The Burger Joint - Columbia

 The Burger Joint was excellent from the moment we walked in the door. We adored the 1980s themed atmosphere. The table tops where decorated with a Bart Simpson collage!










And the coolest was the revolutionary soda machine!









Even the bathroom doors were decorated like the 80's ....
Mr. and Mrs. Pacman stared me in my eyes.  Then when I walked in, I heard the Schoolhouse Rock songs playing.  Very cool!








We put our stuff down on the table then rushed to get in line. You can tell the Joint knows how to speak customer. From a veggie burger to a Greek burger, (made with lamb) anyone can tell this restaurant has style and eats.

Our family waited five minutes for the chow, then we dug in. My burger was customized with cheese, lettuce, tomato, mayo, and bacon. This was a one-of-a-kind burger. The taste of the juicy and succulent burger entered my mouth. And happiness filled my head.

My mom ordered sliders with lettuce, tomato, and mayo. She said it was great. She had me try a bite, i didn't want to put it down.

 She didn't want the side of french fries that came with the meal so she ordered the asparagus with shredded Parmesan cheese.  This is not your usual burger side....Very unexpected, of course, but that was not the only surprise.

 As it was time to leave, I requested to meet the manager. He politely came over to speak with me.  "This is a great place and has terrific food," I said.  Delighted to hear a compliment, he handed me a giant cookie.  I shouted thanks as I walked out the door. 

Pros: A VERY cool environment and big portions of food with big taste.

Cons: None that the human mind can see.

Recommendations: Its gggrreeeaatt!

Niko's Japanese Restaurant - Ellicott City

We're back writing our blog again....we took some time off when school and sports started up again. But, of course, we never stopped eating.  

It's easy to miss Niko's Japanese Restaurant in the Normandy Shopping Center on Rt. 40 because it's located at the end of a large parking lot away from road. But it's worth finding. 

We go to Niko's for their all-you-can-eat lunch buffet offered Monday through Saturday.  

The buffet features a hot and cold food bar with a heavy amount of mouth-watering sushi. We lost count on how many different varieties of sushi they serve.

Thomas prefers the shrimp tempura and many varieites of California roll. Fluffy yet sticky rice on the outside compliments the sweet tender crab meat, ripe avocado and cucumber on the inside. The roll is wrapped in a thin seaweed - so delicate it melts in your mouth. The varieties include some with fish eggs ( I know it sounds gross but they are really good), spicy and topped with crab meat. 

Charles is more adventurous and has tried a number of different sushi.  But we both only eat cooked seafood sushi.  

The hot buffet has some winning dishes too. Our favorites are the vegetable dumplings and tempura and noddle "lo mein" dish. Other hot items include the traditional Japanese salad with orange dressing, bean curd salad, string bean sautee, chicken wings, veggie omelete and much more. 

If you haven't tried Japanese food this lunch buffet is a great way to try different dishes without having to order an entire dish that you may not like. 

The lunch buffet comes with a cup of miso soup. The soup, a combo of broth, bean curd and scallions, has a very strong taste. Charles likes it but Thomas isn't a fan. However, there is so much to choose from in the hot and cold buffet that you won't go hungry if you don't eat the soup.

  

Pros: Non-stop supply of consistently good Japanese food.  Great value for all-you-can-eat lunch - weekday price is $11.95 per person but weekend price is slightly higher. Younger kids get a different price depending on their age.

Cons: none

Recommendation: Go hungry....leave full!

Rehoboth Beach - Kilwin's Chocolate, Fudge and Ice Cream

It seems a bit ironic that our last beach entry comes on the same day as hurricane "Irene".  Our fingers are crossed that the storm doesn't wipe out our favorite beach ice cream shop. 

Kilwin's Chocolate, Fudge and Ice Cream  store is conveniently located on the main street near the boardwalk, making it a great destination after or before boardwalk fun. 

Charles ordered a 2 scoop cup of cookies & cream with caramel syrup.  The caramel's rich gooey goodness towered over the smooth and extra creamy ice cream. It was one heck of an ice cream cup. 

Thomas had a cup filled with 1 scoop of Superman (blueberry, strawberyy, banana, and other fruit flavors) and 1 scoop of cookies & cream ice cream topped with carmel and hot fudge. Ice cream here was like no other....every bite, every last lick was a sensation to good for words.  Good food is hard to find, this store is not.

We appreciated the ordinary and unusual ice cream flavors they offered - some of which we haven't seen before. We went there with friends, nine in total, and between us all we probably tasted most of the flavors they offered. Everyone agreed, their ice cream selections were delicious. 

