MichaelBDC

@eatruneat and I were disappointed when we went by Baker's Daughter's Chinatown location last Monday only to discover that it was closed for some reason.  We had just returned to the city and didn't have anything for breakfast.  A Baked Joint bailed us out that day, but we had really been looking forward to trying the place out.  Fortunately another opportunity presented itself when a client wanted a very early meeting later on in the week.  I like to make breakfast for her each morning or at least have something she can heat up and the early morning client meeting threw a wrench in the works.  So, after the meeting ended earlier than expected, I decided to stop by Baker's Daughter on my way home as it was several hours until lunch and we needed something to carry us over.  I ordered the Chef's Breakfast Sandwich and am glad that I did.  You can tell that everything from the cheese to the ham to the bread had been sourced with care.  The bread was crunchy and just thick enough to support the gooey cheese, smokey bacon, ever so slightly salty ham and peppery arugula.  Sure, it's pricetag of $13 is a little steep for a breakfast sandwich and will probably keep us from going back as often as we'd like, but you can tell where the money was spent.  Had I not seen this sandwich come out of their almost non-existent kitchen with my own eyes I would never have believed it.  Not sure what we'll try there next - the breakfast tacos are high on the list for sure - but if the same care goes into the next thing we order as it did with the sandwich we had it will for sure be a winner

Also, on a happy note, you can now eat their delicious food while wearing shorts!  The prohibition has been lifted!

I felt like scoring a Detroit style pie from Della Barba, but @eatruneat wasn't so sure.  I inquired with her as to what she wanted, but she was unsure.  I suggested that we try Rumi's Kitchen as I read it was very good and it would give us just the short walk our dog needed.  We looked over the menu and decided to go with the Shirazi Salad and Mirza Ghasemi to start and Duck Fesenjoon and Chinjeh Lubia Polo for our 'Feast'.  We walked over and found the patio at socially distancing capacity despite the chilly weather outside with propane heating towers ablaze.  I had to wait outside with the dog, so I wasn't able to see the dining room with its mannequin filled tables - see the Post's review for pictures.

Once we got home, we unpacked everything and were a little confused by two boxes filled with an array of herbs, feta and radishes.  @eatruneat and I looked at each other and were puzzled as what to do with the contents since there were no directions (I learned later after doing some reading that they are to adorn the taftoun that accompanies your meal).  Speaking of the taftoun, it is amazing.  Somewhere between naan and pita, it is soft with a little bit of crunch and the perfect accompaniment to our meal.  Dipping in into the Mirza, which is a close second to my favorite thing of the night, was delicious.  The shirazi salad was nice as well with a not-too-strong lemon vinaigrette and  lots of different textures.

While I enjoyed my Chinjeh very much - especially the green bean and tomato basmati rice - the Duck Fesenjoon won by a landslide.  The drumstick and breast meat were juicy with a little tang and sweetness to them and paired very well with the saffron infused basmati rice.  If you're a duck fan, definitely order this dish.  Also, take advantage of all of the free things you can get with your 'feast' order.  They offer a side of sliced tomatoes for free and decide to get them.  It turned out to be a good amount of sliced grape tomatoes that we enjoyed snacking on.  Next time around, we're going to get all of the free offerings because why not.

Our only regret of the night aside from not getting all of the free offerings was that we wish we had more things to dip the copious amounts of the taftoun in.  We will not make that mistake when we dine there again soon.

I'm guessing Stellina Pizzeria.  The crust in the top right of the pic looks like their crust and the dots on the paper under the crust looks like the dots in their logo.

@eatruneat and I were feeling good, but in need of a snack after doing a wine tasting at A Litteri and scoring several bottles - seriously, if you like Italian wine, you need to check out A Litteri.  They won an award as the best selection of Italian wine outside of Italy a few years ago. Anyway, we sat down at the bar and were warmly greeted by co-owner Antonio.  I ordered a glass of wine and @eatruneat ordered the 'Stellina Sprotz'.  After trying her drink I immediately regretted ordering wine.  Made with DC distiller Don Ciccio & Figli's Amborsia liqueur and a few other ingredients, it was a light, slightly sour orange delight.  I looked down the bar and realized that everyone else had one except me.  We ordered the Cotto & Funghi pizza and were a little surprised when it came out uncut.  Two seconds later a server dropped off pizza cutter, which didn't totally solve the issue.  The tray the pizza is served on has a bit of a lip, which makes cutting the crust a challenge.  Once cut though, the pie was delicious.  The sauce tasted close to Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce with a hint of sweetness and velvety texture and the toppings tasted very authentic.  Unfortunately we were time constrained and that was all we were able to try, but will be back to try more and this time I'll get myself a Stellina Sprotz.  

