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notquiteanonymous

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Everything posted by notquiteanonymous

  1. This makes me sad. When I moved here to DC almost 14 years ago, I'd go here with my mom when she came to town for work, and we always loved the oysters. I hadn't been in years -- this is the type of place that just seemed to get outpaced by other restaurants (also, I loathe dealing with traffic in Georgetown) -- but it was a solidly reliable place to get a bit of a slice of home for me on occasion as I adjusted to life in the Beltway.
  2. DPop, wonder when you went. They shifted chefs recently, apparently, and this is now less seafood-focused. My wife and I went last weekend, and had an absolutely fabulous meal. We did the 9-course tasting menu for $85 each. Not inexpensive by any means, but good value when they're throwing sturgeon caviar, uni, and other more high-end ingredients at you. The arctic char with Korean chili paste was excellent -- a little less funky than gochuchang typically is, which didn't overpower the char. The octopus and ceviche were other fish standouts too. The meal ended with a nicely done pork belly and persimmon, which was very pleasant on a chilly night. And cocktails were great too -- most involved Japanese liquors/ingredients, but both my wife and I had nicely balanced, tasty drinks. And they were great handling my wife's gluten intolerance, which is always a plus (they asked up front). I went in not quite sure of what to expect, given the celebrity chef thing and the fact that I thought it was supposed to be all raw fish, but left much more impressed than I thought I would be. We will definitely be back. --- Nama (eatruneat)
  3. I had one of the most satisfying meals of my life at this place a while back. My now-fiance and I went after going to zoo lights on a cold and rainy (classicly DC 38 + rain), and after wandering around freezing our unmentionables off, we staggered into MR and grabbed two seats at the bar. We were immediately served some sort of lovely mulled cider concoction, and then gorged ourselves on the solid bread, simple but tasty salad, and steak/frites. Perfectly homey meal with good, friendly service, and the best antidote to that terrible weather.
  4. So with all of this extra publicity (any press is good press, maybe?), anyone been or have a reservation? To be honest, while the price tag scares the hell out of my government paycheck, I'm oddly more inclined to go after all of the anger that's come out in this thread and either witness something great or snack on some nitrogen puffed, truffled, deconstructed (or some other overwrought techniques, you pick ) popcorn and watch the train wreck. Not to diminish any of the legitimate complaints that have been raised about publicity before it's deserved and putting in ones dues, but what if this guy is actually the real deal? What if Aaron Silverman and co had the opportunity, and chose, to do Pineapple and Pearls first? I recall more than a few raised eyebrows at that price, given how informal Rose's is, and now folks certainly seem to think it's justified. I suppose that I'd hope to see praise if the restaurant deserves it, regardless of its origin. And of course, if it does end up being Ishtar, then by all means continue to mock.
  5. Bold/italics added, since that's gotta be the reason they can afford to pay those escalating rents, right? Rents go up cause people move in, and given that those are early 20-somethings (by and large around there) and this place has a lot going on at night, I'd assume drink revenues are driving this place. I haven't been in years (since I was one of those 20-somethings!), but I recall the food being pretty decent bar type food. But mostly I remember the later nights and drinks :).
  6. This (wistfully) reminds me of uni pasta I had in Catania, Sicily, about a year ago, which was one of the greatest eating experiences I've ever had. The city (from which you can see Mt Etna) has an incredible fish market, and in the middle of said fish market was the restaurant that served fresh bucatini (I think) dressed with uni pulled straight out of the sea. Straightforward, simple, and incredible. I'll have to try this version at Tail Up Goat next time we go!
  7. You people all tricked me into thinking this thread was about the Hostess Sno-Ball...ummm...creation/cake/marshmallow/coconut(?) thingies (technical term ). I realize they have about the same nuclear survivability as a Twinkie, but for whatever reason, I love em. Shaved ice, even flavored shaved ice, pales in comparison!
