entropy

I went there for dinner on NYE and the quality and value of the food was as good as ever...quite simply some of the thickest slices of fresh sashimi that I have seen in a long while (and it also goes quite well with the rest of the mammoth dinner set option). Tachibana is really one of the hidden gems of high-quality, good value Japanese food in the area. If the place I went to recently experienced a "drop off" in quality, I'd be really sad that I never got to experience the original as it must have been amazing.

Dined there on Friday evening and ditto to everyone's glowing reviews. With masterfully cooked soft-shells, a glass of bubbly, and fine company what more can a Komi diner ask for? Three cheers for Chef Monis!

Congrats on your first year! If the food I ate today was any indication of your future success, I'm sure that you'll be celebrating many anniversaries to come. My coworkers and I stopped by for lunch and enjoyed the much-hyped raviolini (deserving of all the hype and then some). I also partook of the hanger steak. The beef was cooked perfectly and loved the endive and pancetta as well, but I felt that my steak was a bit underseasoned for my tastes. Finished it off with some great hazlenut cake as well. Three cheers for Notti Bianche!

I was there last week and enjoyed the Chicken-Katsu bento. Same high-quality, but with a newly-higher price (though no additional good eats).

My co-workers seem to love Nooshi as well, though I don't share the same level of unconditional adoration. There are some quality dishes (can't get away from the Drunken Noodles, particularly when ordered spicy and I'm definitely a fan of their Curry Laksa as well), but for the most part the place is relatively ho-hum for me. I feel that it suffers from the similar difficulty that all-kinds-of-asian food restaurants tend to experience. Nearby Cafe Asia tends to do a bit better of a job, in my opinion, and if you want a cheaper and dare I say more authentic option, Malaysian Kopitiam is close as well. As for Nooshi's sushi, I've had it a few times (and I indulged when they still had their $20 all you can eat deal) and while not horrible, they did tend to pack a bit more rice into it than most other places.

My friend and I visited there last night as well (in fact, I think we were headed out right when Roo arrived). While we shared Roo's enthusiasm of the view, we weren't quite as keen on our food. Between the two of us we had the Spinach Cigar Borek (feta and spinach in phyllo), calamari kadaifi (fried calamari in shredded wheat), a duck breast dish whose name i can't remember and isn't on the online menu (morsels of duck in some sauce whose composition i don't know, with almonds), and the branzini (branzini filet with chermoula, almond-currant rice, and lobster sauce). The feta in the spinach cigar was particularly overpowering for both of our tastes, to the point that we couldn't even place the flavor of the spinach. Also, our phyllo cigar ended up being quite soggy for some reason. The calamari dish was particularly oily and the shredded wheat on top didn't do too much to enhance the mouth feel of the dish. The duck wasn't particularly memorable as the sauce lacked any real flavor and the bits were overcooked. The branzini was probably the strongest of the dishes as the fish (though, once again slightly overcooked) was flaky and the flavors of the almond-currant rice were a great accompaniment to a well-seasoned piece of fish. We liked the atmosphere, the space (though it's quite the hike up to the top), and the service...hopefully we just picked the wrong dishes or were experiencing a slightly off night!

Went to his "fish shack" when I was up in NYC over New Year's. The quality of the food and the freshness of the seafood was quite good for the price point. I didn't get to dine upstairs at the more high-end BLT Fish, but I'm guessing that things would have been equally as good after perusing their menu. The "shack" was also where I ran into Iron Chef Flay. his wife, and their daughter...they seemed nice enough and waited over an hour for a table just like everyone else! It'll be interesting to see what goodness BLT brings to DC.

