A Quick Guide To Identifying Chinese Vegetables

A Taste Of Home For The Chinese Taipei Little League Team

On Thursday, Seven Seas sent a van packed with hot containers of delicious Taiwan-style food up to Williamsport, PA. That's just our little way of supporting the Chinese Taipei Little League team, who flew from their hometown of Taoyuan, Taiwan, to compete. We started doing this four years ago when some of the team supporters (including Seven Seas owners Edward and Corinna) noticed that the kids seemed homesick for Taiwanese food. That's when it was decided that Seven Seas would deliver hot meals on days that the teams played a game, whether they won or lost. It's fun and a real pleasure to do this every year. Especially for a group of such well-behaved kids who thanked us in unison (more than once) and helped with the cleanup. For more pictures, check out Facebook.

Dish Of The Month - Dragon & Phoenix Imperial Platter

Dragon & Phoenix Imperial Platter: A limited summer special

What's this Dragon & Phoenix Imperial Platter? It's a magnificent dish which includes: freshly steamed Maine lobster; crispy Jazz chicken in a spicy-sweet, bourbon-infused sauce; and wild-caught jumbo shrimp sautéed with mixed veggies. $45, perfect for sharing. Enjoy.

Try This Napkin Folding Idea At Home

If you've hosted a party before, you know how quickly the bill for decorations can add up. Why bother with expensive accessories for one time use and having the extra mess to clean up? Consider investing in some good cloth napkins that you can use to add to a simple, yet elegant table setting. Our servers use this napkin folding method all the time. All you need is a square napkin (any size, any color, any pattern) and a pair of disposable chopsticks. Try it!

*Tips: Plastic chopsticks work best for this purpose. You can also starch the napkins for easier folding.

Behind The Scenes At A Catered Event

If you've ever been curious to learn about the prep that goes on before the start of a party, take a look at what our catering staff does to ensure a smooth-sailing event, every time! Of course, this is only a small part of the prep work. There are plenty of other details that go into a catered event. Clients know they can rely on our expertise and capable staff to take care of everything. If you're interested in knowing more about our services, please do ask!

Seven Seas staff: cheerful and always ready to jump into gear!

Our client for this event, the National Institute of Standards and Technology

Pre-folded napkins

Happy Fourth of July! We're Open All Day!

Happy Independence Day, USA!

Farewell Party for the Singapore Ambassador

Seven Seas recently had the pleasure of being involved in planning and catering a farewell party for the Singapore ambassador to the United States. The party was held on Thursday at the home of a former US ambassador to Nepal, where fifty distinguished guests attended.

The food we served included dim sum, sushi, five elements salad, satay and our specialty, Maryland crab fried rice. Chefs were on-site to cook dim sum, grill the satay and make sushi for the guests. In order to create a tropical, summery atmosphere, we designed a few delightful fruits and vegetable displays around the food stations. In the poolside area, floating pool decorations were added, and bright red Asian lanterns decked the perimeters of the house. The weather helped to complete our staging by being ragingly hot and humid that day! Guests were also treated to live jazz and violin performances.

Take a look at the highlights! You can also view more pictures of the party by clicking here.

Southeast Asian tropical fruit: guavas, mangoes, dragonfruit, lychees and papayas

The buffet table

Five Elements Salad

Congratulations to the Father's Day Contest Winners!

Thanks to everyone that participated! We had many good email submissions from our customers who don't use FB, but the contest was meant for our FB community. Don't worry, we'll have a more general photo contest the next time we do this!
 
So congrats to the following entries - check them out!

The purple pudding (large size, of course) is one of Andrew's many favorite dishes at Seven Seas. The braised pork butt is also a favorite, but it was eaten before we remembered to take a picture. Too delicious:). Happy Father's Day! 父亲节快乐! Submitted byAlly Ha

Here is a picture of my daughter sharing a meal with her dad. The reasons why my daughter loves her dad are many, but the main is that he always finds the time to spend with her, whether its a meal out or teaching her how to ride a bike without training wheels. Submitted by I-Hsin Lee McConnell

This is a picture of my father (on his 61st birthday) and my niece (8 months old) at Seven Seas earlier today. We've been coming here since the very beginning in 1987, and we plan to keep on coming back, happy and hungry, for many years. Submitted by Andrew Hirsch

You Know You Like To Look At Pretty Food Pictures

The theme for the Washington Gourmet Association (WGA) at their latest event was Surf and Turf. Take a look at the array of aesthetically-pleasing dishes that our chefs prepared for the 43 members of Seven Seas' exclusive dining club.

If you'd like to join any of our future events, please email us at contact@sevenseasrestaurant.com. Mention that you'd like to receive updates about WGA events, and we'll add you to the list.

Chef Fei and Chef Li cook and plate the appetizers

Sweet and sour cucumber.

Thin-sliced marinated beef tendon

Tender squid and mashed barbequed roast pork

Fiesta Asia Was A Blast!

