Marty L.

This place gets very little attention on these here boards--perhaps because most of us do not have the luxury of business expense accounts! Went last evening for first time in a couple of years. What's somewhat shocking is the juxtaposition of two things: (i) the exorbitant prices and (ii) the throngs of patrons, even in this economy. Perhaps it's a justified based upon the rent, or the cut going to Wolgang Puck, or something, but it strikes me that everything here is about 40-50% more expensive than it ought to be. But I don't begrudge them: They sure know what the market will bear -- there was nary an empty table, and the bar area was packed.

Everything I had was fine, at best. The famed Chinois chicken salad was a mere shadow of what I remember from Chinois itself 25 or so years ago. The other appetizers, not very memorable, averaged out about $5 a bite. The steamed whole bass was a good fish, with decent sauces (but again, neither was special or memorable in any way) -- but it was overcooked and thus much too dry. And it was $44.

I will say, however, that the sake I had was very good (I didn't catch the name of it), and that one of my tablemates declared the lamb (two ways -- stir-fried and chops) to be fantastic. (It sure looked good.)

Great news -- This year the Westmoreland Berry Farm is at the Sunday Bethesda market (which is currently being convened at Bethesda Elementary). For those of you who are unfamiliar with them from, e.g., the Arlington market on Saturdays, their berries, in particular, inspire very long lines of loyal customers before the market even opens. Yesterday, thay already had very good strawberries and asparagus.

http://jaheim fabulous

?? You've hired Jaheim to serenade diners? Dress code now allows low-saggin' jeans? New dry-aged cut with moniker "The Fabulous"?

Very pleased to report that Cork appears to be in good hands in its new, slightly tweaked incarnation. Had a great dinner the other night, probably as good as any I had in the pre-Weland era. Six of the eight dishes we had (avocado, radish salad, pea gnudi, hamachi/grapefruit, mackerel, and ginger pot de creme) were great; sprouts & chokes was good; and only the pierogies were "eh."

We don't need someone from Washingtonian telling us where to get Tacos; we need fine dining (or moderately upscale advice). [Kliman] is not a good restaurant critic.

I agree with much of what you wrote, Don, but couldn't differ more strongly on this one. Back in the days when the Washingtonian wrote almost exclusively about "fine dining," it was boring, irrelevant. Kliman, like most of here on DR, treats all great cooking as equally worthy of attention, from Komi to R&R. He writes about meals that move him, that make him want to return. I don't really need him to tell me that Fiola, Komi and Eola are worthwhile; but I treasure his out-of-the-way "finds," his cravings for a particular dish at an otherwise meh restaurant, his perspective on how an old standby has slipped or found a new groove. It's in those latter cases that he has steered me to great meals I otherwise would not have had. And to my mind, that's the best thing a food critic can do. (Indeed, it's what you aim to do in your mini-reviews, often with great success -- why is that a bad thing when Kliman does it?)

Not even Spring yet -- when 2 Amys really shines -- but boy . . . the small plates last night were really on. You can have a virtually perfect meal there, just sitting at the bar, without even thinking about pizza. Roasted root vegetables; a roasted artichoke; beets with walnuts and ricotta; and the best -- fava beans with pecorino. And that was all before the vanilla ice cream with chocolate-covered pistachios . . . which I think might be my new favorite, were it not for the roasted pineapple. The ice cream at 2 Amys is one of DC's best-kept secrets. Swept away any regrets for not checking out Boqueria, which probably would have cost me twice as much, and couldn't possibly have offered a better series of dishes than this.

Thanks for the tip, Joe. FWIW, it appears the chop is not available at lunch. $44 at dinner.

And when I was there most of the tables were ordering very large bowls of congee -- which received uniform kudos from those I asked. I'm definitely ordering it next time.

P.S. The sausage and Chinese broccoli I ordered was very good -- impeccably fresh.

FYI: The restaurant's English language name has changed, I believe in order to distinguish it from the (unrelated) SP in downtown D.C. The new name is indeed "SIchuan Jin RIver." Ownership/kitchen/etc. appear not to have changed. Could someone please inform the DR powers-that-be so that they can change the heading?

Order the fish. The hushpuppies, frog legs, chicken and tagliatelle with bolognese were all very solid, or better, but the whole dorade (with grilled fennel) and the skate wing were just perfect.

TheMatt is absolutely right -- the Hwe Dup Bap and the fixings (I especially liked the fishcake banchan) is an amazing, and really delicious, deal -- and the other lunch items on other tables when I as there yesterday looked just as good. If this is what you can get there for five bucks, imagine how good the (untranslated) $250 meal must be! (I asked -- there's no English menu.)

Head's up: The steak 'n' cheese is available both at Ray's to the Third and at Hell Burger Deux, though it's not listed on the printed menu at the latter (where it's a buck or so cheaper than it used to be). HBII also has the turkey, buffalo, and portabello burgers.

Agreed that Tasty Kabob is worthwhile, and that virtually all others I've tried -- including Red Hook, District Taco, DC Empanada, Eat Wonky, Yellow Bulgogi, Hula Girl, CapMac, Basil Thyme, Ficelle, DC Swawarma, TaKorean and Sauca -- are not (worth it, that is).

Have had occasional good sandwiches from PORC, Floridano, and Feelin' Crabby, although haven't had any of those recently.

The big exception, I think, is Sang on Wheels, which can be fantastic. (What I like most about it is that it isn't ever quite the same, since Sang is basically cooking from scratch every day, with more soul and idiosyncrasy than any other truck.) If she's offering her lemongrass seafood soup, get it. And encourage her that it will be worth her while to cook even more authentic, spicier Laotian dishes!

