funkyfood

11 hours ago, DonRocks said:

How do I execute this type of transaction on Chase? I’m genuinely curious now that you’ve said this.

Chase is offering 5x points on flights (and 10x points on hotels, car rentals, and certain meals), but I don’t see any way to get 10x points on any flights. Do you transfer into Air India’s frequent-flier program, and then use one of *their* promotions?

If I could get a $4000 flight for $400, that would influence my choice of destinations.

Also, if anyone knows of any great values in transferring to, e.g., Hyatt, and then using *their* points for a free hotel, could you post here? The process of researching this is time-consuming and cumbersome, especially when you aren’t sure where you even want to go. It can consume hours out of your day.

Yep, you hit the nail on the head. If you book long-haul first class or business class trips far enough out, they'll be much cheaper in points than they are in dollars apparently. So a $10K flight might only cost 70K points (just to make up numbers). Because Chase lets you transfer to travel partners 1:1, you just take 70k chase points, transfer them Air India and voila.

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/redeeming-chase-ultimate-rewards-maximum-value/ 

It's not a bad deal, but by far the best use of points is for first-class or business class international travel (if you like that sort of thing, and can do that sort of thing these days). Instead of 1.5 cents a point you get with Pay Yourself Back, you can get like 10 cents a point for, say, a first-class trip to India. But, again, that's only if you value a first-class trip to India.

confession: i truly, unironically enjoy my meals at the cheesecake factory.

On 8/23/2019 at 7:09 AM, Kibbee Nayee said:

I agree with Don, this is a classic post.

It's not about Cheesecake Factory versus fine dining, it's about corporate indifference and mediocre quality versus good food served with care and conviction. A meal at Cheesecake Factory and a meal at Corduroy or Bub and Pop's or District Commons might not be too far apart in price, but the quality of the meal is so much better. And so it is with Adele's.

Having been to District Commons a few times over the last year, I'd say I enjoyed my meals at Cheesecake Factory more

5 hours ago, bookluvingbabe said:

Bingo!  The yogurt was weird but the avocado toast was very good. 

their cold brew is great too

On 11/30/2017 at 1:56 PM, DonRocks said:

Logan Cox, formerly of New Heights and Ripple, has left Sitka and Spruce, and will be opening Homer in Beacon Hill, Summer 2018.

Speaking of former DC chefs, I recently had dinner at RJ Cooper's new restaurant, Henley, in Nashville, TN.

Homer is an absolute gem.  I get early Rose's Luxury vibes from it every time I go.  No reservations and a relatively small place, so come early or be prepared to wait (they'll text you when ready for you).  I've been fortunate enough both times to sit at the bar adjacent to the open kitchen, which provides a view of the chefs working their magic at each station.  In my experience, they've been more than happy to chat with you while they work too, which is cool..

I also love that they have $4 (!) and $5 (!!) glasses of delicious sherry and vermouth.  I effectively had 3 drinks last night for $14.   As far as food, you definitely have to try one or more of the dips that come with freshly (i.e. in front of your eyes) baked pitas -- each that I've ordered has been refreshing, light, healthy and unique.  After that, spend most of your time on the small plates -- last night I ordered a second order of the grilled buttered sourdough with harissa whipped butter and anchovies (maybe Logan Cox was inspired by 2 Amy's?).  We had a smoked lentil (I believe) smalller dish last time that just blew me away.

My entrees of salmon with cucumbers and crab ($24 -- the most expensive thing on the menu) and the half-chicken have been very good, but not as exciting.

This has been my favorite restaurant since moving to Seattle a month and a half ago, though I certainly have not tried nearly all the highly touted places.   Still, it's not surprising to me that GQ named this one of the best new restaurants in America.

our friends who live in Alexandria took us to the location there and it just felt so d-a-t-e-d in the windowless dining room, and the menu and cooking seemed like it was delivered from a time capsule from 1997.  

