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  1. Right across the street from Goddard Space Flight Center is Cipriano Square, anchored by K-Mart, and featuring such restaurants as Ruby Tuesdays, Five Guys, Baskin-Robbins, Burger King, and Papa John's. Chicken Rico has been open about a year, and is exactly the type of independent restaurant that catches my eye. Unfortunately, I didn't care much for their 1/2 Chicken ($6.95), which relied heavily on garlic and cumin, but was ultimately bland and dry. It came with two sides: The yuca was very deep fried, had been sitting out, and had a mashed-potato-like consistency on the inside; the chicken fried rice (50 cents extra) was very oily, and laid to rest after two bites. The sauces, one yellow and one green, fared no better. On their carryout menu, Chicken Rico advertises "fresh made soups" and daily Peruvian specials, such as Cau-Cau (beef tripe, $6.99), and Pescado Frito ($8.50). Cheers, Rocks.
  2. [split off from Pauli Moto's Asian Bistro thread] Go to Coastal Flats instead. I had lunch there last week, and it wasn't bad at all.
  3. Nice. I'm also a sucker for the sandwiches at Tacos Pepitos II bakery in Adams Morgan. Delicious, and very reasonably priced.
  4. I'll second that emotion. It is one of my go to places for lunch when I do not feel like waiting on line for a table at Il Pizzico. I usually order whatever the special is and am rarely disappointed. It is somewhat hidden is a typically soulless "North Potomac" strip mall development.
  5. I've heard tell through the internet that the new Chettinad restaurant in Chantilly, Karaikudi Restaurant, has opened. It's been a long time since I've had even meh Chettinad food, so I'm curious to know if anyone has been (for buffet or meal)? The menu has the usual egg-based and egg-featured Chettinad specialties, various parottas, quail, goat, crab, fish, prawns... Heck I was happy to see Chicken 65 if only as an appetizer, been a long time since I've seen that! They also have a pretty good selection of vegetarian dishes as well, including ulli theeyal which I'm not sure I've ever seen around here. I'm thinking a weekend trip here might be in order.
  6. Tria does have a really cool vibe about it. You'd think there would be a comparable place in DC ... cheese, wine, beer. It just makes sense.
  7. This might be stretching it a bit, but Laurienzo is sort-of technically in Clarksburg. It's physically located up in Hyattstown but they have a Clarksburg address. Anyway, I have not yet been to this location yet, but this is a second location for the Mt.Airy restaurant. As far as I know this is a locally run place, so probably worth checking out.
  8. So far, we have a Bakeries, Cupcakes, and Doughnuts thread, but no love for remaining types of goodies. So, here is one, because I thought others could share their finds, given the wide girth of options available in New York City. This past weekend's find was OddFellows Ice Cream, originating in Williamsburg, with an outpost (tiny) in East Village. I determinedly visited here after seeing Chef Johnny Iuzzini's tweets with photos about this place. I like that it uses local dairy to make its ice cream, as well as that it donates $0.05 per purchase to a food bank. The Village outpost is kind of a fun teeny place, with its uniform throwbacks and wholesome flavors, offering typical and unusual flavors, along with shakes, sundaes, splits, and such. When little man and I visited yesterday, his order of mint chocolate and my thai ice both hit the spot. I like how the ice creams weren't super sweet, and it was nice his wasn't so minty like some can be. The unusual flavor yesterday was Ants on a log, where the customer before us proclaimed, "there is such a succinct celery taste to it!"
  9. I started Saturday and Sunday mornings here this weekend at the 20th Street location in Chelsea. Their cappuccino was creamy coffee goodness. The shop was narrow, sleek, very well kept, and adorned with interesting artwork that appeared to be for sale. It is on a nice tree lined street right down the block from the NYPD 10th Precinct Station (which was about the only thing to remind you you were in the middle of Manhattan). The only negative for me was that they do not open until 7:30am on weekends which means I had 45 minutes to wander the streets passing probably a dozen open Starbucks in the process (NYC must have the highest concentration of Starbucks per square mile of any place I have been). Nevertheless, I kept my resolve and was glad I did. This is a coffee worth the wait.
