A&J - Spicy Beef Noodle Soup

A&J
4316 Markham St
Ste B
Annandale, VA 22003

Dumplings

So it was a typical Friday evening for David and I, as always we were contemplating
on where to go for dinner. We have to meet up with my cousin at Korean bakery, Shilla for bingsoo after dinner. For those who don't know what bingsoo is, it is a ice shaved dessert with assorted delicious toppings. It made sense for us to eat somewhere in Annandale for dinner. Of course, we would go to Korean restaurants since there a a lot of restaurants in the area to pick from. Unfortunately, we just recently had Korean food so we wanted to try something else. David wanted to go to Silverado, I was a little hesitant however I did not have any other idea so I agreed. 30 minutes later, we arrived at Silverado, that place was packed. The hostess said that it will take close to an hour to get a table for two. We didn't have enough time to wait, plus we were getting hungry so we left. David suggested that we try A & J knowing that I wanted to try Taiwanese food. I have never been there before, but David has.

Milk Bubble Tea

A & J is located in the building which appears to be a small shopping mall. The restaurant looks almost like fast food place. The waitress handed us two paper menus and two pencils as we sat down. I was a little confused but quickly realized that she wanted to us to circle what we want. This reminds me the sushi menu at the Japanese restaurant but this is Taiwanese. Not a bad idea I assumed there would be nothing lost in translation.

Spicy Beef Noodle Soup

We ordered dumplings, wonton noodle soup, and a spicy beef noodle soup. David also ordered a milk bubble tea to drink. The dumplings came out first. The dumplings were not typical Chinese dumplings that you used to see. These dumplings are like long rolled instead of traditional half mooned shape. There was a decent amount of filling, however it could definitely needs a little flavor beside the soy sauce dipping sauce. David commented that the bubble tea was very weak and watery. He wasn't too impressed with it. At last, our soups came out. The wonton soup has shredded fried egg and bok choy. The broth didn't have me at hello after I tasted it. It was a nothing memorable about it. What memorable about this wonton was I took a bite of wonton and realized that pork inside was bright pink. Immediately, a flow of thoughts and images of Gordon Ramsay screaming and yelling came to my head. Is this filling raw? We asked the waitress if the filling is raw. She was explained that it is not. They put special ingredient to make the pork pink. I'm not too sure what is it because I couldn't understand her very well. But she offered to bring it back to cook it some more. Meanwhile, I watched David eats his spicy beef noodle soup. I tried the soup, it was alright I didn't know how long we waited for the wonton soup to come back but the two tables next us came after us and left. At that point, I was getting a little agitated and didn't feel hungry anymore. I just wanted to leave.

Wonton Noodle Soup

David came up the counter to pay and said that we don't want the wonton soup anymore. The waitress was telling us that it should be ready soon and they're making a new soup for us. Are they just omitting the special ingredient or cooking the life out of the wonton this time? How come the second time around took so much longer than the first? I don't like to create attention to myself or make a scene but I said I don't want it and left. It was the first time that I have walked out of the restaurant, unfortunately we also paid for the wonton soup. Overall, we were not impressed at all with the food. I had better frozen dumplings and wonton from Chinese take out. It was the worst experience and I don't think I will go back to A& J.

By the way, they only accept cash.

Food Channel or Travel Network?

No the title is not a mistake.  It was intentionally done.  A good friend of mine recently pointed out that the Travel Channel has seemingly become the Food Network with all of their food related programming.  Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, Man VS Food, Food Paradises, Food Wars, I think that's all the food related programming that they serve up [no pun intended]. That's a lot for what's supposed to be a channel about travel!  Granted, you need to travel to these places to eat, but still I think there's a little too much focus on the food.  I know that Keith Famie (best known for being a contestant on Survivor and lesser known for his short lived show Keith Famie's Adventures, which was shown on Food Network) says "you haven't really been there until you've eaten the food" but there is definitely more to a place than just eating!  So the question is really, what's with the Travel Channel encroaching into the Food Network's space?  Maybe the Food Network should start traveling to difference places and reviewing the non edible attractions!

Pho Capital Menu and Hours - Fairfax, VA

I've been checking the Google Analytics and I've seen more than one person has been searching for the Pho Capital's Menu and their hours.  According to Pho Capital, their hours are:  Mon-Sun: 10 AM – 9:30 PM.  It looks like Pho Capital has a website (I'm not going to link to it because I reviewed the site and give it 2 thumbs down for both usability and accessibility and doesn't even appear in Google's top 10 search results) and it looks like they're trying to leverage social media by using Facebook (too bad not everyone has Facebook) and the helpful and genuine folks at Yelp haven't uploaded any pictures of the menu so I'm going to help everyone out by posting some pictures of the menu that I took.  Please keep in mind my previous review when perusing the menu.

Shamshiry - The Best Kabobs That I've Had

Shamshiry
8607 Westwood Center Dr # 100A
Vienna, VA 22182-7506
(703) 448-8883
www.shamshiry.com/

Front page of the menu at Shamshiry

I first went to Shamshiry back in late 2005 with a former coworker. It was and still is the best kabob that I've had. The restaurant is Iranian, which are a little different from the Afghan style. I'd guess that Afghan style are more common, but I'm by no means a kabob expert.

We arrived at Shamshiry a little before 6pm on a Friday night. 

Bread (thicker than usual)

It wasn't super crowded because it was a little early for dinner, but there were still a decent amount of people in the restaurant.  A word to the wise: come early or you'll likely have to wait for a table.  After sitting down a pitcher of water, bread (the bread uses to be about as half as thin before, I'm not sure why it's so thick now), butter, and a spicy pepper relish are placed on your table.  I think they leave an entire pitcher of water on the table because the pepper relish can be a little bit spicy!

Pitcher of water on the table

Anita and I both knew what we wanted so when the waiter came I ordered for both of us.  I always get the Chicken Soltani because you get both a chicken kabob and a barg. Since kabob meat is usually on the thicker side it is often overcooked. Not here!  The large pieces of chicken are moist and tender. The barg is also perfectly seasoned and moist.

Spicy sauce for the bread and/or kabobs

The kabobs are served sans skewer (I think only homemade kabobs are served on those cheap wooden or bamboo skewers) on a huge bed of fluffy rice. The burnt part bit of rice at the bottom of the pan is called "tah digue." This is usually served on the platter when available, but I've rarely seen any on my plate. Just as well, because I personally do not like it, but I know a lot of people love this delicacy. You also have the option of getting a raw egg yolk served on top of the rice that you can mix in. I've tried this once and wasn't crazy about it. I prefer the light individual grains of rice.  Raw onions, a roasted tomato, and lemon wedges are served along with the rice and meat.

You get a lot of food here!  After filling up on a little bit of the bread neither Anita or I could finish out plates.  We packed our individual leftovers to go.  Combined, they completely filled a to go box.  It was literally enough meat and rice to make a new order of Chicken Soltani!  Our meal would have been perfect, except we had to wait for a while for our waiter to bring out check.

Chicken Soltani

The verdict? If you've never had kabobs you definitely need to check out Shamshiry. Even if you have other kabobs, come give Shamshiry a try. I'm pretty sure you're gonna like it!  Make sure to come hungry!