Grace Garden For Christmas

'Tis the season to try some authentic Chinese food.

Grace Garden in Odenton says that they'll be on open on Christmas, and this is your chance to sample -- or to go back for -- the authentic dishes that get so many people up in a twist.

For more than a year, I have thought Grace Garden was one of Howard County's best restaurant although it is actually a little east of the county line. Even with that, our dinner two weeks ago was better than anything that we have ever had before.

For the first time, we tried the fish noodles and the braised pork, and I haven't eaten anything better all year. The noodles are literally noodles made from ground fish. They have the texture of rustic pasta, and a mild flavor that says meat without being fishy at all. I have no idea how Chef Li puts that together, and, if anything, the pork is an even greater mystery. This is pork belly -- the same cut that people use for bacon. But Grace Garden serves pork that is crispy and tender, a flavor of pork and the spicy sauce. No greasiness at all. We

rounded out with the pea shoots to get some vegetable on the plate, and we packed up containers with leftover pork and pea shoots. (The fish noodles don't reheat well, we were told. So we finished them happily.)

After my first review of tofu pockets and braised beef, I thought this was the best Chinese restaurant in Howard County, but Mrs. HowChow stayed loyal to Jesse Wong's Asean Bistro. The fish noodles and pork pulled her across. While we were still at the table, we were already talking about a Christmas return. Still haven't tried the head-on shrimp that Kevin talks up, but we'll try something new.

Click here for my original post about Grace Garden, which links to a bunch of other bloggers and directions to the Odenton restaurant.