jwhite

Ah, Taconazo, it feels like it's been forever my old friend. Five tacos, each good to great examples of pretty classic taco varieties. First up is a lamb taco. Don't see too many of those but it has the richest flavor of the set. Next is a solid fish taco. Fried whitefish - a little on the thin side which keeps it from greatness but good overall. Topped with a traditional if slightly spicier baja sauce and some cabbage. Third is carnitas. A good size chunk of cooked then fried pork topped with pickled red onions. Meat is slightly drier than I would like but a bright tomatillo salsa brings it back nicely. Fourth is an al pastor. Less pineapple forward than many offerings so pineapple lovers be warned, traditionalists be advised. Finally, the most straightforward of the group - grilled steak chopped with onion and cilantro, lime on the side. Well executed. The margarita on the rocks I had seemed the same as ever. A good to very good house margarita that I could drink far too many of. The tamales we started with is not something I would order again. Exterior was far too moist and the interior was dry. Not offensively bad but certainly the worst restaurant tamale I can recall in the recent past. But Taconazo, my dear friend, I will see you again very soon.

I'm not sure I can agree with the comment about glop and as far as my handful of experiences this year go, I could probably just repost exactly what I said a few posts above in 2011. I will add that the Lamb with Spring Onions is a solid, but oily option. It is by no means a special occasion restaurant and the frustration expressed in the post above is certainly valid. However, I think things have gone too far towards the negative in the recent flurry of activity. In my quite humble opinion, it remains the best Americanized Chinese restaurant to which I can haul my family. If there is a better one in Arlington, I would love to hear about it. I want to eat at the malls you visit

I stopped by for a weekend lunch and was underwhelmed. The pulled pork had no bark, no smoke ring, and was dry in parts.

I've found myself there for weekend lunches twice in the past month or two and had the opposite experience. To level set, I've been coming here for the better part of a decade and view it as a very good example of an Americanized Chinese family restaurant. I never expect to be blown away but it's been a very solid place to take visiting relatives or just grab something quick and easy with the family. It's moderately consistent in execution though I do just about always order the same things. Both visits I've ordered the Black Pepper Beef. Chunks of steak with onions and red peppers in a peppery but not particularly spicy, thin sauce. Good, flavorful crust and a decent amount of fat to keep the beef moist when cooked to medium - well. The use of chunks of steak, cooking them shy of well, and the lack of corn starch separate this from the versions I've gotten for about the same price from a large number of similar restaurants. On the first (recent) visit my wife had the chicken with the onions from their farm. It was probably the closest this place has come to really surprising me. It was simple and very good. The chicken was properly cooked (thigh meat if I recall), the onions were flavorful, and probably most importantly, it was not oversauced. One detraction, it was a bit too oily. Second visit they were out of the onions so the wife went with another dish I've had countless times, scallops with roasted garlic. Scallops were lightly breaded and cooked to just done. In the past, they've definitely overdone these so it was a nice treat to see them just about perfect. This was accompanied by the combination lo mein. Pork, beef, chicken, and shrimp with large soft noodles. I like the noodles in their lo mein, very good for this type of place and the meat was plentiful enough that I didn't have two kids fighting over the last piece of [X]. Service was professional and prompt both times . As for the hot and sour soup, I did not order it either time due to the weather but I've had their version many times. It is one item I would definitely say has declined but it remains meatier and more flavorful than most. Sadly it has gotten gloppier and duller over the years but I still view it as above average.

My wife and I had an excellent, early Valentine's day dinner here. Service was near perfect; that wonderful balance of attentiveness without being intrusive. I started with the Coquilles St Jacques which was good but I must confess to wishing my wife would have shared more of her Sherry and Tomato Steamed Mussels. With the latter, the smokey ham really deepened the flavor of the tomato broth and made me wish I had more bread to sop it up. A minor quibble with both appetizers would be that the provided toast, while beautiful in presentation, lacked the mass required to mop up. For the mains I had the Duo of Veal and my wife had the Pan Roasted Flounder. The duo was osso bucco and a chop. I enjoyed the balance of the richness of the shank with the lighter chop which had a hint of tartness. Having previously lost some points by making a run at Guajillo's massive burrito on a date night, I did not give into my impulse to pick up the chop and get at the meat on the bone. Beverage-wise I will echo comments previously made about the wine list and note that I drank (good) beer. As I've seen the topic of Groupon use come up regularly, I'll add a note that we did use a Groupon. I did not present it at the start as I guess is technically required but instead simply put it and my credit card in the bill. When the server returned she simply mentioned the Groupon was applied and had both the adjusted receipt and an original one with the total highlighted, a not so subtle reminder for tipping purposes. I found this to work well and balance the concern of the diner about receiving lesser service while at the same time making sure a server does not get half a tip.

