jasonc

I didn't know you had that kind of tech!

Why does the menu abbreviate topped to top'd when there is no need to shorten it because it goes to two lines anyway?

And I got a *little* misty reading this. Thanks for the read, Don.

If you stay at a nice hotel- as noted above, and have the hotel get you taxis and negotiate or tell you what to pay before you get in the taxi (some have to use a meter then make sure they use it) they tried to cheat us left and right on that.  I would try to find a nice hotel as close to the hotel as possible because traffic really is just awful.  And many cab drivers don't know their way around and stop for directions, so closer is better if you can do that reasonably with a nice hotel.

Make sure the bottle water is a brand you trust.  Or get a really good filter and just filter it just to make sure, but the hotels use filtered water if they are a nice hotel so you can shower, etc and will sell good filtered water.  Not in Delhi but in Punjab the bottled watered could be just tap water sealed in bottles and sold so our friend ordered and shipped water there.  But Delhi will be better, Punjab is a whole other beast.

Nicer restaurants your hotel would recommend will use it too, you can eat outside your hotel, I would just stick to places in other nice hotels or recommended as nice by your hotel.  There is very little English spoken outside the hotels-service industry people so for cabs/etc our Indian friends arranged stuff, you can have the hotel do it.  Once at a restaurant etc you should be ok.  Just remember you hold the power.

When you stay in the nice parts of town it won't be so bad as a woman especially if you dress conservatively.  I would be careful about walking at night, but going to and from hotel to hospital or restaurant and back you should be fine.  It was so dirty I mostly wore pants and short or long sleeved shirts anyway.  I had a scarf which I loved to cover up, get less attention, but also when there were smells or dust or I wanted to see a temple.

Go to your doctor and get your shots if you don't have them and have them give you stomach medicine/mallaria pills before you go.  I definitely had a hard time because I am allergic to Arithamiacin which is the most effective GI drug.  The people who had that did better than me. Also just take any stomach medicine, including lots of immodium you think you might want.  We got our shots and meds from a travel clinic in Arlington, Capitol Travel, they were great, just fyi.  I got sick when I left an area where I could control what I ate, when I ate, etc.  And no matter what Anthony Bourdain says if you are prone to stomach issues don't eat street food.

Good luck!

Just to be clear, filters won't get most of the bacteria you should be worried about. For that you will have to boil or use chlorine tablets.

Are you sad Matt left for college?

My takeaway from this is that you should call your father more often.

My dad often says that he saved the owner's life 20 years ago when he had appendicitis and refused to go to the doctor. So we always got free congee.

The chinatown one sold last month and will be closing in september. It held out longer than all the others. 

2 Amys is one of our city's great treasures, and is arguably (not definitively, but absolutely in the conversation), arguably the greatest and most important restaurant in the history of Washington, DC. And if you don't think so, think again, keep educating yourself, and keep coming here. The stroller crowd is pacified, yes, but the toughest of culinary critics are, too. Thank God for Peter Pastan.

Sort of wild how this was half the price of Riggsby.

I'll ask my dad next time we talk. 

Don - say hi next time. My dad's best friend owns it and we used to have juk there every sunday night. I could have easily found this out for you. 

Don: this and your Full Kee review are precisely why I think you're the best food writer in DC. And in fact, never have I read someone more interested in helping both the reader and the restaurant. There's no schadenfreude in tearing a place apart, like you see in so many others. No desire to show off an encyclopedic knowledge of culinary marginalia. You're not even doing it for profit! You're just here to help (and in the process, entertain).

I can see this in the way you order, seeking out items that you suspect will let the restaurant shine. You go farther than pass that on to the reader, instead telling us how to best apportion each bite. That's a near-obsessive level of detail, but it's also extremely helpful. I can see that in how you choose to write these up. It'd be so easy to just blast one-off impressions (e.g., Yelp, Sietsema's Wedensday pieces, etc) but you know when that's irresponsible and do as you did above and seek further data not just from yourself but people you trust (e.g., young dining companion, Illaine).

