Biscuit Girl

Why is everyone so damn afraid to name names? It is like a damn guessing game. If the food was not good we should discuss it. Was it an off night, not something to order at that particular place, etc.

Waiting for "I don't want to get piled on" responses. Of course there will be some blow back, but that type of discussion is good.

We went to Eve last night on a whim and had dinner in the Bistro. Dinner was very good but it didn't have the "wow" factor I was expecting. And before anyone slams me for that comment, let me explain.

We have eaten at Corduroy fairly regularly this year. Each time we leave feeling completely relaxed, well fed and looking forward to going back. Everything from the service to the food are top notch. At Eve, the service was very good, not stuffy yet very professional. The food was very tasty with one exception. I ordered the King Prawns with risotto and found the risotto a bit too al dente for my taste although the flavor was fantastic. DH go the Monkfish and I'll have to say it was the best monkfish we've ever eaten. But there was just something missing and we couldn't quite put our finger on it.

We pondered whether or not it was the fact that the prices at Eve are higher and when we looked at the overall experience it didn't match up what we get elsewhere for the money. Not saying it was bad but not as good a value for our dollar. Now granted it was our first visit there and if we go back my opinion may change.

I hope nobody thinks it's unreasonable for me to compare our experience at Eve with Corduroy since both places are excellent restaurants and get rave reviews. I hesitated whether or not to even post this but thought I would since it was something I felt needed to be said and who knows, there may be others out there who feel the same way.

Do tell.....

Incidentally, the duk mandoo guk uses the same broth and beef as the sollongtang (had it on Sunday after driving back from CT).

I don't think the broth was the same last night. The sollongtang broth had a richer taste and much more depth of flavor than my duk mandoo guk broth.

I hope this coupon link works: balducci's

It does!

We stopped by Myanmar today for lunch - about ten minutes to Noon - only to find lights off, door locked, no sign of activity whatsoever. They're closed on Mondays, but not usually on Fridays. Even more ominous - there were UPS attempted-delivery stickers on the door as if no one had been there for a few days. Any word on what's going on here??

That's happened to us before too. You get there and the place is closed, no note saying why, nothing.

Two black and white cookies (good); two chocolate peanut cookies (amazing); vanilla egg cream (good) and chocolate egg cream (amazing...)

Black and White Cookies and Egg Creams! WooHoo! Michael you rock.

Ok, the crappiest beer we've every tried and to this date, the only beer my husband could not finish, was a smoked beer we tried up at Blob's Park. One person at the table made comment "It smells like Bacon!" and it did.

Corduroy will be on vacation for the summer so the dining room will be closed from August 23 thru September 5th.
Have fun, stay cool and hope everyone's having a great summer! See you soon!

Now I have a tough decision to make........do we eat at Corduroy BEFORE they go on vacation....or can we stand to wait until they come back?

We went there last Friday night and again had the most wonderful time. DH got the bluefish and I got the baby chicken. I was tempted by the pork belly but had been wanting to try the chicked for a while and didn't feel as adventurous that night. We shared a nice bottle of the 2006 Avondale Rose and it was delish. Between our appetizer and entree, Rissa brought us out a small bowl of the chilled spicy tomato soup. Oh, wow, it was great. A little drizzle of basil oil with sliced grape tomatoes garnished this dish. If it's on the menu next time we go, I will have to get it. And for dessert, we had the peach tart. It was out of this world good. Much better than the strawberry tart we had the last time we were there.

And by the way, half the baby chicken went home with us that night and made one heck of a good sandwich the next day.

uh, oyamel closing, getting replaced by bebo by donna. it's in tom's chat if you read between the lines.

No need to snark......I just thought he had something new on that subject. Sheesh.

Tom Sez

Todd Sez

Hell, nobody ever asked me not to divulge anything. Does this mean I can dish?

Dish Away! Enquiring minds want to know the dirt.

Ok, I'll throw myself into the mess here and add my two cents. I have a blog and sopme of the things I write about are restaurants we've been to. Most have been positive experiences. But every now and then everyone's going to hit a clunker. And, yes, I do write about the bad experiences as well as the good, even if it's only been one visit. In one case, that's all it took for us to say we'd not go back. And in hindsight, we should have talked to a manager that night or at least called the next day. Who knows what the outcome would have been if we had. But that's water under the bridge.

I'll also leave my comments here on DR (although not that many yet). That's certainly what this board is about, being able to comment, suggest or to let others know about what's happening on the food scene. And by far, this board is much more civilized than Chowhound.

