BklynBoy

We ate there last night and loved it. Service was excellent and the food was too. Here is what the three of us ordered: Fried mussels appetizer. Terrific, served on a bed of cubed potatoes and shallot. (The sauce was great and we went through a basket of the very good bread dipping into it) House Pate Zuccini blossoms stuffed with goat cheese and herbs Steak Tartare bouillabaisse I thought the prices and portions were quite reasonable for the most part. For example the bouillabaisse for $20 had monkfish, skate, scallop, shrimp and another white fish. I could barely finish it. My wife was a bit disappointed that the steak tartare came pre-mixed, but that is a pretty meager criticism of an otherwise excellent meal. This is a welcome addition to the neighborhood, it has a neighborhood bistro feel to it already. A good omen is that the place was filled on a Tuesday evening

I recently tried this place and thought it was terrific. In fact between buying fish there and more recently getting a sandwich there, I think I have been there 4 times in the last three weeks. I inadvertently ended up there a few weeks ago went I had a jones for soft shell crab and there were none at Balducci's, so I ended up continuing down Old Dominion to American Seafood where I got four crabs for a a reasonable $6.00 each. They were very fresh. I also tried their key lime pie which I have to say is the best I have had since living in South Florida. On another visit I bought crab cakes; very, very good but $14 each. Everything in the store is fresh and made on premises. The cole slaw, smoked mussels, squid salad and grouper chowder were all good, especially the mussels that are smoked on premises. A few weeks ago on an urge I stopped by for lunch and after picking up a beer at Arrowine, had a killer grouper sandwich on the deck. The place, from its ratty patio to the fish flow up from Florida is just like the fish shacks in Florida that I used to go to and that is no surprise since the owners are a couple from Key West. The experiences of the past few weeks have reminded me of what a treasure the little strip of stores in this Lee Hights center is, Arrowine, American Fish, Randolphs Bakery, the Lebanese Market, Crisp and Juicy.... I have also begun regularly buying salumi, ham, cheese and Leonora's baguettes at Arrowine - a place I used to shop in when I lived in Falls Church - but have not been in for years since moving to MClean. Boy have they increased the selection since then! What I love about Arrowine is that they treat all the goods with knowledge and care. When I spend $30/Lb or more for ham, I expect it sliced perfectly and placed on wax paper, not wadded into a ball and tossed into a plastic bag. I feel like a lazy fool for having wasted my money at Balducci's on mediocre cheese and charcuterie, poorly sliced and wrapped and sold by people who don't know the difference between Iberico ham and Boar's Head. (ok, the rant is over now :-)

Channel surfing the other day I saw Cooking Channel show, "Hook, Line & Dinner" where Ted Wells of Baltimore restaurant Alewife made Snakehead Tacos. The way he described them, it sounds like it is a mild flavored fish. He said if he could get a ready supply he would put them on the menu to help clean them out of local waters to preserve the native fisheries. I saw the same approach on a Bourdain show a while back, a Boston seafood place that ia serving Dog Fish, a small shark that has replaced many of the local bottom feeding fish in the areas around Boston. Growing up almost in the shadow of the Coney Island parachute jump pictured in my avatar, we fished all over lower New York bay and regarded Sea Robbins, Dog Fish/AKA Sand Sharks and Skate as garbage fish and never ate them. This was before I discovered Raie au Burre Noir or that shark - even of the humble dog fish variety - is delicious and unlike the larger sharks, not in any danger of being overfished. I even found out that the detestable Sea Robbins with their poisonous spines taste just like monkfish and are a western cousin to the Scorpionfish used in Bouillabaisse. So the answer to the Snakehead problem just may be the recipe book

Pizza Man, Heresy is right. 'They' have turned a real Italian pizzeria/bistro into a haven for rug rats. The cured meat selection is now pedestrian. (can't have the little ones develop a tase for lardo, it might clog their arteries), the arancini are not faintly Italian, the crocettas and Orange/fennel salad are gone and I haven't even arrived at my critique of the pizza yet

Bo Ky at 80 Bayard Street. I think they are Viet-Chiu (Chinese ethnic Vietnamese) and the food is a combination of Chinese and Vietnamese

After reading this thread this morning, I realized that unbeknownst to me I had hu tieu a few weeks ago in NYC in Chinatown. Not having eaten in Chinatown many times in the past 10 years, I was surprised at the number of Vietnamese restaurants there now, but I was in the mood for Chinese noodle soup and, as I usually do, found a place with lots of ducks, pigs and chickens in the windows and no round eyes to be seen. To my surprise, when I got inside and looked at the menu, I saw that it was not Hong Kong style but Vietnamese. I ordered what turned out to be one of the best bowls of noodle soup I ever had. The soup had clear noodles and lots of pork parts, plus fish cake, shrimp and other goodies. It did not have the fabulous shrimp toast described above Guess where I went for lunch today :-) The soup at Hu Tieu Mi was as good as the one I had in NY. This place is a keeper! I had the Hu Tieu Mi and Cha Gio, and brought home an order of the duck soup for my wife. The duck soup was also terrific mmmm!

