sunshine
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Everything posted by sunshine
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I stopped here for the first time a couple weekends ago. The place is chock full of stuff and it's fun to poke around. I especially liked their deli case (variety of Italian and non-Italian meats and cheeses) and freezer section (packed with frozen pastas and such made in Bmore). Also a nice selection of wines. The prices are steep but you can find some deals, especially on things that aren't easily found elsewhere (Italian wines). They have loads of assorted jarred things - jams, jellies, relishes, olives, italian sauces, condiments, olive oils, vinegars. Instant risotto mixes (yeah yeah freshly made risotto is so much better but this stuff cooks in 15 minutes and tastes pretty good and is easy dinner with a kid). We picked up some frozen lasagnas, instant risotto, several bottles of wine, some cold cuts and an Italian hoagie out of the refrigerator case. The sandwich was loaded with meat, bread held up, good flavor. It is worth a long drive? Maybe once to see the old school small grocery/deli still in action, but my standby for Italian products is Vace. I'd head to A Litteri if I was in the neighborhood or checking out the Flea Market nearby. If you've never been, the area around Litteri is home to a bunch of Korean, Chinese, Jamaican, and other wholesale establishments, in addition to the oldest DC Farmers Market. The Farmers Market is a sad little place but there are a couple butchers in there that are worth the trip.
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Ate there recently and tasted the difference in their pastas. We had the spaghetti with meatballs and fettucine with favas, peas, asparagus and mascarpone. Both cooked just right/al dente, both flavorful. The meatballs had some serious garlic. We also sampled a slice of pizza with sausage and mushroom. Unfortunately, this was just a cheese slice with the extra toppings thrown on top and re-heated, so the ingredients weren't melded together. Next time, we'll have to get a whole pie to see if there's a difference in the pizza. Glad to have this place still around and rejuvenated, and definitely will go back for the pasta.
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Made a stop here this afternoon just for a lovingly made latte, down to the leaf swirl drawn in the milky foam. By far, the best latte in town. Love this place. Great warm, communal atmosphere. Comfy, slightly shabby couch and chairs, some tables, one long table in the middle of the room as well as the coffee bar. This afternoon, Vampire Weekend was playing on the stereo. Visiting Big Bear Cafe is like visiting a friend's house for coffee, with the coffee freshly made just for the occasion of your visit.
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closing the loop. beef cheeks remain elusive. went to eastern market having heard that pork cheeks (what the hell, it's still a cheek) can be found at canales. but alas, they were not fresh, but smoked. on a whim, asked cedarbrook farms at dupont market today and they pulled a bag of frozen pork cheeks from the freezer (it's not listed on the board). still frozen, it looks like two parts fat to one part meat, not to mention the skin still attached. but after 2 weeks, i'm happy that i just found cheeks of any sort. so now i've got this hunk o meat and need to figure out how best to cook it. i thought i'd do a cider braise. but a question, should i remove the skin prior to braising or just brown the whole lot, and remove post braise? i'm all for keeping the fat, but by the looks of it, this seems a bit much even for me?
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Union Meats at Eastern Market told me that you "can't really get them" unless you want to buy a 60 pound box of them frozen.
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Strange - i did ask eco-friendly at Dupont recently and they said they didn't have them. maybe i just spoke with the wrong person.
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Anyone know of where to find them in the area? several queries at the Dupont Market left me with nothing but blank stares? favorite preparations/recipes welcomed too!
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Welcome Bob! Mabuhay. Craving some pancit and adobo right now.
