KeithA

I checked and you are probably right, but I can't confirm because the dessert wine we had is not on their wine list at least on the web.We also enjoyed the slightly fruity and crisp 2006 Carl Loewen, Detzemer, Spätlese Feinherb "Dry(ish)" Riesling, which went well with the vegetarian tasting menu.

I'm happy to report that the birthday dinner we had last night was wonderful and almost 4 hours, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Michael the waiter-captain who took care of us was great - gracious, friendly, and very knowledgable about the wine list and the cheese cart. 3 of us had the vegetarian tasting menu with one dessert substitution. The meal started with 2 amuses from the chef. First a tiny mushroom fritter with a creamy, mushroom sauce - sauce was better than the fritter. Second, a small dish of cauliflower panna cotta with a bit of cooked or spiced (sugar, salt, hard to tell) golden raisins. This dish didn't work for us - very salty and very strong cauliflower flavor that isn't one of my favs. Luckily, this was one of the few complaints. Then we had the first course seared carrot cake which was awesome. Great flavors and probably most creative thing we ate. It is a flat disc of soft carrot cake that was seared topped with tiny carrots that were cooked in 2 ways, some pickled and some sweet. Also on top were cooked dates and croutons of spice bread that blended well. Also on the edges of the plate were some type of special pink/orange salt to dip the sweet cake in to get an even more complex flavor. Next, we had 2 types of plantains coated in a crunchy crust on top of a bed of avocado slices and cilantro vinagrette and bit of radish salad. This dish was pretty good except one type of plantain did not work at all. The sweet plaintains were tasty, but the starchy ones when coated in the crust tasted like a stale knish and were so dry the rest of the dishes' creaminess and sauce couldn't save it. Then, we had a wonderful soft-boiled egg dish with very fresh cooked spinach in a shallot sauce with roasted garlic crepes (more like thin triangles of garlic-flavored pita). All of the flavors worked really well together. The eggs were so big to with bright yolks - delicious. Till now, the service was very good with frequent offers of 3 types of bread - country white, guiness rye, and bacon and cheese and 2 types of butter (one salted and one unsalted). I only tried the first two which were good crusty breads which were good, but nothing special and the butters both tasted pretty similar to me. But then, we were told with the next course, it was our main course so they brought out the tiny box of parker house rolls that I heard so many raves about. 2 weird things about this, the egg course really seemed to be the main course vs. the fennel bulb they brought out now and the rolls were nothing to rave about. The rolls were good and segmented into tiny bites and sprinkled with good seat salt. However, these are basically egg, dinner rolls that taste like challah. If anyone wants to easily replicate, get yourself some good challah on the sweet side and add some salt on the top - no need to pine for CityZen's tiny offering. The next "main course" was a fennel bulb with too few orange slices and boiled peanuts. This was the other clunker of the night. Some of us thought it'd be better with more oranges, but I thought it was just a dud. Basically a big chunk of braised fennel without much flavor. Next was the cheese plates from the trolley, which was fun. I had never had choices from a cheese cart before and so it was a treat. Michael explained the selections pretty well and we chose 12 different selections for a wide variety. The cheeses were very good - some similar to ones we'd had and some very new ones. One of standout was the "flower of the underbrush" (sorry don't remember the french name) which was semi-soft with a very woodsy, ashed rind that providing multi-layered flavor. The plates came with 2 very good "jams" of apricot and spiced fruit, good raisin nut bread, and small piles of chili-spicy almonds. Good, but not the best cheese plate, but one with some of the most options (probably 20-30). Then another tiny amuse arrived that was stellar - extra creamy, white chocolate sorbet and pineapple granita. Great flavor and texture contrasts. Then the dessert course. The set menu called for a meyer lemon souffle with juniper ice cream and bit of candied lemon peel, which was very lusicious. (note this is different from what is currently shown on the website) Although the ice cream tasted more like vanilla with a small hint of juniper. The one dessert sub was the "brownie sundae" which was excellent. Fudge striped plate with rich brownie roll with berry ice cream and draped in ganache and and peanut brittle disk. Really good. Michael helped us pick a nice riesling and threw in a bottle of muscat d'asti dessert wine called "Leo Peorone" (or something similar) that was great with a beautiful bouquet. Also there was an extra plate of mini desserts to celebrate the birthday - a raspberry gelee (good) and 2 others that weren't very memorable. Great meal, good service, but pricey. Probably won't go back for a long time, but it was fun to try at least once.