Went there this week for dinner. I agree with the consensus that the Pizza is among the best in DC. Service was great, the wine list both good and affordable. The only disappointment was the antipasto ($12 per item for mediocre cold cuts and poorly marinated vegetables) and the bread (no crust or character). I would go back for the pizza and to try the pasta

Went there this week for dinner with a visting out of town friend who had previously been there with his University of Maryland son who turned him on to the place. Given the reviews here, and the fact that my friend was staying at Pentagon City, I tried to talk him into the Majestic for his dose of comfort food, but to no avail. At 8 PM, FF was packed and very noisy. We seemed to be two of the few there over 40 (or even 30). Notwithstanding our reservation, we had a 20 minute wait for a table near the bar. Service was good, food was mixed. We wanted to talk, drink and nosh for a while so we started with the chicken wings and the bacon appetizer. The wings were plentiful, juicy, but too sweet for my taste. The bacon was incinerated. I had been expecting something like the pork belly type chunks you get at Rays, Peter Lugar's or other steak houses, but what was served was essentially satay like strips of thin, burned and (yes here we go again) very sweet bacon. After that my buddy had the braised short ribs, which he raved about, and I had a hamburger that was cooked to medium (not medium rare as ordered), but not as good as even the better destination burger venues like Rays or BGR. If I were in college or living like a pauper in my first job and looking for a date venue a step above my usual grunge bar or 'affordable' ethnic restaurant, FF would be on my list. It's noisy, crowded with good looking, young people grazing and cruising, is pretty affordable and is a swanky looking room. Now in my 50's, I have earned the right to be curmudgeonly on occasion and this place brings it out in me. It is way too loud and crowded for a dinner involving any attempt at conversation with your table mates unless you have the hearing of a lynx.

Being inherently lazy and living in Mclean, House of Fortune has begun to replace some of my runs to Hong Kong Palace, Mark's Duck House and XO taste. This is an unusual Mclean restaurant, half the house are typical Mclean alter cockers eating chicken chow mein and half the house are Chinese who are eating off the very good Chinese Menu. As noted elsewhere in this thread, the Chinese menu does not have a printed translation, so one needs to win the 'trust' of the waitstaff for them to tell you about the more adventurous treats on the Chinese menu. After eating there or getting takeout perhaps a dozen times since I read this thread in July, I think I must have passed their Gweilo test last week because when I asked if they had any tripe, they said no, but perhaps I would like some - she points to her stomach?. Hmm, generally liking offal, but not being able to quite discern which nasty bit she was referring to, I decided to take a leap of faith and was awarded with chitlins stir fried with peppers. This should give the idea that they really do have some interesting things on their menu. As in many Chinese restaurants, I find that being able to at least say hello and thank you in Mandarin helps to open the door to the real Chinese food on the menu and asking for Sichuan dishes prepared Ma la had them doing a double take but resulted in one of the best Ma Po Dofu's I've had in NOVA. So, here are some of the dishes we've had and liked: Spicy Beef and Noodle Soup Scallion pancakes Dried bean curd and pork Bok Choy (or brocolli) with garlic Xio long bao Ma Po Dofu (at request they will substitute pork for beef in the sauce) Red snapper Sichuan style Not so good were veggies and tofu (all baby corn and western broccoli) Basil squid (too sweet) They also do pretty good Wonton and egg drop soup as well as egg rolls I don't think this is destination Chinese like Sichuan Pavilion in Rockville - to which I would crawl to if I had to - but if you are in the Mclean/Tysons area, there is no Chinese place as good short of driving to Falls Church. Finally, I found that the food was better at lunch than dinner (perhaps the owner does not cook lunch)

Meaning of "artisanal" = 2x the price of non-artisanal

I love this place. It is the closest thing in DC to the Eastern European bakeries I grew up with in Brooklyn. All of their german breads are great - i love the corned rye - for me it is a veritable madelaine and I am immediately transported back to Brighton Beach in my youth (or is that Ute:-). Their efforts at French and Italian baked goods are not so good. Speaking of New York, I was in Little Italy this week and had a Sfogliatelle at Ferrarras...I can still taste it

I really wanted to like this place, there are so few places in Mclean to get a good beer and sandwich and how can someone's heart not go out to a place that supports animal rescues, alas, after trying this place twice, i found that the beer on tap was pretty good, the sandwiches were awful and the pizza looked awful. Oh well, its just a short jaunt to Falls Church with so many good choices

I tried Mount of Lebanon last week. I was a regular at their old place before the fire and was looking forward to their reopening. Boy was I disappointed. I went there just after they opened one day and was the only patron in the place. I ordered the schwarma which was overcooked and gummy with caked on spices to the point of being inedible. It almost seemed that it was left over from the previous day and reheated in a skillet. When they saw that I barely touched my meal they kindly offered to make something else ( which I declined) and they would not let me pay. They also explained how they had just opened and were still working out the kinks. Given how many enjoyable meals I have had there before, I will probably give them another shot

