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Baccala

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  1. Interesting artice and worth a read. There article mentions a number of resturants and their cheese selection, however they missed the best on in my opinion, Dino. Clearly the author does not get out enough.
  2. We paid another visit to Liberty tonight and had another good experience with both the food and service. I had the duck confit appetizer, which I had it on my first visit and loved thankfully it was the same tonight. Perfectly crisp skin with tender flavorful meat underneath. It is served with a small frisee salad with light vinaigrette, which offers a great flavor and texture contrast. My wife had the mussels, which she described as very good. I had the Duroc Pork chop, which was served with mushrooms and corn pudding. The chop was served as ordered and was well seasoned and juicy. The balance between the seasoning and the sauce, (smoked ham, honey- milk jus) was perfect. It did not get in the way of the flavor of the meat. The mushrooms were nicely sautéed and worked well with the dish. The wife had the skate special, which was served with fingerling potatoes, sautéed shrimp and hazelnut butter. The dish was well presented and the flavor combinations worked well together. The fish was tender and flavorful and perfectly cooked. The place was full, in both the bar and the dining room and the service was excellent, attentive and well covered. The food and great service makes this a place we will be adding to our rotation. This is one of the best restaurants in Clarendon in my opinion and is worthy of a visit.
  3. The wife and I, along with some friends, went to BB for the first time on Friday night. While I not impressed with the food- the service was excellent. The server was patient and took the time to explain all the beer options and provided us with numerous samples. We are not beer drinkers; however we found one that we liked with the help of the server. For the appetizer I ordered the Frisee salad along with the mussels with chorizo and frites. The salad had too much going on for me. It was overloaded with little fried onions and the egg was over-poached, overall the salad too weighted down and flat.I like the version at Central a lot better. The mussels were good, but not anything special. I have had better at West End and Belga. The frites on the other hand were amazingly perfect. I wished there was more. For dinner I ordered the Choucroute "en Croute" and the wife had the Grilled beef steak and Frites. The Choucroute "en Croute" sounded amazing; however it did not live up to my expectations. The pastry bottom was undercooked and chewy to the point I had to removed the meat and eat a good portion outside the shell. The steak was prepared as ordered, however was a little tough and lacked any depth of flavor. I have had better at Bistrot Du Coin. We did order the side of Brussels sprouts gratin, which were perfect, tender little sprouts topped with a perfect amount of cheese on top. We liked the space and the service was excellent, and will give it another shot, hopefully we were there on a off night.
  4. Had dinner at Bebo last night and another good meal. The place was packed a couple of large crowds and service was not an issue. We had a Pizza Margarita and polenta with pancetta for apps. The pizza was the best we have had there and the best we have had in years. All aspects were perfect. The polenta was amazing. A dish of creamy polenta topped with pancetta with cheese underneath, don't remember the name of the cheese, but is was great. For dinner my wife had the gnocchi with smoked mozz and eggplant and I had the penne pasta with neapolitan ragù. Both dishes were perfectly prepared. The eggplant, in the gnocchi was well prepared and delicate. The pasta was al dente and the sauce was great. I generally am not a pasta lover, but I always order the pasta here. The cooking reminds me of my Grandmothers cooking, which is no easy task. The service was attentive and responsive, the food was excellent and the wonderful bottle of super tuscan made for a great evening out.
  5. Went to Liberty Tavern for the first time last week and had a positive experience. While we were not going because it was RW, but we were pleasantly surprised to learn that the entire menu was available. My wife had the mussels and I had the Duck Confit, the mussels in a spicy tomato sauce were excellent. The Duck was perfectly tender with a nice crisp skin. This is the best confit I have had in a long time; this is something that I will order again. For dinner my wife had the gnocchi with Brussels sprouts and mushrooms and I had hanger steak, which was served with baked beans, and braised market greens. The gnocchi dish was a perfect combination of fresh ingredients that worked well together. The gnocchi were light and carried the sage brown butter sauce very well. It was a nice dish for a winter evening. The hanger steak was served as ordered. The meat was tender and flavorful. The other components of the dish were prepared well, however their flavors distracted from the flavor of the meat itself. It was almost too much going on the plate for me we had the benefit of sitting near the kitchen and were able to watch all the food coming out. The food looked amazing at it whipped by. I am pretty amazed at the portion sizes very generous for the prices. we were impressed with Liberty, the service and food were excellent. We look forward to gong back for another visit soon.
  6. The wife and I , along with a friend had dinner at Bebo last night. No issues getting a table, but there was a decent crowd. We had a few app's including a few meats and cheeses selection, meatballs, and mussels. The meats were good, not great, nice portion size. The cheeses included a gorgonzola and pecorino, again decent, nothing special. The gorgonzola was serverd very cold and did a lot better after it warmed up. Dino has set the benchmark for meat and cheese for me. A high standard to beat in my opinion. The meatballs and mussels were very good. For dinner we had the Duck Tagatelle, a pizza and lobster spaghetti. The friend had the pizza and said it was excellent, the best she has had in a long while. The pasta dished were good, but we both had the same comment about the amount of items, other the pasta in the dish. Both dishes had scant portions of duck and lobster. The flavors in both were excellent. The fresh pasta was good, as usual, however there were parts there were gummy and undercooked for me. There were no issues with service it was attentive and timely. Overall a nice dinner and a decent bottle of wine with good service.
