Monday, June 21, 2010

Catching Up On The News And Comments

I have been out-of-town and busy here, so I fell behind in trying new places and sharing comments.

Cazbar Kebop House opened in Columbia, and several people have emailed me with thoughts.  Misha liked a pomegranate relish-type mezze ("fragrant and with a little kick").  John liked the baklava and the vertical spit-broilers.  And Stacy got a chicken doner off one of those vertical broilers.  I'm definitely going for a doner sandwich.  Cazbar is in the Columbia Professional Center on Little Patuxent Parkway near Howard Community College.  Wordbones wrote that the owners have licensed the menu from Cazbar in Baltimore, but it will be a scaled down version.

Meadows Frozen Custard was supposed to open in mid-June in the Hickory Ridge village center in Columbia.  Has anyone seen it?  Jeremy peeked at the end of last week and said it looked days or weeks away.  He sent the photo of a sign promising free custard on opening day.  That sounds good. (Update: They may open June 26, acc'd to comment below.)

In the same vein, a Moby Dick's kabob place is supposed to open off Dobbin Road in Columbia.  I haven't heard the exact address.  Marcia saw no Moby Dick signs when she looked last week.

Many of the recent comments were about other new places that I still haven't tried.  Talk about Smokin' Hot in Glenwood split on whether portions are large, but the casual barbecue and even crab cakes get recommended.  Reviews for Red Pearl, the new Chinese place on the lake in Columbia, ranged from disappointed to elated.  Dzoey, Clayton and others suggest specific items to order.  Similarly, people wrote about the Stanford Grill that opened in Columbia overlooking Rte 175.  Dzoey has been eating out these days, placing the new join between T-Bonz and Greystone Grill.

That's just the tip of the comments.  I appreciate them all, and I collect some here so that you can see what other people have been saying:
It is literally a hole in the wall. There are two tiny counters with 2 bar stools each for sitting. Sooooo not really a place to dine-in unless you are by yourself. . . 
I ended up ordering two "tacos al pastor" and the wife got two "tacos de carne asada." I also got their soup of the day since they offer two tacos plus soup for only $5. The soup was lamb. Delicious! Broth was savory with tiny onions and cilantro. There was rice and plenty of lamb meat. Soup was served with a lime wedge on the side.
My tacos were incredible. Tacos al Pastor is "pork marinated with a blend of different chili peppers, spices, and herbs." Their tacos are served in a soft corn tortilla. Both of my tacos kinda fell apart as I was eating them. It was like the shells weren't strong enough to hold all the moist meaty goodness. That's probably my only negative of the food. Big pluses: the food is served with a couple of lime wedges and a spicy salsa verde that is delicious!

5 comments:

Unknown said...

LOVE Meadows- grew up in PA and was so excited to see it open in MD in White Marsh- however it closed last year and I miss it- Glad to see one is coming closer and I dont have to drive 4 hours to the inlaws to get it

HoCoFoodie said...

Moby Dick's website states that a Columbia location is coming soon: http://www.mobysonline.com/locations.htm#Top.

Christina said...

RE: EC Target... I heard that one reason for the Ellicott City expansion was to build new Target district offices, but I bet they're adding the produce section too. I heard that eventually most (if not all) Targets will have it. The Laurel one pretty much took no time at all to add in, but since the renovation includes a new district headquarters I bet it will take a bit longer to put in.

Anonymous said...

I met the owner of The Neadows Custard store today(6/21). He said they were to be inspected today and if they passed, they plan to open on Saturday 6/26

kam said...

The "snowball stand on Route 1" is Cindy's Soft Serve, which, like the first commenter said, also does ice cream/sundaes/frozen yougurt/etc. The snowball flavoring is good; I think in past years they've actually improved it. The egg custard compares favorably to the nostalgia-flavored ones of my youth from the Baugher's Farm produce stand. ;) The soft serve ice cream is also really good.

It's accessible both from Route 1 directly and from the shopping center with the Super Fresh/Rite Aid/etc. off Montgomery Road and Route 1.

~kam