Street Tacos!!!!

If you are close to Ellicott City's Qdoba, tomorrow they are giving away one order of Mini Street Tacos, with a purchase of a drink, from 5:30-7:30PM.

What are Mini Street Tacos? They are a soft corn tortilla shell filled with either pulled pork or shredded beef and then topped with red onion and cilantro relish.  Currently, four Mini Street Tacos are $5.49 at the 8 Baltimore area restaurants.  Sounds like I need to make my way over to a Qdoba and try these out!!!


Qdoba Mexican Grill
9050 Baltimore National Parkway, Suite 101
Ellicott City, MD 21042 

Hunan Manor, Columbia

House Pan-Fried Noodles (note the portion size, woh!)

Remember when your mum used to tell you "just because it's popular does not mean it's good" in high school? Well, I'm going to say it again - but I'm not talking about the popular crowd and all their naughty ways....I'm talking about Hunan Manor in Columbia. It is crowded, it seems very popular, it is NOT good.

OK, so I went with a group of about 15 and most of us thought our meal was just OK and sat there in confusion as to why this large restaurant was quite full. We felt like there may have been a secret menu we were not privvy to!

General Tso's Chicken

Dan and I chose to split our meals so we could share - General Tso's chicken and the House Pan Fried Noodles. I took a couple of bites of the General Tso's chicken and immediately wanted nothing to do with it - there were too many of the overly crispy bits and not enough chicken, plus the sauce wasn't tasty. The House Pan Fried Noodles weren't delicious either. The mushrooms were too chewy and the beef was too soft. You know what I'm talking about - it was really similar to the kind of beef you get in Lean Cuisines where the ingredient list says its "Beef Product." Beef is not naturally that soft.

That being said, my vegetarian friends were greatly satisfied with their meals, and so I decided to try theirs, most notably the Meatless Sweet and Sour dish. I had to agree it was MUCH better than any of the other dishes - the meatless stuff was so fried and covered in sauce you could hardly tell you weren't eating chicken. And in general it was pretty tasty.

One thing I MUST say is that the portions sizes were HUGE HUGE HUGE. Normally that would have been so exciting for me because I would have eaten leftovers for lunch and dinner the next home, but I didn't want any of the leftovers. Now you know it's bad when I don't even want to take stuff home ..... :o/

Overall, I did not have a great meal and I will not be going back.....but I can tell that a lot of people do - someone please tell me what I am missing. Are there secret dishes we should have ordered? It can't have been the duck because someone from my party ate that and he said it was just OK. It probably wasn't a lamb dish because I tried that and didn't like it either. Oh well.... perhaps everyone's just ordering the vegetarian dishes!

p.s. I am hosting a $25 Gift certificate giveaway to McCormick and Schmick's. Check out the details here.

Victoria Gastro Pub, Columbia

This sunday I met a couple of friends at Victoria Gastro Pub for brunch. I've been excited to come here for a while since it's been getting such great reviews! The space was much larger than I expected it to be, and yet quite cozy. It was a great place to choose for a group meal since there's so much space and voices don't seem to carry. We got there around 11am and it wasn't full at all, but by Noon there was a steady stream of people.

I was lucky enough to catch Howard County Restaurant Week, so I chose some items off the $12.50 Lunch Restaurant Week menu (WOW what a deal!). For starters I chose the Sierra Nevada Porter Onion Soup and for my main course I tried the Rosti (shredded potato cakes) topped with egg, smoked salmon, creme fraiche and dill.

The Sierra Nevada Porter Onion Soup (as pictured above) was fabulous (usually $6). It was cheesy, chock full of onions and not at all beery-y. This was a great starter and I was very pleased. The broth was savory and pleasant, and my appetite was quite satiated with one small bowl.

For my second course, the Rosti (pictured above and usually $9) was perfect. At first I thought it was quite a small portion, and then I realized that it was the perfect amount to serve. The Rosti wasn't as crispy as I usually like potato pancakes, but still quite flavorful. The eggs were cooked well, and the salmon tasted great with each bite. I REALLY liked this.

I couldn't have been happier with my experience here. We stayed chatting for a long time, and we never once felt rushed by our waitress, who was very pleasant and attentive.

After surveying the menu, I am 100% sure I would come back again, and it wouldn't need to be for a Restaurant Week menu! There are so many things here I want to try, especially for dinner. What a great addition to Columbia!

p.s. the grits were fabulous- very creamy, cheesy, and full of corn! Delicious!

p.p.s Thank you Royela for your fabulous picture-taking!

p.p.p.s Howard County Restaurant Week is going from January 18th-31st and menus can range from $10-40, so double check the website for each restaurant.

Fatburger Revisited

Well, I tried it again, and I got the same meal (baby burger and skinny fries) to make sure my previous experience wasn't a one-off type of thing - it wasn't. Still dry. Still boring. Still had delicious fries.

Also, it's important to note that there is definitely something wrong with the whole wheat buns they had that night. Once you started to eat your sandwich (veggie burgers come on whole wheat), the bun would disintegrate into pieces.

In all honesty, Fatburger is not my favorite burger chain. In fact, I went with a large group of people and still the only person who really liked it was my Dan. One of my friend's even compared it to a burger you get at a cafeteria. Sadly enough, I agree. It does its job, nothing more.