Decided to cap off RW at Mozu and was, unfortunately, slightly underwhelmed. Started with a coconut milk-galangal concoction with bits of shrimp and wild rice that was a delightful mix of two very distinct flavors. Went very nicely with our too-hard-to obtain rolls (see below). Main course was the "szechuan" ribeye steak. I failed to see any resemblance in the preparation to any cuisine I've had from that Chinese province, but the steak was cooked to a perfect medium rare and was well-flavored. My guest had the tuna steak and that was a fine cut of tuna also cooked quite well with a squash puree on the bottom. Dessert consisted of a trio of selections ranging from tiger cake, a chocolate-type cake with a wafer crust, and a passionfruit pudding of sorts. Very sweet and very sizeable. While I expected a bit more out of the food, I was generally satisfied. What really set me off was the service. While us foodies are forgiving due to the crush of a typical RW crowd, it frankly wasn't particularly busy this evening at Mozu when we were dining there (maybe 75% full). We arrived about 30 minutes early with the intention of checking out the Mandarin Oriental's chic lounge. I headed over to check in and was told we could be seated immediately...an offer that we took them up on. That is until the head hostess (or maybe she was just the other hostess) literally stopped the other hostess from leading us through the door and told us that we'd have to wait a a few minutes for her to tell us if the table was available or not. We were then left to wait for another ten minutes until I walked up and asked again if we could be seated or should just head over to the lounge. After another five minutes or so we were finally seated. Bottom line, I have no problem waiting till my actual reservation time, but just let us know if we should stick around or head over to the bar. Hoping that the worst was behind us, our server left much to be desired as well. Things started off fine as he was quite cordial, but that's when the waiting game started...first he forgot the bread (which was eventually delivered, after being asked, with our first course), then the time between courses started growing to the point where we literally sat there for at least 20 minutes between finishing dessert and any other approach by him to the table. As I was walking back from the restrooms I overheard another table chewing him out for not offering them coffee/tea until after the arrival of their desserts (an offer which my guest and I didn't get, period). Clearly he was getting mobbed, which I can understand since his section was full. The problem I saw here though was that none of his fellow servers (with nearly empty sections) were helping the poor guy out. In any case, I was just surprised with the service, particularly given the international reputation of the hotel (perhaps the restaurants are run by a different company). Bottom line. Food = thumbs up with room for improvement, service = thumbs down with LOTS of room for improvement. Next time I'm back at the hotel, hopefully I'll have a more pleasurable experience when I head next door to City Zen!

After my experience earlier this week, I was thoroughly surprised to find that there has been little to no recent discussion about this gem on the board. Here's my attempt at bringing it back into the DR.com consciousness... My guest and I hung around the bar for a while waiting for our table on a packed Tuesday night. The eating started with the Baby Octopus small plate and a single Serrano-wrapped Gulf Shrimp. As if the main items themselves weren't delectable enough, I forewent the tapenade poured for the bread and instead mopped up the red chili, garlic, and tomato mixture. I would've been happy enjoying the intensity of those flavors for the rest of the evening. The real treat began when we sat down for the real deal. I started with the Proscuitto-wrapped Monkfish (apparently the chef has a penchant for wrapping things in ham, which I have no problem at all with), while my guest went for the Grilled Calamari. When they arrived, my first thought was "wow, they are big enough to be entrees themselves". My worries of being able to finish my actual entree and dessert were assuaged as I took my first bite of a steaming piece of flaky monkfish wrapped in a juicy strip of proscuitto. My guest's calamari was equally fine as well, carrying the appropriate amount of flavor from the grill. We refrained from using our bread to mop up the accompanying sauces to these dishes in our attempts to conserve our appetites! To the mains...I decided to tackle the Zarzuela (Spanish stew). This was a melange of seafood (red snapper, shrimp, and mussels) served with serrano ham and other delicious things in a lovely broth (perfect for a cold winter night). My guest enjoyed a mahi-mahi in a curry broth. The flavors in this dish were very well-defined and I was impressed that the curry did not overpower the flavor of the fish. Finally, though we were defying our stomachs, we split the Trio of Creme Brulees. The presentation of this dessert is one of the best I've ever seen for creme brulee. Three separate mini-dishes of brulee (vanilla-orange, coffee, and chocolate-cinnamon) each had their own distinctive garnish that added height and visual appeal to a final product that can only be described as tasty all-around. Two final notes...Out of the many different types and preparations of seafood my guest and I experienced that night, all of it was perfectly cooked (save for the piece of red snapper I left buried for too long in the saffron broth, underneath the mountain of mussels). Given the typical difficulty of cooking seafood just right, I was impressed with the consistency. Secondly, the service was equally positive that evening. Our waiter interspersed the right amount of humor, accomodated special requests with ease, and remained attentive without hovering. For this foodie's palate, Blacksalt has moved ahead of DC Coast, Johnny's, and Kinkead's when it comes to THE DC seafood place to go. If I am being delusional, happened to experience a particularly good night, or drank one too many glasses of the Viognier, please someone set me straight!

