Marty L.

Dean: I need to arrange a Korean BBQ dinner for something on the order of 20-30 students of mine. Could I pull it off at either Honey Pig or YeChon? Any other suggestions (not prohibitively expensive)? Thanks

He could throw bolts of lightening at those who neglect to cut their burgers in half.

Bolts of "lightening," indeed . . . for those of us who regularly *eat* more than half our burgers! If only . . .

There is take-out, as well as about two or three dozen seats for eating in. And, as I wrote over on Chowhound, it's not only delicious (an assessment admittedly based solely on one gratis burger last night), but also the best deal in town.

Thanks, Dan -- I'm looking forward to trying it.

Have to admit, however, these descriptions frighten me:

"the proportions extremely generous" (such as in American-style huge pieces of nigiri? yech)

"Bubba roll"

"Spicy Tuna cream puff"

"Barber Pole Roll"

What are the prices like? In the Sushi-Ko/Sushi Taro range, or more like Kotobuki?

Thanks for the vote of confidence and for taking me up on it, Don -- really glad you liked it! (I was as surprised as you to find such a great pho house in such a glitzy, mall-bound package.)

I PMd Marty about ten minutes after he wrote this, basically saying "I don't believe it." I had actively avoided Pho Hot because it looked like just another commercial Pho house serving flavorless soups from a powdered mix.

He wrote me back and assured me that wasn't the case, and he was right: The large bowl of #1 ($7.50) I had at Pho Hot is not only the best bowl of Pho I've had in a long time; it may be the best bowl of Pho I've ever had. This is it. I've found it. Pho Hot is the first Pho house that gets its own thread.

And, the sour prognosis for area Hu Tieu may be overturned as well, as I spotted one on the menu.

You've got to try this place!

Cheers,

Rocks.

Not taking my own advice to skip the Maine Meal (because I wanted the shrimp, which appears only to be available in the MM), I got the fried shrimp with sweet potato fries and grilled corn. Excellent all around. The corn, of course, will be even better come late July.

Also ordered the lemonade (a bit too sour for me, and I like sour -- and much too expensive at $4), and the blueberry pie, which is scrumptious and will be amazing come late summer when Maine berries are fresh. The pie slices, however, are enormous -- I'd cut the price to $3-4, and the size of the slices accordingly, if it were up to me.

All and all, this continues to be a real winner -- the main issues are portion size (going both ways) and prices S9ome very reasonable, others less so).

And Chef Bechtold insists he has improved the hush puppie recipe, although I haven't tried it.

In general I like to have flexibility, and if I was to bring friends and/or family to Corduroy (which is probably the likely way they'd go since I'm more interested in exploring food than most of my friends), I'm pretty confident they would appreciate that flexibility, too. If they do go the prix fixe route, I'd recommend that they take a Palena or Eve approach where the diner still has choices within their courses.

I did not mean to suggest that there would be a single, set menu, or that there would not be choices among the courses in the prix fixe, as at Palena. I did not inquire on that question -- I was simply told that there would be a prix fixe menu, i.e., a single price for a set number of courses.

As I posted over on CH:

This will be a very tough table to secure once Kliman and Sietsema write that it is Tom Power's previous high level of cooking in a much more comfortable and more appropriate setting. (Except that, for reasons explained below, those reviews might not appear for a while, until after a shift to a prix fixe menu.) We had a braised duck special with a delicious duck egg, and the oysters, for apps. The fluke and scallops for entrees. All excellent or better. Alas, no pineapple tart this night -- but the pistachio bread pudding was very good. And the wine, bread, coffee, etc. -- all top-rate (and yes, the wine list is very reasonably priced).

It was a bit on the quiet side -- but that was very relaxing. A *very* comfortable room, and fairly intimate, too. (I'd estimate about 50 seats downstairs. Another couple of dozen, at most, upstairs.)

Note, however: Apparently Chef Power intends to transition, in the near future, to a prix fixe menu, at approximately an Obelisk/Palena price point (i.e., a bit less than Komi, but this restaurant isn't aiming at anything so elaborate). This will encourage nice, long, leisurely dinners, with a menu that might be quite different from the current one, which largely reflects some of the old stand-bys from the Sheraton. I'd bet it will be a very successful change of pace, and reservations will be even *harder* to come by (especially with the Convention Center next door); but in the meantime, the current incarnation has all the pluses, and none of the minuses (the room) of the "old" Corduroy. Highly recommended.

Come to think of it, it has been a long time since I've had a truly great bowl of Pho anywhere (December 16th, 2007, to be exact). Need.

Pho Hot. Annandale.

Marty, have you been to Kinkead's to compare the whole belly clams or the lobster roll? I look forward to trying the Tackle Box next Thursday since Friday I'll be driving through Kittery and have stopped at Bob's annually since the early '80's. For myself I believe that D. C. has a need for a place like this as much as a need for great deli and great pizza. Regardless of how this compares I applaud the effort.

