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Kanishka

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Everything posted by Kanishka

  1. Kanishka
    Don and I had a nice discussion about the fact that I haven't written about my dining experiences in Benin. I have to hand it to him -- if you accept the base premise, that the internet has permanence (and I do buy this), his arguments about writing about the most minor dining experiences have value. It doesn't have to be restaurant criticism of the highest form. It's social anthropology. At least that's how it feels to me. And so: I'll try, now with three kids under four (what have I done) to write about dining out in Benin. A caveat. Almost every restaurant review about restaurants in Cotonou, Benin's largest city, could be written as such: "High quality local seafood. Unpredictable service. Bad wine, stick to beer. Go with simple and you won't be disappointed. Be patient. Be adventurous eventually but take your time. When in doubt, get shrimp." That said, there are variations, some notable. So I'll try to do more writing about the eating we've been doing in Benin. And if you are headed my way, let me know!
  2. Kanishka
    Three years later! Despite silence on this thread, my culinary adventures in Kosovo and the western Balkans continued. Quick version: the best food, by far, is in the towns of Kotor and Perast in Montenegro. In general. Montenegro is an undisputed gem currently dominated by Russian tourists quickly losing their money due to... well you know. If you are headed in the direction of the Montenegrin coast let me know and I'll get you more specific info. Were I a rich man, I would buy a home in Perast, and spend my summers eating mussels and swimming in the bay. But this post isn't about that! I spent literally eight months of my life arranging a television show about food in Kosovo featuring Top Chef winner Kevin Sbraga. I have never eaten at his restaurants, but I can confirm he is a wonderful, caring, kind, curious person. Really a pleasure. Here's a youtube link to the show. You can see me speaking terrible Albanian at around 49 minutes 20 seconds in.
  3. Kanishka
    I realize even asking this question would violate people's privacy, but I'm constantly curious about where members who were once very active have gone off to. Like me: it's easy to write about restaurants as someone who is DC-based, dual income, no kids. Now I'm a father of three and live in the geographic armpit of Africa. There are so many posts I want to write, especially in the Intrepid Traveler forum, but then I have a diaper to change so there goes that (spoiler alert: the Star Alliance Business Class Lounge in the Istanbul airport is AWESOME.) Which leads me to my question. One which may be unwelcome. Where are some of the "original," early members now? Like Nadya, or Bilrus, or Jacques Gastreaux, or MDT? Hillvalley is still around it seems. And I'm sure I' forgetting a million (I find real names easier to remember than pseudonyms.) Like any gathering place (which is how I characterize this site) people come and people go. And some people stay forever. But for those of us, like me, who disappear, or just stop hanging out, what's up? And to all of you, I hope you are happy, healthy, and happy again. Nostalgically yours, Kanishka PS: If PMs are more appropriate ways to respond, I understand. I realize some of our former friends may not be around for less than fun reasons.
  4. Kanishka
    This is a thing here in Seattle -- would be awesome if it were to become something in DC too. (Though, protip, flip any high chair over and voila, car seat caddy.)
  5. Kanishka
    My wife and I enjoyed a simple, but ample Thanksgiving meal at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle yesterday. Unfortunately, our young dining companion could not (directly) partake. Maybe next year.
  6. Kanishka
    A data point: Circle Bistro is only open until 12:00 PM on weekends.
  7. Kanishka
    Any recent experiences? I'll be staying in the hotel in a couple weeks, so this will be the easiest fallback for meals.
  8. Kanishka
    No. Working for tips means working for volume.
  9. Kanishka
    I feel like a jerk, but really, this comparison is unfair. U.S. bartenders work for a salary + tips. This is not the case in Germany, where there is a much higher minimum wage. The places that operate like Twinpigs or the like in the United States will always be the exception. And that will mean having exceptional leadership.