  8. I've had dinner once and lunch once at this place. The latter was acceptable, if not at all memorable (in line with Kibbee Nayee's comment); the former was so appalling that I won't ever go here without some exigent circumstance pushing me (which was the case for the business lunch organized by others). I think this zero star review, reminiscent of Pete Wells' takedown of Guy Fieri, is more a result of pushing back against the same kind of hubris and hype that Fieri's place put forward. If it was a place that had dumpster water hanging out in a corner, it wouldn't be worth the review. But because it suckers so many people in, there's some value in slamming it, particularly when there are so many other options in this city that do "farm-to-table" so much better than this. I found the review amusing, consistent with my experiences, and don't mind that it's perhaps a little over the top, since it's worth batting down how much hype it gets.
  9. Damn straight. I love this stuff. It is not for the faint of heart...er...taste? It is a strong, rich, and fish-heavy (in all the right ways) broth that almost makes me wish it were cold again so this would again be perfect for the weather. Almost...
  10. I swear I'm not just saying this cause of the similarity in names, but does Tail Up Goat strike anyone else as having similar flavor profiles to Fainting Goat? Smoke/char vs. creamy/unctuous with good use of texture and an emphasis on the more rustic? I couldn't get over that after dinner here the other night, which was quite good, although a bit of a tough place for my gluten-free SO (though they were great about hand-marking a menu to note the gluten-free dishes, a very nice service touch). Would like to go back and just eat bread there -- looked delicious but didn't bother trying it this time.
  11. Ha, it worked out perfectly. Going from a lovely, if somewhat particular/fussy cocktail bar to a place that serves a deliciously random assortment of purposely unpretentious food. Enjoy!
  12. Curious that there aren't responses on this thread for the new Columbia Room, although maybe I'm just missing where it split off and Don will have to move my post accordingly. Had a reservation for six in the Spirits Library on Saturday, choosing it over the 3- or 5- course cocktail tasting menu because we didn't want to be arrayed along a straight-line bar, seeing as that doesn't promote conversation all that well. First impressions were that the space is fantastic, and since Saturday night was gorgeous, wishing we had just snagged a table outside on the Patio. Two of our group were about 15 minutes late, and they poured us some sparkling wine to tide us over, which was nice. Now, having perused the website pretty carefully, we still weren't entirely sure what the difference was between getting a reservation in the Tasting Room versus the Spirits Library, considering the menu in the Spirits Library you can find online was all cocktails. Turns out that it's kind of exactly what it says -- spirits -- when we were expecting cocktails, whoops . Not great for two of our group who weren't big into that, but Donte happily obliged the request to sub in cocktails after we inquired. Was a nice compromise, but that lessened the value a little bit, and I do wish it had been more clear up front. As for the spirits they served, some really excellent stuff. A mezcal produced by a family of 6 people, an armagnac from a small family producer in France, and a Belle Meade (TN) reserve bourbon. All were primo examples of what these liquors could be: complex, smooth, and delicious. The subbed-in cocktails were really good as well, judging from all of the two sips I was allowed . They closed off the evening with a tiny Coke glass (smaller than a shot glass) full of some coffee liquor and a couple other things I can't remember. Which may be because while the accompanying bites of food were good, and they did a great job accommodating for my fiance being gluten-free, they weren't very substantial (I know it's a cocktail bar, but it was a pretty sizable booze to food ration...). So we all went and had a fun rest of the evening eating and drinking at Baby Wale. Bottom line: this was a cool place, and the spirits they served us were fabulous. But at $100 a head and without much accompanying food, I think I'd rather just go back and snag a seat on the deck for some cocktails there.
  13. After moving into DC proper about 4 years ago after many years in Arlington, this is one of the few food options that I truly miss -- that roast pork sandwich with garlic mayo [drooling...]. DC (I'm in Mt Vernon triangle) has great fine/finer dining options, but apart from Sundevich and I guess Rays Hell Burger Too (which has been incredibly empty every time I've been), this kind of option is what's missing in that area. Assume it's cost-prohibitive to open up a sandwich shop smack downtown.
  14. Thanks! Have read this board before but new to posting (which I guess is the message board equivalent of "long time listener, first time caller"). I'll be interested to go back at some point and see if my impressions are different. But was a little disappointed at first blush. Oh well.
