We wanted to try something uniquely Bangladeshi, and the waiter (and perhaps owner?) was very kind and recommended fish prepared with Bangladeshi spices. From looking over the menu, it seems like there is large overlap between Indian and Bangladeshi cuisine (which makes sense, since the British divided it from India not too long ago: 1947). After reading a little bit online, it seems like the major differences between Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi cuisine is based along religious taboos. You can find pork and beef served throughout all these regions, but religion dictates its focus and importance in each region. Although you might find beef dishes in Indian restaurants, it is certainly not very common, assuming the owners are Hindu. We’ve been much more likely to see pork dishes or chicken dishes in the Indian restaurants we’ve been to in this area. Since Bangladesh is 80% Muslim, it makes sense that we didn’t see any pork dishes on Deshi Spice. However, we did see a lot of lamb, beef, and seafood based dishes. From what we read on Wikipedia:

As a large percentage of the land (over 80% on some occasions) can be under water, either intentionally because of farming practices or due to severe climatological, topographical or geographical conditions, not surprisingly fish features as a major source of protein in the Bangladeshi diet. There is also a saying which goes, “Machh-e-Bhat-e-Bangali” (Fish and rice make a Bengali).

An integral part of Bangladeshi cuisine is beef, the presence of which is a must especially in feasts and banquets. Beef kebab is immensely popular throughout the country. Beef is used in the preparation of a wide range of dishes including biryani, tehari, halim, and many others. Regional feasts such as the Mezbaan of Chittagong, the Ziafat of Sylhet/Comilla or the Dawot of Dhaka will remain incomplete without serving spicy beef.

We ended up ordering the recommended fish and Mughlai Paratha. We wanted to order Phuchka (a.k.a., panipuri – a very popular street food), but since it was towards the end of the week they had run out of that (along with Tandoori Chicken Wings – which we didn’t get to try but sound amazing). The fish was served as a curry and came with rice and chana (chick peas). The curry was pretty spicy (and we love spicy food) and also came with naan. It was really delicious, especially since we rarely eat fish curry. We think what we ordered was listed on the menu as fish bhortha. They have a lot of delicious sounding fish dishes and a pretty large menu.

One of the surprisingly delicious items was the Mughlai Paratha. The paratha is common in South Asian cuisine, and is fried dough that is often seasoned or filled. Some websites suggest that this dish dates back to Mogul (Mughal) days, but we couldn’t find any evidence of its. We did read that this is a popular Bengali snack. The Mughlai Paratha always contains egg. At Deshi Spice, the Mughlai Paratha contained egg and sliced green chiles. It was delicious and really spicy every time we hit a green chile.

Kebabs are a staple item in Pakistani cuisine today, and one can find countless varieties of kebabs all over the country. Each region has its own varieties of kebabs but some like the Seekh kebab, Chicken Tikka, and Shami kebab are especially popular varieties throughout the country. Generally, kebabs from Balochistan and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa tend to be identical to the Afghan style of barbecue, with salt and coriander being the only seasoning used. Regional kebab recipes from Karachi and the wider Sindh region is famous for its spicy kebabs, often marinated in a mixture of spices, lemon juice and yoghurt. Barbecued food is also extremely popular in some cities of Punjab such as Lahore, Gujranwala and Sialkot. Al-Hamra Restaurant and Bundu Khan kebab House are famous throughout Pakistan for their taste and variety of kebabs. Kebab houses are said to be the most profitable food businesses in Pakistan.

The weekend only specials at Ravi Kabob House are haleem, nehari, spicy beef curry, paya, and hot and spicy beef trotters. They also have some other traditional dishes, although they might be hesitant to let you choose them (they tried to dissuade us from ordering brain and trotters). We ended up ordering nehari and the trotters. Nehari is like a cross between a beef stew and a beef curry, with very tender beef and spices. According to Wikipedia, “Muhajir immigrants from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh region brought [nehari] to Pakistan after independence in 1947; today, it is regarded as the national dish of Pakistan. The dish is known for its spiciness and taste. It is originally more of a delicacy with myriad variations on spiciness and texture.” The trotters were something we had never had before. They didn’t have a lot of meat on them and required a lot more napkins than we anticipated we’d need (we had really sticky fingers).