Earlier this week I was one of those people bringing in visiting family members. Mom was in town to celebrate Christmas with the grandkids and on our way back from BJ's (some things never change) we picked up a few pizzas for lunch. I thought I noticed the improvements in the dough mentioned above although that could simply be the power of suggestion. My favorite remains the salami pizza but mom's ham and mushroom was much better than I had expected. The mushrooms had been sauteed in white wine just prior and the flavor worked really well with the ham. Yesterday I found myself at the zoo and thus 2 amys. Your pizza was much better, though I do so love their small plates, one day I'll wise up and just order those . Great work as always although my officemates and I do so miss your cart

Stopped by for an early dinner. As mentioned upthread the chips, salsa, and guacamole were all very good. The salsa was probably a touch salty when taken in the admittedly large quantities I favor but that's a minor quibble. I don't recall it previously being on the menu but the taconaza was an easy pick. Five tacos: one each of pork, beef, chicken, lamb, and fish. All were good with the lamb being one of the best tacos I've eaten in recent memory. The beef (steak) was underseasoned and the worst of a very good bunch.

I found myself in need of a casual place to take the wife and two young children for dinner on a Friday night, didn't have any patience for waiting, and this post sprung to mind. Food-wise it seemed to be a pretty good version of the suburban italian / greek family spot. Nothing blew me away but it was well executed, if pretty standard fare. I did notice the eagerness you mention with examples including a behind the counter employee hustling out to help an overwhelmed mom and the manager trying to make right what appeared to be a dropped order. Business seemed good with a mix of families and high school kids.

I've now had both the cheesesteak and the Spartan spiedie. The cheesesteak was good but the spiedie was great and based on the spiedie, I would put them on the same level as District Taco and Rebel Heros.

I found myself needing to find such a place a little after 9AM last Sunday. Having just dropped one kid off, I had an hour to kill and a two year old who absolutely did not want to go home. Fortunately District Taco was open and we were able to grab some breakfast tacos. I did not notice any of the seasoning issues mentioned and both the little one and I were quite happy. As for the prices, I had actually expected them to go up more than they did.

Ballston won the wildcard this week and I loved the Macho Meatball. I generally dislike mayo but this was applied lightly enough to not overwhelm. Cilantro and carrots were a very welcome addition to the meatball sub.

It is open but not serving the complete menu. We had the salami, goat cheese, and olive special and a plain cheese for the kids. Both were excellent and the kids preferred the salami and goat cheese (of course).

Cassatt's has been a brunch and breakfast favorite of ours for years with the big kiwi breakfast being my standard order. They can get backed up in the "kitchen" but other than that service has generally been good with a few standout servers. As for the regulars, in my experience these consist of residents of Cherrydale as well as the communities north of Lee Hwy. It's very convenient to walk to during the warmer seasons and when shopping at Arrowine or the great toy store who's name slips my mind.

Plenty of stock at the McLean store this morning at about ~10:30 so I picked up a beautiful strip which I grilled tonight. It gave me something to do while giving a wife a break from the little ones and later a helluva dinner. As for the earlier question regarding how to cook Wagyu, here's what I did with my 20 ouncer. Built a hot charcoal fire with all coals on one half of the grill. A half hour or so on the counter at room temperature. Nothing more than coarse salt and pepper rubbed on. Seared two minutes per side over the coals then rotated the grill grate to the cool side and covered for 3. Rested for a few minutes. Basically not much different than any other steak but making sure to err heavily on the rare side though I did notice much more fat melting to the fire causing some pretty awesome flareups. Very happy with the results and I wouldn't pay $45/lb for it but at these prices it felt like a steal.

It looks like they've cut back to Thursdays and Fridays. I'm not sure if that's a temporary thing or a more permanent change. Previously it had been around just about every non-rainy day and thy appeared to get good crowds throughout the week. It's a shame, they just fired up the grill for those sausage sandwiches.