KeithA

5 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Had dinner at Daykaya Izakaya two nights ago, as well as takeout from Daikaya Ramen. The noodles were the best thing in both meals - they were exceptional (and the Izakaya items were uninspiring (although our server was wonderful)).

Do both Daikaya Ramen and Bantam King abut each other back-to-back? I recall Bantam King having its own kitchen, and I’m pretty sure Daikaya Ramen does also. Are there three kitchens at these three establishments, or is there some sharing?

I can't speak about Daikaya as its been a long time since I was there, but Bantam King continues to be excellent (yeah for the chicken loving, non-pork eaters who get ramen too!) and yes Bantam has its own kitchen in the back of the restaurant. (maybe there is a secret underground tunnel the block or so between it and Daikaya but doubtful).

On 3/29/2021 at 6:17 PM, KeithA said:

We ended up making Chicken Marbella too and using Halibut for the gefilte fish. Both turned out great. My brisket while cooked ok lacked some flavor (used Jewish Cooking in America - Joan Nathan's favorite brisket recipe). Need to try out some new recipes or go back to past winners like Smitten Kitchen's sweet and sour brisket.  I did end up making 3 types of charoset - all winners: Ashkenazi, Kurdish (4 types of nuts, bunch of spices, dates, raisins and more), and Moroccan-style rolled into balls. 

Seder menu this year is similar to past years with some twists:

Chicken Marbella - always a winner

Brisket - I modified a recipe from Jake Cohen's I Could Nosh for Jew-mami Brisket (as in umami) - I left out the mushrooms since I'm the only one in my house who likes them, skipped the red wine vinegar, doubled the soy sauce instead and made it yesterday a day a head. I liked the crushed tomatoes instead of diced, it really has a nice thick gravy vs. being too watery/evaporated.

Charoset this year - I continue to try new stuff. Ashkenazi - tried and true. I had a funny interaction with the very kind woman who runs the Kuhns Orchard Cleveland Park farmer's market stand when I explained what ashkenazi charoset was (apples, walnuts, cinnamon and a bit of sweet wine) and asked for her apple varietal recommendations. I think I really through her for a loop but she suggested a mix. We'll see if people notice the gold rush and crimson crisp as different. We were lucky to travel to Italy and Japan since last passover so I made charoset inspired by those trips. Italian one is a recipe from Portico, Roman-Jewish cookbook I got recently. It has Apple, banana, orange, dates, figs, almond, hazelnuts, and walnuts, sweet wine and cinnamon and is more of a spread than chunky. For Japan, I created my own recipe inspired by popular Japanese ingredients - Asian apple/pears (Nashi in Japanese), sesame seeds, dried cherries (cherry blossom reference even though they aren't actual cherry producing trees), crystalized ginger with Japanese plum wine. It is more floral that others, but I think I like it. Hopefully others will too.

Maror/bitter herbs/horseradish - I continued to use the great carrot citrus horseradish recipe from the Gefilte Manifesto which is now a family tradition after making it for many years. It comes out bright orange.

Gefilte fish - i again made my own using the Gefilte Manifesto quenelle recipe but with 2 TB of added matzo meal. I had hoped to use halibut again for the fish which has turned out great the past several years. However, 5 different grocery stores and no halibut. Whole foods had only a small amount at a high price. So this year it is 2/3 scarlet snapper and 1/3 flounder from Giant. It turned out a bit pinkish instead of the usual all white. Hopefully everyone enjoys.

Asparagus with hazelnut dukkah from Israeli Soul cookbook.

Green salad

Hardboiled eggs - chopped with salt water for a kind of chunky soup - my wife's family tradition.

Chicken soup with matzo balls

Matzo farfel - my wife's family recipe to make chunks of egg cooked farfel (matzo chunks) that act like a crouton. Good with soup or even as a snack by the handful when you would normally eat crackers or pretzels but can't during the holiday.

Charred zucchini with cherry tomatos and mint from the Israeli Soul cookbook.

Dessert is a variety of store bought stuff - fruit gel slices, chocolate lollipops, peppermint patties, but hopefully we'll find time to make homemade coconut macaroos and maybe these soft almond cookies we made last year which were great.

