KeithA

I disagree, I always thought the brioche buttered buns were one of the best parts of a BGR burger along with good meat cooked to order. I haven't been either since the change. Who knows what the new bun is like?

Thanks to all of these great corn ideas here, I've been trying to branch out, but due to combination of no time and reluctance from my fellow eaters, we have mostly been sticking to our tried and true (boring?) methods. I did find a few seconds though recently to grab a lime wedge and squeeze that on fresh steam-grilled, husk on corn and it was delightful. Really adds an interesting contrast of acid to the sweet corn. And better yet, you can do it without any special prep and on an individual basis (darn less adventuresome eaters ).

My summer of pickle tasting continues. I've now become a huge Number 1 Sons pickle fan. I was out doing non-food shopping and when I saw their booth across U street at the farmer's market, I literally ran over. There booths are great because they put out samples of everything they currently have so you can try anything or in my case everything before you buy. They had a new pickle - more yellowish that was pickled with horseradish for a different type of tasty zing. The dill spears and baby gherkins were great and came home. My new favorite were the pickled beets - while retaining that sugary sweetness, the pickling mellows and rounds out the flavor. I keep offering some I bought to friends and so many people says I don't like beets, but they all ask for more after I convince them to try these ones. So good! I also sucessfully made my own vietnamese style pickled daikon and carrots. Usually you get this shredded/juillened as a garnish for various vietnamese dishes including banh mi and I always devour it, so I realized I should make my own mega batch to add to anything or just for snacking. It was super easy and delicious - crunchy, pickly and sweet. Although I will warn those that after a while of being in the fridge, it has a pretty funky odor when you pop the lid, but the taste is great. I'm still eating my original batch from several weeks ago. I used this recipe with modified proportions - http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/vietnamese_daikon_and_carrot_pickles/.

Tried an empanada from this outfit at Union Market for the first time on Saturday and was impressed. I was with my picky eater kids so I got what is probably the least exciting empanada ever - Speedy Gonzalez "“ A mild Cheese Empanada filled with Queso Blanco, Asadero Cheese & Mozzarella Cheese. Basically fried dough with melted mild cheese blend and it was delicious - especially with the added cilantro green sauce. You can't be freshly fried and non-greasy empanada. Definitely want to try more exciting options. They are mostly still a food truck M-F and only at Union Market on the weekends.

Went to Union Market for the first time on Saturday morning and I was unimpressed with Takorean (also first time and probably last time with their food). While the food was fresh, I did not like their tortilla one bit. These doubled up corn tortilla managed to be grilled, yet soggy and bad tasting. I had the tofu with nappa cabbage and bulgogi beef with kimchi - both with all of the fixins and the flavors were flat in both. Definitely much better eats to be had in the market.

I agree with Jiveturk21. My wife works nearby Breadline and it is in her regular rotation. I've been going there for years and it is consistently very good. I especially like the lentil salad and my wife loves the chicken with coleslaw sandwich. The brownies rock too. I would say it isn't worth a special trip, but definitely worth it if you are nearby. Everytime I go there are still lots of happy people in line (although the lines don't appear to super long like years ago).

I was lucky to happen upon this truck today in Ballston and discovered that it isn't an identity crisis - it is modern melting pot America. The cook is from Alaska and one parent is Vietnamese and the nice lady taking orders is Russian so it all makes sense :-) Regardless, it was GOOD! I had the sweet chili chicken on fry bread aka Native American taco. Fry bread was delicious and not greasy. Coleslaw was sweet and tangy and smoky mayo made it all a nice combo. It got a bit better even when I added some of the BBQ sauce they offer. The portion was pretty large too and you should know it became a huge mess eating it, but it was worth it. Very nice folks too who said they are struggling to find parking at the various usual food truck locations so I wouldn't be surprised if they pop up in newer places. I saw some of the banh mi sandwiches come out and they looked to be on large, good french rolls. Definitely worth checking out.

How long do you cook it over the high heat grill? A couple of minutes per side? I may try this tonight

The Masala Art buffet fails in my opinion. While it did have the decent ground lamb dish that Don raves about above that was the only decent dish. It is a small buffet with 5 entree options, plus ok rice, 2 desserts and make your own bhel puri chaat station. I didn't think the value was so great today - the entrees were the lamb (ok), a curry chicken dish said to be with cinnamon I think but meat was chewy and sauce bland, an unnamed chopped mostly uncooked vegetable dish with some type of tomatoy sauce (meh), lentil and kidney bean dal (also meh), and potatos and peas curry (between so so and meh). The chaat station was ok - lots of bowls of diced veggies, mango, crisp rice, and a few sauces - however after I ate a dish and enjoyed it, I went back and was almost attacked by gnats and flies that were nesting all over the uncovered dishes (pretty gross). The rice pudding was ok, but the milk balls in honeyed syrup weren't that great. I say all of the above as a lover of Indian food but this was just not great stuff. On top of that the service was a bit weak - took forever for the naan to come out even after I inquired about it twice. So after this being my second trip over a few months - this place is off my list of places to go. While $9.50 may seem like a deal, I'd rather not pig out and get a really great sandwich, entree, etc for the same price available all over town (or down the street at Cava), then eat drek.