 




While we didn't taste the other goodies in the store....  Kilwan's stocks an old-time favorite-carmel apples. These scrumptious delights
speak to everyone, and everyone listens. Plus, you can see them being hand made in the store when you walk by the glass store front.











Pros: We noticed a 1st place ribbon in the store window from the Rehoboth ice cream contest.  They definitely won our vote too.

Cons: None!

Recommendation: Go check them out... Food this good should be rewarded with a trip to the store.

Welcome to.....2 Dudes Who Love Food

Thanks 2 everyone who gave us name suggestions.  And there were some really famous bloggers who gave us ideas such as David Hobby of "Strobist", Eli of "Adventures of a Koodie" and Jessie of "HoCoBlogs".  

But at the end of the day we are simply just..... "2 Dudes Who Love Food".

We hope you like our new name and will continue to read about our food adventures.

Up next ...... our last post from our beach vacation (Hint ....it's sweet)

Rehoboth Beach - Sole restaurant

Continuing our food adventures at the beach......

Sole is located in the heart of downtown Rehoboth Beach. It's a cool place that serves seafood and American food with a Caribbean and Cuban finish. Sitting at one of their big cozy circular booths made us feel very comfortable. 

Thomas ordered the "Just Steak and Potatoes"- 6 oz center cut fillet grilled w/ mashed potatoes, grilled zucchini, side of A-1 sauce. The steak was not as tender as I had hoped but it was seasoned nicely.  The mashed potatoes were loaded with herbs and the zucchini was grilled to perfection. 

  Charles's Cuban Pork meal - pork with crispy yucca, mojo onions, and plantains with a side of mash potatoes. The presentation of the meal was just fantastic and made me want to dig right in. The yucca was deliciously crunchy on the outside, tender on the inside. The best yucca I've ever tasted.  It was similar to a french fry but even better. The flavoring of the meat and mojo onions were tasty - heavier on the citrus than the garlic. The fried plantains were made just like my favorite El Salvadorian restaurant Los Chorros in Wheaton ...fork tender and sweet.  The dish would have been perfect if the meat was more tender. My mom ordered the dish too, and she agrees.

My grandmother ordered the vegetable pasta-  penne in a Caribbean saute of tomato, basil, roasted garlic, onion, cream sauce. We all had a taste, and loved it.

My Dad ordered the Seafood Curry- A bed of black beans and rice surrounded by scallops, shrimps, and fish in a creamy curry sauce cleverly topped with a plantain chip. The presentation exceeded our expectations. We didn't taste it but my dad loved it. 


Pros:  Off the hook dish presentations, cozy seating, clever and tasty seafood, and pasta plates

Cons: Meat dishes could have been more tender but were tasty

Recommendations:  Would go back again

Bethany Beach - Mickeys Family Crab House

Every summer we go to the beach. This year was no different. There were many good eats and below is just one of the many we will post ......

My grandparent's favorite crab restaurant (and now ours too) is Mickey's Family Crab House in Bethany Beach. We usually order Jumbo size crabs but they only had Large.We were a bit disappointed because we purposely arrived at the beginning of the dinner hour to have the best chance of getting the larger crabs.   


So, we asked our waitress why they were out of the big size so early.  She told us that the big sizes are generally gone by the end of lunch time.  But....in the future she said we could call the day before and place an order for the larger crabs.  That was a good tip....and she got a big one too (or so my Dad said)!

The crabs were some of the best we have ever tasted. The crab meat was very tender and sweet. We're not exactly a big fan of Old Bay seasoning but it definitely goes well with crabs. The spice on the crabs gave our mouths a run for our drinks - in a good way. 

We ordered side dishes of fries and onion rings. Although the over-sized onion rings were somewhat more crunchy on the outside then we are used to, one of us liked them and one didn't. The fries were a medium size cut and salted to perfection.

Check out this TOUT video  from the restaurant. It's a bit embarrassing but there is a funny moment at the very end of the video.  So watch Charles closely.

Pros: Consistently tasty crabs, attentive waitress who gave fabulous tips and had a good sense of humor, very casual atmosphere, picnic table seats with disposable paper rolls for tablecloths

Cons: Charles wouldn't get the onion rings again; Thomas disagrees

Recommendation: Great place for crabs at the beach

Name change Update

We're almost near the end. That's right folks, we are close to unveiling a new us.

Thanks to our family, friends and readers we have gathered quite a number of name suggestions.  Some are clever. A few funny.  A couple really stupid. And a handful we can't repeat in print.

So keep the blog name ideas coming.

We will choose a new name by the end of the week. So stay tuned...and don't touch your remote.

How2chow needs your help!

We chose the name How2Chow because it is part of the title of the documentary film we made at school last year called "How2Chow: Bee Natural".  We thought it was a clever name because it described what we want to do with our blog: review restaurants locally and in our travels and post videos on "how to" make healthy food.