I don't know that I've ever seen Sietsema give a place three stars.  Especially on a first review.  Thankfully @eatruneat read something about the restaurant in Washingtonian prior to Sietsema's review coming out so we were able to get a reservation before the madness began.  After meeting up with her at Franklin Hall - my god that place is big - and getting my ass handed to me at a few games of Simon while she cackled in delight, we walked around the corner to the subterranean entrance.  We were greeted by the chef's wife and General Manager, Carey Tang and shown to our table.  For the $65 per person pre-fixe menu you get to choose an item from each of the four sections, so we got to try two from each section.

We started with the kanpachi and an order of carrots.  The thinly sliced kanpachi with coconut and citrus was a great way to start off the meal.  Subtle tartness from the citrus and sweetness from the coconut lends themselves well to the velvety texture of the fish.  The carrots live up to the hype.  They are cooked to the perfect softness and their barbecue flavor is spot on.  The accompanying 'cornbread' ice cream is a good foil to the their spiciness but not great.    

While waiting for the next set of dishes we noticed that people were getting bread, so we inquired with our server.  She was surprised that we had not received any and went to get us some.  Make sure to speak with your server if the same thing happens to you.  The reward is sweet, light and fluffy rolls that taste great and don't fill you up.  Imagine a MUCH better King's Hawaiian role and that's what they are like.

Next up we got the lobster etouffee and 'pot roast'  I can't eat the former due to an allergy, but with the speed and thoroughness that @eatruneat polished it off, I'm guessing it's pretty good.  I was able to eat the braised oxtail in the 'pot roast' and it took every fiber of my being to share a bite with @eatruneat.  I devoured it along with the mashed potatoes and diced rutabaga it came with in about two minutes and was left wondering where I could get more.  

We got somewhat lucky with the next round when we were brought the NY strip steak instead of the quail.  Not that the quail is bad.  It's fantastic.  But because they let us keep the steak and brought us the quail as well.  Also, I say somewhat because the steak isn't anything great.  Meat and potatoes people will love it, but it's not memorable.

Lacking a sweet tooth, dessert was just dessert for me.  I'll let @eatruneat comment on those.

Rooster & Owl was one of the very few restaurants @eatruneat  and I have gone to recently that we've really enjoyed.  We can't wait to see what they do for spring.  

The Crispy Pommes Anna on the current menu is outstanding!  I would go to the bar just to get that...assuming they serve it at the bar.  Great for sharing if you're willing to after the first bite.

@eatruneat and I decided last minute to go out for dinner and were hoping to try a new place that we could walk in to.  We decided to see if we could get a table at Unconventional Diner thinking we could always go to the bar at Corduroy for their wonderful 3-for-$30 deal if the wait was too long.  We walked in and were greeted by the nice hostess who informed us it would be about 20 minutes for a table and that we could wait at the bar.  We headed over to the bar and after waiting on one of the bartenders to finish his pontification of the state of craft beer brewing in the US we were able to order glasses of wine from their nice selection.  Not long after we received a text saying our table was ready, so we settled up at the bar and sat down at our table.

Cocaine is a hell of a drug.

After waiting what seemed like a long time our waiter appeared out of nowhere and dropped off the menus.  He then dashed off to another table where he proceeded to talk their ears off and then scurried back to our table to see if we were ready to order.  Barely having enough time to go over the menu we said we needed a few more minutes, which caused him to start rambling on about what things on the menu were his favorites and then disappeared again to another table.  He reappeared at our table, wrote down our order at a feverish pace and bolted for the terminal to put in our order. 

Soon after we received the our order of shiitake spring rolls appeared along with the waiter and his inquiries of how the food was.  Since we hadn't had a chance to sample anything I said 'great'.  The waiter smiled and took off.  The spring rolls actually were great and @eatruneat's favorite dish of the evening.  Next came the iceberg salad which has a wonderfully savory bacon jam and the Everything Lox, my favorite, and a little reminiscent of getting bagels and lox in NYC. While waiting on the next I remarked to @eatruneat that the waiter seemed like his was bouncing between tables like a high velocity pinball considering he only had a booth, a four-top, and our two-top in his section. He appeared again, refilled our water and then took off to do the same for his other tables. After our three appetizers, we were pretty full, but ventured on as our next two items then arrived at the table: stir fried okra and broccolini and the meatloaf.  The okra and broccolini were cooked well and had nice heat to them, but the sauce was overwhelming and the dish had way more rice than the description alludes to. The meatloaf had a sriracha glaze that could have used more sriracha. The morel gravy that was served with the mashed potatoes was great. We ended up packing most of this dish to go, but looking back, I'm unsure if it was worth the $25 price tag.  