Baltimore Beer "Week", Oct 8-18th

(Photo courtesy of www.wendmag.com)

Get ready for Baltimore Beer "Week", which begins on October 8th and lasts through the 18th (Hence the quotes). I emailed Alexander Mitchell, the co-founder of the BBW, for some details. Check out his blog for a TON more information:

The inaugural Baltimore Beer Week will take flight starting on October 8th, 2009 with 10 full days celebrating "All things beer in the Land of Pleasant Living" and will include over 250 separate events with something for everyone who loves beer!

The event will begin with an "Opening Tap" formal cask-tapping ceremony aboard the USS Constellation on October 8th and will conclude on October 18. The week will feature beer dinners at area pubs and restaurants, appearances by noted brewers and brewery representatives, and tasting events at the area's many beer bars, brewpubs, and liquor stores.

Two highlights will be the Brewers Association of Maryland's Oktoberfest on October 10th, when 12 Maryland breweries will pour some 75 or more beers at the Timonium Fairgrounds; and the Society for Preservation of Beers from the Wood's annual Real Ale Festival held at the Pratt Street Ale House on October 17th, where some 36 or more cask-conditioned ales will be tapped. Also scheduled are various beer dinners at many restaurants, pairing food and beers, tappings of special, rare, or exclusive beers at several venues throughout the region, and a public homebrewing demonstration at the Pratt Street Ale House on Oct. 18th. Although the focus is on Baltimore, events have been scheduled as far away as Laurel, Elkton, Ellicott City, Cockeysville, and Columbia.

The official website is www.baltimorebeerweek.com , which includes a complete searchable schedule of official events.

Late updates are being posted at BBW co-founder Alexander Mitchell's beer blog, www.beerinbaltimore.blogspot.com.

Inserts are scheduled for inclusion in the Oct. 7 and 14 issue of the Baltimore City Paper.

Fatburger, Elkridge

Dan's Meal: Fatburger (with egg!), Skinny Fries, Vanilla Milkshake

First of all, I can’t believe I ate at a place called FATBURGER. I mean seriously? My colleague and I always joke that we can never eat at Blimpie’s because of the name- so who came up with Fatburger to make us feel worse (Although, Potbelly had me hooked when I went to college, so maybe it’s not that big of a deal)?

However, I got over my hatred for the name because the place received rave reviews from my friends. The fact that one of their additional burger toppings is a fried egg had a lot of appeal for people.

However, because I was feeling self-conscious, I ended up choosing the Baby Fat Burger with Skinny Fries (instead of Fat fries that are thicker cut…….and let’s be honest..because they were called Skinny). I didn’t get the egg topping, which I found to be a big mistake because my burger was RIDICULOUSLY dry. It wasn’t moist at all- definitely overcooked. I understand that I chose to get a smaller burger- but if you’re not going to cook it right, don’t offer it. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I still ate the burger, but it just didn’t live up to the hype.

Dan, however, ordered a Fatburger with the egg. I tried that and it was significantly better. He also ordered the vanilla milkshake which I stole a couple of sips of- yummy! Very thick though- so prepare to share!

In the end, I probably will never drive up to Elkridge again just to get this burger- I’m going to stick to places around me that make it better.

p.s. Don’t forget to enter my Old Bay contest! It ends July 14^th at 11:59PM.

Howard County Restaurant Week Feb 23rd-March 8th

Just an FYI that Howard County is having their own Restaurant Week right now from Feb 23rd-March 8th.

Here is the website: http://www.howardcountymd.gov/HCT/HCT_Restaurant_Week.htm

And information from the website is as follows:

Get in on the Best Deals in Dining Out!
Howard County’s Winter Restaurant Weeks Features NEW Prixe Fix Menus From $10.09 To $40.09 - Savor The Savings!

Enjoy the warm hospitality and delicious creativity of Howard County’s finest chefs during Howard County’s Winter Restaurant Weeks February 23 to March 8, 2009. Participating restaurants will offer prixe fix menus from $10.09 to $40.09 (beverages, tax, gratuity not included;promotions and menus vary).

Enjoy this amazing opportunity to visit your favorite spot or sample something new as you discover the unique dining options close to home!

Visit our list of participating restaurants and make your reservations now – and don’t forget to pick up a Frequent Diners Passport Card. Have it validated at each restaurant you visit during Restaurant Weeks and enter to win a $100 dining gift certificate from the Restaurant Association of Maryland. (Visit at least 6 restaurants to be eligible, and return the card to the Howard County Tourism Welcome Center: 8267 Main St., Ellicott City, MD 21043.)

Questions/ Comments?
Visit our blog visithowardcounty.typepad.com

Participating Restaurants:

* AIDA BISTRO WINE BAR
* ALEXANDRA'S at Turf Valley Resort
* BELMONT MANOR
* BISTRO BLANC
* CACAO LANE
* CAFE de PARIS
* COPELAND'S
* CRAB SHANTY
* DIAMONDBACK TAVERN
* DONNAS CAFE
* ELKRIDGE FURNACE INN
* GREYSTONE GRILL
* JORDAN'S STEAKHOUSE
* THE KING'S CONTRIVANCE
* THE MELTING POT
* MORGAN'S GRILLE at the Hilton Columbia
* OZ CHOPHOUSE
* RAMS HEAD TAVERN at Savage Mill
* RANAZUL
* THE RUMOR MILL
* STAINED GLASS PUB
* TERSIGUEL'S FRENCH COUNTRY RESTAURANT
* TOBY'S DINNER THEATRE in Columbia
* VICTORIA GASTRO PUB

Personally, I've always wanted to try Aida Bistro Wine Bar and Cafe de Paris.