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I love this place so much I almost got a T-shirt (but alas, none in my size). We have had the grilled thick cut pork belly, the pork bulgogi and the spicy squid/pork chul-pan (the fried rice dish with all the mix-ins) as well as their seafood scallion pancake. The pork belly/pork bulgogi dishes are cooked with kimchee, lots of garlic cloves, squash slivers and kong-namul (soy bean sprouts). The grill dishes come with lettuce leaves (to wrap your meat in), rice, a green salad with lots of onions and sweet soy dressing, a couple pan-chan (tonite seaweed salad and hot pickled turnips or daikon) as well as mul-kimchee (water kimchee - like a cold kimchee soup), and raw garlic slivers, green jalapeno and soybean paste (which i like to put on my rice or meat before I wrap them in a lettuce leaf with a little onion from the salad and stuff the whole thing in my mouth). We always do the grilled meat first, then the fried rice as a second course. The server is supposed to help you cook your food and cut up the larger pieces. I like getting the fried rice nice and crispy on the pan so that it has a toasty flavor in addition to the flavors of the spicy squid, pork, soybean sprouts, onions, and seaweed. The ambience at nite and on weekends is smoky, loud (with Korean pop rock blasting) and bustling, so I would not recommend it for families with small children past 6 pm on weekend nites, but we have also been here at lunchtime on a Sunday with a more relaxed and peaceful vibe. The owner was there tonite (she was the one yelling across the room for servers and also stepping in to make sure things were right with everyone), and service was decidedly better (more attentive) with her around. Open 24 hours and so reasonably priced for the amount of food! Tonite we split a seafood pancake, 3 orders of the thick pork belly and the squid/pork chul-pan dish plus a Heineken for $66 and change (not including tip) for 4 people and a toddler. I heart Honeypig!
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I've always found the pizza here to very good, especially the clam (the New Haven with no red sauce) and their specialty pizzas - current favorite is the one with pepperoni, caramelized onions and peppers with tomato sauce. The pizzas in general are flavorful and savory and crust nice and chewy with a good char, but can't compare to real New Haven pizza because I've never had the original. I have also been pleasantly surprised by their salads and pastas. The arugula salad is quite good. Yesterday we tried the stracci con funghi pasta dish and loved it. Fresh pasta, lots of mushrooms. Our child really likes their meatballs too. Pete's also makes all their desserts. The tiramisu is really good - again, tasted fresh (not like it was frozen and thawed or sitting for a while) and served in a little coffee cup and saucer. I also really dig the casual vibe and cafeteria/ala carte style ordering. Place is family-friendly too.
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CommonWealth, 14th & Irving Streets NW
sunshine replied to Walrus's topic in Washington DC Restaurants and Dining
The tofu shepherd's pie is good but not necessarily what you'd expect if you're just looking for a vegetarian version that tastes just like the meat version. It came with a beet sauce. Yes the menu is heavy on the meat dishes (which also taste better IMO) but I thought there were some good options for vegetarians -- most of the sides (cauliflower gratin, mushy peas, bubble and squeak, green beans) appear to be vegetarian although I don't know if they're cooked with meat broths or cheese. The fried olives with lemon, Welsh rarebit and potato wedge chips are a good choice for veggie apps. On another note, their service remains superb - really friendly and accommodating, and they also take reservations. -
Had an early dinner here on a friday nite. Very spacious, modern and warm ambience. I had the blue crab claws with roasted tomato cocktail sauce (the sauce was great but the crab tasted like it had been frozen and thawed with tougher consistency rather than juicy and tender, but i still ate it), and the scallops with mashed potatoes and chanterelles (excellent). The fries were decent, the hanger steak was alright, according to my husband. It came with sauteed greens which didn't have a lot of flavor but the accompanying sauce for the steak was rich and yummy. The Duroc pork loin with Anson Mill grits and vidalia onion is delicious. The bacon mac-n-cheese is also delicious, a separate side dish, served in a mini Le Creuset pot (nice touch and also nice marketing for the Le Creuset shop across the courtyard). Overall, a nice experience with solid, good food (except for the crab claws which were disappointing). The only minor quibble re service: The server was obviously steering us to order an appetizer, entree and side dish per person. We definitely ordered enough for 4 people (including wine) to make his tip substantial, but acting like we should be ordering one of each per person was irritating. This, coupled with his insincere questions (if he would just wait a second after the question for an answer before he assumed everything was ok), made the experience less than superb. The rest of the staff were very friendly and sincere, even the water filler who saw that there were floaties in my water and got me a new glass. Nice addition to the Bethesda dining scene.
