Evo Bistro

1313 Old Chain Bridge Rd
McLean, VA 22101
(703) 288-4422
www.evobistro.com

Visited: February 22, 2010


How do you fight the Monday "blahs"? You go out to lunch with your coworkers and you eat for F-R-A-H. Oh yeah....free lunch courtesy of our very generous team lead. The idea of a team lunch at Evo Bistro came from a need to eat somewhere nice while staying relatively close to the McLean/Tysons Corner area.

After searching through my restaurant index a.k.a. Yelp, I sent a list of suggested lunchtime joints to the entire team. The resulting lunch venue for today's was Evo Bistro. I admit that after reading many of the reviews I was quite excited to try out this new restaurant literally in my own neighborhood.

We arrived at Evo around 11:45am and the restaurant was already booming with some very cool Arabic music. The young hostess greeted us with a friendly smile and showed us to our table. Once the rest of the team arrived and we began picking a few tapas from the appetizer menu to begin our lunchtime meal. We ordered the following Tapas from the appetizer menu: Tortilla Espanola (potato, egg and onion Spanish omelet), Merguez (lamb sausage), stuffed Piquillo peppers, Butternut Squash filled ravioli and Empanadas.

The lunch entrees seemed promising as the Evo Salad and the Moroccan Tuna Salad caught my eye. I settled on the Moroccan Tuna salad as I wanted something light and the idea of a lightly seared tuna sounded great for lunch.

My other teammates ordered the Evo Salad with Chicken, the Seafood Crepe, the Kefta Crepe and two other teammates (including my manager) also ordered the Moroccan Tuna salad. The hostess (who was also our server) took our appetizer and lunch orders as we passed the time talking about work and upcoming projects.

A few minutes later the hostess brought out some bread and what appeared to be a homemade hummus. Right after the bread the appetizers came out and we all began sharing the tapas. Everyone had a chance to try all the tapas and my only complaint (being a HUGE tapas fan) was that the tortilla Espanola was cold and tasted as if I was prepared a few hours ago. Other than that the rest of the tapas were tasty and a good start for lunch.

The lunch entrees soon made their way out and all of us Moroccan Tuna salad freaks somehow were seated together. As I was about to dive into my salad, a strong fishy smell caught my nose as my teammates' plate of Seafood crepes was placed before him. Ewwww...I don't think fresh seafood should have such a strong overpowering fishy smell.

I tried not to be a big snob and concentrated on my Moroccan Tuna salad as I was eager to try out the flavors in this salad. First problem, the tuna fillet was not seared but was cooked to almost a medium well consistency. The flavor of the tuna spice crust was tasty, but i was a bit disappointed that the tuna was overcooked.

The green and ingredients of the salad were not impressive and truly left me wanting something...more. Not more as far as portion size, but more as far as flavors that knocked me off my chair. I was left with a "meh" feeling and was not wowed by my salad. Some of the greens in my salad had brown tips which further disappointed me. My teammate to the left seemed happy with his seafood crepe despite the still strong fishy smell.

I must also mention something small but it made an impression on the person paying the bill; the big boss man. The lime slices brought out for my manager appeared to have pieces of mint or cilantro stuck to them. It appeared as if someone hadn't cleaned the knife used to cut the limes after chopping up some cilantro. Where's the attention to detail?!?!

A few of us ordered some desserts to share, but funny enough three people ordered the apple crumb while I was the only person to order the Chocolate Triangle (a dark chocolate triangle filled with chocolate cake, chocolate mousse and a hazelnut ganache). The apple crumb was very tasty and seemed to come straight out of the oven. On the other hand the chocolate triangle (despite its impressive name) seemed to be store brought with the cake layer being dry almost as if it had been frozen or kept in the fridge for too long.

The bright side to the lunch was the service as the hostess/server was very attentive and cheerful. Other members of the staff helped serve us and did a great job of constantly keeping our soda and water glasses full.

Overall I can only give Evo Bistro 3-stars for this first encounter. I just wasn't impressed and was left with that "meh" feeling. Based on the reviews and the cool looking wine dispensing machine (wish someone had a similar self-serve beer machine) and the food, I was somewhat let down as I had come in with high expectations.

Will I return? Maybe. The next time I return it will be for dinner as I'm hoping the food at the dinner service is much better than what I saw and tasted at lunch. I'm also hoping that if I get a salad or greens that they'll take a little more time to "weed" out the pieces with brown tips or make sure we get cilantro free limes. :-)

Bon Chon Chicken

6653 Little River Tpke
Annandale, VA 22003
(703) 750-1424
www.bonchon.co.kr

Visited: May 2009


*** 4.5 stars ***

I'm a H-U-G-E chicken lover...
Not a chicken f'er...but a connoisseur of anything chicken.

