Where Did You Dine?

[jfw]

What an anniversary weekend.

Friday: Dinner at Blue Ridge. Highlights were an heirloom tomato salad and a grilled okra (so good, we ordered it twice) small plate. Also had some Rappahannock oysters. They were absolutely huge. Good value. The grill is clearly the highlight at Blue Ridge, as even the lemon wedge with the oysters saw some grill time. The smokiness was a nice addition to the lemon.

Saturday: Lunch at Nam-Viet. Knowing what was in store for dinner, I opted for my standard #31. Didn't start with shrimp garden rolls. Grilled pork on the rice vermicelli was very tender and caramelized.

Saturday: Pre-dinner at Hank's in Dupont. Reunited with the sous chef after his recent stint in Spain. Expecting to stop in for a glass of wine and a few oysters, we ended up with some perfectly executed gambas al ajillo. The shrimp were incredibly sweet and tender. Good and heavy on the garlic. A curl of red pepper added some nice heat. 1/2 dozen oysters. Rappahannocks seem to be 'on' right now, as they were the better of the two types of oysters we had.

Saturday: Dinner at Komi. Our most recent previous visit left us wondering if Komi had lost some of its luster. Saturday night's showing re-elevated Komi to its previous stature. It's so tough to remember all the mezzethakia. Of the two crudo, the first was amazing. Chive and lemon(?) and turbot broth were lovely together. The two tuna preps were also outstanding. The second included a sorbet and some candied pine nuts and the texture and temperatures worked really well together. The sweet of the candied pine nuts paired nicely with the smoked salmon. A scallop bite reminded me of ika natto I used to eat at a sushi restaurant in Rhode Island. Something fermented in the Komi dish, but I couldn't figure out what. Anyhow...the BLT with pork shoulder was a rich, complex morsel. The min brioche with a creamy topping I can't remember in detail and some trout(?) roe was divine. My boulletas were pillowy and light and I kept thinking 'marshmallow' as I ate it. A good dish I thought would've paired better with a white wine. Kat's pairings were, otherwise, really, really great. My wife's spaghetti with sea urchin and crab was the sort of ocean-y dish that transports all senses to the coast and the sea at its most refreshing and finest. Suckling pig main was also other worldly. The meat was so tender and rich and the crispy skin was decadent beyond belief. Two more slices of pita would've helped.

Service was also amazing. As mentioned, Kat chose well. And Bill is a charming and entertaining waiter. Again, Komi really vaulted itself back up several steps on the ladder.

Sunday: Breakfast at home. Blueberry waffles, black forest bacon, eggs over easy, OJ, and coffee.

Sunday: Snack at 2 Amys. A nice beet salad with tart vinegar and a wide variety of beets. Bialy and cream cheese and house smoked salmon.

Sunday: Dinner at a parking lot BBQ in Takoma Park. A mish-mash sorta pot luck thing. Fingerlings on the grill, basic burgers, chicken breasts, corn on the cob, cucumber salad, and 'Chinese' cole slaw.

[Anna Blume]

At a table beside a wide glass window with a ledge outside where some guy perched until another guy got out of a car and after a brief exchange, handed over a lot of folded bills.

[DonRocks]

Recent meals include a beautiful Tiradito at La Canela, Key Lime Pie at Bobby's Crabcakes (I'm not a huge fan of key lime pie in general, but this crust was exceptional), Five Spiced Sliced Beef at China Star (a perfect little lunch with their unusually good steamed rice), a lackluster, pedestrian dinner at Sonoma (downgraded), tasty vegetarian Cucumber Bruschetta and Ratatouille Tart at the underrated Policy (upgraded) an overpriced, so-so bar dinner at a dreary-feeling DC Coast (downgraded), good desserts with outstanding beer pairings by the great Thor Cheston at Brasserie Beck, middling food and a well-poured Guinness at Ireland's Four Provinces, a Rolling Rock at The Big Hunt, disappointing Buffalo Frog Legs and nearly inedible Stachowski Charcuterie at Enology, a (yes, floppy), but still excellent pizza at 2 Amys, an early visit (without comment) to the overrun Columbia Firehouse, super-fresh, well-priced, $30 Sashimi Omakase at Sushi Sono (with everything else, including the sushi rice and overpriced daily specials, a big disappointment - stick to the sashimi combinations here), a passable Pulled Pork Sandwich from the Hillandale Urban Bar-B-Que, a very disappointing dinner at the somewhat overrated Bazin's On Church, a good dinner at Cork (actually, something of a feast, since I was there with a friend of the chef), super-tasty Grilled Mussels (yes, skillet-grilled mussels) and Pupusas (yes, pupusas) at Franklin's (with the second wave of dishes - a trio of dips and a pizza - just dreadful on the chef's night off), a fine Hummus with Ground Beef from Lebanese Taverna, yet another terrific vegetable sandwich from Kasha's Kitchen, a beer at Saigon, where's Saigon, you say? Right across the street from Lola in Cleveland, where I had two recent meals, the small plates (including the formidable charcuterie) being excellent, the entrees being disappointing, the new space is impressive, a nice Sunday brunch at North Pond in Chicago, very good food at Avec in Chicago (the noisiest restaurant I've ever been to in my life), a great pizza at the original Giordano's (tainted by a thieving bartender, but Giordano's is the first restaurant I ever went to in Chicago, so it has sentimental value for me), disappointing food at Zingerman's Roadhouse in Ann Arbor (which has one of the most enticing menus I've ever read, and seems to have all bases covered in all of its programs (drinks, breakfast, drive-thru, sourcing, etc.) but simply does not deliver the goods when the food arrives on the plate).

And you?

[dcdavidm]

Recent meals include...

(SNIP)

And you?

Roasted heirloom tomato soup and Georgia white shrimp with linguine at Dinos; plump, fresh oysters and house-made potato chips at Black Salt; most-perfectly cooked lobster ever, with tagliatelle at White Barn Inn (Kennebunk, Maine); lobster bolognese at quirky Big Fish Grill (Kennebunkport, Maine); traditional, purist lobster roll at Cape Porpoise Pier (Porpoise Point, Maine); Brazilian picanha cut at Ray's the Steaks. Nice summer so far...

[DonRocks]