Probably our favorite item that we ordered was the special samosa. It was a samosa served in a bowl with a yogurt based sauce – it almost looked like soup, but with the samosa wrapper and filling in it. It was delicious! The naan, channa, and spinach were delicious. Also, there seemed to be lot of natives in the restaurant and it was consistently busy. The only drawback was that we saw a sign for homemade kulfi and ended up forgetting to order some at the end of the meal! Kulfi is South Asian ice cream, but is much richer and of course incorporates a lot of South Asian spices like saffron, cardamom, etc. The menu advertised Lahori Kulfi – too bad we didn’t get a chance to figure out what that is.

Toki Underground is a tiny and trendy walk-up restaurant in the H Street Corridor (Toki can refer to a Japanese clan, various fictional characters, a city, a train, a video game, etc.). It has a neat skateboard themed interior and gets so packed that it’s hard to find a place (it is tiny, too), so if you want to go it is a good idea to go early. Apparently everyone loves ramen, and there is a lot more variety to it than beef or chicken. In Japan, almost every locality in Japan has its own variation of ramen, from the tonkotsu (pork bone broth) ramen of Kyushu to the miso ramen of Hokkaido. Toki Underground‘s is tonkotsu style (aside from the vegetarian ramen).

According to Wikipedia, ramen is actually Chinese in origin. No one really knows when ramen was introduced to Japan and where the word ramen came from. Wikipedia has this to say about the history of ramen:

After World War II, cheap flour imported from the U.S. swept the Japanese market. At the same time, millions of Japanese troops had returned from China and continental East Asia. Many of these returnees had become familiar with Chinese cuisine and subsequently set up Chinese restaurants across Japan. Eating ramen, while popular, was still a special occasion that required going out.

In 1958, instant noodles were invented by Momofuku Ando, the Taiwanese-Japanese founder and chairman of Nissin Foods, now run by his son Koki Ando. Named the greatest Japanese invention of the 20th century in a Japanese poll,[1] instant ramen allowed anyone to make this dish simply by adding boiling water.

Beginning in the 1980s, ramen became a Japanese cultural icon and was studied around the world from many perspectives. At the same time, local varieties of ramen were hitting the national market and could even be ordered by their regional names. A ramen museum opened in Yokohama in 1994.

There are several different types of ramen, but Toki Underground specializes in one type: tonkotsu. This is ramen with a cloudly white colored broth made from boiling pork bones, fat, and collagen over high heat for many hours, which suffuses the broth with a hearty pork flavor and a creamy consistency that rivals milk or melted butter or gravy (depending on the shop). Most shops, but not all, blend this pork broth with a small amount of chicken and vegetable stock and/or soy sauce. Although these noodles are typically straight, they aren’t at Toki Underground.

We tried Curry Chicken Hakata, and it was delicious! Also, completely different than commercially prepared ramen that we are used to. This ramen was almost decadent and the addition of egg and fried and seasoned chicken was incredible. Wikipedia writes this about the Hakata style:

Hakata ramen originates from Hakata district of Fukuoka city in Kyūshū. It has a rich, milky, pork-bone tonkotsu broth and rather thin, non-curly and resilient noodles. Often, distinctive toppings such as crushed garlic, beni shoga (pickled ginger), sesame seeds, and spicy pickled mustard greens (karashi takana) are left on tables for customers to serve themselves. Ramen stalls in Hakata and Tenjin are well-known within Japan. Recent ramen trends have made Hakata ramen one of the most popular types of ramen in Japan, and these days several chain restaurants specializing in Hakata ramen can be found all over the country.

We didn’t receive the straight noodles, ours was more the classic ramen we’d expect. They also have dumplings and dessert – but the ramen was plenty for us.

Ren’s Ramen

We were craving ramen, but didn’t feel like driving to H Street and then finding Toki Underground completely packed. So we went to Ren’s Ramen in Wheaton, M.D., which is a small and simple restaurant that also serves ramen. They also have convenient hours (11:30a.m. – 10:30 p.m. on most days). At Ren’s Ramen, you pick your soup base (miso, tonshio, shoyu, or vegetable). The non-vegetarian soups come with pork and noodles. You then pick your extra toppings – we ended up picking seaweed, corn, and egg. The egg is infused with soy sauce, we think, and is served soft-boiled. They have a few sides, but not many. We seriously contemplated ordering more ramen to go, but were pretty full.