I tried it earlier this week, and I agree -- it's a pass. Not nearly on a par even with DC's less-than-spectacular taco offerings (the best of which include Charrito Caminante, Distrito Federale, La Placita, Tortacos, and the Taco Bar in Gaithersburg -- and sometimes Taqueria Nationale).

Indeed, for the most part I've had very mediocre, nondescript offerings from almost all the food carts in DC. The one I keep coming back to is Sang-on, even though she only serves two or three Laotian dishes, and nothing too fancy or spicy (that is to say, nothing as eye-opening as the Laotian menu at Golden Bangkok). At least her food has some character. Virtually all the other trucks I've tried are blandness incarnate. We could really use trucks akin to the Dosa Cart or the 53d & 6th Halal cart in NYC -- worth going out your way, and lining up, for.

Today I hit up the relatively new Chupacabra food truck on their stop at Metro Center. I believe they have some sort of connection to Sticky Rice, and there have been rumors on some of the neighborhood blogs that they may have launched this truck with an eye towards opening a brick and mortar place somewhere on H Street. Given my love of tacos and my residence near H, I felt obligated to try it out.

They serve several weird tacos, including the Chupagobbler (turkey, stuffing, cranberry relish), a vegan pumpkin taco and a pot roast taco, but I went as traditional as I could, ordering up two carne asada and one al pastor. The verdict? Eh . . . As is the case every time I order tacos at a new place, I really, really wanted to like them. As is too often the case in DC, these were nothing special. The meat in the al pastor was probably the better, and more flavorful of the two, but neither were any great shakes. Both salsas were actually quite good. In the end, the poor quality of the tortillas and the relatively unflavorful meat kind of let the whole operation down. Among food truck tacos I'd probably put them behind District Taco and TaKorean. I'll probably give them another shot, but I certainly won't go out of my way for them.

Just tried it (other than the labneh -- next time) and concur in all particulars. Terrific addition.

Just had the chicken sandwich (with a few fries and a great garlic sauce inside), and the labneh. Both fantastic. Chicken might even be better than the lamb/beef. This place will definitely make it if Alberto Sissi can keep up the quality. He said he sold over 1000 sandwiches at the H Street festival yesterday -- which means the word will be out. Only room for improvement: They could use a tastier, less generic pita, and more interesting, even homemade, drinks. But those are quibbles . . .

I'm always on the hunt for good falafel/shawarma in the DC area. Not a huge Amsterdam Falafel fan; prefer Pita Hut in Rockville. I went with a buddy for lunch today to the month old Shawafel in the Atlas District. The address is 1322 H St NE. I had the falafel/shawarma sandwich, which came with lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, pickled turnips, mint, and tahini. Everything is made in house. The sandwich was absolutely incredible and blew all competition out of the water. The space is really well laid out, extremely clean, and Alberto the owner couldn't have been nicer. All meats are spit roasted and the sandwiches are more "laffa" style then in a pita. We also shared an order of labneh, which tasted super fresh, and an order of fries, which are hand cut. Great new addition for DC's fast casual scene!

Just tried it (other than the labneh -- next time) and concur in all particulars. Terrific addition.

Anyone had Momofuku's fried chicken or rotisserie duck?

The chicken dinner is only available by reservation -- and you have to get lucky.

Fried Chicken FAQ

Good as it is, the regular menu is better.

Facebook says they'll open tomorrow, Friday 8/19.

And?

(please provide facebook link, thanks)

[Thanks Marty. Honestly, I'm just trying not to be a whore.

Not sure the, uh, metaphor, quite fits. But in any case, I don't think any of us would begrudge you if you simply flagged links to your DCD reviews in the relevant threads here -- and I'm fairly confident it would make the discussions in those threads even richer, and that we'd all be grateful. I, for one, welcome efficiency in my gastro-surfing.

"phee, phooey, pho, phum

I smell da blut from a hyuman beeink

be he alife odder be he det

I'll make frum him a corn bif sannawitch"

A, um, slightly different homemade recipe: http://www.notderbypie.com/corned-beef/

Not quite sure why he doesn't link to his own reviews here as a matter of course (they've been of great value to me lately at, e.g., Bistro Lazeez and Salt & Pepper), but Don's take on Graffiato is well worth reading, not least because of its "best of times; worst of times" account:

http://reviews.dcdining.com/2011/07/03/graffiato-chinatown/

Headed to Graffiato last night with some girlfriends and overall the food was pretty good. I think we all stopped just short of "amazing," but definitely good enough I'll be back (hopefully soon). No Mike Isabella sighting on this trip, but we were only a few tables away from Senator Mark Warner.

Can highly recommend Street & Co. and Caiola's. Have also heard great things about Bresca, and very good reports about Paciarino and Petite Madeline.

Oh, and the new Greek place, Emilitsa, is reported to have fabulous seafood.

Does anyone have recommendations other than Fore Street? We'll be in Portland on a Saturday evening in August. We prefer surf to turf.

Can highly recommend Street & Co. and Caiola's. Have also heard great things about Bresca, and very good reports about Paciarino and Petite Madeline.

It is curious. Right after Palena Cafe, Medium Rare, Fiola and Freddy's opened, there were lots of reviews. I'm looking forward to going to Graffiato in mid-July.

My very quick take, copied from Chowhound:

Had a great meal there last night (Friday). Best items were the bone marrow, the escarole/guanciale/potato salad, the onion side, the scallop crudo, and the shrimp.

Two caveats:

1. Adds up fast. Although each dish averages $10 or so, most of the protein-based items aren't large. I imagine making a pizza or two (which we didn't get) the centerpiece of a meal would lower the overall cost.

2. In no time, it will be *impossible* to get in -- especially on nights when there's any event at the Verizon Center.

Must get the pastrami then. Any recs for mustard?

I hesitate to say this because they usually are in short supply, but their guanciale is fantastic with pasta (e.g., in this recipe).