Puchina

The funny thing is I have never been in the bathroom there, even though we used to go to Oyamel every other week. I wish I'd known, I love Day of the Dead decorations I'll have to check out the bathrooms next time. One weird thing about the decor was that they hung a gazillion Italian flags outside which made me worry that there would be checkered tablecloths and candles in bottles of wine inside. I hope that it's a temporary thing.

I ate there last night as well and we had a wonderful meal. The sommelier was our server and recommended lovely wines to go with our meal. We started out with a soft polenta with a formaggio morbido (soft cheese) and pancetta (7.95) that was to die for. The polenta was nicely seasoned, the cheese was good, and the pancetta was perfectly fried. One of my dining companions had the veal crudo (carpaccio) (8.95), which at first came out with parmesan on it even though we told the server he was lactose intolerant, this was quickly remedied and he had a new cheese-less plate within 5 minutes. I had the spaghetti carbonara (11.00) which was delicious but huge. I took about 2/3 home. My boyfriend had the risotto of the day (13.00) without even asking what it was. It was prepared with shrimp and saffron, and was very good- perfect texture, nice balance of flavors. Our friend had linguine alle vongole (13.00). I ma not normally a clam-lover but this was the best I've had in a long time; it was served with about 10-12 clams. For dessert we had a scodella di vaniglia (5.00). It was a vanilla pudding with a lightly caramelized top, topped with fresh berries and vanilla ice cream. This was the highlight of the night. Even though I was stuffed I ate the whole thing by myself and for five bucks it's quite a bargain. My second favorite dish was the polenta. I live right above the restaurant and mostly being there made me a tiny bit sad. At first I was very excited to have this restaurant come in, even though I loved having Oyamel right there. The problem is that I feel that they changed too little, so there were constant reminders of Oyamel. The bread is served in the same cones the tortilla chips used to come in and they didn't re-upholster anything. I know that they did that to open sooner and I appreciate that, but I'll still miss Oyamel a little.

Today I had lunch at Rasika. It was my first time there and I was very excited about trying some different Indian food. Unfortunately, they only had 3 apps, 4 entrees and 3 desserts on the RW menu. Everything was delicious but I was hoping to try something I had never had before and there just wasn't anything like that on the RW menu. I started off with a chicken tikka appetizer, which was good; my bf had the spinach salad which was great and our friend had the seekh kebab which was also really good. The options for the entree were chicken mahkni, lamb roganjosh, a salmon tikka or vegetable paneer. We had the chicken, lamb and salmon and everyone was happy. For dessert I had a lychee sorbet that was sweeter than I expected (and I love anything with lychee) and my companions had the carrot dessert--that was great. I want to go back and try some of the other things I saw on the menu but I wish there had been more options.

Booo, it was so sad and stressful that I stayed in and studied the whole time. But all the suggestions were so good I think we are going to back and try some of the places and see the beach.

Wow, thanks on both fronts. Luckily I have 3 lunches and 2 dinners in the area so I should get to a few of there. Gotta love the Rockwellians.

Wow, it looks great, thanks!

I am taking the bar exam there in 8 days. Does anybody have any recs to cheer me up after the horror?

We went the day we had reservations at Le Bouchon (we were poor law students- no FL) we loved the burgers so much we were too full for Bouchon. Hopefully next time we will get to have both Taylor's Refresher an French Laundry (we just graduated!). After Taylor's In-N-Out was a big let down for us too.

This is a lot more expensive than its Anandale counterparts, and while I did not find the service more unfriendly than anywhere else (which doesn't say much), it does tend to get more crowded. I too would stick to Hee Been and Sorak Garden.

The dinner is good, at least as good as Sorak Garden, but the lunch buffet is a steal at $13. It is a 3 sided permanent buffet: the first side has jap chae, different dumplings, pancakes etc.; the second side has 6 different types of meat, raw, which you can copok at your table or have the chef cook, this side also has various soups and rice. The third side has different salads, kimchees and all the things from the little dishes that usually come out first. There are also desserts and sushi (not so good). Its usually pretty crowded but there aren't waits on the weekdays.

Just had a fabulous Burrata (mozzarella filled with creamy mozzarella). I ate the whole thing in one sitting by myself. Jill said she just got it in today. It was too good.

I had a wonderful version at Makoto at the end of April. It was lightly battered and deep-fried, served with a green tea salt that was exquisite. I am normally squeamish about texture, but these were out of this world.

We had an amazing experience at Cafe Mozu this winter, with a great selection for RW and impeccable service. Ceiba was atrocious. The service was, well downright "ghetto." When it came time for desserts the waiter recited- "bread pudding, chocolate cake, or ice cream." I asked him if that was it since it didn't sound too appetizing and he said yes. The dessert was delicious, but the lackluster description kind of killed our buzz. Later, we were able to read the dessert menu (outside of the restaurant in the little case) and we saw that the written descriptions were lovely. The rest of the food was mediocre, with a pretty limited selection of starters. The conch chowder was a mystery. How they could turn something that is normally so good into something so bland is beyond me. Vidalia had decent service, if not a little rushed, but had some misses on the menu. The catfish was a real loser, but everything else was good. Not the best southern food I've had, but alright for restaurant week. While not everything was available for RW, you could pay a little extra to have entrees and starters that were not included ($4-$8).

When I first moved here, I read the Washingtonian to get an idea of where to eat, but I quickly realized they are often WAY off-base. Their dining reviews are not for foodies or the adventurous. Some of the worst meals I've had in the area were based on Washingtonian recommendation, which ended up being poor quality or overly commercialized. Blech!

Tastee Diner in Bethesda is great for greasy diner food and the price is unbeatable. Having tried Silver Diner and Metro 29, I would rather drive to MD to have Tastee's awesome grilled cheese and the yummiest, butteriest pancake around.