For startres I have liked their Kyozo and summer rolls. As to entrees I have liked their Ka Pow, Panang and red curries, crispy basil duck and pad thai. I have not had a bad dish in the two years I ahve been eating at Siriwan.

You might also try Siriwan Thai. It's a quite good, small Thai place in a strip mall off New Hampshire Avenue in Cloverly, MD near the Safeway. Consistent quality food and good service. It's about 2 miles north of the intersection of New Hampshire Ave and Randolph Road. It's a wee hard to find so here is their telco number is 301 879 2225.

I had lunch at Shanghai Taste yesterday. Alas I was alone so my sampling was limited. As previously noted the special menu is only in Chinese. My server, Susan, was very helpful and graciously helped me select two dishes. I also took a copy to get translated. I had the beef with longhorn peppers noodle soup and what I believe were their soup dumplings. They were both WONDERFUL, especially the soup. The place was busy at lunch, but the service was fine with no sign of the problems previously noted. I heartily recommend this place and look forward to working through their menu. BTW the laser based radar trap on the approach from Rt 28 was operating - beware it's a 25 mph zone.

I too am very, VERY upset to se them dump the loyal customer base that they fed off for years and allowed them to enter the whole bread market. I have been a customer since the day they opened 17 yrs ago and will miss them. The last thing I want is soggy day old breads. Gone too will be their Pecan Sticky Buns, sigh .... That said Upper Crust supplies Whole Foods with partially baked breads that are finished on site. They might have a chance of being acceptable. .

I suggest we all try St Michel bakery in Rockville. They have superb , freshly baked french style breads, a variety of croissants and some pastries. They are a wee hard to find, but very worth the effort. They also have excellent sandwiches like they have in Paris..

WARNING - you have to get there early in the day lest they sell out of the good stuff. Selection is best before 11:00 am and on weekends. Not all breads are available daily. Their breads are indeed very, VERY good as is their pastries. Try their pecan rolls.

Yes, both indeed Nava Thai and Ruan Thai have gone off stride of late. Ruan Thai is still OK, but Nava Thai has fallen well below the acceptable line. What is your current Thai recommendation??

Plan ahead ! Remember Upper Crust sells out of their good breads early, often before 11:00 am. Luckily if you call the night before they will hold breads for you. They are closed on Mondays.

The question was "Restaurant near AFI?" and Kao Thai is across the street and thus hard by the AFI. It has decent Thai food, and yes, Ruan Thai in Wheaton is indeed better. FWIW after my fairly recently having two disappointing meals in a row at Nava Thai I have written them off.

Just about right across the street from the AFI is a quite good small Thai restaurant. It's called Kao Thai.

Do not despair, there is indeed good rye bread at Upper Crust Bakery. They have what they call German Rye without seeds and New York Rye with seeds. Call ahead to see what they have and reserve a bread or get there early - they sell out of the good stuff well before noon. If perchance they have "pecan sticky buns" try one. As to deli's - I heartily recommend the Brooklyn Deli in Rockville and suggest avoiding Parkway deli. Parkway deli excels at nothing and is mediocre on a good day.

First, thank you all for your helpful responses. On our last two trips through New Jersey we had lunch at DeLorenzos. Great pizza, nice ambiance, alas awfully long waits. So I thought I would seek an alternative for my pizza lunch. I will try to locate Papa's and JoJo's on my GPS. Any other suggestions???? We be doing this trip a few times this year.

I will be driving from Washington to NYC in a few weeks and seek a good pizza for lunch. As a born and bred Brooklynite the one thing I truly miss is good pizza. What would work is a place winthin a few miles of the Turnpike, say btwn exits 7 and 13. All help greatly appreciated.

Try Pho Nom Nom, a newly opened place on the north end of the Rockville Pike in the old Ba Le location. The place has had a full renovation. They have a broad Vietnamese menu that goes well beyond pho and their food is very good. I have been there four times now and been quite pleased. They just started serving banh mi. Address is 842-A Rockville Pike.

