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Fri-Sat. 11:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Sun. 11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
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Whew, it's nice to be able to get decent Taiwanese food in this area without going back to Flushing/Bayside, NY. It was nice to relive childhood memories of eating Taiwanese "little eats" since, it's been some time since I've went back.
SX and I ordered: the Taiwanese hamburger, oyster pancake, shredded pork with bamboo tips, 3 cups chicken, and Taiwanese shaved ice.
The food was served promptly, piping hot, and just right. The only problem we had was that the bamboo tips weren't truly the tender tip-top parts of the bamboo. This made this dish a bit unpleasant to eat since the bamboo was too fibrous (still edible, just a bit overly chewy). SX is a big fan of 3 cups chicken and he was truly satisfied. He was so happy that the portion size was quite large that he would have enough for another meal or so. I would have liked if there was even more basil in the dish though. The oyster pancake was yummy and I almost felt that it should have been served on a plastic bag covered dish (lol, it's how they serve food on the streets of Taiwan without having to wash dishes). The shaved ice was deliciousness!!! Taro, ai yu helly, and peanuts! In my opinion, taro is a necessity for shaved ice and it's great that they have that option.
Bob's Noodle 66's interior isn't as bad as some other Chinese restaurants I've been to; There's some extra breathing room and elbow space here. Cash only.
Will def. be back here again! It's located near Maxim and Kam Sam Supermarkets, so it's a satisfying trip to grab a meal (and takeout for dinner) and groceries for the rest of the week.
Okay, I thought NorCal's Taiwanese food was bad...my sympathies to the East Coasters.
Meat stew rice noodle soup - the flavor was just off. Too much vinegar and too little satay sauce.
Oyster pancake - if Gordon Ramsay was here he'd tossed the dish in the bin already. Overcooked eggs, dry fishy oysters. There wasn't enough cornstarch, so it was like an omelette.
Beef stew noodles - the weirdest (not good) noodle texture I've ever had, like the noodles were pre-cooked or stale. The soup was okay.
Well, after the long trip, I went to Cupertino's Southland right away. It tasted much better to me now!
Stop 3 of 4. Yes...we stopped to dine at 4 different restaurants...in 4 hours. All in the same night. Yeah, that guy on Man vs. Food? A weak amateur when compared to hard-core Yelpers. Just sayin'.
We arrive at Bob's not for their rightly famous Taiwanese "xiao ci" ("little eats"), but for what has been aptly named "The Volcano" by Kevin L and Alicia G. The Volcano is the super-maximum-deliciously-perfect shaved ice. It's loaded with 8 different toppings, and then drenched in condensed milk. It is tremendous and fantastic and my mom and I can eat this in the dead of winter. It's chua-bing after all!
Well, after my slightly disappointing (service wise) visit last time, when we arrive, I promptly tell the hostess that our party of 5 was here *just* for shaved ice. I didn't want another round of passive-aggressive wait-staff to ruin a perfect outing. I may have made a tactical mistake because upon hearing that we were just here for the shaved ice, she decided to seat us at a 4 top. Yes, there were 5 of us...and there were two 6 tops completely open. Hmph. Before I could make up my mind if I should throw one of my legendary tantrums, we were seated and the waiter was hovering. Very well.
We order The Volcano to share, and within 10 minutes it is out. Yes, I admit, I was rather impatient and kept looking at the kitchen in dismay at the "delay"...but upon reflection, it *does* take a while to shave such a humongous pile of ice. It was so huge that they couldn't fit all the toppings on the plate, and had to bring the boba in it's own dish! HAHA!
If the last time we got The Volcano, this time it was Mount Everest. It didn't have that adorable crater (with boba swimming so lovingly in a pool of condensed milk), however, it was big, ugly, monsterous...and could potentially claim one of us for it's own. In fact, it nearly did. At one point, I had brain-freeze so badly that the only words I could utter was "HOT! HOT!". Yeah...it was *that* bad.
However, The Volcano...errr...The Everest was delicious, and the service was quite attentive and attitude free this time. So it is with a clear and happy conscience that I am upgrading my review up to a 4 star. It missed the 5 star, as we never got any napkins (a mandatory equipment when dealing with a mountain of this size), and no water or hot tea (which is also mandatory when eating so much ice).
Yum yum yum.
*YUM*.
Ai ya! It seriously pains me to do this, however, I must give Bob's 66 a meager 3 stars for my… Read more »
I've had shaved ice before. But I've never had shaved ice like -this- (http://is.gd/2ahZE) before.
Remember those Papier-mâché volcanoes you used to make in grade school with baking soda and vinegar? Yeah. Imagine one of those, standing roughly eight inches high, but instead of faux lava, it's covered in an array of traditional Chinese shaved ice fixin's, including grass jelly, ai yu, red and green beans, taro, and stewed peanuts. Arguably the best accessory to the shaved ice are the tapioca pearls in the caldera-equivalent.