A run of fine meals, starting with an incredibly priced Menu della Sera at Dino, featuring three courses (Pesca Grigliata (Grilled Peaches, not normally an option, but my friendly bartender let me add them for only a $1 upcharge), a fabulous, “off”-cut of Pesce Spada al Pomodoros (Hawaiian Swordfish), and Susini Arrosto con Ricotta (Roasted Plums)), the whole meal only $25, washed down with a Quartino ($8) of Di Lenardo “Vieris” Sauvignon Blanc, which was so good I bought the whole bottle ($24), at 5:30 in the afternoon, there were fully nine plates of pickles and tidbits at the bar, highlighted by an excellent housemade Wild Boar and Mushroom Pâté (which is only available for earlybirds), a pre-birthday dinner at the underrated Indique Heights (upgraded), the Chicken Chettinad being every bit as good as the outstanding version at Indique, these two restaurants, along with Passage To India, Spice-Xing, Heritage Glover Park, and (if it’s your cup of tea) Rasika are arguably the six best Indian restaurants in the Washington, DC area, with Indique and Indique Heights right up near the top for me, it was nice to see Chef Vinod enjoying dinner with his family there as well, and what a fabulous birthday dinner the next evening at Restaurant Eve Bistro, which has its service at such a high level that every single restaurant – including Inn at Little Washington, CityZen, Citronelle, 2941, and Marcel’s – should be here taking notes on how to make customers happy, when I walked out the door that evening, I couldn’t have imagined going anywhere else, Cathal Armstrong fully deserved the Beard award last year for maintaining the high standards at this great, albeit expensive, restaurant, after walking out of a moribund Palette (whose wine list is just awful), I headed a few blocks down to the resilient Mio (severely downgraded after the departure of Nick Stefanelli, now upgraded), where Manuel Iguina always comes up with a good wine to drink, and the bar snacks were just plain great, a platter of Pinchos ($6 each for beef, chicken, and shrimp) and the best (file this away for future reference) the best Empanadas ($7 for chicken or vegetable) I’ve had in this city, if you’re looking for a place to get a good, inexpensive meal downtown after work, go to Mio and order both of these dishes off the bar menu, you’ll thank me, an armful of good, carryout pizzas from the Arlington Pie-tanza, at around $12 each, I can’t imagine getting anything from these restaurants other than the pizzas, which are consistently good, note to self: check passport expiration BEFORE day of international travel next time, Florida was lovely, but Zurritos not so much, aside from the decent fish tacos, everything else at this former Z Grille location was no better than you’d get at a Chipotle (excessive sodium at Chipotle notwithstanding), although it’s a fun divey atmosphere, but what a surprise at Ceviche Tapas Bar, a four-restaurant Florida chain that had a surprisingly good wine list, a well-priced menu, and every single tapa at least “good,” with some being a bit better than that, vibrant and impressive for what it is, recommended in St. Petersburg, and even more recommended is the new Z Grille, long-listed for a Beard Award last year, on Wednesday nights this place “out-Deans Dean” with its $20 Blue Plate Special, three set courses – Italian Salad, Pasta with Meat Sauce and a Giant Meatball, Vanilla Ice Cream with fresh berries – and, and, and a pint of any draft beer they offer, on this instance PranQster Golden Ale, also on tap for the evening, California Deviled Eggs and Dr. Pepper Fried Ribs, both Z Grille signature dishes and both winners, the nicest view I’ve had at a restaurant since Waterman’s Crab House was at Mandalay Restaurant and Tiki Bar, right on the water, no great shakes on the food, the Conch Fritters seemingly (and strangely) having undertones of Asiago or Parmesan, a grilled Dolphin Sandwich better than expected, this is a place to unwind with a cold beer and watch the sun set, with lightning strikes out in the distance, dining in Key West is something of an oxymoron, but I bit the touristy bullet and had a slice of Key Lime Pie at one of three (!) Blond Giraffes within a half-mile stretch of Duval Street, too sweet, and absolutely the Starbucks of key lime pies, a bit south of Sloppy Joe’s (and no, I didn’t) lies an attempt at fine dining, La Trattoria, with friendly, semi-rote service catering to older tourists looking to escape the bar scene, the best they could do on the beer front were bottles of Peroni, and the food, including a supposedly fresh Florida Snapper, was devoid of flavor and seasoning, this is shoulder-shrugging, resigned-to-mediocrity dining that is pleasant and relaxing, but also fully priced and forgettable, I hadn’t been to 7 Mile Grill in close to twenty years, and it was just as I remembered, only cleaner, eggs, bacon, corned-beef hash, blueberry pancakes, everything just as you want, made even better by the delightful owner, Shirley Scott, she and husband Bill have owned this Marathon institution for six years, but are now trying to sell the business (and having difficulty doing so in this climate) and live out their dream in Costa Rica, selling sunglasses on the beach, when I left I told Shirley, “I hope the next time I come you’ll be gone,” the Southern Style Chicken Sandwich ($2.79) at McDonald's is a travesty, a cheap, low-quality imitation of the real McKoy at Chick-Fil-A, a watery chicken breast coated by a flavorless batter, this is (believe it or not) the second time I’ve had it, the first time was with Eric Ziebold (neener, busted), a $23 bottle of 1978 Visan Cotes-du-Rhone Villages at the one-of-a-kind, irreplaceable Bern's Steak House, long-listed for the Beard national Outstanding Restaurant award last year, it boasts the world’s largest privately held wine cellar, and now claims to have 1,000,000 bottles in their inventory, the newer, more popular vintages here are fairly (but fully) priced, but if you know what you’re doing, you can steal some older vintages at unbelievable prices, many, many interesting bottles priced in the $20s, including a 1971 Piat (a lame negociant, as many of their older wines are from) Cote-du-Rhone Villages I bought for $26.95 (which was a bit “long in the tooth,” as they say), they also were offering 1985 Vidal-Fleury Cotes-du-Rhone for less than $8 a glass, and 1976 Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon for only about $15, they do enough business where they can afford to have an ever-changing selection of 3-4 fascinating old bottles open for dirt-cheap prices, the steaks themselves are big and, at the end of the day, downright mediocre, both the delmonico and the porterhouse impressive-looking but not there on the palate, these steaks seem super-expensive (a huge, 30-ounce porterhouse for two is $96), but each steak comes with all the sides and appetizers included, French Onion Soup, a little salad, cheese-covered wafers, a fully stuffed baked potato, asparagus, various sauces, and all the fancy-dancy, well-polished schtick that makes this legendary restaurant a destination for anyone who loves wine, desserts are taken upstairs in the lavish dessert room, with its correspondingly lavish dessert wine list, a 1978 Rayne-Vigneau Sauternes for $7.95 a glass, a 1983 Dow’s Port for $10 a glass, if anyone wants to see a copy of their wine list of old, I have one from the late 1980s and it is just massive, literally the size of a phone book, fully bound in hardcover, no this is not cutting-edge or even great cuisine, but I love Bern’s and I probably always will, “the crawfish were great a month ago, but now they’re not fresh,” my server advised me at Sea Side Crab House, so instead I got a dozen freshly-shucked oysters for the unbelievable price of $13.95, these are grilled and garnished, and presented on the half-shell, one of the great oyster values I’ve come across in this area, and one you should know about, my server also urged me not to try the nightly special of Bê Thui, (a raw-beef salad), and she was right, but for the wrong reasons, the salad should, in theory, look something like this, but instead what I got was mostly large-chopped green peppers and red onions, with a moderate amount of Pho-quality beef mixed in, and also about a kilogram of MSG, there can be no great dish that uses such a high amount of this cheap, evil chemical, and if I have to condemn every Vietnamese restaurant in Eden Center, then so be it, after that spicy dish, a light, refreshing, ice-cold Mini Red-Bean Bingsu at Yo Fruit is just what the doctor ordered, one of the best crab cakes I’ve had in recent memory is the outstanding Maryland Crab Cake ($14) with ginger-lime vinaigrette downstairs in the wine bar at J&G Steakhouse, the downstairs wine bar offers the full upstairs menu (as well as a separate lounge menu, which is worth ordering from because some of the exact same dishes are cheaper (the $15 cheeseburger, for example, comes with fries in the wine bar, and the Grilled Petite Filet ($18) with fries and steak sauce is fully $10 cheaper for the same steak, which incidentally was excellent)) if you’re shying away from J&G because of the financial commitment, try the wine bar downstairs instead, where you can come dressed casually, and pick-and-choose among the small plates as you see fit, wines are expensive but the quartino portions are large, and potent, as I found out the next morning, murmurs abound about Sushi Taro being the “best in town” now, but I’m not on that train yet, especially when the greatest sashimi and sushi in the Washington, DC area is served, yes, still, by Koji Terano at Sushi-Ko (disclosure), a Lobster Sashimi ($14) was a half tail, and claw meat, presented two-ways, and seemingly innocent hirame was topped with white summer truffles, it’s safe to say you’re getting special attention when Koji himself makes your maki, but I’ve sent numerous people here in the past, alerted management that they were coming, and without exception, they came back and raved …...

... et tu, you Brutes?

[Sableberg]

Friday night at Central, my first time. Had a miner's club cocktail at the bar as we waited for the rest of our party to arrive. Such a refreshing break from the mugginess outside! Started with gougeres and a charcuterie plate and a had a glass of tempranillo. The country pate and faux gras were unbelievable. Had the beef cheeks as my main with a glass of barbera and tried some of the calf's liver, which was firm and meaty and only barely liver-y... but in a good way. The beef cheeks and tagliatelle were divine. We finished with one chocolate mousse for the table. Rest of the weekend was less exciting, though I did have take-out chengdu dumplings, ma po tofu, and tea smoked duck from Hong Kong Palace. Meeting a friend at Palena for cheeseburgers tonight and having a girls night at Adour on Weds.