And should restaurants look at what we are writing here and on food blogs? Yes! I know there are some who say food bloggers have no business playing food critic but I have never thought of myself in that way. I'm simply writing about our evening out at a restaurant. I'm not paid for what I do and I write because I enjoy it. If someone finds what I have to say intersting, great! If they don't like what I have to say, then move on. It'll take a lot more than someone griping about my blog or my comments here to ruffle my feathers.

Ok so that was a little more than two cents.

I’m going to Ray’s for the first time in a couple of nights. Any suggestions for which steak someone with a smallish appetite should order? (I tried to do my own research before posting, but I started getting carpal tunnel going through all the Ray’s posts.)

I agree with several others here. Get whatever steak you like and be prepared to bring home leftovers. Once and only once have I finished an entire steak at Ray's. I still don't know how I managed it and still ate dessert.

Any leftovers sliced then slightly warmed up make a great meal (or meals) the next day. So eat a little steak, some sides and save room for dessert. Pack the rest of the steak and sides up and you're good to go the next day.

Here's a cruel thing to do......bring your leftovers in to work the next day and eat them in front of your co-workers.....hehe Drives 'em crazy.

May have some time to catch a bite for lunch in Orlando before we fly home from vacation next month. Anyone out there know of some good local places to grab a tasty bite?

I should have clarified that we're flying out in the early evening and would be looking for place for a quick tasty and not too expensive lunch. Seasons 52 sounds wonderful but we'll be leaving too early to try it this time around.

May have some time to catch a bite for lunch in Orlando before we fly home from vacation next month. Anyone out there know of some good local places to grab a tasty bite?

I am pleased to announce that the 2006 Avondale Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé is now available at my store. You read that right - 2006. How's THAT for fresh goods?

Special pricing for all DR.com folks, just drop me a PM here or email me at joe@acebevdc.com.

We had a bottle of this at Corduroy this weekend. It was wonderful stuff.

Dang, I'm gonna miss those margaritas.

I'm taking a class at Galileo the end of July and after reading what everyone here has said, I'm even more excited about it! My brother's flying up from Tennessee to take the class with me which I think is pretty cool.

The class we're taking is a 5-course dinner featuring lobster......YUM! I hope to bring the camera so I can post pictures here as well as on my blog.

Anytime we've been to Corduroy, the servers have been great at helping us pick a wine when we can't decide for ourselves. On our last visit, the server went to check with Tom Power to be sure what she recommended was right. And it was. It matched well with hubby's fish and my softshell crabs (mmmm, softshells.......mmmmm)

Yeah I saw his cook book at a book store over christmas and skimmed through it, it wasn't very pleasing to the eye.  Hopefully the recipes work better.

I forget which recipe we tried out of that book and we weren't too impressed.

If you are a bialy fanatic, you might be interested in reading a book about the origins of the bagel alternative. _The Bialy Eaters_ by Mimi Sheraton is fascinating. Her search took her to Poland, Russia and Argentina and the Lower East Side, of course.

That's a great book.

I stumbled on the published recipe before (haven't tried it yet, though).  Google 'Chef's Column Tom Power' and then just click the "Cached" version (I can't provide a direct link that will work here).  The Chocolate Tart recipe is there too.

Oh my, I just read the recipe and I swear I heard my arteries scream for help. No wonder it's so yummy..chocolate, cream and egg yolks.

Actually, let's be fair. That article has WAY more hits than misses.

Equinox

Palena (and mentioned the front room)

Le Paradou

Citronelle

Maestro

Minibar

Oyamel

CityZen

He also called out Penn Quarter, Rasika, Acadiana, Michel Richard's new venture, Ris Lacoste location hunting, etc.

We could quibble about some of the choices, and there are definitely some board favorites that aren't on here, but that's a pretty fine list.

I hope I didn't mislead anyone with my response. What I meant was that even though we could all name a place we thought should have been on the list since we are local and have a fairly decent knowledge of the dining scene in DC.

Just goes to show......only the locals know the really good places.

Welcome Biscuit Girl. I miss that place too. Friendly staff, decent food, divey cheesy decor, cheap prices, and super high octane polynesian drinks that'd put you on your ass.

Sincerely,

Suffering Bastard

Ah, the drinks, the wonderful, wonderful *hic* drinks.

I remember many a summer evenings (after having dinner and a couple of fog cutters or scorpians and hubby having a couple of suffering bastards) walking outside of the cocoon that was Honolulu ....... into daylight? 9:00 on a summer's night and it was still light out! How can this be? We're way too intoxicated for it to be light out!

Oh what memories