I think people have raised alot of good points for and against. To add my two cents, I think that some people may not fully realize how the board is currently used. I know that typically there are tons of lurkers right now who read reviews and don't post. With the membership card they may post once, get a card and never post again - so what, they'll basically be getting a coupon that restaurants have chosen to provide to all comers (albeit those in the know about the board). I don't think that restaurants who don't participate will be shunned - I mean how many times have people bitched about Palena's website or 2 Amys pizza crust being done wrong or any other frequent repeat complaint, yet people still go to them. I know like most people that I love deals and will be more likely to try something if there is a deal, which serves the goal of restaurants bringing in more business and potentially getting new customers. However, if the restaurant food sucks after I try the deal I won't go back often to take advantage of it (think about all of those pizza coupons we all constantly get in the mail, yet I never order from them). As for people demanding better services/specials that are not part of the restaurant card offer that is possible, but easily shot down. The offer is just like a coupon, all you get as a benefit is whatever the restaurant offers - nothing more, nothing less. Also I think that people are forgetting that some DR posters already are regulars or buddies with restaurant staff and probably already get special treatment. I don't say this from personal experience, I'm not in the biz and I don't think I get special treatment anywhere even the few places where I am a regular. But how many times have a read a review that goes...Oh Bob was so great tonight he brought me _____ and then I was happy that Chef Sarah was in and came by for a chat. This never happens to me, which is fine and I don't think use of the card will change that. The only point raised so far that I think could affect the board is pulling back the curtain on some anonymous posts. However, I know I stand by my posts and everyone should be willing to stick by their opinions. Some comments in this thread claim that DR has "objective" posts, that I is nonsense - all the posts are subjective, people have different tastes. Also, the anonymity can easily be reestablished if you just think about the name you post under. So I think this is a great idea and the only potential problem being restaurants and cardholders having miscommunications about what the benefits are.

I'm in that area alot, but have never been. What are some of the good menu items?

That is the funny thing about Japan. There are plenty of awful places including many so-so imports like McDonalds that are really popular, and similar bad options like food at convenience stores or different bad options like food from the insane number of vending machines there. However, you can find some great pre-packaged food in Japan that is light years ahead of the stuff in America in terms of quality, freshness, and elegant presentation. I say this thinking of the bento boxes sold in the train stations from counters. In America I would never be able to get such a nicely laid out to go meal (even if it was cardboard and the green garnishes were plastic) and I would never buy seafood from a train station.

Well, summer approaches and it looks like I'll be back at OC, not once but twice this season for family vacations. Since I'll be there so much definitely looking to break out of the usual places. Anyone have any good recommendations (low-end gems to higher end delights), even will to travel a bit up the coast or in-land, say within 30 minute drive? --- Dining in Somerset County (qwertyy)

Tokyo Sthitch, wonderful post that makes me long to go back to Japan again. Although, I'm shocked you managed to avoid sushi there, but their sashimi is almost the same. Unlike in America where you often get a fistful of rice and a sliver of fish, the Japanese give you a small mound of rice with a longer, but still thin piece of fish draped over the rice, often the edges hanging off. I do agree that finding those local, out of the way eateries is great. Two of my favorite spots in a Tokyo on my trip last August were their version of a greasy spoon, a local ramenya that could pass for a US diner in decor and a tiny 7 seat sushi bar, both near our hotel near the Suitengu-mae subway stop, alittle off the beaten path.