[Rhone1998]

Two solo dinners over the past few days with my wife out of town. First was seated at the bar at The Source, where I started with three amazing little bites of crispy suckling pig with black plum puree that I could eat all day every day, and what they call "tiny dumplings," which is actually a pretty generously-sized plate of about 8 small but tightly stuffed and intensely flavored pork dumplings. I probably didn't need the "lacquered Chinese duckling" but I ordered it anyway to see if the kitchen could do with duck skin what they did with pork, and was glad I did. It was great, as good as any Peking duck around. I definitely didn't need the blueberry and almond crumble, a cake about the size and consistency of a hockey puck that was really the only blemish on what was otherwise an amazing meal. Also, kudos need to go to the two very friendly bartenders and the crisp service all around, which stood in stark contrast to my experience the following night at Poste.

Should I have seen the disinterested bartenders serving blueberry martinis and vodka tonics to a crowd that was doing a lot more drinking than eating as a sign of bad things to come at Poste? More than 20 minutes passed before they brought over my two appetizers, which may have partially contributed to the fact that my basket of crispy fried smelts was a few degrees above room temperature and hardly crispy at all. But I can't blame bad service for the two dry and tasteless short rib sliders. (I only ate one, but I think it's safe to assume the second was dry and tasteless as well). I walked out really disappointed in Poste, but maybe this is not the place to try over a holiday weekend.

[weinoo]

My wife, Significant Eater and I have been getting set up in a nice little apartment in downtown DC where her new job began just last Monday. To set up the apartment, there were three (or was it four?) round-trips to NY by car, numerous trips to Target, Ikea, Bed, Bath & Beyond, and Calvert Woodley for booze - where some of the pricing makes no sense to me, when I have the luxury here in NYC of shopping at Astor Place and Wherehouse Liquors. Think $23 for Rittenhouse BIB, and some of you know what I mean. But, at least they stock it.

There's even a Harris Teeter (new to me), a Southern-based grocery chain, which my buddy turned me onto as one of the key supermarkets to shop at...with parking. They put out those fancy sample trays (with domes!) all around the store, too - but you don't eat out of those, do you? Just think of how many kids reached in to grab a slice of apple after wiping their runny noses with their hands, and I bet you'll stop. Actually, I think they should call them H1N1 domes.

In between all the cleaning, shopping and stocking however, a boy's gotta eat. Oh, SE and I made the obligatory stop at Ben's Chili Bowl, where the half-smoke is good, and the picture of Obama on the wall makes the food taste better than it really is...I wonder, did Michelle make him sleep on the couch after his chili dog?

I digress, so back to food. One of my oldest and closest friends now also lives in DC (and he just started a new job there too - what is this world coming to, with people getting jobs?), so I picked up Miami Danny and dragged him to a couple of places I had spotted on my various shopping excursions around town. And what's the first thing a couple of Jewish kids from Long Island think about when they're thinking about food? Yeah, that's right, ribs. I had spied this joint, located in the 3900 block of 14th St. NW, and just had to give it a try.

Well, wouldn't you? And boy, did it suck. You'd think with that pile of wood stacked up so nicely in the front window, there might be a chance that this would be a place to return to again and again. You'd be wrong. Perhaps the inside should have been a clue - it had more bulletproof glass than a bank in the 70s, and the ribs were delivered (after paying) via a turntable type device which made sure there was no human contact between the "pitmaster" and the customer. I'm pretty sure that the only smoke the ribs saw was the liquid smoke in the over-applied barbecue sauce. And the wings, which if done right can be ethereal, were dry and, I dunno, woody?

So, off we went to stop number 2, which was a couple of blocks south on that same stretch of 14th St.

It's Pepe's Elotes Asados, where just to get the taste of the ribs and chicken out of our systems, we each got a nice ear of roasted corn, along with a tamale...after Danny charmed Ms. Pepe with his excellent Spanglish. The corn didn't taste like a lot of farmer's market corn these days, overly sweet but lacking real corn flavor - instead, it was slightly chewy (not necessarily a bad thing), and with it's coating of mayo, dusting of cheese and sprinkle of lime and chile powder, hit just the right note.

Corn is filling, so we decided to not even taste the tamale, though it looked good. Instead, it was passed along to a "street-person," who declared it "damn good." And off we went to stop numero tres. See, I can speak Spanish too - just not that much.

Now, this was a place I had spotted on a drive back from College Park, MD - the home not only of the Terps, but of Ikea as well. Located in a parking lot at the intersection of New Hampshire and E-W Highway, or Routes 410 and 650 in Takoma Park, it's easy to miss, but keep your eyes open and there she is...

Yes, La Preferida, womanned by two lovely ladies from El Salvador, was no doubt the find of the day. Since pupusas originally hailed from El Salvador, we ordered two pupusas revueltas, stuffed with pork, cheese and refried beans, along with two tacos de lengua, or tongue tacos. So we come full circle, as these two Jewish kids from Long Island are tongue lovers from way back - though I think my mom used to cook her calve's tongue in the de-flavorizer, and certainly didn't serve it on a taco, she started a life-long love of mine for one of the great organ meats.

And we watched as one of the ladies took a handful of masa and shaped and stuffed the pupusas delicately and with purpose. Onto the griddle to cook, Danny and I waited patiently for this not-so-fast food. It was worth the wait, as we drove away to find a shady spot (on Elm Street, no less) where we could enjoy the food. The pupusas were great, a little greasy, a little crispy around the edges, and meltingly tender. Like a great pizza, the cheese, pork and dough come together in each bite, even going so far as to burn the roof of my mouth.

And the tacos. Oooh, the tacos. Bursting with perfectly stewed tongue, topped with freshly chopped tomatoes, avocado slices, shredded queso fresco and served with a piece of lime and a bit of a green chili salsa hot enough to melt the floorboards of my Camry, these were better than any tacos I've had on the east coast. Though I don't think tacos are native to El Sal, these ladies sure know how to cook 'em. And I know I'll be stopping at this place as often as I can on my trips into and out of the district. Take a gander at these:

The full story, with pix, is at Tasty Travails.

And please, let me know where you all go for some real bbq...

[xcanuck]

Wow...nice review(s). Well written and photographed. Thx for the leg work. I'll be checking out La Preferida for lunch one of these days. Sounds great!

[Lola007]

weinoo, great post and wonderful photos! Thank you. I will definitely be checking out Pepe's Elotes Asados. I can't get enough of con on the cob Latin style. Will also check out your blog. Thanks again, and welcome!

[Waitman]

Lack of decent barbecue in DC is an ongoing concern. Local food writer Tim Carman believes that the best 'cue is available in a Safeway Parking lot in a grungy corner of town. My one visit left me unpersuaded, but it was decent.

[weinoo]

Thanks for the replies and welcomes, and if I can make ribs (there are beef and pork in this batch) that look like this:

I'm hoping to find some of the same at Mr. P's. Interestingly enough, there was another customer (poor soul) at

the Rib Pit, who was telling us a story about a guy who used to smoke ribs up in Prince George's County.

I'll be checking out Mr. P. on my next visit.

[DonRocks]

A beautiful post, weinoo.