  10. When I was a student at UMCP, we would sometimes walk a little up Rt 1 to Jerry's pizza, which as I recall was next to a tire shop. Now that section of Rt 1 in College Park alternates between seedy old liquor stores and shiny new high-rise buildings with retail on street level. NuVegan is located in one of these newer buildings, immediately adjacent to campus, and entertainingly direct neighbor to a burger joint. This is the second store in a mini-chain, with sister location Woodlands Vegan Bistro on Georgia Ave in Columbia Heights. The menu has a short list of entrees (always available), a long list of cold sides (always available), and a short list of hot sides (rotating availability), plus a few sandwiches. There are also smoothies with four different bases (almond, soy, hemp, or rice milk). Many of the entrees are vegan versions of non-vegan dishes, such as mac 'n cheese, lasagne, burgers, fish sandwish, and fried chicken. I am neither vegan nor vegetarian, and I am not inclined to eat fake cheese items, at least not where cheese is a central ingredient (lasagne, mac n cheese, grilled cheese). However I do sometimes enjoy fake meats, so I chose the "chick'n" tenders and a side of "mushroom medley". The chick'n was actually pretty well done, not completely identical to real chicken, but the texture was pretty close and the flavor was even closer. It would have been nice if the chick'n tenders were served with a side of some kind of sauce, but oh well. I think this would be a good choice for a non-meat-eater who might be jonesing for some fried chicken. The mushroom medley however was really subpar. It was described as a cold dish of "buttons and portobellos infused with a light oil dressing". Instead, it was at least 60% bell peppers swimming in an oily lake of what seemed like some kind of salad dressing (Italian maybe?). Any flavors were completely overpowered by the dressing, it was way too oily, and ugh, bell peppers. My vegetarian companion ordered bbq tofu with a side of broccoli. This was giant pieces of tofu again swimming in a thick lake of bbq sauce (I didn't try it, but it looked similar to Kraft bbq sauce) and large florets of plain steamed broccoli. NuVegan has counter service with odd seating. The tables in the center of the restaurant are high, round, and on the small side. Each table is surrounded by built-in tiny stools. Perhaps the uncomfortable seating is meant to deter college students from loitering for hours. Anyway, I think the main strength is in some of the meat replacement items. Non-dairy shakes/smoothies (did not try) can also be good for those with dairy issues. However, this place isn't going to end up in my regular semi-local rotation, unless eating with others who have serious dietary restrictions. Their website says: "Our Mission..... Become the motivating force that sparks a movement towards global awareness by redefining the perception of vegan cuisine.", but I'd rather they focused on good tasting food.
  11. I've eaten at several Salvadoran-Mexican places in DC, but El Rinconcito is the best, and I had to give it some props after a great meal there recently. (I'm surprised it's not already on this board.) Located on Park Road off 14th Street, across from the new Giant/Tivoli Theater complex, El Rinconcito is a neighborhood gem. It's got the usual Mexican fare (tacos, nachos, quesadillas, burritos, enchiladas, chimichangas and fajitas), and even a selection of hamburgers and subs, but the real draw is the Salvadoran food. The pupusas can be had a la carte for $1.75 each or as a combo meal (Choice of pupusas with a choice of Tamal with rice and beans ($5.95-$7.25)). The pupusas are large, and a couple of these served with cabbage salad can make a great cheap meal. The Tamales de Elote (made with fresh corn) is excellent. My favorite beef dishes are the Carne Deshilada (shredded beef with an egg on top with Salvadoran cheese, avocado, rice and black beans for $10.50) and the Milanesa de Carne (thin breaded beef cutlet with black beans and rice, plantain and fresh pico de gallo for $10.50). There are a wide selection of beef, chicken and seafood choices (ceviche, whole rock fish, shrimp). The specialties of the house are 12 oz. steaks prepared in a couple different ways with rice, salad and tortillas for under $18 (the most expensive items on the menu). Everything tastes freshly made, and they serve real crema instead of sour cream. The fried yucca and plantains are cooked just right, over-fried, soggy or overly oily or mushy like I've had it at other places. Entree portions are generous. I'm still eating my way through their menu, but for next time: Sopa de Mondongo (beef tripe soup), Carne de Salpicon (round eye mixed with cilantro, oregano, red onion, relish, mint leaf), and the plaintain empanadas with vanilla ice cream for dessert. I had a bottle of Dos Equis with my meal for $3.60 (same price for other Mexican beers). They also serve horchata and tamarind juice. Complimentary homemade tortilla chips are served with a peppery, mild pureed salsa. The restaurant is entered from the ground floor, and has seating on this floor and upstairs. The upstairs has a larger bar and a nicer dining room, so head upstairs for better ambience and a view of Park Road from the window. Service is friendly, and we didn't have to wait long for our food. I'm not Salvadoran, so I can't vouch for authenticity, but judging from the largely Hispanic clientele, I believe it's the real deal. Finding places like El Rinconcito is one of the best things about living in this diverse, immigrant-populated city.
