Taco Bar (Gaithersburg, MD)

I'm a sucker for good, authentic Mexican food--the more hole-in-the-wall the location, the better. The only exception is for someplace like Papa Joe's, which I wrote about in a previous post (though it's still acceptably out-of-the-way, hidden facing the back parking lot). So when I got a Mexican food craving while visiting my family in Gaithersburg, I figured I'd give a new place a try.

Taco Bar definitely has the atmosphere down, which I could tell before even going there because of its appropriately no-frills name. But when I got there, I realized it was an authentic Mexican taco bar, inside a liquor store. Which was attached to a gas station. Facing out onto the highway. If that's not hole-in-the-wall atmosphere, I don't know what is.

I ordered 3 tacos: 1 pastor, 1 suadero, and 1 lengua. I honestly couldn't tell which is which in the picture, since they all looked uniformly like meat on top of more meat. The tacos came out with just the meat in the tortillas, and there was a toppings bar inside where you could dress your taco up with 4 different sauces (2 mild and 2 hot, a red and green version of each), tomatoes, onions, and a mixture of the two. There may have been other toppings there as well, but those were the ones I used. These tacos were very good, but quite greasy and very filling. I still prefer Papa Joe's for overall quality, though I'd visit it again in a heartbeat when I'm in Gaithersburg.

My sister got a veggie burrito, which I think was a more American-style preparation. I only had one bite of it, but it was very good. She definitely enjoyed it a lot and is eager to go back here and eat more burritos.










Tacos here are $2.69 each, which is a pretty good price for Montgomery County. Of course, I'm used to $1 taco Tuesdays when Noah and I lived in Kansas City, but I recognize that's hard to find most places. They also have a selection of tortas I'm eager to try, as well as sopes, pozole, and empanadas. For such a small, slightly unsavory location, it's usually doing great business. I'll have to go back again and try more things!

Taco Bar Washingtonian
10003 Fields Road
Gaithersburg, MD 20878
(301)-987-0376
http://www.tacobarwashingtonian.com/index.html

Mon.-Thurs. 9-9
Friday 9-10
Saturday-Sunday 10-9

Birdie's Cafe (Westminster, MD)

I don't drink coffee. I have an immunity to caffeine, and the taste of coffee is not enough for me to justify drinking it on a regular basis. But no matter where I live, I have to find the perfect coffee house, one of those places where I can feel right at home even when I'm not at home. My ideal coffee house has the following qualities:

-excellent food
-great hot chocolate (gotta drink something instead of coffee!)
-quirky atmosphere (I like coffee houses with lots of art on the walls, or books lying around, or even just a slightly eccentric clientele)
-friendly staff

When Noah and I lived in Kansas City, my coffee house was called Broadway Cafe, and I spent many lunch hours drinking hot chocolate and reading there. The baristas knew my name, and it was a great place to sit and watch the world go by. Of course, when I moved to Westminster, I had to find a new coffee house. I tried a couple, but they didn't really wow me. I eventually found my way to Heinz Bakery, which was great on the "excellent food" and "friendly staff" front but not the exact place I was looking for. And then I found Birdie's.

When I ran into Birdie's, it hadn't even had its grand opening yet (and yes, it was open before its grand opening. I don't even know). I was walking back from the farmer's market with a friend and I saw it from across the street. The logo, with its name inside a stylized drawing of a bird's nest, and its friendly-looking, colorfully-painted building caught my eye and I insisted that we go in. Walking in showed me a narrow hallway that led onto chalkboards with a variety of delicious-looking food specials, and the walls were covered with art. (Birdie's now posts a flag outside their door alerting people to the fact that they are officially an art-friendly business.) There were flowers and decorative birds on the tables, colorful couches to sit on, vibrant painted walls, a small magazine rack, and the tables had a checkerboard pattern so you could play checkers or chess with a friend while eating your salads and sandwiches. It immediately became my go-to coffee house.