I *heart* every part of the chicken cooked any which way imaginable. Out of all the ways to eat a chicken, I love me some fried chicken. For all fellow fatties, I'm sure you'll agree on the following basic assumption:

Fried food = tasty

Now imagine you're me for a minute and imagine how slobbery drooly my mouth becomes whenever I think of chicken prepared submerged in a vat of boiling hot oil. Yes, you know I'm referring to the Utopian miracle that is fried chicken heaven!

For months I had heard and read about Bon Chon Chicken and knew I had to try it out as it was a Korean version of one of my most favorite foods. The day finally arrived when the perfect combination of errands came together with location, allowing the wife and two monkeys to follow me to Bon Chon Chicken for a late lunch.

By now you're already heard (if not, read on) that there is a loooooooong wait for the chicken. Yes, it's true and you may want to take that into account if you're starving hungry and ready to gnaw off your left hand. After putting in your order, it typically takes 45 minutes to an hour for your chicken to come out of the kitchen.

Although we were starvin Marvins, we dealt with the hunger by ordering a plate of frenchy fries and some brews. Although the monkeys couldn't enjoy the beer, they did munch on the hot fries as soon as Mommy and Daddy cooled down a few for their chubby eager hands. By the time the chicken arrived, we were still hungry but no longer Hannibal the Cannibal ravenous.

We had ordered one plate of the Spicy drumsticks and a plate of the Garlic drumsticks. The chicken was steaming hot and was too hot (temperature) to hold. My mouth was salivating like a dog locked in a hot car in the middle of July, I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into that chicken goodness.

When the chicken cooled enough to eat, I saw the light. It was a bright beacon where some faceless higher power being said in Korean, "That chicken is the bomb diggidy yo..."

Damn straight...

The skin of the chicken had become crispy in a texture I had never in my life encountered. It was as if the skin had become some sort of delicate rock candy filled with garlic flavor goodness that fell apart as it gave way to the biting of my teeth. The skin crumbled onto my tongue and eat subsequent bite was met with more crunch until the inside meat of the drumstick was reached...a meat so tender, flavorful and juicy unlike any chicken I had ever eaten.

The wife had accidentally picked up one of the spicy drumsticks first and her face was red with hot hot spicy heat. There on her plate lay one drumstick with a single small bite mark, she looked up at me and said, "It's too spicy for me."

Sweet, more chicken for me.

She dove into the garlic chicken and could not help describing the amazing flavor and texture of the skin. This was impressive as my wife is one of those odd dames that HATES chicken skin. Yes, I know...I know, but I still love her. :-) For her to comment on the skin and actually eat all that crispy goodness, I knew it was something special.

I continued to attack the spicy drumsticks and admit that whatever spices they used...was even too hot for me. But I endured and pressed on as I could not have enough of that chicken goodness.

Another beer was ordered and I ate almost all the spicy chicken drumsticks except for one lone piece. By this time my stomach was on fire and all hunger pangs had been replaced with a warm "glow" that seemed to come from all the spices.

The wife (being a delicate lass) ate 3 pieces of the garlic drumsticks and decided to pack up the rest in a to-go box. I was stuffed to the gills and waddled out of Bon Chon chicken with the monkeys and felt almost 30 lbs heavier. As this bloating feeling came over me, I could only help but wonder about the slogan on their website:

"Chicken that is tastefully and nutritiously enriched"

I'd sure like to see the health information on Bon Chon's chicken... Any chicken that takes over 45 minutes to prepare with skin so crispy that it'll make you want to sell your kids to the Gypsies just for a bite...can't be all that nutritious.

Enh...who cares. It tastes good and was definitely worth the trip. Just a note to myself not to order the spicy drumsticks on my next visit. The spices were too much even for me (a fan of very spicy food) as my stomach wasn't right for the next 2 days. Let's just say that the spicy drumsticks level of spicy heat were what I call "hot on the way out" hot.

Yeah, that hot...but if you're not a Nancy boy like me and have a cast iron stomach, try it out. As for me, I'm gonna stick to the garlic drumsticks and will definitely be back there very soon for that crispy skin delight that is Bon Chon chicken.

Chaps Pit Beef

5801 Pulaski Hwy
Baltimore, MD 21205
(410) 483-2379
http://www.chapspitbeef.com/

Visited: February 15, 2010


5 stars for a place that's not fancy shmancy and serves bbq'ed meat? Yes ya mo-fos, 5 friggin' stars!! Never question the fat man!