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Child-Friendly Restaurants
sunshine replied to babkagirl's topic in Washington DC Restaurants and Dining
Definitely 2 Amy's. Always welcoming and usually very fast. Our baby has eaten a lot of meals here, in utero and out. New Heights was really nice to us when we made reservations and told them we'd have an infant and asked to be seated in a more private/quiet/out of the way place to not disturb other diners and to breastfeed inconspicuously if necessary. Buzz Bakery - not a full-service restaurant but a great place for coffee and breakfast with the bambino. they have some comfy couches, toys, real chocolate milk. changing table in bathrooms. IKEA College Park - the clean bright and airy cafeteria is adjacent to the kids' toys/furniture section, with cool high chairs, a kids' pen in the cafeteria for kids to watch dvds, family restrooms with changing table and a chair for breastfeeding. one saturday they had face painting and a balloon artist for the kids. we love this place, even the food (swedish meatballs, gravlax, smorrebord, cinnamon rolls, apple cake, chocolate torte, lingonberry juice) . husband thinks it's just clever marketing to a new generation of consumers but i say hurray for the swedes! -
CommonWealth, 14th & Irving Streets NW
sunshine replied to Walrus's topic in Washington DC Restaurants and Dining
We've been twice for dinner and it's a great addition to the neighborhood. It's not the best value in town and some things on the menu are not as good as you want them to be, but it's a nice place to stop for a beer and snacks. I've had the cider and Boddington's on tap (US pint 6.50, British pint 8), both fine, especially on a summer evening outside (decent and inviting outdoor seating area, great for people-watching). The piccalilli is good, as are the complimentary pickled vegetables (nice touch). The heirloom tomato salad with pig's ear is fantastic. Though I was initially skeptical, the combination of fresh tomatoes in a shallot and parsley vinaigrette with crunchy and meaty bits of pig ear (no sign of ear, just porky goodness) mixed in, was truly delicious. I've also had a watercress salad with green apples, surrey ham and a poached egg on top. This salad was ok -- too much water from that poached egg made it into the salad, creating a soupy watered down dressing. The Cornish pasty has good flavor (meat, carrot and potato filling), served on mashed potatoes (with no gravy so it was a bit bland) and a little dollop of green minty sauce. For the price, i was expecting more. Considering that you can get a similarly sized empanada with more interesting filling for much less, the pasty did not impress. The Welsh rarebit was a thick piece of toast with the yummy beer cheese mixture on top. Again, small for the price. The chicken pot pie is also small for the price (better and bigger can be had elsewhere). The burger is good, and the fish and chips are great with an almost tempura-like batter. The mushy peas are surprisingly good if you like peas. of the desserts, we've had the sticky toffee pudding. Ok, on the dry side, could've used more drenching in toffee sauce and more whipped cream. Busy but not totally packed each time we've been there for weeknite dinners. Service is cheerful, friendly and responsive. -
husband and i picked up a pizza last week from pete's with high hopes. ordered the "down the hill." we ordered it deeming the 18.95 price tag a little steep, but excited to give it a try. when we arrived we learned that the price had been jacked up from the initial menu price to 23.95, which only heightened our skepticism. 26 bucks with tax. irritated by the price, we were very happy with the pizza. whatever crust issues others may have encountered we did not. very nice char. the caramelized onions were delicious. the sausage good, if not great. even the "fire roasted" green peppers, which Mr. Sunshine generally dislikes, warranted his grudging approval. only quibbles, the sauce could have used a little kick and, well, it was 26 bucks. overall, very pleased with the pizza and delighted to have it in the neighborhood. remains to be seen whether the neightborhood, including us, is willing to make it a regular part of our rotation when we can get to two amys in five minutes with bell's oberon and lagunitas IPA on tap.
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I did a search for Lite House or Lighthouse before posting and didn't find the prior thread. (I thought it was unlikely that this place had not already been reviewed by the likes of Escoffier or Grover, our resident Korean cuisine experts!) Glad to hear others have gone and enjoyed it. Sorry I missed the $20 Tuesday. This place is an incredible value and worth the trek from D.C. Don, thanks for adding my post to the right thread.