My favorite things to have at Birdie's:

1. Avocado salad. Avocados are one of my favorite foods, and this salad features a mound of salad greens topped with avocado slices, peppers, onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, and a variety of other things you can ask to have included. Their homemade vinaigrette is my favorite dressing for this salad.

2. Veggie sandwich. Much like the avocado salad but on a sandwich, this includes avocados and hummus (!), plus all the above vegetables. I like to have it on their sourdough, but it's probably excellent with any bread.

3. Lox sandwich. I have them go light on the cream cheese, because I don't like a lot of cream cheese on a sandwich. Go for onions, capers, or both on this sandwich--you won't regret it.

4. BLT. Need I explain! I like them to put pesto on the BLT (along with the mayo they include--you would think this would taste bad, but the flavors actually meld together rather well), though sometimes I have them put avocados on instead. They have no problem customizing sandwiches.

To drink I love their hot chocolate, which is nice and rich with a strong dash of vanilla, or their raspberry ice tea, which is unsweetened and delicious. Over 4th of July weekend they had blueberry lemonade, but regrettably I didn't have an opportunity to go over there and try it. :-(

Well, I'm off to the library. And Birdie's is just a 5-minute walk from my house...maybe I'll stop by for an avocado salad on my way home? ;-)

Summer is coming!

(Asparagus and scallions ready to be roasted)

...And I'm making use of the (finally back!) farmer's market produce. Happy summer, everyone!

Athens Grill (Gaithersburg, MD)

Well, everyone, the time has finally come. It is time for me to tell you about my favorite restaurant in the entire world.

When I was growing up, it was always a special treat when we could go out and bring home food from Athens Grill for dinner. This tiny little Greek restaurant in the middle of a shopping center in Gaithersburg turns out generous portions of delicious food, and the owner is a gregarious man who always recognizes us when we come in. There are only about ten tables in the entire place, and while it's not usually packed, it's pretty much never empty--the stream of people coming in and out is almost constant. It's simple in decor, and there's no waitstaff, so you order at the counter and pick it up when you're called. It is definitely one of those hole-in-the-wall places where you come for the food.

And oh, the food. I usually get one of the souvlaki platters, which has a gigantic amount of food and is one of the best things you can get. It includes kebab-type skewers with shrimp, chicken, or lamb, and a large amount of Greek salad on the side, plus pita and your choice of fries or rice. I thought I had a picture of it on my computer, but apparently I don't (either that, or I missed it looking through the zillions of unorganized photos on my laptop). I've tried every one of their souvlaki platters, and they're all so amazing that I actually haven't gotten around to ordering anything else. However, I do have some experience with other things on their menu, since my family depends on Athens Grill for my mom's side of the family's holiday party every year. We order a whole rotisserie chicken from them, along with sides of things like rice and salad. It's always a hit at my house once the holiday season kicks in.

 To sum up:

Amazing food? Check.
Hole-in-the-wall ambiance? Check.
Friendly staff? Check.
Even more amazing food? Check.

Looks like it has all the makings of a restaurant I love.

Athens Grill
9124 Rothbury Drive
Gaithersburg, MD 20879

(301)-975-0757

My Master Grocery List

To tide you over while I prepare some restaurant reviews and a few new recipes, I thought we'd take a peek at the master grocery list I created a while back. I was at that dubious point of no return where I had pretty much no food left to cook with, and it occurred to me that it would be great if I went through my recipes and made a list of the ingredients I would need to cook most of them. So, what ingredients do I use most in my cooking (besides spices and baking ingredients)?

Potatoes
Onions and scallions
Garlic
Lemon juice
Beans (chickpeas, lentils, pinto beans especially)
Peanuts
Tomatoes
Peppers
Cilantro or parsley
Coconut milk
Carrots
Mushrooms
Ginger
Chiles and/or hot sauce
Asian seasonings (soy sauce, fish sauce, etc.)
Bread
Plain yogurt
Green veggies (especially cabbage, kale, and spinach)
Celery
Rice
Pasta
Cauliflower or broccoli


So what have I been eating lately? Have a link to a recipe before I go:
Maple Sticky Biscuits from Dinner with Julie

Enjoy!

