Our Culinary Adventure in Rockville

Being the hard core partiers that we are, last night we took to the town (er, escaped the town) in an un-airconditioned car to that faraway northern suburb called Rockville, Maryland. Our first stop was Joe’s Noodle House, which is tucked off Rockville Pike in an unassuming strip mall. The idea was to order light, considering we’d be visiting yet another Rockville eatery, but the menu listed around 200 items and, well, we were hungry. We ordered six dishes (you order and pay at the front), and shortly after, the food arrived plate by plate. Everything we had was delicious (I’d order it all again in a heartbeat!), but here are some specifics:

Their dan dan noodles ($4.50) had that earthy ma po taste, yet the Szechuan peppercorn wasn’t too overwhelming; the wontons with red hot sauce ($5.50) came soaked in some sort of flavorful spicy oil—I could have eaten all eight of those soft things; the home-made bacon with leek ($8.95) was perhaps the best of the bunch—we all loved the way they’d combined just enough of that double-cooked fatty pork and heaps of fresh leaks and peppers; the noodle soup with radish and pork ($6.95) was fittingly mild and healthy tasting (considering the fat content of our other dishes); the steam buns with pork filling ($5.95) were nothing like what we’d expected—they were more akin to steamed dumplings vs. the dim sum-style pork buns we had in mind when we ordered, yet we all liked them; and a fried scallion pancake ($2.75) that was served with a tasty ginger-soy dipping sauce. Full from dinner #1, we paid our $38 and headed to the next spot.

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Joe’s Noodle House

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Lighthouse Tofu (or, Vit Goel Tofu Restaurant) reminds me of a Village Inn from the exterior—with its covered portico (replete with Korean newspaper dispensers and a bulletin board plastered with local flyers), suggesting long waits during peak hours. We arrived around 9:30 p.m. to no lines, but were impressed with the 6 filled tables at such a late hour (in the suburbs!). After the tenous experience of ordering at Joe’s, we welcomed the small menu and ordered three items. But before our main entrees arrived, our waitress—cloaked in a lovely traditional silk-screen chiffon dress—pushed out a full cart, setting down the banchan, many tiny a dish of kimchi, pickled cucumber, and bean sprouts. Next, she scooped rice from a dolsot (hot stone bowl) into individual metal bowls, filling the original pot with green tea. (This watery rice mixture makes for a calming, if not sweet, dessert). Our entrees soon arrived: a giant seafood pancake ($12.99), a bubbling platter of seafood noodles (#13 on the menu; argh, what was its actual name?!?), and the dish for which makes this restaurant famous—sundubu ($9.99), a boiling pot of seafood broth filled with silky tofu. Served with a raw egg that you crack tableside and mix into the stew (watch our video below), this custardy, sensually textured, mouth-watering bowl of amazingness had me slurping spoonful after spoonful, despite my uncomfortably full stomach. I love this stuff and will definitely return—hungrier next time—and order a whole bowl for myself. After paying our whopping (pshaw!) 42-dollar bill and intoxicated on the quality ethnic food we just can’t get in Dupont, we headed home.