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Has anyone else been? If you weren't looking for it, you'd totally miss it because it's in a non-descript building on Chatelain/John Marr off of Columbia Pike, hidden from view. But if you like Korean soon-tubu (soft tofu) stew, this is the specialty here, and it's great. The decor is rustic with Korean characters on rice paper wallpaper, servers in traditional-looking outfits. Lunch is less than $10 (around $8.50-8.95 for the stews only). The menu consists of several different types of the stew (mushroom, vegetarian, oyster, seafood, beef and pork), and there are also some grill specialties like bulgogi, kalbi and ojingo-bokkeum (squid stir fry) and pa-jun (scallion pancakes) in the $12-$20 range. Go for the stew. They spice the stews to your taste. The regular spicy was just about right, but you can get it very spicy and very very spicy or with no spice at all. The meal starts with iced pori-cha (barley tea), and they lay out some pan-chan (kimchee, pickled cucumber, seasoned bean sprout salad, individual bowls of refreshing water kimchee and a dish of raw eggs that you can add to your stew to soft cook them). They give you bowls of rice and then add barley tea to the rice pot for noo-rung-ji (basically a "tea" made of the dregs from the rice) that you can drink after your meal. The stews come piping hot and bubbling to your table. You add the egg, stir it around to cook it, and dig in. If you're not totally full afterwards, you can go a couple blocks away to Shilla Bakery on Little River Turnpike for Korean-style desserts (including the shaved ice, ice cream, fruit and bean dessert called paht-bing-su), breads, smoothies, yogurt and coffees.
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For Saturday lunch, you might want to try the Market Lunch counter at Eastern Market, D.C.'s oldest market, currently housed in a temporary space across from the original location that burned down recently (It's being rebuilt). Really known for their breakfasts (blueberry buckwheat pancakes "bluebucks", crab cake benedict, omelets, grits and such), but their lunch menu has a great Carolina style BBQ pork sandwich and their crab cakes are good. Market lunch is a D.C. institution and fits your "uniquely D.C." requirement, with limited seating and specific "rules" - cash only, no sitting until you have your food, no saving seats, no lingering after you're finished eating, etc. You can check out the goods from the other market vendors afterwards. It's near Capitol Hill so you're close to sightseeing,museums, etc. If Market Lunch's line is too long, you can check out Montmartre in the same neighborhood for a casual, French bistro meal. It's underrated, in my opinion. For Sunday brunch in Georgetown, I'd recommend Leopold's Konditorei on the early side. Great European-style cafe and pastry shop with a modern vibe, although folks on this board have mixed opinions about it. I've had several great brunches here (truffle parmesan grits, lemon souffle pancakes which were specials, a German sausage and eggs platter, a great assorted breads basket, mushroom tart, olive tart, among many choices). The pastries and coffee are also very good. Another unconventional choice and local favorite would be 2 Amy's (off Wisconsin Ave, so on your way down to Georgetown from Bethesda) if you're interested in Neapolitan pizza and fresh Italian fare for brunch (though they open at 12 so it's more like lunch). On Sundays, they have yummy sugar spice donuts (with the holes) and special brunch-y cocktails, in addition to their usual menu of brick-oven pizza, salads and daily specials. Love the suppli, polpettine, small plates and charcuterie, good wine selection (by glass or bottle).
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Gibson's and the Grapevine closed. Kava House is still going strong.
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Must shout-out to some favorites in West Michigan. In Grand Rapids, the best downtown restaurant is San Chez, a Spanish tapas place that was serving tapas back when the tapas/"small plate" phenom was foreign and not so cool. Interesting cocktails and good sangria, wide selection of cold and hot tapas, paella, and noisy,vibrant atmosphere. Bistro Bella Vita isn't bad for finer dining. They have an excellent selection of (large) martinis. Also downtown, the Cottage Bar for divey bar atmosphere and food (think burgers and hot turkey on white bread with gravy and mashed potatoes). It's a local institution. In Eastown, the Gaia Cafe for big, vegetarian-friendly breakfasts, as well as Marie Catrib's, a Lebanese bakery/cafe. Further west in Holland (original in Grand Haven), Fricano's - a no-frills pizza joint where you get beers in cans and only five topping choices for your thin-crust pizza - pepperoni, house-made sausage, green peppers, mushrooms, and anchovy, in any combination. Same formula for 50 years. Also in Holland, the best, cheap, family-run Mexican food restaurant in West Michigan, Don Miguel, in a little strip mall off Lakeshore Drive (the sopes, mole, tacos, and pork dishes are particularly good). In Fennville, the best orchard with a bakery/restaurant on-site, Crane's. Delicious cider, seasonal fruit pies, apple butter, apple butter bread, apple butter ice cream, cider donut sundaes. Whenever we go there, I always get a cider, piece of apple butter bread, a sloppy joe and a fruit pie with ice cream for dessert. In Saugatuck, we love Ida Red's and the Elbow Room for breakfasts and Chequers, a British pub for Welsh rarebit and fish and chips. I don't know if it's still there, but in GR, Tuscan Express (terrible name) had the best Italian (not Italian-American) food. Like many restaurants, it was located in suburban Grand Rapids in a strip mall off 28th Street. While it may be a culinary wasteland for upscale, innovative or cutting edge dining, West Michigan is all about the beloved local community institutions. They don't get a whole lot of publicity but they remain tried and true.
