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  1. Just finished some leftover "Steak Frites" from dinner last night at Mokomandy so I thought I'd start a topic about it. Mokomandy stands for MOdern KOrean by MANDY. The menu is a combination of modernized Korean and modernized Cajun dishes...but not fusion. Everything on the menu is either Korean or Cajun, just not both. My wife has been a few times with friends, but this was my first visit. The space is relatively small, and somewhat modern, but it still feels cozy. Great liquor and wine selections, with a lot of wine options from less-well-known producers (US, South America, France). Wine bottle prices are reasonable, no complaints about the mark-ups. Service was great at all levels. The owner and several members of the wait-staff recognized my wife and even greeted her by name. Bartender was knowledgeable, friendly and professional. Same for the waitstaff. (Small but comfortable bar, could be a little less bright). The menu is organized by Small, Medium, Large, and $2 Sides. You can do a la carte, or, depending on the size of your party, order a couple of the large items to share and then mix in small and medium. Our group of four seemed to like everything we had: Gator croquettes -- awesome, with nice bacon and bechamel sauce. Fried pickles -- if you like pickles, you'll like these. I'm not a huge dill pickle fan, but it's hard to argue against anything fried. Fried Young Chicken -- very interesting with bacon, brussel sprouts (which were surprisingly good), onions, and more. Jambalaya -- Pork, Chicken and Cracklins. I didn't try (besides the cracklins), but my friend who ordered it seemed happy with it. Korean Pot Roast -- I told the waitress to have the chef surprise me, and this is what I got. Great variety of textures and flavors. Thin sliced pears in flower-like shapes atop beef, purple rice, sweet potato puree and more. Doesn't belong in the "Large" section of the menu. More appropriate for its own "Huge" list. Steak Frites -- Great seasoning on the tenderloin medallions, a very good sprucing up of a classic dish. As we were the last table to leave, the chef spent a few minutes chatting with us, and was genuinely interested in how we liked our food. This place has a good menu, good staff, and they are trying hard. I look forward to going back soon.
  2. I tried Bear Rock once when I worked in FC. Completely forgettable, no surprise that it's gone. But, this new place screams "Joe's Crab Shack" to me, and that's not a compliment. What are the odds of this place being any good? My little girl would love to have a local source for mudbugs, but the lobby of an upscale condo is unlikely to be it.
  3. Carlos recognized me almost instantly. I thought he looked like he'd put on a few pounds. But there was no mistaking the man running the front of the house at Louisiana Kitchen, which opened last Saturday in the former New Orleans Bistro space on Cordell Ave. The menu is almost exactly, exactly the same as that of the now-departed Louisiana Express. They even managed to carry over the phone number from Louisiana Express: 301 652 6945. The only accidental omission, Carlos admitted, was the "Cajun pizza". They're going to try to run without it for now. Prices seem to be very slightly higher...a quarter here, fifty cents there, maybe a buck on a few of the apps. But the setting is now fresh and shiny, with new furniture, dishes and flatware, and finally some room between the tables. Yes, the spicy fries are back! Running the kitchen is co-owner José Blanco, the long-time chef at L.E. The two of them managed to hire many of the former staff from L.E., although I didn't see any of them on this Thursday afternoon. Several locations for the venture were considered from Silver Spring to Frederick, but when the former New Orleans Bistro space came available, everything clicked into place. The space came broom-clean with none of the decorations, so the interior re-do has been limited to a new floor, some paint and wallpaper, new fixtures, and the addition of a window from the dining room to the back of the rotisserie. There aren't that many clichéd doohickeys on the wall yet. José's in-laws are helping with some ongoing tweaks to the interior, but otherwise it's up and running. There's also a little blurb on their website regarding the passing of Peter Finkhauser, the owner of Louisiana Express.
  4. Crawfish season is just getting underway here in Houston, and today's visit to Cajun Kitchen marked our first batch. We opted for the "Fatass Number 1" combination. 3 pounds of crawfish (still pretty small this early in the season), a half-pound of head-on shrimp, and a generous section of snow crab legs, plus some potatoes and corn. Market price was $56 today, including the $2 upcharge for the "Kitchen Special" spicing on the boil (which appears to include orange slices, generous amounts of garlic and ginger, onions and peppers. Totally fair, I think, given the amount of seafood you get, but YMMV. We got "medium" spice on the boil, planning to share with the boys, but be forewarned that "medium" is pretty damn spicy. The shrimp and crab are clearly added after the crawfish are tossed in the spice, and were mild enough to share with kids. Aside from the boiled seafood, the garlic noodles and Viet-spiced chicken wings were winners with the whole table. The noodles are fairly thick, tossed in a garlic sauce, and topped with ample amounts of sweet lump blue crab meat and crispy fried shallots. The wings veer toward the sweet side, with a nice backbone of funky fish sauce. There are big screen TVs all around the dining room, and cheap domestic beers available...This could be a great place to spend an afternoon watching a baseball game come Spring.
