zgast

On 4/19/2024 at 10:47 PM, Pat said:

I remember getting strawberry milkshakes at the Norwich (UK) McDonald's when I had strep throat ca 1983. I knew they were good for sore throats and I was far away from home with a brutal sore throat. It's the only time I've been to a McD's overseas.

My daughter swears by the chicken tenders in McDonalds in Europe vs. the US.  We had to eat in an airport McDonalds in Frankfurt after a late arrival last year and I honestly couldn't tell the difference between the US ones and this one except for the apple pie, which was the old-fashioned way.  On the other hand, we order Five Guys far more often in London than we ever did in DC.  Simply the best burger we can get.

Prompted partly by @KeithA, we visited Muchas Gracias last weekend while visiting DC.  Really glad we did - had never been in person and head a really nice first outdoor meal of the season.

We got two appetizers to share - the aguachile special and the avocado crab salad.  The former is a saucier shrimp ceviche with a bit of jalapeno kick.  The crab avocado dish was a real delight for someone who has been out of Maryland for a while.  Huge chunks of blue crab with avocado and a nice slaw underneath.  Not the most beautiful presentation, but all the right flavors and textures together.  Would order this again in a heartbeat.

For mains, we ordered fish tacos (which came with a smoking hot habanero salsa), enchilada con mole, and a couple orders of quesabirria.  The first and last were very good - I might have liked a bit more flavor on the taco other than the salsa.  Quesabirria is just a flavor bomb - adored by both that ordered it.  The only real disappointment of the meal was the enchiladas - specifically the mole.  Mole should have deep, soulful flavors - this one just fell a little flat.

Drinks were tasty and overall a very nice experience.  Can't wait to return when I move back.

5 minutes ago, naxos said:

Holy crap that looks good.

21 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

Basically gigantic food courts (think 50+ stalls) except the rent is controlled by the gov't and because of competition, the prices are super low.  

This, but I'd add that the food is generally quite good - particularly given the price point. A few have even received Michelin stars.  Singaporeans take their food very seriously but the whole country eats at the hawker centers - rich poor and in between.  Cool experience.  If you've seen Crazy Rich Asians, one of the most touristy ones is featured there.  Think Tony Bourdain did an episode featuring a couple others.

12 hours ago, mtureck said:

Re-opening in Bethesda over on Cordell, in a small spot that was previously Paris in Town. 

I liked this place a lot when it opened...then the prices went up, and the quality of the mussels went down. Switched to Black's for my mussel fix, and wasn't surprised when it closed. 

I'll be interested in trying it again years later. 

Would totally agree with this take.  We definitely stopped going when it got to be $20 for a small thing of mussels.

1 hour ago, dcandohio said:

After hearing my friends discuss their air fryers with nearly religious fervor, I acquired one yesterday. Holy moly, my first attempt at chicken wings made me very happy! I generally don’t like many devices, but I think this one will be a winner.

We make wings far more often now that we have an air fryer.  I had to be dragged, kicking and screaming into the purchase, but am glad I was forced into it.  Also much better for chicken breasts than firing up the whole oven.

Out of the blue I had a need for the mushroom fricassee from Grapeseed.  Seeing as how they’ve been closed for some time and I live 3,000 miles away, my only option was to replicate the recipe from Washingtonian. 
 

Oh man - this hit the spot. What a great winter dish. Not as good as Jeff could make it, but still oh so good. Thanks Jeff - if you see this know how much we appreciate you!

On 1/12/2024 at 7:41 PM, seanvtaylor said:

This gas station has hosted a number of eateries over the years, if I recall correctly (including Corned Beef King, at one point). We had a decent meal here recently at Amore Eats, an oddly named Taiwanese restaurant with very friendly service and some nice dishes. Out 9-yeard old wanted calamari, and an ample portion of salty (and perhaps a bit peppery) fried calamari came out quickly and was a nice starter. The eel with rice (and vegetables) was also a very large portion, kind of a bento-box creation of eel with sauce on top of white rice, served with broccoli and squash. The "Taiwanese hamburgers" were the classic pork belly buns, and really good, with a nice pork flavor and not overwhelmed with any sauce. Finally, the chicken fry noodles were nice, with a good wok 'kiss'. It's a gas station, so ambiance is fluorescent lights, keno/horseracing on wall-mounted TVs, and a faint (and sometimes strong) aroma of gasoline, so takeaway would have been a better option. We are glad we tried it, and would grab carryout again. 

This was next door to my office for several years.  Corned Beef King was pretty good, but how often can one clog one's arteries to that extent?  Glad to hear they've got a new place serving good food.

Thanks!  Love this group!

Hi everyone,

I'm coming back to DC in August for a convention to be held in the convention center.  I'm going to be tasked with organizing a few dinners with anywhere from 5-30 participants. Any great suggestions for places close to the convention center that would cater to most tastes and still feature what DC has to offer?  Off the top of my head, I think I'd like to do a larger one at Zaytinya and have L'ardente in the back of my mind, although I haven't been, so have no idea if it's good for dinner events.  Convivial and Corduroy are nearby as well.

Any suggestions from the gallery?  I've not done many dinner events for work in DC before, so not much to go on.

On 12/17/2023 at 5:41 PM, DonRocks said:

It has always been just awful, and honestly, I don’t see how it lasted fifty years (at 2 AM, it was either this or Georgetown Diner which at least served omelettes).

With all due respect @DonRocks, yeah you do.  You said why. Also, not carding anyone before 2 am helped.

And that's right when they open. I've been to a couple locations in NY - it's falls significantly short of other fast casual burrito places.

