kturkey88

Unfortunately, the Clyde's at Friendship doesn't have a raw bar.

We bought a floor model Bosch from M&M. The showroom/buying experience was easy and pleasant and we were thrilled to hear that we would have the dishwasher delivered and installed 2 days after buying it. The delivery process was a pain in the a though. First the machine came without needed parts, so it couldn't be installed. Then, when I called the store to find out when they'd have the parts and get the dishwasher to us, I was told that it WAS already delivered and installed. A few days later, when I called for an update, I was again told that the dishwasher was delivered and installed already. Believe it or not, this happened 4 times. When I was given a second delivery date and hadn't received anything by 5:30pm that day, I called the store and was told that the delivery already happened that day. It hadn't. Then they said it would probably still happen later that night. It didn't. At that point, we went over to the store to find out what was going on. To a managers (or maybe owners?) credit, he told Tim we'd have the dishwasher the following day, no matter what, and we did. So...long story short...I bought a Bosch. I'm still getting used to the fact that there's no heated dry. I keep waiting to smell old, stale water, but haven't yet. Most items - with the exception of tupperware - come out clean and dry, and I'm so relieved to have a dishwasher back that I'm pretty happy. And despite the communication and delivery issues with M&M, I won't rule them out the next time I need an appliance. I will make sure that at least one person - whether it's the sales person or, more likely, a manager - stays constantly in the loop of my purchase status though. Dealing with multiple sales people and distribution managers was frustrating and futile.

Some more info from my research last night: Sears Appliances in Tenleytown had about 20-25 models to look at and delivery, install, haul away and the stainless steel hose they recommend (or perhaps require) was going to cost $205. There's a promotion with the Boschs though and I think install was either free or rebated $150...something like that. To be honest, at that point of my search, I wasn't really interested in the Bosch models because they don't have heated dry and because of some loading/configuration complaints I had heard from others. The Best Buy across the street has a free delivery and haul away promotion, but install isn't free and I think that was estimated to be $160. I really liked the sales rep we worked with at the Bray and Scarff in Bethesda and they had several ASKO models to look at. Good to know about others' experiences though. It turns out our existing dishwasher is a slightly smaller, "European" width and because it's built into the cabinetry, it looks like I have to stick with the 23" brands/models...so ASKOs and Boschs...? Does anyone else have this issue?

Our dishwasher died yesterday so I'm also researching brands/prices. I called Bray and Scarff because they carry ASKO, which is what we currently have, and was told installation and delivery is $235.

Wow, great find! I didn't know exactly what to expect with the Thai Red Curry Jerk Chicken but had to try it based on the recommendations. The chicken was so tender! The lightly fried cutlet was smothered in the spicy red curry sauce. I don't know if it was dry-rubbed and if that's what makes it "jerk", but it was certainly spicy. Ours wasn't served on noodles but on plain white rice, which was fine; it helped cool down my bites! The drunken noodles were fantastic. We ordered it with pork, and while I didn't expect the pork to be fried, I loved it. I enjoyed it last night but I'd happily eat it cold for breakfast every morning What probably made us most happy with the experience is that we ordered 4 different entrees and each one tasted different. We didn't feel like we got 4 orders of a nondescript base sauce on different proteins, noodles and veggies. When I wanted a hot bite, I had a the jerk chicken. When I wanted to cool down, I had the sweeter (but balanced with enough heat) drunken noodles. For a salty bite (again with nice heat), the ka prow hit the spot. And the takeout held up - even through a 45 minute car ride. Great stuff - thanks guys!

Happened to be walking by this weekend and saw that Macon is open in the Chevy Chase Arcade building on Connecticut Ave. We had already picked up bagels with the kids so I couldn't do much but pop my head in, but I'll probably get over there for a brunch soon. I can't wait to try the biscuits and bacon gravy with poached eggs and maybe the "spiced watermelon bowl".... Has anyone been yet? When did it open?

We arrived at 5:34 last Saturday and were told that they just sat the entire restaurant and that they didn't expect seats to open for about an hour and half. There weren't seats upstairs to wait at the bar so we put our names in and wandered out. I love the "wait list" process - they took our cell phone number and texted at about 6:45 telling us our table was ready and would be held for 10 minutes unless we wrote back asking them to "cancel" our place in line.