Joe: Excellent comparisons. Based on *one* meal at the TB, I'd say the clams are *almost* as good as the ones at Bob's in Kittery -- probably as good as you can get in this area, due to the requisite travel time. But you get more of them at Bob's than in the Maine Meal here -- understandable, in light of the rents, but still. That's why I advise on ordering a la carte here. I only had the clams once at Kinkead's, about two years ago, and they were not nearly as good as Bob's or the TB (greasy, not especially flavorful); but I have no idea whether that was an abberation or was typical of Kinkead's (at least at that time).

What I wrote over on CH:

Was there for lunch yesterday. Has the potential to be a great, and much needed, spot, so long as Barton Seaver closely superintends the quality and consistency, which I imagine he will, since it's right next door to Hook. (Great frying, for example, is a matter of perfect timing and lots of changes of oil, either or both of which could slip very quickly without constant vigilance.)

The belly clams were terrific, if not quite as plump and fresh (understandably) as what one gets at the best clam shacks in New England. Even better was the grilled calamari, which had a wonderful smoky flavor. Very good, if not life-changing, collards, too. Mac & cheese was ok -- nothing to write home about. I also heard others raving about the steamers and the lobster roll, which certainly *looked* good.

My only complaint was that in the "Maine Meals," the portion size of the seafood is a bit skimpy for the price -- certainly far less than one would get in those aforementioned crab shacks (which do not, of course, have to deal with Georgetown rents).

The "sides" of seafood, on the other hand (labeled as "appetizers," I think, although I might be misremembering), appear to be at least as large as the portions on the MMs, and are considerably less expensive. So, for now anyway, I think I'd advise ordering one or two seafood dishes, standing alone (and depending on your hunger quotient!), and a side of, say, greens, if you are so inclined.

Agreed -- that treatment was inexcusable. But I think it's important to add that it's anomalous. Generally, the servers and "managers" (the hosts?) are extraordinarily gracious and helpful, and friendly, often under great pressure. It's part of what makes 2 Amys such an (almost) perfect neighborhood restaurant. Which is not to say that they're perfect -- no one is. And your experience last week actually reflects the restaurant's primary fault -- that although the pizzas are *usually* fabulous, there is too much inconsistency in both directions (over- and under-baked) in the post-MacQuaid era. I think the variables are (i) how slammed the restaurant is and (ii) who is manning the oven. There are one or two guys there who are reliable, and when I see them I'm confident of a good pie; others seem not to be able to regulate the timing and temperature adequately.

it was not crowded, either, when our pizzas emerged from the oven, so maybe they were having problems getting it going or there was some dirt on the floor. we ate one pizza, half-burnt, beyond char, but the second was well past saving, and the commotion began when our server, who had neglected our table entirely once the pizzas were presented (by the manager, who threw them down, grabbed our appetizer plates and ran off without replacing them), asked if we wanted the pizza wrapped up to take home. the manager actually returned to the table with the pizza to show us there was nothing wrong with it, and i had to flip it over to show her. this escalated into what in another restaurant might have been taken for a shouting match, except that the place had filled up by then and the dining room had turned into the playground it usually is. her final question: what to you want? my response: i don't want to pay for the pizza. actually, we would have been well within our rights to reject the first pizza as well, and we shouldn't have eaten it because the bitter taste of it lingered for some time.

we live close by and the only thing i don't like about 2 amys is that it gets too crowded and we have to be strategic about when we arrive if we don't want to wait -- the same thing that can be said about a lot of good, or even better than good, restaurants, such as palena cafe. however, i really don't enjoy confrontations like this -- i have only had maybe half a dozen of them at restaurants in my entire life. all i had been expecting when i talked to the server was for the pizza to be taken off the bill -- not to be dressed down and basically told that we were the ones with the problem. i was reading last week that this is a pizza factory. i would agree, but it is the best pizza factory around. i understand that things can go wrong, and it didn't even bother me that the place was at least slightly out of control while we were there, which i was able to observe the minute we walked through the door. afterwards, we went home and watched dogs on television for two hours and it reminded me of the dynamics that had wrecked our meal at 2 amys. it's a people problem, i was one of the people, i'll admit it, but it is going to take me a long while before i feel up to returning to this place.

Bethesda: Chicken on the Run. And the same folks will soon have another location, named "Don Pollo," in the space on Wisconsin where Chesapeake Chicken used to be.

I am trying to come up with a comprehensive list of Peruvian Chicken joints in suburban Maryland (not NoVa, not DC, Maryland, folks). I have been browsing the internet looking for as many as I can find and I would appreciate it if folks could confirm names, locations, current existences of this list (see below) as well as any names and addresses of places that I am missing. Ideally I am looking for those places in Montgomery County and Prince George's County, but any Maryland located joint will do.

