KeithA

I'm sure that part of the reason their prices are a bit higher than other sandwich/deli places is the fact its a kosher restaurant. Kosher meat is more expensive and the restaurant must pay for a supervisor to be on hand to make sure food/utensils don't become unkosher due to mishandling.

I think Indique is great. I've been there several times and the only complaints from me or any of my dining companions was a dish or two was too spicy (but those comments came from those who can't handle the heat). Of the dishes I tried, my recs are samosa chaat, chicken maakhani, and chicken biryani. They also have a great lunch special with reduced priced entrees, soup or salad and dessert. There website is great too with lots of info on the dishes as well as pictures of many dishes. www.indique.com

Check out the fries at Amsterdam Falafel in Adams Morgan. They made fresh and extra crispy plus they have this highly addictive garlic mayo/cream sauce to go with them (there is ketchup and the usual condiments for traditional folk too).

I've eaten at the Cleveland Park location several times because it is in my neighborhood and its cheap. The food overall is so so. I usually get the chicken pad thai which I find to be good, but not great. One consistent problem I've noticed is that the chicken in a variety of chicken dishes is over-cooked so that it is bland. I've been there with others who found some dishes they liked. I'd definitely say people should go and give it a try because the restaurants have nice decor, friendly staff, and are cheap. If you choose wisely/luckily you might get good food too.

Hi Tom, thanks for being such a good sport and participating in this forum and on your weekly chats. About some Chowhounds not liking you, I think it may have to do with the fact that almost all of your recommendations during chats and weekly reviews of restaurants are focused on more expensive restaurants. While I understand your predicament of wanting to only recommend good places which often correlates into higher priced establishments, a few recommendations of cheaper places would be very welcome. Now I know cheaper is a relative term and DC restaurant eating can be pretty expensive, but in my mind a cheaper restaurant would be one where most entrees were in the $10-19 range. These restaurants exist in DC and lots of them have pretty good, if not great food. These restaurants might not be destinations where foodies flock (the only exception I can think of is the bar at Palena which I know you regularly recommend) but are good neighborhood restaurants that DC residents want to know about so they can eat at them regularly instead of relying on take-out. So while I will continue to appreciate your reviews of the high-end tables of the DC areas, think more about the price range of restaurants especially in your chats. There have been a number of times where someone asked for a reasonable priced restaurant and they recommended a restaurant in the $25+ entree range. Thanks for listening to my (and all of our comments) and please let me know if you think my request is unreasonable. I love to hear your take on the lower priced restaurants of DC.

Anyone know if this is still the current menu? Also, does Komi have a website? I have a reservation on Friday night, but I'm hesitating because some in my party don't eat shellfish or pork (they're kosher-style) and I'm worried the menu may be too limited for them. Anyone has any experience in asking for substitutions at Komi? I usually try to let a chef create their dishes as they see fit, but in this case eating these types of foods is an absolute no-no.

FYI for those 1789 RW fans, I just checked out their website and saw they have a summer offer of $35 for 3 course meal: http://www.1789restaurant.com/coupon/index.cfm Not sure how their menu for the offer will differ from their RW offerings, but for a bit more folks can take advantage of this offer June 15-Sept 15 and save room for other places to try on RW. Also, noticed that they have a very limited (2-3 choices each for 3 course) Pre-Theater menu for $30: http://www.1789restaurant.com/whats_happening/index.shtml I love restaurants with detailed websites. Now if they would just post their current menus instead of only "samplings"

I've had good experiences at DC Coast and Ceiba which offered almost their whole menu when I went. However, Tehn Pehn last time around was pretty blah for dinner - they offered most of the menu though so maybe the food wasn't to my group's liking. A few years ago, I went to Galileo and it was nothing special with a small menu. I'm definitely thinking about Cordoroy too. Anyone know if Komi is participating? I haven't had a chance to sample their goods yet and RW might be a good time I think.

Last night, my party of 5 had a very nice first visit to Firefly. Thanks to all for the recs. First off the service was very friendly and good and the ambience is very cozy and fun. As the for the food, I thought it was pretty good, but not great. Appetizers: We started with the cornmeal dumplings with mushrooms which were so-so. The mushrooms were pretty good but the "dumpling" was like a stale cookie as one of my companion remarked. Another person had the mushroom-barley soup which looked good with a deep brown color and thin broth with whole roasted garlic cloves in it. She said she liked it but I didn't get to sample it before she slirped it all up. Entrees: Some were good and some weren't. Since most people didn't like the dumplings and we had 2 orders because so many people reccommended them, I ended up eating most of them and was getting kind of full. So I had the PEI Mussels appetizer as my main course. The size was perfect for a main course there was probably 20+ nice sized mussels in a tangy broth that was slightly creamy. Not the best I've ever had, but good. Two others had the mahi-mahi with mushrooms and chestnut topping which I tasted and thought is was very good. The fish was very firm and well seasoned and match the mushrooms well. (I really like mushrooms too so all of these mushrooms dishes were a plus for me). One person thought it strange that their fish was warm and the salad underneath of swiss chard was cold. I don't know if that is the way the dish is supposed to be or not, but she didn't think it detracted too much from the dish. Another person had the trout stuffed with crab which was a very large portion. She said she liked it but again she finished before I could get a bite. These were some of my wife's friends who don't know that your supposed to share bites with everyone else or at least me The last and best dish was the extra creamy risotto. I did taste this dish and thought it was great. Best of our picks. Oh I almost forgot, we got the truffle, parmesan fries too. I thought they were just ok. We actually got sent regular fries first and only after we ate a few did we we realize there was no cheese, chives, or hint of truffles. The service was very quick about replacing them with the proper pommes frites. The sad thing was that I think I would have been fine with the regular fries. The special fries had a nice zip to them, but only a bit. And the sauce that came with the fries was quickly shunned by all since it tasted like a runny thousand island dressing that didn't complement the cheese or chives at all. Maybe it was the big meals, but the fact that alot of fries were left over at the end illustrates they didn't win over my crowd. We finish with the mango sorbet which was very nice. 3 scoops of very fresh fruit flavors that unlike alot of sorbets actually tasted like the fruit and not an excess amount of sugar. Overall, it was a nice experience but I'd probably go back more for the ambience then the food.