I too like this place a lot for two reasons -1) nice, neighborhood sushi place that is one of the few decent places in Woodley (Lebanese taverna is the other standout in my book, sorry never tried District Kitchen). 2) full Japanese menu. We love to go to Tono in the summer and get the zarusoba, cold soba noodles that you dip in a sauce and slirp up. This dish is super popular all over Japan in the summer - traditionally served with tempura (and Tono has good tempura too), but you almost never see it and some of the other traditional Japanese items on the menu here. We went recently had the zarusoba of course, along with good sushi (various maki and nigri), mushroom miso soup (larger than usual size and packed with a variety of mushrooms), and chicken satay (for the kids, but it was rather good). Mostly I stick to the Japanese food here - but they do have a large pan-Asian menu too.

I went for the first time last week for lunch at the Cava Grill Tenleytown location and it was packed, but the line moved very fast. With all of the options it was hard to decide what to get. I opted for the salad with half arugula and half romaine (they also have several other lettuce and vegetable bases), topped with beef meatballs and braised lamb, a variety of salatim/veggie toppings, and some of their spreads and then you get a fresh, hot tasty pita on the side. Very fresh, good, and customizable. The best of the choices were the tzatiki sauce and the braised lamb (which is really tasty shredded lamb - think pulled pork). The beef meatballs were only so so - kind of well done hamburger - could have been cooked less and more seasoning. The spicy harissa spread was also good, but I think I would opt again to have it on the side and add as needed. I wasn't as big a fan of the crazy feta - feta cheese mixed to be a spread with jalapenos - but that just be my taste - it was made well. The nice thing about the salad was that you could it it was as you like or pull out stuff and fill the pita for a small sandwich too. Worth checking out if you are near one.

Well I actually like rather sweet corn so I don't have anything to add on where to find the unsweet kind. However, I was curious on the details of how people cook their corn. I alternate between using the grill (soaking unshucked corn for 20-45 minutes and then cook on direct heat for about 5-8 minutes on each "side" and then rotate till it is all pretty well done) and boiling in a big pot of water (usually about 3-5 minutes total). The grill this way ends up being a smokier steam and it is pretty good and especially easy when you are grilling other stuff, but I actually like the quick boil better as it seems to keep the corn juicier and fresher tasting. How do you cook your corn to perfection?

For me the missing products are two sauces that I really liked and started using a few years ago: 1. JT Pappy's Hickory Heaven (and actually there whole line of spicier gator sauces was good too). I first discovered them as part of the California Tortilla Wall of Flame. I really miss the sauce as it was a very nice all purpose - BBQ-like but not nearly as sweet sauce good for almost any meat. Apparently, they went out of business. I think they were local MD too. I also got rid of my last bottle a while ago and so no chance to review the ingredient list and try to reverse engineer at home. 2. Beltway BBQ - this has been my go-to BBQ sauce for several years after I first got a taste at WF in Friendship Heights, which also used to carry it. It appears they may also have gone out of business recently as I can't find it anymore, and the website for the company Sauce King seems defunct. Luckily I do have a mostly-empty jar left and will try to recreate it at home. It is a medium-brown sweet sauce but with significantly more mustard flavor than most other sweet tomato BBQ sauces. It is sad when you've been using something for years and come to rely on it and then it is gone. I find the impact is felt more for prepared ingredients like condiments that are tougher to substitute than staples like rice. Although as much as we don't like to admit it, we all love our brands.

I recently recieved a hand-me down crock pot and gave it a whirl making BBQ beef brisket. It seems like the crockpot is good for anything you want super tender/falling off the bone. I read through the little guide/recipe book circa 1982 that came with it and it had some odd suggestions - like use no or as little water possible and meat cooks quicker than vegetables in it. I haven't tested the veracity of these counter-intuitive statements but seems like you could get a really tender braise-like texture of meat minus the braising liquid. Not sure what the advantage of that would be except maybe for BBQ beef like I made where some people like BBQ sauce and some want little to none. As for the brisket it turned out pretty well. It was a 2+ Ib piece of kosher brisket I got at Trader Joe's with some fat layer left but not covering the whole side. First, I put on a salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and cumin rub with canola oil on it. To create some smoky flavor since it wouldn't actually be smoked (I only have a gas grill and didn't want it to run all day and also had no wood chips). Then, I seared it on the grill for about 5-10 minutes per side (maybe should have been a bit less as some ends were a bit burnt, although I know some people like that). After that I put a very small 1/4 cup or so of BBQ sauce in the bottom of the crockpot, plopped in the seared brisket, added a few tablespoons more of BBQ sauce on top and set it to low. After 9 hours, it was very moist, pull apart tender with only a 1/2 inch of melted sauce/fat/liquids in the bottom of the pot. It was good plain, better with some extra BBQ sauce as a sandwich. I think I'll make this again as I've come to realize that I like beef BBQ to be covered in sweet, tangy sauce and really tender, not necessarily the extra smoky, no sauce Texas-style sliced brisket (I was so excited, then disappointed by Hill Country when I ate there was realized that this just wasn't my taste). So I'm not sure whether it would have been even better with more or less liquid for the long pot cook. Thoughts?