Taco Truck Thursday: Better Start with the Best

Of course, the "Thursday" up there is misleading; just about any day could be a taco truck day around here. The stretch of Roosevelt Avenue in Queens between 75th and 83rd Streets houses at least seven taco carts trucks, along with several other carts purveying various other (mostly) Mexican delicacies. They're all worth at least one try, but the best of the taco vendors is Tacos Mi Mexico Lindo, located at the SE corner of Roosevelt and Baxter in front of a bank. There's usually a crowd, although if you go on a cool night (or in the winter, but eating at a cart is really not fun in the winter) it is generally quieter. This is not fast food, but it is very, very good food.

What's to like? Start with the vendors themselves: three Mexican ladies, possibly sisters or possibly not, who will assume that you speak Spanish until proven otherwise. They do speak a bit of English, but make the effort - it's fun ordering in the appropriate language, and your vocabulary really won't be tested much. As a crash course, "para llavar" means "to go", "para ca" means "to stay", and "con todo" means "with everything" (usually referring to cilantro, onions, and guacamole on your taco). Tacos can be had with several meats: steak, chicken, chorizo, carnitas, and al pastor are all options, as well as a few more interesting and better ones I'll get to shortly. The tortillas are briefly heated on the griddle, which really brings out their flavor, and they meld with the tacos much better than a regular corn tortilla right out of the bag. They're also double-wrapped, which I've always been a fan of - especially when you're dealing with the kind of somewhat-overstuffed tacos to be found here.

Back to the meat: we'll start with the losers. The pollo, bistec, and cecina are probably not worth your time, unless you like your meat dry and chewy. I know cecina is supposed to be dry and chewy, so maybe it's just not for me. The other two? Just skip them. The carnitas was not crispy enough the first time I had it, but I had another one a few days ago and it was absolutely perfect: crisp on the outside, the larger pieces softer on the inside, and smoky from the initial frying and the reheating on the griddle. For me, the top choices are the chorizo, lengua (beef tongue), and oreja (pig ear) - all are superlative, really the best I've ever had anywhere. The chorizo is rich but not too rich, generally crispy from the griddle, not too salty, and has great pork and chili flavor. The lengua is very fatty but incredibly flavorful - like the carnitas, it's crispy outside and softer inside, but the pieces are bigger to give you a better contrast. The oreja is somehow the richest of the bunch, although I suspect it's rich in the way that tendon is, since I didn't think there was a whole lot of fat in a pig's ear. They cook it so long that the cartilage almost melts away - if you've had pig ear as an appetizer in a Chinese restaurant, this is nothing like that. It's not crunchy at all, more silky like tendon is when it's cooked well. The standard toppings are cilantro, onion, and very good guacamole - on the bar, there are also two chili sauces (the red is garlicky and particularly good), lime wedges, onion and jalapeño relishes, dried red chilies (sensing a theme here?), and radish slices - these seem to be typical accompaniments at all the carts and trucks in this neighborhood.

If you don't want tacos for some reason, the quesadillas are equally good - this is a Mexican-style quesadilla rather than an American or Tex-Mex one, so it is one larger tortilla crisped up on the griddle and folded in half over a filling of meat, cheese (I think it's Oaxaca cheese), and crema (basically Mexican creme fraiche, as far as I can tell). Other toppings are up to you from the same list as the tacos'.

If you're feeling vegetarian, the sopes are great as well. They used to use regular corn tortillas, but they switched a few months ago to thicker masa "cakes" that are ridged at the edges to avoid the filling falling out. The price went up too, but it's worth it. You can get these with meat, but I like them "regular" - with beans, creme, and a grated hard cheese of some sort.

As I noted earlier, this food is not fast even though it's from a cart - 15 minutes was a routine wait when it was warm last fall, and for all I know it could be even longer in the summer. You can get your food in 5 minutes in the winter, but it's best to eat at the cart, and food gets cold really fast in the winter. It's more than worth the wait, though.