Thanks for the recommendations. I'll be there later around 8:30. If you all decide to have dinner and stick around, come say hi I'll be the guy with 4 women That is my wife and her 3 friends

It looks like we're headed to Firefly tonight. I've never been and I know many of you love this place so while the current menu is still available - what are your favorites that I shouldn't miss? Thanks.

Speaking of happy hour - I need recs for some good happy hour eats tonight. I'm usually not available during happy hour but am looking to catch a bite with a friend before going to the Nats game. Any suggestions that are downtown near metro and pretty cheap?

Coldstone is great. I recommend anything with the mint ice cream. In addition to their basic flavors, they have one more interesting flavor each month like pumpkin (pretty good for a taste) red hot cherry, etc. They make great ice cream cakes too where they mix real cake with their ice cream and yummy toppings. While the lines in Cleveland Park are often long (which gives me time to choose among the 40+ "recipes"), my only complaint is that last time I went early in the evening they were out of chocolate. Come on, what type of respectable and chain ice cream store runs out of basics like chocolate. This was only one time though.

The old Yanyu space is supposed to be an italian place called Dino's if I remember correctly from Tom Siestsma's weekly dish a while back. I think he said it is supposed to open in June. That might be possible - they were painting the walls over the weekend in the main dining room.

I went to Spices last night for the second time and it was just as loud as the first time. They could definitely use some acoustic tiles or something to dampen the noise. My wife could only hear me across the table when I shouted. As to the food, after our first visit where we found the food to be lackluster we didn't plan on returning despite it being reasonably priced (most entrees $9-12) and so convenient. However, our second visit was the result of the closing of Spices's upscale sister a few doors down. I had heard and its true that some of Yanyu's best dishes are available now at Spices. I wanted to let you all know that the Big Duck (peking-style) is available and just as good at Spices. I got the half-duck ($15, whole duck is $30) which is presented to each diner before it is carved. The staff even goes to the trouble of making all of the pancakes for you with scallions and cucumber as well as the meat. It is downright delicious and wonderful meal for one (1/2 duck= 5 pancakes). The Big Duck and the other Yanyu holdovers are listed as Jessie Yan's specialties on a separate menu on each table. Other items are two different sea basses, a crab wonton, garlic shrimp (which sounded great), and one or two others I can't remember. So despite the noise, I'd recommend Spices - if only for the specials menu. What are others thoughts on Spices? Specials menu and regular menu?

I guess I'll have to trek out to MoCo to stock up on my Asian ethnic delights. As for italian markets - Literris from its website looks like it beats my local store Vace in terms of selection. Vace in Cleveland Park is a great little store which has good NY style pizza by the slice made with fresh mozzarella and all kinds of tasty frozen pastas. I think the manicotti is the best.

I think these smoking bans are good for business - even for bars. I enjoy my meal or night out much more if I don't have to cough my way through the night or go home reeking of smoke. That being said I have the choice to frequent smoke-free places which I do and which is one reason I go to less bars in DC. One thing to also bear in mind is the health effects on servers, bartenders and others who work in restaurants and bars that permit smoking. While some of these staff might be able to get a job in other smoke-free establishments, others I'm sure might have trouble - especially bartenders. One of the main pushes behind these smoke-free laws is to protect the health of the workers who are subjected to smoke all day and night and who can't just leave when the person next to them lights up. While I don't work in the food industry, I have great sympathy for those who must endure second-hand smoke at work. I hope the ban passes soon and then more bars will likely have my business.

Any good Asian or Indian markets in DC? preferably NW? I know that is asking alot, but it seems that one can get most the sauces and essentials of asian cooking at least at the regular markets. So I'm looking for a place nearby that has the basics and then some. Thanks.

So I realized that I'm a food lover and craver of ethnic cheap eats when I held off breakfast and rushed over to Amsterdam Falafel in Adams Morgan this morning at 11am (right when they open) to get a taste of their great, fresh friend bites of chickpea bliss. This place is great, haven't found any other place in DC with really fresh falafel made to order with a great fixins bar of sauces and salads like you find in the Mid East and apparently Amsterdam. As others have mentioned they have great fries too which go great with their killer garlic cream sauce (good on the falafel too). In light of my mid-morning falafel hunt, I wanted to start this new topic to see what others people's great, ethnic sandwiches/cheap eats are? What is that unusual cheap ethnic delicacy that you could eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and still go out for at midnight? --- [The following posts have been split into separate threads: Doner Kebabs (Kanishka) Peanut Butter and Marmite Sandwiches (Tweaked) Banh Mi (Mrs. B ) Rita's West Indian Carryout (Erin) Naan and Beyond (babka) Polonez Gourmet Delicatessen and Bakery (Nadya) Breadline (shogun) Roasted Lamb Sandwiches (crackers) Tacos Pepitos 1 and 2 (ferment everything) Byblos Deli (deangold) IndAroma (goodeats)]

One other great cheap eat that I recently sampled was Amsterdam Falafel in Adams Morgan. Great little place where the falafel is fresh and $5 for a large and $2-3 for great fries. They have a nice salad bar (think mezze toppings and sauces) to top your pita too. Can't beat that price.