While I fully support and wish more kosher places would open in the area for my kosher friends, historically kosher delis have been a small minority of delis in the last 50 years anywhere in America and I may be wrong, but I don't know if Attman's has ever been kosher. There is a reason "kosher-style" often is applied to delis who often serve up Reubens and other non-kosher combos. Also for those that don't know, one of the few (there are only a handful or less) kosher restaurants in DC is Eli's Deli - http://www.elis-dc.com/ that has managed to stay open since 2004 which is a big feat for a kosher DC restaurant. I can't vouch for their food though. That being said wonderful news that Attmans has an outpost in the DC metro area. When my wife lived in Baltimore years ago, we would regularly head over to corned beef row for excellent sandwiches (love the Cloak & Dagger) and dogs. Can't wait to try the Potomac spot. Sure to make many menschen very happy!

Went last night for a late-ish dinner with a friend looking to catch up. Immediately upon being sitted upstairs, we realized we'd have to yell across our small two-top to hear each other, so we had them move us back downstairs to one of the much quieter tables across from the kitchen. Service was great and food was really good. We shared the pastrami sandwich which is now a full 1/2 lb of meat making it a good value for $13 (I believe this is significantly larger than when they first opened around my last and only other visit). Meat was very flavorful and while a bit thick cut, moist and tender. Maybe not as good a value for size as Stachkowski - it was much better flavor IMHO (although I lean toward the American Jewish cooking more than the traditional European flavor that Stachkowski goes for). The pickle plate was much better than last time too - the pickled ramps were outstanding! The fries with zaatar were also very good - so good they didn't need any dip but the yogurt sauce wasn't bad either. The latkes were fine, nothing too exciting and while I appreciate that the applesauce was homemade, it was too cloyingly sweet. The Schmoozer cocktail described as their version of a mojito was very good. Can't wait to go back and venture into the menu more and I'll definitely be back to get a good sandwich to go.

I don't really see the appeal of the hamburgers at Shake Shack. While the ingredients are supposed to be higher quality, it is tiny thin burger that is not cooked to order, so any quality difference becomes mostly voided. It is better than McDonalds in taste, but not necessarily than Five Guys and you pay $4 for this "premium" burger. I haven't tried the fries, but they don't look that great either. What I LOVE is the DC location's chocolate mint concrete/blizzard swirled ice cream - that is excellent!

Had the Pops Beef Brisket sandwich (small size) today in the first of what will hopefully be many trips to this literally hidden gem (I almost walked right by it - signage could be much better). It was hands down a great sandwich - good bread that mostly held together, very juicy brisket, with a nice touch of horseradish cream sauce that was elevated by the small cubes of apple added. It reminded me of a really good french dip sandwich which is one of my favorites (pre-dipped without the side of jus though). I had 2 of the homemade chips by the register and they were good - even better with the onion dip. I thought the small sandwich was perfectly sized. It was better than stuffing myself on the whole Sundevich sandwich earlier this week (smaller amount helps with my lack of will power). I almost lost the willpower battle though and went back for another small after my meetings downtown. I kept thinking how this meeting is interesting, but that sandwich was great. The place seemed to be doing pretty good business around noon with a mix of eat in and carry out. I sat near the line and listened how people were bringing friends and telling them this place has the best [insert a different menu item] sandwich - so I guess I'll have to try to branch out, but it'll be tough that brisket was good.

Just had Sundevich for the first time for lunch today. I agree with the comments above with one quibble. Loved the place. Sandwiches were very large (if I wasn't such a chazer, I would have saved the second half for tomorrow), baguette bread was great and fresh well made ingredients. The quibble is the Kingston I ate didn't have a good proportion to the ingredients. While it was generous to overstuff the sandwich with the jerk chicken, I would have enjoyed a bit more garlic mayo, more than a few shreds of slaw and there were only 6 or 7 cube of pineapple salsa. I found the pineapple to be the best combo and a good way to cut the spice, so I actually asked for more and added it to the sandwich (staff was happy to oblige without extra charge). That being said, the pineapple "salsa" was basically plain pineapple - maybe a few bit if cilantro or onion - but it couldn't have been a bit better too. So I'll definitely trek back again, but probably to try something else.

