eatruneat

2 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

Several restaurants that use to be affordable have become tasting menu only and now priced in the special occasion category but I'm not sure that many restaurants are really worth the money.   The number of tasting menu restaurants in DC seems pretty high.  Have business entertainment finally moved on from steakhouses to these showboat restaurants?

I was listening to a podcast over the weekend that veered into the topic of plastic surgery (the podcast is called Bitch Sesh: A Real Housewives Podcast). And one of the hosts said that a lot of people (including or maybe especially Real Housewives) who get plastic surgery know that it's not going to look natural or they know that it won't improve their appearance that much, but the point is to show that they have money to have plastic surgery. 

Do the sky high price tags at some of these restaurants really reflect the quality and inventiveness of the food? Or is it really so someone can say they went there, implying they could afford to go there and spend that kind of cash, even regularly? Unfortunately, we are seeing more and more in the latter category. 

Spent another 10 sunny days in San Diego for Christmas with the family. Like previous years, @MichaelBDC and I stayed in the Gaslamp District for a few days before family festivities. A run down of some of our dining adventures. 

On 7/5/2022 at 5:48 PM, Mark Dedrick said:

Civico 1845 – Very good Italian restaurant in Little Italy. We were seated outdoors, and the food was wonderful.

The Neighborhood – Another return venture for us, we love this spot. We had drinks at J & Tony’s beforehand while waiting for our table, and then great steak frites here.

We owe a great debt to @Mark Dedrick for recommending The Neighborhood, our favorite spot during our stay in the Gaslamp. We were starving after a five hour flight from Dulles to San Diego and headed straight to The Neighborhood after checking into our hotel room. Ordered the pierogies and the sausage platter exactly what our tummies wanted. Drinks were very well made too. I have never had a rickey I liked until the ones I got here. Highly recommend. 

Looking for a light dinner after the aforementioned pierogies and sausage platter, we wandered over to Taka Sushi and sat at the counter. We ordered some nigiri a la carte, all of which were very good. A little over priced (but what isn't these days), wish there was better variety, and there was quite a bit of upselling by the sushi chefs (they sold me on the live shrimp but we passed on the others), but overall we were pleased with our meal. 

One day we wandered over to Little Italy and spent a few good hours at Vino Carta, a wine bar and retail shop. Wish we had something like this in DC. I would describe this as Maxwell Park, if Maxwell Park also had a retail shop. After our wines, we headed to Crack Shack for some fried chicken. The only thing we ordered were the chicken oysters and they were as good as we remembered them! Finally, stopped by Civico 1845 for a solid pasta dinner. 

Our one big miss this trip was Karina's Cantina in the Gaslamp. I can't be 100 % sure, but I am pretty positive I got food poisoning after eating the agua chiles here one day. That resulted in us having to cancel our reservations at Callie, a meal we were really looking forward to. 

A few other highlights from our trip was some delicious Bun Bo Hue (and some banh nam, banh beo, and banh bot lot) at Hoai Hue in City Heights, a go to for our family. If you have a car and don't mind crappy parking lots, I highly recommend. Another great area for Asian food is on and around Convoy Street  in Claremont Mesa/Kearney Mesa area. Pho Duyen Mai has a solid bowl of pho (we did not make it to Pho Hoa this time) and I enjoyed the best Chinese food in a while at Eastern Dynasty two miles down the road. 

Finally, FWIW, my family reports that Jasmine is not as good these days resulting in no dim sum this trip. A bummer to be sure. 

14 hours ago, Bart said:

How did you place the order?

I attempted to order something last friday night and their website/app simultaneously said they were "taking online orders" and "NOT taking online orders"!  Then I pivoted to trying to order something from Wise Guys and found out that you had to use THEIR app to order.  I didn't feel like downloading an app that only works at one place so I had a frozen pizza instead.  😉

Can't speak to your experience with Della Barba, but I know some restaurants shut down online orders if they get too busy and find themselves in the weeds. Had this happen a few times with Baan Siam. 

