Adam23
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Ithaca Quick trip up to the Finger Lakes this weekend. Had dinner at Maxies in Ithaca and still superb. Wonderful, flavorful crab and corn chowder. Also had two nice lunches. One lunch at the Copper Oven at the Cyauga Ridge Estate Winery. It is outdoor seating only and I think next week is the last weekend. Basically they specialize in flatbreads/pizzas all featuring "hyper-local" ingredients. We had a nice flatbread with cheddar, roasted cualiflower and curry sauce. It was fabulous. Also had a very nice charcuterie plate. The other lunch was at the Piggery, a new butcher and sandwich place in Ithaca. We had a great pastrami ruben. Highly recommend it for a good quality sandwich. Lastly, we hit up the Ithaca Farmers Market and had some delightful Cambodian food and hard ciders.
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Ithaca Is your conference at the Statler? If so, the food isn't bad. We are going up to Ithaca later this week, but I would do one dinner at Maxies (wonderful creole food) and one dinner at Just a Taste (tapas). For lunch, Collegetown Bagels (sandwiches, bagels) is very good and the Cornell dining halls are actually pretty good. If you are going up to Taughnanock Falls to hike, Glenwood Pines is right near it. It is a dive but has a pretty good burger. Other options are Hazelnut Kitchen in Trumansburg which is wonderful farm to table food. Two newer places I havven't tried but heard good things about are The Piggery for sandwiches and Mercato Bar and Kitchen.
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As I have continued my quest to find out more information on this restaurant, it is sadly not Michael. The restaurant is being opened by the owners of the former PGA Tour Grill in Rockville. Anyone remember that place? -
Dining in Philadelphia
Adam23 replied to bookluvingbabe's topic in Philadelphia Restaurants and Dining
Back from a quick weekend in Philly. Morimoto for lunch. Very nice sushi but I didn't find it to be much better than the better Sushi restaurants in DC. Bibou for Dinner - Superb french food BYOB. The Philly critics says it is one of the top places in town and I tend to agree. Had some delightful, tender escargot with wild mushrooms and a very nice poached short rib which was extremely tender and full of flavor. My wife had a a nice perfectly cooked brill filet and a starter of foie mousse and seared foie. Both excellent. Execution and taste of the food was nearly perfect. Highly recommended. - Brunch/Lunch - Kanella - This is one of our favorites and we keep coming back. I would kill for a restaurant like this in DC. Amazing, fresh, delicious Cretian, jewish-influenced food. I had a wonderful house made merguez with eggs and yogurt. Wonderfully flavored and spicy. My wife had shakshouka which was great. We also had a soup called trahana which I had never had before. It was truly outstanding, one of the better things I have eaten this year. The soup is basically wheat, veges and yogurt that is mixed, fermented and dried. It was then reconstituted with a bit of milk and other stuff. Great, delicious soup. - Dinner at Zahav. It was restaurant week in Philly but Zahava was great. A nice mezze came out with pickled vegetables, baba ganouj, hummus and other delights. The fresh cooked lavash was very good. We had too many items to list, but the kibbe naya and hosue smoked sable were particularly good. Overall a wonderful trip to Philly. -
There has been a lot of upward movement in the price of the top restaurants over the past year or so. Vetri and Le Bec Fin 2.0 are up to $155 in Philly. When we went to "e" in vegas last year it was $195, so this isn't hugely surprising this is clocking in at $225 a person. I will say "e" was one of the best meals i've ever had and was a very fun experience so im inclined to try the new minibar to see how it compares. I really have no doubt minibar will be packed with diners for some time.
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Yours sounds quite different and makes me want to try it again. My crust was hard, dense and nothing like a pie crust. Not flaky at all. It was a chore to eat. I'll re-order next time i'm in and report back.
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Was walking down Wisconsin Ave today and there was a sign for "Firelake Grill" opening soon in the old Ruby Tuesday's space at Wisconsin and Van Ness. The contractor who is renovating the space is the same one who worked on all of the various Ray's restaurants. Is it possible Michael Landrum is opening in Upper NW? (Which would be the best thing to happen to this neighborhood in a long time). Anyone have any info?
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I had the Timpano about 2 months ago on a recommendation. I thought the Timpano was ok. It was somewhat bland and the crust made it rather difficult to eat. It was very filling though. I've been to Al Dente a number of times and the Timpano was my least favorite dish. Most everything else I have had has been excellent.
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Looks like they are opening a location in the old Jerry's space in Van Ness. Or I assume it is them since it has the same name. Very excited.