And just to be clear, this monstrosity ran just over $12 and defeated a table of six.
Dolce's bingsoo can suck it.
At long last I made it to Bob's Noodle 66. Having heard great things about the food, the prices and most of all, the authenticity. I went with my gf who is a vegetarian and so I didn't get to get a bunch of dishes, but I was happy to check the place out and scope out what I want to get next time.
I ordered the Ch Cha Beef with YuTsai and a noodle soup with pork and scalllions and a hardboiled egg. My gf got Bean Curd with veggies. The Beef was superb, just fantastic. The soup was a bit meh, just not what I had expected. The Tofu was also great and was very silky and tasty. The sauce was a light brown sauce and was accompanied by bamboo shoots and carrots.
Overall, I really enjoyed this place and the fact that the above meal was only $25. I would like to make it here with an open mind and try some things outside of my comfort zone (fried pig intestine, i'm looking at you).
Went here yesterday with my gf.. we were in the area because I had to meet up with someone earlier.
This place is like 100% authentic. It's in an asian shopping center.. about 90% of the customers are asian.. the waitresses barely speak English (I had to bust out my Chinese skills)
We ordered 3 dishes and 1 dessert.
Oyster pancakes - ehh. gooey.. it's like a gooey fried egg with bits of oyster in it in oyster soy sauce. 3/5 stars
sha cha noodles - very tasty. if you like sha cha (the grainy sauce that asians use) then you'll like this. it is a bit greasier but so good. they are the udon type thick noodles 2.5/5 stars
short rib in black pepper sauce - extremely good. if you like the taste of pepper or like korean bbq.. this is for you! 5/5 stars
taiwanese shaved ice - tastes better and healthier than korean bingsoo in my opinion. the grass jelly and red bean toppings are good. I think it was like $4.50 and you can get 3 side toppings. and it's pretty huge. The table near us ordered their "extra large" one or whatever that isn't on the menu.. it was about 1 foot tall and 1 foot in diameter..so freaking huge! 5/5 stars
i dont know why so many people on here rated the oyster pancakes as being good.. my gf didnt care for them.. i didnt care for them.. i brought home the leftovers.. my mom didnt care for them.. my dad didnt care for them.
Very good food! Very authentic traditional taiwanese chinese food, none of that fake 'Americanized' stuff you see in those chinese restaurants in the strip malls.
Oyster Pancake
Sweet and sour pork chops
Squid with celery
All awesome!
This place is packed for weekend lunches! I was shocked that we had to wait in line for a table on a sunday at 1:30! That's how popular this place is! The prices are VERY reasonable and the portions are huge. The only downside is they don't take credit cards, cash only.
I'm knocking it down a star due to tonight's sub-par experience.
Jeff W and I came for dinner and it was an evening of FAILS.
We shared the oyster pancake, the drunken chicken and the Taiwanese hamburger. In retrospect, we should have nixed the drunken chicken. The oyster pancake was good but maybe too gooey. The true (and ONLY) star of the evening was the Taiwanese hamburger.
We each had a bowl of noodles; Jeff, the pork and mustard noodle soup and me, the Taiwanese style noodle soup. Though these may sound different by their names, they were practically the same soup but with different noodles. They were terribly boring and bland.
There were 2 more FAILS on my end: the one male server who visited our table spoke something to me very quickly in Chinese and I didn't understand him. I believe he was mocking us for the amount of food that was covering our tiny table. Not sure what to say, I mumbled, "Uhh...uhhh..." and attempted to say that we had one more bowl of soup coming but he just shook his head and walked away. Jeff will undoubtedly be mocking me about this for many weeks/months to come and will argue that I do not know Chinese. (This is only half-true. I studied it for 3 years but also haven't used it in 2 years so I'm rusty. And now apparently VERY rusty.)
The other FAIL was that I forgot it was cash only. How could I forget?Ugh. There's an ATM in the liquor store next door, thankfully, as many other reviewers have noted.
Based on tonight's experience, I'd knock down to 2 stars but I know if we had ordered differently Bob's Noodle can be a delicious experience so I've decided to keep it at 3 stars.
Sigh. Just disappointment tonight...and mocking. OH, the mocking.
We capped off the day of gluttony (brunch, Mom's Apple Pie, a latte from Peregrine,1 quart of Dairy… Read more »
being from southern california, i found this place severely underwhelming compared to the taiwanese "little eats" i find back in los angeles (did someone from Arcadia just say Sinbala?). but i will grade this restaurant based on its geographical location, and that's why i give it 5 stars.
probably one of the few and better taiwanese restaurants in the mid-Atlantic region (DC MD VA), i have nothing to complain about this place. the toppings they offer on their shaved ice could be more varied - flan as a suggestion. the taiwanese hamburger was a first, and it was pretty good. if someone could now suggest a great chinese breakfast (with shao bing and hot fresh soy milk) place to eat, i would be more than happy to go!
overall, pretty good restaurant. worth the drive from baltimore.