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The best reason to go to 2 Amy's is the incredibly fast service and their wonderful daily specials. Although their crust isn't my favorite, their "signature" pizzas and their topping combinations for their special pizzas use better ingredients and just have more refinement than other places. Like tonite, one of the special pizzas had cockles, pancetta, artichokes, garlic, and grana. It was so good. For appetizers, roasted root vegetables with vin cotto, smoked ricotta with arugula, and an order of suppli (their deep-fried cheese and rice balls). With a couple great beers, it was an awesome meal for a good price. And we had our food in less than 10 minutes! We can be in and out of there within an hour, which we really appreciate now that we're parents who are paranoid about having our kid melt down in a public place. We love that 2 Amy's is also kid-friendly, and liked this aspect even when we were childless. But the variety and freshness of the food, not just the pizzas, is definitely why we return again and again.
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This is a regular spot for lunch. Absolutely love it for their no-nonsense, fast service (though it has been slow when they are at full capacity). I think their noodle dishes are superior. My favorites from their regular lunch menu - the Chiang Mai chicken curry noodle soup with pickled mustard greens, the Tuk Tuk lunch break - a noodle soup with pork, Tom yum noodle soup with shrimp, in addition to the Siamese stir fry noodles with beef. Their version of drunken noodles is also killer, with appropriate spice. In fact, any dish here that says it's spicy is truly spicy. I also love their Southern salad with peanut dressing.
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Have eaten here several times now and I like the pizza better than at 2 Amy's or Comet. The pizzas here just seem so much more substantial, with a crust that holds up to the toppings better. We've tried most of their specialty pizzas - the one with salami and olives, the funghi (with mushrooms), the toscano (with sausage), the puttanesca (with mussels) and the veg (peppers, zucchini, mushrooms and ricotta). All excellent. Great beer selection - Allagash, Stella Artois and Magic Hat #9 on tap. Caesar salad appropriately anchovy-tasting although dressing is not as creamy and croutons are sometimes burnt. Roasted olives appetizer is reminiscent of 2 Amys' but good in its own right. It is already a hoppin' neighborhood place and now that the weather's nice, the outdoor patio area will be swamped. We've managed to get lucky with parking and seating getting there early for dinner around 6, especially on Sundays.
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the menu at sola looks very good to me, and the seafood influence would definately be appealing to my mother in law. have also heard good things about schwa, north pond, and spring. are you able to compare or speak to the relative advantages or shortcomings of these?
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so both my father in law and mother in law are retiring this spring, both after about 40 years with the same employer. we are in dc, but will travel to chicago to meet with siblings for a retirement celebration, part of which will be dinner on saturday night, and which will be a surprise. here's the rub. father in law's picture of heaven is 9 courses with wine pairing. cost is not an issue. mother in law prefers a scallop appetizer, perfectly done, with a chocolate dessert and a diet coke. 60 minutes and out. she't not averse to fine dining by any means, just to three and a half hour meals. so there will be 8 of us. and we are looking for a memorable dinner that is delicious and special, but doesn't strain my mothers patience and my fathers aversion to gimickry (when we described our meal at minibar he didn't quite "get it.") we want something warm. delicious. not overly formal, but memorable nonetheless. we don't mind spending some money, but don't want to spend it for its own sake. we will be in oak park, but willing to travel into the city or suburbs for the right meal. oh - and they've already hit blackbird, tru, and topolambopo. any and all suggestions would be much appreciated. oh - and if it matters at all, this will be our first unhurried meal out since the birth of our son in september, so we want it to be special for us too. our current favorites. palena. komi. granville moore's. restaurant eve. actually - restaurant eve is a good reference point. we've eaten there wtih my parents in the bistro and they both loved it. formal enough for my father in law. but my mother in law loved it too. where can we find the bistro at eve in chicago...including offal. thanks, dm