**SLAP! **
** SLAP! **

That's learn ya! Okay, back to the important stoof:

I hadn't been to Chaps in yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeears. The last time I had been there was back in the post-college days. A few buddies and I were coming back from a NYC trip when a friend of a friend suggested we stop at Chaps for some sammiches.

From what I remember the pit beef sandwich was very tasty and I had fond memories of all us eating in the car making sure not to drip food, BBQ sauce and Tiger sauce all over ourselves.

Spring forward over 9 years later....

I'm back at Chaps and it looks a bit different from my last visit. I'm now in the family mini-van with the wife and two monkeys (who are passed out from the long trip to B-more), salivating at the thought of stuffing my face with some pit beef goodness.

I send the wife in first allowing her ample time to review the monkey while I keep an eye on our sleeping boys. To my surprise she comes back quickly with a smile on her face and tells me, "I'll take the Raven." as she gets back into the mini-van.

Before she could even close the door, I was out and on my way to Chaps to put in our orders. Deciding on the regular Pit beef sandwich for myself, I got in line and joked around with the two B-more donkeys in front of me about the strip club sharing a parking lot with Chaps.

The line move very quickly and soon I was up to the counter where a cheerful lady took my order, called me "sweetie" and then took my money. Very efficient! :-)

As I waited for my order, I filled up a few mini-containers with their amazing BBQ sauce, Tiger sauce and ground horseradish. Two minutes later I heard, "One raven, one pit beef, cheese fries and a diet Pepsi".

Oh yeah, Diet Pepsi...i'm watching my figure....

My fat ass ran up to the counter, grabbed the bag of Chaps goodness, added some onions to both sammiches and threw in my "to-go" sauces along with a handful of napkins (a must when eating at Chaps). I happily skipped to the mini-van, closed the door and enjoyed the sweet smell of meat.

Meat, MEAT MEAT!! As I handed my wife her Rave and enjoyed the sights and smells of our sandwiches, I could only help feel a small (very small) pang of sadness for Vegetarians...who in their infinite wisdom would willfully deprive themselves of this tasty dead flesh cooked over a primal fire to orgasmic goodness....

*tear*

Without thinking I took a big bike of my pit beef sandwich and savored the flavor of the beef-tastic masterpiece. I looked over at my wife who was already taking her first bite... then silence. A silence so deafening but expressive in the sense that the wifey and I were on the same meat Nirvana. Yes my friends, this was worth the hour long drive.

By this time the boys were awake and asking for "num num". I tore off pieces of my beef sandwich and handed it to the first monkey. Before he was done he was already asking for more. My other boys enjoyed the beef but had already spotted the fries and asked for some potato goodness. Being such great parents were share our incredibly healthy meal with the boys while quickly stuffing our faces full of meat in between feeding them fries and meat.

The boys soon grew tired of the food leaving Mommy and Daddy to finish their meals. Again silence came over the van as we finished our sandwiches and savored the flavor of the BBQ and Tiger sauces...a MUST if you get any sandwich at Chaps.

As we finished our meals I made a mental promise to myself:

"Don't wait another 9+ years until coming back to Chaps"

Before I could ask her if she wanted to come back, the wife told me that we need to return soon and she didn't mind the drive 'cause the food was gooooood.

So if you live no where near Chaps, make the drive and try out their stuff. Don't do it because Anthony Bordain, Guy Fieri or that Man vs Food dood told ya to...do it for the love of meat! The meat is great, the sauces will accentuate the flavor and if you wanna see some boobies you can go next door...not that I would do that of course. :-)

Pho Xe Lua

6765-A Wilson Blvd
Falls Church, VA 22044
(703) 533-3130

Visited: February 14, 2010


The first thing I noticed about Pho Xe Lua was the two older gentlemen at the back of the restaurant playing what appeared to be checkers. I dunno why, but that really made this little joint seem pretty cool and gave it a calm atmosphere.

We decided to hit Xe Lua (XL) after our "appetizer" stop at the Nhu Lan Sandwich shop. I had been thinking about some mo-Pho goodness for the longest time and our visit to the Eden Center for the Vietnamese new year celebration was the best excuse ever to get our Pho fix.

We had been walking around Eden Center for a bit enjoying the all the New Year celebrations when we realized we were (1) starving and (2) getting "brr" cold. Being in the spirit of things I asked one of the locals for his favorite Pho place, and the gentleman kindly pointed towards XL and said, "Look for the neon Pho sign, they have the best chicken Pho ever!".