The waiter then appeared out of nowhere again and asked if we were done.  We said we were and he scrambled to get our check as fast as he could. I gave him my card and he darted for the terminal once more.  Returning our check, he thanked us for dining with them and sped off to one of his other tables.  In all, the food was good and the service was okay. Not our favorite place in the neighborhood, so we are unlikely to go back unless we can't get a seat elsewhere.

42 minutes ago, CapitalGourmand said:

Seeing that there is only one post here, I'm guessing that maybe there wasn't a whole lot of interest in this restaurant. But in the event that anyone was looking to make a visit soon, particularly to see what Raphael Francois' cuisine was all about, it looks like his leaving for LA just as soon as he's arrived in DC:

Eater LA: Bill Chait Blazes LA Comeback Trail With New West Hollywood Restaurant

Well that sucks.  I was looking forward to see what Raphael would do for the fall menu

16 minutes ago, eatruneat said:

Took a break from our run-dates for a proper one at Kyirisan last Thursday. We had the raw sea bass and seared mushrooms and tomato tartare to start. Sea bass was excellent and our favorite dish of the evening. Mushrooms and tomato were also really tasty. Loved the combo of the warm earthy mushrooms and the sweet and cool tomatoes. Our entrees were good but not quite as enjoyable as the appetizers. We ordered the duck confit and the scallops with coconut risotto and basil ice cream. Duck confit was a mound of duck confit. No vegetables. Although well cooked, it ended up being entirely too rich and after a few bites we boxed up the rest and I put it into some scrambled eggs for a few breakfast sandwiches this week. Scallops with coconut risotto and basil ice cream was an interesting dish but the parts of the dish were better than the whole dish. Scallops were perfectly cooked but I am not sure if it went well with the coconut risotto as the coconut milk overpowered the dish. Basil ice cream swirled into the risotto is a fun concept but not sure it added much to the dish. In hindsight, both entrees were rich and we needed some vegetables for a contrasting flavor. 

At the end of the meal, @MichaelBDC said that he would be happy to return, sit at the bar, and have the raw sea bass and a glass of wine, which also sums up my thoughts on a return visit. 

I would also like to add that our server, whose name I believe is John and can be identified by his hibiscus adorned shirt - was a delight.

Daylight Savings Time dinner was a brined and roasted pork tenderloin from Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home served with lemon oregano potatoes (a favorite of mine) and braised red cabbage (butter, chicken stock, red wine, and red wine vinegar). A great meal for daylight savings time as it was not a lot of work yet resulted in an amazing dinner. 

3 hours ago, eatruneat said:

Panda Gourmet is available for delivery on Amazon Prime Now so @MichaelBDC and I put in an order and grabbed a couple of drinks after our evening run. We ended up ordering the dan dan noodles, rouga mo chinese burger, cold steamed noodles with sesame sauce, hot and spicy chicken, and sauteed string beans. Highlights were the two noodle dishes, especially the dan dan noodles, and the sauteed string beans. Probably should have ordered the cold xi'an noodles mentioned above but got confused and ordered the one with sesame sauce. Still good. The green beans were nothing super special (sauteed with garlic and ginger) but still nice to have alongside the other dishes. The rouga mo chinese burger was good, but not great. I preferred the noodles to the burger, but I am a noodle fiend. The chicken was really dry and was good if we picked at it but didn't work with the steamed rice. Overall a great experience. Cost was $45 included tax and tip (which was automatic) and we had a coupon for $10 off. Order took about 50 minutes, which we expected.

Maybe I just hadn't had proper dan dan noodles, but the ones from Panda Gourmet blew me away.  Amazing!  Glad @eatruneat made the suggestion

So long, Table.  @eatruneat and I had one our first and most memorable dates there.  Thank you for the memory.  I hope the staff all land on their feet.  