  7. An old friend was in town and Sorriso is his old stomping ground, so off to dinner we went. We have been there many many times over the years prior to our friend leaving town. My wife and I always enjoyed the food, especially the pizza, and the wine and neighborhood feel of the place. For dinner last night we started with a margarita pizza, it was well prepared, nice char and perfect balance of cheese and sauce. The antipasti plate was a decent combination of veggies and meats, good, but not great. It reminded me of the simply plates my grandmother would put together, no fancy products, just simple. For dinner my wife had the fish stew and I had the Osso Buco with risotto. My wife liked her stew, perfectly spicy with a nice portion of fish, mussels, shrimp and clams. There was a slight broth to the dish, which was full flavor. The Osso Buco was a perfectly prepared, fork tender piece of larger cut of meat served atop perfectly prepared risotto. The flavors were perfectly melded together. I usually shy away from this dish because it is served with Polenta, which is on my trite list. The substitution saved this dish for me. For desert we split a desert pizza, which is served with nutella and fresh fruit. The warm crust slightly melts the nutella, combined with the fruit makes a wonderfully fun desert. We also had a few decent bottles of wine. Overall a good meal. I have been a semi regular at Dino and have recommend it to my friends, and often wondered if I would ever go back to Sorriso. After last night I find that there are some reasons to and while Dino remains highest on my rotation, there is room for the place across the street.
  8. Shocked to see that this was not a figured out long before this. http://sideswipeblade.com/index.html
  9. I was in Westover market last night, across for the Lost Dog Cafe, and was shocked at the number of beers they have. They have over 300 seperate beers.
  10. The 2008 Readers Choice is already voted on and on the the newsstands? This was posted on their site today. You might want to read it and compare the topics first.
  11. Interesting list no major surprises. http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/restaurants/6014.html
  12. The wife and relatives and I had dinner here this past Sat and had an excellent dinner. For apps we had the meatballs Pizza Margarita. The pizza was great; good char to the crust, excellent light sauce. The meatballs were good, not great; the sauce on the other hand was perfect. The meatballs had good flavor and taste, but they broke apart, and were not binded well. For dinner I had the Parpadelle with Cornish hen. A nice combination of fresh pasta with a light broth and tender pieces of hen. My wife had the Cannelloni, which was excellent, light shell perfectly filled with meats and topped with a nice red sauce and not too much cheese. It is not uncommon to see Cannelloni overstuffed with way too much cheese. The service was a good and a little strange at some points. We ordered a $40 bottle of wine and they came back 15 minutes later and said they do not have it and offered another bottle, but the waiter did not know the price, when he returned he told us it was $65, we asked for a different bottle. About 1/2 into the service the waiter returned to tell us that one of the pasta specials was no longer available, which is fine but they were telling us when our food for the other 3 guests was arriving. They made it right and explained the nature of the freshness of the pasta and the fact they only make a specific number of portions. My issues is with the timing. I would think they would know at the point the ticket is dropped, not when it is being sent to the tables. Overall the food was excellent and the service spotty.
  13. Had dinner with the wife and friends at Grandcru-Wine, which is located next to big buns and behind the Westin in Arlington. It is a store restaurant combination with an interesting concept. You can buy a bottle and enjoy it with dinner for a $5.00 corkage fee. The wine selection is interesting and all over the place. For me there seems an overall lack of direction in the collection. We found a decent Burgundy to settle on, after looking for a while. We had a few apps before dinner and had a hit with the mushroom tart and a major miss with the cheese and meat tray. It was a misdirected combination of hard cheddar, smoked Gouda, and salami, all could have been purchased at the local Safeway. By far the worst I have ever had. For dinner the wife had the white truffle orzo, which was well prepared and flavorful and well priced at $10.00. I had the duck breast with sweet mashed potato. The duck was well prepared, tender and flavorful. A simple well prepared duck breast is hard to find, they did it well. For desert we had port, which they let us sample before we purchased and the chocolate fondue, it was decent, but not great. Overall the food was good with some major misses along the way. I think if you are careful with your selections it could be a decent experience. My hope is that they tighten up their wine selections and provide more focus.