Loved this place last night.  I, too, liked the gyro better than the cheesesteak, which was too salty and greasy for me.  Shouk's old mushroom pita (before they got rid of it) was a better cheesesteak play, in my opinion, though also too salty.

We saw a few tables get pizzas, but we did not.  What's the deal with those?  Are they only for early reservations?  Are they served in addition to everything else or instead of one of the courses?

The Arlnow story undersells who the owners, Hac and Di Dang, were as poker players.  Not just any "big during the poker boom" players, they are two of the top 10-20 online poker players ever, crushing the highest and toughest games in the world for years before mostly retiring after making millions and millions of dollars.

EDIT: As an example, Di Dang is estimated by an online poker tracker to have won $7,411,127 (yes, that's profit) over his career.

I like and regularly eat very spicy food, but that papaya salad was absolutely inedible to me a few years ago

Seven Reasons disappointed me a little bit. The drinks were excellent but the entrees were just decent and the appetizers were bland.  I had extremely high expectations though because my meal at Alma Cocina was incredible.  Pretty restaurant though. 

Looks a lot like the bomba at Arroz but i highly suspect it is not  unless this is an old picture

Dave Strauss has left Morris,  though I'm not sure why or where he's headed next

On 5/10/2019 at 2:17 PM, silentbob said:

E-mail alerts on Resy for the win!  Our original plan was to eat at Chloe, but a table here opened up and we pounced.  The app even automatically cancels the old booking when you're making a new one.  Really looking forward to it.  We usually swap plates while dining out anyway, so it will be like an 8-course tasting menu for us.

How was it?

40 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

Definitely  but I figured I'm overdue for a change of scenery.  To Seattle I go, at least for a few years.  I'll miss DC, but will definitely still read this forum to see where I need to go when I visit. 

Short review:  really enjoyed this place, but kind of over tasting menus and don't feel any desire to go back in the near future.  The cooking is good, but I just felt...constrained by the small menu and lack of choices. 

Inspired by Anne Limpert's praise of the restaurant in her chat last week and heeding her call to visit now before it gets too popular (plus, wanting to go before I move from DC in a week (!!)), we checked out Queen's English in the old KBC space last night.  In what seems to be common with good restaurants these days, it is run by a man and a woman pair (ala Himitsu, Espita, Seylou, Bad Saint, Rooster & Owl, etc.).  Similar to Rooster & Owl, Seylou and Espita, in this case the pair are husband and wife.

We walked in at 6:05 to a mostly empty restaurant (it filled up later but was never jammed) and our party of four was seated by the gracious, knowledgeable and likable Sarah Thompson, the aforementioned front of house maven.  The place is beautifully redecorated with bright colors that fit the Hong Kong theme.  The wine list (available online) is replete with natural wines (a focus of Sarah's), but we went for cocktails instead.  All of them were funky -- in a good way -- either bitter or brightly citrusy without being too sweet.  They struck me as drinks that Tiger Fork's imo terrible drinks aspire to be, with less gimmick.  I enjoyed two pours of zucca, which is one of my favorite amari.

Onto the food.  As you can see, there are about 16 menu items, and they recommended 3 dishes or so per person.  So we decided to make it easy and order basically the entire menu, skipping only the "PB&J" and the chicken.   We were then treated to a parade of deliciousness, with the cucumber/trout roe dish standing out from the first batch.  The combination of roe with fresh cucumbers thinly sliced and a vinegar-based sauce hit the spot.  In the next group, the twice-cooked lamb rib and daikon fritters are two of the best things I've eaten in a long time.  I would highly, highly recommend these as must-orders.  I liked the twice-cooked lamb rib more than the one at Tail Up Goat, though I haven't had that for more than a year.  The daikon fritters have a perfect texture and a great mix of sweet and salty.  The shrimp were massive and tasty, but not incredible.  I don't remember much about the steam water egg and dumpling, but I'm sure I enjoyed them. 