I cannot wait to order from Della Barba again. We took a hiatus because they made their delivery zone smaller and we fell out of it. Then they took a hiatus. Initially, we are outside of the delivery zone for this location too, but fortunately they moved to DoorDash for delivery. We hardly ever use DoorDash but with the $5 a month credit we get with our Chase card (and the credit rolls over to a max of $15), we will do it once we get back from spending the holidays in California. 

We've eaten at Unconventional Diner multiple times and have enjoyed it enough to go back, especially with friends or family who may be a tad pickier than us. It's a fun place to grab a bite with friends. Food is good and decently priced. 

5 hours ago, saf said:

I would try it - I like them both, but the sandwiches are not the same.

Second this. Mangialardos > A Litteri.

If we are talking Italian sandwiches, we had one Bub & Pop's the other week. It was good but the addition of pickles really took away from the sandwich. Stachowski's Market is still #1 in our book. Ghostburger has one we have yet to try, but it's $20 so it will be awhile before we get around to it. 

After a few disappointing sushi experiences in this pseudo post-pandemic time we are in, @MichaelBDC and I decided to splurge for Sushi Taro to celebrate our fourth wedding anniversary. We considered it a gift from us to us. 

Given that prices have gone up everywhere, I kind of consider $120 per person for the Kaiseki experience we had to be kind of a steal. We did do an upgrade for the sashimi and had a nice bottle of sake to treat ourselves even more, and I still feel it was all worth the price. Don't get me wrong, we probably won't go there again until another special occasion but the food quality and quantity, service, and atmosphere were top notch. We could have left after the last sushi and done without dessert and would not have complained, but decided to order one dessert and take one home. Instead, we got a dessert and a mini-dessert on the house (the phenomenal hoji-cha pudding) probably because the server found out that @MichaelBDC loves hoji-cha tea. There were other great touches throughout the meal, including accommodating a shellfish allergy and including gizzard shad as a nigiri because we love gizzard shad. As the kids say (still?), let's run it back. 

@MichaelBDC and I popped in for brunch last weekend. The  brunch menu is pared down from what is posted online and the chef explained it was because people still want burgers at brunch.  So now they are offering the full burger menu with only a few brunch times. Between the two of us, we had the firfir (injera tossed in a berbere, jalapeno, tomato, ginger, and garlic sauce), Ethiopian scrambled eggs, and the doro wat style fried chicken sandwich. It was more than enough food.

If you, like us, love the parts of the injera that is beneath the vegetarian platter or whatever is beneath your order when you have Ethiopian food, then the firfir is for you. It was nice and spicy and I avoided the slices of jalapeno, but @MichaelBDC was game. For an extra $5 you can add braised beef. Instead, I added an order of Ethiopian scrambled eggs which is just two eggs scrambled with some tomatoes and jalapenos with a little bit of the berbere spice. Despite the simplicity it was really fantastic. Finally, we split The National, the doro wat style fried chicken sandwich with a fried egg. It was great. To drink, we had an off menu mimosas. The whole meal was great. No notes. Would order the same thing the next time we go. 

Union Market is a huge cluster these days, at least on the weekends. Unless you go in with a to-do list and get in and out, it is unbearable. So many people crammed into that space, browsing is impossible. Given my experience, I wouldn't be surprised if Rappahannock River Oysters is replaced with 3-4 stalls that could collectively pay more rent than the sit down restaurants. But to what end? I really love some of the vendors but the experience of wading through the masses is so bad I have come to dread going in. Maybe it's a sign that I have gotten old.  

Went to O-Ku back in May for what we had hoped was a blow out sushi feast since we had not had a great sushi meal since pre-pandemic days. We ordered several servings of nigirl and rolls. Fish was good quality but nothing stood out, a shame at that price point. Rice was a bit dry and a little too heavy on the vinegar. For the price of the sushi, we were really hoping to get a few pieces that were mind blowing or memorable, but that was not the case. Walked out of there thinking we should have just splurged for Sushi Taro, which we will be doing later this week. 

20 hours ago, Bart said:

Is there only one location of this place or four?!?!  And how do you contact them?!?

The website lists the Capitol Hill location, a Chinatown location and a Convention Center location but as far as I can tell via Google Maps, only the Capitol Hill location exists.  Then there's the discussion up-thread about an H St. location which adds more confusion.  