I wanted to come here bc of all the great reviews and had an OK experience. Perhaps it's what we got, so I'm not totally ruling out not coming back.
We ordered the oyster pancake (which I was really excited to try), the braised pork and beef short ribs with scallions. I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed the oyster pancake. It's as large as a standard dinner plate, had a slightly unnerving gooey white substance throughout, was a top some greens and covered in a tangy, hot sauce-like sauce...but not spicy. I think I ate the whole thing by myself. The braised pork was good too, but since it was an appetizer, it was a small portion. It was cubed pork and VERY fatty. Some of the cubes were all fat with no meat, so there was maybe 1/3 of it that we didn't eat. Perhaps we jus should've sucked it up and ate the fat by itself..but we didn't. The short ribs were okay. Nothing really special, but tasty and fine.
Some things that they lose points for in my mind were the fact that it was cash only - makes it more complicated, that we never got real plates, we practically had to beg for rice (that I think we got charged for, but I'm not totally sure - point is, they didn't just give us rice) and it took a looooong time for my water to get refilled.
So thumbs up for the oyster pancake, thumbs sideways for the pork and short ribs and thumbs down for the customer service. I can deal with the fact that it's not a nicely decorated restaurant, but there's still a few things that I think should be standard for a wait staff like giving out plates and refilling water. I don't know. I'll probably try it again.
Hrmm, Bob's Noodle is still quite peculiar to me. Decent food that is extremely cheap. I must say I was quite surprised by the portions, I thought the soup was going an appetizer but I was obviously wrong. Cheapest was going for like $4.. when's the last time I've seen food that cheap?.. probably never. Anyhow, I wasn't that hungry or even in the mood to go out the night my friends dragged me along but it turned out to be alright. One thing for sure, they aren't cheap because they had the AC blasting and I was shivering the moment I walked in.
We sat down, ordered, and food came out extremely quick. I'd say second to pho restaurants. Hot & Sour soup was pretty good. It is a fancier version of Egg Drop Soup with some spice and tang and beef strips, mushrooms added in there. I had the chicken, shrimp & "somethingelse" soup which is basically a lesser version of udon. There were lots of veggies which made it difficult for me to eat and the flavor was very bland because of it but the soup was still pretty good. The third dish we tried was some Spicy Seafood noodle soup and it was my fav out of the three. But it stained my light blue polo so it kind of ruined my night haha =\.
The shaved ice is no joke, don't try to order one for yourself because they give you a lot! The three of us couldn't finish it! Def not good as potbingsoup but still quite filling. As usual you get that rich vanilla taste from condensed milk with brown sugar ontop of ice and three toppings of your choice. We got oreos, M&M's and jelly.. but only the oreos was worth getting so try two other toppings with it. I think it was only like $4.50!! Quite a deal. Ah and we also had some side lo mein type dish but it was a total miss because it stunk like you know what. My friend was killing it so w/e.
I still salivate at the mere thought of the chicken fried rice and yu-tsai with fresh garlic. I've many times made the trek to Bob's Noodle 66, including once on my birthday because it was the food I wanted most to eat.
I don't get out to Rockville much anymore now that I live in New York, but a recent visit served only to remind me how much a fan I am of Bob's.
Yelp mobile never lets me down!
On stop two of my inaugural tour of Rockville, MD we came to Bob' s…
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I have not seen so many asians in a restaurant for a long time. For a while, I thought I was in California. The whole experience was great. The food was really nice and so was the waitress. We had the Oyster pancake ($4.95) which was a mixture of egg, flour and some oysters panfried. There was some tomato-like sauce at the top. We also had the crispy instestines. It was the BEST I've ever had out of Asia. It was a feeling of devaju. This dish came with a small portion of salt. I recommend you dip it in chilli sauce instead.
The pork rib rice was nice too. A rather big portion. We also had the Taiwanese fried noodle. The usual.
Having heard so much about shaved ice, we also ordered it. pleasantly surprised. We had it with lychee, red bean and jelly. If you've been to Singapore / Malaysia, this dessert is known as Ice Kachang (iced beans). The Sg/malaysian version is better because there's more ingredients. They put red / green beans, different type of grass jelly, shape the ice like a dome, pour coloured syrup all over, plus condensed milk / evaporated milk and BEST of all, sprinkle crushed roasted peanuts all over. In contrast, the Taiwanese shaved ice tasted like the 3 toppings with ice after a while. A little tasteless at the end.
On the whole, a fun experience. Its comforting to find such nice (and cheap) Asian food in MD.
A very good Taiwanese restaurant that serves many traditional Taiwanese night market items. (I am drooling as I'm writing this. How I manage my weight and not gain 50 lbs every time I go near this place is a miracle). Take a friend, or two, with you, because what you want to do is order many of the little dishes (about $5 to $7 each) and share. Relatively inexpensive, quick service, nice attitude, and authentic night market food. I adore this place!