  12. Lady KN and I were attending the Virginia State High School Rugby Championship game in Nokesville (in which KN junior was on the winning team), after which hunger overcame us and we we found Asian Garden in a little strip mall in nearby Bristow. It apparently has a sister restaurant in Haymarket, so consigning it to the Multiple Locations category will cause no grief, because it is not really noteworthy. Pan-Asian concepts frighten me from the outset, because no one cuisine on the menu will be nailed to perfection. Such is the case here, where highly Americanized Chinese menu items like Egg Foo Young clash with pick-your-protein Thai dishes that run up against a reasonably extensive Japanese menu. Lady KN and I went mostly Japanese this evening....she had a salad and I had miso soup, both accompanied by a bowl of Edamame for nibbles, and then followed by Sashimi Deluxe. My miso soup was warm, not hot, and the miso-based glop on her salad was unappealing, but we both enjoyed the freshness and ample quantity of the Sashimi Deluxe. I counted about 16 pieces of tuna, salmon, yellowtail -- mostly choice fish, without tossing in any "filler" like octopus or mackerel. About a third full on a Saturday with a brisk carry-out business going on in the front lobby, this place may be the only option for Asian food in the general Nokesville-Bristow area. Not worth a detour by any means, but if you're in the area and you have a hankering for Chow Mein, this is your place.
  13. Joe2 Pizza/Bar is located on the corner of North & Howard in the Mount Vernon section of Baltimore. It's been languishing on my Balto-visit list for a while, but went straight to the top when I read Warthog's post on Chowhound. It's one of many posts devoted to Joe's pizza, but this post confirmed that a lump of coal was in Joe's future [in a very, very good way]. As someone who watched Phat Pug go down in coal ash, I've been hopeful that someone with more pizza prowess would step up. Joe Edwardson Owner/Exec Chef purchased a new coal-fired pizza oven, had it delivered and is now waiting for final municipal clearance to install and fire it up. So, the pizza I had Tuesday was an example of what he's able to do now. I had a Margherita with a thin sourdough crust made with San Marzano tomatoes and fresh Moz. The crust was super-crispy with a hint of the sourdough and held up to the tomato sauce well given its crackery texture. Fresh Moz and basil grown in their rooftop herb garden were the "icing." I had a chance to talk with Joe and told him that this board, unlike Chowhound, welcomes pros posting about their restaurants. Hopefully, he'll join the conversation.
  14. When I was in high school, I was playing a pickup game of touch football at a friend's house. The guy playing quarterback was a pitcher for the baseball team, and had a good arm. One play, I cut inside to catch a pass, and right when I went for the ball, I slipped on a muddy patch, lurched forward, and the bullet spiral jammed right into my pinky. It didn't hurt much, but it was one of those cringe-inducing dislocations, shaped like a perfect Z. All the guys were acting like little girls who'd just seen a mouse, and my friend ran inside to get his father. His dad was a country doctor, and came outside in jeans and cowboy boots. "Let me have a look," he said. I walked up to him, and extended my hand. He took hold of it lightly, then all of a sudden, he smashed the heel of his cowboy boot down on my foot as hard as he could. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As I was yelling in pain, he apparently tugged on my finger and set it, although I didn't notice because I was too busy hopping around in a circle on one foot, screaming "OW! OW! OW!" "WHAT DID YOU DO?" "I fixed your finger." "YOU BROKE MY TOES!" I stopped in for a quick breakfast this morning at Gom Tang E, a 24-hour Sul Leung Tang house in Centreville featuring about a half-dozen variations on the soup. But I opted for the Seonji Haejangkuk ($7.99) because of the description underneath: "Seonji broths to chase a hangover." Three types of Panchan include scissor-cut kimchi, and when the super-hot bowl of soup arrived, I immediately thought to myself, 'they're using liver in the broth.' Then I stuck my spoon in and found two Clementine-sized blobs of coagulated blood. a-HA! Although I didn't have a hangover, I may have one now, simply because I'm not used to eating spicy, fermented paste and gobs-o-corpuscles at 10 AM. Is the cure worse than the ailment? I'm not sure, but the soup was good... all in the name of exploratative fooditude, and that type of thing. Cheers, Rocks. PS - My finger has been fine ever since.