But after we started blogging we realized that our name looks too much like "HowChow" - the veteran food blogger. Therefore, we are changing our name.  We tossed around a few names last night but couldn't agree on one.  So, we need your help.  We are taking suggestions from readers. Be creative and maybe your name idea will be our new blog title.

Our first Blog Party

Last night,  we attended our very first Howard County bloggers party at Stanford Grill in Columbia.  It was pretty cool to be in the same room with a lot of very famous bloggers.  We met people from the Howard County Library, the Baltimore Sun, Sanford Grill, HoCoBlogs and more....... 

The party was located on the restaurant's outdoor deck where they served us mini desserts.  After trying many different types, we decided our favorite was the Banana Pudding. Although we didn't have dinner we saw many good-looking dishes coming out of the kitchen. We met the restaurant's COO Juancarlo Parkhurst. He told us that Stanford Grill is locally owned and operated.  We are big supporters of local Hoco places so we are definitely going to try this restaurant sometime soon.

 At the end of the night,  HoCoBlog’s Jessie Newburn gave a terrific speech saying how the blogging community has grown over the years. Next, she played a game with us.  She asked attendees to raise their hands if they wrote about the party using  social media. Then, BAM! ! she tossed prizes - Stanford Grill gift cards -  to random people who raised their hands at the party.  Well, the last gift card  - a $100 Macy’s gift card donated by the Baltimore Sun - went to us!  She introduced us to everybody and told them we were new junior food bloggers.  It was an exciting night. 

How to Make a Healthy Fruit Shake

My family makes this healthy fruit shake.  It's great for breakfast, an after school snack or a quick snack before a sports game. We used bananas, strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries but you can use any combination of fruit.  Just make sure some of the fruit is frozen otherwise it won't be thick and creamy.

Watch the video...and tell us if you liked it.

If you try our recipe and use different fruit combos let us know.  Oh, this is my first EVER food video....so I was a little nervous.

Charles will make the next food video - homemade hummus.   Enjoy!

OMG....HowChow wrote about us!!!

HowChow: There Is Room In This Town For Both Of Us (Especia...: "The Howard County blog scene just got a taste younger when two brothers started their own look at local food.

The How2Chow blog kicked ..."

Pazani Trattoria Italiana Restaurant Elkridge

Pazani  is a small restaurant located in the Lynwood Square shopping center near a Giant foods. Someone recommended we try this restaurant so we did. 

Of course we had to try the pizza.  We tried the thick sliced Sicilian pizza. While it doesn't compare to the pizza we've eaten in New York - it was pretty good. The crust was crunchy and thick on the outside but moist and tender on the inside.  The sauce had a sweet blend of Italian herbs while the mozzarella cheese was plentiful.

We usually order a salad with our pizza to make sure we have some vegetables with our meal.  We ordered the spinach salad below.  It had spinach leaves, walnuts, gorgonzola cheese, tomato, red onions and bacon. Although it was a good portion to spilt, it came smothered with a balsamic vinaigrette that was so heavy on the balsamic vinegar and light on the oil that we couldn't even eat it.  We asked if we could have another one made with the dressing on the side.  The manager was happy to do it.  But it came after we ate our meal and even though the dressing was on the side it tasted the same.

This salad came with my mom's pasta dish. Although it was much better than the spinach salad we ordered, the lettuce came undressed but the leaves were kinda of wet - as if they washed the leaves and didn't dry them. 

My mom ordered the Capellini Pesto with diced chicken, sun-dried tomato, roasted red peppers and mushrooms. She really liked it.  We eat a lot of homemade pesto at home so I wasn't surprised she ordered this dish. 

Our dad ordered the Fettucini chicken alfredo - mainly because Charles couldn't make up his mind whether he wanted pasta or pizza.  So, my dad ordered the pasta so he could have some of both. Our mom makes this dish for Charles at home because it's one of his favorite pastas.  It wasn't on the menu but we asked if they could make it for us and they said yes.  Well, maybe there is a reason it's not on the menu.  It tasted bland and gooey. We asked them to include peas in the dish and they forgot.

We recently went to NYC and had delish garlic knots. When we saw Pazani's garlic knots we knew we had to try them.  Although the garlic knots looked delectable ..... looks are deceiving. The dough was dry and tough to chew. Plus the garlic flavor was flat - their was no hint of oils or herbs, just garlic. 

Pros: Causal atmosphere good for kids, creative menu items, great Sicilian pizza

Cons: Outside of the pizza, the salads and one of the pasta dishes didn't sustain our attention, 

Recommendations: We think this restaurant is worth trying - worthy of a second visit.