Homemade pickles

Went back to Pisco last weekend with my wife. It was nice to see it so busy on a Saturday night. Bar was packed and most tables filled. Happy we made a reservation a few days before. They have a happy hour special that lasts 4pm-7pm everyday so that was likely a draw too. We were really drawn to the Pisco flight of 3 different ones so even though that was one of the few non-HH cocktails, we went for it and really had fun trying the different types - traditional with lime, passion fruit (sweet and smooth - I'm a sucker for passion fruit too), and chicha morada (it is a dark reddish-purple, traditional made from corn, it was somewhat sweet but unique, my least favorite). We had the Nikkei (japanese) ceviche to start with is an ample portion for 2, and probably would have been fine as a small starter for 4. The portions of everything appeared to be large. So good for sharing. The ceviche was nice big chunks of fresh tuna, with shredded onions, chopped cucumber and avocado with a big piece of wonton like cracker and a soy based savory sauce. Similar to a tuna poke without rice. We enjoyed. For mains, my wife had the excellent Lomo Saltado that enjoyed on my last visit. Next time we'll probably share and the size was good she didn't mind me stealing fries - the sauce is so tasty. I got the lamb shank which was pretty good but I'd probably go for something else next time. Nicely cooked, with a rich brown stew like sauce that they cover the whole plate in. Not the best presentation because I almost didn't see the peas and carrots covered in sauce or the rice (& maybe potato) under the shank. It does have a nice contrast though as piled on top of the shank are shredded onions in aji marinade. Overall we really enjoyed the food, nice to be in a lively place for a date night, and the service was very good too. The menu is really big too with a bit for everyone but especially good if you like seafood. We were stuffed and skipped dessert.

LIkewise - really sorry to hear this news. We'll miss his thoughts.

We had a great time in Japan - visited Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo. We enjoyed some good food but also kind of messed up by not planning much. Most of the food was very good but it is was rarely excellent. Here is my advice (mostly based on what I didn't do):

1. Go with people who want to eat the same things as you. Many places in Japan specialize in only a few types of dishes - sushi, tempura, katsu, yakiniku (korean BBQ), ramen, etc. If you have picky eaters and want to accommodate them you'll miss out on these specialized places. I never made it to a real sushi restaurant because my crew wasn't willing to eat nigiri - they usually eat maki rolls which are not that popular in Japan.

2. Have someone like a hotel concierge make reservations for you several days in advance. Many restaurants even not too fancy ones require reservations (often through phone calls in Japanese or use of Japanese language apps) or a long wait. We thought we'd just stroll in and that pretty much never worked at better places so we ended up at more casual or random places. The waits are often long because the places are tiny and so they fill up quick. Also many places will be booked completely for reservations.

3. Insist and plead. One night we showed up at a mostly empty larger restaurant early for dinner and asked for a table. They hemmed and hawed and finally sat us at one of the only high top tables with stool with no backs. We were really tired from walking all day. I kindly begged to be moved to a table with chair backs and they said ok, but we could only stay for 1 hour because they had reservations coming. That was no issue for us and I'm so happy we were more comfortable. Another time, my kids really just wanted some plain rice and that seem to confuse the staff at first request but when I pointed out it was for the kids, they complied quickly and cranky kids became happy kids.

4. Ask for help in the proper way to eat the food. We went to a yakiniku place randomly one night and got lots of confused signals at first. They didn't know if they could seat us, then said yes and then sat us in a room alone whereas we heard lots of other people in another part of the restaurant. We didn't realize we were supposed to order through a QR code menu till we asked. We didn't know how to properly use the stove till we asked. Another time it is was a small thing - I was given a sleeve of small pieces of nori seaweed and a small flat plate. Until I asked I didn't know I was supposed to pour soy sauce on the plate, dip my seaweed it in and then wrap the seaweed around some rice for a much tastier bite than eating them separately.

5. Kaiseki meal - don't go to a ryokan for a kaiseki meal with picky eaters or at least try to adjust the menu. The ryokan gratefully adjusted the menu to avoid shellfish and pork, which we don't eat, but then only gave us lots of fish - not any meat and limited tofu even, so it was a bit of a bust for the others. (I ate great).

