuits which came in 4 different flavors. Very good!

Penny Chocolates
Chef and owner Cheryl Schneider named her company after her beloved long-haired Dachshund Penny. I tried the chocolate covered marshmallow, and it was to die for. They also offer boxed chocolates, chocolate covered marshmallows/Oreos/Graham crackers, chocolate bars, gelato cakes, brownies, cookies and biscottis. Their new location in Fairfax opened this month.

Linda's Garden
Out of all of the dip mixes at the show, Linda's Garden was the best. The flavors were so bold, and the variety was huge! Here are the flavors they offer: Basil-Garlic, Cajun, Dill, Garlic, Habanero, Horseradish, Italian, Jalapeno, Tarragon, Veggie, Spicy Veggie, Tomato-Basil, Lemon-Basil, Chipotle, Onion.

Oil and Vinegar
The bf an I wanted to buy something for ourselves and chose this AMAZING bottle of Garlic & Basil olive oil. They offer many different flavors of olive oil, dippers, pestos and bruschettas.

I've been eating it everyday (I've already used it before this picture) by just dipping bread in it. The flavor is so pure that it makes a great dipping oil. I'd say it's too good to use for cooking since the bottle isn't that big.

Spice Rack Chocolates
Paul Schellhammer (CFO and Co-Creator of Spice Rack Chocolates) was at the show to give out chocolate samples. They are an environmentally friendly company that uses all-natural ingredients and 54% cacao dark chocolate in their products. Here are the unique flavors that caught my attention and the collections they belong to:
Coffee Break Collection
Mexican Chiapas
Peruvian
Mocha Java Hazelnut
Bolivian Caranavi
Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Harfusa

En Fuego Collection
Japanese Wasabi
Intense Indian Curry
Crushed Thai Chilies
Smokey Chipotle Peppers
Spicy Cayenne and Chili Powder

Spice Rack Collection
Fresh Lemon with Sweet Basil
Celtic Smoked Sea Salt and
White Ground Pepper
Key Lime and Jamaican Curry
Rosemary with Mint Leaves
Spicy Cayenne and Chili Powder

Spiced Fruit Collection
Tangy Grapefruit and Lavender
Island Mango and Cracked Black Pepper
Tropical Pineapple and Ground Ginger
Fresh Apple and Coriander
Sweet Peach and Dill

Tea Time Collection
Strawberry Tingle
Cochin Masala Chai
Cherry Rose
Versailles Lavender
Orange Earl Grey

CONTEST TIME!!!
I wanted to hold contest to celebrate my 1st year of blogging on Lunching in the DMV.

Rules:
-Leave a comment answering this request: "My birthday is in less than 2 months, suggest a cool/cute/unique restaurant in the DMV to celebrate my birthday with some friends"
-Include your name and email address so I can contact you if you win
-Contest ends Monday, November 23th at 11:55pm EST
-Winner will be chosen at random

Prize:
A 5-piece box of Spice Rack Chocolates in Tangy Grapefruit & Lavender. It was the 1st flavor I tried, and we literally came back 3 times to that table because all of the chocolates was so good. You can smell the grapefruit when you open the box. The grapefruit hits you with the its citrus flavor 1st, then the 2nd note is the dark chocolate, then finishes with a calming lavender flavor.

Co Co Sala- Penn Quarter, DC

Last week was me and the bf's 5 year anniversary, so we decided to use the LivingSocial deal I bought a few months ago for Co Co Sala. It's located in Penn Quarter with metered street parking, hourly garages and metro access. The closest metro stop is Metro Center, which connects the red, orange, and blue lines.

There are some tables outside for eating during warmer weather.

The 1st thing I would say about the interior is that it's DARK in there. My camera was on an indoor setting, otherwise you wouldn't be able to see anything.
The 1st room we were in (left) was so cold because of a vent, so we asked to move. It seemed to be a hassle to move us (not sure why, it wasn't that crowded), but eventually we were moved into another room which looked like it seated 3+ person parties (right). The original room we were in was very cramped as it mostly sat tables of 2. We were literally a foot away from the next table.

This was the room we ended up staying in, and there was so much more room and light. The decor is really beautiful and modern. It looks like a lounge/club. The picture on the left is of the bar, and the picture on the right is of the kitchen.
As I was walking to the bathroom, I saw there's another room behind where we were sitting that seemed to have even larger tables for bigger groups.

After finally getting our menus (they forgot for a while), I decided I needed a drink. Our server said this was their most popular drink, 'Cocojito- chocolate vodka, lime, mint, dark chocolate shavings' for $13. It tasted like a regular mojito, with a slight hint of chocolate.