TIA!

Wheaton:

o Pio Pio (need address)

o Super Chicken (need address)

o Country Chicken Pollo Sabrosa - Grandview Ave. (need actual address)

o Chicken Place - University just east of GA (need actual address)

o Crisp & Juicy - Westfield Wheaton Plaza Mall at University and Veir's Mill (need actual address)

Four Corners:

o Polleria Trujillo - Colesville Rd/29@University (need address)

Piney Branch:

o La Pollera - 8736 Piney Br. Rd, just S. of university

o El Sabroso - Flower and Piney Branch (need actual address)

Langley Park/Grennbelt:

o Chicken Rico - new strip shop center on University E. of NH (need actual address)

o Pollo Casero - SW corner Riggs and University in shopping center (need actual address)

o Senor Chicken - NW corner University and NH in big shopping center (need actual address)

Rockville

o Crisp & Juicy – Next to Penzey’s? (need actual address)

o Unknown Name – At 355 & Rt 28 near IHOP – next to a Latin restaurant (need name and address)

o El Pollo Primo - (Need Address)

o The Nibbler – by MoCo Airpark (Need address)

Silver Spring

o Crisp & Juicy - East-West Hwy and Colesville Rd. (Need actual address)

o Inka Pollo - on Georgia Avenue, in the little strip mall across from the Staples (need actual address)

Laurel

o Megachicken on Rt 198 near BW Parkway

Owings Mills

o Que Rico on Reisterstown Road

Some of those Cherry Blossomers might be out of towners who have a vote for Beard; he's nominated for a national award which only leaves judges several weeks to visit the restaurants. Closing to the public on a Saturday night during one of a handful of available nights....

Joe, with all respect, I don't quite understand this. In the ordinary course, both "Cherry Blossomers" and the rest of the public would not be able to walk into Komi off the street and be served -- it is booked with reservations for every evening it is open, especially on weekends. OK, so in this case a single party -- presumably many, many weeks or months ago -- booked all the tables for one evening, rather than having those tables booked by three or four dozen distinct parties -- again, well in advance. In both cases, if you had called up for a reservation a week ago, you would have been told "Sorry, we're booked; can I interest you in a table for [first available date]?"

What's the problem? The distinction?

The rack of lamb chops at Ray's the Classics, with a glass of their Australian shiraz. Truly, perhaps the best lamb chops I've ever had. Still, it's hard not to recommend one of the bar specials, which are ridiculous deals.

The Bar at Palena -- but then, it's across the street and therefore presumably there's some reason you haven't chosen it yourself already.

Hi folks,

My daughter turns 15 today wanted to take her out for dinner. She does not have any preference for any particular cuisine. she does not want Indian as she has them very often at home and at her dad's restaurants. She has asked me to surprise her. She has bad allergies to peanuts, coconut and cashew nuts. Any recommendations? Any where in the Washington Metropolitan area.... Moderate to Expensive - but not too expensive...

Cheers!

Vinod

www.indique.com

www.indiqueheights.com

www.chefvinod.com

There's no comparison. Mendocino is a very good meal. Blue Hill is several levels beyond that (and more expensive). If you're in DC, I'd say Komi or Palena (or CityZen, presumably, but I haven't been there).

I love Teddy's Roti Shop in Silver Spring. Negril is a local favorite with branches in Silver Spring and the U St/Georgia area but I don't think they do as well as Teddy's.

I agree about Teddy's, but I'm fairly sure it's closed for now (and he didn't last long in the new location near the SS Metro). Negril is also good. But perhaps the best I've had recently is at a hole-in-the-wall on North Capitol, Jam Doung Style. jamdoungstyle.com

I wonder if there has been some significant change in staff in the kitchen. It is certainly a downer to hear all these negative reports.

Well, yes. When Edan MacQuaid was pizzaiolo, his pies were almost always perfect. There's less consistency now. Some of the folks manning the oven know how to manage the pies; others, less so. I don't know whether there are particular days or times of day when your odds are better. In light of his track record and the fact that he cares about how his pizzas are served, I wouldn't be surprised if Peter Pastan achieves the proper consistency soon. In the meantime, it's a good excuse to focus more on the bar items, meats and small plates, which are generally superb.

And while we're at it, can anyone confirm that the Virginia Full Kee is now completely unrelated to the DC Full Kee?

Yes, they're now unrelated in the sense of no common management or kitchen. Obviously, however, they derive from common owners/chefs, and so the menus and recipes are largely similar. Of course, as with all such splits, differences will become more pronounced as time goes on.

