Sunday, January 30, 2011

Gogi Bop






Today Tony and I had lunch at Gogi Bop, a fast food Korean sandwich wrap place in Frederick (Rte 85, Westview Village shopping center). It's been open for 9 weeks now and I recently heard about it from a friend of mine.


Similar in 'style' as Chipotle, you go through the assembly line and select from a variety of fresh-grilled meats (pork, chicken, beef or shrimp) and vegetables (either grilled or fresh). Simply choose to have it as a wrap or in a bowl.



Tony selected the pork (slightly spicy) with grilled zucchini, mushrooms, and onions, while I selected the beef with grilled zucchini, mushroom, onions, corn, and shredded lettuce ($7.29 each). We also ordered the small portion of fried dumplings, that were filled with chicken, noodles, zucchini, cabbage and tofu ($2.99). Everything was tasty and filling. Along with the food, you can choose from several types of sauces, from sweet to hot and spicy.



While I liked the choices of vegetables, I think they need to add more of the typical Korean Banchan items: Kimchee, pickled bean sprouts, radish salad, and my favorite, spinach (sigeumchi namul) which is marinated with garlic, green onion, soy sauce and sesame oil.



Vegetable tempura would be a great addition to the menu.



Tony thought the portion of meat was too small. I found it to be okay but then my wrap was huge with the vegtables I selected.



Overall, a tasty lunch and a place we'll return to again.








We met the owner, Marty, who was happy to meet us and even talked with us for about 10 minutes.




Monday, January 17, 2011

A friend visiting from China


December 2010

My friend Fiona came to the USA for the first time on a business trip. She's from China and I met her in Chengdu in October 2008. We first met via Trip Advisor when I was making travel plans to see the pandas and was looking for information on how to get to the panda preserve. We corresponded often so I finally asked her if she would be my guide. She's a wonderful person and I was so happy when I found out she would be in DC.



Tony and I met
Fiona in DC, took her to dinner, and then we checked out the White House Christmas tree. It was freezing that night, but we had a great time.

I hope to return to China soon to see her again. And she's ready for another trip to the USA.