Has anyone been to the Ashby Inn lately? What about the Goodstone, or maybe the Salamander? If we could getaway for a night this weekend, where we just want to relax and eat and drink without having to drive afterwards, where should we go? We've loved Ashby in the past, so I'm curious if anyone's been lately. I also really like the idea of an on-site spa so that we can do something without doing anything...you know? Want to stay relatively local so that we don't waste time driving, which is why Bedford Springs is out. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance - Jackie

Sorry I'm only reading this now, but Monroe (I think it's exit 16 off of 87) has lots of kid-friendly restaurants (chains and independents) and some great delis right off of Route 17. Cosimo's is easy and great for kids. http://cosimoswoodbury.com/ I don't think it's open for lunches, but is Angelo's in Harriman is fantastic - go there for dinner if you can. They make this chicken parm (but without red sauce) with pesto and ricotta and mozza - so good! (I forget what they call it but there's a picture of it on their facebook page...lot of delicious looking pictures there actually...but call first as I think they're open limited days/hours.) https://www.facebook.com/pages/Angelos-Sicilian-Trattoria/134083743363940

IMHO, there are times and places for dining "experiences" and other times, I just want to pay for food that's made for me by someone else. With young ones in tow now, a lot of times I eat out because I want to get the kids out of the house for a bit. I want to order quickly, eat as quietly and efficiently as possible and enjoy a little time with them. At this point of my life, I don't need FOH all of the time, everywhere, and I don't think it's such a bad decision for some places to re-evaluate whether or not servers are needed for every customer. I also don't think it's a given that a place that doesn't use servers is "dumbing down" my experience. I think of Bobby's in rockville. It was good food that I ordered at a counter and paid, in my opinion, a pretty high price for quality products. I didn't need human interaction to enjoy what I ate or how spent my money. Fast casual is invaluable to my sanity lately, so I personally might like it if more restaurants were suited to my somewhat frantic ordering/paying style. I won't always be rushed, I won't always have babies in high chairs and I won't always be limited to the Applesbees of the restaurant genre, but I can see the value in having tablets be an option at some places. At least to see what happens and how much people still need a human at the end of the day...

Growing up, our go-to place was The Pines. Lot of family dinners there when we lived in the neighborhood, and the place we always stopped to pick up chicken or eggplant parm sandwiches when we were driving through. The last few years though, we've been going to Enzo's when we're in town. Had my bridal shower there a few years ago.

A Friday lunch there was excellent: The cornbread and hushpuppies were fantastic, the carpetbaggers? (fried oysters) were delicious and the asparagus flatbread sandwich was great (although the salad that accompanied it was overdressed and boring). That being said, count me part of the camp that considers the location and the parking to be a relevant deterrent. Got there around 1130 or so and couldn’t find a spot or parking meter available in the hotel circle or on 12th st, north or south at least a block or so of the hotel’s entrance road (I forget the name of that). 9 months pregnant, I personally am unable to park further away than that – hell, in August I may not do that even if I wasn’t pregnant and certainly wouldn’t do it with family/guests – so I succumbed to the valet. Despite validation from the restaurant, I was still charged $9. Yikes.

I too have been thinking about trying Ethiopian with my new-to-the-area in-laws. We'd also be bringing a 16 month old though - who's pretty good in restaurants, as long as it's the kind of restaurant where we can bring a young one: relatively quick service (or at least service that keeps the food/drinks coming), a room that's a little louder, tables not necessarily on top of one another (I mention the latter based on the "tight quarters" comment re: Madjet), etc. Not looking for anything trendy so much as authentic and welcoming to kids and novices... FWIW - I'm sure we'd be early-birds - we always are these days

Deli City

Not to be argumentative or anything, but if Opentable gave you the credit (which you deserved), is it really worth dumping the restaurant because they haven't responded to an email where all you're doing in said email is proving to them that they made a minor mistake. You were sat, right? You ate and didn't have any problems until you realized that OT didn't give you points, and when you pointed it out to OT, it was resolved. Sure it might be nice if FWC responded to any emails they get, but if Opentable isn't making you go through FWC for the proof that you were there, I don't quite get how the punishment fits the crime.