TheGut

Had a wonderful meal at Amoos on Saturday night. 1. Koobideh, Chicken Tandoori, and Lamb 2. Saffron Ice Cream.

Agree on Ovvio. Went once when it opened and thought it was okay. Then the Chef left. I live next to the Mosaic and visit Requin from time to time. Jen has been there every time I have dined there. Went to Alta Strada. They need some time to work out the kinks. If I am working from home, I go during lunch time and usually to grab a sub from Taylor, a salad from Sweetgreen, or now visit Choolah for a quick wrap.

I am planning on dining at the new Virginia location of Alta Strada tonight. Looking forward to it.

thank you!

that is the green chili hominy.

some more Fed Pig food porn for everyone. Was there this past weekend and the brisket was singing to me. Also do not sleep on the music city chicken sandwich.

I have visited the new DCity Smokehouse three times now and have come away disappointed. The quality has dropped. Even my beloved wings are not the same anymore. Yes, they are juicy but that smoky goodness is no longer there in any of the meats and on one night got straight up cold chili. The new space is nice. Ample room for diners. It is a shame. For me at least it has lost the luster that made it one of the best BBQ spots in the area.

I have gone a few times to Choolah. I too like their chicken and lamb wraps. The mango lassi was good as well.

Went to Sfoglina back in December for a bday lunch. Here are some of my pics from that meal.

the ribs were perfect. better than the brisket.

I have visited Federalist Pig three times now. The beef short rib when available was the best item. The brisket needs work. I know that the pit master is experimenting with different types of woods. I would like to see more of a smoke ring on the brisket.

Federalist Pig is now open by the former pit master of DCity Smokehouse.

no problem. Another tip, pretty much all the lamb that comes from New Zealand is halal and it can also be purchased at Trader Joe's too. So when you see "New Zealand lamb chops" on the menu, good chance it is halal.

thank you for the clarification. There are many places that are fine dining that serve halal meat. Quick google search on Creekstone Farms will lead people to restaurants that Creekstone Farms beef in the DC area (Del Campo, Blue Duck Tavern, Osteria Morini, RPM Italian...). People who only eat halal (I do not eat halal) use the zabihah app, which helps them locate restaurants.

I am not following on how the cuisine is not inclusive. Can you explain what you mean by inclusive? "The first problem with halal restaurants is that they operate in a ghetto of their own making, confining themselves to the known. This is typically the Indopak and the Middle Eastern variety, with little imagination or effort to get creative with other cuisines or thoughts." I think people tend to forget who these immigrants are and what they had to go through to open their own establishment. I know from growing up in this area that a lot of the original kabob places that opened were by immigrants who were former taxi drivers. People who worked maybe two-three jobs to save enough money to open their own place. So when they do open their own place, of course they are going to trend towards what they know and that is their native cuisine. I don't see why if you are a kabob joint that you should now need to serve say pad thai or something along those lines to be inclusive. You are not going to go to a kosher deli and ask them to make you a nice Italian sub with all pork. Plus, say a place like Ravi why would you want to change? They have customers lined up from the minute they open the doors to when they close out night. It is a business and their customers have seemed to enjoy it for the past twenty years. "The second problem with halal restaurants is that they are *typically* lowbrow, with the majority making ample use of styrofoam containers and paper napkins. There is again nothing wrong with that, but it pigeonholes them into a box where they really have to be. I don't always want to eat in strip malls for the sake of keepin' it zabihah." what is wrong with styrofoam containers? I don't see people complaining or saying these types comments towards say sandwich shops that operate in the DMV. Or are you expecting them to provide higher quality containers?