Final note: the dishes are on the salty side for me, at times, You can always ask for "less salt, less oil" but never deny their natural right of putting in more garlic!
Picked up some take out prior to my flight out of Dulles. My colleagues and Yelp all suggested Bob's.
Phoned in an order of
Shanghai Noodle: $7.50
- Take out extremely well packed consisting of a microwavable container, napkins, fork, chopsticks, in a paper bag and plastic bag!
- Noodles were nice and chewy
- Not too oily
- Flavorful and not too much msg!
Bob's had a line out the door when I arrived at 6 pm for pick up....a sign of a good restaurant! :D
Fantastic Taiwanese food, and more traditional then most. I went with my Taiwanese co-worker who introduced me to a ton of fabulous new foods. The Oyster Pancake, 3 cup chicken (chicken casserole), the fish filet, and two other appetizers were just phenomenal.
Everything tasted great and I ate way more than I should have.
Waitresses were chatty and hysterical. I only wish I lived closer so I could eat there more often.
As a Taiwanese American who just moved into the area, I had really high hopes for Bob's especially after reading the reviews on yelp. I really wanted this minced meat over rice dish but they didn't have it. We ordered the beef stew noodle soup, jellyfish, bamboo cap rice pudding, oyster pancake and oyster vermicelli. Before we get to the food, there is ample parking and the restaurant is slightly better than your average hole in the wall place. We had a tall sullen waitress and young bubbly waitress. Let's just say I was glad to be able to speak at least a little Chinese to get us through the ordering.
The food came quickly and looked good. The beef noodle soup was thin and could've been heartier. The noodles were al dente (I like a noodle that's been in the soup for a little more). The jellyfish was the best dish of the meal with no fillers and lots of aromatics like ginger and scallions. The bamboo cap rice pudding would have been better if it was steamed more so that the rice was nice and sticky and had a bit more flavor (perhaps more mushroom or some Chinese sausage). As mentioned in other reviews, the oyster pancake is a bit goopy but my partner really liked it. The oyster vermicelli was similar to vermicelli I've had at other Taiwanese places but you will have to ask the waitresses for condiments like vinegar, etc. So we weren't very impressed with the food or service and... both our stomachs really disagreed with the meal.
We'll be going to Joe's.
Every time I come here I feel so guilty for not being able to speak Chinese. I always try to order in English but they always respond to me in Chinese.*sigh* With that said the service is what you expect in any hole in the wall Chinese restaurant, somewhat lacking somewhat there. But this has to this is one of my favorite cheap eats!!
My Fav 5 (not in any particular order):
Smoked duck($6.95): Served cold. Has a really STRONG flavor, almost as if you're inhaling the wood smoke, served cold.
Stir-fried Noodle with sa-cha beef ($7.50): Really fat stir fried noodles with beef, has kind of a yakisoba taste. Very filling; huge serving.
Shave ice: have brown sugar water, condensed milk, and your choice of three toppings. The lychee here is kind of eh...it's from the can and tastes sour.
Taiwanese hamburger ($3.25): Braised pork, white bun, and peanut sauce. It's like a little Chinese style slider. Although, sometimes it comes with a lot of fat, which I do not really care for,
Taiwanese noodle soup: very light chicken broth with fat flat noodle.
Try not to come here after 11:30am on Saturdays and Sundays...it gets packed.
First time diners and it was pretty good. My bf and I ordered the hot & sour soup which was very flavorful, but with it was a little more spicy. The oyster pancakes were also very tasty, but agree with other reviewers on the gooey factor. Then we had the Taiwanese stir fried noodles (with rice noodles) and the Taiwanese Sa-Cha Beef noodles. The stir friend noodles were very good, but he Sa-Cha beef was mediocre. The dish was greasy and the beef overcooked. If you dine there when it's not busy, all your food will come out within 5 minutes. You don't get a break between appetizer and entree...it literally all comes out all together. Our server spoke to me in Cantonese and Mandarin, so I was confused on which to use and just smiled and nodded. We will definitely go back to try other dishes.
I was a virgin to real authentic Taiwanese food until I was brought here by some of my co-workers when I use to work out rockville.....and let me say this to all my close-minded yelpers out there
It does not pay to have a close-mind in this world...you miss on so much..I was blessed to have a open-mind and to meet such open-minded people. So I say all that to say that my co-worker took me here for lunch and It was about 10 of us. They took us to the back at his around table and I just went with the flow. They handed all of us menus...at that point is when I realize that every ASIAN-AMERICAIN resturant has two menus (a Americainize menu and a Authentic menu)
Because of the people I was with...I was able to experience something I had never experience before. "COMMUNAL EATTING" Yes I was sooo new this because in my ethnic culture...its every man for themselves. But here everyone ordered something and everyone ate off everyone dish(well in this case one person order everything because he was able to speak there language)....I tasted so many different dishes that I may not have tasted if I had order on my own.