2 hours ago, eatruneat said:

Sat at the counter this past Friday and went for the $100 omakase option to celebrate my birthday. @MichaelBDC and I had an amazing time thanks to Chef Ogawa, Can, and the team. Really enjoyed everything that was presented to us. Highlights included the sea bream, amberjack, uni, and toro. I have never had to turn away sushi before, but had to stop with two pieces remaining because I was too full. Three days later, my mind still wanders back to the variety of sushi we had. Can brought out a delicious sparkling sake for us to enjoy with desert. I would definitely order the sparkling sake at the beginning of the meal the next time we are there. It was a delicious and fun night, a perfect way to celebrate turning a year older.

It truly was a great time with @eatruneat.  @CanY and his staff are at the top of their game and there wasn't a moment that we wanted for anything.  As always, the fish was fresh and amazing.  Especially the amberjack.  I would have eaten the entire fish if I had any room after the wonderful variety of sushi that came before and after it.  I know there are other, more expensive sushi restaurants in town, but I can't imagine what they could possibly do better than the team at Sushi Ogawa.  We'll be back soon

I saw the tweet come across a few hours ago and it looks like they're almost full...if not completely full by now...

Now that the baseball season is over, I want to know when Morini Mondays are coming back.  Seems like they're a little late considering when it started last year.  It's been too long since @eatruneat and I have enjoyed a meal there

22 minutes ago, Pork Belly said:

So glad to read this chain. I thought I was going crazy after reading all the praise heaped on AP's pizza in other forums. Here's my pizza, half of which is the massive outside crust virtually devoid of toppings. I almost always finish what's put in front of me, but those bread bombs were too much to choke down. I also wasn't crazy about the addition of honey to this particular pie -- the combination of honey and tomato sauce was a dead ringer for the Spaghetti-Os of my youth.

All this earned AP's pizza the title of "most disappointing pizza in DC" in my round-up of DC pizza places.  You can find the entire list here:

"Best Pizza in DC: 2016" by Rick Chessen on rickeatsdc.com

Great list, but I think Wiseguys beats out We the Pizza.

With very few food trucks out today and none of them sounding appealing, I decided to try out the fried chicken plate from Bantam King for lunch.  I got mine to go and was pleasantly surprised with how crispy the chicken was when I got back to the office ten minutes later despite having the sauce drizzled on top.  The piece of chicken was enormous and along with the tofu soup and chicken drippings rice made a great lunch.  Will definitely be back for more.

On 12/20/2013 at 0:18 PM, eatruneat said:

San Diego's (very) Little Saigon

With pockets of Vietnamese restaurants popping up around San Diego, the original pocket lobbied and won Little Saigon designation earlier this year. This is a six block corridor along El Cajon Blvd. in the City Heights neighborhood of San Diego. These are the places my family and I have in our rotation.

Pho Hoa

This is the best pho I have ever had. The restaurant used to be some sort of community hall and the ambience clearly reflects that. Furniture and ambience are bare bones to say the least. You walk in and someone who works there will ask you how many to which most people (even Vietnamese speakers) use their fingers to respond. The person takes you to a table (if it's busy you may be asked to sit with another party separated by just a seat or two) and drops off laminated menus. The operation sticks to the K.I.S.S. principle and serves only beef pho (you can pick which cuts of meat you want to top your bowl off with). I haven't looked at the menu in years so can't remember the price but I believe it's about $7 for a bowl. With one exception, all the bowls are the same size, and by that I mean LARGE. As a point of pride, I always finish a bowl but it is a struggle. The broth is clear and very flavorful. The meat is very generous and the herbs are always fresh. The one thing that sets this place apart from others in the area is the use of fresh pho noodles. This is not to mean that the noodles are made in house, but they use fresh noodles rather than dry noodles. It really does set the pho apart from other very good offerings. The pho is usually served within five minutes of ordering. Service is quick if not particularly friendly.

Also of note at Pho Hoa is the Vietnamese iced coffee. In recent years places have taken to bringing out your order of Vietnamese iced coffee pre mixed, which allows them to fill a plastic cup full of ice and fudge on the espresso and condensed milk. Not here. Pho Hoa brings the coffee out in a drip along with a glass of ice. Once the coffee has finished dripping you can mix it, dump out the water from any melted ice as well as excess ice, and make your own iced coffee.