Our crew had a great time organizing the Seven Seas food booth for this event. The planning stages, menu creation, booth design and day-of operations were a great experience for everyone involved.

As expected, the day turned out to be mucho busy. There wasn't much time for pictures except during the initial setup. But when the Chinese god came to dance in front of our booth, everyone couldn't resist dropping what they were doing to watch!

Gearing Up for Fiesta Asia This Weekend!

It's been awhile since Seven Seas participated in a street festival - wish us luck! Our team is busy putting together everything we need for the booth. We'll be selling lobster rolls, lamb with cilantro rice bowls and sesame cold noodles! Head chef Fei will be on-site, cooking and overseeing the food preparation.

Are you planning on going? The Fiesta takes place in Downtown D.C., Penn Ave and between 3rd & 6th Sts., 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. We hope to see you there!

Alligator Gar

Once used by Native Americans to make jewelry and weapon heads, the alligator gar is highly sought after in sport fishing. The largest alligator gar ever caught was 365 pounds. It can survive out of water for two hours. In the South, it's considered a delicacy and is commonly served in restaurants.

Right now, we've got some of these guys swimming in our tanks! They vary in size; the largest is almost as long as the width of the tank. How to cook alligator gar? We suggest: a lightly-breaded fillet with Hunan sauce; stir-fried with mixed vegetables in a white sauce; or three-cup style. $6.95 per pound.

Crispy Hunan style

2012 Mother's Day Set Menu

Our Chefs At Work!

Customers are sometimes curious about what goes on in our kitchen. So we're giving you a quick glimpse of Chef Juan Cruz hard at work, cooking your meals.

He started training to be a Chinese chef 15 years ago. Despite not knowing a word of Chinese, Chef Cruz was quick to master traditional style Chinese dishes. Past master chefs showed him many of their own cooking tricks that many younger chefs don't know.

We're proud to have Chef Cruz on board at Seven Seas!

Chef Cruz waits for orders to come in at lunch time

Fresh spinach waits to be cooked

With 11 years experience with cooking Chinese food, Chef Cruz has mad skills with the wok

Beef Noodle Soup Party: Success! If You Missed It, Catch The Next One This Sunday, April 29, 2012

We're having this party again, this time at College Park. You'll have a choice of Red Braised Beef Noodle Soup (Hong Shao Niu Rou Mian) OR Clear Broth Beef Noodle Soup (Qing Dun Niu Rou Mian.) A variety of traditional Chinese appetizers will also be served, on the house! Please join us!  

Details:
What: Beef Noodle Soup Party, $15 per person (includes tip and tax)
When: Sunday, April 29 2012, 1:30 p.m.
Where: Seven Seas Chinese Restaurant, 8503 Baltimore Avenue, College Park, MD 20740

Beef Noodle Soup Sampling Party

Come to Seven Seas in Rockville this Sunday for an epic beef noodle soup sampling! For $15, you'll get to enjoy a variety of appetizers and EIGHT types of beef noodle soups. Also, Seven Seas owner Edward Shen will give a short presentation on tips in making a great beef noodle dish at home. Because our restaurant is small, spaces for this event is very limited, so call 301-770-5020 to reserve your space!

Specials for the Week of April 15, 2012

Specials for Good Friday and Passover

It's Good Friday, and the start of Passover!

Tilapia with Ginger & Scallions

Check out our specials on fish:

• Live: TILAPIA $12.95/lb; CATFISH $6.95/lb.

• Whole Fish: FLOUNDER $28.95/piece, FLORIDA POMPANO $14.95/piece.

Lin-tastic Sizzling Plate Atlantic Cod

• Lin-tastic Special - ATLANTIC COD Sizzling Plate Meal $14.95.

• Sauteed SALMON with Vegetables $14.95.

Jumbo Lump Crabcake

And for crab lovers:

• Crab Cake - 1 piece for $10.95, 2 pieces for $16.95.

Dish of the Month - Ja Jang Mein

The Chinese love this traditional Korean dish so much that long ago, we created our own version. It comes the same soy-based dark sauce used in Korean ja jang myun, with ground pork, tofu cubes, shiitake mushrooms and dried shrimp thrown in. Use the cold cucumber shreds as little breaks in between hot mouthfuls of noodles - or just mix it all up into the sauce and noodles. Sounds like a great lunch!

Seven Seas at College Park Gets A Makeover

The owners of Seven Seas Restaurant in College Park decided that it was time to redecorate - and they took on the same color scheme as Seven Seas in Rockville! The process of turning the interior of SS CP into a contemporary, casual dining restaurant started a month ago. It was completed just in time to host a gala event for over 100 guests (including UMD president Wallace Loh) last Thursday.

Restaurant lobby/sushi bar area undergoing renovation

Restaurant lobby/sushi bar area after remodeling

Dr. Wallace Loh, UMD president answers questions at this event hosted by the International Leadership Foundation