Marty L.

18 hours ago, Arcturus said:

So full disclosure, Johnny and I have known each other for a long time. We were line cooks together briefly and friends on social media, but we've never really hung out outside of work. I'm not an impartial source, I'm rooting ferociously for Johnny to succeed as I have been since he opened Suna.

It's a travesty that nobody has given Reverie a review after re-opening. Because it's spectacular.

I went in early April, solo. Had the tasting menu and a few glasses of wine.

I took a bunch of pictures, but they were all above the 2mb site limit here. If people want to see them and pics of the tea that I'm drinking and the wines I'm selling, I'm @g.rumbles on instagram.

Here's what I wrote on instagram after:

It's hard for me to put into words how superlative Reverie is.

In an age of endless pretentious bullshit, filler, fuckery, and overly verbose instagram screeds on the concept of perfection by chefs desperate to be noticed but not desperate enough to put in the work to merit the glance, the concept of Reverie is so refreshing.

The food is just aggressively delicious. There's nowhere to hide from the levels and layers of flavor, umami, and richness executed with finesse that Johnny throws at you. It's incredibly honest. The food doesn't need to hide behind dozens of garnishes, but it also never, ever gets old. My palate fatigue at the end of the meal was zero.

A meal at Reverie is a brutal onslaught of contrasting flavors and textures that can only leave a trail of satisfied diners in its wake. The things that man can do with rice, eggs, and seafood are nothing short of alchemy. I'm still dreaming about the coconut rice. Literally, I've had dreams about it. Please send help.

But even better than that, there's zero pretense. Many of the courses are run by the chefs that plated them. The service is graceful, genuine, and precise. The wine list is thoughtful, intelligent, and pairs with the food marvelously.

To anyone in DC or soon to be there, go eat at Reverie. Now. If it was one of the top 5 meals of my life, odds are it'll be one of yours too.

Wow.  That sounds just great.  Readers should be advised, however, that it's not remotely as affordable as the original Reverie (not meant as a criticism--merely a flag):  It's $255 before wine, tip and tax.  Beyond my means by several orders of magnitude, but I look forward to reading about others' delight!

Anyone been?  Looks very promising.

Just now, Ericandblueboy said:

I've only had her food at Dauphine's, which I think is excellent.  I would say Coquette is as good as Dauphine's.

Haven't been to Dauphine's, but she's now in the Hudson Valley ...

6 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

Liuzza's shrimp and roast beef

Parkway's half and half

I did eat lots of other stuff.  Vyoone's has an interesting menu.  What really drew me is the escargot a la moelle - snails in garlic white wine sauce over bone marrow.  Unfortunately my serving hardly had any marrow to scrape out.  Everything was good - onion soup, crab cake, fried oysters.

Coquette's menu must change frequently.  I've never been super interested in their food before but this time the menu was interesting to me.  Started with charred green cabbage with turnip ravigote and topped with shaved parmesan.  I also ordered a pasta dish (crab agnolotti) and finished with the recommended smothered flounder.  The flounder is breaded and deep fried.  The crust was super crispy  - reminded me of Korean fried chicken.  I didn't really taste much crab in the pasta otherwise the dishes were fantastic.

Luvi is a good restaurant serving good Chinese food but I didn't think it warranted schlepping all the way out by Domilise's again.  Compere Lapin is also good but I had a really salty pasta dish with crawfish.

Tried some muffulettas as well.  Central Grocery still the best.  I wouldn't bother with Alberto's Cheese and Wine.  Napoleon House is decent and you get to experience the ambiance of classical music wafting over you as you soak up the air conditioning.

Lastly, I went to St. Roch Market - a food hall to try some laksa.  It was better than anything I've had around DC but not nearly as good as the laksa at Urban Hawker in NYC.

6 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

Liuzza's shrimp and roast beef

Parkway's half and half

I did eat lots of other stuff.  Vyoone's has an interesting menu.  What really drew me is the escargot a la moelle - snails in garlic white wine sauce over bone marrow.  Unfortunately my serving hardly had any marrow to scrape out.  Everything was good - onion soup, crab cake, fried oysters.