  10. Kanishka
    I'll be back in DC for a conference in early October (I moved to W. Africa back in June). I'll be staying in Foggy Bottom and I'm looking for a couple of recommendations for restaurants where I can comfortably dine solo, preferably at a bar, Kindle in hand. Is this possible at Kinship? My last stint in DC was with two young ones, so I'm completely out of the loop on the wider restaurant scene. I'd love to say "price no object" but realistically I can only afford a couple splurges. Metro accessibility definitely a plus. Thanks! K
  11. Kanishka
    This sounds like heresy. Delicious heresy.
  12. Kanishka
    And I would love a snowball stand somewhere near chez nous! Given how cheap it could be... though frankly, who needs snowballs when you have Beninois mangos.
  13. Kanishka
    Realistically, a return there before we leave again would have been difficult... but this is still sad. We spent many evenings as DINKs at their bar, including at least one rather indulgent New Year's Eve where we rang in the new year (2011 I think?) with their staff.
  14. Kanishka
    We go to Queen Vic fairly frequently for brunch, and have been there for dinner a couple times recently. I'd say they're good, not amazing, but certainly warrant being higher than Liberty Tree (which is fine with kids because of the service, but nothing amazing) or Driftwood (where I have been disappointed by very uneven service and food.) Note much of this is through my lens of "Is the three year old happy?"
  15. Kanishka
    The DR.com dinner at Ray's back in December 2005 (above) was in fact my first formal date with my (now) wife. We've been back fairly consistently over the years, but tonight was the first time in about three, since Ray's East is closed and we were overseas from 2008-2010 and 2013-2015. We of course took our two anklebiters, 8mos and 3yrs respectively. The meal was excellent. Our eldest partook quite well of the kid's sirloin ($7.99, ordered medium). We shared the onglet and the black and bleu NY Strip, both outstanding. The crab bisque recipe hasn't changed much, and features lumps of crab larger than I've seen nearly anywhere. A word on the service. Before becoming a father I was much more... insensitive to good service, being that I had fewer time and patience restrictions. Now it is a big deal, and Ray's did not disappoint. Thank you for being so very kind, and for the utterly unnecessary comp on the delicious key lime pie we had to close the meal. We leave the U.S. again in June and need to ensure at least one return to Ray's. P.S. whatever happened to BilRus?
  16. Kanishka
    The Atlas Room. It was once one of the best on H St. I haven't been in almost three years and the last activity on its thread here is over a year old. Still as good as ever?
  17. Kanishka
    Crossposted from Facebook. Normally I don't leave Facebook reviews, but I'm still furious about how we were treated tonight at Cusbah. Walked in with two kids, both under three. Cold, rainy nights make me crave curry, and Indigo on 3rd and K was jam packed. Cusbah was itself quite busy, and after we figured out the "heated" patio would be too cold for the kids, we asked for an inside table. The hostess said the wait would be 15 minutes -- no problem. It was only *after* we had waited and a table opened that were told by the same hostess that the restaurant had no high chairs, which meant we'd either have to a: eat with a 7-month old on someones lap or b: leave. We chose the latter. The hostess offered no apology and was in fact rather dismissive and rude. When I asked why she didn't tell us the restaurant had no high chairs at the beginning of our wait, she just shrugged. Cusbah is the only restaurant I have been to on H St. that doesn't have high chairs save for Toki Underground, and I have been to at least 75% of them. This in and of itself is not a problem, but if you see kids, could you please be kind and let the parents know ahead of time that they are not welcome at your restaurant, or at minimum that they could be quite uncomfortable? What a terrible terrible hostess. We will not be back.
  18. Kanishka
    And if I recall correctly, the deli was totally slammed on my one and only visit. Holy crap, three years ago. I feel ancient.
  19. Kanishka
    May I rant for a second? I tried to stop by the bottle shop at Bluejacket last night but the doors were locked. So I popped next door to the hostess stand at The Arsenal to see what was up, and was told the bottle shop was closed due to a private party (NB: there was no signage indicating this evident). OK, fine. But when I asked if I could purchase any bottles to go, I was directed to the jam packed (and I mean jam packed, three-deep) bar. There's probably no easy way to fix this sort of thing, but it was very disappointing. I'm not patient enough to navigate a heaving bar just to buy beer to take home.
