After reading a mostly favorable review of Pomegranate Cafe, located in the bottom floor of The Bennington apartments in downtown Silver Spring, MD, my roommate and I decided that sushi would be the best fuel for shopping.

The cafe is difficult to find. The entrance is hidden in a courtyard, and parking in a nearby garage is limited. We assumed that Pomegranate Cafe was a sit-down restaurant, but it’s an upscale lunch counter.

The menu (front and back) is very diverse, and customers can choose from breakfast sandwiches, sushi, ham sandwiches, tofu burgers, and bibimbap.  My roommate and I both had our hearts set on sushi, but we were also curious about this take-out version of bibimbap, recommended by the friendly lady behind the counter.

Dubbed one of the Pomegranate Specials, the bibimbap includes brown or white rice, wilted spinach, soy sprouts, carrots, marinated cucumber, zucchini, and shitake mushrooms with either chicken or beef in a plastic take-out container ($6.99). A small plastic container filled with tangy Korean barbeque sauce completes the dish.

I chose the chicken with brown rice, and my roommate chose the beef with white rice. Though not as good as traditional bibimbap, served in a hot stone bowl with fried egg on top, the bibimbap at Pomegranate Cafe was a tasty lunchtime Korean food fix. It’s probably the best (only) bibimbap in Silver Spring.

I also ordered a seaweed salad ($3.99), which was a hearty, well-dressed portion served in a small plastic container. My roommate decided that she had to try the sushi, so she ordered the Daily Special Sushi, 3 pieces of Nigiri and a California roll ($7.99). Though nothing fancy or particularly special, the sushi was fresh.

The friendly staff brought us styrofoam cups filled with miso soup and continuously checked on us, to make sure that we were satisfied. I wouldn’t go out of my way to visit Pomegranate Cafe again, but I’d probably eat at this cafe every day, if I lived in The Bennington apartments or worked nearby. The food at Pomegranate is fresh and unique, especially in the culinary wasteland that is Silver Spring.

Pomegranate Cafe
1215 East West Highway
Silver Spring, MD 20910
(301) 562-9400