mr food

Dining at Majestic tomorrow night.  Any recent visits?

I don't shop there much anymore as I'm not in the area very often but I got some deals from there back in the day.  The Gendersons (especially Rick) would generally open wines to try but they did push certain types i.e. Australian shiraz so you had to learn how to say no. If you were willing to spend some bucks you could negotiate good pricing.

We were in Markhams last night visiting one of Washington's finest bartenders "Smokin" Joe McKay. The app we tried-Pakistani tacos-were mealy and the chicken was wet, not moist, so it needs some work. Lively atmosphere, especially for a Wednesday,  as Joe said a lot of folks from the hood are regulars. $4 glasses of Matua SB during happy hour 4-7 are a good deal. We will return. We then moved onto Foong Lin for some excellent Chinese food.  A fun evening. 

Given my conversations with Dean, I was sad but not surprised to read his email. I had many great dinners at Dino and my wine group enjoyed a couple of extremely raucous nights there as well. That said, I'm extremely please to read that the new place will be nearer to our home. Onwards and upwards!

Anyone else order the $9.99 by the case rose on the email offering a few days ago? I've generally liked those types of wines I've purchased from Arrowine.

 but this one didn't do the trick-too much grapefruit on the finish.

pretty much in agreement with Waitman after last night's dinner. Food was good especially the veal with fresh chaterelles, mushroom tart,  and the desserts. Otherwise ok but nothing great. Service was some of the best I've had in this town. Paul the new sommelier who has arrived from Rasika decanted my 2000 Meyney and provided some good advice on choosing our white-a 2012 Sancerre. He said he's working to upgrade the list and update the vintages. However the $300 check with a 20% tip seemed excessive for 3 people-two of whom ate appetizers. The $6 bottles of water didn't thrill me either.

The much anticipated DC Costco will be opening November 29.

In addition to Beer and Wine they will also be offering Spirits.

http://www.wtop.com/109/3122665/New-Costco-to-open-in-time-for-holiday-shopping-season

They now appear to have a beverage manager there as he said that's all he does. I asked if they could get cask strength scotch and he said they are working on it. They were out of their Oakville cab which was a great buy under $20. More might be coming.

Kirkland olive oil is a great buy for every day use..

Those last bottle marathons, IMO, have dropped in quality and I'm tired of ordering a wine and then it's gone. 1 or 2 bottle lots aren't worth the trouble. And please, the winos are laughing about the Moon Mountain. Nobody wants it.

A fun thing to do at Dino is tell Dean what you want to spend on a bottle of wine and have him select it for you. I've always liked what he brings to the table.

We used to dine here fairly often when my parents lived in the area but it's been several years since our last vist. I also remember that we felt that the food preparations had declined. As we were staying across the street Tuesday, we decided to give it another try and enjoyed a very nice meal. We started with an old favorite-fried mozzarella with anchovy sauce on the side. It emerged greaseless, tasting of mozzarella not breading. The sauce was correct but a little went a long way. Next up were a perfectly cooked piece of caravello(sp) fish with spinach and a stuffed pork chop with spinach and gorgonzolo with a brandy sauce. For the chop,everything was in proportion with just the right level of richness without being over the top. A good in house version of tiramisu completed the meal. We stuck to the quaffable house red as the list still hasn't changed much and could use a facelist. The total bill was an extremely reasonable $70 plus tip.

As always, Sergio and his son Giuseppe (sp) provided the usual warm, efficient service. The room remains its somewhat dim but nicely appointed self. All in all, a surprisingly good dinner and we will return. it's nice to enjoy an old favorite so much!

oops, didn't see the date. That was the 2008 DR since replaced by the 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and now the 2013 model with all the options.

Anyone else order the $9.99 by the case rose on the email offering a few days ago? I've generally liked those types of wines I've purchased from Arrowine.

Inspired by the daring forays of Todd Kliman, I took it upon myself to do something people who frequent these internet food boards rarely do: I drove my car down New Hampshire Avenue from Langley Park into the District of Columbia.

Cheesesteak Mike's in Hillandale? Might as well have been Flaps in Potomac.

Tiffin at the intersection of University Blvd? I'd sooner go to Rasika.

No, my friends, I went, and I went deep. Threading in and out of pothole-ridden parking lots, I walked up to places previously unthinkable, and even looked through the windows. One of my dicier moments came when I walked into an Guyanese-Caribbean market, and was immediately assaulted with a snootful of rodenticide. A quick lap, and I was gone.