  20. Kanishka
    Two parents walk out of Boundary Road, the mom with a six-month old strapped to her in a front pack, the dad holding a toddler's hand in one hand, and a vomit-soaked sweater (size 3T) in the other. About four hours earlier, the parents had marveled at the fact that there were tables for four available at Boundary Road on Valentine's Day. Let's do it! they agreed. They were five minutes late to their 5:45 reservation, much to the father's chagrin. Their almost-three-year old being curious about food, but increasingly picky, they went with some "easy" dishes to share: tagliatelle with rabbit ragu, Swedish meatballs with spaetzle. They augmented with the beef tartare and the mennonite greens salad (just for the grownups) and the monkfish entree. Miraculously, the toddler ate the monkfish! And the tagliatelle, and the meatballs. And he drank with gusto the ginger ale his dad treated him to, and used it to toast his parents (who enjoyed the excellent champagne cocktail.) But then came dessert, and the single spoonful of blue salt chocolate ice cream dad gave to his son. Up! came dinner, all over the table. And there went Valentine's Day. The parents were mortified. The service was amazing. While dad whisked son off to clean him up in the bathroom, the hostess and waitress cleaned the mess up. By the time dad was back at the table, it was as if nothing had happened. A nice tip was left for the excellent service, as was some additional for a round of drinks for the neighboring table. The vomit incident was, most likely, the result of a passing illness. And once again Boundary Road left two customers impressed by how they treat young families. It's a tough demo, and their overall outstanding level of service should be recognized. Not to mention the food, which was excellent, standouts being the tartare and the rabbit ragu.
  21. Kanishka
    Baby Wale was great to us (two adults, one 2.5-year old, one 5-month old. Likewise Boundary Road and Dino's Grotto.
  22. Kanishka
    Popped in for lunch two days ago. Party of 4, no reservations, walked in at 1230 and we were seated by 1245. Three of us had the Miso Porky with napamu, AKA chili paste. My wife had the tonkatsu, with extra noodles. We all found our ramens good, but not great. I was disappointed by the texture of the noodles, but the broth was nice and rich, the egg was just soft enough. The napamu was very disappointing, with almost no spice or additional flavor at all. I would have preferred sriracha. The portion wasn't huge, but was adequate for a quick lunch. The complimentary sparkling water was a nice touch. Beyond the food: this place is LOUD. And we had the misfortune of having a soft-talker as a waitress. That was a bad combination. The pacing was also strange, with my wife's ramen coming out a good five minutes before the rest of our food. I understand the kitchen is small, and the place was definitely slammed, so I'll cut them some slack for now. Yona is quite near where we're going to school at the moment, so I suspect we'll be back soon to check out the small plates.
  23. Kanishka
    Thanks! I was double tracking. The good folks at Dino called tonight to confirm that the kid's menu will indeed be available NYE.
  24. Kanishka
    My first real date with my now-wife was a DR.com dinner at the old Ray's the Steaks in Rosslyn. And over a marriage and two kids, logging on from over three continents and 15+ countries, I'm still here. What keeps someone coming back? Je ne sais quoi. But I do and I always breathe a sigh of relief knowing that I'll always have good dining intel when I'm back in DC, and some pretty good tips for other cities too. Thank you Don.
  25. Kanishka
    We've just made reservations for NYE at Dino's Grotto. It will be our first time there and we'll be taking our two boys (2.5 years old and 5 months). I understand it's a prix-fixe menu. Does anyone know if we're obligated to get the fixed menu for the little guys? The older one will probably be quite content picking off of our plates. The younger one doesn't have teeth so his dining options are limited. And apologies to my fellow diners in advance! The older one is normally a petit gentilhomme, but one can never be certain with him. We're dining on the early end so hopefully we won't be too disruptive.
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