Unfortunately I can not remember what I had but...know this, EVERYTHING WAS FRESH, FLAVORFUL, and BEYOND TASTY!!!!!!
I really think I have Asian in my blood, because I LOVE true Authentic Asian food.
IF YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN HERE BEFORE...YOU HAVE TO TRY IT!!!
Rockville has some of my Authentic places....
When the BF called from Rockville and asked if I wanted him to pick up dinner, it was music to my ears. Hey, it's the middle of the winter and I don't feel like getting my lazy butt off the couch.
BF: So what do you want to eat?
Me: Umm, let me go check my Yelp bookmarks and get back to you in 5 minutes.
It was the perfect excuse to try a new place although I somewhat regret that I wasn't able to check out the restaurant in person. I've had Bob's Noodle bookmarked for a while now and we both agreed that Chinese would hit the spot. After reading the reviews, I cautioned the BF that this was not your typical Americanized Chinese food place, but instead traditional Taiwanese. Neither of us have had much Taiwanese but we were up for something new.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find a website with an updated menu (http://www.dc495.com has a scanned one from who knows what year) so the BF agreed to drive there and get a take-out menu first. Then, we'd decide on our order. In the mean time I did my Yelp research and checked the old menu. There is a lot of fuss about the stinky tofu on here which we decided to forgo, since we are newbies and it sounds like it's more of an acquired taste. The dishes we went with were:
Oyster pancake ($4.95) - Definitely much different from what we expected but was pleasantly surprising! Resembled an omelet with oysters, greens, and made with sweet potato powder. The sauce gave it a sweet flavor that reminded me slightly of maple syrup. The texture was really gooey but I loved it.
Taiwanese stir-fried noodle ($7.50) - I actually wanted to get the soup but we decided to share this dish. Flat noodles, pork, and bean sprouts. This dish was not spicy but plenty flavorful.
Shredded beef with long horn pepper ($10.95) - This dish packs a lot of punch! I don't think I could have handled it any spicier. It was delicious though.
The portions were quite generous and I plan to eat leftovers tonight for dinner. I must warn you if you're new to Bob's that BF nearly fell off the face of the Earth trying to find this place. Maybe it was due to the darkness or perhaps my lack of clear directions (although I still don't know why he didn't use the GPS). Apparently Bob's is in a strip behind the Maxim Supermarket. As far as service, the dishes were supposedly out of the kitchen within 5 minutes of being ordered. As reported previously, CASH ONLY. I look forward to returning and trying some new dishes, though I can't say I'm quite ready for pig intestines, ears, or kidneys. :)
Taiwanese food, how do I love thee, let me count the ways...
Ok, I am Taiwanese, and I was SO excited when I found out about Bob's, and also the fact that there are multiple Taiwanese restaurants in the Rockville area. It is NOT the same as Chinese! Much like Taiwanese people are not the same as Chinese people. But I digress.
Anyways, we've been twice now and both times were spectacular. I don't even remember all the dishes we got the first time (there were 6 of us so we ordered a ton) but everything was amazing. The only criticism I have is that this last time we went at 3 pm which apparently is when the workers take a (well-deserved) break and so our Taiwanese hamburger (omg so ridiculously delicious the first time we went) was kinda cold and the ginger chicken casserole (also out of control tasty) was juuuuust slightly undercooked (as if they were in a rush to get it out so they could go on break and eat their own lunch). It wasn't even pink it was just that slightly undercooked texture where you wish they had cooked it for about 1-2 minutes more, you know? In any case, the flavor was still there and we also got the squid with chinese celery which was delicious, tender and SPICY (the little green peppers in there had some serious kick!). So, I probably wouldn't recommend going at that time but their lunch special ($6.95 for entree, rice and soup) runs until 4 which is nice if you need a late lunch. There's another Taiwanese place across the street behind the Fitz Condos called Mama Wok which is also REALLY good plus there's a great Chinese bakery next door to that so I will definitely be splitting my time between the two.
My aunt drives 1.5 hours from Virginia every week to visit this restaurant. We laughed at this.. until she actually took us there.
The decor and cleanliness level of the restaurant is typical for Chinese restaurants, so it may take some getting used to for the uninitiated. Additionally, the wait staff and service are typical of that of Chinese restaurants, courteous but cold, if that makes sense. The real star of the show is the food - fantastic, and well worth the drive in, even if you are coming from a distance!
For appetizers, try the Smelly Tofu, it's definitely very 'authentic' tasting and comes with vegetables. Also, for vegetarians, they have a 'sea weed' dish (I didn't catch the name of it) that you can ask the waitresses about, it's got the texture of sea urchins and is very savoury.
