The Big Three: Howard County's Deepest Cuisines Are Flavors That Will Lure Your City Friends

Korean barbecue at Honey Pig

There are at least three cuisines where you could make yourself very happy arguing about the best restaurant in Howard County.

You'll be happy because an answer will demand in-depth research and repeat visits.  You could leisurely work your way through great restaurants and probably still reach no consensus about the county's Big Three:  sushi, Indian and Korean.

This is part of HowChow's 2012 guide to Howard County -- "Welcome Home."  Ten posts to prove there are dozens of places worth your time, that you can find great food all across the county.  It's written for someone new to Howard County (maybe a link you send a friend thinking about moving here), but hopefully it's useful to anyone.

These are also the cuisines that I'd recommend you dangle in front of your city friends.  A few odd food-lovers will come to try gas station tacos with you.  But most of your friends will want dinner in your new neighborhood, and you'll want to make to their drive worthwhile.   At the top end, these joints are as good as any options in Baltimore and almost anything in Washington except the restaurants priced for lobbyists.

Yama Sushi is new, but competing

Sushi

I remember when eating raw fish -- any raw fish -- was a shocking idea, so I'm doubly surprised when I see it become a staple in American eating.  They make spicy tuna rolls in the supermarket!  Around here, they make sushi from basic to exquisite.  You can get whatever you want, and we regularly entice fish-loving friends to drive all the way to Columbia to eat with us:

• Sushi Sono in Columbia.  Our favorite sushi anywhere.  Perfect fish.  A casual, but classy setting. Their reservation system is a bit vague, but everyone eventually gets a seat where they can sample formal sashimi, unique rolls, and Japanese treasures like broiled yellowtail head, monkfish liver and the snapper special.
• Sushi King in Columbia.  We started at The King, and their rolls are still creative, delicious and enormous.  At either Sono or King, you can reserve a private room and meet friends around an enclosed table.
• Yama Sushi in Ellicott City.  A bit more casual, the newcomer to our top list serves up its own creative rolls.  I had never seen this "big roll" style until I came to Columbia, and Yama does really great combinations and sauces.  If anything, lighter sauces and spicier options.

If you're looking for a neighborhood place, there are other casual places.  Click here for all the posts about Japanese food.  Keep an eye on Hanamura in Columbia.  Remember Fuji Restaurant in Ellicott City and the new Nari Sushi in Columbia.  Think about the all-you-can-eat Korean-style sushi at Kimco in Ellicott City.

Indian

House of India has been our go-to place for comfort food, but I'm happy to say that it might be only the third-best Indian restaurant in Howard County.  Now that Mango Grove has opened its new location, there are three great restaurants clustered south of Rte 175 in eastern Columbia:

House of India takeout

• Mango Grove in Columbia.  They have opened their new location off Dobbin Road, so you can take the easiest adventure eating of your life.  Mango Grove is delicious.  It's full of unusual items like dosas, oothapapam, idli and jack fruit curries.  But's vegetarian so you can try anything without worrying.  The food is delicious.  The new location should be fun.  This is a unique enough menu to attract friends from your own neighborhood.
• House of India in Columbia.  This is Mrs. HowChow's comfort food.  The flavors are right -- fresh and bright with spices and herbs.  Look for Northern Indian staples like tandoori chicken, curries, samosas, etc., plus specials like a rock fish that was beautiful from the tandoor oven.  Takeout works great, and the portions are enormous.
• Royal Taj in Columbia.  Even with those two, this is the kitchen that people talk about the most these days.  The lunch buffet is creative and deep. and the dinners come on white tablecloths with wonderful curries and extras.  There are several people saying that Royal Taj is the best Indian around.

Indian food has expanded as much as anything since I came to town.  Akbar in Columbia is a location of the Baltimore institution.  Last year, Flavors of India opened with a mix of northern and southern dishes in Columbia, and Tandoori Grill converted a casual, counter-service deli on Johns Hopkins Road into a place that gets raves.  I'm a Tandoori fan, although Mrs. HowChow still wants her comfort food from House of India or Royal Taj.  You could run through all the posts about Indian food, then set out to discover.  You also need to keep your eyes out to see if Fulton gets a restaurant from the folks who own The Ambassador Dining Room in Baltimore.

Korean

The Korean restaurants in Howard County cluster along Rte 40, and picking three barely skims the surface of all the options that you can try along several miles of road.  Check the survey posts linked below, and you'll see there are places to serve everything from tofu stews to drinking snacks to Korean sushi.  

I'll start you off with three great restaurants that serve food that would please almost everyone -- barbecue, noodles, and fried chicken:

Feast at Shin Chon

• Shin Chon Garden in Ellicott City.  This can be a perfect restaurant.  It's casual.  It's inviting.  They serve spectacular Korean barbecue that you can control because you pick your own meat, make your own lettuce wraps with rice and sauces, and eat whichever of the side dishes look good to you.  You won't get better Korean in Maryland, and it's easy for your friends to find at the intersection of Rte 40 and Rte 29.
• Honey Pig in Ellicott City.  It's a bit cheaper, a bit younger, and a bit more chaotic than Shin Chon.  I'd recommend it for people who like Korean barbecue and have a craving along the lines of a "burger and beer" night.  Enjoy the scene, eat 24 hours a day, order the pork belly.
• Tian Chinese Cuisine in Ellicott City.  In Seoul, this is Chinese food.  Here, the cuisine is better described as Chinese-Korean.  They make their own noodles, and the simplest serving is a black bean sauce.  It's delicious, cheap and unique.  Plus, they serve Korean fried chicken, which is hot, spicy and crunchy.  One order of noodles.  One order of chicken.  Go now.

Last year, I posted a survey of all the Korean restaurants with expert commentary from friend-of-the-blog Kevin.  Start with my amateur post, then click through to Kevin's hilarious rundown.  That was before the Bon Chon fried chicken joint was announced in late 2011.   I have said that, in many ways, there is nothing I'd like more than a little Korean, and there are many posts about the food.  (Nicki -- That's for you again.)

Shin Chon is my suggested way to try Korean for the first time.  I'm going to post an amateur's step-by-step instruction next week.  But you could ease your way into Korean with a discrete place like spicy tofu stews at Lighthouse Tofu in Ellicott City or a fusion dish like bulgogi tacos at Anna's Coffee Roastery in Columbia.

What I Don't Know:  What's your favorite cuisine in Howard County?  What trio of restaurants could compete with the ones above?  What restaurants do you think are good enough to attract your friends to drive from the city?  What are your favorites among the sushi, Indian and Korean spots?