Pho 95

785 Rockville Pike

Ste H
Rockville, MD 20852

(301) 294-9391

www.pho95md.com
Hours:
Mon, Wed-Thu, Fri-Sat 11 am - 9 pm
Sun 11 am - 8:30 pm

(Closed Tuesday)

Price: $15 (2 bowls of Pho and Spring Rolls I think...Honestly forgot the price.)
Rating: 6/5

Why 6/5, its the same thing when you get an +A. This place has gone beyond everything your looking for in a restaurant. For me, I can have this anytime (others only in the winter.) This is like the perfect Asian Hangover, Comfort Food. Vietnamese noodles cooked in beef broth with generous portions of meats.

Crispy Spring Rolls. These aren't the average disgusting oily unfilled spring rolls. They are super crispy all the time and the filling is also of a larger portion. The dipping sauce pairs perfect with the crispy spring rolls. YOU MUST TRY THIS! No OTHER PLACE HAS THIS!

The main course and the 2nd favorite dish on my list is Pho Noodles. (Regular #1 with all the fixings) The soup base is warming and soothing with a rich taste of the beef broth. The noodles are actually soft and not crumbly, it also soaks in the broth giving it extra flavor. The meat also is tasty and soft, NOT stringy. Personally I like my meat to come raw on the side to have it even more flavorful and soft. Regular #1 also comes with beef tripe and also fun stuff that you may not like..

All in all this place is friendly, cheap, close and tasty. The service is happy and always remembers you. The place is actually CLEAN and unlike most Pho's the accounting is actually legitimate and allows CREDIT CARD! Splitting checks and paying for it is a WALK in the park (which is important when you go with people that may not always pay full.. ) I only trust one Pho place and this is it. Besides noodles there are other things on the menu such as Rice dishes and other stuff. The only thing that could make this better is if its open 247.

Sushi Damo (Rockville, MD)

36-G Maryland Ave

Rockville, MD 20850

(301) 340-8010

http://www.sushidamo.com/

Hours:

Mon-Sat 11:30 am - 3 pm

Mon-Thu 5 pm - 10 pm

Fri-Sat 5 pm - 12 am

Sun 12 pm - 9:30 pm

Price: Lunch is around $15
Dinner is at least $50 if you get 1 special roll and 3 normal rolls.

Rating: 4/5


Sushi Damo, one of the many sushi restaurants in Montgomery County, but what sets this apart from all the other ones is the unique lounge feeling and constant quality of food and service. Its hard to find a real Asian ran restaurant that brings food to the table promptly and that has good service. Although a bit pricey, your paying for the atmosphere and the constant quality that Sushi Damo Delivers.

Grilled Salmon Bento Box $12
Salad on the top left, grilled piece of Salmon on the top right
3pcs California roll bottom left, fried mini dumplings (I think), and rice that is shaped as a flower.
Decently good and just filled the tank a bit. Could have a large piece of fish, but I'm just a big eater.

Beef Teriyaki $13.50
Same as the top swapped the Grilled Salmon for the Beef. This was a good portion and hit the spot, however as a sushi place, they could have given more rolls and maybe add some sushi sashimi scraps to the salad.

Ikura $3 sashimi style. Pretty good and is fresh every time I've gone.

Rainbow Roll $9
Simple plating, bite size and fresh.

I want to say this is the Out Of Control Roll for $15 but I forgot.

My first impression of Sushi Damo was high, as it came from New York City, and yes it did meet my high expectations. Ive been back 4 times and have tried many of dishes. Every time I've gone back it has provided consistency of fresh fish. But to be honest, besides the the atmosphere and consistency of fresh fish, it doesn't have anything savory that will make you come back. There isn't a dish that you must have or that you are craving that another restaurant does not have. All in all there is not one dish I recommend that jumps out to me. Not saying that this place is not good, but its nothing special. Consistent and good atmosphere is what it has going.