Down a side street (a side street, mind you), just past the Takoma Park post office, inside a gated parking lot, sat a tiny little Bangladeshi - perhaps even Sri Lankan - market, imposingly decrepit from the outside. I walked in quietly, asked if they had any ready-made food, and breathed a small sigh of relief when they told me, in broken English, that they did not.

I came upon Mid Atlantic Seafood, near the old Allen theater where I used to go to the movies with my dad when I was a child. There was a small group of people gathered at the front door, so I drove to the back of the lot to park my car. I opened my door, got out of the car, and in the distance, somewhere down New Hampshire Avenue, I heard a jackhammer that sounded a LOT like sniper fire, so I crouched down, and ran as fast and as hard as I possibly could, eventually making it to the front door of the restaurant.

Stuffed Whiting ($12.95) was three filets arranged as a triangular prism, stuffed with a baseball-sized pile of crab in the middle. So how's the crab? Gloriously full of the "hanger steak" of crabmeat: cheap little shards of claw, the parts that are traditionally shunned by the so-called food cogniscenti. Lovingly breaded throughout, with little flecks of onions, red and green pepper, it made a perfect soak for the juices of the frozen whiting. Black-eyed peas? You bet. Topped with a squirt of "hot sauce" which is nothing more than Tabasco. The whole thing was brought into balance by a scoop of steamed, white rice, taken straight from a rice cooker.

I made it back to the car, and pulled out of the parking lot, looking behind me, my forehead moist with beads of nervous perspiration. Turning right onto New Hampshire Avenue, driving across the district line, and then heading down North Capitol street - my door unlocked the entire time - I ate my meal with a sense of pride, accomplishment, and self-satisfaction - it was the kind of feeling one can only find after participating in a fundraising walk, giving a dollar to a homeless person on Christmas day, or perhaps on a smaller scale, allowing someone to change lanes in front of you on the beltway. Philanthropic, honorable, urban derring-do at its absolute finest.

Cheers,

Rocks.

Don't knock Tiffin-I feel lucky to have it and Jewel of India nearby. Of course, I'm happy to dine at Rasika on your dime.

Good meal with great service (Beca?) and interesting, well prepared food. Deviled eggs and smoked salmon to start with gnocchi (good not great) and duck confit for mains. Side of the duck fat fries-divinely sinful. No desserts. Interesting and well chosen wines decently priced given it's in MOCO. It was busy but not too loud and a nice space. We will return.

Bombay Club was excellent recently and kind of retro with the piano player playing the great American songbook. Attentive service and a well chosen, fairly priced wine list.

We've been enjoying the Domaine Fontanyl rose quite a bit-so far the best one we've tried this spring. I bought it at Corridor in Laurel, not sure where else it is available.

another internet retailer (there is a brick and mortar in White Plains, NY) I can recommend is Dan Posner with Grapes the wine company. http://www.grapesthewineco.com/ Ask to be placed on his various mailing lists.

I was always curious about WTSO Platinum, Jay. I had seen it mentioned on Berserkers among other places. I figured you had to hit a spending minimum to get an invite, but all you need to do is ask?

Yes, just ask. After all, they want to sell wine. As far as critics, Tanzer is fairly conservative and so can be trusted. Does anyone here use cellartracker dot com for inventory management? Wines that TN posters there have written are generally reliable. Cinderella is part of Wine Library and I've gotten some great deals if you can put up with all the emails! B-21 has a free shipping day every month and if it's your first internet order, you can get an additional discount. However, it's in Florida so shipping season will soon be over.

$25 - not sure about how many bottles you can bring.

thank you!

a quick perusal of the wine list shows depressing markups. What's the corkage fee?

there tonight. any recent visits?

Garagiste will open a facility in DC this year. Permitting is taking a while-surprise, surprise. Lat bottle is ok if you understand you will probaly get shut out very often and that you may actually get the last bottle. They have marathons and if you have nothing else to do, you can refresh all day. Pricing can be outstanding but anything really good goes instantly. WTSO overall to me has the best CS going and they will ship anywhere. They have a platinum campaign as well as the regualr offering-ask to get on it.

wide world of wines maintains a corkage site but I don't think it's up to date. Best to always call ahead and never bring anything that's on their list. And no Yellowtail either!

Given that it's spring...uumm..well, supposed to be spring, how about rose wines?