When we sat down, we were immediately brought an appetizer of soy beans, puffed rice, and beaten rice (a.k.a. flattened rice). We’d never had rice prepared in a beaten or flattened form. It was hard and chewy, and mixed really well with the soybeans and puffed rice – in fact, we had to stop ourselves from eating the whole plate ravenously. This type of rice is eaten in Nepal, and Bangladesh. It’s made by flattening dehusked rice grains. The rice can be reconstituted with water or a liquid, and the flattening makes it a convenience food and easier to prepare. Soybeans grow readily in Nepal, so they are also part of the cuisine.

For our appetizer, we ordered Samaya Baji, which on the menu was described as “beaten rice with roasted meat, smoked fish, boiled-then-fried egg, black soybeans and diced ginger. (usually a customary food in Newari culture).” We wanted to try something customarily Nepalese and avoid dishes that seemed to be Indian crossovers. We were pleasantly surprised by the colorful dish that arrived, complete with more soybeans and beaten rice. We really enjoyed how tasty it was and how interesting all the components of the dish were, particularly the hard-boiled and then fried egg, and the fish. We recommend trying this appetizer. By the way, the Newa people live in are an indigenous people from the Kathmandu Valley, where they have lived since prehistoric times. Their cultural community is mostly Tibeto-Burman, but also Indo-Aryan, and they speak their own language (Nepal Bhasa/Newari).

For our entrees, we ordered a lamb curry that came with rice. This food item was similar to Indian curries and came in a tureen with white rice. We also ordered one of Nepal’s national dishes: momo (we ordered the Himalayan Kothey: Delicious dumplings stuffed with ground chicken and Tibetan spices, wrapped in flour dough and then steamed before pan fried, served with hot chutney sauce). Momos are dumplings, and according to Wikipedia:

Momos are a traditional delicacy in Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Darjeeling district and Ladakh. They are one of the most popular fast food in Nepal and many other South Asian region populated with people of Nepali origin and people of hilly origin. They are also common in places with noticeable Nepalese and Tibetan diaspora, such as Assam, Delhi, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal.

They can be either steamed or pan fried, and ours were both. They came with an orange sesame sauce and a coriander sauce. They are apparently a very popular menu item, because lots of people around us also ordered them. Since we’re used to having dumplings as appetizers, it was different to have a huge platter of dumplings. They tasted very similar to other types of dumplings, but the filling wasn’t dense and they were spicier and more flavorful. The dumpling wrapper was also a lot more tin than a typical Chinese dumpling.

Although the dumplings and the curry were good, they weren’t nearly as unique and interesting as our appetizers. Next time we go back, we might order only appetizers.

They also have a fixed price menu, coupons on their website, and free delivery within a 2 mile radius. Delivery Nepalese food is pretty awesome.

The different regions of India have markedly different cooking techniques and foods. Staples across all of the regions include rice, whole wheat flour (atta), and pulses (red lentil or masoor, channa or bengal gram, pigeon peas/yellow gram or toor, black gram or urad, and green gram or mung). The most common spices used in India include chili pepper, black mustard seed (rai), cumin (jeera), turmeric (haldi), fenugreek (methi), asofoetida (hing), ginger (adrak, coriander (dhania), and garlic (lassan). Often these are combined to form masalas.

North Indian cuisine includes Punjabi cuisine, Mughlai cuisine, Kashmiri cuisine, Awadhi cuisine, Uttar Pradesh cuisine, Rajasthani cuisine, Bhojpuri cuisine, Bihari cuisine, and Sindhi cuisine. All these cuisines share a higher use of diary products, the use of the tawa (griddle) to make flat breads (such as roti, paratha, and kulcha, the use of the tandoor, deep fried breads like puris and bhatoora, and the use of goat and lamb. North Indian desserts include gulab jamun, jalebi, peda, petha, kulfi, falooda, ras malai, barfi, laddu, and halwa. Kebabs can also be found in North Indian cuisine.

