XO Taste - Falls Church

We went to this restaurant for lunch yesterday. After moving here after living in Boston for several years, we have been very disappointed in the Chinese food selections. We rarely eat Chinese food, until I heard about this restaurant. It was full and we had to wait for a table, but it wasn't jammed packed.

We ordered the double lobster with ginger and scallions, salty spicy squid, peapod stems with garlic, pan fried chicken noodles. The lobster was very good. The salty spicy squid was good also, however the batter was heavier than at most places we've had it before. The peapod stems were also very good. Overall I really liked this restaurant. It serves authentic Cantonese food, which is hard to find in this area.

Pho - 75 - Arlington, VA

Since my last posting, my work has relocated to Rosslyn. Unfortunately, the lunch selection in Rosslyn is lacking. So I will try to do my best at reviewing the better places.

Luckily for me there is a Pho restaurant within walking distance. Pho 75 in Arlington is the original Pho house in Northern Virginia. I remember coming here aboout 25 years ago. It pretty much looks the same and is still in the same location. It's a no frills Pho restaurant, however the Pho is very good.

Guapo's - Herndon, Va

I went here for lunch today. I had the 1/4 chicken with rice and salad. This is one of the restaurants I frequently go to. The service is quick, the food is good and the prices are decent. The chicken and rice were good as usual. The salad could have been a little better. I had some wilted lettuce and a lot of the hard ends of lettuce. Overall, it was still a good meal.

1042 Elden St
Herndon, VA 20170-3801
(703) 787-8887

Red Kabob - Leesburg, Va

This is a new restaurant that just opened a couple of months ago. It is part of the much needed improvement to the Leesburg Restaurant scene. We usually just do take-out since it's close by. It's a good restaurant. The salad is better than most kabob places. The chicken kabob is good, but the ground beef kabob is a little dry. The bread is not homemade, but still edible. The rice seemed a little buttery. Overall this is a good restaurant by Leesburg standards. The sizes are a little small compared to other restaurants, but still plenty for one serving. There are other kabob restaurants I like better, but I will still come here for convenience. The owners are very nice also.

521-A East Market St
Leesburg, VA 20175
(703) 777-5277

Pho Herndon - Herndon, Va

I went here for lunch the other day. This is a very no frills Vietnamese restaurant. The food is very authentic. I actually got a dish other than the pho. I got a Ho Tieu which is another noodle soup. It was very good. The only complaint I had was that the roast pork wasn't as fresh as could be. I had a lunch special which included an appetizer, a main dish, and a soda. It was a pretty good meal.

664 Elden Street
Herndon, VA 20170
(703) 689-8900

Kentmorr Restaurant - Stevensville, MD

We ate at this restaurant after spending an hour or so at Sandy Point Park. Although the park was quite crowded, there really wasn't too much there for us. But we found a nice restaurant, out in the middle of nowhere. It is located about 15 minutes outside of Annapolis. What we found interesting driving there was there is a street with houses which have garages for small aircraft and a runway in the back. This restaurant is located right next to a marina, so parking was an issue. The inside of the restaurant was pretty basic, since it is a crabhouse. I started with the Maryland crab soup. This soup was very good. There was a lot of crab meat and it was a little spicy. Next I had a crabcake sandwich. I think this was the best crabcake I have ever had. There was no filler, all lump crabmeat. It was cooked too perfection. Overall this was a very nice restaurant with excellent Maryland style seafood.

910 Kentmorr Road
Stevensville, MD 21666
P: 410-643-2263

Bonefish Grill - Ashburn, Va

Bonefish has a special going on Dinner for two for $38, which included an appetizer, salad and main entree. We went on a Friday night and it was packed. Of course I forgot to make reservations. We were seated after 30 minutes. The appetizer was a selection of either the Bang Bang Shrimp or Calamari. We tried the Bang Bang Shrimp. It was delicious. The shrimp was lightly breaded and deep fried. It has a sweet/sour/spicy sauce on top. There was a lot of shrimp for an appetizer. Next we each got a salad. I had the house salad. It was a pretty decent house salad. I was starting to get full after the salad. For the entree I had the grilled shrimp and scallops with a mango salsa and vegetables. The shrimp and scallops were cooked perfectly. The mango salsa added a little sweetness. The vegetables were asparagus. Overall this was an excellent meal. I've eaten at Bonefish before and I thought it was good, but the special menu made it even better.

43135 Broadlands Center Plz
Broadlands, VA 20148-3803
(703) 723-8246