The website is bare bones and doesn't appear to be updated since 2020, based on the copyright date at the bottom of the page.  Their Facebook page doesn't seem to updated since 2015 and they don't appear on OpenTable, Resy or Tock.

Do they take reservations?  Is it only via the phone?

It's kind of amazing that their web presence is horribly out of date or non-existent!  Then again, the brand spankin' new, Shoto, seems to be following their lead!  (If you are unaware, Shoto is a new, high end, glitzy place that opened a couple months ago that still doesn't have a website or menu posted online because "they want it to be perfect before going live".  SMH)

Chinatown location (on H St. NW) is definitely closed. 😢 

From Yelp, looks like the Capitol Hill location is open but omakase is $100 now rather than $50. 😢

The last gift certificate has been burning a hole in my inbox since Christmas and it was about time we used it. We were very happy we did. While all of our meals at Kinship have been amazing, last night's was one of the best. 

To start we had the morel mushroom gratin and the grilled florentino cauliflower. The morel gratin was served with gnocchi and asparagus in a mornay sauce and may have been an all time amazing dish from the Kinship kitchen. I would go back just to have this dish. The cauliflower (with fingerling potatoes, sweet peppers, and arugula) was very good as well but that gratin stole the show. 

For entrees we had the cassava crusted lamb shoulder and the curry poached halibut. The cassava came out like a potato patty on top of the lamb, which was so tender we could break it apart with a spoon. We especially enjoyed the sauce piquant that was served with the dish. The halibut in the coriander broth was super flavorful, without being too overpowering. We could only taste a hint of the curry and the coriander broth was slurpable but we were able to restrain ourselves. Both dishes had the potential to be too heavy for the warm evening, but both were surprisingly light and tasted like Spring. 

Kinship always puts out some delicious food, but last night exceeded our expectations. An all timer, until the next all timer. 

A large contingent of the family was in town for my cousin's graduation from Georgetown. The graduation dinner itself was in a private room at the Penn Quarter location. My aunt ordered multiple of several tapas and the paella de mariscos. Favorites were the pan con tomate, croquetas, albondingas, pinxtos morunos, and the paella. Not a bad bite the whole meal and service was very helpful without feeling intrusive.

With eight locations in NYC, DC, Nashville, and Chicago, I was pretty skeptical going in but the food was very very good. Being the only local member of the family, I was given all the leftovers and we happily ate them a few days later after a happy hour that lasted longer than an hour. 

On 5/15/2022 at 9:16 PM, hapatite said:

@Mark Dedrick @eatruneat thanks for the recommendations. I'm heading to SD at the end of the month and will do some more research on Callie, Fort Oak, Herb & Wood, and Karina's (Karina's Cantina in Gaslamp, right?).

Any good coffee places? I've only seen Portal Coffee and  Dark Horse Coffee Roasters mentioned.

Also looking for other things to do besides a Padres game and the Zoo. We'll be there 4 days.

I was referring to Karina's in the Gaslamp, but the ones in Chula Vista and Eastlake are great if you are in the area.

Bird Rock Coffee is a local chain that is pretty good. Not sure if it's worth seeking out but a good option if you are in the neighborhood. 

As for other activities, spend a day on the beach if you just want to relax. La Jolla Shores and Pacific Beach are to good options. If you have kids, Legoland. Balboa Park is worth exploring post Zoo if you aren't too tired but also worth a trip on its own as well. 

Have fun!

22 hours ago, DonRocks said:

NoMa isn’t *that* close, and Laos isn’t Thailand, but have you tried Laos in Town?

Beau Thai - Shaw? 🙃

We are also HUGE fans of Baan Siam and do carryout from them regularly. I think we have had inaccurate text notifications now and again, but I usually just stick to the initial time estimate and it has worked out for us. 

