PollyG

Dolce & You would be a nice place to meet someone to catch up over coffee. While the coffee is relatively expensive, about $3.95, it is served with a small square of pastry, a mini madeline, and a sugar-crystal studded stirring stick. In my book, that is way better than a 1500 calorie latte extravaganza from $tarbuck$.

The spouse and I had about the same reaction to Dolce &You--"why wasn't a place like this around when we were dating?"

Special bonus: If you purchase one of their cakes to go, it comes in a sturdier-than-usual box prominently labeled "Fancy Cake" and they provide a plastic cake knife. We're easily amused.

Super H and my local Korean meat place don't seem to carry the hanging tenders anymore. Has anyone seen them at any otheer Korean market? Thanks!

Some of the Grandmarts carry them. My Sterling Grandmart dropped them, but the E-mart/International Foods (Grandmart) in Reston Tall Oaks had them the last time I looked. My freezer is stocked with several, trimmed and separated prior to freezing. We like to use a teriyaki marinade (soy, sake, honey, ginger, & garlic) and then grill about 3-4 minutes per side, leaving them quite red inside.

Happily, my in-laws were just passing through and didn't see the health inspection results. They enjoyed a very nice late lunch and were really wowed by the food. Rather than go with any of the suggestions from the reviews we'd armed them with, they got help from their waitress. That could have been a disaster, as they're in their 70's and don't look like the kind of people who enjoy food adventures. They managed to convey that they do enjoy spicy food.

She steered them to Sizzling Rice with Seafood Soup, Chicken with Bell Peppers in Hot Pot, and Braised Beef with Tomato and Curry Sauce in Pot. They didn't have much to say about the soup other than to describe the ingredients. The chicken with bell peppers was also laced with sichuan peppercorns and appears to have been served on a platter rather than in a hot pot. The braised beef dish was more of a thick stew, and was more subtle than the chicken.

They'll be going back again.

Great Wall had lobsters at $5.99 a pound about 2 weeks ago, as well.

I think A&J is too small for what you are planning. We love A&J and are there at least once a month, but it is not dim sum as most people think of dim sum. It is small plates, no carts, and no seafood. This is Northern Chinese, from the wheat-growing inland regions, so it is more noodle than rice. Many of the most delicious dishes are probably too "strange" for a 40 person gathering, particularly if they're not all food adventurers. Let's put it this way: our parents, who are well-traveled and fans of Hong Kong style dim sum, aren't thrilled with A&J.

Try a scouting trip and be sure to order:

pan fried pork dumplings (8 to an order)

won tons in spicy sauce

beef and pickled long bean

cucumber salad

There is no plain sliced pan-fried turnip cake--the turnip pastry is in flaky dough if I remember correctly.

October 18-19 is the annual St. Mary's Oyster Festival.

http://www.usoysterfest.com/

We went there years ago and it was a low-key event with plenty of different ways to eat oysters. Our favorite preparation involved dredging in cornmeal and frying.

Oh, one more thing. Did they give you the sawgrass? The last couple of times I have been there it was absent.

You are going to have to ask for the sawgrass or sawtooth leaf. Some of the waitstaff have language issues so you may need to be more descriptive. When you ask for it, you get a pretty generous portion. The only time I got it without asking was on our first trip back in 2006.

I'm headed to Pho Hot tonight for dinner. I called to find out what time they close and based on the answer, 11:30, I'm concerned we had a communication issue. Anyone know what time they really close? This is Annandale...

It is possible they are open until 11:30 pm. They are certainly open fairly late. They are absolutely, positively, NOT a lunch-only operation.

In case anyone cares, Bistro 123 has closed and is now a Neisha.

Does that mean Neisha has expanded? There was a Bistro 123 next door to Neisha, though there may have been a nail salon/laser hair removal place between.

We're on Maui now and while Sansei was excellent and we may return, the restaurant that has blown us away in terms of quality and value is Izakaya Matsu in the ocean-side of Azeka Place in Kihei. This place should be packed to its tiny gills. It has all of 6 tables and about a dozen bar-type seats left over from its former incarnation as a shabu-shabu shop. The menu is extensive enough to make you suspicious that they went for variety rather than quality, but everything is good to outstanding. Most of the menu is small dishes, though you could order a sashimi bowl or sushi platter if you weren't distracted by at least a dozen likely choices on the menu. The balance is about 30/70 raw/cooked.

On our two visits so far, we paid less than we would for a comparable meal in the DC area. The waitstaff are friendly and efficient, too!

I'm also interested in recipes. I've read the old gelato thread (that starts with caramel pecan and Lewes Dairy) and will acquire a copy of The Perfect Scoop.

This year, for Passover, I made charoseth ice cream, using one of the B&J bases, Penzey's Vietnamese cinnamon, half a can of apple pie filling, rinsed to remove goo, and a small amount of Concord Grape wine. I served it in tiny balls inside a hollowed out persimmon, with persimmon balls as well. It was a big hit. (We make Sephardic charoseth, using dates and figs, for the actual meal, because everyone prefers it to the old apple/walnut stuff.)