  15. If you want excellent Peking Duck, you can hardly do better than Peking Duck House. It has been in business for over 25 years at 28 Mott St. in NYC (there's also a midtown location), and I recently reacquainted myself with the place, after a long hiatus, when a friend wanted to go out for"¦guess what? So off we went, 3 or 4 of us from the building. And all I can say is this place totally rocks - at least for the Peking Duck. I'm not responsible for the rest of your order. Remember, the whole of Chinatown is fairly mediocre; the whys of that are a subject for another post (lousy cooks, shitty ingredients "“ you be the judge). The way the menu at Peking Duck House is set up, they try to trick you into ordering a lot more food, for a lot more money, than you really need. The "special house dinner," or the "Peking Duck dinner" are just money grabbers, so do as I do. Order a whole Peking duck, a couple of apps "“ say pickled cabbage and mock dock made from tofu skin, a safe vegetable dish (forget about stuff like snow pea leaves "“ not gonna happen) and another stir fry and you'll easily have enough food for 4 people. And it'll end up a lot cheaper than the dinners they put together for you. Pix and a bit more are here...click.
  16. Taconelli is legitimate, real coal oven pizza where the coal burns in the oven with the pizza. It is also the BEST pizza in the greater Philadelphia area which includes DeLorenzo's on Hudson street in Trenton. (although this is 95% as good) As such it is known. Anyone going there should call SEVERAL hours prior to arriving to RESERVE OVEN SPACE. It is not just about standing in line at Taconelli's. You must also reserve oven space. It is worth it.
  17. Speaking about Habit burgers, have you heard about Hook Burger? It's the next step from the Habit guys and I think they're trying to grow another empire. They have a few stores and I've tried the burger at the Oxnard location. Pretty good, but I still prefer the fixings for the Habit's Santa Barbara Burger. I really want to try their shakes, but they've been out the few times I've gone so far. Since you're a Habit aficionado you might want to try them out some time! 12/24/10 - "Habit Burger Founders Debut Hook Burger Bistro" by Lisa Jennings on nm.com
  18. I'm not sure whether La Fondita has changed ownership, or simply gotten a makeover along with its new rotisserie. Much of what's inside Chicken Loco looks very similar to the way it did at La Fondita, with Latinos chowing down on hearty soups with hunks of corn thrown into the bowl, and Central and South American specialties sitting in trays behind the counter. What's new, aside from the name change, is that as of yesterday, they're serving Pollo a la Brasa, and a Half Chicken ($5.20 without sides) was a pretty game effort for the second day of operation. The cumin-y rub had a decent flavor, but they'll ultimately need to adjust the temperature of their oven, and get the penetration of spicing down more into the core of breast meat - easier said than done. The white mayonnaise-based sauce is, as it so often is, lame, and the green sauce was a standard spicy-grainy version. Either way, I think the decrepit Chicken Pollo down the street is in for some tougher competition from Chicken Loco than from either of the (superior) Korean-based chicken houses, Bon Chon Chicken or Chicken Village, all four sitting on Little River Turnpike between the Beltway and I-395. Mama's Pollo, a fifth, sits right next to TemptAsian Cafe, but is probably too far down the road to make much difference. Cheers, Rocks.
  19. I had lunch here on Friday, w/ my son. Apparently, it's also Bangkok Golden, but not related to the one at 7 Corners, but a similarly named restaurant in Ft. Washington, MD. It's tucked away on the inside section of a currently 'under construction' strip mall, right across from George Mason. It's small, quite attractive (wood paneled walls, Thai art, windows) & while it was empty when we arrived right before noon, it quickly filled up. We had lunch specials of gai pad kra prow (spicy, all chicken w/ peppers & basil but no other veg) & pepper steak (lots of onions, peppers, tomatoes & beef), they both came w/ rice & Tom yum soup. We also shared an order of larb gai, that was less spicy than I like (more sour & fish-saucy, rather than heat). Service was good, I'm sure we'll return.
  20. Sticky Rice will be the 2nd new sit down place on H St., after Granville Moore's, and tonight there's a free sushi tasting at Rock & Roll Hotel.
  21. Highs and Lows. Highs - Charcuterie plate - Prosciutto, Mortadella, Capicola, and Salami. A moretti rosso and a glass of lacryma. Great company. Lows - The pizzas. Quattro Stagioni and Quattro Formaggi. To say that I thought they sucked ventworm nut would be an insult to ventworms and their nuts. Right now I'm eating sunflower seeds and the dough was saltier than they are. Consistency was about that of a piece of cardboard. No char whatsoever. Think the oven was not nearly hot enough. The quattro formaggi had more than its desired allotment of parmesan which made it even saltier. Severe disappointment. My rec would be to avoid the pizzas all together. Edit to add - And please train the busboys better. One of my companions nearly got a mouthful of elbow as the busboy reached clear across the table to refill a water glass.
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