The oyster pancake was well received as was the other main courses. When it came to the desert though, we braved the ice mountain and wow - it is flavour city! Peanut allergies beware, there are a LOT of peanuts hidden in the mound of shaved ice, condensed milk, red bean, tapioca and taro.
I can't wait for my next trip down, my taste buds are salivating in anticipation!
Not everybody would think like that but, to me, ethnic restaurants which are not usually full of natives are not worthy. This is not the case of Bob's Noodle 66 since last night I was the only person that was not an Asian there.
Bob's Noodle is always full of happy patrons and the place has a fast pace which keeps tables always full of yummy food that come in large portions. The menu is very authentic and the food is Taiwanese (which means lots of sea food and spicy). I am not brave enough for some of the options like pork kidney, intestines or pig ears but the options I can eat I like very much. Last night I ordered Ginger Chicken Casserole and "Five Favor Rock Fish". Both were outstanding and even though I ordered them to go, they arrived at home still perfect. I must say that I was impressed with how well packed the food was since it did not spill even though it had lots of sauce and a whole deep fried fish.
The only thing that I don't like at Bob's is the fact that they do not accept credit cards. This seems to be quite common in the most authentic Chinese restaurants (A&J which is the other Chinese restaurant I go also does not accept credit cards). Therefore, stop at the ATM before going there otherwise be prepared to wash some dishes ;-)
2.5 stars
I recently came here for dinner with Miss China herself, Yelp's own Alicia G. Alicia may have Korean blood flowing through her veins, but her heart and soul pledge their allegiance/obsession to China. She's even lived there for a time and hopes to go back so that she can hone her already near perfect understanding of their dialect, culture, and traditions. Who better to go to dinner with at Bob's Noodle 66?? Sure, the restaurant is technically Taiwanese, but certainly her accompaniment would let the staff at the restaurant know that they need not be blinded by my whiteness; that I was there for a reason, and belonged because I was with one of them. I was eager to have Alicia be my own personal ambassador.
We enter and are immediately seated...in the corner...behind a pillar. Was this because Alicia hadn't whipped out some of her mandarin?? I knew it was only a matter of time before she had a verbal throwdown with someone there and they would realize that the corner was not wear Miss China should be sitting. I patiently awaited the VIP treatment to begin.
We browsed the wonderfully inexpensive menu, chose a few appetizers and each went for a version of noodle soup. I was so excited to see that the noodles were made in-house. We started with some "drunken chicken", taiwanese hamburger, and an oyster pancake. I wasn't crazy about the cold drunken chicken that tasted like someone just threw a chicken into some rice wine for a few days. Maybe that is the way it's supposed to be prepared, but I really didn't like the taste of it. The oyster pancake was far too gooey to be enjoyed. I was hoping for something more like a korean pa jun, but it ended up being a big gooey and salty mess. There appeared to be a lot of oysters, but it was so difficult to eat and so wet and sloppy. The taiwanese hamburger was the highlight of the appetizers and had an interesting contrast of sweet, sugary peanuts with saltiness. Overall, pretty enjoyable, and by far the highlight of the meal.
Finally, our giant bowls of soup came out and the waiter said something in Mandarin to Alicia. Suddenly, I felt like all of the pieces were about to fall in place and the fireworks show would begin. I sat back in my chair, eager to watch her do her thing; to have her mouth dance the dance of the mandarin language. This was her moment to shine. If she was a 10 year old girl in China, this was her time to mount the balance beam and show the world what she's devoted her entire life towards. She opened her mouth, and the words just poured out. "Uuuuuuuuuhhhhhh.......uuuuuuuuhhhhhhh....one?". Wait a minute, what was happening? Where were the words?? The mastery of the language?? The secret mandarin code for "this table behind the pillar sucks, and I demand to receive food better than the plate of goo"?? The waiter simply gave her the stink eye and walked away, befuddled as to what just happened.
I was devastated. I felt like I had just found out that Santa Claus was actually an abusive drunk, and not the jolly old man with a sleigh full of toys that I had been led to believe. I just sort of sulked into my chair and ate my soup. And speaking of soup, I was so very disappointed in it. Hardly any meat, very few mustard greens, and tasted like a bunch of giant undercooked noodles in warm chicken broth. And despite having different orders, Alicia's was nearly the same as mine with the exception of vermicelli noodles instead of the big thick ones. Very disappointing, but at least it was still really cheap.
We got the check and were startled that they don't accept credit cards. Yet another tick on the counter of disappointment I had during the entire meal. I can kinda appreciate take out spots that don't take plastic, but this may be the first sit-down restaurant I've been to that doesn't. We managed to scrounge up some cash and finally escape, both extremely disappointed in what just took place. I can't say that I have any desire to return here, though my leftover soup was better the next day, maybe since the noodles were more tender. None of the dishes blew me away and I'd much rather just go to A&J, even if the food choices aren't that similar. Kudos for being so cheap, but I just didn't think it was anything great. Who knows how much different it would've been had a certain someone been able to communicate with the servers??
