KeithA

Any suggestions for Saturday lunch for 4 people in DC? It is for tomorrow. Ideally a place with good food, relaxed atmosphere, that isn't too expensive. I don't usually do Saturday lunch so not sure which places are good - especially places that have more than just breakfast/brunch options. Thanks.

BJ Pumpernickel's deli is still pretty good if you stick the deli classics. Other parts of wide ranging menu are hit or miss. Riccuitis is also good. My father whol lives in Olney liked Al Sospiro Trottoria - never been myself and not sure if it is still open. There is a Mama Lucia's in Olney too - I'm not a big fan, but I know others like this chain. Yet another Italian place in Olney which is pretty good is Bella Notte - my family has been eating there for years (there prices are pretty high for above average Italian though). A fancier option in nearby Brookeville is the Inn at Brookeville Farms - I only ate there once 5 years ago at a wedding, but the food was pretty good.

On a the lighter dessert side, Olney has Yogiberry, a Rita's, and a chocolate shop I can't remember the name of. I heard there is a newish latin american place near Manniquen Pis (which is also pretty good for mussels) - can't remember the name.

These are my suggestions if you are in the area. None are destination places. Overall, Olney still struggles to get good quality restaurants which isn't surpising with Wheaton and Rockville short drives down the road.

I haven't been in a couple years, but this place is an Olney landmark - been there for a really long time. And as an Olney native, it was very good a really long time ago. I remember going there over 15 years ago for a special meal or two. We couldn't wait to slice into their fresh breads of which oatmeal molasses was always the regular offering, but there were also a rotating list of 2-4 other choices each day. And the portions were really huge - I remember very good fried chicken. Sadly those days seem to be gone. In the last 5 or more years, the place has kept some of the regular menu, but cut back on its homey, from scratch cooking. I remember the last time I went I was shocked at how bland the bread was. Now, I must say again I haven't been in awhile so try for yourself - but my family in Olney doesn't keep it on their regular restaurant rotation.

Went to Peking Cheers on Saturday night around 7:30pm and was surprised to see how empty it was. Not sure if it is the economy or something else. As on past trips in the last few years (I only go a few times a year since it is near family, not my house), I saw that the chinese customers who made up the majority got a special menu while the non-asians got your typical americanized menu. However, unlike the story from a year ago upthread, the hostess was happy to give me the menu with more traditional chinese items (the menu is written in english thankfully for those of us who are mandarin/cantonese-challenged). We had a mix of the two menus with a pretty good egg drop soup, decent fried rice, not so great sesame chicken (gloppy sauce and not the best pieces of chicken), very crispy, crispy beef, and a pretty good whole tilapia with ginger and scallions that was taken from the tanks in the back. Not a stellar meal, but decent enough. Posted mainly out of curiousity about the slowness on a saturday night (used to be very busy then, now only half of the restaurant was ever full and no real carryout business to speak of) and now as an update seeing as the thread has been dead for so long.

Currently my go to chinese place in DC is Sichuan Paviliion on K St near Farragut North which has a mix of americanized and traditional chinese cooking and is popular with chinese customers too. Or Mr Chen's in Woodley for carryout which has been especially good lately.

Is there a better bowl of miso soup in the city? If there is I would love to know about it. I certainly enjoyed my bowl today more than the shrimp tempura roll, and as much as the impeccably fresh uni (a miscommunication since I had ordered unagi).

I can post the recipe if anyone is interested in trying.

My wife loves whole wheat pasta and I like it less than regular pasta but find it is still pretty good. Typically we use penne from trader joe's or a brand from Whole Foods (can't remember exact name) that is 100% whole grain. I think you have to treat it like a different ingredient and not substitute it for regular pasta because it has a firmer texture and more grainy taste -equivalent to whole wheat vs white bread. So we typically use the whole wheat pasta for heartier dishes with oil-based sauces, rather than cream-based or tomato sauce recipes.

Our current go to whole wheat pasta recipe was adapted from a food network recipe (can't remember which one though) - it is very easy and simple. First, cook pasta according to instructions on package and then saute a lot of diced onion in olive oil, then wilt a lot of baby spinach in the onions, add a generous handful of pine nuts and let that all cook for a bit. Then when the pasta is close to done, drain and rinse a can of cannelini white beans (soaked dried beans would probably be better, but we always make this last minute) and add the beans to the spinach onion mixture - cook it all for a few minutes on low heat to combine flavors. Finally, drain the pasta and add to other pan with spinach mixture - if the pasta is still dry after tossing it, add a bit of extra olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. And that's it. The nice thing is everything cooks up in about 15-20 minutes it takes to bring the pasta water to boil and cook the pasta and the only thing you have to chop is the onion. Also since there are beans providing protein, this is a one dish meal. Enjoy.

