reedm

Ive ordered pizza from here a number of times. Don’t expect Chicago style and you will be fine. Try the Indian options as well as the desi sauce. I prefer the thin or regular crust options. 

From my yelp comments: 

So glad to see a creative pizza restaurant in the area!

The deep dish butter chicken pizza was excellent. The crust was closer to a cracker crust than a true Chicago deep dish crust, but the overall taste was delicious.

The hot-n-spicy wings were nice-sized, perfectly cooked, and tasty.

The employees were incredibly friendly and helpful as well. 

Looking forward to making this our go-to pizza place!

4 hours ago, DonRocks said:

That's been my posture since day one (which is probably why we're small, esoteric, and unpopular) ; I'm wondering if we should have one thread for rants - in particular, bad travel experiences, but not in Washington, DC - maybe bury it in The Intrepid Traveler Forum: I have several travel nightmares that I almost *need* to pound out on the keyboard, for my own mental hygiene.

In general, I think there's enough ugliness on the internet, and I view this community as a respite from all the mean, hostile anonymity. That said: I built it; why aren't they coming? (That's a rhetorical question - I pretty much know the answer.)

I think a place to rant would be fine, and particularly so if it's a place where you can help others from having a bad experience. 

My mom and her sister, both 70+ years old, are heading to Charleston next month for a sisters trip. I credit my mom for my appreciation of good food of all varieties. That said, they'd probably enjoy a couple of quieter spots, and my aunt is not adventurous as my mom. 

They are staying in the French Quarter, so recommendations in that area would be best. Has anyone been to Fulton Five? That place is steps away from their hotel.

Thanks!

On 3/22/2018 at 12:40 PM, reedm said:

The swipe looks better in person, I must say. 

It is burrata...

I don't want to be known as a thread killer, so I'll provide the answer. It's AhSo, located in Brambleton (Ashburn, really). 

Would love to get the opinions of others, so check out AhSo's outstanding food and drink. They're creative, and venture beyond their typical menu boundaries. We are looking forward to trying their Wednesday Ramen and Japanese Whiskey pop-up, as well as their upcoming Paso Robles wine dinner in May.

I'm very pleased to have them close by!

2 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

I've seen that swipe on TV and at many places.  I find it unappetizing.

Anyhow, is that a poached egg on top of romanesco salad?

The swipe looks better in person, I must say. 

It is burrata...

I googled ara yaki, and lo and behold, this turned up; https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/24/magazine/every-last-bit.html

Because I moved out of Arlington years ago, It's been ages since I've been to Izakaya Seki. Your post reminded me why I loved the place. I may be wrong, but I might have had hamachi kama for the first time there, and it's still one of my favorite dishes. I have a source in a secret location in Ashburn, but it's no match for Seki's spot. 

To celebrate the arrival of Spring, I made beef carbonnade, accompanied by pomme puree and a baguette. I tweaked a couple of recipes, and used a pressure cooker for part of the preparation, and it was absolutely delicious.

I have no doubt. However, comma, lets have a guess. :-)

2 hours ago, DonRocks said:

The Shack

Nope. You need to look 100+ miles to the northeast.

I’ll make the assumption I was correct, and  assume responsibility for providing a picture. 

My friends just returned from their annual trip to Philadelphia. They’ve gone to Vernick a number of times, and it continues to impress. They also went to Double Knot, which they said was amazing. 

I don’t know how if they have bar seating, but it’s a question worth asking 

On 3/10/2018 at 10:01 AM, reedm said:

Sorrel's Lounge or in-room dining.

9 hours ago, DonRocks said:

As they say in ancient Scottish: Neep. (Read the title of the link. )

Stonewall Jackson Hotel

Was I correct, Don?

16 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Ha, a repeat guess. 

No ... it's this hotel. I thought the audacious simplicity of the item might be a giveaway.

Sorrel's Lounge or in-room dining.

My time in Delhi was all too short, and I didn’t have time to even scratch the surface of India. That said, I enjoyed two wonderful meals at restaurants our host recommended. The first was Delhi Durbar and the second was Gulati. 

The food in both places was incredible—the names of most dishes we’re familiar to me, but the flavors and spices were much more pronounced, and the preparation was better than any other Indian restaurant I’ve tried (USA, UK, Australia). I also learned that I could order a dosa for breakfast in our hotel, and that was outstanding as well.  

The hotel food was generally excellent, but the pricing was at least triple the cost of food served in the external restaurants I tried. 

I will post a few pictures after I reduce the size of the files. 

Edit: pics posted on Instagram. Look for #dontockwelldotcom hashtag

On 2/19/2018 at 9:58 AM, Simul Parikh said:

Last time I flew (prior to their direct to India from Dulles), it was pretty good. In the ancient past (1980s-early 1990s) my parents said "no way" but I've flown them a few times as a grown up and found them to be pretty good. Let us know, b/c I want to try that flight next time I go.