  5. Given the impending opening of Acadiana, I'm surprised I haven't heard much here about the Jeff Tunks/Chris Clime project. Does anyone have news?
  6. Funny name. Funny...but not so great...place. Six of us tried this new "local food" spot in Woodley with a bit of hesitation. It's the 2nd outpost of a Vegas based concept centered on crawfish, a product of the Gulf Coast. It's half bar, half restaurant. The tables are all covered in plastic. Most of the food is served in plastic bags dropped onto the tables. Crawfish: this is what drew us. The crawfish were a bit overcooked and not really in season quite yet. Steamed Shrimp: best item tried. A plastic bag full of decently spiced and sized shrimp cooked correctly. Chicken Wings: ok as far as deep frying can take a wing Sausage: also served in a plastic bag. forgettable. sweet potato fries: thin, oily OK, it's a bar and this is all meant to be bar food...I guess? All in, it came to $35/person including roughly one beer/person in our group. Ah, and top it all off: bad table service. We were there early before a crowd formed and still waited a long time for food from a confused waiter.
  7. I always get excited at the possibility of good Cajun/Creole food. For years, I worked at a place in the Atlanta suburbs called Comeaux's - the owner was from Lafayette and the food was amazing, and it set my expectations pretty high. I have yet to find crawfish etouffee (outside of Louisiana) that matched the version I would routinely eat after my shift. So, Jason and I visited Po Boy Jim last Friday night, and I worked pretty hard to temper myself. The two-story space is nice - we ate at the bar upstairs. Service was good - the staff seem pretty enthusiastic about the restaurant and its potential. The beer list was pretty lackluster (only 5 taps, 3 of which were not very good for summer), but the bartender actually took time to listen to our suggestions and jot down some notes - again, they really seem like they want to hear feedback and implement positive changes. The food was quite good. We started with a "flight" of wings - 3-4 each of three different flavors. The wings themselves were somewhat small, but they were pretty meaty and the sauces/rubs were tasty. I liked the dry Jerk version the best, and hubby liked the Carolina BBQ. We each had an oyster po'boy - I got the original/classic, and Jason got the Buffalo version. They were both delicious. The bread was really nicely grilled, which gave the whole sandwich an almost smoky note. The oysters were plump and well seasoned/fried. The onion rings were awesome - big and thick, which is my preference, but also crispy and well-salted. Fries were less impressive, but still hot and tasty. Jason raved about the buffalo sauce - he was sopping up every last drop with the fries. Some people have complained about the prices, but considering the large portion sizes, I thought they were fine. The chef (and owner, I think?) came out to apologize for our wings taking longer than usual, and to ask what we thought about the food, which was nice. It's definitely not a diet-friendly place to eat, but I can see us going back to try more of the menu choices.
  8. Jeff Black here. My new Restaurant is now open. Downstairs is a Gulf Coast inspired Oyster Bar (Pearl Dive), upstairs we have bocce ball and a bar named Black Jack. Let me know what you think. JB
  9. So did Pier 2934 on the corner of 30th and M. It was a great place for one pound bags of steamed seafood. Especially Alaskan king crab.
  10. i think it only seems natural that i'm the one to start this thread, eh? in any event, Laura Hayes profiled French Quarter Brasserie recently. gone are the most comfortable bar seats in all of history. in is a spin-off of a Cajun-inspired Fairfax spot.
  11. This Saturday, a group of us will be down by the waterfront and will need a place to go for lunch where we don't have to be dressed up -- in fact, we're likely to be sweaty and perhaps even slightly dissheveled. We will be close to Cantina Marina, and I had heard decent things about this place when it first opened, but nothing in recent years. So, any opinions one way or the other?