Navigating around the crowd of people we arrived at XL and noticed that the place seemed very small from the outside with a few people peppered around the small restaurant enjoying bowls of warm goodness. We walked inside doing our best not to look to awkward as we navigated our two stroller through the double doors of XL.

Inside we were greeted by a kindly old lady who immediately asked us about our monkey, "Twins?"

"Yes, twins" I replied with a smile as she showed us to a table. I immediately caught a glimpse of the two old men playing checkers and wondered to myself, "I wonder if I can get next?"

hahahaha

I ordered a big bowl of the #3 Pho which was round eye steak with well done flank steak while the wife ordered a small bowl of the #1 with round eye steak. I didn't know what to expect so I stayed away from my usual go-to Pho order which is a bowl of round eye steak, flank steak, tripe and tendon. This first visit was my way of testing the water to ensure the ingredients, broth and meat were all good.

I was not disappointed.

The broth was hot hot hot, the meat was fresh and the noodles were perfect. We served some Pho for the boys from our bowl and happily watched as they slurped up the Pho goodness and kept asking for "Mo mo mo!"

The flavor of the Pho's ingredients and the warmth of the broth revitalized my cold extremities and brought the color back into my cheeks. A thin bead of sweat ran down my forehead to my nose and down my cheeks. I was now warm and getting warmer as the warmth of this marvelous Vietnamese soup filled me with energy and life.

With hunger satisfied and empty bowls all around our tables, we packed up the boys, thanked the owners as we paid and left with full bellies. Our fun day at the Eden Center had been capped off with a tasty bowl of Pho goodness.

As we braved the crowded parking lot and quickly crossed the street to the family mini-van we waved good-bye to the Eden Center and made a mental note to come back to XL for another bowl of some delicious Pho. Next time, I'll make sure to order my usual bowl with all my favorite cuts of meat and get in on a game or two of checkers. :-)

Nhu Lan Sandwich Shop

6763 Wilson Blvd Ste 14
Falls Church, VA 22044
(703) 532-9009

Visited: February 14, 2010


When searching for a bit to eat what should you remember? Go wherever you see good sized line. That bit of information served our family well as we were visiting the Eden Center for the Vietnamese new year celebration.

After walking around the snowbound parking lot, carefully navigating the two monkeys via the stroller around many locals and seeing the dragon dances while many fireworks cracked to welcome the new year....we were starving!

Now here the dilemma we faced as we walked around the inside of the Eden Center; we wanted something to calm our hunger but not completely satisfy the ravenous beast that scratched the walls of our tummies. Nosiree-Bob, we wanted a little taste of some Vietnamese goodness that would hold us over for our true meal; a big bowl of Pho.

Also, the monkeys were starvin' and we figured we should be responsible parents by actually feeding them on their birthday. :-) As we walked through the inside we spotted a line of people waiting for their sammiches at Nhu Lan and we knew this was our place.

The wife had been on a mission to try a typical Vietnamese sandwich since seeing Tony Bourdain stuff his face on his show...what do you call it... J/K Tony. Being a vet of Vietnamese sandwiches I knew that the best place to indulge her craving was at the Eden Center and what better day than today (the New Year) to visit this bustling market place for some tasty sandwiches.

We ordered two chicken sandwiches which were filled with shredded cabbage, carrot and some generous helpings of cilantro (yum!) The flavors were all brought together by the deliciously fresh baguette and Vietnamese mayonnaise.

The sandwiches were about the size of my hand and we shared two of them with our monkeys who enjoyed the flavor and the bread with very enthusiastic, "Umm umm umm" sounds while nodding their heads. Although our boys are only two, their palates are developed enough to know good food whenever they taste it.

As the four of us sat at the table right outside of the Nhu Lan counter, we enjoyed our family moment and I got a little sentimental at the image reflected before me in the big mirror; my wife, my two boys and their fat daddy all huddle around a small table sharing two small sandwiches.

Had you told me more than four years ago (when I was a Austin Powers-like bachelor) that I would be married with twin boys enjoying some tasty food in the Eden Center...I could call you crazy. Life has a funny way of working out and our family moment in front of the Nhu Lan sandwich shop truly made me appreciate these special moments with my little family.