 

I was pleasantly surprised by my Air India experience. If you or your company can afford business class tickets, I think it's an easy choice for the IAD-DEL route. The fare for my flight was $3600. That's still a good deal of money, but it's much cheaper than other business class fares, and also cheaper than most economy plus fares. The coach fares are much cheaper, of course, but since I never flown Air India in coach, I have no opinion.

The cabin was a bit worn, but it was very clean. The biz seats are not truly lie flat seats, but they were extremely comfortable overall. The flight attendants were extremely friendly, and the service was more than adequate. Passengers were provided with a pillow, duvet, light blanket, amenity kit, slippers, and an eyemask.

The seat-back entertainment system was dated and slow, and it didn't offer much interesting english content. The offerings for Hindi speakers seemed interesting.

Two meals were offered, and the food was average at best. I ordered fish both times, and the fish was extremely overcooked. I tend to drink a lot of water when I fly, and the beverage offerings didn't make me vary from my routine. I did have a taste of Amlut, and Indian scotch, and it wasn't bad at all. The parmesan slices on top of the fish were an "interesting" touch. 

The return flight was very similar in every respect, but the food was a little bit worse. 

All that said, I wanted to arrive well rested, and I managed to do that. As a matter of fact, I managed to get much more sleep than I have on any other long international flight. 

I’m off to Delhi Sunday for work, and it will be my first trip to India. Not sure how much free time, if any, I will have , and while I usually loathe hotel food, I’ve heard plenty of first hand reports about food safety, so it’s likely I’ll have to break my own rule and eat in the hotel. I’ll be staying at the Imperial, which is supposed to be a wonderful “Heritage” (colonial style) hotel, and I’ve read the restaurant prices border on the obscene. Would be happy for any advice.

I am also rolling the dice and flying Air India direct from Dulles, since that route will save several hours. Air India’s reputation is not the greatest, and even though I’ll be flying business class, my expectations are low after reading many trip reports.  Has anyone flown AI recently?

19 hours ago, DaveO said:

I was in the area and stopped by Dino's this past week.  They are still running a value driven Restaurant Week dinner priced meal  $35 through Feb.  8.  Typically fine food.  Amazing value off their Restaurant Week menu:

I ate at the bar.  Andrew was busy with a party but efficient and engaging.  The menu included an amuse, I added the ceviche, this winter's brisket  (its far from Italian--very slightly reminded me of a dish my grandmother mastered), though Dino's came with a very nice completely different flavoring and of course it was cuttable with a fork and finished off with the 3 flavored--quite intense and delicious gelato.   

Its customer/diner friendly value with virtually anything from the main menu.  

Even though I consider Andrew to be a friend of mine (we met a few years ago while he was bartending at Green Pig Bistro), I've yet to make it to Dino's. It's certainly on my list, so thanks for your post! He is certainly a professional, and makes excellent cocktails.

As an aside, Andrew now sells his ginger beer commercially, albeit on a very small scale. Here's his website. I have no financial interest in his ginger beer, but I've been a fan of it ever since I had an incredible Moscow Mule at GPB. It is super-gingery/spicy and not overly sweet, so I recommend you find some if that matches your taste buds.

Their recipe for old-school garlic bread is a family favorite. Give it a try. 

Wonderful write-up Don! Thanks for providing your eloquent and descriptive review. Chloe certainly deserves your professional accolades. 

By “polite”, I meant they asked me if it was bothersome, and I said no. That wasn’t a unanimous sentiment at my table. The light they used was about the same as an iPad, and since they weren’t taking pictures non-stop, it wasn’t intrusive. They were also sitting at a corner table. 

I certainly see your point, though. 

2 hours ago, iolaire said:

The blue line I rode today had a single car wrapped with advertising for this place.  I don't recall seeing branding inside the train.

I’ve seen ads inside the trains, but not the exterior. 

My wife works at a store in the Galleria, and i finally managed a visit today. While the Eatery is still a work in progress, I was impressed by the appearance of the place. The furnishings and fixtures appear to be very expensive, they appear to be a good match for the Galleria clientele. There were many more customers than I expected, so the place seems to be off to a sold start. 

More importantly, I thoroughly enjoyed my lamb gyro from Kapnos. $14 was not out of line for this area, and the gyro was delicious. The freshly baked flatbread was light, and a bit crispy, and it was well-suited for the perfectly roasted lamb. The vegetables were nicely seasoned, as well. Excellent.

My dining companions had tacos and a slice of pizza. I didn't get to taste the other offerings, but they looked quite good. 

I'm no Isabella homer, and I'll tell you some of his places are much better than others, but the Eatery is off to a promising start.

Might be appropriate to edit the Topic wording now that Jen Carroll is gone.