Was there a few days ago and noticed that the soup of the day was $3 during HH...went along well with my rail gin and tonic for $4

I've been in Orlando for the past few days on business and have had the fortune of coming upon some great restaurants along International Drive and up in the Universal area that bear mentioning. The first night, after walking by the Mercado Mall (and looking in on some very quiet restaurants), we proceeded a little further south (towards Sea World) and stopped into Vito's Chop House. Dined on a 20oz Tuscan Porter that tasted great with a reasonably priced glass of Malbec...it was no Ray's, but far better than Outback! For lunch the next day my co-worker and I stumbled upon a Cantonese-style restaurant (can't remember the name...it had something with Hong Kong in it)serving dim sum (no carts, ordered via sheet). It had the typical greatest hits, along with non-dim sum items, one would expect and they were prepared to a high quality! This fine place was located just south of the Lighthouse Seafood Buffet (gaudy looking lighthouse) and about 10 minutes north of Vito's on I-Drive. Later that evening we "took it up a notch" and decided to dine at Emeril's in U-Studios City Walk. We slipped in with a 5:30 (the other time for this popular choice was 9) reservation for kitchen-side seats and were blown away by the experience. I started with a homemade sausage appetizer (boudin and andouille) while my co-worker had a crabcake served with some frisee on a remoulade, both were more than satisfying. My main dish (co-worker had an Emeril's salad) was a duck breast and leg combination with a cranberry chutney, yellow curry rice, and grilled asparagus. In a word, W-O-W! A perfectly cooked medium rare duck, an amazing combination of flavors and textures, and a brilliant presentation...quite simply the best duck dish I've ever had. The meal ended with a subdued Earl Grey creme brulee. Also had a refreshing bottle of Torrontes (Argentina) throughout the experience. Was worried that a meal at U-Studios would be a tourist trap, but Emeril's was anything but! I would've been more than happy finding only these three great places on my trip...but there was still one more to be found. Just a few blocks north of Vito's (between there and the Chinese place) on I-Drive is a shopping center with "The Crab House" and one of those "solve the mystery" restaurants. The real gem in this strip mall is a Japanese place called Hanamizuki. I feasted on a Moriawase (chef's choice) Sashimi dinner set. For $30, not only did I get 18 pieces of some of the freshest fish (tuna, salmon, snapper, yellowtail, squid, and octopus) I've ever had...but I also got several appetizers (tempura, chawanmushi, miso, etc.) and a dessert. A deal it was, but the quality was off the charts and I've dined at some of DC's finest (Sushi-Ko, Kaz's, etc.). And if sashimi isn't your thing, they also had a wide selection of traditional Japanese treats ranging from onigiri, nabe, shabu shabu, udon/soba (many kinds), and the "love it or hate it" natto. Needless to say, I've been thrilled with our culinary finds thus far in this "tourist city". For us foodies, it seems that the general rule for success should be the less gaudy the restaurant looks on the outside, the better your dining experience will be on the inside. I've got one more day here before being shipped off to the hurricane disaster area(s), perhaps another diamond in the rough will be unearthed!