Oh yeah, and the sandwiches are frickin' delish too. :-)

Ariana Grill

6920 H Bradlick Shopping Ctr
Annandale, VA 22003
(703) 941-0173

Visited: February 2010



Went to Ariana Grill a few months ago with my client as he wanted me to try out one of his old favorite Afghan places. Walking in the place I noticed that although it is set up as a restaurant, there is a counter towards the end of the room where you would place your order. The place was empty and we decide to start off lunch with an order of the Baba Ganoush and I chose the kabob combo for my lunch entree while my client ordered some lamb kabobs.

As soon as we sat down, the kind lady working both the register and acting as the lone server came to our table holding a small plate and some bread. It was our Baba Ganoush starter. The flavor of the Baba Ganoush was just okay and really made me appreciate the Baba Ganoush from the Lebanese Taverna market. This Baba Ganoush didn't taste too fresh and seemed as if it needed something extra. Not being the Baba Ganoush expert I just couldn't put my finger on what it was....

About 15 minutes later the combo kabob entree I ordered arrived. This combo included some grilled chicken kabobs and some ground beef kabobs served upon a brownish colored rice. The chicken kabobs were tasty but a bit dry while the beef kabobs were okay, but slightly under-spiced...and would have easily benefited from a bit more salt and spices to add a little more flavor.

The rice was tasty as it had cumin seeds which made it one of the better parts of the lunch combo. The fresh bread was okay, but it didn't pair well with the already dry chicken. I ended up using quite a bit of the yogurt sauce to keep everything moist.

Once my client and I had both wolfed down our meals, he asked for the check and paid the bill. Being the kind fella that he is, my client didn't allow me to pay for anything, which made me feel like a mooch, but I thanked him for his kindness.

As we walked back to the car my client was already expecting to hear my thoughts about the food at Ariana Grill. I could tell by his behavior that he wasn't too enthusiastic himself about this experience at Ariana Grill to which I simply said, "It was okay, but there are some other places I'd like to recommend." He nodded and agreed that the food wasn't as good as it was in the past and even apologized for bringing me to Ariana Grill.

I felt a bit like a jerk for being so honest, but knew he would appreciate my honest feedback. I told him next time lunch was on me and that we needed to hit one of the many kabob places in and around our area.

Will I ever return to Ariana Grill? Probably not. The food just wasn't overwhelming and there so many better kabob places closer to work and in Arlington. On the plus side the lone lady working was quite friendly and attentive and made the experience all that much better.

Blue Ridge Grill - Ashburn

22865 Brambelton Plaza
Ashburn, VA 20148
(703) 327-1047
www.brgrill.com/

Visited: February 2010



Another quickie review for the Ashburn, VA Blue Ridge Grill location.

Good, tasty and quality food as compared to other chains...but there doesn't seem to be that sexy "it" factor that separates the food choices from the rest of the American food TGI-Ruby-Apple-B-Tuesdays type restaurants.

We stopped in with our friends for a late lunch/early dinner. I had a steak sandwich while the wife had the halibut sandwich. Steak was tasty, but the hands down winner was the halibut (a lunch special) sandwich. Damn I was jealous at my wife's delicious choice.

The service was attentive, but they seemed a bit annoyed at our party as we had a total of 3 kids between the two couples. The monkeys were behaving as was the daughter of our friend. I guess they weren't expecting two families to bring 3 kids into their place.

I saw on the table that there is a listing for 1/2 price burgers on Mondays. We may come back to try the burgers, but only when visiting our friends. Ashburn is just too far to come to an "okay" place as there are so many better offerings much closer to us....but we'll definitely give them another try (maybe sans kiddies).

China King

7500 Leesburg Pike
Falls Church, VA 22043
(703) 288-658

Visited: February 2010



I fondly refer to this "restaurant" as my favorite "bad-for-you" Chinese joint. China King doesn't hide the fact that they're a quicky type Chinese place and seem to cater to people that want something cheap, decent and don't really care too much about the quality of the food.

It's the place that I'll visit if I want some artery clogging non-traditional Chinese food that's cooked up quickly for almost next to no money.

Jesus Christ I could go for a big order of their not-found-in-nature RED General Tso's colored chicken with some steamed rice...

**mouth waters**

Oh man, it's so bad for me and NOT the best quality food but I can't help myself sometimes....

As others have mentioned, this is a fast food place and caters to that "Americanized" type of Chinese food that's rich in sugar and MSG. If you want the real-deal Chinese food, don't come here. If you want something warm, freshly fried for the price of a McHappy Meal...this is your place.

Whatever your reason for coming here your stomach will feel heavy after you eat here and your a** may not be too happy with you the day after. But for those few sublime seconds when their food first hits your mouth, you'll be momentarily content with your food. :-)