Had a really good lunch yesterday from Greek Deli. I got the chicken platter which on Thursday was a huge amount of boneless chicken breast pieces - probably 2-2.5 in a white wine sauce, good size mound of string beans (which were cooked almost perfect - impressive for a steam table), potatos (I subed them instead of the usual orzo), a greek side salad, and a big piece of bread. A ridiculous amount of food for $10. I plan on eating the other half today for another full lunch. The chicken was good, but a little dried out (more typical of a steam table). The best part was the amazing potatos - big thick wedges seasoned very nice with herbs and lemony flavor. It was worth the trip just for the potatos (not sure if they were a special or not as I only get there once in a while).

one of the things I like about CalTort is the movie deals they have... on 7th St and in Rockville at the neighboring Regal Theaters (and probably some others... these are just the ones I know about). $12.99 for a burrito, soda, and a movie ticket. Considering movie tickets runs $10.50 these days.... it's a damn good deal. And if you don't feel like seeing a movie that day, you can just take the voucher and cash it in some other time.

I've never been to the Heights or Grill Fish, but I've always liked Logan Tavern and thought Merkado was good. Sounds like Commissary needs to work on its service to the patio. While as i said, my burger was overdone, there were longish waits for service on Sunday.

I'd like to thank the members of this website for contributing to the demise of Palena's Fry Plate, now called "Palena's Fries," and consisting of ... drum roll ... CRISPY french fries - the same crispiness that every other restaurant in town shoots for - instead of those elegant, ethereal potato wands of yesteryear that were like biting into a cloud. Happy now? I'm not.

Bring 'em back, Frank!

If only fries then yes bring back the other fried goodies too! As for the fries themselves, who wants limp fries, I think Don, the wine aficionado, has drunk himself silly thinking floppy fries are good.

Sunday for a late lunch tried out Commissary, the new restaurant/cafe from the folks that run Logan Tavern, Grillfish, and the Heights. The location is the old Merkado spot which has been stripped of some of its center tables and replaced with couches and tables. There are still regular tables outside and around the main room inside. A number of folks were chilling inside working on their laptops using the free wi-fi. The restaurant follows in the tradition of Tryst, the Diner, and Open City and tries to cater to any and all food desires serving breakfast to late night food and cuisine ranging from breakfast and brunch to coffee house snacks to full lunch, dinner and long list of desserts. The menu really ranges from southwest, to typical American, to pizza, and a little bit of everything else. The prices are similar to the above mentioned places - moderate to cheap (not as cheap as a greasy spoon diner, but cheaper than your average DC sit down restaurant). The service was very friendly and accomodating of special requests, although a little slow when we were sitting outside (although they were really busy). Both my wife and I added a green salad to our sandwiches for $2 for which we got a good size portion of mixed lettuce and a few cherry tomatoes with a bit too much dressing (although I really liked the lemon vinagrette). Nothing exciting here except the great price for some veggies. My wife had the veggie burger with matchstick fries and liked it, but thought it was too heavy on the mushrooms (which she isn't really a fan of). I had the burger with fries. The best thing by far for both "burgers" was the great buttery (although not buttered) toasted bun - almost as good as at the Burger Joint. Definitely made the burgers more enjoyable. My hamburger was ordered med-rare, but came out medium well on half and medium on the other half which wasn't great - but the burger was juicy and flavorful. The fries were fine, except I'm not a fan of matchstick at all preferring thicker fries, but my wife liked them a lot. Definitely a nice cheaper option when you want to eat out but don't want to spend too much.

Also my other favorite thing/ pet peeve, I loved the big bottle of filtered water. I drink alot of water when eating and I hate having to wait for a refill, so giving me my own bottle is great. And seriously, except for the most upscale restaurant, do you really mind pouring your own drink - I don't. The bottles also looked nicer and were slender making them easier to pour for a klutz like me than the similar concept at Clydes with its wide mouth pitchers (still kudos to them for having the pitchers for years).

Wow, looks like it took over the old La Prima location. I used to get sandwiches there all the time when I was at GWU.

Since challah is simply braided egg bread, any braided bread is egg-free challah. If you want to make your own, I'd make your little one whatever type of bread he likes (white, wheat, rye, cinnanom-raisin, etc) and braid it. Just make three long thinnish rolls of bread dough and braid them like you'd do hair and bake. Some people like me like sweet challah, so you may want to add some sugar to the bread, if that is your "tradition." Just avoid the traditional eggs and/or egg wash in any traditional recipe.

