magnadoodle

Kwame Onwuachi will be back this fall with his newest restaurant Kith and Kin inside the Intercontinental Hotel at the new waterfront being built in Southwest DC. Anyone have any insider information other than what is in the article? From dcist.com

I would disagree with you on having all my fish served all at once on a single plate versus having one or two pieces prepared and served immediately with small breaks in between servings (http://www.ocregister.com/articles/sushi-650961-top-loves.html). It does make sense that the order of the fish should be served as a progression of flavors. It is also my understanding that the fish should generally be served in an order of lighter, less fatty fish to more stronger, oily fish. However if I had followed the order that the fish was plated, the first plate (not shown in the picture) would have had a sequence of sardine nigiri followed by hokkaido scallop nigiri. I personally don't think that particular order would have been good in terms of being able taste all the nuances of the scallop, but I am not a professional sushi chef and could potentially be wrong in my opinion. Also, this was only my second time going and my first time ordering the omakase at the counter and was surprised that they had precut fish given the great reviews everyone has on Sushi Capitol. Perhaps it was an off night, but I felt it was something that needed to be discussed to see if I am an outlier in my recent experience.

Two different plates came out, but the picture only shows one of the plates. The other plate did indeed have toro, botan ebi, scallop, and 3 other pieces of fish. The pre-cut fish was indeed a turn off and the biggest issue that I had and wanted to see if anyone else had the same experience.

I will be the outlier here and say I don't believe that Sushi Capitol is as good as what everyone has described it to be. I've gone twice so far: lunch and for the omakase dinner. Both times I felt that the food is good but not amazing. (3 stars out of 5 compared with other sushi restaurants.) Some of the biggest issues I had with ordering the omakase was my expectation that the sushi will be prepared as singles or in pairs and served immediately. Unfortunately, this wasn't done and the chef plates up all the fish at once and hands it to you. He doesn't even tell you what he is serving. The server has to come around to tell you or you have to ask the server. As seen in the attached image, how the fish was prepared also left much to be desired, especially the salmon - the bloodline could have been better cut away. I think most of these issues can be forgiven, but what was quite egregious was 90% of the items that was served was pre-sliced. Yes, I specifically saw the chef pull out the container from the little refrigerated case with all the presliced fish and used it to make the sushi that was served to me and others. Yes, I also saw for myself when he cut up more fish and placed it into the box to refill it when it ran low. From a place that has received such great accolades, I personally expected more. I'm not sure if this is something others have experienced as well, but I would love to hear from others if my experience to Sushi Capitol was a fluke or not.

I was going to scald the head to get rid of the hair, but I did not have a stock pot big enough to fit it. Because I live in an apartment, I decided that burning the hair off a pig head either inside or outside was not worth the hassle.

Just an update for everyone. Union Market was selling whole pig heads for $1.99/lb and they just need a few days notice. Union Meat Co. in Eastern market had them frozen for $2.79/lb and they are about 16 to 20lbs each. I managed to get a free one from a friend and the head weighed about 15 pounds. The people at Great Wall in Rockville said that they did not carry pig heads ( I went 2 different times and 2 different people gave the same answer.) The biggest issue was removing all the hair. It took about an hour with a sharp knife and a bunch of disposable razor blades. Not fun. I ended up just salting the head and baking at 375'F for 1 hour and then 325'F for 3 hours. I also basted with a honey water mixture 3 times about 30 minutes before pulling the head out of the oven. Everything was cooked, but I think the meat would have been more tender if cooked for another 2-3 hours at 325'F. However, the pig head tacos still came out amazing.

Can you give us a hint to the place you are moving to in order to help us tailor your list better? Some places I would suggest without this information would be: La Bohemia Bakery in Rockville for their amazing croissants Jumbo Slice at any of the jumbo slice places in Adams Morgan Keren Restaurant for a Eritrean breakfast of fuul and eggs Amsterdam Falafel for cheap, well-made falafels Medium Rare for the pure novelty of getting steak and fries and then a free second helping halfway through your meal Saint's Paradise Cafeteria for Southern food Thip Khao (Columbia Heights) or Bangkok Golden (Falls Church) for Laotian food Anywhere for some pupusas Pit beef. However, it may be too far to get to. The Canopy in Ellicott City or Pioneer Pit Beef in Windsor Mill or Chaps in Baltimore