Went to Paul bakery last week. On a steamy, hot, humid day they managed to turn out perfect baguettes and boules. I was there when they opened on Sunday and stopped in for breakfast on the way to the Dupont farmers market. They had not yet brought out the full size croissante, so I had them cut off a quarter of one of the fresh baguettes I had bought and put it on a plate with pots of excellent soft butter and strawberry preserve. This, along with a perfect double espresso were my breakfast. I sat in the bakery's outside seating area with the Sunday NY Times and enjoyed a petit dejeuner that only needed a Gauloises to be the perfectly balanced French eye opener. In addition to bringing home a baguette and boules, I brought home a couple of mini croissante that were excellent; better than Bonaparte's, as were the baguettes, but only by a small margin and perhaps only because Bonaparte's baked goods often suffer from the humidity they are subjected to at the farmers market. The other items from Pau's were a mixed bag; the custard in the quiche and the lemon tart were not nearly as good as the amazing custard from Bonaparte. I also bought a tart tartin that was wonderful. Bottom line is that I would not pass up doing any of my shopping for French baked goods from Bonaparte when at the farmers market (except for bread on very humid days), but that Paul is a wonderful 7 day a week boulangerie. Thank goodness they did not open in Mclean....I'd end up weighing 300 lbs

I thought it might be dumbed down when it moved from Eden Center to Merrifield, but the quality and authenticity remain high while the room is much more aesthetically pleasing than the old one in Eden Center. I have never had a bad dish here. Some of my favorites are their clams in black bean sauce and their grilled pork In fact, I was surprised to find that their Pho is quite good too. Typically, I only eat Pho in a Pho restaurant, but the Pho here is as good as I have found anywhere

Finally got around to trying this place. WOW!, best deli I have had in DC since moving here 25 years ago. Tried pastrami, corned beef and tongue, all were great. Good rye bread, pickles and slaw too. My only complaint were the potato latkes. As you might guess from my moniker and avitar, I am a deli maven; I finally found my place. good thing for me it is 12 miles from Mclean or I would end up weighing 300 pounds and occluding my arteries

I recently have had a run of spoiled meat from Whole Foods in Tysons and Vienna. On one occasion veal chops from Vienna, on other occasions spoiled Turkey and Chicken from Tysons location. Has anyone else had a similar problem? BTW, I wrote to them two weeks ago and have still not had a response

I have had lunch a few times at Great Wall in Merrifield. Great selection (~ 20 choices) of home style Chinese food. Three choices plus rice and (awful) soup for $5.99. They also have a few Dim Sum items, congee, a number of baked buns and excellent roast pig/duck/chicken as well as a few better soups than the free one with the $5.99 special.

I had lunch there today. Not perfect but by far the best pizza I have had in Northern Virginia. Started with a salad of Fennel and oranges. This is a classic Italian salad that I don't often see on American menus. The Orso version was excellent. Next, I tried one of their Arancini. (deep fried stuffed rice balls). These are a southern Italian staple and the version i had at Orso was better than the ones I grew up on in Brooklyn and frankly better than the last one I had in Rome. On to the pizza! I tried a Martguerita and it was very good. The tomatoes seemed freshly crushed, the mozzarella was high qaulity and the dough had a lovely taste. I would not describe the interior of the pizza as soupy at all but the crust was not crisp as I prefer it. It was nicely charred around the edges but could have been a bit crisper in the center. Of course, there's no pleasing everyone. As I was eating at the counter a woman who was paying for her meal at the counter commented that her pizza bus 'buned'. One man's 'crisp' is another's 'burned'. Lesson learned, next time I will ask for my pizza a bit more crisped than what I now know their normal baking time to be. This place is off to a great start. Once their oven is broken in and begins to impart a bit more flavor to the dough, I think their pizza will be unbeatable, right now balancing the drive to 2 Amy's vs. something almost as good much closer to home, I will be going to Orso for my pizza fix

I have always had very good results with the steaks from Costco. I recently tried their Prime Ribeye and did not find it to be considerably different in quality than their Choice Ribeye. In addition to Ribeye steaks from Costco, I frequently buy Flank steak, Ribs and Short Ribs from them. All are good and a bargain to boot

A few weeks ago after seeing a line out the door at Mark's Duck House (which admittedly has gone down hill over the past few years) I remembered this thread and decided to try XO Taste. I have been there three times over the past few weeks. Just about everything we tried has been excellent and the cleanliness and quality of service are on a par with the food. Among the things we have tried that I can recommend are: Congee (I have had the version with squid, peanuts and pork) BBQ (Roast Pig and Roast Duck are great, the Roast Pork is a bit sweet for my taste) Triple Tripe Casserole (Of course they were concerned that a round eye would not like it, but it is the best use of tripe I have tasted since I had Tripe a la mode at Chez Dennis in Paris) Noodle Soup with Roast Pig (as good as Mark's Duck House) Thinly sliced Pig Knuckle Various sauteed greens with garlic

Other Virginia bars that allow cigars, to the point of encouraging them, are: -Ireland's Four Provinces in Falls Church -J Gilberts, Mclean As to favorites, Partegas Series D among the Cubans, and Gloria Cubana Wavels or El Rey Del Mundo among the non Cubans