A friend just called for reservations and reports being told that RTC would be reopening in a couple of weeks after some freshening up. Let's hope that's correct!

Just a heads up--after service on New Year's Eve, beginning on January 1, Ray's The Classics will be closed for a hiatus of undetermined duration.

Michael: I hope everything's ok. Can you perchance answer this? Last week I gave someone a gift certificate to RTC. Are they safe holding onto it? (They live a few blocks away from RTC, and therefore RTS is something of a schlep.) Or should they try to get a reservation for the next couple of days? Thanks

Dean. was this at 88 Shabu-squared, or at 66?

Bob's has Juicy Pork Buns otherwise known as soup dumplings in the Gold Zimmerman family. Very nicely done too and a bargain at 6 for $4.95. Thin wrappers, goodly amount of soup in them, lacking the greasiness of the ones at Chinatown express on recent visits. The dipping sauce is particularly zippy dark soy, vinegar and lots of shredded fresh ginger. Not quite as good as the best of NYC but damned good indeed.

Lion's head was better than ever. Cukes in fresh garlic a very light and refreshing version: freshly cut chunks of cuke with a garlic & soy dressing with a nice space balance. What surprised most, both because we got it without ordering and because of how good it was, was the hot & sour soup. Chock full of Szechuan pickled veggie, lots of shredded chewy things of indeterminate origin in a dark thickened broth spiked with vinegar and just a little white pepper (I could have used more). One of the best versions of this so often cliched soup I have had. Seafood Spicy Combo soup with noodled suffered from overcooked squid but was otherwise a nice bowl of spicy red broth with lots of head on shrimp and scallops, perfectly cooked, and lots of shredded onions with a crunchy sweetness on a bed of round noodles.

With a large sake, it was all of $36 (the mistakenly delivered H&S soup was free) and we have a bag full of stuff for breakfast today in the fridge. The stuff is int he fridge, we will not be breakfasting there!

Perhaps this thread should be split in two. There are no longer any connections between the Bailey's Crossroads and H Street Full Kees. They are both derived from a common owner, but except for some obvious overlap in the traditional Cantonese menu, there is not any reason to think the food, service, etc., at one will be representative of the other. (Nor is either related to the "Full Key" in Wheaton -- except, again, for a common ancestor.)

I haven't been to the Virginia locale in a while. The H Street location has been very consistent of late, however.

Note to the management at the Bailey's Crossroads location:

If you're going to smoke in the kitchen (and it would be really nice if you didn't) you might want to do it somewhere so that customers in the restaurant can't see you. Oh, and you might also want to let the guy up front - the one who chops up the chicken and ducks - know that if he's going to sneak a piece or two of chicken (it is good), that he might need to wash his hands after he does that. Wiping them on the towel on the counter probably doesn't cut it from a health/hygiene perspective. Or, maybe he could come and eat it in that hidden spot that you find for your smoking.

YUCK!!

I've had decent dishes before (always carry-out) like the shrimp dumpling soup and some of the lunch specials, but the Beef and Chinese Broccoli with Chow Foon wasn't one of them. The noodles were separated from everything else - the everything else was a tasteless, brown gravy with too much corn starch in it along with some overcooked carrot slices, the chinese broccoli and some thick but tender slices of beef. There was nothing remotely interesting about any part of this dish (what little of it I ate).

I finally tried American Flatbread tonight. Nice place, good pizza -- excellent choice for dinner if you're on your way to or from Dulles -- but, on this night at least, not in the same league as 2 Amys. (And definitely skip the brownie for dessert.)

I've now had pizza from six of the majors in the past few weeks. 2 Amys remains clearly supreme, I think -- and the pizzas aren't even the best things there on most nights (sometimes not one of the five best things there -- the ice cream; the rabbit; the goat cheeses; the meats; the panini; etc.). Pizzeria Paradiso Georgetown has actually been pretty good for me the few times I've been there -- and the Atomica remains a singular fave. Tried Red Rocks once, on a night Edan MacQuaid wasn't there -- and I thought it was very good, almost in the 2 Amys class for crust; not quite the same level of quality toppings. I've had an excellent pizza at Comet -- and an execrable (way oversalted) one. I think we have a consensus that it's the least consistent of the frontrunners. And my pizza at Bebo (no, RD was not there) was horrible -- crust had no taste whatsoever, and arugula and onions on top were insipid. I do not doubt for a second that Roberto Donna can make a world-class pizza. He's great at so many other things, too. But the service and consistency at his restaurants -- i.e., everything over which he does not have immediate, personal control -- is laughable (as in, I actually laughed because I thought the staff was trying to outdo its bottom-dwelling reputation). When he's hands' on -- Laboratorio, the Galileo lunch sandwiches, pizza for Joe -- there may be none better. But what are the odds you'll be so lucky at Bebo?