2 Amys is baby/kid central anytime before 6pm (afterwards they are welcome, just less common due to the hour). The staff is very friendly and gives kids cups with tops and straws for easy kid access. They do have highchairs, but unsure about changing tables. I don't think I've seen them in the men's room, but I wasn't really looking (no baby myself just yet).

Was in NYC earlier this week for a super short visit, but did manage to have a great bagel at Murray's Bagels on 8th Ave near 23rd street. While pricey, it has some real deal NY bagels (I'm sure there are tons of other places, but this one is very good and a short hike from Penn Station). They have a ridiculous number of smoked salmon, fish and other toppings (at least 8 different kinds of salmon). If you're nearby, you should check it out. For reference iti very near the BBQ place Rub.

Had an very good lunch at Teatro today. The menu is very different from the times I've been here before and that is a plus from this new chef. I started with the smoked tuna app, which was really creative (although it lacked the smoking box special effects described above by Don and others). It was a pile of nicely dressed crisp fennel with pieces of smoked tuna wrapped around it and some basil sauce on the sides with a mini-half green apple. The smoked tuna looked and tasted somewhat like corned beef but still had a fish-like texture and fish after taste. The smokiness was more like a cured meat here, then BBQ smoke flavor. Very different for me and fun. The little apple was gelatin but had a texture like a soft green apple sorbet - it went really well with the rest of the dishes adding some extra brightness. One of the more creative and tasty dishes I've had lately. For main I had the buccatini with duck, porcini ragu which was perfectly cooked, fresh pasta with lots of duck meat crumbled throughout and topped with some cheese shavings. The meat was well cooked and the porcinis gave it a meatier more lamb-like flavor which I really enjoyed. The sauce is almost all meat and mushrooms with a thin broth like base and some remnants of tomatoes - different than your usual red sauce ragu and really good. I'd highly recommend either dish. My dining companions enjoyed there linguine and clams and saffron risotto with asparagus too. The one dish that took creativity alittle over the top was the caesar salad which comes as big leaves of romaine standing straight up with parmesan shavings on top with a giant crouton wrapped around the base. While the presentation was very cool, the person who ordered it had to take a poll of the table on how he should eat it (putting the whole thing on its side - was the final vote and seemed to work well). The only complaint was the service was a bit slow.

Beans and chickpeas are great sources of protein and fiber and usually very cheap (especially compared to meat). Great for chili, add to salads, and can be pressed/fried into patties like falafel.

The best restaurant in Ocean City is Marlin Moon in the Francis Scott Key Hotel. It was nominated for a Maryland restaurant award recently. Most locals rate it heads and shoulders above all others but I am guessing that most tourists-including myself-would probably not return to it. It's a nondescript hotel dining room set back from 50 in West Ocean City with no view of water. A superb veal chop with interesting tuna nachos yet I'd return to Fager's Island or the Sunset Grille before Marlin Moon. It IS good but not good enough to sacrifice at least a partial view on vacation. Living here year round the view matters much less.

We stopped at the Narrows, Ocean Odyssey (in Cambridge) and Marlin Moon in an 18 hour period a week ago with full meals at each. Kent Island's the Narrows was absolutely outstanding for crab cakes and cream of crab soup preferred by both of us over the others. Ocean Odyssey was interesting with decent (at best) cream of crab soup, very good Maryland red crab soup (Harrison's on Tilghman Island has the best red crab soup) and crab cakes that I would describe as what you would taste if your grandmother was a good cook. Still, we both agreed that the Narrows were superior. Marlin Moon's cream of crab soup was smoky and decent. Captain's Galley probably has the best crab cakes in Ocean City but we've not been impressed with much else.

Fisher's caramel corn was disappointing as was Dumser's yet the original Thrasher's on the lower end of the Boardwalk (ONLY this Thrasher's-NO other location) continues to challenge Central as the best french fries I've had east of the Mississippi. Ambience may factor into its taste...

Question: why do so many people who live in Virginia go to Virginia Beach and the Outer Banks rather than Ocean City or the Delaware beaches? I've lived on both sides of the Cabin John bridge and never understood the enormous difference that the Potomac River makes in one's decision of where to go. We drove from Reston to O. C. in about three hours while VA Beach is over four and Kill Devil Hills is five to six. (all assuming similar traffic) Probably only ten per cent of the license plates we saw in O. C. were from VA.