I stopped by with a friend for a late (8:30) dinner last week and noticed that no one's written about this place in quite a while...so here's my $.02. Up entering the restaurant, I noticed two things. First of all, like our beloved DonRocks' experience, there were very few Asians in the restaurant. As one myself, my "authenticity meter" tends to ping a bit when I initially walk into a restaurant serving ethnic food without people of that ethnicity dining there. Secondly, I was taken aback as to how full the restaurant was (over 80%) despite given the late hour and it being a weeknight. Business is still going strong, so they must be doing at least something right! To the food...For apps, we had the Green Papaya Salad and Larb. The salad was darn good. Crispy papaya, accentuated by the peanuts, combined with the saltiness of the fish sauce and the spiciness of the chillis; a definite winner. The larb was just as good with similar complex flavors and provided the most heat for the evening (and it proved to be quite a delicious snack the next day with toast as well). We both were far less adventurous with our entrees as we ordered the Simple Beef Fried Rice and their special 54 Fried Rice. Well-flavored ingredients (shrimp, chicken, and beef) mixed with equally well-flavored rice made these dishes particularly satisfying as well. The friend who I was dining with (who happened to be Thai) was impressed with the authenticity of the food and said that it was just like mom used to make (blowing my initial snap judgement out of the water). Service on our visit was very good. Our waitress was particularly attentive, but certainly not in an overbearing way. I was most impressed with her (and the other servers') enthusiasm in delivering birthday cakes and singing that dreaded song to the three tables that were celebrating that evening! Definitely looking forward to returning and diving deeper into the menu...perhaps it may even unseat my current Thai favorite, Sawatadee.

I dined there a few months ago and thoroughly enjoyed my food. I had a scallop dish (with some of the biggest and well-cooked scallops I've seen in a while) served with proscuitto and I believe some mashed potatoes. Not overly priced (mid-$20s)...about right for what it was given the area of the city it's located in (Farragut West/North). My guest had the halibut, and if I remember correctly it was also well-prepared and reasonably sized. There's was nothing particularly noteworthy about the service for me. Our server was there when we needed her, but didn't go out of her way to do anything special nor was she in any way overbearing nor omnipresent. I, like JLK, was quite taken aback by the lack of customers. I was there on a Saturday at 8pm and there were maybe two other four-tops occupied at most. I worry that this place won't be able to sustain itself given the menu and wine list it maintains in a relatively high rent area of the city. Perhaps they fare better during lunch? In any case, the food is certainly of reasonable quality and price...I just hope that they're around long enough so that diners can experience it.

Made my first long-anticipated visit to TemptAsian Cafe a few days ago and found it surprisingly busy for a Tuesday evening (must have been the buzz from Tom's review). Upon entering the minimally-appointed restaurant, my guest and I were a bit befuddled. We stood around for a few minutes without knowing if we should just sit down or wait to be seated. After flagging down a waitress, we were told to wait a few more minutes while they got a table ready. However, during the time between our table being ready and the waitress coming to retrieve us, another party just walked in and sat down at our table! The situation was quickly resolved and the brief hiccup gave way to a great culinary experience. While my guest was not up for any of the traditional offerings (ended up ordering a more-than-adequate Beef Fried Rice by Americanized-Chinese food standards), I endeavored to sample as much as my stomach would allow along one central theme, spicy. Started off with the baby wontons in chili oil and the beef tripe w/garlic. For my entree, I scratched a long-standing itch for a staple of Sichuan cuisine, Ma Po tofu. The freshness of the hand-made wontons, the perfect and unique consistency of the tripe, and the silkiness of the tofu made this an amazing meal. What was most impressive about this hot experience was that though all three of my dishes contained a considerable amount of heat, my "en fuego" tastebuds were still able to distinguish between the individual character of the three dishes. The flavor of the wonton broth, the garlicky nature of the tripe, and even a hint of sweetness in the tofu. Normally, food of this nature is just "hot"...but this was "hot" and so much more. Needless to say, the large portions and one stomach yielded many leftovers that I'm still contently feasting on. Though the service was sparse and indifferent, the food was authentic and satisfying...and let's be honest, the latter was why I went there hoping for in the first place and it's why I'll be back very soon!

DCFoodies.com is "reporting" this as well....perhaps the secret is out of the bag?!