New in the Hood: Changes in the Crofton Asian Food Landscape

So, Kwong's Hunan in Crofton Center unfortunately changed ownership and is now "Fusia." As you can probably guess from its name, Fusia is a pan-Asian restaurant. Generally, I'm not into pan-Asian restaurants because they lack authenticity. It's all about breadth instead of depth, and the food is usually ok, but nothing special. Sadly, Fusia is no different. Wasn't impressed and was depressed that my favorite Chinese restaurant has been taken over by the misguided fusion craze. Of note, there is a new Vietnamese restaurant in the Gambrills/Crofton area -- VN Noodle House, located at 2299 Johns Hopkins Road in Gambrills. Much better than Saigon Noodle House. We ordered spring rolls, fresh rolls, pho, and beef clay pot rice. The pho can actually compete with the pho from Viet-Thai Paradise in Annapolis, which has amazing broth; I still say that the spring rolls are better at Viet-Thai, though. My only beef with VN Noodle was the beef in the clay pot beef. It just tasted a little bit off -- like the beef wasn't high quality or something. It might have just been a little off that night, though. I'd definitely go back, and would love not having to go to Annapolis to get decent Vietnamese food. I'll keep you posted!

A Shout-out to San Diego:

I recently went to San Diego, so thought I would share my stand-out eating experiences: Burned into my memory was Swadee Thai, in Coronado. So often, I have gone to restaurants where extra spicy disappointingly turns out to be mildly spicy. I want my food to make me cry, and Swadee Thai did that. The servers ask about the level of spice you prefer on a scale of 1 to 10. Based on my past experience, I requested a 10, but was warned off of it. And I am glad that I was. We ordered a papaya salad, which was an 8 and it had some real fire that required me to take a break while eating and made me gulp a lot of water. For my entree, I ordered a whole fried fish with fabulous chili sauce. A definite winner. I also visited the Mission for breakfast. It had a nice vibe, delicious, freshly squeezed orange juice, and a decaf capuccino that was so good that it made me wonder whether it was decaf at all. Finally, I wish I could have spent more time in Kearny Mesa. We found our way out there because we were trolling for a late night meal, and consulted an awesome late night dining guide, available here. There was a ramen shop open until 2 am, so we went. We jumped at the chance because of the dearth of noodle houses in the DC area. Surrounding the noodle shop, we noticed a lot of other promising looking Asian restaurants, including a tea house that I'd like to hit up if I'm ever back in the area.

Viet-Thai Paradise: The Good and the Not So Good

My husband and I have been going to Viet-Thai Paradise on Riva Road in Annapolis ever since it opened. I've never gotten around to writing about it. For the Annapolis food scene, which is sorely lacking in good ethnic food, Viet-Thai is pretty good. It does some things really really well, and other things, not so well. Before delving into the good and the bad, I thought I should say that the restaurant is Vietnamese-owned. Thus, if the conventional wisdom is true, then the Vietnamese (rather than Thai) side of the menu is probably better. My experience with Viet-Thai's pad-thai did not disabuse me of that notion. The Good The pho is excellent. The broth is complex, and the different flavors and spices shine through. It comes in several different meat varieties along with fresh sprouts, basil, green onions, white onions, and a hearty amount of noodles. It's as good, if not better as any I've tasted anywhere else. Also try the springrolls. I don't know how to put it. They are supremely tasty, and again, as good, if not better as any I've tased anywhere else. The restaurant uses a wrapper more akin to a lumpia wrapper, rather than the bubbly, less delicate, and chewier eggroll skin. Service and atmosphere are also nice. The restaurant features modern decor, friendly and efficient service, and warm washcloths for the hands, and fresh post-meal orange slices. Other good things to try are lemongrass beef with noodles and the summer rolls. The Not So Good I like to try new things on menus, but most of my attempts to branch out from the pho have resulted in mediocre meals. As one of my Vietnamese friends said, Vietnames restaurants usually get a few dishes right; it is rare that they can hit all of the high notes. I think that this is probably the case with a lot of restaurants. I've had the bun (noodle salad), caramelized pork, and the Viet-Thai special fried rice. Not good and verging on the border of a little bad. There's just something a little off about the flavor of these dishes. However, I'll go back for pho and springrolls anytime!