And, again, you don't even get paid for it. I don't know how you do it man. But I'm glad you do.

I typically use the ginger-scallion oil to dress the chicken and rice, trying to get a bit of all three in each bite. I've never ordered it to go, but there is usually a little pool of soy on the plate with the chicken (I've never ordered a full chicken, usually just a half), so I suspect that's what was in the other container  - the leftover soy from cooking the chicken.

This more or less corroborates my account

"Soy Sauce Chicken" on thewoksoflife.com

We didn't show it here but some folks like to have this chicken with Scallion Ginger oil from our Cantonese Poached Chicken recipe but personally, I like the purity of the stewed soy sauce for this chicken,

I remembered the clean fish tanks at Full Kee (and they are still clean), but the hanging, roasted whole ducks and chickens in back, near the pass, had slipped my mind. I made it a point on my first visit to ask my server about their whole chickens, and they serve them two ways: Soy Sauce Chicken (Gí  Xí¬ Dầu) and Ginger Scallion Chicken (Gí  Hấp Muối) are both $23.95, and are the exact same amount of food (a whole chicken, cleaved, with some steamed rice). I knew I was going to get a whole chicken, and would have enough for two meals, so I called it in as a carryout order, and ordered the Soy Sauce rendition. Also wanting to try their seafood, and get a vegetable, I killed two birds with one stone by also ordering the fascinating-sounding Eggplant Stuffed Shrimp Paste in Black Bean Sauce (Cí  Tim Dồn Tí´m TÆ°Æ¡ng Äen) for $13.95, which pretty much left me without a clue as to what, exactly, I would be picking up. Okay, so, how best to describe this? Let's start with the chicken, which comes in a very large, rectangular, aluminum baking pan (with lid) - probably 2 feet by 1 foot in dimension. Inside the pan, I found a cleaved chicken (with the head thrown in, but no feet, so be on the lookout for the head), and also a little plastic tub of ... minced ginger and scallions - I had gotten the wrong order, but I hadn't realized that at the time. So I went rooting around in the paper bag for my soy sauce, which I assumed I'd need to pour over the chicken, and found a surprisingly large container of a thickened sauce which surprised me, as I figured the chicken would just be lying there in watery-thin soy sauce. I decided I'd reheat it in the oven, so I dumped the container of sauce on top, and ... oops ... it was my other entree. What this entree was, is diagonally sliced pieces of eggplant, stuffed *with* shrimp paste (now it finally made sense), and what I thought was inexplicably thickened soy sauce, was the black bean sauce. So now, I had on my hands a giant, ten-pound, cooking tray with everything except the steamed rice. Fortunately, I was able to bore out some space for the stuffed eggplant - then I dumped the little tub of ginger and scallions onto the chicken, added another small tub of soy sauce (which was in the bag) onto the chicken, made sure both dishes were separated, put the lid back on, and heated it in a 350-degree oven for awhile.

What emerged was nothing short of spectacular. Even though the chicken - which had been picked up at something close to room temperature - was roasted earlier in the day, it reheated beautifully, and I don't feel the least bit of guilt for reheating a dish that's served "slightly warm" in the restaurant - I like *hot* chicken and I just can't lie. Maybe got back in about 10-15 minutes to unveil my re-interpretation, and everything was just wonderful. I'm glad I kept the two dishes completely separate, because although they were wonderful as compliments to each other, they would be ridiculous mixed together. That said, a little dab of black bean sauce did absolutely nothing to hurt the pieces of chicken; nor did mixing the soy sauce in with the ginger and scallions. The other dish, the shrimp paste-stuffed eggplant, was tailor made to be had alongside (or on top of, if you're a heathen like me) the steamed rice, and these pieces of eggplant were just terrific. You can picture the shrimp paste - it has that same texture as the classic Thai appetizer, Tod Mun (fish cakes), except that it's shrimp paste of course. And I was left staring down a sultan's feast of an entire roast chicken, delicious stuffed eggplant, and enough food for three people. Needless to say, I had this again for lunch the next day, and recommend both, although I personally am not a fan of cold, cleaved, (invariably frozen) chicken, so if you're a white boy like me, I recommend getting this to go, and reheating it for 10-15 minutes in your oven, and with 1-2 other things, such as my eggplant and a green (there's no reason not to round out your meal by getting a green) you'll have a no-fuss dinner for your entire family, and you'll love it, too. Seriously, when it comes to carryout food, this is about as good as it gets.