Sushi-Ko

2309 Wisconsin Ave NW

(between N Calvert St & N Hall Pl)
Washington, DC 20007
Neighborhood: Glover Park

(202) 333-4187

www.sushikorestaurants.com/

Price: $ +90


Rating 2/5



Sushi-Ko apparently gets fresh fish almost everyday, however I must have gone of the day that they did not have fresh fish. Sushi-Ko is ranked pretty high for sushi lovers in Maryland.. but I think otherwise. Besides from it being plated nicely there wasn't much going for this place. The sushi I received did not seem fresh at all and even the rice seemed a bit dry. The two big O's are that the food was old and over priced.

My favorite sushi is the Salmon Roe aka Ikura - $6 for two I believe. The Ikura wasn't even that fresh and the worst part was that the sea weed warp was getting soggy.. Which meant it was sitting out for awhile.. We were the only customers in the restaurant at the time too..
Second on the dish was Yellow Tail aka hamachi nigiri - $6 for two.

2nd dish came with the special Fatty Tuna that day which is maguro and Uni.
Uni is sea urchin and I have yet to find a place that has good tasting Uni.. that or I just don't like the taste.. Pretty sure the Uni I got was not fresh.

Last dish of our meal was a sashimi dish that ranged from $17-$25.
Mixed with Red Snapper, Salmon, Yellow tail and Sea weed.. This dish was not worth it as fresh fish should not smell like fish.. good sushi taste wonderful, sometimes sweet.. not a pungent odor of decaying fish.

All in all I wasn't so pleased with this place and I have no idea how it even made it to the top 10 sushi places in Maryland. Besides from the mediocre sushi, the decor in the up stairs dining room was also not that great. I really do not recommend this place and would not return.

Ninas Dandy

0 Prince St

Alexandria, VA 22314

(703) 683-6076

www.dandydinnerboat.com

Price:
Monday - Friday: $47 per person
Saturday: $52 per person
Sunday Champagne Brunch: $57 per person

Rating: 4/5


Dine on the Potomac. Ninas Dandy is a restaurant on a show boat that has a spacious seating with a large dance floor. On the roof top of this boat is a outdoor lounge where you can sit back, relax and enjoy the scenic sight. However, the venue for this boat is a much older crowd, so if you aren't a senior citizen then you might feel out of place, however its still fun and enjoyable to let lose and go with the flow! Onto the meal!!

Salad was the first meal in our 4 course meal. Very plan and nothing special

Clam Chowder of course! We are on a river so why not.

Prime rib, potato and green beans with almonds. Prime rib was pretty decent, however they could have dressed the plates up a lot better. I understand that we are on a boat but you would think that things would be fancier and its not that hard to design a plate. The Potato was super plan and could have had butter, sour cream and cheese + bacon!


Stuffed shrimp with crab on a bed of plain rice. The sauce on top of the shrimp is hollandaise sauce. The plate could have been better, and instead of a bed of plain rice it could have been risotto or something, and there are the plain string beans again.

Cheese cake.. pretty sure it was from a box or the pre-made kind.

Orange Sorbet. I think.. forgot.

All in all, I had a lot of fun and the service was pretty decent. Dry but on point. The food could use a lot of work though. Taste wise it was decently passable, however dressing up the food and plating it would draw more crowds. Then again the average person on this ship was a senior citizen so maybe they are more old fashioned. It was fun, spending a relaxing time on the water. Not worry about the time as your on a boat.. your not going anywhere. Its different than being at a sit down place for me at least, cause the waiter is always rushing to get your order, get your food out quick and have you on you way, they make money on how many people they serve. On the boat though, there is no turn around time and things are at a much slower pace. Hope you enjoy!

Cava Mezze

9713 Traville Gateway Dr

Rockville, MD 20850

(301) 309-9090

www.cavamezze.com

Hours:
Mon-Fri 11:30 am - 2 pm
Mon-Thu 5 pm - 10 pm
Fri-Sat 5 pm - 11 pm
Sun 5 pm - 9:30 pm

Price: 5 plates was +$70

Rating: 4/5

The new watering hole for North Potomac/ Gaithersburg residents. If you have ever watched The Real Housewives Of Atlanta you will notice that this is the Real Housewives of North Potomac. The demographic of this place were cougars and trophy wives. Besides that, this place had a ridiculousness wait time. The line made it through the door to the point which the host ran out of buzzers. (Also they do not take reservation, first come first serve) After the 1hr wait, we were seated and greeted. Service was excellent and the waiter was on his game. The food came out very promptly and it made me wonder why it took so long for us to be seated, I guess this was a place for squatters.

