Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Trolling: Thai, Pizza And Vegetarian Indian - The Old Favorites Still Serve Up Bob & Ivy's Favorites

Bob and Ivy have been in Howard County for 11 years.  They're always in the market for new modestly-priced ethnic options, but they recommend some old favorites for Thai, pizza and Indian.  All three cuisines seem to kick up comments -- people who love or despise specific places -- and Bob suggests some dishes for anyone who wants to try their favorites:
Our favorite Thai restaurant in the area is Little Spice in Hanover (on the other side of Rte 100 from the Arundal Mills Mall), a family-run place with great service and great food. We like all of the noodle dishes, especially their version of drunken noodles. The eggplant with basil is terrific, as are all of their green and yellow curries. Spicy, flavorful, but not too spicy.
There's a lot of fuss about the new pizza places in the area, but our dependable standby remains Pasta Blitz on Rte 108 in Columbia, which serves a true New York Style pizza.  Lightly-sauced (and very tasty) with a thin but chewy crust.  We get it for take-out.
And we're fans of the interesting vegetarian dishes at Mango Grove in Columbia.  Try any version of oothappam, their rice and lentil pancake entree, to get a sense of their unique cooking.
Trolling on Tuesday is my attempt at a series where readers would share three things with other HowChow readers -- favorite restaurant dishes, food to buy, food experiences, etc.  Click here for all the Trolling posts.  Click here for the explanation and the rules.  Anyone can submit.

4 comments:

theminx said...

My hubby is always looking for good NY style pizza. We have a Pasta Blitz in Timonium, so we'll have to check them out.

Anonymous said...

Last week I had the BEST pizza I've ever eaten ... at Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana in Yonkers, NY. It has now set my gold standard for comparing How Co pizzas. And I gotta tell ya: most come up short.

At one time, years ago, Bettucci's-- of all places-- had excellent pizza. Then one day the INS came and rounded up all their (Hispanic) pizza makers. The pizza went downhill and never recovered.

kam said...

Pasta Blitzes seem to vary somewhat by location. I like the one in Clarksville, but the one at the Columbia/Ellicott City/Elkridge convergence point farther down on 108 (same shopping center as Eggspectations) isn't as good. The menu is slightly different and doesn't have everything that I like at Clarksville, and what I have tried is pretty ordinary. It's not bad, but it's not significantly better than stuff we cook at home.

~kam

Anonymous said...

What the heck has happened to BANGKOK GARDEN?! This used to be the Gold Standard for Thai in Columbia area but ate there recently and it was totally changed. New management, new cook. The food was bland and tasteless, completely different from the consistently dependable, tasty food of before. Service, never BG's high point, had gotten even worse. Anyone know what happened ... ?? This is serious!