East Indian cuisine includes Assamese cuisine, Bengali cuisine, and Oriya cuisine and is most famous for its desserts like the rasagolla, chumchum, chhena poda, chhena gaja, etc.

South Indian cuisine includes the cuisine of Kerala, cuisine of Karnataka, the cuisine of Tamil Nadu, and the Cuisine of Goa. South Indian cuisine has considerable variation, most notably its emphasis on rice, use of coconut, pickles, vegetable stews, and curries. The dosa, poori, idli, vada, bonda, upma, and bajji are all South Indian staples. Due to the emphasis on rice, biryanis are southern dishes. Paneer (a soft cheese) is also common in southern cuisine.

Western India includes Goan cuisine, Maharashtrian cuisine, Saraswat cuisine, and Gujarati cuisine. Dishes, depending on the region, may rely more on rice, coconut, and fish (especially coastal regions). Goan cuisine reflects the influence of Portuguese colonization. For example, chicken vindalu is a Konkani/Goan dish whose name is derived from the Portuguese dish “Carne de Vinha d’ Alhos,” which is typically made with meat, pork, wine, and garlic and served on special occasions.

Delhi Dhaba’s special Punjabi cuisine includes a tandoor specials menu with a variety of meats, fishes, and shellfish. Additionally, the infamous butter chicken is a typical dish that is thought to have come from Delhi and to have originated during the Mughal Empire. Delhi Dhaba also has cuisine from other regions of India, like biryanis and on Sundays boasts over 45 different types of Indian cuisine for $10.95.

We ordered the Quick Pick (which is two curries with rice and a choice of naan, roti, or rice), which is $5.95. Ours featured butter chicken, saag paneer, and rice. We found the meal to be flavorful. We also ordered pakoras, which they cooked fresh for us and were yummy. The pakora is a fried snack food that typically consists of potato, spinach, onion, or chicken dipped in a batter of gram flour and deep fried. Delhi Dhaba serves both meat and vegetarian pakoras, although we tried only the vegetarian types. We also ate samosas, which are piping hot. We learned that the samosa is the most infamous North Indian snack food. The word “samosa” is traced to the Persian word “sanbosag,” and similar sounding terms exist for similar stuffed items throughout the Middle East and South Asia, as well. In fact, the samosa was thought to have existed prior to the 10th century. Abolfazi Beyhagi, an Iranian historian, mentioned it during his lifetime, which was from 995-1077.

We were also offered samples while we waited for our food to be cooked and were able to sample some delicious mulligatawny soup. We learned that the soup is Anglo-Indian in origin (the soup preparation is probably the British influence). The soup’s name is translated literally from Tamil and means “pepper water.” Millagu means pepper and Thanni means water. They also kindly gave us samples of chole, or chana masala, which was rich and flavorful. Chana masala is an extremely popular dish in the Punjab region. Finally, to round things off, they also gave us a taste of their dessert of the day, which was kheer. Kheer is similar to rice pudding and is made by boiling rice, milk, sugar, and seasonings together. Their kheer was thin and sweet. The word kheer is derived from the Sanskrit word “ksheer,” which means milk.

We loved the fact that on the weekends they have a special menu that features popular Indian street foods from different regions. Included in this menu is bhelpuri, a puffed rice snack served with potatos and a tamarind sauce. This dish is tyupical of Bombay. They also papri chat, a favorite North Indian street food of fried dough cut into strips and fried, then served with potatos, chick peas, chili, yogurt, chutney, chaat masala, and sev. Finally, they also serve panipuri (or gol gappa), another street food common in the North and West of India. The snack is served with a thin hollow fried ball that is then filled with water, tamarind, chili, chat masala, potato, onion, and chickpeas and then eaten before it dissolves. The fried ball is bite-sized and the entire snack is made to be eaten in one bite. We thought these foods are fairly uncommon, and liked the fact that the service was firnedly and seemed to enjoy their jobs.