I think you got the right chicken dish. Soy sauce chicken often comes with ginger scallion oil on the side.

It's okay, Jason, I'll split these posts off into a separate thread. I basically mean "what McDonald's helped to pioneer." They appeal to people's "primal cravings" of fat, sugar, salt, etc. What I really don't want to do is dangle some sort of carrot that I cannot (or, more accurately, "will not") back up with detail, because I've been not-so-subtly accused in the past of posting partial, vague information, basically being the jerk who says, "Ha, ha, ha, I know something that you don't know." What I'm trying to say to diners is, "Please educate yourselves, be a skeptic, and don't be fooled by something that tastes good as an arbiter of quality, or by the amount of food you get as being indicative of good value, because it's not (always) the case." And this has nothing to do with me being an educated diner, or me having a good palate; it's merely a direct result of me hearing things from employees and ex-employees of certain restaurants - it's that and nothing more, and it has nothing to do with taunting, or me being superior, or anything else other than wanting people to think for themselves and be educated to the maximum.

I really don't want to call out specific restaurants, but the truth is that I *do* know things that the average person doesn't; not because "I'm so smart and everyone else isn't," but because I hear things due to the position I'm in - from ex-line cooks, for example, or bartenders, or AGMs - things that would be pretty shocking if they came out and were substantiated because some of peoples' favorite restaurants would be knocked off of their pedestals, at least to some small degree. And make no mistake, I like these restaurants too! It's just that I have them in proper perspective because I do know things - insider-y things - about them, the shortcuts they take, the ingredients they use, the cooking methods they employ, etc. It doesn't mean they're bad by any means; but they're no French Laundry. And Bouchon serves frozen french fries, btw, or at least they used to, so please don't think I'm being a Thomas Keller acolyte. And who knows, maybe I'm even wrong about that - I hope this answers your question without me coming across as a schmuck-o. This is nothing I wouldn't tell you in person; I just don't want to broadcast these things here. So why do I mention this stuff at all, especially in such a coy fashion? In response to Simul's post - I want people to know that the rest of the country *hasn't* caught up, and I don't name names because I don't want to harm perfectly honorable businesses that I like, and who's to say that I'm even correct?

Cheers,

Rocks

I see what you are saying now - thank you for the clarification. It's an interesting point but I don't think it is correct. And that's because these fancy French Laundry places are also just as guilty as playing to primal instincts, just different ones. Instead of the instinct to overeat, FL and its kind satisfy a desire for status, which is also innate. People want to be able to tell their friends that they've been to this world-class restaurant and had a famous chef cook for them. And if their golf buddy (or whatever) has done that, then maybe now I have to go to some Michelin-starred restaurants in Europe. Now the golf buddy is posting some photo of him and Keller on Instagram to bask in whatever reflected status he has. And it goes on.

There are almost certainly some people who are interested in what FL is doing as a craft and its curiosity and a thirst for knowledge that drives them. But that's not most of them.

Simul, this isn't directed at you, I promise.

I'm not naming any names, but someone said to me, about a week ago, 'You can come over to my place, stay for five hours, and eat as much brisket as you want for $100.'

An awful lot of people think you can have a multi-course, multi-hour meal for $150 all-in that will be comparable to The French Laundry or Per Se; you simply cannot.

Diners do not realize how much certain restaurants are playing into their primal instincts under the guise of gourmet dining. There are some things I almost desperately want people to know, but I don't want to be the one to tell them.