I've never been to Marlin Moon nor heard of it from my grandmother who lives in OC year round (and makes the best red crab soup in OC but sadly hasn't opened a shop yet ;-), but maybe we'll check it out next time I visit. Similar to your VA/MD divide on beaches, some folks in OC (including probably most tourists) don't like to cross the bridge to go to West OC for dinner when OC has so many options.

As for your comments on Fishers - I have to strongly disagree. Now of course this is a matter of taste, but I've never had better caramel corn with the same richness (yes that several pounds of butter they are adding to the copper kettles) and it is especially good when you get it hot/warm. Dumser's is well my personal favorite, so I won't go into that. But Thrashers come on - the location farther up the boardwalk (tiny little place without the insane line) is just as good as the one by the inlet. The fries are made exactly the same way. Definitely the best fries around (although last time they went alittle too heavy on the salt).

I also appreciated being able to order 3oz pours of several wines which allowed me to have three different wines as the evening progressed without spending a fortune or getting a DUI on the way home!

Stopped by for lunch yesterday for the first time.Great burger, really enjoyed the brioche bun and cooked to a perfect med-rare (although having ready past comments, I made sure to emphasize when ordering that I wanted the real deal with a pink center). They are now offering a whole portabello mushroom cap on top of your burger for a bit extra (less than a buck). I tried the mushroom, thinking it was more like cut up sauteed mushroom, but when I discovered the reality (due to my misunderstanding) I had to pull it off the burger. It was too big and was only half-grilled with a bit of seasoning which while good, didn't add much to the burger. This is my taste though. I like my burgers simple so I opted for just grilled onions, which were indeed nicely grilled with a generous serving under the patty. So after some additions of ketchup and mustard (yeah - 3 kinds available- yellow, gulden's and grey poupon), I was all set and licked my fingers when done. I also had an order of fries which I thought was a pretty big portion for one person. I liked the extra thick, real potato flavor, but what was missing was salt (I even overheard other tables complaining too). Now I don't like MickeyDs drench in salt, but fried food needs some salt and it needs it right when it gets out of the fryer - so my later additions only went so far.

Overall - really good burger, pretty good fries. Next time, I'll have to try the really good looking onion rings or the sweet potato fries (nice to have options). Thanks Mark.

Also for people upset about prices, I think it all depends on perceptions of this place. It looks like a fast food place with counter service, but it offers much better quality food made to order. So if you think about the prep and ingredients I think it is worth $7-$9 for a really good burger, the same amount you'll pay for in any restaurant and yet you don't need to leave a tip here.

Anyone have any suggestions for a cookbook for Indian food? I'm looking for something that has a wide range of recipes and that is pretty user-friendly. I really like Indian food, but my wife hates spicy food and usually refuses to eat it out with me. Since I like to cook and experiment in the kitchen, my hope is to find a cookbook that can train a newbie to cook indian food while being able to adapt the recipes for less heat and somewhat more mild flavors for my less adventuresome spouse. Any ideas?

I see the pig and wild boar have gotten a lot of rave reviews. Both sound awesome to me, but my friend is a less a carnivore than I am. What are some other "not to be missed" dishes we shoudl look for?

I'm in love with the Dumser's Dairyland at 124rd St (all are good, but this is the closest to where I stay at the beach)!!! First, the ice cream is freaking great - really fruity strawberry, great peanut butter fudge, and great oreo crush. It was so good I went a few times in the course of the week. As always the hot fudge was wonderful too. The best part was my last trip where I sat at the "bar" and watched the "open kitchen" where all of the ice cream treats and old fashioned soda fountain drinks are made. While I don't usually eat non-dessert food there, recently the family has wanted a meal and then ice cream - odd I know - why waste calories on a meal when you could eat a bigger sundaes. But I digress, the fried chicken is pretty good and the onion rings rock (fries aren't anything special), and the fish and chips was ehh. So if you find yourself in OC, head to a Dumser's they are divine.

Also got back to the fractured prune one early morning, these donuts really are best eaten right away when hot. You can't beat the neon green peppermint patty. You know they are good when people are lined up out the door on a Sunday morning at 8:30am when they are on vacation.

Never heard of the Carmel brand, but a popular Israeli brand of soup mixes is Osem. They make both a chicken-flavor (pareve) and chicken (fleish) broth mix, as well as other varieties. You can definitely get them at Koshermart f/k/a Katzes, Shaul, and Shalom's and possibly at your local Giant or Safeway. Israeli home cooks often put the pareve mix in just about everything as a universal seasoning. Another treat is Osem soup crackers which are tiny puffed yellow squares the size of a pencil eraser - should find them at the same place. I know Israelis that drown their soup in these crackers.