  14. We generally eat at home for the holidays, but after a few recent positive experiences at Dino's, and the special 7 fishes menu, we thought we would give it a try. We were glad we did, the food, wine and service were excellent. As usual the cheese, specifically the gorgonzola was phenomenal. A number of people ordered the special 7 fishes and others ordered off the menu. The special was good, with some exceptional items, like the Zuppa di pesce. The broth was perfect, not fishy, which in my opinion, most suffer from. This dish was not thrown together. The soup was well stocked with fresh clams, mussels and fish. One person had the Bistecca alla Florentine, and raved about it. It was ordered medium rare and was served as ordered. The quality of the meat and the preparation was perfect. The person who ordered it is from eats a lot of beef and told me that it was the best steak he has had in years. I sampled it and will be ordering it next time we go. A number had the Gramigna con Agnello, which was another perfect dish. The flavors were perfectly paired with tender pieces of lamb. The pasta selected for the dish was perfect, nice body for the dish. It is nice to see different pasta shapes and cuts. For desert we had a selection of gelato and the creps with nutella. Served cold, which was unexpected, but when you eat them you can understand why. The nutella is creamy smooth like a moose, it was excellent. The food, service, including the pre-dinner bar service, and wine was attentive and responsive to our needs. The quality of the food and wine for the cost is amazing. I look forward to going back soon. It was nice to see the Dean was offering the Wine Madness even though it was a holiday, was a pleasant surprise.
  15. There are plans for a Starbucks in the Lee Heights center near arrow wine on lee highway. This will be between the harrison and spout run locations. Now we really will never be able to get parking in the front anymore.
  16. My wife and I are semi regulars here. We have notice over the past that the food has not been consistent, however over the past few visits I get the sense that they have resolved what ever issue they had. For dinner last night we have the house special duck rolls, curry puffs, calamari, house pork stew, drunken noodles, with chicken,and pork with eggplant. All were perfectly prepared, hot and flavorful. I would recommend that people who have stayed away , give it another shot. The decent wine list is a draw and kept us coming back when things were not 100%.
  17. This is an excellent place for anyone looking for quality fresh latin food. In the back of the market there is a butcher, that has excellent meats btw, where orders are taken for the food. They offer a range of food low prices. Today I had a bean and cheese pupusa, slaw and two corn tamales for a whopping $4.00. The meal is served with fresh pico and sour cream. The store is located on old lee highway a bit east from the lee heights shopping center. LA UNION GROCERY 4308 Lee Hwy Arlington, VA 22207 703-812-9484
  18. I do hope to find one of these under my Hanukkah bush http://www.gratefulpalate.com/?p=Category_11
  19. and so does the neon sign about the door. One brave soul needed to venture in and report back.
  20. The Duangrat market has hog casings salted in the Freezer. About the only place I could find them in town.
  21. Went to Bebo tonight and, surprisingly, the service was fine. We started with the margarita pizza which was one of the best I've had in years. I had the bucatini with a flavorable sauce of tomato and cauliflower. The only disappointment was my wife's lasagenette—bland, bland, bland. It smelled delicious but totally lacked flavor. She tried adding Parmesan, then resorted to table salt but couldn't rescue the dish. Too bad, because it was really good on our first visit. But we'll go back.
  22. Had a chance to swing by this past weekend and to put it mildly the wife and I were not impressed. We ordered the pulled chicken and pulled pork sandwich with beans and potato salad, however what we got was a pulled chicken sandwich, three meats platter, large order of mac and cheese, corn pudding and corn bread. I did not notice the order was wrong until I got home. The chicken was ok, but had a strange aftertaste, like lighter fluid. The same taste was evident in the three meat sampler I had. The meats were pork, chicken and brisket. The pork had to much residual water and seemed parboiled, the chicken was ok. The brisket had potential. All the meats suffered from what I think was lighter fluid. The mac and cheese was a flavorless clump of pasta and cheese with a lot of grease. The corn bread was raw in the center. The corn pudding was good, I think it was the only redeeming part of the meal. The build out of the space is nice; however the food was simply not good. Unless the comments and reviews change I am not going back.
  23. West End bistro, Dino and Al A lucia.
  24. Went to Dino last night for diner and had a wonderful time. The food, wine and service were excellent. We started with the Antipasti plate, calamari, gorgonzola plate and Salumi Artigianali. The Antipasti and Salumi was great. The antipasti has is a nice combination of items from roasted peppers to caper berries. The Salumi plate is an amazing selection of artisan made meats. The bresaola is a standout for me, but all are exceptional. This plate is an amazing value considering the exceptional quality of the meats and the portion size. It is nice to see a charcuterie plate with more then one piece of each meat. Personally I think it is one of the best values in town. The calamari was perfectly fried and tender and served hot. The gorgonzola, described on the menu as fierce, spicy and funky, is amazing. I love it and always want more after I finish it. For mains we had halibut, salmon and the free form lasagna. The halibut was prepared as ordered and was flavorful and tender. The lasagna was described as good and something that would be ordered again. We rounded out the evening with deserts and grappa. It was a good time with great food and wine. This was the first time at the restaurant for our friends and they loved it as well and talked about returning. I look forward to going back again
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