Pete

The most current 3 threads in the Dining Forum: -CityZen -McDonald's -Roy Rogers One of these things is not like the others, One of these things is not quite the same...

Not much different then a masturbating leviathan.

Unfortunately, I haven't found any good ones around here, so when I visit my family in NJ I get my fix.

I have never had a Salted Oat cookie, so I cannot comment on that. However, nothing is better than a good Black & White cookie (unlike Jerry Seinfeld, I eat the vanilla first, then the chocolate). Unfortunately, nothing is worse than a bad Black & White cookie.

Paula and I had a wonderful meal here on Friday night. The Peekytoe Crab and Egg Custard Soup is probably the ugliest, strangest, yet best tasting dish that I have had this year. A grayish custard on top gives way to a wonderful broth underneath. In between are generous chunks of crab. Its lack of visual appeal is more than made up for as soon as this dish hits your mouth. An appetizer special of Scallop Carpaccio was bright and fresh, with a touch of sea salt to balance it all out. We enjoyed a half bottle of Pierre Peters Blanc de Blancs Champagne with our appetizers. For mains, I had the Crispy Fluke with Warm Potato Salad. The fluke was cooked perfectly and was enjoyable. However, the warm potato salad was fantastic. Paula had the Veal Ribeye, which she loved. The one bite I was allowed to have incredibly tender and flavorful. The desserts at Corduroy have never blown me away; however, I really enjoyed the Duck Egg Crème Brulée, which was nice and thick. The Chocolate Tart with Caramelized Banana was good as well; however, the vanilla ice cream was more like a vanilla sauce by the time it hit our table, as the ice cream had almost completely melted from the heat of the caramelized banana. Service was, as usual, terrific from the moment we walked in the door. Thanks to Ferhat for giving us a tour of the space. The restaurant is gorgeous, and Chef Power and staff should be proud. We are looking forward to many more great meals here.

We have gone here a few times since the owner/name change. I still think that the sushi was better and had more variety under the previous ownership. However, we have noticed that it has gotten a lot better with each subsequent visit. Most recently, over Memorial Day weekend, we split the Sushi for 2 platter, since we were too tired to make a decision. The amount of sushi on the platter was extremely generous, and all of it tasted fresh. We haven’t tried any of the non-sushi items yet. As others have noted, the staff is extremely nice and child/baby friendly. This is now our go-to place if we want to dine out with our 10-month old. The waitresses and the chefs fawn over our little one and make us feel right at home. Others can correct me, but I think that the signage above the restaurant, from Route 123, still says Kansai.

I ate here a couple of months back and we had a decent meal. The atmosphere is "old-school" romantic, and the menu reflects that (which is not necessarily a bad thing). The pepper steak was actually really good, and cooked to medium-rare as requested. Bananas Foster, with its tableside presentation, was fine, but not spectacular. The Sea Scallops appetizer (in a citrus beurreblanc sauce) is the dish that I remember most (and that is NOT a good thing). What at first appeared to be 4 sea scallops, placed on the 4 corners of the plate, turned out to be 2 scallops sliced horizontally, no thicker than a stack of 2 quarters. It appeared to me that they were trying to pass off 2 scallops as 4, which annoyed me. However, when half the bites I took had a rubbery texture, I was quite content to only chew through 2 scallops. The service was pretty good. There were 2 waiters in the restaurant – one was very attentive, while the other waiter seemed like he didn’t want to be there. I live about 5 minutes from Café Renaissance and have wanted to try it. Overall, I would probably be willing to give it another chance, but I am not exactly in a hurry to go back.

Marco Polo Restaurant in Vienna since 1973.

According to this strange "Company Resume", JR's Stockyard Inn opened in 1978.

I stumbled upon some Beamish yesterday at World Market in Tyson's and happily grabbed 2 four-packs. They didn't have much there, and I don't know if any other locations have it, but it might be worth checking out.

I agree that Bazin's on Church (corrected link) is probably your best bet. For something different, and about 5 minutes further away, you could try Sunflower Vegetarian restaurant, which is on Rt 123 near Nutley Street.

FWIW, when we ate at the bar (almost a 18 months ago) we were asked if we had any cheese preferences or dislikes.

Count Chocula!

I happened to be in Falls Church this morning, so I stopped by Stacy's Coffee Parlor. I had a very tasty blueberry crumb cake. It is not made in-house, as they get it from a place in New York City, but it was delicious. The coffee is very good as well, and service is extremely friendly. We need more places like this.

That Grayson is good, funky stuff!

Bluemont We might be out in Bluemont, VA on Sunday visiting Great Country Farms (weather-permitting). Any good spots to stop at to grab a bite to eat?

The Vienna Inn may be what you are looking for. It definitely qualifies for Greasy Spoon status. I have had decent pancakes and bacon there, as well as bottomless coffee (because you have to get it yourself). Has anybody been to the Virginian Restaurant in Vienna? They serve breakfast all day. Looks like it could be a good breakfast spot.

Unless "dinning" is some new trendy restaurant trend that I am not familiar with, would someone please teach the author how to spell "dining"?

About 5-10 minutes from Tyson's is Bazin's on Church, which should qualify as both safe yet interesting (and is not a chain).

Paula and I really enjoyed the dim sum brunch back in July. The online menu is fairly representative of what we had, and we probably plowed through about half of it. I definitely recommend it for something different.

We were there a couple of times shortly after they opened and have had mostly positive results. Their challah bread is really good. Saturday afternoon's they sell their "day-old" challah at a reduced price, which makes terrific french toast. Rye bread is good as well; however, both times that I have gotten it the loaves were small. Scones are tasty, while the macaroons are hit-or-miss. Sometimes they are soft and chewy, othertimes they can be bricks. The staff is extremely friendly and are quick to give out samples. It has been awhile since I have been there, and I was actually thinking of stopping by this evening. Thanks for starting the thread!

I know that CityZen has at least 1 non-alcoholic wine available by the glass. It is a nice idea in concept; however, it was not....good.

Which makes it a great place to watch the NCAA tourney.

Over 150 restaurants are participating this year, some of which are donating 100% of their proceeds.