[The following posts have been split into separate threads:

La Preferida (comestibles)]

[DonRocks]

When I get too busy to write well, I tend not to write at all, and I feel guilty when I have a good meal and don't give proper credit to the restaurant. So let me at least give a quick rundown since I last checked in:

Belga Cafe - across-the-board great, and the best restaurant in South Capitol Hill by a good margin (although I haven't been to Montmartre recently)

Thai Basil - my favorite Pad Thai in the area, and I reiterate that this place does not add MSG to its cooking

Jaleo (Penn Quarter) - mostly excellent, reinforces how good this flagship is

Red Velvet Cupcakery - decent, long lines not justified (this really needs to be split into its own thread from Tangysweet)

Rock Bottom Brewery - Surprise! An excellent beer pulled from cask, and the Hickory burger was actually pretty good, all the other food I saw looked awful

Kasha's Kitchen - another fine Tofu Delight from my favorite health-food cafe

Haandi (Falls Church) - good takeout Indian, I continue to like this place as a neighborhood-level restaurant

Eola - well, well, well, another major player bursts onto the scene, this restaurant needs to be taken very seriously, beautiful renovation upstairs, terrific cooking

Toscana Cafe - very nice cooking, generous portions, gentle pricing, the patio is where it's at

Cafe Berlin - c'mon, it's Oktoberfest and they serve boots of Spaten

Eatbar - now HERE is the meal that I've been looking for since the arrival of Koslow and Alvarez, impressive

Bourbon Steak (beautiful patio with really cool fire pits), CityZen (shoat sliders on Parker House rolls), and Sou'Wester (hush puppies OMFG!) - all free press parties yeah I went and won't write anything more about them

Zahav (Philadelphia) - from start-to-finish, an incredible meal (despite being restaurant week), do not miss this outstanding Israeli restaurant

Amada (Philadelphia) - shrimp croquettes and Estrella Damm only, bustling Saturday-night crowd croquettes were fine

Bindi (Philadelphia, BYOB) - I hate to disparage this 2009 James Beard Semifinalist the day after restaurant week ended, but boy-oh-boy was this meal lousy, genuinely disappointing and I just can't imagine going back, my hopes were way too high

Cakelove (Tysons Corner) - I was starving, okay? And the white-iced chocolate cupcake wasn't at all bad

Amoo's Kabob - a pretty good Ghormeh Sabzeh, bread is still purchased, friendly, neighborhood service

Anyway, just didn't want you all to think that I was slacking off my restaurant duties just because I took a few days off from writing.

Cheers,

Rocks.

[Rhone1998]

Dinner at Cafe Atlantico before seeing Zombieland (the right food analogy for this would involve empty calories and guilty pleasures, but I can't think of something good ) at Gallery Place. It was a last minute choice and they had a table for two ready at 7:00 on Friday. Very good mixed seafood soup (part of a special farmer's market menu) and tender grilled octopus with just that perfect char. Braised veal cheeks were fork tender and delicious, but the overall dish -- served with sweetbreads and sauteed wild mushrooms -- was so rich, really needing some acid to cut through everything.

Brunch at Tabard Inn, a first ever visit for us. Very impressed with ambiance, service, and food. I started with some nice raw oysters and moved on to an excellent plate (and generous portion) of house smoked salmon, though I found the accompanying smoked rockfish to be tough. My wife stuck with breakfast standbys - eggs, bacon, homefries - but reported everything to be just right.

And just to be complete, a "Prime" cheddar burger at the Ruby Tuesday on Wilson Blvd for lunch with a work colleague on Friday (we were just slightly in too much of a rush to walk up the hill and battle the crowds at RHB). The burger wasn't terrible, but thinking about the lunch options within a half mile radius of my office in Rosslyn still makes me want to bang my head against a wall.

[Rhone1998]

Anyone else love roasted brussel sprouts? I am addicted to them and order them whenever I see them. Lucky for me, they're all over restaurant menus these days. In the last 2 weeks, I've had them at Firefly, Cork, and Radius Pizza. My take:

Firefly: good caramelization, the sprouts had a nice flavor, but the dish was WAY too sweet. Almost like someone who doesn't like the flavor of the sprouts was trying to drown it in sugar. B

Radius Pizza: decent flavor, the brussel sprouts were a little undercooked and tough. B

Cork: No joking, the brussel sprouts was the best of ten or so mostly very strong dishes that my family and I had at Cork the other night. What an amazing dish. Tiny little, very tender sprouts, roasted with onions (and some garlic I think) to a deep caramelization. Just amazingly flavorful and well prepared. A+

[Xochitl10]

San Antonio Bar & Grill in Brookland -- oh, yikes. Half the drinks on the menu not being available was an inauspicious sign (and I was later told they had no champagne, so my mimosa turned into orange juice, neat). The sausage in my breakfast burrito. . . hot dogs. Apparently, the usual chef was out yesterday; I'm not sure if it's much better with him there.

13.5% Wine Bar in Baltimore -- much better. Antipasto plate was tasty, if not super-exciting (marinated mushrooms and red peppers, olives, mortadella/salami, grilled eggplant and zucchini). My friend and I both had the skewers of chorizo, shrimp, halloumi, and tomato over tomato risotto, which were delicious. Cheese plate of Pont l'Eveque, L'Explorateur, and a nicely smoky mystery blue fortified us for our walk home.

[KMango]

Cho's Garden in Fairfax (any excuse to drive around a bit to see snow-draped landscapes)

Quick impressions from the meal:

*Might have been an off night, but seems to have stepped down a notch since my last visit (five months ago).

*Hyaw Mit Gui, sliced beef tongue (the dish that tastes you back!) especially fresh tonight, harmoniously rich once dipped into the obligatory sesame oil, salt & pepper. Impossible to consume slowly, outstanding.

*Kkakdugi, cubed daikon kimchee, tonight's version perfectly fermented, ideally piquant.

*Nakji Bokum, spicy squid with vegetables, included several baby squid this time and deftly cooked onions/carrots/red bell pepper, but lacking the punch of smoke usually resident in this squiggly dish.

*Al jigae, cod fish row stew with tofu and vegetables, savory, but broth lacking depth and interest.

*Other banchan and maki sushi selections were hit-or-miss with freshness and flavor.

*Table cooking seems to have moved to portable stoves rather than the built-in grills. Fire code or maintenance concerns?

*Yes, this is the same building as one of the Denny's from my early college days. Bizarrely enough, the soundtrack is often the same. Cho's Garden, Stargate...six of one, half-dozen of Yeolmu-ther?

[pizza man]

Pho Hot in Annandale.

I like the soup here, when it's Hot, which it was not today. That's the second time I've had tepid broth that leaves the beef rare, the basil green, and the garnishes crunchy..Disappointing, especially on a cold day. The place was packed though.

I'm thinking they might have to change the name to Pho Tepid, or Pho Lukewarm. My wife had the beef stew with french bread, (flash frozen, par baked hoagie roll). She said it was Hot, delicious, and she really liked it.

The Imperial Rolls were good, as always. Service was great. The waitress recognized my family, and knew our order, even when I forgot to order white onions in vinegar, she remembered to bring them.

Hopefully Present fares better tomorrow night.

[DonRocks]

Total writer's block, my brethren, and as I've said in the past, I'd rather not write at all than write poorly. Thus, my version of Twitter:

Chix - Still underappreciated, so who's "better" for chicken, this, or Oohhs and Aahhs?

Dickson Wine Bar - Great wine list, especially the whites, try the 2009 Le Petiot for $35

Belga Cafe - The only really off meal I've had from Belga, color me sous-specious

Evening Star Cafe - Another fine meal from start to finish, and they were slammed, too

Jackie's - Short ribs are nothing like what I raved about at Ardeo, give it some time

Pesce - The best meal I've ever had here, and an absolutely perfect birthday venue

Cheers,

Rocks

[Sthitch]

Rabieng – crispy duck as quite flavorful, but not in the least bit crispy

Taylor –the prosciutto seems to get saltier with each visit

Crappy Ass Café in my Building – Every now and then I want a simple grilled cheese, just white bread, American cheese, a little butter on the outside and grilled until nice and brown. What did I get? A grilled cheese made without butter and on a Panini press, producing bread with all of the tenderness of Yak jerky and as dry as a Baptist minister.

[DPop]

Taylor - Had the Pattison, still trying to figure out what everyone is raving about. Love the fried raviolis, though

Ray's the Steaks, Arlington - Last 5 visits to RTS and RHB had been average to good; last week was once again excellent. The Blue Devil is superb.

Pete's Apizza - Got the Cutler for the first time and wondered what took me so long. Best takeout/delivery pizza in DC by a mile and a quarter.

Good Stuff Eatery - I understand why everyone wants to hate this place, and agree that the burgers are too close to well done, but I love this place. Village fries, sriracha mayo, and incredible hand spun shakes. This is fast becoming my go-to for a fast/takeout burger

Brasserie Beck - Like RTS, the last 4-5 visits here for food were incredibly disappointing after a great start, but last Saturday for lunch was outstanding. Excellent beer recommendation from Thor (Simple Malt), mushroom spinach gruyere crepe, veal bolognese mussels (I know, sounds gross, but trust me and try it) and duck confit raviolis were the tastiest hangover medicine I've ever had.