  12. Got this notification from Thrillist on the planned opening of The Bayou in DC. "Taking over the old Rookery space, Bayou's a two story New Orleans-themed jazz-taurant rocking vintage black and white pics of the Big Easy and a large mural of a jazz band on Frenchman St. under chandeliers. They're hawking everything from po' boys to "St. Charles Fried Oysters", and live-tuning light jazz Thurs-Saturday evenings, followed by later-night rump-shakers like "Old Man Brown" and "Buster Brown and the Get Down", which actually isn't the name of the band, but rather instructions to Buster Brown while walking some of NO's rougher neighborhoods. The Deep South crew is hosting a party for the Saints playoff game Saturday, so check the menu here beforehand at bayoudc.com" TSchaad
  13. When crawfish are in season, it's tough to go a week without heading out for a few pounds, and this weekend we set out early for lunch at what may be the most well-known of Houston's Viet-Cajun joints, Crawfish and Noodles. C&N has hosted Zimmern, Chang, and god knows who else, and they are clearly aware of their celeb-status, with t-shirts for sale prominently displayed as you walk in. That kind of hubris is typically not a great sign, and I have to admit approaching the rest of my visit as though I were cross-examining a hostile witness. C&N held its own, and while I didn't leave with a "We've Got Crabs" t-shirt (I mean, really), I can dig the food they're putting out. We started with an order of honey-garlic chicken wings, as requested by the 4-year old. He fell in love with the "Viet wings" at Cajun Kitchen, and hasn't stopped talking about them for weeks since. C&N's wings were solid, though I think we should have ordered the "Fish sauce" version for a more direct comparison. These were a bit too sweet for my tastes, with no heat. There are a variety of noodles and soups to choose from, and we went with the stir-fried rice noodle with mixed seafood. This is a hefty portion, with onion, celery, carrot, and crispy shallots mixed with shrimp, (chewy) squid, and fish balls, with a peppery sauce on the side ready to be mixed in. Delicious, and devoured quickly, but if we had to go head to head, we all agreed the crabby garlic noodles from Cajun Kitchen might edge out a win. The crawfish delivered. Choices are limited to spice level (though an intriguing "ginger grass" option is listed as being available at some point in the future). Medium is Houston-medium, which is to say, probably "hot" if you're coming from somewhere else. We opted for medium with a side of "hot" dipping sauce, and I would heartily recommend this combo. For the spice-loving but not super-spicy friends, the medium mudbugs alone are perfect. For those of us who prefer to see God when we eat, you can drag the tail through the sauce and get it done. Compared to the purely Cajun versions I grew up with (and have had at Houston places like The Boot in the Heights), these have a more pronounced garlic and citrus flavor. Priced at $10/lb, these were also the most expensive I've had thus far. Note on wait times: We got there just before noon on Sunday, and were 1 of 5 or 6 tables there. 30 minutes later there was a line out the door.
  14. I thought we had a topic about this, but I can't find it. As heretical as this may sound, many people who aren't familiar with Louisiana (which even has a separate Wikipedia entry for "New France") use the terms "Cajun" and "Creole" interchangeably, usually just saying "cajun" for any cuisine that seems like it might have some New Orleans influence. Do we have any experts here that can compare and contrast these terms (using "Acadiana," maybe even "Baton Rouge," somewhere in the explanation) for those of us who don't have a clue? I'd say our average reader (which, in this case, would include me) is familiar with both terms, but doesn't really have a notion about or historical basis for their true meaning. I began having this conversation as a PM (private message) with one of our members, and quickly realized that it might be of great benefit to others. I've put in the Wikipedia links as a starting point, but don't know where to go from there. Incidentally, this thread would not exist had MC Horoscope not started this thread on "The Back Door." Take note, Herschel: This is how things happen here - what seems like a dead thread will slowly expand over time, creating others, and perhaps even exploding into a torrent of activity. There are no wasted posts here.
  15. "D.L. Menard's 'Back Door' Makes Rolling Stone List" (Of Top 100 Country Songs)" by Herman Fuselier on theadvertiser.com And here is the 1962 Cajun hit by Badeaux and the Louisiana Aces!
  16. Dean Street is the friendly and charming corner neighborhood restaurant that other cities do so well, and DC does not. Walking into the bar room, taking a seat at a round corner table awash with morning sunlight, you want to belong here, to have the staff know your name. You can just envision coming in mid-week, having a beer at the bar, chatting with the bartender, and maybe watching some of the game on TV. If every customer was within a 6 or 7 block walk, I wouldn't be surprised. Now let's not get overblown, the food was good but not great. But one doesn't really care. It's about being in the neighborhood. The menu skews southern/New Orleans: gumbo, shrimp & grits, and lots of biscuits. Crawfish, Andouille Sausage, Cream Cheese Omelet with Home Fries (they could work on their home fries) was a tasty mess. The sort of thing a hangover cries out for. The Bloody Mary was top notch, also hangover worthy. The biscuits topped with poached eggs and mushroom gravy was perhaps too rich, and the sweet potato hash topped with eggs was enjoyed by the vegetarian contingent. If Dean Street was a couple blocks from my apartment, it would be my local.
