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Very Best Restaurants: Cafe Bethesda and Cafe Bethesda North

Very Best Listing | Very Best by Cuisine | Very Best by Location

Cafe Bethesda **
Bethesda , $$
Cafe Bethesda North **
Rockville , $$

Chef David Fiels's new American cooking is now at two locations:a newer, full-sized one in Rockville, and the original location in Bethesda that diners find either cozy or cramped. But one thing is the samefirst-rate cooking. The menu is not lengthy, but Fiels uses excellent ingredients and cooks and presents them well.

For a starter, try the veal sausage with rosemary and sun-dried blueberries on a bed of Vidalia onions and mango relish; lump crabcakes on a bed of marinated red cabbage, lemon cream, capers, tomato, and fresh chives; sliced, grilled eggplant rolled and stuffed with goat cheese, spinach, and roasted red pepper; or an appetizer-sized portion of seafood pasta.

Main-course successes have included grilled swordfish on seared greens, tomato, basil, and pine nuts; a chicken breast with mole sauce, rice, and black-bean relish; veal medallions with portobello mushrooms, fontina cheese, and a Marsala wine sauce over spinach linguini; and a simple roasted rack of lamb cooked as ordered.

Montgomery County requires restaurants to purchase their wines from the county-owned wholesale outlet, which limits the choices to recent vintages. Still, these cafes would serve diners better by specifying the years their wines were produced.

Cafe Bethesda , 5027 Wilson La., Bethesda ; 301-657-3383. Open Monday through Friday for lunch and dinner, Saturday and Sunday for dinner. MapIt!

Cafe Bethesda North , 121 Congressional La., Rockville ; 301-770-3185. Open Monday through Friday for lunch and dinner, Saturday and Sunday for dinner. MapIt!

QUALITY: ****Excellent; *** Superior; **Very Good; * Good
PRICE RANGE: $$$= Very Expensive; $$ Expensive; $=Moderate; ¢=Inexpensive

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