Otani: Round Two

So, Eugene and I returned to Otani Sushi. The first time we went, we didn't have sushi, because I thought that seeing as how the sushi won't be as good as Joss, what's the point? Eugene persuaded me to go back because Otani is primarily a sushi restaurant and it wouldn't be fair to write it off without trying the sushi. The brief synopsis? Would I go back? Maybe if Joss weren't in the picture. The sushi is fresh enough and creative, but a bit on the non-traditional side with a tad too much going on at times. The most important thing is that the sushi was fresh, though. One cool thing is that our server remembered us from the last time we were in even though it was a really long time ago. We started out with a seaweed salad and fried calamari. The seaweed salad was good, but a bit on the tiny side, especially since it came in a really large bowl. There were good things and bad things about the calamari. On the up side, it was surprisingly tender and non-rubbery. On the downside, it was really bland. Luckily, it came with a spicy sauce that gave it some flavor. Portions were really small. First, a note on the sushi menu. I love tuna, but it's good to have variety. I wanted to check out the spicy tuna, but order another non-tuna non-shellfish roll. Most of the special rolls contain tuna. It was hard to find something without it. We ended up ordering yellowtail, spicy tuna, and a special twister roll. The yellowtail was fine; fresh enough. The spicy tuna was a bit weird. Instead of tuna seasoned with spicy oil, it was tuna that had been ground up and mixed with a spicy mayonnaise or something similar. I didn't care for it. It's never good to get ground up mushy stuff when you're not expecting it. The twister roll was good. It had lobster tempura and a bunch of other stuff, including yes, tuna. A lot going on! It was tasty, but I just got the feeling like less would have been more. On a parting note, the waitstaff are really friendly and the presentation of food is artful. The restaurant has a nice atmosphere. Don't be deterred by the darkened, unwelcoming windows, which make the restaurant look closed or sketchy. It's not!

Hunan L'Rose

Before eating at Hunan L'Rose (http://www.goldenfork.com/hunanl), located at 1131 Annapolis Road, I had already discussed what I thought were the best Chinese restaurants in the area. For the sake of my rankings, I dragged Eugene out there this past Monday night. We went around 8 pm, and found the restaurant to be rather full for a rainy Monday night, which I thought boded well for the food. Nonetheless, the rankings don't change after going to Hunan L'Rose. There wasn't anything really wrong with the food; it was just underwhelming. It could be that we didn't order the best dishes. Who knows? We started out with the steamed dumplings -- meat-filled with a nice ginger accent. They were tasty enough. Just a warning, though. Apparently, they take a really really long time to cook, as our server told us when she brought them to the table after quite awhile. This may be true, so if you're starved and looking for a fast appetizer, the dumplings are not the answer. Eugene ordered the beef chow fun, and I ordered the sesame chicken. The beef chow fun was good with nice pieces of quality, charred beef. The sesame chicken was not as good. While the sauce was tangy and flavorful, the quality of the meat was only so-so; it was mainly dark meat, and I found that the taste of the dark meat detracted from the sauce. The meal ended with a nice hot towel and a mini cup of orange sherbet. Overall, the food was okay, but with Kwong's right down the street from where we live, I see no reason to make a special trip out there. And the weird thing? No chopsticks! It's hard to call yourself a serious Asian restaurant if you don't at least put chopsticks on the table.

So So Saigon Noodle House

Unsurprisingly, I enjoy cooking a lot. For some reason, I haven't felt inspired to cook lately. As a result, we've been going out to eat too much for our own good. It was one of those uninspired nights when we decided to venture out to Saigon Noodle House at 2171 Defense Highway in Crofton (in the shopping center behind Rita's). I always tell Eugene that we should go try it out instead of venturing down to Viet-Thai Paradise in Annapolis. He finally gave in, especially since I like to try new places so that I can write about them, and because we read some good reviews online. Would I go back? In a pinch maybe, but I would rather take the hike to Viet-Thai. Things started out well. We ordered the combination roll because of the reviews we read online. It was very tasty. It came wrapped like a summer roll, but was crunchy on the inside -- a cross between a spring and summer roll. Sadly, the entrees were disappointing. Eugene ordered pho, and the broth lacked the subtle flavors of the other pho that we've tried. I ordered a crepe, which turned out to be filled mostly with beansprouts and a few shrimp. The beansprouts had a weird flavor when combined with the crepe itself, and by virtue of being almost steamed when cooked in the crepe. The crepe itself had a weird flavor that I didn't care for. Maybe the other dishes are good.....