Missed one great place in the Gaslamp that was so good I came back to write about it. Karina's, a must if you love ceviche and Mexican seafood. Karina's is a local chain that started in the South Bay but has expanded across San Diego. @MichaelBDC and I had planned to go to either the Chula Vista or Eastlake locations on this visit with my brother but we weren't able to make it. However, we were walking from Little Italy back to our hotel in the Gaslamp Quarter one day thinking about what to eat and I saw that Karina's Cantina was very close to our hotel. It is more cleaned up than the one we had visited before so I was a little nervous the food wasn't as good, but I had nothing to worry about. @MichaelBDChad an order of the pescado ceviche and I had an order of the aguachile de camaron. There was a healthy amount of fish/shrimp in each of our dishes and with the free chips and salsa, we weren't able to finish our plates, which was really a shame because that was some of the best seafood I had in a long time. If you see a Karina's in San Diego, I urge you to go at least for the seafood. I'm still thinking about the aguachiles. 

@MichaelBDC and I picked up a roast duck here for NYE dinner. Whole duck, spatchcocked, bao buns, picked veggies and herbs, and some condiments. Ended up being a little over $100 including tax and tip. Duck was really well cooked, easy re-heating directions that did not dry out the bird, and lasted three meals. A great deal if you like duck. 

Spent nine rainy-ish days in San Diego. @MichaelBDC and I decided that nine days was way too much to spend with family so we booked a hotel in the Gaslamp Quarter for the first three nights before six very intense family filled days. 

Our first meal was at Civico 1845 with my brother and his lady friend. It was on Eater San Diego list of "essential restaurants" and while the meal was solid, nothing was particularly memorable or outstanding. The following night we went to another one of Eater San Diego "essential" restaurants, Animae which is a pan Asian restaurant from serial restauranteur and Top Chef personality, Brian Malarkey. It was a big bust and we left many dishes unfinished and stopped ordering food even though we were only moderately full and could have eaten more. I do not recommend. The best meal we had in downtown San Diego was at Callie, a Mediterranean restaurant and winner of a Michelin bib gourmand. Our meal was outstanding, especially the uni and Iberico ham toast and the lemon and saffron rigatoni w/confit bluefin tuna and bottarga bread crumbs. We would definitely go back. We also checked out J & Tony's given @Mark Dedrick's recommendation and the proximity to our hotel. It was a totally fun vibe with great drinks. Perfect for a sibling reunion. Remember to say hi to Ronald. 

In between family meals (including an early birthday party for yours truly with such amazing Vietnamese food I know people on this here board would enjoy), we did A LOT of fish tacos. Sadly, Oscar's was not as amazing as the last time we visited. Maybe it is due to the pandemic, but the piece of fish was paltry and dry and the taco was mostly cabbage and other filler. The salsas were still great though. Fortunately, PB Fish Shop had great grilled tacos with some very fresh fish. Finally, we hit up the Brigantine in La Mesa for old times sake. My brother, cousins, and some "hip" aunts and uncles used to hit up happy hour here back in the day. For $2.50, the fish tacos were amazing. At $14 for two...no thank you. Both the battered fish taco and the sonoran marlin were tasty and it was good to revisit an old haunt. They have locations all over San Diego and it's a solid option, but don't go out of your way. 

@MichaelBDCand I went with our personal trainer to L'Ardente just before Christmas to thank him for keeping us relatively in shape throughout the year. He can also put down a lot of food so as a bonus, we got to order several dishes to try. 

Highlights were the Duck Hunt (four individually served duck ravioli in foie gras and truffle), Vitello Tonnato & Tonnato Vitellato (veal carpaccio w/ tuna sauce and raw tuna w/ veal sauce), and the sausage ragu pasta. The duck ravioli was my favorite dish of the night. It was very luscious and just melted in my mouth. When the other two hesitated a little too long about who should get the fourth ravioli, I happily claimed it for myself. the veal with tuna sauce and tuna sashimi with veal sauce was a close runner up. The kitchen really let the ingredients shine, which I really appreciated. And the sausage ragu pasta was the favorite pasta dish of the night. It definitely tasted like what you imagine sausage ragu pasta would taste like, except it was the best sausage ragu with the best pasta. 