Coquette's menu must change frequently.  I've never been super interested in their food before but this time the menu was interesting to me.  Started with charred green cabbage with turnip ravigote and topped with shaved parmesan.  I also ordered a pasta dish (crab agnolotti) and finished with the recommended smothered flounder.  The flounder is breaded and deep fried.  The crust was super crispy  - reminded me of Korean fried chicken.  I didn't really taste much crab in the pasta otherwise the dishes were fantastic.

Luvi is a good restaurant serving good Chinese food but I didn't think it warranted schlepping all the way out by Domilise's again.  Compere Lapin is also good but I had a really salty pasta dish with crawfish.

Tried some muffulettas as well.  Central Grocery still the best.  I wouldn't bother with Alberto's Cheese and Wine.  Napoleon House is decent and you get to experience the ambiance of classical music wafting over you as you soak up the air conditioning.

Lastly, I went to St. Roch Market - a food hall to try some laksa.  It was better than anything I've had around DC but not nearly as good as the laksa at Urban Hawker in NYC.

I had two wonderful meals at Coquette when Kristin Essig was there.  Is it as good since her departure?

10 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Sushi Taro offers 25% off all sushi (except wagyu) and drinks (including bottles of wine and sake) only at the bar (*), Mon-Thu, 5-7 PM.

This is a slightly better value than Sushi Kyomi’s $100 omakase, and is also better sushi (based on the one time I’ve tried each). The total bill, including two beers and a (normally $105) bottle of Nama [unpasteurized, (**)] sake (which works very well with this) was less than $200 before tip.

(*) The bar-bar, not the sushi bar

(**) You need to be careful where you’re buying this - it has a higher spoilage rate due to it not being pasteurized, but you’re perfectly safe buying it at Sushi Taro.

$200 for how much sushi?  (Or for how many eaters?)

Keren is temporarily closed, but perhaps only for renovations.

For Ethiopian, I've had very good (not great) meals recently at Tsehay in Adams-Morgan and at Chercher in Bethesda (and I assume the quality is similar at the D.C. location).

7 hours ago, DPop said:

Really surprised there hasn't been more engagement on this, as I was at Uchi's new stand on Friday in the Square (he took over the one that Cashion's had for what seemed like a couple weeks) and it was buzzing at the 5:30 seating.  The dinner version of his omakase has 15 courses, about 5 of which were non-sushi, and it is $100pp, but worth every penny IMO.  The quality of the fish and the creativity of Uchi really shine through in this expanded menu, which he does at 2 seatings at 5:30 and 7:30 as he continues to wait for his restaurant to be complete right across the way in the Square.  I'll look forward to getting this several more times again going into the summer as I'm sure the price of this will go way up when he gets into that space.

Wondering how it compares to Ama Ami ...

The recent stratospheric prices of fish, alas, make it difficult to indulge in many such meals.  

23 hours ago, ElGuapo said:

Local food vlogger Vablonsky recently visited Mi La Cay to review their Maryland Chicken dish:

https://www.sourceofthespring.com/silver-spring-news/2818980/vablonsky-explores-mi-la-cay-a-deep-dive-into-marylands-most-unique-fried-chicken/

For those of you who can't spare the thirteen minutes, here are some highlights:

"Wow."  "Whoa."  "Wow."  "Wow."  "Yum."  "Oh, my."

14 hours ago, gnatharobed said:

Sadly, we stopped serving breakfast at both locations on Jan. 1st. It was extremely difficult for us to find staff to prepare these time-consuming items. I miss you tiao too 😭 

I asked my parents about other places for you to get you tiao and they only knew of Chinese grocery stores. They think one of the stalls at Great Wall sells you tiao.   

I'll miss the breakfast items, but we were just marveling the other night that after all these years A&J might just be the most *consistent* excellent restaurant around these parts.  Year after year, meal after meal, the quality virtually never wavers (yet it never seems by-the-numbers or cookie-cutter, either!).  Kudos to you, Debbie--don't know quite how you do it, but you're certainly onto something, and we're the very grateful beneficiaries.

2 hours ago, Tweaked said:

The Pumpkin Cheesecake with Chocolate Graham Crumble...super good. 

The fava bean and eggplant dips now on the menu are wonderful ... and the french fries you can order to eat while you wait are the best fries you'll ever have had.