  15. I know I'm swimming against the current here, but had a bit of a clunker at Kinship last weekend, if I'm being honest. First impressions were generally good, and it's certainly an elegant space. Started with some excellent cocktails that were well balanced and flavorful (and not too sweet, which is always my bugaboo). When we ordered wine, my fiance's glass came out dirty, though they replaced it promptly and brought a fresh half bottle (effectively comped my glass, which was a good response). The menu feels a bit disjointed to me, and while I have zero doubt this restaurant can pull off the various types of food, it felt a little scattershot seeing such different types of food and thinking about how to combine them into a meal if one doesn't to choose just from one section. Started with the Ayogi clams and the torchon. The clams were fantastic, and probably the best thing we had all evening -- rich and tangy all at once, with a great texture and fried rice I wish I was still eating. The torchon seems to get a ton of love, and the technique is impressive. But I felt like the more delicate flavor was lost against the bread and it wasn't as spreadable as other foie torchons I've had. In addition, the pickled mushroom salad was nicely acidic and tasty but felt a bit like a separate appetizer. Given that the shroom torchon doesn't have funkiness of foie, going with something like a cracker might have been a better option. Entrees were the duck and the tuna confit. Duck was great, and cooked nicely, though I only got a bite of it. Which was because we didn't realize the tuna included gluten, and fiance doesn't do that whole gluten thing. I suppose if we'd paid more attention whne ordering we would've figured it out, but given the number of GF folks out there, probably worth the waitress pointing out. In addition, the server claimed the tuna was toro, though it was clearly loin, and while the sweet pepper marmalade was done with excellent technique (garlic cooked separately to mellow it out and then combined with the other ingredients) and was tasty, it wasn't nearly as flavorful as the duck. All in all, cool technique with the egg and the feuille, but not the most exciting dish. I know the restaurant is still new and probably trying to refine its dishes, but the torchon and tuna felt a little over-engineered to us and just not as flavorful as we'd hoped, and not nearly as flavorful as the other dishes we had. Coffee/toffee service was delightful and service was good, if not outstanding. But at $190 with tax and tip, having ordered two cocktails, a half bottle of wine, two apps/entrees, and two coffees, it's a pricey place to have a couple of misses like that, particularly with other options around Mt. Vernon triangle being so good (side note: good gosh are we lucky to live right there). Interested to know if others have had similar experiences, as ours seems to stick out against all the raves here.
  16. I'm not going to add much to the accolades that the food at Komi richly deserves, but wanted to make my first post about how out of this world the service at this place is. On the Friday of Snowpocalypse (or Snowmageddon II: The Search for More Money or whatever it's been called), my fiance and I had the bright idea of trekking over to Little Serow to grab dinner there, figuring that since we live close and no one would be in line, it'd be easy to get in. Trick was we didn't know if it'd be open, nor did we know the phone number since Little Serow doesn't have a number. My bright idea was to ring Komi to ask, since well...yeah. Anne answered the phone when I called and informed me that Little Serow was indeed closed for the evening (they'd gotten my email asking about it too, but hadn't yet been able to respond), but letting me know that Komi has openings at 5:30 and 6pm if we wanted to go. And lo and behold, we ended up with an absolutely wonderful, totally impromptu dinner during DC's biggest snowstorm in a generation. Staff couldn't have been warmer when we arrived (they seriously started the night saying "you guys sit back, relax, and let's have some fun"), and they handled my fiance's gluten-free needs with incredible ease. And gave us the goat shoulder as the main but with a *side* of suckling pig since we couldn't really decide which to get. Probably didn't hurt that they got us kinda tipsy, since that wine pairing is a serious deal -- 8 generous pours for $75!?! And as we departed with the standard lolipop to suck on during our walk home, Anne told us she'd get back in touch the next day about whether Little Serow would be open in case we wanted a double-dip. Of course, ginning up business is what one is supposed to do, but it's still pretty incredible to get treated like kings on a random Friday night and then have the co-owner email you again the next day hoping to get us back to Little Serow (which, sadly, being fully from the night before, and broke, we didn't manage). I've had a lot of meals in and around DC over the 12 years I've lived here, and while one might find rivals for Komi's flavors and presentations, there's not another place I've ever been to that nails the service aspect so well -- it's relaxed, warm, and feels like your best family friends are having you over for dinner. Well, maybe one other place: a couple doors over and underground.
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