Pho King (yes, seriously)

A few years ago, this strip of hole in the wall Vietnamese places started blowing up. New and pretty and bright restaurants started moving in and Pho King was one of them. My family first tried Pho King because of the name but stayed because it just seemed cleaner and brighter. They also preferred this because there are options rather than pho and for a time my brother dated a girl who did not like pho so we went here so she can order something else. The pho here, while not as great as Pho Hoa, is still very good. There is also a chicken pho option. There are also a variety of non-pho options. My family thinks that the Hu Tieu options are the best, particularly the Hu Tieu Mi Tho Kho. It is a large bowl of translucent rice noodle topped with shrimp, fish balls, squid, imitation crab sticks, slices of roast pork, ground pork, liver, intestine, and heart. The broth is served on the side. Honestly, the first and only time I have had this dish it did not sit well in my stomach but I want to throw it out there for the adventurous especially since everyone else in my family loves this dish so much. Fortunately, my brother broke up with that girl and I can get my pho fix at Pho Hoa.

Hoai Hue

This place used to be a small hole in the wall restaurant that mainly did catered orders and takeout. Within the past years they have moved on up to a larger space and now it is a restaurant proper. My family does a lot of catering from here, usually ordering Banh Bot Lot (steamed pork and shrimp or vegetarian tapioca dumplings in banana leaves), Banh Nam (steamed flat rice flower dumplings with ground shrimp in banana leaves), and Banh Beo (steamed rice cakes topped with pork rinds, ground shrimp, and green onions) by the dozens. We also get our pork loaves there. This places is also known for their Bun Bo Hue (spicy beef noodle soup) which has always been fantastic when I have had it.

Minh Ky

This is actually a Chinese/Vietnamese mashup of a place that, while serving a variety of dishes, specializes in egg noodle soups. I usually order the Mi Sate Bo Kho, which is a bowl of egg noodles topped with slices of beef in a sate sauce with some onions and with the broth served on the side. It is a very oily dish so when I want something lighter I usually go with Dumpling and Won Ton Noodle Soup, served with egg noodles. The duck leg egg noodle soup is also very good.

A Chau

In the same lot as Minh Ky, this place has the best banh mi sandwiches. I usually order several of the special banh mi (with all the cold cuts and pate) and take them home to eat for lunch over the next several days. Sometimes I even pick a few up to eat on the plane back to DC and/or eat while in DC.

There are lots of other restaurants in this six block strip of Little Saigon. Definitely an area worth exploring if you are interested.

If you like your pho...and I mean really like your pho, then Pho Hoa is not to be missed.  The delicious pho and great sparkling 'limeade' more than makes up for what might be the worst restaurant parking lot to be found on earth.  I also second Snooze - if you can get a table - and La Vecindad for outstanding ceviche.  The only thing @eatruneat left out was In-N-Out Burger!  Even though the fries suck, it's always a treat for me when on the west coast.  

Brunch begins this weekend. Here's a sneak peek at the menu...

21 hours ago, eatruneat said:

@MichaelBDC went to Smoked and Stacked for a post-run meal. We split the Messy and the Stacked. Pastrami is terrific. The Messy could have used a bit more sauerkraut and thousand island in my opinion, but otherwise, I liked the sandwich a lot. The stacked was also good, but the milk bread isn't my thing. Both sandwiches looked small but I was stuffed after half of the Messy and half of the Stacked. Looking forward to trying the breakfast options soon. 

@Eatruneat failed to mention that the pickles are fantastic.  Somewhere between a half-sour and a dill.  We'll be sure to order extra next time if possible.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very excited to try Smoked and Stacked and hope it's worth the price.  I might be even more excited that they are open for breakfast during the week as they are (sort of) on my way to work.

I'm excited to try the place but wonder about the price.  For the same $13 or less I can score a sandwich from Sundevich, which is just a weak stone's throw up 9th street.  

On 8/9/2016 at 4:30 PM, DonRocks said:

Brian Wolken and Tracy O'Grady (Willow) are running the day-to-day ops at Campono Trattoria for the time being. I doubt they'll be there forever, but for now, that's KC's sunshine band.

Thank you for the suggestion, DonRocks!  EatRunEat and I thought Campono was the perfect place for the pre-show dinner.  Show time was at 7, so by the time she and I left work and got there we didn't have a whole lot of time to eat.  But it was enough time to get the Atomica pie, Caesar Salad and Deviled Eggs.  The Atomica pie was exactly as I'd hoped it'd be with thin - but not too thin - and crispy crust.  The meats were plentiful on the pie and the peppers offered a welcome kick.  I will definitely go back next time I'm going to the Kennedy center.  

For those who have not gone.  It's a self service restaurant.  You order, get all of your plates, utensils, etc for your table.  They bring out the food and bus the table.  Not a knock on the place at all.  Just came as a surprise based on the pictures I saw on their site.

Thanks again,

Mb 

In my opinion, as long as it tastes good, they can serve it anyway they want.