[Heather]

Yesterday I had lunch at El Patio in Rockville, and was very underwhelmed by my grilled chicken & rice. (Wasn't there a thread on that place once upon a time? I searched & coudn't find it.)

Today I had a cup of mushroom soup and a club sandwich at the White Flint Cheesecake Factory (don't ask). The soup was surprisingly OK, and the sandwich would have been fine if the bread hadn't been so sweet.

[JimRice]

Last week we ate at Dino on their 5th anniversary. The highlight of the evening was the radicchio risotto, which was exceptionally creamy, cheesy, and altogether tasty. The squid ink risotto was excellent as well, not as rich but tasty. My main course, the whole fish, was tasty, but didn't have much sauce or other accompaniment. Dean was also dipping into his cellar and pulling out some interesting bottles, and they were all tasty.

On Friday evening, we went to Atlantis Pizza in the Bradlee Center on King Street. It wasn't bad, in that old-school Greek-Italian way. We started out with the spanikopita which was nice but a little bit oily. It came with a little bit of Greek salad. It was followed by the Greek pizza. This had a decent crust, had a good chewy texture, topped with minced garlic (looked like it came out of a jar), mozzarella and feta cheese, raw tomatoes, and gyro meat. It was a good combination, and worked out the night we ate it. Do not, however, attempt to microwave it to warm it up, because the raw tomatoes will make the crust soggy.

Barbara's library reopened on Saturday. Saturday night we stopped and ate and drank at the Passenger. I meant to ask Tom Brown to make me a Suffering Bastard like Derek showed in the video (all of my experiences with SB's were the rum version), but I got started with a daiquiri and then had to have another one. When you ask for a daiquiri, and Tom pulls out a canvas bag, fills it with ice, and takes a wooden mallet and bashes holy hell out of it to get the crushed ice, you know you're going to get something good. Tom serves them in a tin cup, which develops a nice frost on the outside. I had two of those, then sat there while Barbara got a couple of drinks ahead of me on Mai Tais. Our friend Beth was with us, and took the chance on the "Rickey Bobby," a gin rickey with a dash of Canton ginger liqueur. She really liked it, but knew that if she got another I'd have to carry her out to the car, and since I was already having to carry Barbara, she declined another one.

Tom also has some interesting mezcals, including one made with wild agave. It smelled good, and tasted better than it smells. Most mezcals tend to have more harshness and smokiness than the nose would lead you to expect. This was a little smoky, a little fruity, a little bit of citrus, a little bit of hibiscus, and a couple of other flavors I probably missed.

Monday night we hit Bon Chon chicken without reservations. The phone was busy, so we decided to take out chances. They didn't have any legs, but they had wings and they came out perfectly cooked less than 30 minutes after we ordered. A pitcher of beer helped out as well. The phone didn't stop ringing until around 7:30. And this was on a Monday night.

For the next week, I'll be eating a lot of salads and drinking a lot of water.

[DonRocks]

Last week we ate at Dino on their 5th anniversary.

On Friday evening, we went to Atlantis Pizza in the Bradlee Center on King Street.

Saturday night we stopped and ate and drank at the Passenger.

Monday night we hit Bon Chon chicken without reservations.

For the next week, I'll be eating a lot of salads and drinking a lot of water.

I loved this post. This week I've also been to Sushi Bar with Koji (1), Estadio (2), and New Heights (3), and won't post a single word about any of them.

Cheers,

Rocks

(1) Nothing more to say about this genius

(2) Go now while the full-court press is on

(3) The chilled corn soup is life-changing

[JimRice]

Dinner Tuesday night was at Rabieng. My friend who was with likes chicken or shrimp at Thai places. Do you like dark meat? If so get the Provincial chicken? No to dark meat? Then get the Chicken Horapa, spicy white meat chicken with lots of basil and spicy peppery noodles. He tore through it and proclaimed it his new favorite Thai dish. Wild boar was good, but not sliced thin enough to overcome some of the chewiness and fattiness.

Friday night was Malaysia Kopitiam. They have a 5-7PM happy hour with cheap appetizers of tea smoked chicken legs, chicken wings 'in a bag', and fried wontons with chicken and fish. The best was the chicken wings, $2.50, three of them marinaded with five spices, and either roasted or fried in a parchment bag. Tea smoked legs were ok, but a little too smoky for my taste. $2 Tiger beers make this a screaming value. After the appetizers, we then did the oyster omlette (yum), char kuey teow (yum), fried squid with spicy salt (yum, similar to many Chinese places), and eggplant belancan (meh, deep fried eggplant stir-fried again with onion, bell pepper, belancan, garlic, and served with too much oil.) Next time, I'll try the belancan okra.

Saturday, we went to the National Geographic exhibit of Geckos, and since they didn't offer any geckos to eat, we went to Zaytinya for a late lunch. We got a lot of old favorites, but a new one was a flatbread with smoked goat meat and hummus. Whenever I go to a mainstream restaurant and see goat on the menu, I order it because it has to be good. It was, and it worked together well.

Saturday night, we hit the Passenger early and had some excellent pre-dinner drinks with friends. My friends had the kimchee dogs. If you haven't had one, go get one now. I'll wait. I didn't have one last night, but I have in the past and they're great. They are the best beer drinking food anywhere.

Then off to Bon Chon for dinner. My brother was weeping with joy at the spicy chicken legs, less so at the pitcher of Miller Lite.

For the next week, I'll be eating a lot of salads and drinking a lot of water.

So, yeah, more of this. Abstinence makes the heart grow fonder and all.

[giant shrimp]

Not sure how often if pops up, but coins of calf liver wrapped in pancetta on a beautifully composed plate with an amoeba-shaped balsamic puddle was the star of a recent palena café menu, bargain priced at $9 (maybe $11, my mind is shot).

Zucchini jalfrezi with fresh and dried peppers and onions at masala art is too good for vegetarians only, the zucchini frying up faster than the peppers, so there is some crunch mingling with the softness, as well as a few licks of fire if you head for what is red and dried on the plate. Among the appetizers without tamarind chutney (for those who don’t like it), chicken tikka and chicken 55 are delectable ways of starting a meal. It means you will probably decide to forgo the chicken masala, which is outstanding with a sauce that’s made for delving for flavors, but the lamb chops, among other things, are good too, maybe particularly satisfying because there aren’t that many opportunities at Indian restaurants to eat meat off the bone. The cilantro and salt nan is a rich bread and there is something magical about it in which you can imaging tasting the faint sulfur of eggs.

There was nothing sobering about the affogato at bibiana the other night. The nutella gelato was good enough by itself, and I didn’t have a chance to flag anyone down in a busy dining room and didn’t feel it was really worth the effort, but it had been whisked out of the kitchen before anyone had a chance to anoint it with espresso. After just one meal, I don’t really have the lay of the land at this restaurant, but a good strategy would be to ask your server and go with the hits, not that we encountered any out-and-out misses. They are going out of season fast, but local tomatoes were impressive, even more so because this has been a hard summer for them. They were as good as I have encountered in any restaurant lately, best of all ordered with a luxuriously milky burrata, but also adding color and tang to a pale plate of plain branzino that tasted fine but had cooled down and softened in texture after it was brought to the table and then deboned, not any easy job. Next time, I would order it with the bones; I like picking at my food and find it a pleasant way of slowing down the pace. Belon oysters were sea-fresh, some specks of grit in a couple left from the shucking. Veal sweetbreads were well-cooked but fairly standard despite their billing, nothing stellar in the offal department. Wheat cavatelli were clenched into small caterpillars, accompanied by fennel sausage and broccoli rabe, sprinkled with red chili flakes and pecorino, an interesting alignment in which rustic equals dark and spicy, the absence of sunshine. The controversy never really had a chance to get started between the two people sharing the pasta because it was heavily salted, salted maybe twice. There was no quibbling over marubini, supple ravioli filled with veal in brown butter, parmesan, pancetta and sage, an obvious crowd pleaser.

