Geling

I just had some very good wings at Clare and Don's. They call them Money Wings, they were the traditional Buffalo style with celery and blue cheese dip. Nice and spicy, with a Red Stripe a nice lunch on a warm day. The bartender was very friendly, making it a pleasant experience. I will be back! Ruth

Good Bolivian food and bakery at My Bakery. They have delicious soups, home made there every day, if available try the peanut soup. Dishes with potatoes, rice and bread, very filling and inexpensive. It is small, so crowded on the weekends. Also their tres leches cake is scrumptious. It is located in Bailey's Crossroads, on a side street off of Columbia Pike, right after the big chicken place (Compero Chicken??), not far from the intersection with route 7, you can see it from Columbia Pike. Ruth

You are so right TedE, I guess it has been longer than I thought. It is confusing which neighborhood is which, for example I lived in Charles Village and on Abell Avenue (a world unto itself) but some people considered my neighborhood Waverly. Alonso's burgers were good, and I guess we should let people decide what name they give their community, but Alonsoville ?

As a former Charles Villager (a neighborhood near Keswick) thank you for clearing that up, Alonso's is definitely not in Hampden, being on the East side of Charles St. Ruth

I would be happy to get together with PandaHugga and the folks at CG to work on a set meal menu, (I speak Chinese too). But, it is also possible to just work out a meal before hand so that a seasonal or favorite dish is included, considering the number of people, and other variables. I like this method too, because then I can budget better! It might make sense to limit the number of participants to 20. Ruth

Hi, I wasn't at this dinner, but I can appreciate the problems those at table #2 had getting the dishes they ordered, or thought they ordered. Sometime in the past (not sure what thread it was or perhaps it was on another site) someone asked if it was better to pre-order or order off the menu when you get there. My experience with Chinese restaurants here and in China is that a pre-ordered meal with a set price (except beverages) is the best way to go if you have more than say 8 people. This is how Chinese people often plan banquets. It makes it easier on the kitchen because then they know what to have on hand and how many servers they need. Usually they want to know "how many tables", with there usually being 8-10 per table. But it also makes it easier for the diners, it is very clear what each table has ordered because they all have the same thing and each table will get the same dishes. So, next time you have that many diners I'd suggest pre-ordering so no one misses out on any of their great dishes.

Glad to see that MDH can have good hot dim sum. My Sat. dim sum experience of 2 years ago was not good. The food was cold and the choices limited from the carts. But I enjoy a modest lunch there on occasion, I particularly like the white chicken which looks like plain boiled chicken but is very flavorful and comes with a ginger green onion dipping sauce, yummy. But order it as a plate, if you are alone, which comes with rice and some kind of green veggie, one time it was sauteed iceberg lettuce, quite good. Also their fish fillets in black bean sauce is excellent. As for the roast duck, I think it is disappointing if you are looking for Peking style roast duck, which should have crispy skin, I believe the duck at Mark's is Cantonese style which is not as crispy, plus in China having fat left under the skin is considered a good thing.