Okay I didn't eat the main course here but our group of hungry-i's came in here for a ginormous size mountain or I should say a volcano sized heap of shaved ice and creme with various Asian jellies, tapioca's and nuts on the 3rd leg of the Rockville gorge fest. HOLY SMOKES.... can I even make a dent in this? Quite full from the other two places I think it was the ramen that filled me up and now this. Ohhhhh this is good....very good......um......oh........humm.................m m ............... .................... .............Okay that's it I'm done now seriously this is great sweet not too sweet icy cold so much it gave Fenny brain freeze and all she could say was HOTT HOTT. hahaha. Service was fast efficient except for napkins that they over looked. I didn't mind being the 5 wheel at the table sitting in the aisle but no one bump me so all is right with the world onto the next and final leg of the gorging out fest. I look forward to the next Yelp gorge fest cause this is useful to people who don't know. Funny as can be and cooler than cool can be. Bonsai.
So it was ok. Met up with some old friends for dinner here yesterday at 6pm, yeah dinner on Saturday at 6pm. Really. Cuz this place gets packed. While we were eating we could see the crowd lining up outside.
We all came in at different times, but they seated us anyway. Not sure, but that could have been the reason they avoided our table for quite some time, but once we ordered the food came out almost immediately. Piping hot and fresh.
To start we had an oyster pancake and radish & egg pancake. Radish one is quite boring, but the oyster one is very good. Lots of oyster and the sweet sauce--really good. (my friend who wanted the radish one had his own tabasco in his pocket, go figure). We also tried the TW hamburger which is a steamed bread with pork, mustard greens, cilantro, and peanut powder. It was a bit too greasy and difficult to eat. Not a fan.
Fried squid strips and squid ball were both hot and not greasy. Good.
I also had a taste of someone's wonton soup, which had a very clean veggie tasting broth and good pork wonton inside.
For main dishes we had TW lamb, which didn't even taste like lamb really. They drenched it in sa cha (TW bbq sauce). It was tender and sliced very thin. It was ok.
We had to try one of the most typical TW dishes, 3 cup chicken, and theirs was just missing something. Not enough basil, garlic, pepper, or ginger. It basically tasted like soy sauce and rice wine chicken. Not impressed.
For dessert we had the shaved ice with ai yu jelly, green bean, and lychee. It was good, surprisingly the only thing that took a few minutes to come out.
Like everyone has already mentioned, all of the prices are very reasonable. Our bill was less than $100 for 8 people, we were all stuffed, had dessert, plus leftovers for a whole other family of four.
Overall it's ok, makes me happy that I am not missing out on anything in Dallas. Ha!
CASH ONLY.
After the hype from Yelp---- I went and tasted!
My verdict = I would tell you to pass on this place!! I'm sorry, but the supposedly spicy beef soup and stir-fried Taiwanese noodles were not as appetizing as I thought it was going to be. On another note, the Taiwanese hamburger was pretty good, it reminds me of the steam buns. What else can I say about the noodles, except it was really plain and their was very little meat in the noodles. But there's a plus to this side- the food is cooked fast. I guess if you have to like this type of food (soup and noodles) already, like this place?? go ahead knock yourself out. But I rather go eat pho =)
I love this place. When I lived 10 minutes away, Bob's was my favorite Chinese place. The food is authentic and homey.
Some favorites:
- Salt & pepper squid appetizer. It's not what you usually get from other Chinese restaurants. This squid is cut into thin long strips. The salt & pepper is on the side as a dip. There's lot of basil too, which I love.
- Their crab & lobster specials are great! (I believe they're seasonal; my parents & I got that when they visited me).
- Most of the noodle soups are pretty good. The cheapest ones aren't very hearty though...
The papaya milk is heavenly too. Sigh...
However, I'm not a big fan of the shaved ice here though... I've been spoiled by shaved ice that has milk frozen in the ice itself.
All in all, good stuff at Bob's. I miss it :P
I have to give 5 stars to any place that gives me a random craving for something called an oyster omlette.
Stinky Tofu was good, and the shaved ice was even better.
Go here! This place is great!
I've been to Bob's twice, and both times it was outstanding. So far, my favorite dish is the salted pork with garlic green, but other standouts were the sea snails with basil and the pork liver. All were wonderful. I will definitely be back. There are a lot more delicacies to be tried on Bob's menu.
Great authentic Taiwanese food near Baltimore! The oyster pancake was very tasty, as was the taiwanese hamburger. The vegetables (yu tsai) were also very fresh. The only thing I was disappointed in was the beef noodle soup. The noodles' texture was very firm, and the beef wasn't too tender. But overall, a very good restaurant that I would visit again.
I love Bob's Noodle. The food is usually pretty good, but service depends on the server. I like the one man server. He makes Chinese jokes and has always been friendly.