I don't want to take this off course, but I don't understand what you're saying Don. I read the link but I don't get what you mean by primal instincts.

http://www.donrockwell.com/index.php/user/1464-ferment-everything/

Oh, I got that entire story from my bartender (an exact match, too).

shoulda known it was a trick question.

Do we know the answer to this yet?  I'm going to guess "Anne" but if I'm going to push it a little more, maybe "Alexandra"?

The armstrongs should give that employee a raise!

I walked into Sweetbites for the first time today, and the first thing I noticed was the grab-n-go cooler on the left, which had been plundered of everything savory, save for a couple of kale salads which tempted me, but I soldiered forward.

Sweetbites serves Illy coffee (like with Little City Gourmet, I suspect Illy paid for the espresso machine in exchange for using the product - this is a great deal for both Illy (who moves product) and the retailer (who doesn't have to shell out $10K for an espresso machine); the only one who suffers is the customer, because Illy coffee, despite being from Italy, is pretty middling). Regardless, I had my pre-existing cup of Starbucks (even worse) sitting out in the car, so I didn't need coffee today - what I was looking for was savory baked items so I could give Sweetbites a whirl.

The prices on some of the items hit me pretty hard - some gluten-free brownies were, if I read this correctly, $5.50 each, and you should be prepared to pay $3.00-$4.50 for most baked goods. That's okay with me as long as the quality is there, and indeed, for the two items I purchased today, the quality was there. I didn't get the prices, or get a copy of the receipt, so I can only guess that my bill, including tax but no tip (I had no cash, and by the time the register got to me, the cashier had skipped over the tip screen), was something between $8-10. I apologized for not having any cash, and made a mental note to leave a little more next time.

A small slice of Quiche with Goat Cheese, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Black Olives, Sweet White Onion, and Arugula was wonderful - really, everything you want your quiche to be. More custardy than eggy, it was delicious cold although the cashier offered to warm it for me. This was just savory enough so that you could taste the sweetness in the sweated, white onions, and the sun-dried tomatoes (an ingredient which I often do not care for) were wonderful in this.

My Scone with Butternut Squash, Feta, and Sage looked like it might have been underdone, but it wasn't - both the Feta and the squash are moisturizers which can deceive a diner into thinking that baked goods using them aren't cooked long enough, even though that's not the case. This was a delicious scone, and I think the baker may have even put a layer of butternut squash at the midway point in the scone. It was perfectly moist, and the butternut squash was the dominant flavor - this actually reminded me of a pasta dish I might see at Tosca, served with a light cream sauce and nutmeg.

Sweetbites is expensive, but it's in a wealthy neighborhood, and if there are any other bakeries nearby that are as good, I'm certainly unaware. They'll get plenty of support from the office building they're in, but people in McLean looking for breakfast or lunch should be aware it's there. It has much more of a Korean, bubblegum-corporate character (here's their website) than Village Sweet does, giving it a more "finished" look and feel - it leads me to wonder if this is a franchise of some sort; regardless, the baked goods I had were "talented home baker" all the way.

On deck: a lemon bar - I was almost swayed today by the way they looked.

Informative and a delight to read. Thanks Don. I'll gobble up your writing any day - every last crumb.

---

[Thank you, Jason!]

We're still waiting for your write up Don!

Me too!

I love Ferhat and Kliman and this is a great reminder I've got to go in and patronize Fishnet next time in town.

But, this really did seem like Kliman was merging two stories that didn't quite fit, despite his best efforts. Ferhat's struggle with a coherent concept at Fishnet seems to have nothing to do with the former SES/cultural identity of the neighborhood, especially when rattling off the other restaurants that seem to be succeeding there.

Not meatloaf.  The green beans were reviled by both Mr. BLB and BL-2nd grader.

Salisbury steak?

What is the best food to eat with coffee?

"Andrelton Simmons Might Be The Greatest Defensive Shortstop Ever" by David Schoenfield on espn.com