Whether you’re visiting or you live in Montgomery County, one thing is for sure: It has some of the best cuisines. Most people know what food Maryland is best known for—the blue crabs and Old Bay seasoning can’t be beat. But Montgomery County has more diverse options than just its seafood, even if it is delicious, including a myriad of selections from all around the world.
Rainbow African Restaurant, a West African restaurant, is very welcoming. The manager, Mr. Mohammad has been working at the Rainbow African restaurant for 22 years. The specialties of Rainbow African Restaurant are jollof rice, fufu, peanut butter, and jerk chicken, but his favorite is the fufu. When the restaurant first started, there were a lot of people in the community from Ghana and West Africa. “That’s when we came up with the idea, why don’t we serve the community with that food? And then we’re also trying to see people with different backgrounds,” said Manager Mohammed. Rainbow African Restaurant’s food is ethnic to Ghana and other places in West Africa but people of diverse races and ethnicities come to try their delectable food. According to Manager Mohammed, their restaurant was the first West African restaurant in their area. “Now, every other restaurant that you see are all copies of this. This is the first authentic West African restaurant, and this is the best one.”
Siriwan Thai is a Thai restaurant in Gaithersburg. The employees are very polite and accommodating. One employee, Mr. Pawat, has been working at Siriwan Thai for 8 years. Siriwan Thai’s specialty is Thai Iced tea. Mr. Pawat, however, likes the Pad Thai the best. Siriwan Thai offers traditional recipes passed down by the owner to its customers, some of them even from the owner’s mother. According to Mr. Pawat, the owner’s experience differentiates Siriwan Thai from other restaurants. The owner worked at another Thai restaurant for more than thirty years, and in that time, she accumulated a lot of experience on how to run her own restaurant. So, after working at that other restaurant for so long, the owner decided to start her own Thai restaurant, using all the experience and recipes she had to make Siriwan Thai the successful business it is today.
Kumbia is a Latin American restaurant in Rockville Town Center. Karen Vargas is a new employee at Kumbia, having worked there for only three months. Ms. Vargas said that because Kumbia has food from all over Latin America, they had a lot of different specialties, including Lomo Saltado, Ceviches, Chaufas, and Picanha. Ms. Vargas prefers Jalea, a dish that can be eaten as an appetizer or a dish that consists of different kinds of seafood. “[Kumbia] is really cool, because this is a different kind of restaurant. It integrates different countries, which is really unique. Like, if you go to a Chinese restaurant, okay, that’s good, but we have many different countries in just one restaurant,” said Ms. Vargas. She also mentions that Kumbia differentiates from other restaurants for other reasons. “We are very gentle, and we offer good service here, good food, good quality, and good drinks. But also, this is not just a restaurant. During late nights, we have a bar, dancing, and have different DJs coming.”
Bombay Bistro is an Indian restaurant. The two owners are Surfy Rahman and K.N. Vinod. They had started Bombay Bistro 32 years ago, and it’s now approaching its 33rd anniversary. Both having worked in hotel management in India, they learned how to handle food, and all the precautions necessary for a good restaurant. Mr. Rahman said that their specialty was both South and North India cuisine. According to Mr Vinod, a chef, when they first started Bombay Bistro around 30 years ago, people didn’t know much about Indian food. Now, there is much more awareness, but back then people just thought of Indian food as curry. And curry was just spicy food to them. Bombay Bistro has food from all over India, allowing customers to experience a variety of Indian cuisine beyond just the most well known dishes. Another dish served at Bombay Bistro is a taco, but with a twist. “This is our version of an Indian taco. Everyone knows what a taco is, but this is one with Indian flavors and Indian spices,” said Mr. Vinod.
Every restaurant has a different story, so if you’re planning to eat out in Montgomery County, consider going somewhere new.
Written by Sneha Menon
Photo by Isabella Langlee