Some of my favorite dishes are the Sha Cha beef stir fried noodles, Manila Fried Clams, and the rice pudding from the appetizer's menu. Shaved ice is also really yummy. If you get a big enough crowd get the ultimate shaved ice dessert. It's loaded with lychee, tapioca, taro, red bean, mung bean, aiyu jelly, grass jelly, peanuts, condensed milk, and honey syrup.
Pricing is great! Go during lunch for the best prices.
I went here again last weekend.
The highlights -- Shanghai Chow Mein was outstanding. Sizzling Flounder Filets -- lightly battered, perfectly fried, moist and delicate filets served in a hot and sour sauce that was spectacular -- I haven't had many foodie trips in the last year, so there may not be as many highlights this year, but this was one of the 10 best dishes I have had in 2008.
Some of the other items were very good and others less than memorable, but I think you can do very well here if you know what to order.
Will return.
After a little push from Ina and a good review from MiRIAM, I figured it was time to make the trip… Read more »
Where can you find authentic Taiwanese cuisine in DC? You can't - go to Rockville instead.
It's a little confusing to find Bob's if you don't have a nav system (or good directions) but once you do, there is plenty of parking. The first time I walked in, I was amused to hear techno music playing.
Their service is ridiculously fast! Their food is DELICIOUS, I love their noodle dishes - oh, and try the duck tongue! I've been there for lunch several times, and each time, with around 10 people. Their tables are perfect for family-style dining.
My only gripe is that credit cards aren't accepted, but there's an ATM next door for that.
Perhaps my expectation was too high but I found the food at Bob's subpar. The Oyster Noodle Soup was way too thick and tasted a bit overdone. I couldn't even eat more than 1/3 of it. That was just how much I disliked it.
The service here was alright. Very typical of Asian restaurants. My friend had miscommunicated her order to the waitresses and asked for an exchange. The waitresses only agreed to take back the order after I said my friend can't consume meat. It was quite awkward...
That taiwanese hamburger kinda takes you by surprise--steamed bun, pork, peanuts, cilantro. Seems like an odd box at first, but it's actually pretty good. My table got a kick out of it and I'd order it again.
The stir fried rice cakes were also yummy...but it's that hamburger that lingers in my mind!
There are two reasons why I like eating at Bob's. The first is the obvious, the food. The second is seeing a certain grouchy waitress frown at anyone requesting anything.
I LOVE that waitress! I find her expressions comical for some reason. Oh, and don't dare ask her what the servers are eating, cause you can't have any of it. I observed her saying this to a customer, "It's not for you! Only for us!!!" See why I love her? So straight up and non-apologetic.
As for the food, I pretty much order the same dishes every time: Chinese Watercress or Yu-tsai with Garlic and a big bowl of Long Horn Pepper Beef Noodle Soup (extra spicy, please). I know, boring. But hey, I know what I like and I'm on a mission to fulfill my current cravings at the moment.
Remember to bring cash and a cardigan/sweater/jacket. They don't take credit cards and it's always FREEZING in there.
the short ribs with black pepper sauce is beast.
got the sa cha beef with rice. better than the sa cha beef with noodles imo. otherwise nothing new Read more »
Bob's Noodle 66 is good, but not mouth-watering good -- like I had expected based on some of the reviews I had skimmed prior to heading over for dinner. Having checked into town at 7pm, I silently prayed that we had beat the rush, and thankfully, we did by half an hour.
Food-wise, there were just as many hits as there were misses. The chou dofu (stinky tofu) was rather piquant to the point of unpleasantness. It was the first time I had tried the Taiwanese delicacy so I have no basis for comparison, but my mom had tried it on several occasions and noted that it was stinkier than usual. It was also the first time I had the gua bao (Taiwanese burger); having pork belly, pickled greens, and ground peanuts stuffed in a pillowy steamed bun was... different but tasty nonetheless. The san bei ji (three cup chicken) was flavorful with the right hint of basil but, having been spoiled by Great Wall's (in Lisle, IL) version of this dish, BN66's simply could not compare. A piece of the jiao yen pai gu (salt & pepper pork chops) was enough to meet my sodium needs for a week, but the dish itself was savory. Lastly, we ended the meal with the shaved ice and let me tell ya, the pictures of the shaved ice do absolutely no justice to its monstrosity. While I could have used a bit more mung bean, red bean, and CHUNKS of taro on the dessert, I think one would be hard-pressed to finish it alone.
Service was neither obsequious nor standoffish, which is exactly how I like it to be at any restaurant. Not only did our dishes came out lightning fast, our table was cleared just as quickly. All in all, a pleasant first dining experience in Rockville!
Rockville, MD
Category: Chinese
Rockville, MD
Category: Asian Fusion
Rockville, MD
Category: Chinese
Rockville, MD
Category: Chinese
Rockville, MD
Category: Chinese
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