Other dishes of the evening were the panzanella di funghi with oyster mushrooms, veal osso bucco pasta, and the famous 40 layer lasagna. Honestly, the lasagna was our least favorite dish of the evening. It was way too rich and there was nothing to cut the richness of the combination of short ribs, truffle mornay, and rich cheese. It was the only dish we didn't finish. 

Overall, we loved our meal and can't wait to go back to try more of the menu. 

Stopped by Shouk on K St. earlier this week and picked up a Shouk'n Caesar Salad for a late lunch. When I first looked at the salad I thought it was a pretty small portion for the $12.50 but I ended up not even being able to finish the salad, and I was starved. The fried shouk'n was really good, nice and crispy but not too crisp. I think there was a whole head of oyster mushroom in my salad. Would definitely get a side of shouk'n nuggets by itself next time because the shrooms were that good. 

Can't figure out how to upload a photo right now but I agree with Bart. The shumai were 3-4 bites each and you could definitely taste the foie. As someone who loves dumplings in all forms, my point was that good shumai are really really good, so adding foie and increasing the size, while interesting, doesn't take it to a whole new level and pleasure that I don't already get from a good shumai. 

My college aged cousin came to DC for a quick visit and her one request was Asian food because she does not get good Asian food in Chicago. So four of us went to Queen's English and we ordered most of the menu: dry aged steak tartare, diver scallop crudo, lo sui duck drumette, cumin lamb ribs, housemade silken tofu, ong choy, daikon fritters, foie gras shumai, xo mushroom egg noodle. Given we cleaned our plates and couldn't eat another bite, I would say everyone loved the food. 

Hard to pick a favorite, but I would ahve to go with the daikon fritters which reminded me of a larger version of my favorite dim sum dish. We also loved the cumin lamb ribs and the xo mushroom egg noodle, especially the wok hei of the egg noodle dish. The ong choy was also a great vegetable dish and while our waiter noted (after we asked) that the century egg could be a little divisive, it was enjoyed by all. My cousin noted that she has had more sulphurous tasting century eggs before. The only nit, and it is not a big one, is that @MichaelBDCfelt the shumai, while good, was not all that much better than other, less fancy, shumai he has had. So maybe not worth $26 for four large-ish shumai but this is not an actual complaint because the shumai was still very much enjoyed. 

Service was great. Water and wine glasses were always filled and our server gave us time to chat and catch up before taking our order. I would go back here in a heartbeat. 

1 hour ago, DonRocks said:

You lost an entire year (as have we all)! 🙂

LOL! Great catch! Does that mean I'm not turning 40 after all? 

My bestest friends and I are turning 40 this year and next and are doing trips to celebrate each milestone birthday. We all went to college together and lived in the same dorm and it's been nice to see how our interests have evolved since the early 2000s. Also, birthday lady has to sabre a bottle of sparkling wine. 

First trip was to Door County, Wisconsin back in June. The birthday gal lives in Green Bay and her family owns a cabin up in Door County (about 75 minutes away) so that is where we went. Lots of outdoor moderate outdoor activities and a lovely sunset sail. I love the Lake Michigan and the midwest in a way that is very unexpected from a San Diego born and raised gal and a 17 year DC resident. 

Second trip a few weeks ago was to West Texas. Let me repeat: West. Texas. We flew into Midland/Odessa airport and spent a day in a half in Marfa and then two days in Terlingua to explore Big Bend State and National Parks. Re: COVID precautions, I will say that I consider myself pretty lax by DC standards (although I will observe boundaries set by others) but by Texas standards I am hard core. But no hostility by others for indoor masking and other precautions, thank goodness. 

The last two of us are planning to combine our birthday trips for one big extravaganza. We are thinking Turks and Caicos or somewhere in the Caribbean in Spring 2021.  

Otherwise, a quick weekend trip to NYC for @MichaelBDC and me in early October and then to San Diego for Christmas and that is our travel for 2020. Glad to be able to travel again but I am still eagerly hoping/yearning for true post-COVID times. 

8 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

Xiumai, pronounced shu mai means meatball in Vietnamese?  

No. Meatball in Vietnamese is bo vien, which literally translates to beef tablet. I don’t know why they are called xiu mai, maybe it’s supposed to be the meat inside a xiu mai dumpling?