Buck’s fishing and camping is another reliable place to find expertly prepared tomatoes, but time is running out on its clever caprese salad, which substitutes home-made cottage cheese for mozzarella. The pillowy cottage cheese is well worth ordering, but instead of being soft and chewy when freshly made, the curds were tough and extra chewy, which just makes me wonder if enough people have discovered just how good the cottage cheese at bucks can be. It would be interesting to try it with fruit as well. If anything, the desserts these days are getting more decadent than ever judging from a poached pear in valrhona chocolate sauce with brittle and ice cream.

[qwertyy]

A Tale of Two Bar Dinners

On a whim, brother in town, no plans, and "a good cocktail within walking distance" the only requirement? Hey, let's try the bar at New Heights.

Well, the food was good, and the cocktils were fine. But the service erased any postives. I know the A-team doesn't play the bar on Monday nights, and I know that new staff don't come out of the womb fully trained. But... taking our order by mumbling from the opposite end of the bar without making eye contact while you type and stare at the computer? Narrating for us every move you make and checking in with us (no joke) every five minutes for the first 45 minutes we were there? And then disappearing when our food arrived so that the runner had to ask us which was the beef and which was the venison? (To clarify: he wasn't asking who had the beef and who had the venison; he brought us two plates and asked which was which. "I think this one is the duck." No, we only ordered beef and venison. "Oh. Is this one beef?") If I were at a place with $12 entrees, this would still be worthy of a scoff, but around $24? Hrmph.

It's too bad. While the plating is a little twee for my taste, the food showed promise. Not enough to bring me back though--at least not to the bar, and not early in the week.

Two days later, we end up at the bar at Corduroy. Whoosh! Black/white. Yes/no. Stop/go. The service (both the bartender and the hostess we met without a reservation) couldn't have been more gracious or knowledgable. Before opening our wine, the bartender pointed out to us that a good amount of sediment had been disturbed and that we might want to consider something different or wait. (In bar lighting, we might not have noticed this.) Nice. Thank you. We will indeed get something different, and enjoy our evening a lot more because we know you're in our corner.

And then the food.

Jeez. It's just phenomenal food, boys and girls. Brother hesitated ordering scallops because you see them so often, and they're rarely special, but I put my rep on the line and encouraged him. "You won't regret it," I squeaked, remembering our dinner a couple of nights before. He's rarely truly wowed, and usually not Scrooge-y with sharing tastes--but here he was, both wowed and Scrooge-y, only parting with one teensy bite, which was... well, worthy of wows. I had the halibut, which was gorgeous, and the corn soup, shiso salad, and cheese plate, also, were very good.

So the moral of the story? You decide. New Heights and Corduroy are at the same price point, which is reasonably high. And starting in a couple of weeks, I'm going to need to start seriously saving money. Which am I looking for reasons to go back to?

[porcupine]

Little things can mean a lot. Here are a few little reasons to love the following restaurants:

At Tacqueria Poblano you get a little pitcher of simple syrup to sweeten your lime cooler.

Cork puts a bottle of cold water on every table, so you can refill your glass whenever you want.

The host at Et Voila! offered to seat us walk-ins at prime time, noting that "we need the table back in an hour." Thank you for accommodating and trusting us.

CoCo Sala did the same.

Brasserie Beck serves a little cookie on the side of your cup of coffee. Lots of other places do to, come to think of it, and I love it. Also Beck has pretty good coffee.

At both Estadio and Cork you can tell your waitress something really vague like "I'd like a glass of something red, medium-bodied, and interesting", knowing that's exactly what you'll get.

However, I'm getting tired of plate vultures. A note to busboys everywhere: if a diner's jaws are moving while the lips are closed, and she's holding a piece of bread, and there's a piece of meat and a pool of sauce still on the plate, then she probably isn't finished with the damn dish yet. Bug off already, okay?

[NiceDocter]

Little things can mean a lot. Here are a few little reasons to love the following restaurants:

At Tacqueria Poblano you get a little pitcher of simple syrup to sweeten your lime cooler.

Cork puts a bottle of cold water on every table, so you can refill your glass whenever you want.

The host at Et Voila! offered to seat us walk-ins at prime time, noting that "we need the table back in an hour." Thank you for accommodating and trusting us.

CoCo Sala did the same.

Brasserie Beck serves a little cookie on the side of your cup of coffee. Lots of other places do to, come to think of it, and I love it. Also Beck has pretty good coffee.

At both Estadio and Cork you can tell your waitress something really vague like "I'd like a glass of something red, medium-bodied, and interesting", knowing that's exactly what you'll get.

However, I'm getting tired of plate vultures. A note to busboys everywhere: if a diner's jaws are moving while the lips are closed, and she's holding a piece of bread, and there's a piece of meat and a pool of sauce still on the plate, then she probably isn't finished with the damn dish yet. Bug off already, okay?

It seems to be the current ethic at many eateries, at least many moderately priced ones, to grab your plate with the pithy comment STILL WORKIN ON THAT???? Hey, its dinner, not work, and hell no Im not finished yet cant you see? If you say Im still eating thank you............3 minutes later they are grabbing the bread, butter, dipping oil, salad and saying LET ME GET SOME OF THIS OUT OF THE WAY FOR YOU. Saturday Night Live could do a comedy sketch about this behavior.......................................

[DonRocks]

It seems to be the current ethic at many eateries, at least many moderately priced ones, to grab your plate with the pithy comment STILL WORKIN ON THAT???? Hey, its dinner, not work, and hell no Im not finished yet cant you see? If you say Im still eating thank you............3 minutes later they are grabbing the bread, butter, dipping oil, salad and saying LET ME GET SOME OF THIS OUT OF THE WAY FOR YOU. Saturday Night Live could do a comedy sketch about this behavior.......................................

I don't know why it gives me such a chuckle to see my brother, the total non-foodie, post something that's so astute and correct!

[Mainah]

Hello, I am new to this forum and since I have to post first before I can search, etc., I thought that I'd give a review of two restaurants that I went to this summer while in Rockville. I and my wife are from Maine but come down to Rockville 3-4 times a year to stay with a relative and enjoy the opportunity to go to places that we just don't have in Maine although there are some good places up here also.

The first restaurant is Yekta Kabobi just off the Pike in Rockville. Found the steak kabobs dry and not flavorful. The ground meat and Game Hen Kabobs were tastier but all of them needed a sauce. If there was one on the menu to accompany the kabobs, I missed it and it wasn't offered. Also, I think that the meat was all baked and not grilled as there was no charring. Would not return here but had fun going next door to the Yekta grocery then to a small Russian store filled with Russian beers, strudel and Russian canned goods.

The other place that I went was 8407 Kitchen Bar in Silver Spring. The first ginger-lime martini I had was delicious but the second too sweet. Oysters with ginger creme fraiche were plump and tender, summer sausage light and tasty, the crab cake was bland and needed perhaps the ginger creme fraiche to liven it up. Don't feel that the price is worth a return.

Will be coming down for a week over Xmas and hope to hit several more places. Look forward now to searching Don's site.

[Ericandblueboy]

On last Sunday I went to A & J in Annandale for northern Chinese brunch. I believe it is the only place in Nova that serves it? I had my normal fried cruller with sesame bread, and I dipped them in a bowl of beef tendon noodle soup. The tendons were so soft they have the texture of fat - I hope they weren't fat. I elected to go with the house made thick noodle but unfortunately the noodles were undercooked, thus doughy in texture. Fortunately I ordered more dough in the form of scallion pancakes.

On Monday I went to Vinh Kee for lunch. They had a wonderful clam in black bean sauce special and I really enjoyed their vegetarian panfried noodles. Not everything is good but there's a huge menu to explore.

On Tuesday I went to Four Sisters. The crab and asparagus soup had nice big chunks of crab meat and it was a tasty soup. The vegetarian crispy spring rolls were light and crispy but can't compare to a well seasoned meat spring roll. The tofu and mixed veggies in a brown sauce over soft egg noodles were as uninspiring as Chinese American crap.

