The Spot - Rockville

I went for lunch today and got the doll. I was hoping to get the fried chicken, but they had a sign that they were almost all! It was very crowded and waiting was long, but it was cool watching how the guy does my noodles while I was waiting. The Beef Rib soup had whole ribs in it! The noodles are somewhat incompatible, but this is to be expected when pulled by hand! The broth was very good. I would get the beef soup back, and I can't expect to try the bubbles waffles and the fried chicken. Update: I went back this week and got the fried chicken and bubbles waffle! Waiting was much better and the chicken was not sold. The chicken was HUGE and delicious, very crispy! I was surprised that it had bones in it, warned! The bubble waffle was really good, but fell apart.

Feb 2022 I've been coming here for years, mainly for the bubble tea. The staff is pretty friendly and the place is kept decently neat and clean. Note the bathrooms are on the far west side (the not-bar side). And the two entrances are on either side of the place. Those doors by the sidewalks are NOT for entering/exiting. The specific (free) parking for The Spot is in two places. The first, at ground level, is the covered parking located between the west side of The Spot and the main entrance to the apartment complex. The second parking place is the left side of the top floor of an underground garage, the entrance located behind the apartment building. From the ground floor parking, you can reach the underground garage by driving through to the back of the building and then turning right. On the right, past a loading dock, is the entrance to the garage. From the garage is an elevator that takes you up to the shop level (I believe the button is labeled and the other buttons are locked for resident usage only). From the elevator, you walk straight to the double doors that lead outside. Once outside, turn right and the entrance to The Spot is on the right. You can return to the garage the same way. The inside is pretty clean, with a mix of normal height tables/chairs and high tables/chairs. The bar area is partially partitioned off with a glass wall and doors They now have self-order kiosks where you can order stuff from multiple places and they package it together for you to pick up at once. You pay by card (either by chip or tap) and you can print out the receipt too. There is also a scanner for your rewards QR code. Note the numbers for kiosk orders are separate from when you order in person at the counters. The kiosk asks for your phone number to send you a text when your order is ready. The pickup location is on the left side of Cheers Cut (sadly no signage yet). We ordered something from four places: noodle soup, sushi, fried chicken, and bubble tea. The bubble tea was in its own plastic bag (with drink tray on the bottom for stabilization); everything else was packed into one paper bag. Some sauce ended up spilling in the bag. I highly suspect it was the small container of soy sauce for the sushi, and I recommend they give out those soy sauce packets instead of containers of soy sauce. More expensive, but no danger of spillage. For the noodle soup, I was interested to see it was packaged like the ramen places are doing: one big bowl with soup at the bottom and smaller top compartment with the noodles and toppings. Sadly, they didn't give us a soup spoon, instead giving us a regular spoon. Both the soup and noodles were delicious and pretty good for the price. The sushi was a bit disappointing. We got a California roll, Salmon Avocado roll, and Eel roll. There were generous portions of crab, salmon, and avocado, but little eel. To make things worse, the salmon and eel were pretty tasteless (eel less so because of the sauce). And, if you notice that sort of thing, the rice was also unflavored. The fried chicken was very good, with Taiwanese teriyaki sauce in a separate container. Taiwanese teriyaki is different from Japanese teriyaki: less sweet with more garlic and ginger. The meat was mainly dark meat and lightly breaded. It had a good crunch and wasn't too oily. The bubble tea was as good as ever, with strong flavors and no artificial taste. The Stawberry Matcha Latte tasted evenly of strawberry and matcha. The Strawberry milk tea was a bit too creamy for me (probably used whole milk) but still very good.

Great variety of food and nice atmosphere! I tried the hand pulled noodle soup and the sautéed squid calamari with rice. Everything was seasoned just right. I'm coming from Springfield, VA so it is a bit of a drive especially with traffic. Would I drive here just to eat? No. Would I come here to eat if I'm around the area? Yes, I would definitely stop by if I'm in the area.

Small but lively space, offers a decent variety of food options. Prepare for long wait times, space in the back kitchen must be limited. I got hand-rolled sushi from Poki DC. The sweet potato roll tasted fresh but it included cream cheese, which may not appeal to everyone.

We then indulged in some Gongcha drinks; my family favorites were the QQ passion fruit and mango bubble smoothie. The wait at Cheers Cut and Mian was a bit longer than at the other vendors due to the additional cooking and preparation involved, especially as it started to get busier at lunchtime. However, everything was absolutely worth the wait. The Taiwanese fried chicken was juicy and flavorful, while the pulled noodle soup was very aromatic and generously portioned with beef. Overall, I would give the food and service a five-star rating!