On 10/22/2023 at 10:11 PM, noamb said:

I know this is getting to be an old thread, and I use to have this opinion as well, but today I went to Daikaya after a number of disappointing NoVa ramen experiences (tanpopo, kimen, takohachi, takeshi, all at least pretty good at various times but bland and/or salty more recently), and it was not that good. Shio broth was very salty, and while my own noodles were cooked enough, barely, one of my companions’ were not even really cooked.

 

Off topic, I guess, but I’ve heard good things about Hanabi. Anyplace else (NoVa ideally, maybe DC) that I should check out?
 

I haven't been to Daikaya in a long while, but I'm fairly confident that Menya Hosaki (where I dine frequently) is the best ramen in the area by a far stretch.  Open only for dinner W-F and lunch on Tuesdays.

In my experience (including a very recent, superb meal at i Sodi), I find i Sodi much better and more consistent than VC, FWIW.

On 8/5/2023 at 3:06 PM, NolaCaine said:

The sneaky tips piss me off. I have a list. Top of it, Cafe Colline. It just seems rude when in a cute little French Cafe. Also, why do fast food places slow me down by offering me a tip screen? I'm not tipping at a fast food place. Just raise the prices FFS.

Seriously?

Without yet having been to the new location, I'm very confident in recommending Superiority Burger.

9 hours ago, noamb said:

Anyone heard anything about the planned new location in Arlington https://www.arlnow.com/2023/05/17/lao-restaurant-padaek-and-an-acai-bowl-eatery-are-coming-to-the-arlington-ridge-shopping-center/

https://dc.eater.com/2023/5/10/23717540/thip-khao-family-announces-big-changes-to-its-lao-portfolio-this-spring

No doubt, ("starting at") $2112 might sound like a lot for a "family meal," but hey, it comes with breakfast, too!

Go early (and often)--everything's delicious and, as Eater notes, it (proverbially) flies off the shelves.  (And it's only a block or two from the best barbeque in the DMV, at 2Fifty.)

https://dc.eater.com/2023/1/18/23560803/sourdough-flies-off-the-shelves-at-marylands-buzziest-new-bakery

Reveler's, which had the bad fortune of opening just before the pandemic, is running on all cylinders, FWIW.  Two dishes on the current menu that you really ought not miss:

rigatoni with spicy octopus, tomato, chickpeas, and olives 
crispy duck leg confit with garlic sausage, cranberry beans, and frisée 

2 hours ago, Tweaked said:

I've never had ankimo, so I have no idea.  This tasted very much like foie gras.  We got it with some bread and basically smeared it on the bread.  

They have been promoting it for the past couple of days.  So I'm guessing it will be on the menu until it's gone.  Best to give them a call.

Their website is not updated with the daily specials.

It was on the menu tonight -- but 86'd just minutes before I arrived!

8 hours ago, Simon said:

As someone who recently moved back from New Haven and made the rounds one last time, I can confirm the best places now are Zuppardi's (for the clam pizza) and Zeneli.  Modern has held the line the best of the big three.  My last plain tomato pie at Sally's was shockingly poor.

Wow, the online recs for Zeneli are otherworldly.  It appears, however, to serve a more traditional Neapolitan pizza, as opposed to a New Haven style.

Wait until 5:30 and go to Comptoir du Vin

9 hours ago, eatruneat said:

Beau Thai - Shaw? 🙃

We are also HUGE fans of Baan Siam and do carryout from them regularly. I think we have had inaccurate text notifications now and again, but I usually just stick to the initial time estimate and it has worked out for us. 

Yep: Baan Siam is the choice.  (Former chef at Beau Thai.)  Carry-out has consistently been excellent.

2 hours ago, Bart said:

Has anyone been here in the last four years?  Have feelings changed or stayed the same?
 

My sushi loving daughter wants to go here for her birthday and I’m not sure if I should just say yes, or try to steer her to a better, and more local place. 

There are now 49 locations of Nobu.  For some reason I suspect a meal at one of them wouldn't be *quite* as satisfying and exciting as the meal I had at Matsuhisa in the late 1980s.

Reveler's Hour (though it's a bit north of Dupont Circle).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/interactive/2021/best-restaurants-in-dc-2021/

Just tried Yu Noodles in Fairfax yesterday--Chongqing cuisine.  Very good.