[gnatharobed]

On last Sunday I went to A & J in Annandale for northern Chinese brunch. I believe it is the only place in Nova that serves it? I had my normal fried cruller with sesame bread, and I dipped them in a bowl of beef tendon noodle soup. The tendons were so soft they have the texture of fat - I hope they weren't fat. I elected to go with the house made thick noodle but unfortunately the noodles were undercooked, thus doughy in texture. Fortunately I ordered more dough in the form of scallion pancakes.

Thanks for letting us know about the noodles. I have informed our chefs of your experience. Please let me know if this happens again.

[goodeats]

I believe it is the only place in Nova that serves it?

Nope. Great Wall Supermarket serves both Northern and Cantonese dim sum brunch and Oriental Gourmet in Arlington serves Northern Chinese brunch.

[stickmoon]

Weekend trip to DC was our first time back since moving away in May 2010. Our first stop after checking into the hotel: Proof. Our favorite restaurant in the city did not disappoint. I had a rye manhattan (only $8 during happy hour at the bar) and Evilkim had a glass of white wine and we shared a cheese plate and the mushroom/green bean tempura. Then I had the cassoulet which was earthy and comforting (and highly delicious) and she had the crispy tofu which was spicy and creative. Although we were pretty well liquored up by the time we left Proof, we couldn't help but stop into PS 7's for one of Gina's amazing cocktails. She had the gnome's water, her favorite, which was great as always, and I enjoyed a sazerac. We tried several other drinks including one that was not on the menu and had basil in it and it was absolutely fantastic. The room itself is always a bit too hectic for me, but her cocktails are worth it. The next morning, surprisingly not hung over, we went to Mid-City Cafe for breakfast. I love that their house coffee comes from a french press and their bagels are pretty good. Funky place. Cosi's for lunch met my expectations. Before dinner I met a friend for a beer at Brasserie Beck. All the bar seats were taken by 6pm and the place was packed by 8. Love their frites. Evilkim met a friend at Masa 14 and gave a positive report. We met for dinner at Birch and Barley. We scored two seats at the chef's counter and loved watching the kitchen work. It had an efficient hum that exuded professionalism. It certainly turned out great food, if a little heavy. My favorite bites were the foccacia with butter, the crispy-creamy polenta, and the truffled mac and cheese side was outstanding. It was a meal we will remember fondly. The next morning we trekked out to Clarendon, our old stomping grounds, for breakfast at Northside Social. The baked goods at Northside Social are very good but I'm not a big fan of their coffee. The nutella pop-tart was new and I can't believe we left without getting one to go! We peeked inside Bayou Bakery and were pleased to see how busy it was. Then we walked to Matchbox in Chinatown. Spicy bloody mary's, a small pizza and a tuna nicoise salad - all very good. We capped off the weekend at Old Dominion Brewery with a bucket of bud light, the buck hunter video game, and "whole foods grade" sushi rolls. We're full and happy and looking forward to our next weekend in DC.

[u-bet!]

Some recent meals:

Ray's Hell Burger (original): The Dogcatcher, medium rare; skin-on fries; cole slaw. I did not add anything to the burger, but think it would have benefited from one of the higher-end cheeses. The overall taste was quite rich, as expected, although I would have liked it to have held together a little bit better (I think ordering it cooked medium would solve that problem). The fries were crisp and fresh-tasting, but I wish they would go a little easier on the salt. Cole slaw was nice and creamy and flavors very well-balanced, with no overpowering mayo taste.

Contrast the slaw at Ray's with that served with my North Carolina Pulled Pork Sandwich at McKeever's Pub in McLean. Even after I dumped it onto the sandwich and doused the whole thing with hot sauce, the mayo in the slaw was extremely overpowering. Same went for the potato salad served alongside. The pulled pork was dry and tasted mass-produced, with no smoke flavor at all, although they certainly did not skimp on the portion which was piled atop the also mass-produced tasting bun. I had enjoyed a previous meal of the blue cheese burger with their signature home fries much better. Lesson learned.

The Ropa Vieja Sub I recently picked up for a to-go lunch from Cuban Corner in Rockville was hot, tender, and well-seasoned. The panini-style toasted bread tasted fresh and was a sturdy vehicle for the meat. The Cafe Cubano filled about two inches of the large to-go cup into which it was poured, causing me to ask the server if they had made a mistake. I was assured it was the correct portion, since "it's strong". It was indeed strong, but lacking in coffee flavor and overpriced, I thought, at $2.50. There was nary a soul dining in the place at about 1:30 PM on a recent weekday.

I finally got a chance to try Taylor Gourmet on H Street, and ordered the 9th Street to go. I'm a big fan of the subs at The Italian Store, and was interested to see how Taylor Gourmet compares. It took me about 45 minutes to walk back to where my car was parked near the Capitol and drive back home to Arlington before unwrapping and eating the sandwich, but the roll held up very well with no sogginess at all. Although the Genoa salami finished first by a head over the other ingredients in the flavor predomination race, it wasn't enough for me not to consider the flavors to be well-balanced overall. After one sandwich, I consider this to be a worthy competitor to The Italian Store, and I'm looking forward to trying some of their other offerings.

[JimRice]

I keep saying we will cook more at home, the all of a sudden we go on a tear of eating out.

Friday night was Vit Goel Lighthouse Tofu in Annandale. Kimchee pork pancake is just meh, get the seafood one instead. I prefer the oyster soondubu, spicy. It's the best way to get the fishy funky stew for ease of eating if you're not wanting to try to peel and eat little shrimp from the spicy soup, or eat the shell and all. Barbara likes the beef and pork, medium, which is a completely different tasting soup, even though most of the ingredients are the same.

Sunday was a Dino brunch day. Do not, I repeat, do not try to eat the three course brunch. It's way too much food. Get a starter cocktail, then have two courses. And if you're having the burger, don't even do that. This is a monster of decadence, at least ten ounces of rich meat, cheddar cheese, bacon (at this point, why not?) on ciabatta bread. The ciabatta is a crusty and rustic, which matches the meat well, and stands up to soaking with meat juice. This is easily the equal of Palena or Central's burger, and is my pick for the best burger in the city right now. (Do any of you remember the Alka-Selzer commercial "I can't believe I ate the whole thing."? Yeah, that was me.) Before that, I had the wild mushroom soup that was creamy and earthy and worthy of more comment, but it was overwhelmed by the burger. And don't even ask me about the sorbet. After a brunch like this, I had a small green salad and a glass of water for dinner.

Tonight was Pizzaria Paradiso. I needed to get out after a long day working on documenting program changes for my agency, and happy hour called me. The Bosco pizza (tomato, spinach, red onion) and the Quattro Formaggi pizza (four cheeses, no tomato, but loads of garlic) weren't anything special compared to their Atomica or Napolitana pizzas, my favorites. But they were still good, and hanging out at the bar there in Old Town with a glass or three of some pretty good exotic beers is one of my favorite ways to spend a few hours. And with half priced drafts of happy hour, why not?

[bookluvingbabe]

In the last week:

Original Ambrosia (to use an impulsively purchased living social deal)--average, mundane, boring food. Prices seemed really high for the food. The service was non-existant. Took 3 requests to get extra napkins. That said, the little guy down 90 percent of the hummus app by himself and kept shooing me away as I tried to eat some.

Thai House (Gaithesrburg)-- carryout Thai while Mr. BLB was glued to the set watching the Giants game. Everything was fine. The fried wontons made the trip home in surprisingly good condition.

Cityzen--Solo birthday dinner. Perfect service. Six course tasting menu. I'm tired of scallops but that is my only complaint. The shoat was amazing. I just wish I had more room by the time dessert rolled around. The same thing happened at Sou'Wester a while back. I may need to just go and have dessert.

[Josh Radigan]

Saturday night with my wife at Bistro Bis, first time back in since the day I left in October of 2001, yes folks, not a typo, 2001. Whew Boy. Needless to say I had a great time, 2 bottles with dinner, '07 Brickhouse, and '09 Martinelli made for a great dinner with my wife. Food was spot on and my wife is better with describing food than I. Highlights, Beet Salad, my wife's salmon dish, my Turbot special and scallop app. all good flavor, and the apple tart to finish put a smile on my wife's face.

