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monkeyrotica

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Everything posted by monkeyrotica

  1. Been twice. The Chef's Choice charcuterie platter was outstanding. Peppery salami, a rich boar pate and a creamier beef one as well, a couple of johnny cakes, but the outstanding one was the prosciutto. Rich, fatty, and room temperature, it melted in my mouth. None of this dried, salty grocery store nonsense. The roasted beef ribs were sublime; I've done something similar on the Weber Kettle, but it took an overnight marinade and 5 hours at 225. Deep beer and wine lists (the sour ales are the perfect foil for the rich, tender beef). And a rocking free jukebox. Can definitely get a little loud (the vibe seems like this place was transplanted from U Street) and the staff occasionally will forget/misplace an order, but when our cocktails went AWOL, the bartender whipped them up post haste and they comped us some grilled broccoli rabe. Looking forward to revisiting.
  2. Definitely a thumbs up to the ribeye; really appreciate when someone knows the difference between medium and medium rare. I also really like the teres major, which looks like it's becoming a regular item as well. Stopped in the other day and noticed that River Bend was taking reservations for a $65 oyster feast in April. Fried, roasted, grilled, chowders, etc. I'm an oyster nut, so that was a no-brainer for me.
  3. Will have to give Liberty Tree another try. The last time I went, I had a "clam chowder" that tasted like a bowl of hot bacon ranch dressing with no clams in it. Plenty of sand, though.
  4. River Bend is walking distance from my home, so we go there pretty regularly for a glass of wine or dinner. Since they've been open, we've tried pretty much everything on the menu that wasn't a gout trigger for me. The staff has been very helpful about eliminations and substitutions. My one complaint would be that I was hoping they would switch some of the entrees out for more seasonal items. They do daily specials, but the rest of the menu seems locked. There's the ribeye and the salmon with lentils and the roast chicken and the same sides since they opened.
  5. So his grilled meats & Mediterranean place will be "very woman-centric, sexy and fun." So smaller portions, lots of salads, and purse hangars under the bar?
  6. Price-wise, I think Tadich is comparable to the other steak/seafood houses in the neighborhood (Joe's Seafood, Capitol Grill, etc). You could find better deals at Occidental, but their seafood menu isn't as deep as Tadich and they certainly don't fly sourdough bread in from San Fran on a daily basis.
  7. The cassoulets at Bistro d'Oc and Montmartre were both excellent; didn't think much of the one at Bistro Du Coin. In Old Town, Bistro Royal is my favorite.
  8. Same here. Really nice people and I'm sure they'll do well in Stafford. No good cajun/creole eateries there. Is Hunan Deli still next-door? Since discovering Forge Brewery and Fair Winds in Newington, I'm looking for some decent eats in that area.
  9. The food at Harry's serves the same purpose as the breakfast at Lincoln House Waffle Shop; it's there to absorb the alcohol.
  10. I went to Ollie's about 9 months ago and it was pretty vile; the only customer was a young Asian tourist playing Candy Crush on her iPhone. The place was dirty, like it hadn't been cleaned in a while. Everything was quite sticky. The burger was dry, the cheese handn't melted, and the bun was stale. Also, they didn't put any Ollie Sauce on it. And all the kitschy crap had signs on them saying "ANTIQUE! DON'T TOUCH!" I don't know how many times this place has flipped ownership, but I remember a few years back when they were serving kebabs along with burgers. If I want seedy charm burgers, I got up the street to Harry's Bar in the Hotel Harrington.
  11. Stopped by Jimmy's Old Town Tavern in Herndon this weekend. Poutine is pretty good. The beef on weck was just okay, a little dry, but it's not supposed to be fine dining.
  12. So I was trying to track down some Topo Chico mineral water and remembered I hadn't tried the torta ahogada at Tacos El Costalila. Ordered one to go and it's pretty solid: shredded al pastor stuffed in a dense, crusty bolilo roll with two ziploc bags of sauce. One is sliced onions in spicy arbor chili sauce and the other is just tomato sauce to soak the sandwich. The sauce registers pretty high on my pain index, so you might want to go easy on the stuff. At a certain point, my lips went numb. What surprised me was the bread, which used to suck, but kinda reminded me of the dense Bosnian lepinja bread they serve at Cosmopolitan Grill and Balkan Grill. Really chewy with a good bite, not like the light, airy loaves at La Mexicana. Worked really well to soak up the sauce while still holding the sandwich together. Filling and around $7 which is comparable to the tortas at La Mexicana. If you're looking to burn your face off on the cheap, these guys will hook you up. Too bad the parking lot is a double-parking nightmare. You'd be better off parking in the big lot next-door and walking.
  13. We used to go to Overwood pretty regularly when it first opened, but the last two meals involved an overcooked gristly bistro steak (like when the cook at the Tastee Diner hates your guts) and an overflowing mensroom toilet. The service was also more misses than hits. When we have relatives visiting from out of town, they usually stay in Old Town and we meet at Chadwicks; something for everyone, nothing exciting, but always consistent and the service is like clockwork. Same goes for Southside 815.