Tacos Mi Mexico Lindo
Southeast corner of Roosevelt Ave and Baxter Ave (in-between 83rd and 84th Sts)
Open every day of the week, from midmorning to at least 11pm

Current prices
Tacos: $2 each
Quesadillas: $3 each
Sopes: 3 regulares for $5

Papa Joe's (Westminster, MD)

It has come to my attention that, despite having lived in Westminster for almost a year and a half, I have yet to review my favorite restaurant here! This must be remedied, especially since I'm home from work today with some yucky feverish achy illness and have nothing to do but write restaurant reviews, catch up on lesson planning, and watch back episodes of "Glee".

In a town where almost every restaurant features an practically-interchangeable menu of traditional American fare that one would expect from a small rural area, Papa Joe's is an anomaly. This little Mexican restaurant faces the back entrance of Westminster's historic Main Street, fairly well-hidden unless you're coming through the back parking lot. Noah and I happened upon it last year when we were looking at Westminster apartments, and though we didn't expect it to be any good, we were tired and hungry and decided to take our chances.

Luckily, Papa Joe's is a pleasant surprise! Apart from lettuce and sour cream-laden American tacos and the like, Papa Joe's does a nice variety of traditional Mexican standards. Their Mexican-style tacos, with just meat, cilantro, and onion, are a standby order for me. I also tend to order their tortas, particularly the egg and chorizo laden down with jalapenos and avocado and all manner of other goodies. It's hard to even eat the thing without bits of everything falling down on the table (and, in the winter, down your sleeves--my least favorite thing about long-sleeved shirts).

The real time to go to Papa Joe's, however, is on the weekend when they have off-menu weekend specials. Here's where the real traditional food comes out, like pozole and menudo and more authentic tostadas than the ones featured on their regular menu. Here's an example of some tostadas we had over the summer:





Although I don't see nearly enough people ordering the more authentic dishes, the restaurant is extremely popular and frequently has a wait, especially on weekends. The real test of its excellence? Noah currently lives in Jackson Heights, the hotbed of traditional Latin American food in Queens, and he still looks forward to going to Papa Joe's when he comes here. What higher praise could you ask for?

Papa Joe's
27 E. Main St. (in rear municipal parking lot)
Westminster, MD 21157
(410)-871-2505
Mon.-Thurs. 11am-10pm
Fri. and Sat. 11am-11pm

Local Sprouts (Portland, ME)

We're back, with news from Portland, ME!

"Wait," you say. "Maine?? Isn't this a Maryland/New York food blog?"

Well, it is. But it just so happens that earlier this year Noah and I went on a fantastic vacation, exploring New England. And by "exploring New England", I actually mean "eating our way through New England", because that's what we do. We even planned our trip primarily around a book, Jane and Michael Stern's 500 Things to Eat Before It's Too Late. This wonderful little book was our primary source of good eats around the country (we're hoping to eat our way through as many of these as possible one day), but once we got to Portland, there wasn't much in the book to guide us. Luckily, as we soon realized, Portlanders are rather fanatical about their food. Every single place we went clearly put extensive time and energy into putting forth fantastic food--even the smallest of restaurants are run with great care, and everywhere from bars to cafes serves locally brewed beer. Even The New York Times praises its food (though we didn't actually go to any of the restaurants featured in that article).

We were in Portland for several days, and we would frequently pass by a small cafe near our B&B called Local Sprouts that looked extremely interesting. On one of our last nights in Portland, we finally had a chance to stop in and eat, and we're very glad we did. When you first enter the cafe, you notice the kind of artistic, slightly all-over-the-place atmosphere that a good cafe does so well. The walls were covered in art from local artists, every table and chair in the building was a unique piece, there were shelves of things to read, and children ran around and even played with us at our table. Everything was very laid-back and friendly, and that demeanor extended to the staff. We ordered a jerk chicken plate and a roasted vegetable soup, and while we were ordering we chatted with the person taking our order, and I told him I was getting the vegetable soup specifically because there was eggplant in it (eggplant, for those of you who aren't aware, is my favorite food). When he told him that he said, "wait here. I can't promise anything, but I might have something for you." To my incredible surprise, a minute later he came back with a huge eggplant sandwich, and proceeded to give it to me--for free. He said they sometimes have food leftover at the end of the day, and if the opportunity arises they give it away to a good home. It made a spectacular lunch in the car the next day.

