synaesthesia

Well ... this sounds like a plausible theory given unlimited budgets and avant-garde, investigative reporting; ...

That said, I got a text message from another restaurant professional saying that they've recently heard of this exact same thing (a known critic, showing up unforgivably late for a reservation, without calling, and bringing a very cheap bottle of wine) at 2-3 other restaurants.

The thing I find weird about this is "known" critic. It's not really a test then. It's how far can I with a certain status push this. It's nowhere going to be the same experience as the 20-something who walks in pulling something like this. That is pretty flawed methodology.

The question is whether that writer was supposed to be anonymous. If not anonymous, then the goal of the action, IMO, has nothing to do with testing the restaurant and has plenty to do with having poor manners and not knowing how a restaurant works. Though I would argue that the behavior, depending on how high end the restaurant is, is douchey anyway. Everyone has a cell phone.

Just to be a fussy prick (who likes fresh, not frozen, lobster rolls), does anyone know of any milkshakes, anywhere, that use ice cream made with cane sugar and no high-fructose corn syrup? Because if so, I'll drive an hour round-trip for one; if not, I'll pass on all of them.

(And yes, I realize that driving an hour burns through two gallons of gasoline, so this is not some sort of holier-than-thou thing.)

Assuming York's doesn't use high fructose corn syrup, then you probably could get one there. They have a crazy Guinness ice cream, malta, something else shake. I am sure regular ones can be ordered as well.

Also the University of Maryland used to have their own dairy, but still makes their own ice cream. Dunno what their ingredients are here either, but used to get shakes all the time. I found the ice cream itself is a bit on the bland side.

Went for happy hour. Calamari fries were a little meh, but I like their fries with the trio of dipping sauces. Tater tots with sour cream, dill and salmon roe were good. Their bacon manhattan was a bit too sweet and mapley. However, on the whole could have been worse.

Taking kids to see Sesame Street Live on Saturday at Lyric Opera House in Baltimore - need lunch after. Kids are seasoned diners - Paper Moon was suggested, I've liked City Cafe before but don't know what's nearby. Any suggestions are much appreciated.

Thanks - Nancy

Closer by: Joe Squared is your best bet with coal oven pizza. XS could work with breakfast food and sushi.

Lexington Market is a neat experience, except that it is... uhh... really scary there and I hear it's pretty easy to get Vicodin there.

I've been meaning to stop at Tian, located in the same shopping center as Lotte in Ellicott City since Howchow posted on his blog that they have handmade noodles. What finally got me to go this weekend was that they also added Mad for Chicken, a Korean fried chicken chain in the same place.

I stopped in Sunday, and knowing that the fried chicken takes 30 minutes to be cooked, ordered a bowl for their handmade samsun jjajangmyun (blackbean sauce with seafood) for the wait.

The noodles were good although I like mine a little more chewy. The black bean sauce was chock full of shrimp and calamari.

The fried chicken was pretty good. My favorite might be BonChon as they kick up the spice level more, but the Mad for Chicken chicken had the great crispiness I expect from Korean style fried chicken. I'm happy I can get Korean chicken now without always driving to VA for it.

Is the jjajungmyun more Chinese style or Korean style?

Hrm it lets me open a topic.

???

Don took it down for the time being. Place to recommend non-food services like piano teachers, dentists, mechanics, realtors, etc.

[Thanks Jamie! Give me a few more days with this so I can figure out exactly what to call it (Executive Lounge doesn't quite capture it), and decide whether or not to make it visible to the entire world, or just to members (any input on all of this is welcomed) - I'm leaning towards making it visible to everyone to maximize its impact (surely we all want good, trustful professionals in all fields to be noticed and get business), but I'm also leaning towards having the authors sign the posts with their real names (at least a first name and last initial).

Will there be a thread where people can ask for recommendations? More often than not, it seems more likely that will be the situation.

Just had to say the Executive Lounge is a great addition to the site. Something that I know has been vaguely discussed for a long time, and as someone who is in some ways still relatively new to DC and to adult responsibilities, it's exactly the type of thing I need.

Really sad that my RW experience this time around pales in comparison to my previous ones. It's not that it was bad, but it wasn't as spot on as it usually is.

Duck confit tater tots seem like a good way to stretch out the meat with potatoes. But the flavor of potato dominated the duck too much, and when I think of duck confit I think of crisp bits of skin to accompany it. The tamarind dipping sauce was really good, and would be good with plain tater tots.