  14. Not a big sports fan, but Bugsy's and Joe Theisman's are the only serious sports bars in Old Town that come to mind. Southside 815 as well I suppose; not a particularly foodie destination, but it's always pretty crowded and the low country cuisine is solid and filling. Too bad mushrooms are a gout trigger for me, or I'd be all over that fungus on"¦whatever fungus grows on. I do miss Virtue's boneless crubeen. It's a shame nobody ever ordered it.
  15. Went to the new and improved Cedar Knoll with sufficiently low expectations and was impressed. Anyone familiar withe the previous incarnation, like a lot of places with great views of the water, the food is an afterthought, or worse. The new owners kept the same basic layout, spruced up a few booths, and focused the menu on local ingredients. Crowd was a casual mix of local couples and families. There's a small bar by the front door so you can get a drink while you're waiting on your table, but the place is small enough and the opening soft enough that there wasn't a crowd. The menu was pretty tight: eight or so apps and a half dozen main courses. The owner said he's still tweaking the menu to see what customers want and they plan on rolling out a brunch later on. Beer and wine choices are similarly thin; I forgot to ask about a corkage fee. I used to be a big fan of oysters rockafeller, but since coming down with gout, I've had to avoid spinach, which seems to be omnipresent. Cedar Knoll's version skips the spinach in favor of a wilted piece of kale topped with a thin slice of Virginia ham topped with a plump, perfectly fried cornmeal coated Bluepoint with a dollop of champagne froth. This was really tasty; we also opted for a half dozen of the Rappahanock oysters with mignonette; these were firm and clean tasting, but not as plump and briney as I like. For mains, we opted for the crab cake and beef rib, both were excellent. Whoever's doing the frying knows what they're doing. Crabcake was bound with egg yolk instead of mayo and was mixed with lemon, tarragon, and dill which gave it a clean, bright flavor without masking the crab. Beef rib was the usual long braise, fork tender affair, with a particularly rich sauce that reminded me of a not sweet barbecue sauce reduction. They kinda went nuts with the arugula (wife's not a fan) but that's par for the course. All in all an excellent meal (two apps, two mains, two drinks, dessert, and tea for $130 and we both left full). If you're visiting Mount Vernon or want a break from the usual fare in Old Town, Cedar Knoll is a nice, quiet alternative and an excellent upscale addition to the neighborhood.
  16. Friends on Facebook went and enjoyed themselves. Menu is focused on local oysters with a few roast chicken, beef rib, and pork dishes. Cedar Knoll Inn Dinner Menu.pdf
  17. Temari is worth the visit, but for the curry, katsu, black cod, and takoyaki, not the ramen. It's also worth the stop because of Maruichi Grocery upstairs as well as the Kielbasa Factory. The only decent ramen I've had in that area was at Ren's and that was ages ago.
  18. Will have to give this one a try. I gave up on BGR a few years ago after a horrible experience at the Dupont shop. Same with Five Guys, but I eventually found one that's consistent (the Quander Road store off Route 1). And I'm avoiding the Union Station Shake Shack for the same reason. What's the point of a franchise if consistency goes out the window?
  19. Stopped by Afghan Bistro yesterday for lunch. I can vouch for the braised beef shanks; really rich and fork tender in a yogurt based sauce. Reminded me of beef stroganoff, albeit with no mushrooms and plenty of aromatics. The leek and onion dumpling app was also excellent; it was topped with a ground beef and lentil sauce that was really tasty. They even threw in a little baklava as a free dessert. Lunch prices were incredibly cheap for food this quality. Will definitely be back.
  20. "The owner of Bullfrog Bagels "“ Jeremiah Cohen "“ didn't help his cause much when he first insulted nearby residents, and then threatened to make their quality of life worse by using even more disruptive delivery practices if he didn't get to deliver bagels through the rear entrance of his 7th Street bagel shop daily between 3am and 4am. One of their main objections is the early morning bagel deliveries." Um, has this guy never dealt with ANC's before? I'm pretty sure commercial deliveries are prohibited in residential neighborhoods at 3am.
  21. Valentino's does a good chicken parm; I prefer it to their slices (I usually get a whole pie for carryout). Dilly's in Springfield does a solid diner chicken parm sandwich, but I prefer the bulgogi cheesesteak. Cheap.
  22. Crisp Kitchen + Bar in Bloomingdale (1837 1st Street, NW) also has poutine.
  23. Marumen has been on my radar for a while now. This gives me an excuse to check it out. Tanpopo is perfectly adequate, not outstanding, but wins for me because of proximity and they're ridiculously generous with the pork belly, something most ramen places tend to skimp on. I have a hard time justifying the hike downtown to Toki or Daikaya. I might actually make the trip for Momofuku once the lines die down. I definitely make the hike to Temari Café in Rockville, though. My Japanese mom loves the black cod and the curry rice. Very much reminds her of the eateries of her youth. And the katsu ramen isn't bad either. And I can justify the trip because Maruichi Grocery is upstairs and I can get everything I need to make the stuff at home. It's actually the only place I know of where I can get Asahi that's brewed in Japan and not Canada.
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