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Uptown Tap House opened last night in the old 4P's space in Cleveland Park. The decor is pretty much the same as the 4P's. It isn't clear they really did much work other than install a few fans and replace the signage. UTH is owned by McFaddens/Sign of Whale people. The restaurant held a neighborhood night last night offering a "3-Course Tasting Menu" and free Champagne. I'm pretty confident the champagne had never seen France, but i'm happy to take free alcohol. Not surprisingly, the restaurant staff was overwhelmed, and sadlythe kitchen ran out of many of the food items by our reservation time, so our tasting menu of the house specialties was severely limited. (I was eyeing those big ribeyes that were going out, but never got one.) Items we had: - Fried chicken salad - A few pieces of chicken fingers on top of some iceberg lettuce. - Spinach and Artichoke dip - They ran out of chips, so a quick trip to CVS alleviated the issue. Tasted like the spinach and artichoke dip that ever bar in town serves. - Crab cakes - Easily the best item of the evening - I found them to be rather good - lots of crab, not too much filler. Really pretty tasty and a good size. - Seared salmon - Sad overcooked piece of salmon on top of some overcooked spinach. - Lots of cheesecake Overall, pretty much uninspired bar fare. It will be interesting to see what the owners plan to do with the space and food, but as of now, you can't really compare the food to that offered at many of the neighboring bars on the Cleveland Park strip.
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Given it is August, street parking should be easy. When we got there around 830 last night, 9th had tons of empty spots right near the restaurant.
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Did a quick weekend up to Portland for a wedding and had some great food. First stop off the plane was Bite of Maine, a food truck specializing in lobster rolls at Ft. Williams park. Beautiful surroundings and superb lobster rolls. Highly recommended. We did happy hour one day ate at Eventide Oyster Co, a new Oyster place in town. The restaurant was packed. They had a selection of about 15 different oysters, all of which were superb. We also had a delicious lemon cured bluefish and a superb local squid salad (one of the best things I have eaten all year - superb, tender, delicious squid). We hit up Duckfat for poutine, beignets and a milk shake which was delicious. I wish there was somewhere like this in DC. We had dinner one night at Emilitsa, a greek restaurant in Portland. The food was superb, among the best greek food I have had in a while. A highlight was the moussaka - so delicious and the eggplant so tender. The highlight of all of our eating was sushi at Miyake before our plane home. Easily the best sushi I have ever had and light-years ahead of anything in DC. Every single item was delicious, most outstanding. Standouts were the maine lobster roll and the lobster/truffle roll. I would consider taking a trip up to Portland just to dine here again.
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One or two emails here. Oh well.
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Just back from a quick trip to New Orleans. Decided to check out R&O referenced in this article as the best. The sandwich was very very very good. One of the better sandwiches i've had in a while. Great bread and the roast beef was flavorful and delicious. Highly recommended. Other highlight was Couchon Butcher. Had a pastrami reuben and a cubano. Pastrami sandwich was easily in my top three ever. So good. The cubano was delicious as well. Highly recommended.
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I would disagree with the ranking. My coworkers and I were in last week for sandwiches and thought they were rather bad. I had the Kentucky sandwich which was mediocre at best, other than the bread which was good and the bacon which was good and crisp. The fried chicken had little or no batter, it was ridiculously spicy and the meat was stringy. The sandwich had one mushroom on it. My coworkers both had the chicken bahn mi. Both declared the chicken on it inedible and proceeded to throw out the sandwiches. I didn't have a chance to try their sandwiches but both said the chicken tasted off. The fries that were served with the sandwiches were sad soggy and cold fries. They could theoreticallty be good, but they were reminiscent of Five Guys on a bad day. We all agreed to give the place another shot, hoping this was a very off day. I'll report back.
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876 Cafe in the old Indian Ocean space opens tonight. http://876cafe.com
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Supposedly today is the last day Tackle Box will be open in Cleve Park.
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First visit to VF&G over the weekend. I must say it appears I dined at a different restaurant than many of the other reviewers. I had a truly good meal which I thought was an exceptional value for the food quality and portions we received. My guests and I split the calamari and the deviled eggs for starters. The calamari, as noted here, was outstanding. Perfectly crisp and cooked well, lots of tentacles and a large portion. The deviled eggs seemed ok (I don't really like them in general, so I won't comment), but the others enjoyed them. For mains I had the corned beef sandwich, my one guest had the smoked haddock chowder and the other guest had the roasted chicken. The corned beef came with a small salad and fresh-made potato chips. I thought the corned beef, while not jewish-style, was tender and outstanding. The style was more like brisket on a sandwich than corned beef. The salad was nice and lightly dressed and the chips were very good. It was a hearty meal for $9. The smoked haddock chowder my guest had was very good. The bowl was filled with shrimp, salmon, haddock, clams and oysters. The broth was a bit heavy with dill flavor, but overall it was a rich and hearty chowder. For $15 it seemed like a steal. Lastly, the roasted chicken was a half of chicken served with a salad and fries. The fries were the same as those served at Eammons and were hot and crisp. The chicken was very good. A very nice crisp skin, very juicy meat, and it was coated with some sort of light sweet sauce which was nice. Probably not as good as Palena's chicken but still very good. The portion was huge and made for a nice dinner last night. We finished sharing a slice of German Chocolate Cake which was enjoyable - moist, rather dense and heavy on the coconut. I didn't find the prices on the beer list to be particularly offensive and the beer list was very large. The decor as other have noted is gorgeous. Service was good and attentive, with a touch of "Eve Cockyness" that Armstrong's restaurants have. Overall, a superb meal and i'll be back many many times.