We ended up eating a lot of yakitori - some really good at hole in the wall places (the one behind the Osaka W is great) and food halls and some not so great. Look up a guide on how to order the parts of chicken you want to eat. I really enjoyed the chicken meatballs (and they cook quicker usually too).

You don't have to go to a dedicated sushi place to get lots of great sashimi. Lots of izakayas and other places have it and it is generally great. Like a lot of the food it is also very seasonal - spring is the time for sea bream so we had a lot of that.

Ramen - since we don't eat pork, we never got it. It is very hard to find fish or chicken broth based ramen (although it seemed vegan was more popular). There are places but again advance research was needed.

Udon/Soba - really good at lots of places. The Yuba (tofu skin) noodle soup place across from Tenryu-Ji shrine (near the bamboo forest) in Arashiyama was excellent.

Eat the specialty of the house. On the way to Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto there is a place making lots of inari. Get the inari - either as sushi stuffed with rice or in soup, skip the bland maki rolls.

Hotel buffets are great for breakfast. We stayed at the W Osaka and Westin Tokyo and they both had huge spreads of western and Japanese foods (as well as some chinese too). DO eat Japanese breakfast - fish and soup may not be normal for western palates but they are great.

Onigiri - the conbini have pretty good but if you can get fresh made it is even better. One of my favorite parts of the Westin Tokyo's buffet was the made to order onigiri.

Lawson's conbini fried chicken - it is chicken nuggets but lots of different flavors and really makes everyone happy for a quick and super cheap snack.

Viral foods - the 10 Yen Cheese pancake IS very good. The custard version not so much. The hard sugar coated strawberries are good for a couple of bites and then not so much.

Cremia extra milky soft serve - I didn't like it. It was too creamy and would suggest sticking to regular ice cream which is readily available.

Mochi - if you like it, it is available it lots of varieties and wonderful. Lots of places sell it traditional style with red bean filling (give it a try, it is excellent), or chocolate or custard (also good but a bit too sweet for me), and yes great also topped with a strawberry. If you are there in spring time try the special sakura mochi wrapped with a pickled leaf. I liked the Osaka/Kansai version better than the Tokyo/Kanto version but both were good. One great one was a sakura croissant filled with mochi and red bean that was at the W Osaka buffet.

Pickles - Japanese pickles are mild and great. I loved having a variety to eat with my breakfast at the buffets.

Izakayas are great options to find a wide variety of foods from noodles, sashimi, tofu dishes, etc. One of the best dishes we had was called "drool tofu" (this was both the English and Japanese name) which was soft tofu with a non-spicy chili crisp like topping.

Pizza - Japan has great neapolitan style pizza - we had in a few times and felt like we were back in Italy. We even went to one that was Neapolitan certified in Osaka. They do have some unusual topping varieties like corn, fish roe, etc. but also always had margheritas and quattro formaggio (usually with a side of honey to drizzle on).

Bagels - they have really good bagels at dedicated shops. Again with normal and unusual fillings. It seems like they prefer to fill them vs. having a schmear to spread on.

Mochi donuts available in conbini and better and cheaper than in the US.