After a long absence, I stopped in this Sunday afternoon and bought two pastries - a sfogliatella (lobster tail) and a rum cake - as carry out. The Sfogliatella was simply AWFUL and unedible! The dough was very soggy and the filling thick and dried out. The thing must have been assembled days before being sold. I tossed it and got my wife to share the mediocre rum cake. This is sad as years ago, when they were around the corner, they were a go pastry place for me.

Try the Blue Moon. IMHO it's the best place in Rehoboth.

Try Upper Crust Bakery in Silver Spring (Colesville), MD. They have very good large Sticky Buns with plenty of caramel goo & lots of pecan nuts daily - will sell a single bun or a tray of eight. They are closed on Monday. They also have a nice selection of breads and rolls but you need to get there before noon for a good selection. If you call ahead they will hold items for you. They are located in the Giant shopping center on Randolph Road at the corner of New Hampsire Avenue.

Try Upper Crust Bakery in Silver Spring (Colesville), MD. They have very good German large loaf rye bread daily - will sell a loaf - and a smaller loaf which they term Jewish rye bread on Fri/Sat/Sun. They are closed on Monday. They have a nice selection of breads and rolls but you need to get there before noon for a good selection. If you call ahead they will hold items for you. They are located in the Giant shopping center on Randolph Road at the corner of New Hampsire Avenue.

Thanks all, I have called several places that say they have a kitchen open until 10 pm. None would take a reservation for four 'around 10 pm or so. Looks like it's gonna be bar food, sigh.

The play is at the Folger and lets out about 9:30 pm.

I am going to the theater on Capital Hill tomorrow night and need a recomendation for a good food, homey place with a kitchen that serves if one arrives about 10 PM.

CORRECTION - Chowhound added incorrect locations for the deli's I referred to in my posting. Uptwn Deli is in Bethesda and Parkway Deli is in Silver Spring.

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Parkway Deli & Restaurant
8317 Grubb Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20910

I tried it for lunch yesterday and had a pastrami on rye w/potato salad. IMHO as a native New Yorker this is not a great deli, it is simply another passable one. The sandwich was well stuffed, the meat was reasonably tasty but kinda bland - it does not compare well w/Katz's in NYC. It was also machine sliced. The bread had a soft crust too. The service while acceptable was unfriendly for a new restaurant. BTW the place was almost empty. Based upon a single sampling I would rank this place above Parkway Deli and below Brooklyn Deli, I have not tried Uptown Deli.

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Parkway Deli
7250 Parkway Dr Ste 110, Hanover, MD 21076

Uptown Deli
7501 Greenway Center Dr Ste 100, Greenbelt, MD 20770

I have heard of at least one (1) good Indian restaurant in Salisbury, MD. That is not far from Bethany Beach. A search of this board yielded: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/633900. Seems there were two restaurants and one converted into grocery. If you go, pls post a comment.

thanks for the quick response, it's for two people, will investigate your suggestions.

I help need in picking a restaurant near Reston town center for a work dinner. Selection criteria are: good food, small, and non-chain. Open as to type of food and cost. All help greatly appreciated.

Perhaps you are remembering a great Spanish restaurant from long, LONG ago. It was called El Bodegon. Alas it has been closed for years. It was in an old brick row house on R street NW between 16th and 17th streets. Their paella and sangria were memorable. The owner often walked the dining room with a porone (splng) - sort of a native wine jug - filled with wine and demonstrated its working. If you flinched you got wet.

Nope, they are open as usual, no construction in the new adjacent next door as yet. I would not expect them to close for the construction.

Ruan Thai will shortly be doubling their dining room space. The caterer next door has moved and Ruan Thai is expanding into 1/2 of the caterer's old space. They expect to have the new space up and running in "about 2 months." The new space comes with at least two more parking spaces (hooray). The new parking spaces are available now. I was there last Friday and the food is as good as ever.

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Ruan Thai Restaurant
11407 Amherst Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20902

For a consistently great adult meal try Blue Moon in Rehoboth.

I have been to Siriwan Thai three times now and really like their food. I have spoken at length with two of their staff. They both said the chef does NOT come from Nava Thai. That said, give them a try - I highly recommend their Crispy Basil Duck.

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Nava Thai Restaurant
11315 Fern St, Silver Spring, MD 20902