Last night got some chicken biryani and paratha bread for carryout from the original Indique. The biryani was great, a huge portion of not overly spiced rice and big chunks of flavorful chicken that clearly benefited from cooking on the bone (the meat is served deboned). This is the second time in recent months I've had the biryani to go. Last time was the lamb version which was also good, maybe even better (but that could be because I LOVE lamb). The disappointment was the paratha which was rather tasteless and very greasy. However it came with Indique always good mint, tamarind, and spicy/sour lemon chutneys. Next time, I'll stick with the naan which is usually pretty good. Although based on lots of trips to Indique in the past the bread are not their strong point. Also since no one else seems to write about Indique much, I will say they have a great dal makhani, which comes with most of the entrees when you eat in the restaurant.

While I'm not usually that huge on the cupcake trend. I fully agree we need more dessert places in DC. Also, I think HelloCupcake with its good metro location and interesting variety of flavors has a good chance at being a hit. It looks like they gave considerable thought to coming up with a mix of traditional and innovative flavors. Kudos for good website design too. Now I'm hungry and can't wait till they open.

Going to CityZen for the first time next week and I'm curious how long should I expect to be there if we order a tasting menu? I think we'll be getting the vegetarian tasting, which I can't wait to try out and see how creative their chefs are without meat!

Well CP down the block does already have 2 faux Irish pubs, plus a sports bar with the same kind of vibe, so maybe potential bar owners are scared away. That being said, I fully agree with you that Van Ness could use a few more eateries.

This might be alittle late for Seder, but the bread of affliction is with us for 7 for days so it should still be timely. A tip to anyone making haroset who wants to make it non-alcoholic (i.e. no sweet Manschevitz wine), try pomegranate juice. In the past I used grape juice and it was missing that tanginess you get from thw wine, but the pom did the trick this year and also added a middle eastern/israeli connection too.

So what happened? did they take it off your bill?

Last night's happy hour was ok, but nothing special. The mango margarita was pretty good, but the food was ok. The queso fundido was alright but served with pieces of soft, floppy toritilla that made it a bit hard to scoop up the the cheese. The Angus burger was cooked to order but not too flavorful, and fries were so so

Saturday night, Black's Market in Bethesda. Large group of us had a variety dishes. Best were twice-cooked (i.e. fried) chicken, artic char and whole bronzino. Mussels app was fought over vigorously. The beet salad, mini stuff relleno chili bouilabaise were so so. Service was very good with the waiter providing lots of info and ablely handling special requests. Last night, Cal Tort for burritos, because hey it is Monday and you can spin the wheel. I definitely eat here way too much when my bill is reduced by half do to coupons, promotions, etc and walk away with "dining points." Definitely one of the best, and fun loyalty programs around. I think today is name tag day - wear one and get free chips and cheese with an entree purchase.

Was nearby at 12:00 and it had a 20+ person line out the door and down the sidewalk a bit. Nevertheless, my experience has always been the line moves very fast and its worth the wait.

Ive been several times over the years including once last month. The brisket is ok. The meat is better than regular roast beef sandwich, but not super flavorful. The slightly spicy sauce is also only ok, not great. it is a good location for a quick BBQ fix though.

Anyone been here around happy hour time? Do they have any kind of food or drink deals?

Had a very nice meal at the cozy Etete last night. We started with 2 lentil-filled sambusas pockets - the dough was a nice cross between a flaky boreka and a chewy empanada. Note the menu is slightly different than the menu on the website - there were no beef sambusas. They were alittle greasy but had a nice flavor and were pretty filling. 2 people could definitely share one. Then we had the vegetarian combo platter and added 2 meat dishes: the lamb Lega Tibs and the beef Yeawaze Tibs. The lamb was well done and only so so because it lacked seasoning which was only helped a bit by the onions and jalapenos. However, that was the only disappointment, the beef was awesome. Very tender chunks with a spicy tomatoey sauce. The veggie items were really good too, especially the cooling cabbage-like one and the red lentils. The injera bread was thinner and less sour than I have before and went great with the stews. There were 3 of us and this was a lot of food. We probably could have gotten by without the sambusas and just the veggie combo and one meat dish. It is deceptive because there are these little piles of dishes, but when combined with all of the bread to scoop them up you can get filled up pretty fast. The service was friendly but a bit absent minded - after a few requests they managed to fill 2 of the 3 empty water glasses at the table. Overall a nice, hearty meal with different flavors - exactly what you want from an ethnic restaurant.