I've walked by Pisco y Nazca downtown numerous times but never had the chance to try it before lunch today. It was overall a really enjoyable experience. It is a nice, comfortable setting with an open kitchen tucked in the corner. Service was very good and attentive but not intrusive. The lunch menu is huge with lots of options (it may be the same as dinner menu) but I had seen online they also have a regular lunch 3 course menu for great price $26 with a few upcharges for certain items but still a lot of variety in the apps and entrees. I had to ask for the 3 course menu, but they brought it right away and we ended up ordering from it. The table next to us had a really good looking and they said really tasty and ample Japanese style tuna ceviche from the regular menu that I'd try next time. I started with the ceviche of the day, which was a small portion of the cremosa ceviche - raw white fish, onions, disk of roasted sweet potatos, what appeared to be plump large size corn and tigre sauce. It was pretty good but I think I'd try the tuna or another ceviche next time. They were fine with leaving out the usual shrimp from the ceviche when I requested that since I don't eat it. My fellow diner had the Causa de Pollo which is a chilled, whipped potato dish with shredded chicken, mayo, avocado, and sauce all layered - it was a large portion. She said it was very good. For main course, she had the Chaufa de Pollo - essentially peruvian fried rice which was really big and she said it was tasty. I loved my lomo saltado (biggest upcharge at $11 but worth it) - perfectly medium cooked cubes of steaks, great steak fries, sauteed onions and slices of tomato with a mound of rice with a great thin, soy based sauce that was delicious - tangy, sweet but not too sweet. I'd eat the lomo saltado again anytime. It was a really big plate too. We finished with the two dessert options - a small slice of cheesecake and a small piece of flan. I had the flan and it was really good caramel flavor, with the right amount of slightly dense but still not too heavy. It had small pieces of grilled pineapple around the base which were a nice complement but a bit overpowered by the rich caramel. I'm going to have to add this to lunch rotation and check it out for dinner sometime too. It was nice to see the restaurant more than half full downtown on a Friday - and this is without any sidewalk seating. I have hope for downtown just yet as I expected it may be deserted.

We've been spoiled with good Pizza nearby from 2 Amys and Vace but I recently got my kids to try Pupatella as our new delivery pizza option instead of boring Angelico's. The Dupont Pupatella store is good and fast with delivery up to Cleveland Park. Glad to say I've converted the family after 4 or so orders in the past couple of months. The pizza is very good and similar to 2 Amys. I still like 2 Amys topping combos better (not to mention the non-pizza side dishes which rock) but it is hard to compare as I almost always eat that fresh from the oven in the restaurant vs. Pupatella has been solely delivery so far. The kids like the plain bimbis and wife is happy with the Margherita. I've been trying different ones and I like the pesto although I think I'll leave off the walnuts next time. The eggplant combo and the calabrese with salty briny anchovies and olives was good. I customized my calabrese and added cararmelized onions for a sweet/salty combo that hit the spot last night. I also have enjoyed their fried aranchini/suppli with roasted eggplant.  Now I just need to remember to preheat the oven while waiting for the delivery instead of almost every time getting the pizza and then waiting for my oven to preheat with the pizza stone to reheat the thin pizza that does get cold during the delivery drive.

Anyone been to Japan recently with tips on places to eat? We are traveling in the early Spring to Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo. Finding restaurants is overwhelming me a bit as I hear you should go to a local place but don't know them or get reservations, but I don't know where and every place recommended on line seems to instead have these huge lines. My family is primarily looking for good eats, doesn't need to be the absolute best or Michelin-starred or the hottest instragram site and we will not be waiting hours in line. Would love some suggestions for good quality food likely near the usual tourist neighborhoods. We are looking to explore most types of Japanese food - sushi, kushikari, katsu, ramen/udon, etc. Thanks.

On 2/1/2024 at 1:14 PM, DonRocks said:

In case anyone is looking for Huy Fong Sriracha (there was a big shortage awhile back), they have cases of it at the Falls Church (Seven Corners) New Grand Mart location.

I don't think there is a shortage anymore, I've seen bottles in lots of places including non-Asian grocery stores. I recently replaced by very old bottle with a new one from Streets.

The cumin lamb noodles are one of my faves - yes a bit oily but very tasty. I regularly get them for carryout and enjoy it greatly. The rare occasions where I have left overs, I toss them in a wok for a minute or so to revive and they are great.

The fast casual styles has always been the setup at the Dupont location and sounds like Shirlington too. I haven't eaten in for a long while, but when I did in Dupont for lunch, I found the service to be very friendly and a bit more catering to customers then your typical chipotle or other fast casual place. The real difference for me is the thought into the ingredients and composition (more chef-driven then mass produced at other places) and great quality of the food make it a stand out. I think their prices (at least in DC) pretty accurately reflect this nice balance too (a bit more than the chains, but still very nicely priced for great food).

