Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Signs Of Cupcakes, Reports On The Second Sunday Market, And Talk Of A New R&R Location

I'm hearings lots of reports about new bakeries and restaurants across the county.  There seem to be a rush of new dessert bakeries, but also new food so that you can get dinner before dessert:

  • The new Cooks 'N Cakes bakery has a sign up on Rte 40 in Ellicott City, reports Kate.  This will be a cupcake bakery in the former site of the Breadery.  Sara Toth wrote a profile of the owners in Explore Howard and says they're planning to open at the end of October or beginning of November.  (This seems about the same timing as the new Linda's Bakery in Columbia.)
  • The Second Sunday market in Ellicott City went off a few weeks ago.  I keep having conflicts, but the downtown Ellicott City happening is a great way to spend an afternoon and pick up some food and vegetables.  Katy picked up celery root and bread from the Little French Market and posted about them on the Peaceful Plate blog
  • The owner of R&R Taqueria is working to get another location off the ground, says Southern Skies Coffee Roasters in a comment from earlier this month.
  • East Moon Asian Bistro has opened in the Shipley's Grant development on Rte 108 in Elkridge.  Eric and others reported the opening.  Anyone been for the food?
  • And Mike Crosen tweeted me to recommend Sharp's at Waterford Farm, a farm with hayrides, pumpkin and local honey just west of Glenelg off Rte 97.  I haven't been, but it opens on weekends for those rides, farm animal visits, a country store and nature trails where you can just walk outside.  This is Sharp's Web site.

13 comments:

  1. Woo! Maybe a location with some seating, for R&R? My husband and I went there last night and may or may not have eaten in the parking lot adjacent to the Shell station. (Hint: we did.)

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  2. We tried R&R Fri when my daughters were off from school. We took up 4 of the 8 seats, but I think some of the regulars were being gracious and giving newbies the seats :) Very interesting place! They will be filming there (may have already happened) and the man at the counter was very sweet and pleased w/ the people checking it out!

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  3. We dined at East Moon last Friday. Beautiful restaurant, saw many young families, couples, and groups of friends in the dining room. There were many specialty sushi rolls to choose from. We tried the "Ellicott" roll, salmon skin roll, and the eel mango roll. All were very good, very fresh. My husband and I split the Sun Moon Shrimp dish (jumbo shrimp with ginger, mixed vegetables, and white rice in a light garlic sauce). The menu is pan-Asian (Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, & Thai) and we'll be back to try more. No liquor license yet, but BYOB.

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  4. The new location is in the White Marsh Mall food court. The details are on their website: http://www.rrtaqueria.com/

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  5. I have been to East Moon Asian Bistro for carry-out. Owners were real nice. They are slated for their liquor license hearing in mid-November so no alcohol yet. We had three dishes, 2 Japanese style and one Thai style. The Pad Thai was pretty bland, tasted more like lime then anything else. The Odon Noodles and the other dish (can't remember what it was) were good. Haven't tried the sushi yet.

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  6. Another thumbs up for East Moon. We have been there twice. It was only the second time that we realized it is a quasi-chain. There are 6 locations owned by a small number of families that are somehow connected (I was not totally clear after I asked our server). Three locations are in the DC metro area and three are in Colorado.

    Like I said, you would never know. The interior design is very good/urban and the menu is fairly expansive. We have all liked the Sushi and the SE Asian food. And the price is a few dollars less than one would normally see for the special rolls.

    All and all, a good addition to HoCo.

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  7. Tried East Moon last week... I was sooooo excited to see this restaurant open 'cuz it was so close to my house. Unfortunately, I didn't have a good experience. The Pad Thai was probably one of the worst versions of this dish that I've ever had. It was "orange" and bland-tasting. The Basil Fried Rice was also bland. I did have try one sushi dish (sweet potato roll), and that was pretty good. I did love the decor, and the staff was very friendly. I will probably give the place at least one or two more tries--maybe I just hit it on a bad day :(

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  8. yeah I know someone who works there they said stay away from their food, only the sushi is good. Too bad I didn't get this advice PRIOR to going. I too ordered the pad thai YUCK! Stick with the sushi,it's yummy.

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  9. Went to East Moon about a week and a half ago. Decor is lots of fun. Food was overall good; the spring rolls with avacado were just okay, but the lemongrass chicken was quite tasty and the pad se-lew fresh with tofu had a nice, light flavor to it. Given that it appears that even the people who don't like the entrees like the sushi, I'll have to try that next time.

    ~kam

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  10. Tried East Moon for carry out about a week ago. Had the crispy spring rolls, which were average. Also ordered the Thai fried rice, which I thought was quite good - a ton of white meat chicken, a few large shrimp,and just enough curry flavor in the rice. My wife played it safe with the Sesame chicken; the sauce and chicken were in separate containers, which was nice, and it was a decent enough dish. Not 'out-of-the-park' great, but certainly good enough. Lastly, we ordered a California roll - very good, and a safe choice for the non-sushi eaters. Will be going back to try the sushi.

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  11. I tried the Peanut Sauce Curry from East Moon River today. I didn't care for it, I thought it was bland. I love Bangkok Delight- anytime I try Thai somewhere else I am disappointed. I should have known better. Crispy Spring Rolls were ok, but I think Asean Bistro's are better. Not interested in going back.

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  12. We love East Moon and we have tried a variety of their food, Sushi, Thai and Asian Dishes. We were not a fan of the General Tso's only because it was breaded, but everything else was good with it. We love their Sushi and get that quite often. I disagree with the comments regarding Pad Thai though. We love the Pad Thai and have ordered it 3 different times, we always get a ton of shrimp, it has good flavor without being overtly spicy. Good dinners all around.

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  13. The people at Sharp's Waterford Farm are very friendly and welcoming. They host many field trips for local elementary school. We were just a visiting family with 5-8 year olds but we had fun in the corn maze.

    -Sierra Chang

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