SAGANAKI $9.95 and Oyster skordalia $8.95
Saganaki was cheese that was set on fire, the Fried Oyster was extremely good and could have used more sauce that it came with.

Cava special for the day, Tuna Steak.. wasn't that great as I've had better Tuna Steak at Huston.

SCALLOPS MUSHROOM RISSOTTO $15.95
This was the best dish and was something that you can savor. Although it was a small portion, it was the best Rissotto dish I've ever had. The flavors were really good, but the scallops could have been cleaned better as they were a bit sandy and I think there was still a shell left on them as something went CRUNCH.

Lamb Chops $14.95
This was decently good.. I don't think it was that fresh and had more fat than meat. The french fries weren't needed and ended up being soggy from the juice from the lamb.

All in all the place was decently good and for "elf food" it made me fool.. I don't know if the food was great or if it was all the pita bread we ate before the tapas started to come out. The restaurant was very loud so this would not be a quiet sit down dinner. Enjoy the food and you'll be fine!

Bezu

9812 Falls Rd

Ste G
Potomac, MD 20854

(301) 299-3000

www.bezurestaurant.com

Hours:
Mon-Fri 11 am - 2:30 pm
Mon 5 pm - 9 pm
Tue-Thu 5 pm - 10 pm
Fri-Sat 5 pm - 10:30 pm

Price: Prepare to spend +$150 (for 2)
Rating: First Time 5/5, Second 2/5 (depending on your waiter, ask for the white guy with tattoos, long pony tail and a frog ring, NOT the middle eastern guy with a mustache that looks)

Potomac is known for the rich and famous. Now they have a restaurant to complement the area. Now you don't have to drive all the way to DC to have the find dining experience. Bezu is a
French, contemporary American food with artistic plating.

Nori Tuna Very great. The sauce was to DIE FOR! It was very creamy and fresh.

Foie Gras, the sauce was good, however I didn't see the need of it on the plate. The sauce also pared nice with it. This dish however wasn't to die for, if you've never tried Foie Gras, than your not missing out on anything. The texture is very soft and melts in your mouth a bit. The taste is a bit fatty but not oily like bacon, but soft and mushy a bit.

This was a soft shell crab deep fried with what seemed to be tempura sauce. An orchid came with two soft shell crab. The crabs were decently fresh as they didn't turn to mush immediately after you ate them. It could have used some type of sauce other than the tempura sauce though.

I believe this was the tuna on a bed of noodles.

Lamb Shank. Would not recommend as it really wasn't anything special. The huge thyme coming out of the bone seemed to be an idea that a kid thought would look cool. The dish was a bit sloppy and the taste was very bland and boring. The sauce wasn't creamy and smooth and did not add any improvements to the dish.

The first time I visited the place, it was a wonderful experience, magical almost. The host gave us a decent seat, and the waiter was nice to offer everything from specials to drinks. Providing a wonderful dining experience and not being judgmental at all. I say this because on the outside I look like an average teenage, although I am 24 which is still young and waiters sometimes do not give you the time or day in providing you with quality service because they feel they will not be tipped well. On our second visit that was exactly what had happened. Our waiter was another old greasy haired man that was very pushy on soda, and made it very clear that all he wanted to do was to make us spend as much money as possible to the point that we were just uncomfortable and it became rude. There is a difference in offering or suggesting a great item on the menu to just blatantly pushing prices, at the end of the worst service of our lives, we found that he did this because he hand wrote the tip giving himself 22% additional tip. Why we did not report him.. I question myself everyday. I understand if they had a sign that parties of +5 or something, but to hand write this after a horrible service.. Pathetic. Overall the food plays a big role, and the waiter providing the service equally adds onto the experience. Without a balance the place is rated a 2/5, however with the right waiter, it was a 5/5!