Best Chinese in Gambrills/Crofton Area

So, that might not be saying much, as Anne Arundel County isn't exactly a mecca of ethnic cuisine. Nonetheless, you've gotta work with what you have. Here are my recommendations for the best Chinese in the Gambrills/Crofton area. If you want the "hole-in-the-wall" standard Chinese experience, I highly recommend Kwong's Hunan. It's located at 1659 Crofton Center in the shopping center with Shopper's Food Warehouse and the Kmart. The food is great. Unlike almost all of the other Chinese restaurants where I have eaten in the area, it uses white meat for its chicken dishes. One disclaimer. I ordered the yaki soba (a Japanese dish) and it was not good. It may be that Kwong's just isn't as good at Japanese. One other recommendation; try the spicy wontons. They are excellent meat dumplings flavored with ginger and soaked in a delicious sauce that, while not meeting my standard for spicey, are truly tasty. If you want a fine dining experience, go to Grace's Fortune (http://www.graces-fortune.com). The atmosphere is nice. There's a koi pond and piano. It's on the pricey side, but the food is fresh and prepared without additives. If you go, you can tell that the restaurant is run by people who clearly love and appreciate food. Grace's has a Sunday buffet that I am dying to try. Also, a neighbor highly recommended Hunan L'Rose in Odenton. Apparently, its owners formerly ran a Chinese restaurant in the small shopping center on Defense Highway where Lemongrass is now located. They sold that restaurant to other owners, who didn't keep the restaurant up to snuff, so it went out of business. My husband and I are planning to go to Hunan L'Rose on our next Chinese run, so stay tuned!

P.F. Chang's Annapolis

Before I get to the food part, I would like to warn you that this location doesn't have real parking except for valet, which seems a bit weird for a P.F. Changs in the Annapolis suburbs. Since the rest of the new shopping center isn't open yet, I'm not sure if the parking situation is permanent or if a lot will open. If the restaurant isn't going to have a lot, that could create a problem because we parked further away and walked, and parking won't be anywhere near as available once everything else is open. Now for the food. There's a healthy debate about whether P.F. Chang's (http://www.pfchangs.com) is good food. I know people who scoff at it because it's not authentic Asian food. My take on it is that it's all about attitude. You don't go to Chipotle expecting authentic Mexican food, but it's still ok fast food. Likewise, if you wanted authetnic Asian food, you would go to an authentic Chinese (or whatever ethnicity) restaurant and not a pan-Asian national chain restaurant. Of course, P.F. Chang's isn't authentic Asian food. Once you get over that hurdle, you can appreciate the food, which belongs in the Americanized pan-Asian genre. For appetizers, we ordered the chicken lettuce wraps and the spring rolls. The lettuce of the lettuce wraps is iceberg lettuce, and the filling is minced and seasoned chicken mixed with mushrooms and other veggies. The lettuce wraps are good enough, but every time I've ordered them, they don't come with nearly enough lettuce. Even if you were to stuff the lettuce wraps as full of filling as possible, there would still be some left over. C'mon now restaurant management people! The spring rolls were too greasy and therefore mediocre. I ordered the spicy chicken, and my companions ordered the beef chow fun and the wok charred beef. The spicy chicken was fine and flavorful, but I can't say that I was impressed enough to order it again. The beef chow fun was good with nice pieces of charred beef. I didn't try the wok charred beef. For the sake of the blog, I ordered coffee with my meal and was pleasantly surprised. It's billed on the menu as organic French roast, had a nice flavor and strength, and was well brewed. My only complaint about it is that it wasn't hot. However, we went to the restaurant at about 10:30, so chances are, it had been sitting in a caraffe so as not to burn.

Otani

We went to the recently-opened Otani (http://otanijapanesesushi.com/) in the Gambrills/Crofton area because of the deal of the day coupon in the Capital (local Annapolis newspaper more affectionately known as the Crapital) for either a free seaweed salad or California roll. We picked the California roll. There's not much to say about a California roll. I can't say that I've ever had a really good one or a really bad one. They taste pretty much the same to me. I ordered the chicken hibachi plate, and Eugene ordered the ribeye steak hibachi plate. It came first with some miso soup, which was standard except for the enokitaki mushrooms, which I absolutely love. They are wonderful in soup and taste almost as good as meat. The hibachi plates were just ok -- nothing out of the ordinary. The chicken was a tad dry, and the steak, while pretty good, didn't taste like any hibachi steak that I have ever had (and not in the best of ways). I might go back to sample some of the other dishes on the menu, but I might not. Edit: I did go back for the sushi. Read about it here.