Sunday lunch pick-up, the 4th street location of Taylor Gourmet. Both sandwiches were ok, but gotta admit, not a whole lot of flavor, or should I say acid. Sometimes that is what I feel is lacking in a sandwich. Wife had the Wharton, I had the Tasker. Bread was good, filling was spot on for protion size, not too much to make the sandwich hard to get around. But acid.. Maybe it is me, but sometime s a sandwich can come off flat.

Sunday lunch sit down, and yes I did eat two lunches. Justin's cafe down by Natstown. Small place, somewhat loud due to the concrete flooring, must be packed on game day, and if not,what a shame. Solid beer selection, no comment on wine selection. Food, meh. I had the sqaush bisque, tasted like pie filling it was so sweet. salad , was thin and not much flavor most likely because I took meat out of it (Pescatarian for two more days, 1 year commitment), but hey, at least they are giving it a go.

[Pat]

Senart's for oysters and shrimp. The shrimp came on the same ice as the oysters, which was a change, but not one I particularly opposed. It seemed like a waste to send out two different dishes for these, so yay?.

Belga for blue cheese mussels that didn't seem to have blue cheese. Waitress was very harried so I didn't say anything. They were fine, though $20 and not seemingly what I ordered. Brussels sprouts were okay. Overall, I realized I really like the vibe of this place, even though it's pretty loud.

[Pat]

Several recent eats in the neighborhood: Aatish on PA Ave., SE, for a going away dinner. The table split a lot of dishes, including chicken makhani, rogan josh, chicken tikka, a sampler appetizer platter, and seekh kabab masala. Lots of pappadums with sauces and naan. (We may also have had roti. I know we discussed it.) Hot wasn't super hot, but all of the food was pretty good. It worked for the type of meal it was.

Mushroom, pepperoni, and olive pizza at Tunnicliff's. It is what it is. Not the best pizza in the neighborhood but adequate and satisfying. It's not greasy at all, which wins big points in my book. Also, some fried calamari on a different visit.

Shrimp cocktail and prime rib sandwich at Senart's. A fellow customer insisted I order au jus with the sandwich, but it was already so moist that was too much. It tasted good, but I don't love eating sandwiches with a knife and fork.

[Xochitl10]

I picked up a great post-10.5 mile run dinner in Old Town Alexandria on Sunday. Salmon sandwich and rosewater lemonade from Pita House, followed by the buttermilk cupcake with Mexican chocolate pudding from Lavender Moon. That is a damn fine cupcake.

[qwertyy]

Maple (2x)

El Chucho

Kangaroo Boxing Club (3x)

Meridian Pint

Mintwood Place

Ceiba

The Hamilton

I am a bad Rockwellian. I promise to do some write-ups soon.

[BookGuy]

Last night, I was at the Royal Mile Pub in Wheaton which changed ownership in the recent past. The current owners appear to be Asian but the food and beer seem to be the same as it ever was. I had fish and chips, both of which were good enough.

[dinwiddie]

Spend last week dining in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties in California.

[DonRocks]

Matt and I were flattened by vindictive little viruses this weekend, and spent three days doing nothing but hanging out, lying down, and playing dueling MacBooks (And you know what? This was the best weekend I've had in probably two years.) There is *no way* that I'm going to catch up with individual posts, so here's a brief summary of where I've been since last Friday:

Radius Pizza - My last sit-down meal, decent pickle plate, pleasant pizza toppings, incredible Matt Culbertson-made punch with rum, rhubarb bitters, fresh grapefruit, orange blossom water, and Campari. Reluctantly downgraded but surely still the best restaurant in Mount Pleasant.

Earl's Sandwiches - I finally met Steve Dugan, incredibly good roast beef and cheddar sandwiches, I think Earl's remains the best sandwich shop in the area with the exception of Stachowski Deli, yes, the Chivitos at Fast Gourmet can be great, but they can also not be.

Pie-Tanza - Although I refuse to order anything other than pizza here (because honestly, the non-pizza items look about as appealing as Joe's), the pizzas continue to be really, really good, with a solid, thin crust, well-charred in a wood-burning oven, and very flavorful toppings, underrated as far as pizzerias go, I have yet to have a bad pizza here, the consistency is remarkable.

Amoo's Kabob - Yet another wonderful meal, and Amoo's has sprung for a tandoor and is now making homemade bread for $1 a slice (worth it). A mom-n-pop, with daughter sometimes running the register, this may be our area's best Persian restaurant. I love this place with all my heart.

Bernie's Deli - Why did I have this ranked so low in the Dining Guide? Upgraded to Italic thanks to a great hot corned beef and pastrami on rye with sauerkraut, Swiss, and mustard, a Texas Style Chili was ladled from a vat, and perfectly fine in a Hormel kind of way (but it's homemade and much better than Hormel).

District Taco - Along with Toby's Homemade Ice Cream and Coffee (and let's not forget to support our member Toby Bantug), this is my anti-Starbucks coffee destination, both places serving the perfectly respectable M.E. Swing's (roasting since 1916), and both places giving you change from $2.00 (when's the last time you've seen that at Starbucks?) I'm having trouble reconciling that Pie-Tanza is in italic, and District Taco isn't (you almost have to consider a downgrade for Pie-Tanza here, right?)

Dino - Okay I lied - I did go out last night, and met a legitimate star bartender, Fabian Malone. He is charismatic and makes wonderful drinks with great skill and flair, the $12 hamburger here (discounted further at happy hour) is *easily* a Top 10 burger in the city, no doubt about it, and try it if you don't believe me. You could make a legitimate case for this being numero uno, seriously.

Haandi - Well I'm on my way to pick up my Palaak Paneer and Naan, which I'll have with the remaining Must-o-Kheyar from Amoo's, and I'm sure Haandi will be its usual "good to very good" without being anything earth-shattering - there must be a reason I keep ordering from here, right?

[Tujague]

Valentine's 2013: Drinks and oysters at Hank's on the Hill. Walking in about 5:15, one might be forgiven for thinking momentarily that it was a gay bar--of the 12 to 15 patrons, only one was female, and the rest were mostly single men. Gina had a menu of fresh drinks built around TV sitcom pairs--Ralph and Alice Kramden, Ethyl and Fred Mertz, George and Lucille Jefferson, etc. I honestly can't remember what was in my Ralph Kramden, but the giant frozen pink slush floating in gin packed a punch, as did Bob's George Jefferson (which was much more manly looking). A dozen $1 happy hour oysters, a great way to start off a, um, progressive VD (no need to contact the CDC, thank you).

Moved on to Seventh Hill for pizza and were happily surprised to get happy hour prices on wine ($5 a glass). A good pie featuring ricotta, mozzarella, pancetta, spinach, and a dusting of red pepper. The crust did sag a bit in the center but the quality here hasn't fallen off much from what I can tell, since Anthony Pilla left.

We finished at home with a couple of mediocre cupcakes from Eastern Market. A good way to celebrate overall--avoiding the crowds and overpriced couples' menus while picking up a few bargains, and no kitchen to clean up afterward. Goes to show that going out on this most dreaded of dining days doesn't have to be a drag.

[The Hersch]

Ethyl and Fred Mertz

Did she really spell Mrs. Mertz's name that way? Quite alcoholic.

[Pat]

All Eastern Market area

Tortilla Cafe:

Pork and cheese pupusa (with minimal non-assertive curtido)

Chicken tamale

Very good service, including Catalina Canales bringing water to the table.

Tunniicliff's

Cheese fries with bacon and ranch (not on the menu; you have to ask)

on a different day:

Chicken wings (Buffalo) with extra celery (otherwise, you get a miserly amount of celery)

Miller Lite both times

Hanks Cap Hill

Old Bay Peel and Eat Shrimp

Avocado and romaine salad with buttermilk-cilantro dressing

Roasted brussels sprouts.

I had a Port City draft beer here. I think it was #2, a chocolatey beer. The sprouts were good mixed in with the salad. Salad was very sparse otherwise.