What were the four great pasta dishes?

I checked out the menu and it looks like many of the dishes are pretty spicy. Anyone have any recommendations for dishes on the tamer, less spicy side - especially among the vegetarian choices? Thanks.

I could have misunderstood the card. It said between this month X and month Y - spring price fix menu, then different months - fall price fix menu. I would assume that means changes, but I could be wrong.

So I got way too busy at work last week, didn't have time to try any of your great from scratch recipes. Ended up with Aunt Jemima original pancake mix that you add fresh eggs, oil, and milk too. And...they turned out great. Maybe there is something special in the flour like someone said. I think it helped that I dazzled the crowd with lots of topping options - all sorts of berries, bananas, nuts, and chocolate chips. My dad also brought over a great wild Maine blueberry maple syrup that went well with the blackerry and strawberry hotcakes. He picked up the syrup at a Cracker Barrel of all places. So I guess the lesson is sometimes store-bought non-foodie items can do the trick. Thanks for the suggestion about coating the fillings with more batter before flipping (I did each cake made to order and some people didn't want the residue of chocolate or berries on the pan).

Thanks for the suggestions. We had a very nice time for a group of 6. We all enjoyed the swanky decors with the white surfaces and fire/water features. The food was mostly very good with a few duds. I loved the little cheese bread biscuits they served - very addictive I think I ate a handful. The starters were only so so - the mixed green salad was fine, the yellow tomato soup was supposedly very good (I didn't get a bite of either ). The apple-jicama and spinach puree salad with candied nuts was good - except the dressing on the apples had too much vinegar or something else that gave it a nail-polish remover after taste - the rest of the salad was good and creative with the puree. The sirloin tataki was surprisingly bland - more like beef jerky that steak. The salmon tempura roll was very good with its spicy dipping sauce. For mains, a few of us had the miso-marinated chilean sea bass which was very good and came with really good seafood stuffed piquillo peppers. The roast chicken with preserved lemons was ok, good have use a bit more oomph or another layer of flavor to the lemon taste. The ramen noodles were very large and very tasty. We also had a side of edamamae with maldon salt which was good (kind of hard to screw up edamame) and brussel sprouts. The brussel were disappointing, no sauce of any kind and little seasoning - basically steamed sprouts. For dessert we had lots of different ice creams and sorbets (you get 3 scoops per serving and they had 3 kinds of ice cream and five kinds of sorbet) - the passion fruit was strong and one of the best. The chocolate chocolate chocolate wasn't very rich despite its name - pretty good giant bon bon of light chocolate mouse on a disk of yellow cake coated with ganache. The best dessert was the banana bread pudding - soft, but still firm bread pudding with caramel flavors and to banana halves with a brulee-like sugar crust. Very good. Since it was my Mom's birthday, they also gave her a small cake with a candle and wrote out happy b-day in chocolate on the plate. Cake was light and tasty. Service overall was pretty good. Dealt nicely with some substitution requests and random questions from the picky eaters. A few minor hiccups, but overall very accomodating. Definitely a great deal with the $30 price fix menu. Also no size difference in portions for those of us who got the $30 price fix and those who didn't. BTW-they passed out a little card which said they'll have a $30 price fix all year with changes in options depending on the seasons.

Anyone been recently? Going on Saturday night for dinner for the first time. Let me know if there any shouldn't miss dishes. Thanks.