Saycheese

Actually, this is a disturbing trend at the Eden Center -- more and more chain restaurants are taking space there. ViVi Bubble Tea recently opened there, and Mango Mango and Little Sheep Hot Pot are also chains. I hope the mom and pop places that give the Eden Center its character don't get squeezed out.

I am looking for a nice bottle of rhum agricole for a friend's birthday. Can anyone recommend a store in the DC area where I might be able to find something special/unique? Failing that, i would also appreciate any on-line sources. Thanks very much.

Ate at Range on Friday night, and was pleasantly surprised to see Master Sommelier Kathy Morgan, working there. The wine list has a lot of reasonably priced selections. The fried brussel sprouts were fabulous, and the venison very tender and tasty. Can't wait to try the rabbit roulade next time. Had the banana bread pudding with chocolate stout ice cream -- it was okay, but one of the other desserts came with an intense dark chocolate sorbet that was over the top delicious. I agree with some of the comments that some of the dishes seem a little skimpy -- the crudo we ordered, for example, was only 4 very small, thin slices of fish -- very high quality but seemed a little skimpy.

Three of us had dinner at Tanpopo on Sunday evening (first time for all of us), and liked it very much. Note that during January, they are offering sake at 20% off. The sake we tried was called Drunken Whale, and it was delicious. For appetizers, we had edamame, shiu mai, and gyoza, to start, and they were all tasty. The gyoza were piping hot and not at all greasy. The shiu mai were fine but nothing special. Then we had the spicy beef ramen, pork belly ramen, and the third I think was vegetarian. All were delicious and very substantial. We were impressed by the differences in flavors among the three kinds of broth. The spicy beef ramen broth tasted really rich and meaty, whereas the vegetarian broth was very mild and subtle. The pork belly ramen broth was lighter than the spicy beef broth, but very satisfying. We got 1 portion of spicy sauce ($1 extra), which was plenty for the two of us who had the beef and pork ramen. The spicy beef ramen was not very spicy on its own. In fact, a Korean couple near us appeared to complain to the server that it wasn't spicy at all, so the server brought out some of the spicy sauce for them. We used a Living Social voucher, and I just saw that they are currently offering another one. We'll definitely go back again.

Does anyone have any recent comments? I am going to CityZen for the first time soon and looking forward to it. Thanks.

Lost Dog Cafe on Washington Blvd. is open until 11. Lyon Hall in Clarendon. XO Taste at Route 50 and Patrick Henry. Honey Pig in Annandale. Some other Korean restaurants in Annandale are open 24 hrs.

Coincidentally, Eggies were featured in the New York Times business section last Sunday as a rare example of an amateur invention that succeeds. The boiled eggs don't come out completely egg-shaped, however. They have a flat side, so it looks like 3/4 of an egg. It's a neat idea anyway.

Kushi serves until 1:00 am on Friday and Saturday. They are on K Street NW between 4th & 5th and near the Mt. Vernon Square metro (green) and Gallery Place metro (green, red, yellow). I'm not sure how late metro runs on weekends. Ardeo + Bardeo also serves late on Saturday nights, and it's right by the metro (Cleveland Park? Woodley Park?) -- on Connecticut Ave. across from the Uptown movie thater. 701 and Zaytinya also serve late. If you look on Open Table, there are a surprising number of places with tables available after 11 pm on a Saturday night.

I had a good meal at Merzi on Friday. I got the tandisserie chicken on rice, with medium-hot sauce, and chickpeas. I found the chicken (leg and thigh) to be very moist and tender, and the medium-hot sauce had plenty of zing. The chickpeas were also tasty, and I don't normally like chickpeas because they are too often mushy. I thought these had a nice firm texture and plenty of seasoning. I also thought the portion size was more than ample. I would definitely try it again -- this was the first time I had been there. My only complaint was the take-out container was flimsy, and the lid didn't stay on -- they had to tape it with scotch tape, and I wasn't sure it would make it back to my office without leaking. Also, the container is made out of cardboard, and it "sweated' all over my desk. I'm all in favor or recyclable containers, but in this case, it wasn't very useful. I'd rather get a reusable plastic take-out container.

A BJ's recently opened in Arlington on Wilson Boulevard near Seven Corners. They have huge packages of meat, like racks of spare ribs and baby back ribs, various cuts of beef, etc. and fruits and vegetables. Does anyone have any feedback on the quality of the meat and produce at BJs? The food section is pretty extensive, and they carry some well known brands of organic products. Just wondering if it's worth while to get a membership if you only rarely need to buy huge quantities of things.

Last night, while toiling away in my office at 9:15 pm, I took a break and saw a posting on-line (at another local foodie website) noting that in honor of International Champagne Day, Proof was offering half-price glasses of Dom Perignon, Cristal, and Krug for lunch and dinner on Oct. 28. Not having eaten dinner yet and feeling deprived and beleaguered, I quickly finished what i was doing and raced over to 8th & G. Unfortunately, they were not offering Krug, but did indeed have Dom Perignon and Cristal by the glass for $25 and $30, respectively. The plate of house made terrines and pates that I ordered went very well with the Dom Perignon, and was an ample and satisfying meal. My only criticism was that they did not pour the champagne at the table (I was at one of the small bar tables, so I could see it being poured at the bar). Note to self -- mark October 28 on calendar for next year. Kudos to Proof for honoring International Champagne Day -- I hope others follow suit.

I was at Kushi on Saturday night, and saw a permit application in the window of an undeveloped space next door for Mandu. Is Mandu moving or expanding?

I agree with the last most recent post from May -- this restaurant deserves more attention. I enjoyed a dinner with Mr. Saycheese last night at the bar, where we tried four of the appetizers -- peeky toe crab salad, jerk marinated foie gras, roasted baby beets and madai with aged soy sauce. Everything was beautifully presented, prepared spectacularly well, and delicious, with very complex and creative mixtures of flavors, and amazingly sophisticated sauces. For dessert, we had a deconstructed blueberry pie, with blueberry gelee and sour cream ice cream. I can't wait to return.

I had lunch recently at Founding Farmers, mainly to give them another chance after a previous dinner that was horrendously bad. As an example, the meat loaf was so dried out and stiff that it was unrecognizable and had to be sent back. I simply do not understand why this place is always packed -- maybe it's the huge portions that draws the crowds. The deviled egg platter that my companion and I split was mostly bland. The crab topping on two of the eggs seemed watery. The smoked salmon topping was the best because it had some flavor. I ordered the straw and hay pasta dish simmered in a "light, creamy broth with asparagus, bacon, mushrooms and peas," but what I got was a huge bowl of wide flat noodles that were stuck together in a doughy lump in a gluey cream sauce. After a few bites, I left it there on the table -- I did not have the time in the middle of a work day to send it back and try something else. Nor did the server ask if there was anything wrong with it. Oh, and we did get the whole LEED certified, sustainable, owned by Nebraska farmers speech, and a further speech about how Thomas Jefferson invented pasta, or a pasta maker, or something like that. It's all well and good for the Nebraska farmers to create a restaurant to promote sustainability and all that, but the food should be good and well prepared. They will not be getting any more of my money.

I recall that a place in Thurmont was known for serving "broasted" chicken -- remember Whitey's in Arlington (now Tallulah)? Google revealed that the Thurmont Kountry Kitchen received the Broaster Company's Golden Chicken Award in 2005. I'm not sure if the Kountry Kitchen is still in business and I've never been there to vouch for it, but it might be worth investigating.