Now, onto the food. The jerk chicken plate that we shared was excellent--well-spiced, and plenty of food. It was served with a cabbage salad that I honestly don't remember much (I ate most of the soup, and was in a soup-related trance for much of the meal, so I don't remember much about the jerk chicken other than that I liked it), and rice. One thing you definitely notice when you eat at Local Sprouts is that you're getting plenty of food for your money, as the bowl of soup I ordered was probably enough for at least two people, not the small perfunctory bowls you get at most places. The vegetable soup was tomato-based, and had eggplant and zucchini and all manner of other vegetables. Big, huge chunks of vegetables. The kind of vegetable soup that makes me wish it were winter all the time so it would be seasonally appropriate to sit around and eat this stuff all day. By the end of the meal, with the combo of jerk chicken and vegetable soup and the promise of an eggplant sandwich later, I was in a happiness coma.

The one complaint I notice from online reviews is that you wait a very long time for your food, even for food you wouldn't expect to take a long time. It is true that the service is one of the most relaxed parts of the place, but it's easy to deal with if you don't expect to rush in and out. Sit down, look at the art, read a book. Listen to the live music, if they have it, which they sometimes do. Chat up your 7-year-old seat neighbor. Local Sprouts will make it worth your while.

Local Sprouts Cooperative
649 Congress St., Portland, ME
(207)-899-3529
http://www.localsproutscooperative.com/
Mon.-Sat. 8am-10pm
Sun. 9am-3pm


Local Sprouts is a Community Supported Cafe, which means that you can pay to become a member and get discounts on food and things like that. All their food is produced locally--if you want, you can even look on their wall, where they have a map of every farm and local producer where they got every ingredient they use. It is also worth noting, particularly if you are into making life happier and more enriching for individuals with disabilities (as I am; it's only my career), that the Bomb Diggity Bakery also runs out of this place. They provide a baking and arts program for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Pretty cool stuff.

Revisiting a Dumpling House in the Heart of Queens

Since I moved to Queens eight months ago, one of my and Florence's favorite places to eat is a dumpling house on Broadway called Lao Bei Fang. I've written on it before, but never in any great detail. It's one of those places that seemingly reveals more everytime I go - I first went for the obvious dumplings, but quickly realized that they do a lot more. Next up was the la mian noodle soups - for an average of about $5, you can get a big bowl of soup and hand-pulled noodles, filled with anything from shredded pork to seafood to tripe and tendon.

Getting more adventurous, Florence and I decided to try out the restaurant's cold case. When you walk in, you are immediately confronted with what looks like a steam table - six or eight metal trays of food behind glass - but on ordering, you quickly realize that the trays are over ice instead of burners. Here the multiregionalism of the restaurant starts to show itself - although ostensibly a northern Chinese dumpling house, the cold case boasts such Sichuan classics as fuqi feipian (literal translation is "sliced lung by the married couple"). Here it is thinly-sliced beef tripe and tendon, dressed mostly with chili oil and Sichuan peppercorn. I already enjoyed tripe, but this dish has converted me to tendon. It straddles that line between chewy, gelatinous, and tender, and the flavor imparted by the chili oil gives it an addictive kick. In the non-Sichuan portion of the cold case, we've had liangban huanggua (cucumber with raw garlic and sesame oil), and several other combinations dressed the same way (another notable one is celery with slices of smoked pressed tofu).