  17. I got takeout from this place a few days ago, the chef used to have restaurants locally, here & Richmond, that I never visited. I ordered chicken ka prow, pad c ew, & a shrimp po boy-results were mixed, but mostly good-shrimp po boy was for my picky daughter, who moaned about not saying she wanted sauce on the side-4/5 large butterflied shrimp, smothered in remoulade, w/ tomatoes on bread, w/ soggy, but well-seasoned fries (I ate most of the shrimp). Tom didn't like his pad c ew, the noodles were clumpy, & it tasted 'heavy'. My chicken ka prow was not what I was used to, modest in size, not much sauce, w/ a fried egg on top-but it was extremely spicy & addictive-chicken was minced (which I like), green beans, not many visible onions or peppers, but VERY hot- I think it must have been white pepper. At first, I dismissed it, but when I went back for seconds, I enjoyed it, although it was definitely at the high end of the heat scale (& I can handle spicy). Not quite sure where to rank it on my list of favored Thai restaurants, but I'll definitely try it again... & I'll include this, although it makes me look exceptionally lazy-I sent my son to pick up the food (one of the few benefits of having a child recently old enough to drive), he told me he accidentally went into the place next door, & asked for takeout, & they sadly told him, not here, must be next door- he said he felt terrible. I constantly wonder how some of these smaller restaurants stay in business, how do they make the rent, when so many people are not eating out that much?
  18. I've got very mixed feelings when it comes to food trucks - one was virtually inedible, others are middling, okay in a pinch (District Taco, Pure Pasty), and one delicious (Red Hook Lobster). While not quite as delicious as the Lobster Truck, Willie's Oyster Po Boy was good, definitely in the upper echelons of Food Trucks (damning with faint praise) and I'll be back. Loved the breading on the oysters - better than Ray's - although the oysters were not quite as plump. Oysters were fried to order and super hot. Sandwich comes with pickles, tomatoes, lettuce and some mustard mayo sauce unless requested otherwise. More info here.
  19. One of the first cookbooks I ever had was Louisiana Kitchen. I learned a lot from that book and would make the fat-laden dishes for special occasions. Making blackened redfish was always a challenge-- especially in terms of ventilation! I wish I had the chance to go to K-Pauls, but I did go to Commander's Palace for an over-the-top brunch once. Anyway, sad to see him go. He was a man who knew the meaning of "roulez bon temps!"
  20. STEPHAN PYLES' GULF COAST JAMBALAYA 1/4 cup olive oil 3/4 cup chopped tasso or other smoked ham 2/3 cup chopped andouille sausage 2 cups finely chopped onion 6 scallions, chopped 6 cloves garlic, minced 1 large green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped 6 stalks celery, finely chopped 8 ripe tomatoes, blanched, peeled, seeded, and chopped (about 2 pounds) 1 tablespoon chopped oregano 2 teaspoons chopped basil 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro 1 teaspoon chopped thyme 3 bay leaves 1 teaspoon ground cumin 2 teaspoons cayenne powder 3 cups fish stock or chicken stock 3 cups uncooked rice 24 medium raw shrimp, peeled and deveined 24 fresh Gulf oysters, about 1 pound shucked, with their liquor 8 ounces fresh Gulf Coast crabmeat, shell and cartilage removed Salt to taste Preheat oven to 350 F. In large cast-iron skillet, heat olive oil until lightly smoking, add tasso and andouille, and sauté over medium heat until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Add onion, scallions, garlic, bell peppers and celery, and sauté for 5 minutes more. Add tomatoes and seasonings, stir thoroughly, and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in stock and bring to boil. Add rice, stir well, and remove from heat. Cover with foil, and bake in oven until rice is just tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in shrimp, oysters, and crabmeat. Cover and bake for 15 minutes more. Remove bay leaves, taste, and adjust seasoning with salt. Serve immediately. Makes 6 servings. SOURCE: Stephan Pyles I am obsessed with jambalaya. Serious. The above is the best recipe I have found and made. Please post yours.
  21. Somebody brought this place up as an option for an upcoming dinner and I had never even heard of it. Is it new? old? open? closed? How have I not at least seen this while walking up 18th st? 2412 18th St. 202-234-0420
  22. Just walked by this place today...looks promising. It's right next door to Boqueria, in a space vacated by a Starbucks. http://www.dcpoboyshop.com/index.html Opening at some point in June apparently.
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