comestibles

New Fortune, on weekends

The place is not closed. Ownership changed hands in January and the place was closed for several months for remodeling. The name changed to Balkan Grill & European Grocery from its former Lezzet and the phone number changed also. It is now (301) 444-4430.

At ~12:20p there were about 16-17 trucks. The Lobster truck was 50 minutes late in arriving. Lines look to average a 20 minute to 1 hour wait with District Taco and Lobster Truck having the longest lines. @The Doctor "Yes, if someone goes tonight, please report back. I was thinking of stopping in tomorrow, but I wonder how they plan to sustain their operation for so long a time when they're usually out for only a few hours a day." I asked the Lobster Guy if he was staying all day and would he have enough food. He said yes; he has about 240 lbs of lobster and is prepared. I imagine the other trucks are similarly prepared.

I've eaten there a handful of times, but not within the past year. I've had their tibs and siga wot platters, lunch portions - pretty tasty fare. Not a destination spot, but if you're in the area and want a quick, satisfying, light meal, this place hits the spot.

I bought a copy of Volume I many years ago but not from Chinasprout. I purchased it locally. The cover picture is different from the one shown in the link and my copy has 400 pages vs the 362 pages stated in the link. I didn't know that there were different editions.

I passed by Toan yesterday too around 1:30p and noticed the same thing; but I found out that they had an emergency that morning and was closed til later that evening.

Eggnog is out. I don't know about spicy, but it's very, very rummy. Only a few more weeks for the pumpkin pecan.

It is under 'Starters & Salads'.

Stopped by yesterday for some lunch after my gym class up the street. This 'Taste' was larger than I can remember in years past. Had some tasty treats at Jaleo (chicken paella w/mushrooms, asparagus, red pepper?), Hanaro (a skewer of chicken tempura), Morton's (steak slider)[sliders were big this year]; Divino Lounge (Argentine paella w/chicken, sausage, duck, +some other meat); Honest tea. The two best value treats were at stands run by Black Finn Restaurant (classic slider - small cheeseburger, pot roast slider - a nice scoop of tender pot roast in a savory gravy topped w/horseradish sauce) @ 1 ticket each; Ruth's Chris Steak House (small plate of rare tenderloin w/scoop of creamed spinach and mashed potatoes) @ 3 tickets. The entertainment was better than I can remember, especially those acts on the Dance Stage. A really fun time at this 20th Anniversay Event.

Per Weinoo's review, I checked out La Preferida today. I ordered the same items he did because I, too, love tacos de lengua and pupusas. The pupusas were OK, but the curtido was dryish with no taste of vinegar and absolutely no heat; the red sauce accompaniment was tasteless. Irene's pupusas are much better. The tacos, however, were terrific. You get about 3-4 fajita-size strips of lengua, instead of the usual 1-2 tbs of diced lengua. The corn tortilla underpinning was a little unusual. This version was made fresh with what seems to be the same masa mix as the pupusas, so that when you picked it up, the bottom split in half and it was a real struggle to hold the taco together as you ate it. Nevertheless, these are the best tacos I've ever had and waaaay better than those at El Charrito Caminante. I wanted to try the tamales too, since there were two kinds I had never seen before, but they did not have any tamales today. I'll have to return sometime to check those out. The truck serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and is open from 8a to 11p seven days a week. Thanks for the pointer, Weinoo.

I went to their store a month ago at lunchtime for a sandwich. Got a pan bagnat and a baguette to go. The sandwich was on a stale 1/2 baguette. I attributed this to maybe a lack of customers and the 1/2 baguette was just lying around? The counter girl had told me that usually the place gets lots of lunch time carryout sandwich business from the Parklawn people down the street, but she didn't know what happened that day. Anyway, later on at dinner time, I tried the baguette, It was hard on the outside and dryish on the inside; VERY hard to pull apart or bite through - stale?? You could have used it to play cricket. And this from a French bakery!

Vegetarians don't necessarily seek out steakhouses. They may be a spouse or dining companion of a carnivore and merely want to know what their menu options are, if any.

Thanks. I see it now in my first post in the New Invision. But earlier I was exploring the new engine and did not and do not see that option for posts made pre-Invision 3.0.0.

Where is the edit function? Also, is the 'friends system' supposed to imitate Facebook or My Space? The 'personal conversations' feature seems similar to Yahoo and Gmail. UGH!!!

Thanks to Dean for organizing yesterday's 'burn' dinner. I enjoyed the way the spiciness of the dishes ebbed and flowed during the meal. I especially liked the crispy tofu skin and the complexity of flavors/textures in the pig intestine and liver/kidney dishes. All in all – a memorable meal.