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I have to disagree with this. The point of restaurant week for me is to try food and figure out if I want to go back to that restaurant in the future. If a restaurant can't put their best foot forward, why bother participating. I've had plenty of superb restaurant week meals - Dino was great, Tosca was outstanding, DC Coast has always been good, and even Acadiana last week was very good (and I loved the superb delicious gumbo). My experience at PassionFish (during restaurant week) was eh. The mains seemed solid and high quality, but my crab and corn chowder was a sorry, bland excuse for a chowder. I'll likely give PassionFish another try if i'm out in Reston but my experience is making me rush back.
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Spring/summer 2012. They are in the process of getting the permits and everything now. -- All the little things I do as moderator that go unnoticed ...
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As mentioned here about a year ago, Barry Koslow is opening a Deli in Dupont next to Madhatter's. It is a partnership between him and Roadside Food Projects. The food will be kosher-style, but not kosher. Look for pastrami, corned beef, etc. all made in house. I've had the product a few times - it is excellent. Should be a good addition to Dupont.
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Got back from a Thanksgiving vacation in Vegas and hit up a number of places. Quick run-down: e by Jose Andres - Fabulous, superb, excellent. I was wowed. There is that thread elsewhere on here on whether Jose Andres is still a great chef. After our meal at e, I can say without hesitation, yes. Everything was great with some items bordering on superb. If you can score a reservation, I highly recommend it. Holsteins - Burger joint in the Cosmo. Lots of interesting burgers like a Korean kimchi burger and such. Pretty good, but rather expensive for what it is. I still prefer Burger Bar in the Mandalay Bay. Comme Ca - We went here for Thanksgiving dinner. Nice decor and good service, but food was rather bland. Central blows this place away for similar french-influenced food. Lotus of Siam - Excellent. Still is the best Thai food I have ever had. Superb stuffed chicken wings, delicious panang curry with short ribs and a lot of other delicious items my guests ordered. Plus a truly outstanding German Riseling wine list.
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Agree with this. Great sandwich. Amazingly not greasy. I could eat a few of these. And they travel well, unlike a hellburger. As for the comparison to a Philly cheesteak, there are probably only 2 or 3 places in my mind that are better than this in the Philly metro area (including Atlantic City). This easily sets the standard for the entire DC Metro area.
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Did a quick long weekend in Vancouver this past weekend and had some good to superb food. Quick overview: GUU Izakaya - Traditional Japanese izakaya. Hole in the wall, sort of crummy decor but really good small plates. Had some excellent food including some great grilled squid, tuna tataki and scallops. Several locations throughout Vancouver (each with a different type of menu). Yamato Sushi - Sushi is everywhere in Vancouver and the quality is exceptional and prices are cheap. Oddly, their rolls are rather large everywhere - probably twice the size as they are in the US - making it difficult to eat. This was a cheap place in Yaletown with an $8 special - soup, two rolls and sashimi for $8. Quality was as good, if not better than Susho Ko. Jade Seafood Restaurant - This was about 30 minutes outside Vancouver in Richmond. It is a massive chinese restaurant that is packed for dim sum on weekends. No carts - you order off a menu - but the offerings were excellent. Lots of unique dishes with a heavy emphasis on mushrooms. La Quercia - Mentioned above - Won a ton of awards this past year including another best restaurant award in Vancouver. Our experience was eh. The food was good but nothing particularly outstanding. The restaurant uses Barilla pasta instead of fresh (so does Buca di Beppo). Italian offerings in DC are much better - though 7 courses for $45, the current menu price, is a steal. The location is outside of the main Vanocuver downtown so rather difficult to get to. Blue Water + Cafe - Superb sushi and seafood. We pigged out on oysters, sushi and other seafood. This was by far the best restaurant on our trip and the seafood quality blew away anything in DC. Truly superb, excellent service and the place was entirely packed and jumping on a Sunday night.
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I've had grilled caesars many times - I think Palena had one for a while a few years back- I actually like the smokiness of grilled lettuce and grill it up at home sometimes.