Great service and very enjoyable meal last Saturday for dinner. The place is very small and so we made a reservation. When we showed up on time it was full inside and several people eating on the patio (they had heat lamps but we wanted to be inside). After waiting a few minutes, they figured out that people were lingering and so they offered us drinks and chips and salsa outside while we waited. It did take a while to move inside, but the servers regularly checked on us and the housemade purple chips and salsas (3 types - roasted tomato, tomatillo-serrano, and seed oil (this last is really good and different than you find other places) are excellent). Mango and classic margheritas hit the spot too. Once inside, the 4 of us had some great food. The steak quesdallia was huge and very good - beef was seasoned and charred nicely. The kid's burrito did the trick. My wife and I opted for the extended RW menus - $55 for a lot of food including more chips/salsas. First course was a really nice salad with roasted and raw veg and a room temp not too spicy guajillo pepper pozole soup with hominy. Both we large portions as were the entrees too. The soup was interesting but lacked some flavor - although I like the texture of the hominy. I'm not partial to not hot soup though so maybe it was just not to my personal taste. Entrees were a very special pink mole with duck breast to be eaten straight or wrapped in homemade mini tortillas and rice. The mole was really good and had a nutty-ness to it that hit perfectly. The duck was a bit chewy and would have been better more rare. The other entree was a big branzino with pickled vegetables on the side and covered with a black thick sauce (like a mole but more paste like). It was very good and also came with rice and tortillas. For dessert we chose the chocolate tres leches cake which was a very good rendition and not too chocolaty, but the second choice was excellent - horchata sorbet. It tasty like a solid, creamy version of a horchata drink but then added sprinkles of crunchies to it that made it wonderful. The servers who constantly checked on us, refilled waters, etc. said it took them a really long time to develop the sorbet. Even without RW, it is really nice place with great food and the menu offers a chance to expand your taste beyond the usual Mexican/Tex-Mex offerings but elevated versions of those typically offerings are still available if some of your party really want tacos and quesadillas.

I was reading the comments in the Rasika topic about RW being a good deal or not at it and other restaurants and then I read this article about restaurant fees/surcharges - https://dcist.com/story/24/01/23/dc-restaurant-fees-service-charges-lawsuits-travelers-united/. I'm curious what people think including those who run restaurants. I think (I may be wrong as I'm not in the biz) that restaurants may be scared of raising menu prices to cover additional costs because they think it will turn off customers but if everyone was required to list correct menu prices without additional surcharges, I think it would be better for all. No bad feelings by customers, no need to explain by staff, and no threats of lawsuits.  I've personally been surprised at some of the restaurants where I've been where the total per person cost is $50-100 and then after the fee/surcharge % is calculated it is only about $3-8 more per person. I can't imagine most people eating at pricier restaurants are going to skip a meal if the price difference is a few dollars. I mean whether an entree is $32 or 34 or a glass of wine is $12 or 14 dollars is likely a negligible difference for most diners. Granted people do notice when a price goes from $28 to $32 but I'm sure smart restaurant staff can adjust menu prices in ways that wouldn't turn off customers but still get that less than $10 per person without the confusing surcharges. Per my opening, I'm not in the biz and so open to critique by restaurants if there is some aspect I'm missing. 

I also think that with the surcharges, the article is correct that some people tip less if they have to pay a surcharge (whether rightly or wrongly described on the menu per the AG's advice). The whole point of getting rid of tipped salary was to give staff a steady paycheck and so if that means menu prices go up then they should go up. IMHO.

RR has become one of our regulars in the carryout rotation about once a month. Chicken is still great, fries are still so so, but I will add they made good milkshakes too. Not surprised they are expanding even more.

On 1/4/2024 at 9:54 AM, Tweaked said:

According to the Cleveland Park listserve, a new owner is rebranding Indique as Dakshin and retaining much of the staff and menu...so call it TBD.

Yeah, it is not closed - really only change in ownership and name. This weekend, I got carry-out from them through the Indique site which is still in use while the new website is being setup. They have signs on the windows that it is currently open 5-9pm. The food was as good as ever - I had their mango lassi, onion kulcha bread, chicken biryani, and bindhi/okra masala. I especially enjoyed the okra. We'll see if the menu changes over time but for now it is the same.