I can't speak to the coffee, but the gelato is awesome. My favorite hazelnut chocolate in town by far. Other flavors are equally good. Whenever I'm over in Logan Circle, Pitango calls me.

I'm right around the corner from Nam Viet in CP (which I like alot and eat their food several times a month) so I don't have a distinct need for another pho place, but I decided to check out Pho 14 in Van Ness to compare and try their ban minh, which Nam Viet doesn't serve. Unfortunately (or fortunately based on the comments above), the waiter told me when I came for a later lunch yesterday that they were out of sandwiches. Not sure if they used up all of the bread or what, but so much for trying something different. I ended up with the vegetarian crispy rolls and pho with eye of round and fatty brisket. The rolls plainly sucked. Small, greasy, overfried and flavorless. However, the nuoc mam and sweet chilli dipping sauces were good FWIW. The soup only ok - the best part was the strong beefy flavor of the broth. Wasn't over salty to me like others commented. The nice thing about Pho 14 vs. Nam Viet is the choice of cuts of meat (I guess more authentic/traditional to have the choice) whereas Nam Viet just gives you flank steak. BUT - Nam Viet's meat is flavorful and plentiful. Pho 14's eye of round was ok but skimpy and I chose badly with the fatty brisket - not tasty and mostly chewy strips of flat and also skimpy. The noodles were nothing special and clumped together. The accompaniments of thai basil was good - but I found myself adding lots of it, limes, and sriracha - not a good sign to have to add so much. So unless you have a craving for a particular cut of meat, I'd head the short walk or metro down the block and stick with Nam Viet for pho and it many other good dishes (including excellent crispy and spring rolls). Maybe I'll try Pho 14 again for the sandwich if they don't run out.

Anyone pickle radishes and have a good recipe? Have a bunch and not sure what to do with them. Already added to salad.

Mine also is pretty boring as one of the other Keiths on the board. I used to use other variations of my first name or random things back in the day on various BBS, board, etc when the internet was still young. These days I don't post on too many other boards, but I joined DR soon after it started coinciding with my foodie evolution (I stopped being picky and skinny, and now I eat and know probably too much about food and should get more exercise than walking to the next restaurant ) When the board started, Don suggested that people use their real names and while I wasn't comfortable with being totally transparent, I use my real first name. Yet, I have always had the same avatar which is a clue to my last name.

See I quibble with this point. Everyone likes their basic burger their own way (I like it plain - no cheese or veggies with ketchup and mustard, sometimes adding sauteed onions and/or mushrooms). Not to mention everyone likes the temperature different (I like medium-rare). That being said, so many burger places put their own spin - like Palena's truffle cheese and mayo or Umami burger's really good combos (I had such a good one in LA, I hope it gets out here soon) to just name a few. So I'd say you just vote on which is the best burger you've eaten somewhat recently (say last 6 months or so) to your personal liking and simply describe its details. You should of course have more than one as there is no need to have direct one to one comparisons. If you wanted exactly the same burger all of the time you would never try a new one :-) Here is my vote for best burger based on consistency (it is good every time): Clydes of Chevy Chase hamburger (comes with decent fries and a pickle spear). Size: about 1/3 pound - big/filling but not montrous Protein: grass-fed beef Temperature:Medium-rare (charred well on outside and nice and juicy inside - enough to dribble down your hand some) Bun: Soft, buttered - not the most amazing bread on its own but does a great job of maintaining a stable sandwich and sopping up meat juices Toppings: plain no cheese with Heinz ketchup and mustard (sometimes they have Gulden's spicy brown, other times Dijon - either works for this burger) Best part: always cooked perfectlly to order and great meaty flavor. Last time eaten: about 1 month ago. (Probably had about 20 over the past two years pretty evenly spaced about every 1-2 months - mostly dinner, but some at lunch too). This is my sample on how I recommend you post your personal best burgers. I'm sure there are burgers that have better meat or cheese or other toppings. Let's hear everyone's voten and categorize why this particular burger is the best.

I am lucky enough to live around the corner from both Palena and Dino (have been to both many many times) but I've never had the burger at Dino (too many other great options). So recently when I had a burger craving, I stopped by Palena and was disappointed. While the burger was ok - it wasn't great. I consistently have better burgers at Clydes (usually in Chevy Chase which is what I typically get there). I actually thought Palena's pickles that come with the burger were the best part of the plate which is saying alot (both the pickles were really good and the burger wasn't). So now after reading these reviews of Dino's burger which Dean does always tout as good I'll guess I'll have to finally try it for my next craving. Now if only some more places in Cleveland Park were open for lunch. It is a shame we have tons of great restaurants but almost none of them are open for weekday lunches.