This is a tapas-style restaurant, so the portions are very small. For dinner we ordered 2 types of mac & cheese. 'Bacon Mac & Cheese- Orechiette, four cheeses, crispy bacon' for $7 (left). The strip on top is chocolate covered bacon. 'Shrimp Mac & Cheese- mini penne, jack & cheddar, garlic shrimp, jalapenos' for $7 (right). They were both amazing and so flavorful! I enjoyed both but preferred the shrimp one, and the bf preferred the bacon one.

The bf wanted to try the 'Tandoori Chicken Slider- cardamom carrots & greens' for $7 (left). I thought it was really good and flavorful as well. We also ordered the 'Italian Cheese Course- parmigiano reggiano three ways, fig & pesto toast' for $10 (right). This included a foam with a cheese crisp, chunks of cheese, and slices of cheese on top of the fig & pesto toast. I ate all of the foam because the bf thought it tasted like foie gras. The combination of cheese, fig and pesto was really delicious.

The main attraction at Co Co Sala are its chocolate desserts. We decided to go with the 'Xocolatyl- Aztec expirence' for $22. This is a three course tasting with an amuse bouche, main dessert and petit fours. The amuse was 'churros, cinnamon cream, dulce de leche dip' (top). The churros were really nice and warm and the cinnamon gave the cream a nice surprising flavor.
Then the main desert came out with 4 different items 'hot chocolate soufflé with fiery chocolate center, espresso gelato, chipotle truffle, kahlua soother'. The kahlua soother and chipotle truffle were interesting(bottom) because the chiptole gave the chocolate a hot sensation, and the kahlua cooling.

Next was the 'espresso gelato and chocolate soufflé with fiery chocolate center'. Gelato is always so good and smooth in texture. The chocolate souffle was really interesting as they used jalepenos to make it spicy.
The petit fours was a 'chocolate infused horchata and mexican wedding cookie'. The horchata was a rice drink with sesame in it. The mexican wedding cookie was almond flavored, which was delicious.

Us on the metro on our way to dinner. Why does he always make faces in pics?

Overall I had an ok time at dinner. This is definitely a place for those that like chocolate, enjoy trying new flavor combinations, tasting a lot of different dishes and hanging out with friends. I enjoy places like this, where as my bf would be happy with traditional American food in large portions. The entrees were very flavorful, and the desserts were light and not too rich. The service however was a little "all over the place." I was expecting better after reading all of the great reviews. You should also be prepared to pay a lot of $$ if you're hungry.

929 F Street NW
(between N 9th St & N 10th St)
Washington, DC 20004
(202) 347-4265
Website

Mon-Wed. 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.
Thu. 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 a.m.
Fri. 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 a.m.
Sat. 5:00 p.m. - 3:00 a.m.
Sun. 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Rolls N Rice- Rockville, MD

My coworker recommended that I try this new sushi place in Rockville called Rolls 'n Rice. It's been open for around 2-3 months. It's located in the old Lemon Tree space, which is in the Congressional Village shopping center. There are 2 entrances, but the one in the back has all of the free parking. The closest metro station would be Twinbrook on the red line.

The inside is so nice! It's a large space with tons of lighting, colors, beautiful wood, and just an open feeling that I like. There are a lot of tables too. This is the side with the sushi bar and register.

Picture on the left: The opposite wall from the sushi bar that has lots of cool Japanese decorations.
Picture on the right: The tiny section that has the fountain drink machine and the entrance from the road.

This is a casual place where you order food at a register, get a number, and someone delivers the food to your table. There are a lot of items like special rolls, bento boxes, daily specials, a la carte sushi, rice bowls and combos.

Our meals came with a free salad with ginger dressing. My meal came with a miso soup.

The bf ordered the 'Sashimi, Sushi & Roll Combo- 6 pcs. Sashimi, 3 pcs. Sushi, & California Roll' for $12.95. He really liked it because they gave huge pieces of fish and it was a good price.

Don't kill me, but I don't remember the exact name or price of my order. It was a special written on a white board. It was a 'Salmon combo' that had 4 pcs Sashimi, 3 pcs. Sushi and 6 roll pcs. The only fish was salmon, and it was all really good, fresh and huge. If you don't like a lot of fish, ordering a roll would be better than sushi or sashimi because the slices are big. I thought the presentation was nice (cool plates) and believe it was around $12 something.

It's a casual place to get sushi that is quite cute on the inside. The staff was very helpful since it was our 1st time in there. Food came out pretty quickly, and everything tasted fresh. They were also playing Stevie Wonder the whole, which was awesome. They do have some interesting rolls like the 'Club Sandwich Roll- Turkey, Ham, Lettuce, Mayo, Tomato, Cheese".

17001 Rockville Pike B-1
Rockville, MD 20852
301-770-4030
Website