23 hours ago, squidsdc said:

You missed out on Kosher Pastry Oven in Kemp Mill. Freshly made, simple, raspberry filled, very light and lightly dusted with sugar. Would have loved to know how they compared to your other tastings!

We didn't get them this year because it is a bit of schlep from DC to Kemp Mill, but I agree I've had them a few times over the year and always enjoyed Kosher Pastry Oven's sufganiyot. Next year, we'll have to compare.

On 12/15/2023 at 2:01 PM, Bart said:

https://www.almedarestaurant.com
 

Has anyone been here?  I’m going tomorrow night and looking for some intel. 

How was it?

We ended up trying two additional sufganiyot during Hanukkah. Call Your Mother raspberry-guava jelly filled and Dunkin Donut's jelly donuts. CYM were huge - almost the side of 2 donuts each and very nice fresh cake with good coating of powdered sugar all around. The jelly was sweet but not too sweet and tasted homemade. Overall a great option. I may have liked them the best, but my wife convinced me that Breadfurst was better as their unique method of getting the jelly across the whole top (still inside the donut though) whereby you got jelly in every bite. DD were not good. Tasted of sugar with crappy jelly and cake donut was a bit stale. Avoid those. So the overall rankings:

1. Breadfurst

Close 2. Call Your Mother

3. Astro

Zero - Dunkin' Donuts.

On 3/17/2018 at 5:39 PM, thistle said:

I am also making Russian fermented plums & the stone I put on top to weigh them down has slipped off-arghh, not rearranging the damned plums!

About a year ago, I upped my fermentation equipment and got glass pickling weights (about $20-25) that fit perfectly in my quart jars so there is no worry about them not keeping the produce submerged. I also now do my lacto-ferment cucumbers in the same way I mention above in my 2016 post but instead of 5-7 days, I usually do 2 weeks sitting on the counter with airlocks before refrigeration. Gets to be a very nice full sour flavor.

Reviving this old thread. So far this Hanukkah, we've had sufganiyot/donuts from Astro and Breadfurst (later in the week we are getting Call Your Mother). From Astro we got 6 varieties of donuts:

1. Jelly donut - very good. Nice cake, well-dusted with powdered sugar, and decent amount of jelly inside.

2. Smores - not good. Chocolate cake which was bitter, needed more sweetness, with rich chocolate glazes studded with graham pieces and a gooey toasted marshmallow in the center. This would have a been a rich delight except the actual donut was meh.

3. Red velvet - pretty good, not great. Probably wouldn't get again. Surprisingly, a plain cake donut covered in red sugar glaze and red velvet cake crumbs. Not sure why they didn't make the actual donut a red velvet or at least chocolate.

4. Hanukkah cookie - good. Vanilla cake donut with blue/white frosting swirl and a star sugar cookie on top.

5. Creme brulee - So so. Yeast donut filled with vanilla cream and the outside is glazed and torched a bit. Maybe best eaten right away when the glaze is more freshly cooked. I liked it but others did not.

6. Vanilla glaze - Good. yeast donut with standard glaze.

All of their donuts are rather large so great if you want to cut a piece and share. We got 2 of each and would have been fine with half of that.

Breadfurst - only make raspberry jam filled cake donuts. They didn't look great as they were a bit misshapen and the powdered sugar had melted into the donut. But adding a fresh dusting of powdered sugar made them beautiful again. Most importantly these tasted great. Technically they were really cool too. They managed to get the delicious fresh jam to cover the whole top of the donut (still under a layer of dough) - a bit hard to describe but the key is that every signal bite of donut had a bite of jam and cake. Easily beat the jelly from Astro.