For our mains, I loved the bok choy and young pea greens, which were both on the bitter-veggie side, but they are quite similar, so I'd recommend getting one or the other.  The star of this course was definitely the sweet & sour branzino, which came in a sauce that reminded me of a much better version of buffalo sauce.  Super tender fish and briny cabbage made it a great dish.   Unsurprisingly, the crispy rice was also a hit.  More than just fried rice, this is like burnt rice that hasn't been charred, so it is...crunchy, hence the name.  Same flavors as fried rice, just a new texture.  I liked it.  Shockingly, the biggest miss of the night was  the hand cut noodles, which we were all so excited for.  They come buried under a mix of what seemed to be bell peppers, reminding us almost of fajitas.  The flavors didn't compare to the other dishes we had.  On another note, we saw the chicken when the waiter walked by with it for someone else--and it looked great.

For dessert, the house treated us to the only dessert on the menu, which was a caramel custard that was incredibly sweet and caramelly--but not in a bad way.  Two bites of it was plenty, as enjoyable as those bites were.

Afterwards, chef Henji Cheung came out to our table to ask us how we liked everything!  We almost wonder whether he thought we were professional reviewers, but our lengthy conversation likely dissuaded him of that notion.  He spoke to us about his background (grew up in HK and NY) and how they found the spot here.  They live around the corner and say this restaurant has been a true labor of love for them, working constantly to make it as good as they hope.  Both him and Sarah were incredibly nice and appreciative of our patronage.  Honestly, we were full by the end but not overly stuffed--if going with a party of four adults, I would recommend doing much as we did, but adding the chicken, dropping the noodles, and dropping one of the greens dishes.

This place is going to be a hit and doesn't take reservations, so go now while you can.

The name of the jpeg gave it away 

I really enjoyed my sandwich at Hot Lola's.  Spicy and flavorful with a delicious counterbalance in the form of crisp veggies and a tangy mayo sauce

Why is this place not open on weekends? 

I'd definitely recommend checking out the new menu.  We went last night.  The place was busy but had a number of open tables, but when we walked in they said they were fully booked and welcomed us to sit at the bar.  This is a recurring theme at Hazel (open seats; saying they're booked) and I never understand it.  Anyway, we asked if the patio was open, and it was.  They happily turned on the heatlamp because it was a bit chilly.  That patio is such a great and lovely space, I'm glad to hear they're making better use of it with Hazelito.

The food itself was very good.  There were a few boring misses (e.g. charred cabbage), but we LOVED the chicken liver mousse on rye toast with citrus--though I love most things on rye toast.  Still, it wasn't too livery and was well-executed.

The made to order laffa bread was delicious.  It comes out in a huge puff ala the scallion pancake at Peter Chang's, and we enjoyed all 3 of the sauces we ordered with it (catfish, carrot, and shug).  Upon request, they gave us another piece of bread for free.  Other highlights included the delicate gnocchi and beef tartare with turkish coffee mixed in (though it was a bit wetter than I would have wanted).  Annoyingly the menu online hasn't been updated since March 16th, so I forget a few other items we ordered.

Drinks were good (any negroni riff is good by me).  Service was friendly and attentive.  Overall, we left quite full for $60 per person including tax, tip and a drink each. 

I also was there last night and also agree that the carrots were undercooked.  They've been undercooked in the past too.  My cauliflower bowl wasn't great.  The kale and potato taco is one of the 20 or best dishes I've had in DC (especially considering the price).

Elle?

1 hour ago, DonRocks said:

Other than Woodlands, this is the only Indian-Indian restaurant in the DC area, and (very much unlike Woodlands) it looks like they spared little expense in making the atmosphere akin to a royal banquet. I suppose Chef Bindra is here from India; if so, I wonder how long he'll stay in DC.

What does "Indian-Indian" mean?

We had a really great meal here Saturday with friends.  The standouts were the mushrooms served in the form of linguini a la cacio e pepe, the incredibly savory chicken and snail lasagna, and my salmon, which was somehow super crispy on the skin, but basically raw below it.  It came with cabbage and roe of some sort in a dill/cream/fishy sauce.  Outstanding.