Dropped in for dinner on Wed. Had some drinks at the bar around 6:30p and the place was about 1/3 full. As 7pm approached, the place quickly filled to capacity and people had to put their name down for a table. At the bar we had a Lao Spicy Nut which were fried peanuts tossed in kafir lime leaves, dried chili. These definitely paired well with the beer and had just enough chili to leave the lips a little bit tingly. They had another bar appetizer special that day which was fried pig's ear. The pig's ear were sliced like french fries and deep fried. This was served with a spicy sriracha-like sauce. The ears were slightly chewy on the outside with a crunchy inside from the cartilage. This is a definite must try if they have it on the menu again. After we got tables, we ordered a green papaya salad as a starter (Tam muk hoong). It was good, but not as memorable as the other menu items. The duck laab was done very well and had a generous amount of duck. For the "adventurous" part of the menu, we opted for the grilled beef tongue (Ping lean). It was very similar to beef tongue you get at a Japanese yakitori izakaya. It had a nice char and the chili lime sauce that was paired with the tongue was what made the dish stand out. Finally, we got a Lao herbal curry (Awk). It had eggplant, mustard leaves, mushrooms, green beans, kabocha squash, and a healthy amount of dill. The flavor profile of the curry was my favorite part of the dinner. A great balance of savory, sour, salt, and sweet (from the kabocha?). It is very hard to describe with all the flavors that were happening in my mouth. All in all, I would definitely make the trek to Columbia Heights for Laotian cuisine again. As packed as it was for a rainy Wed. night, I cannot imagine how full this place must get on a weekend.

If you'll be around Metro Center, I recommend Brick and Mortar (http://www.brickmortardc.com/) which is located at the old Living Social building (918 F St NW, Washington, DC). They have great, quality made cocktails, a small selection of beer and wine. There are small dishes such as cheese and light sandwiches if you want small things to help displace the alcohol. In the same building is a new wine bar called 4th Floor Wine Bar (https://www.prequeldc.com/4th-floor-wine-bar/about) that you can migrate to if you want to move away from cocktails. Both places are tailored to be a more quiet atmosphere that you can chat while enjoying delicious drinks.

Are they still serving whipped pork fat instead of butter to spread on their bread? That was also one of the highlights of the evening when I went.

Thanks for the tip. I'm still waiting to hear back from them. I'll update this post if I hear back from them.

I see. It definitely is crazy where I'm having a hard time trying to find something that most people would be happy to give away.

I have not read that book yet. Also, were my questions offensive or inappropriate in any way?

I have plans to roast a whoIe pigs head and I just want to find if there are any new updates to this topic. I'm hoping to pick a 10-20 pound head for about a $1 or less per pound. Is this even possible anymore. I live in Rockville and asked someone at Great Wall on Hungerford. However, the person at the butcher section said that they don't carry pigs heads anymore. I also emailed Harvey's Market at Union Market in DC and they can get one for me for $2/lb which I feel may be tad bit pricey. Has anyone else found any other places that will sell a pig's head at my price point?

I finally made it to DCity BBQ for lunch this weekend. I got "The Show Stopper" which had 1/2 lb of pork ribs (2 ribs), 6 pit smoked wings (a mix of drumettes and wingettes, not 6 whole wings like I imagined), choice of 1/2 lb of any meat (I got brisket which was 3 pieces), choice of 2 small sides (I got the green chile cheddar grits and crispy brussels sprouts), and 1 single slice of toast cut in half. It was also suppose to come with homemade pickles, but I didn't realize they forgot to give them to me until after I got home. All this was $29 which I thought was not that great of a deal. I certainly expected more food than I got. Everything pretty much fit in a 5"x7" take out container. Keep in mind this food was suppose to feed two people and they managed to put everything into a medium sized take out box with room to spare. Definitely skimpy on the food. I mean, 1 single piece of toast for 2 people? I can get over the amount of food given if the BBQ was spectacular. However, the BBQ was pretty mediocre. The pork rib was relatively tender, not pull off the bone tender but not tough either. There was a good amount of smoke flavor, but the smoke ring was minimal. One of the biggest complaints not just for the ribs but most of the meal was that everything was way too salty. The smoked wings were quite salty as was the brisket. Salty to the point of almost inedible. As for the sides, the grits had good flavor but it was super watery. Think drinkable yogurt. Finally the brussels sprouts. These were deep fried to the point of burnt and way oversalted just like every other part of the meal. Overall the meal was pretty mediocre even when not factoring in the cost of the meal. I don't think I will be coming back here again.