First today - Upper NW had a run on plain bagels at 1pm. Went to CYM for quick bagel lunch. The place was busy with lines and people eating in. What I didn't realize and never experience before midday in a bagel shop, they were out of plain bagels with no ETA on when they would get more. I don't know 100% but I guess the CT Ave location doesn't cook them there but rather they get them delivered from a central bakery. Not a big deal since I like onion- oh wait CYM never has those on the menu 😉 My ET with candied salmon cream cheese was fine.  Luckily, I snagged the final two plain bagels (sourced from Bullfrog) at the Den in the basement of Politics & Prose, so the picky eater kids can enjoy their bagels.  I glad CYM is doing good business but running out of plain midday is not great for a bagel place. My local favorite is still by far Baked by Yael - but they don't have maple cinnamon, zaatar or pumpernickel either - but they do have really good onion bagels. Yael's also gets their lox from local Ivy Citysmoke house vs. CYM slaps their own sticker on still good but non-local Acme.  

Last night was left over grilled steak (when I bought and cooked way too much for an earlier dinner party) which I reheated in a low 250 degree oven for 20+ minutes and then seared in pan on the stove for about a 1 min or so a side. Great tip for reheating from Food Network. I then sliced the steak, warmed tortillas and turned into make your fajita night. Sauteed some bell peppers and onions, made some rice, a few jarred salsas from the store (red and green), plus some chopped jalapenos and cilantro. Plus tortilla chips for more dipping.  Everyone was very happy - including our guests. This was a big point because despite it being a quick, causal weeknight meal with good friends and their kids, but my wife really hated the idea of serving leftovers to guests. My thought is they don't know they were leftovers and if I can make it all into a delicious meal, no one would care. I'm taking the win.

This is a review of the 14th Street and T location. The place is beautiful - the outside of the building is brightly colored and inside has very nice and tasteful decor. Service was rather attentive. They have a great set of lunch deals too. You can either get a discounted entree (with a lot of choices and it is same size as regular menu) or choose from 3 courses (app, entree, and either a side or dessert). We were only so hungry so we got the guacamole to share and each ordered various enchiladas. The guac was very fresh with good chips, but spicier than usual. My enchiladas suizas - smoky pulled chicken rolled our soft tortilla and covered in a creamy sauce with a bit of cheese were pretty good - also a bit spicier than I expected. I don't know if I'd get them again but I don't usually go for enchiladas. I saw some ordered of tacos and a big sandwich that also looked good.

Went for the first time last night as part of a work group dinner. I wasn't looking forward to the meal as I find steakhouses as often plain and lackluster and overpriced. Two of the people sitting with me had this appropriate conversation: "You aren't vegetarian and you ordered the Gnocci Pomodoro and not something off the regular menu at this steakhouse? Reply: "Yeah, I didn't want a boring, plain steak."  Well I leaned into the steakhouse and got the cooked to order temperature boring filet and wished I had a little sauce or something. It was fine but plain. The side dishes were also ok - mashed potatos, sauteed mushroom, and broccoli - great for unadventurous eaters, but not me. The caesar salad as the same. The most flavor was in the asparagus tempura that came with a thickish dipping soy-based sauce - nothing special though. The service was very attentive and people were generally pleased as the food was decent quality and prepared as expected, but I could and would have made a much better meal at home. I usually try to help organize work dinners to avoid boring choices like this one, but didn't do so this time. I also am going to an upcoming work dinner at Morton's - low expectations. Note I say all of this as someone who loves a good steak - we are regulars at Medium Rare and had a very beef-eating good time in Italy this summer.

I almost forgot, the one highlight was dessert. The Chocolate Sin Cake was rich and delicious. Nice sized wedge of flour chocolate cake on a plate with a white and milk chocolate sauce that paired very well to cut some of the richness and as creaminess.

We love Red Truck Bakery - always try to stop there on out farther out outings in VA, especially on the way to Shenandoah. Hopefully, they don't mess with the recipes too much as their cakes are really good. I guess change is in the wind, I was sad to hear that our other fave Griffin Tavern in nearby Flint Hill changed hands and menu somewhat (as mentioned a while back on this board in the VA travel section). As we head out to Shenandoah this fall, we'll likely check out both spots and I'll try to remember to report back.

Pesto - use up any end of summer fresh basil. It freezes great and then you have homemade pesto anytime you want during the year. Also any stocks like chicken stock freeze great too. While it may be obvious, but end of summer fruit makes great ice cream too 🙂