DCist leading with some actual analysis and journalism on the Initiative 82 issue.

For takeout, I usually tip 10%.  You didn't ask, but I try to avoid third-party apps when ordering, although I will gladly use a restaurant's own website/low cost app.  The big apps take a huge chunk of revenue on each order.

Initiative 82 is going to require some serious recalibration within the industry.  I hear your point about putting customers in the middle, which is what the service fees do, and would likely do the same at higher-end restaurants where I know the servers are making well over the minimum wage (after including tips). My issue with the Initiative is that it still leaves the back of the house earning far, far less than the front of the house and even exacerbates the discrepancy. 

11 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

Downgraded my Chase Sapphire Reserve and now I need to reapply to get a new card and the sign up bonus.  Anyone who wants to earn some referral points should send me an application link.

For the Reserve or one of the other Sapphire cards?

13 hours ago, Marty L. said:

I haven't been to Daikaya in a long while, but I'm fairly confident that Menya Hosaki (where I dine frequently) is the best ramen in the area by a far stretch.  Open only for dinner W-F and lunch on Tuesdays.

How does a restaurant serve four meals a week and make a profit?

6 hours ago, Katya4me said:

Apparently tonight was the night to make WaPo recipes. I made lemon chicken with potatoes for dinner.  Super easy and my potatoes were starting to grow eyes so I put in 24 oz instead of the 16 oz it called for. The lemon flavor was a bit more intense than I prefer, so I'd probably do 1/2 a lemon next time. 

I saw that one.  The suggestion that threw me off was including the pith, which I've always found to leave an awful taste.  Was that aspect ok?

15 hours ago, Bart said:

Anyone read the chat this week?  He opened with this note about Mark Slater among others, but I don't understand what he's saying.  The link doesn't have any info on Mark.

 

The food world has lost of number of beloved DC-area figures recently, including wine master Mark Slater , cooking school founder François Dionot and baker Gerard Huet . I’m sharing links to some of their stories .

Since I haven't seen anything about it in DR.com, I'm assuming "lost" means left the DC area and not the worst case scenario.

Dave McIntyre posted this in his blog.  I only met Mark in person a few times but he struck me every time as just a genuine mensch.

On 8/21/2023 at 5:58 AM, will_5198 said:

Las Palmas Dallas

The best Tex-Mex restaurant in Dallas? Opened by a pair of brothers who had only run bars and steakhouses before, with a menu designed by a Mexican consulting chef for press release authenticity, my instincts were against it from the start. We have plenty of Tex-Mex* restaurants, most of which fit in the same quality tier, just with different wrapping paper.

*Note: Tex-Mex is a different category altogether from Mexican.

Honestly, this was the second worst meal of our trip to Dallas.  I think the majority of the food went back half eaten - and the noise was deafening.  Maybe we just got them on a night they were slammed?

On 8/4/2023 at 10:26 PM, DonRocks said:

I was in a carryout bakery yesterday, and there was a cash tip jar by the register. I had used a credit card before seeing it (one of those 180-degree spin-around 15-20-25% bandits), and I asked the gentleman at the register if they preferred their tip in cash, or on the card. His response surprised me:

’If you leave it on the card, it will be divided with our bake staff as well.’

All tips should be divided among all staff - especially the dishwasher and the guy that cleans up at night.

Cleveland Park location closing and being converted into a wine bar.  Unfortunately, it will not be called Bardeo, the Sequel, but will instead be called Little Black Bird.

19 hours ago, TrelayneNYC said:

well they're booked through september, so we're going to jgv.

oh well...maybe next time.

we'll be coming back to nyc more frequently in the future though. our last visit was in 2017 or 2018 i think...

currently i'm interested in the following based on reviews i've read on the internet:

frenchette

koloman

shoji at 69 leonard street

torrisi bar & restaurant

okdongsik

foul witch

portale

jupiter

of course i'm also open to things others may have been to or heard of

Cassellula in Hells Kitchen was one of my favorites when I lived in NY - just was back in the fall and it holds up well.  Cheese pairing plates and wine are the main attractions, but there are entrees and appetizers as well that are quite good.  It's mostly casual but the waiters know their stuff and will spend time talking to you about the cheeses.

Also great for working in the office (pre-intoxicant, unfortunately).  Very cool.  My wife got into this for a while and ended up taking a class in Bethesda here: DJ Lessons & Classes - Beat Refinery | Bach to Rock

She loved the classes and spent hours mixing and putting things together.

On 5/12/2023 at 3:33 PM, zgast said:

Ditto - I've actually added this to my 'places I must eat in Dallas' for when I'm there in July.  

Sad to report that due to some horrible timing, I managed to miss any open days for the restaurant despite being in Dallas for part or all of six days (4th of July holiday didn't help).  Only got to try Pecan Lodge for barbeque, which was quite good, if not cheap.

20 hours ago, mtureck said:

Thank you for perfectly illustrating why the new initiative was so important.  Far too many people are happy to exploit restaurant workers in order to save a few bucks on their bill. 

While the initiative phases in, I believe servers are now getting $2 an hour more, or about $16 a day. If you want to tip less in response, that’s your right. 

The mechanics of the change are that the owner's direct share goes up by $2 per hour.  Any tips are above and beyond that share.  In circumstances where tips are insufficient to cover the minimum wage, the owner is responsible (then and now) for covering the difference.

I agree with Eric that this change will require a fundamental rethink of how restaurant employees are paid - you can't just layer tipping on top of a system where base pay increases 3x.  I'd be happy to move to a system where all restaurant employees (front and back of house) are paid professional wages and those costs are on the menu in the prices.