Frequently at the end of last year's winter, I saw people getting bowls of soup covered with curls of sliced beef, was never able to find it on the menu. Last week we finally saw it being eaten by an English speaker and asked, and today for lunch I ordered "hot and spicy beef soup". Only appropriate, given that it's snowing outside(!). From leaning over the steaming bowl as I picked it up, I discerned that it was made ma la style, with chili oil and plenty of Sichuan peppercorn. Don't get this soup alone - even more so than the other dishes here, it is a gargantuan amount of food. The bowl is absolutely stuffed with ingredients: beyond the sliced beef, there is tofu, tofu skin, fried tofu (are we in Malaysia now?), zucchini, round bean thread noodles, bean sprouts, unidentified crunchy vegetable, lotus root, thick round coins of rice flour dough (like big round noodles), and plenty of cabbage ribbons and spoonlike leaves of bok choy. Lao Bei Fang also adorns the soup (as if it needs it) with two semicircular slices of soft, fatty, and very flavorful pork sausage.

I was going to say that the only thing I haven't had here is the hot pot, but just today I saw somebody eating what may have been a shaobing of some sort. It was a thin, crescent-shaped flatbread filled with what looked like Chinese chives. I'll have to find out what it is next time - this place always has something new for me.

Lao Bei Fang Dumpling House
83-05 Broadway, Elmhurst, NY

M/R to Elmhurst Ave. - Lao Bei Fang is located directly on the other side of the overhead LIRR tracks

Highlights: Fried dumplings, 4 for $1.50; La mian, $4.50-$6; Hot and spicy beef soup, $5.75; Scallion pancake (take it home and re-fry it for even better results), whole round for $2.50; Plates from the cold case, $2.75 for veggie only and around $3.50 for meat (plus you can get multiple items on one plate!)

Breaking News: Tuna Salad I Actually Like!

If you've been reading this blog for awhile, it's going to come as no surprise to you that I have a long-standing dislike of tuna. Particularly tuna salad--most tuna salad, in my experience, is all tuna all the time, and there's nothing to balance out that taste for me. My dislike only really applies to canned tuna, also, because I liked the fresh tuna that Noah and I ate in Italy. But that's to be expected...does it really surprise anyone that fresh tuna, prepared well in a beautiful Italian restaurant tastes better than the canned stuff? I didn't think so.

Today, though, I had a tuna salad that changed my mind. Back when I was totally broke, my best friend sent me the link to the blog Poor Girl Eats Well, and I've been reading it for months. I'm actually doing fabulously budget-wise right now (and by "fabulously" I mean that I have between $2000-3000 in the bank; I don't need much to get by) due in part to a brand-new job in my career field (I work as a part-time care provider for adults with disabilities. Working with people with disabilities is the career I'm studying for now. It doesn't get any better than this!), but it's still good to have ideas for food I can make without being able to feel my bank account wincing. The writer of the blog recently posted a recipe for Mediterranean-style Tuna Salad, and I made it tonight. I was expecting "this is something I could eat and be okay with", and the first couple bites were that way. As I kept eating, though, I found myself legitimately thinking "I love this!". The idea that I would ever love anything with tuna is a pretty astounding achievement in and of itself. I will definitely make this again! So thanks, Poor Girl Eats Well, for helping me like tuna!

Mediterranean-Style Tuna Salad
(The only change I made to this recipe was that I had a 1/2 pound of chickpeas that I had soaked and wasn't sure what to do with, so I cooked them until they were tender and added them to the salad for even more protein and taste variation. I'll probably do it every time I make it! Because I will definitely be making this more than once.)

2 cans tuna
2 tomatoes
1 small cucumber
1/2 red onion
5 oz low-fat feta cheese (she calls for 4 oz., but I used all 5 because I had the chickpeas)
1 c baby spinach
Salt & pepper to taste

Chop all veggies into 1” chunks and place into a bowl. Drain the tuna of its water and add it to the veggies, followed by the baby spinach. Crumble the feta onto the rest of the ingredients and toss lightly until everything is completely coated with the feta. Add salt & pepper if needed.