The pork shoulder with cornmeal gnocchi and kimchee was just okay. While the shoulder was tender and moist, and the gnocchi were great, it was missing something. In a season abundant with produce, it was surprising that the only vegetable element were bits of scallion. The kimchee was primarily a blotch of sauce in one place that was hard to spot in the midst of the brown sauce on the plate, and I did not get to it until my last bites. It should have been more evenly distributed on the plate due to the challenge of spotting it.

I did love the key lime slice that I had, but I was surprised that my dessert was my favorite part of the meal when I typically am crazy about the savory items.

Baguette Revolution supplies Ba Bay's excellent baguettes. I imagine they do other breads.

I really love making a crab salad with corn, no mayo, lime and cilantro.

If you're in the Mission getting tacos, stop by Humphry Slocombe for their unconventional ice cream flavors though my fave is still the Vietnamese iced coffee ice cream. Katana-ya has some decent ramen right by Union Square, and if you go to the Ferry Building on Thursday there are a bunch of food trucks there that are fantastic.

ETA: and I totally concur that Mission Chinese Food is AWESOME. The BBQ (yes BBQ) is meltingly tender and wonderful. And it's def. a really interesting take on Szechuan.

And I had a less than great experience with R&G Lounge for Chinese, which seems to be the one I've seen people recommend. But I don't know what else to recommend.

Yes. A thousand times yes. We too were laughing about this, wondering if they were going to put the rest of the cocktail in a metal shaker for a refill like a milkshake. For better or worse, it's not like other places in DC (and Penn Quarter in particular) are afraid of a $15 cocktail. I'd much rather cough up more money than pay that cost for what felt like (and looked like) half a drink. A few weeks later I wouldn't remember the cost of drinks in particular, as everything there is pricy. I definitely remember those goofy ass glasses.

Was this the Basil Hayden drink? Pic here:

From what other people have told me, this is volume-wise pretty close to what a Sazerac served at another well regarded bar. The key is presentation - they really need different glassware.

* small green peppers roughly the size of your thumb. They're fried in olive oil, salted, and served at many tapas bars in Spain. If anyone knows where to find them around here, PLEASE let me know

Shishito peppers, perhaps? La Tienda sells them fresh, and you can find them on the menu at Estadio.

I think the Falls Church and Rockville locations had totally diff ownership and food. Though I am VERY sad to see the one in Rockville close. They had AMAZING banh xeo.

Haven't been there yet, could someone tell me the difference betweem Brisket lean and brisket moist?

Moist is merely fatty brisket. Probably New York speak for those who don't want to hear "fatty."

Frozen octopus is often more tender. My guess is that the often tough flesh benefits from being a little torn up by the ice crystals.

Frozen, but not defrosted, grapes. Delicious.

This is now a truck and they're under the Twitter handle @1styellowvendor. They still stop at this location (SE Corner of 14th & L Streets) but are now moving to others throughout the week.

They are opening at 6pm today. Phone number is 202.556.2050

ETA: Address is 410 7th St. NW

Looks like they closed in January due to change in hotel ownership, not sure if this is a permanent closure or if they will change the concept. They've had union protests outside for over a month and a half. The complaints are interesting regarding them coming in and being told they no longer had jobs... I realize the rules are different for unionized workers, but this seems to be de rigeur for a lot of restaurants that close.

I'm attending a convention at the convention center and staying at one of the nearby hotels. Me, husband, toddler. Any recommendations for lunch or dinner? We had lunch yesterday at Mulate's which had the right blend of casual atmosphere and good food; we could do a bit more upscale for early dinner, but not super-formal.

Dunno if you're looking for breakfast, but if you're on the eastern side of the Convention Center, you're not far from Mother's - black ham biscuit. mmm...

Note that this place should be recategorized under multiple locations. (There's another in B-more, aside from Richmond, though you'd never be able to tell from the website until you check out the logo.)

Even with the additional restaurants that are now on H Street, the wait at Sticky Rice around 7pm is 1.5 hours on a Saturday night. I've heard it's not any better on a Thursday. The EXCESSIVELY loud music forced all the surrounding tables to shout, while my friend and I (there on a Groupon) finished our food in about half an hour due to our unwillingness to strain to hear each other. The sushi was mediocre; one of the rolls a friend ordered with fish and cream cheese tasted like rice + cream cheese. I would have been happier eating at Popeye's, and am happy that at least during our wait we ordered some of good sweet potato fries at Fruit Bat and I nabbed a carnitas taco from Tacos Impala.

If every night were as hopping at the big party nights on H Street, some restaurants could really be raking it with the current lack of good sit down eating options aside from Granville's (though I've heard positive things about Smith Commons). What a waste.