TOTAL: $5.95 per person for the Quick Pick, otherwise between $5.95-$15, depending on the entree

The Washington Post  has recently done some critics of the popular restaurant, X.O. Taste. As a result, I checked it out for myself. On a Saturday night, it was full with both Asian and American diners, with people waiting outside the restaurant for a seat. The restaurant is bright and open with large round wooden tables and modern/unusual lighting and bright wall colors, giving it an urban vibe. There seemed to be one waiter working the whole restaurant, which was pretty amazing considering the number of people eating. Inside, many large families and groups of people were eating. The round tables have a clear glass lazy Susan on them, making them ideal for family style dining. The restaurant itself was noisy and informal.

The menu was large and diverse. This place bears no resemblance to the normal Chinese restaurants here. There was no Orange Chicken and the only item that came close was Hot and Sour Soup (apparently part of Beijing cuisine). We had to ask the waiter about virtually all the dishes we considered ordering to get a clearer idea about what they were – even something like Sizzling Beef with Black Pepper seemed mysterious. The menu is enormous and overwhelming, serving congee (a type of savory rice porridge), noodle dishes, casseroles, soups, etc. and all varieties and makes of meat, everything from pork, chicken, sea cucumber, the infamous Dungeness crab, tofu, frog, duck tongue, etc. It is safe to say that all meats and parts are fair game. There was also a large range of sea food, which seems to be due to the influence of Chiu Chow cuisine that favors duck, goose, and seafood. Luckily, the waiter was friendly and patient with us. Hong Kong cuisine is strongly Cantonese influenced. They use chopsticks primarily, but at X.O. we were also given a small fork. The type of cooking seemed to be less focused on breading and frying and more on pan frying and steaming.

While drinking tea and deliberating over the menu, we ultimately became overwhelmed with all the dishes and instead tried to order a variety of meats. At X.O. Taste, they serve each dish as they come out (at record speed!) rather than all at once, ensuring that everything is hot and fresh.

Two dishes we ordered were Siu Mei (a style of Chinese rotisserie consisting only of meat). The first that came out was Baby Roast Pig, listed under Hong Kong Style Marinated and BBQ. This dish is served only in the evenings (banquet/dinner style) and only on weekends. We wanted to try the duck and pork because these are Hong Kong specialties, and because they display them on hooks at the front of the restaurant. The pork was surprisingly served cold with a crispy exterior, a layer of fat, and then the meat below it. The pork was marinated and very rich, probably due to the large amount of fat (even though the waiter said that the Baby Pig is less fatty than the adult Pig). The meat was tender and the marinade had a good flavor.

Next came Roast Duck on Rice, which was very tender and delicious. They served the meat in a layer of skin, meat, and bone, which through me off at first because I’m used to the bone being removed. The marinade had a slightly sweet taste and the dish was served warm.

Next they served Sizzling Steak in Black Pepper, which was indeed served sizzling. The meat had a good flavor but was a little tough for our vision of steak and very soft (not sizzled to crispiness).

The final dish that came was Tofu Stuffed with Shrimp Paste and Black Bean Sauce. I love tofu so this one was delicious to me. Large chunks of tofu had shrimp placed on them and them were fried so the outside was crispy and the inside was soft. The sauce was savory. This dish is a typical example of Hong Kong cuisine.

We also ordered Buddha’s Delight, another typical vegetarian Chinese dish, however due a mix-up the dish never came. The waiter said it was still in the kitchen, but ultimately it may or may not have been given to the table next to us. Luckily, the staff was polite and took it off the bill.

Afterwards, they served a complimentary dessert. It resembled tapioca pudding but was thinned to be a soup like texture and tasted instead like a warm sweet soup with pureed mung bean at the bottom. This type of dessert is called tong sui, translated to “sugar water.” There are apparently many varieties of tong sui, but this type of dessert is exclusive to Hong Kong/Cantonese cuisine and not served in other regions.

Obviously, more work is required to sample all of Hong Kong cuisine. Dim sum is a major part of it, which they don’t serve at X.O. Taste. Also, we didn’t sample any congee, seafood, or the casseroles. Or even the infamous XO sauce, which apparently is named after cognac and developed during the 1980s in Hong Kong. According to Wikipedia , the sauce is spicy and “served with seafood containing roughly chopped dried seafood, such as scallop, dried fish and shrimp that has been cooked with chili, onion, garlic and oil.”

Total: $61, excluding tip for four entrees. Most of the dishes are around $10.