For sorbets, I puree fresh fruit and add simple syrup to taste and texture, with a teaspoon of rum or vodka to prevent it from freezing too hard. The peach sorbet I made this way was particularly stunning.

Just about everything I've read on the program points to one reason for its success -- Alice Waters. And there aren't many people out there with her kind of access, pull and resources.

And her kitchen skills. I have no doubt whatsoever that the cafeteria crew at my child's elementary school could take fresh, organic ingredients, and cook them into tasteless mush. For the past two years, I've attended the Thanksgiving lunch at her school, which seems to be specifically designed to convince parents to pack lunch for their kids. I can only assume that they're trying to show off for the parents, but the overcooked green beans are the most edible item on the platter. My kid's a potatovore, but even she won't touch their mashed potatoes. And let's not get into the vile scraps of turkey drowned in some brown stuff.

She even concluded recently that the frozen pizza served on Fridays isn't good and is now at 100% lunches from home.

I really feel for the kids in the free lunch program. They deserve better.

If we are going to reform the school lunch program, drastically improved cooking skills are required.

When we went to Kam Sam this morning after lunch at A&J, I immediately noticed some suspiciously bare shelves. A chat with the cash register staff confirmed it--they are closing the Annandale location after June and not reopening. The Rockville location will remain.

There is still plenty of food left, and there are some markdowns. The tableware has been marked down, and been pretty thoroughly picked-over, though there are utensils and such left.

I'm hoping this doesn't mean bad news for A&J---back in 2004, someone reported on Chowhound that the A&J location was rented from Kam Sam.

Has no one else been here yet? Must I be the first? Don wanna meet the familia for a beer and crabs?

We had a small chowhound gathering a few weeks ago--results were mixed. The Vietnamese dishes were pretty good, the plain seafood, less so. I have relatives in Louisiana and have eaten at crawfish houses several times; the crawfish were just not up to Cajun snuff. They were too waterlogged.

Has anyone been to Teocalli Tamale recently?

The place seems to have changed a fair amount: the tables and floor are the same, but there are lots of pictures of different types of food above the old food-service counter.

While there are exceptions, I take the whole pictures-of-the-food thing as a sign that caution may be required.

So, is it the same, or has something major changed? (And more importantly is it still tasty?)

(me, making a rare food-related post, who knew?!?)

We're still going there once a quarter or so. I believe they may have changed ownership, possibly combining with one of the other restaurants in the K-mart plaza. The original menu is still intact, and still just as delicious, but they're also offering a lot of what I believe are Salvadoran dishes. Generally, it seems to be a good addition, particularly at dinner time.

The pictures-of-food thing may be to (1) help out some marginally literate diners and (2) help some literate but confused-about-what's in a dish diners.

Had to look this place up on DR.com, as I happened to be thumbing through the latest Roadfood guide (pub. 2008) at a bookstore. Of the 10 picks for Virginia, one is still the Fairfax location of Chutzpah. Never even heard of the place before, but it sounds like it doesn't live up to the Sterns' hype.

We had lunch at the Tyson's location on Sunday. They were perhaps 1/4 full, but this did not stop the kitchen from taking an inexplicably long time to fill our simple orders. The potato knish was made with red-skinned potatoes, including skin--definitely NOT traditional. My cheese blintzes were oddly gritty, as if someone had used dried ricotta cheese. Grandma Emma's were much, much better. Not sure what was wrong with the sticky cinnamon bun, but when an 8 year-old doesn't take more than 2 bites of something sweet like that, it isn't a good sign.

The Lemon Ice King in Corona is nearly as good as ever---I could swear that when I was last there (in a prior century), the lemon ice had bits of lemon in it, absent this time. I tasted the lemon, mango, cantalope, and chocolate. The chocolate and cantalope were my favorites; the lemon wasn't as assertive in its flavoring. (Note that the Ice King doesn't give tastes or mix flavors in one cup. We were a group of 5).

I love the reasonable portion sizes and intense flavoring. Rita's Philadelphia Water Ice doesn't even come close.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't ever recall the eggs tasting anything other than like...eggs? Are they or have they tasted better or differently? Admittedly, the good ones have more of a melted center, but most of the time this dish just takes on with what it's seasoned. I was just curious.

Unless you participate in a XLB-mouth-stuffing record. I don't know why this just reminded me of it, but my brother managed to stuff 6 in his mouth once. I don't think he felt his tongue for a long while after that....

I do enjoy going to A&J, though mostly I go to the one in Annandale. People say that Rockville's is better, but I haven't been there yet. Is there a huge difference in taste/presentation for those who have been to both?

The dining room in Rockville is slightly bigger. The food preparation is remarkably similar.

Neisha is generally an acceptable restaurant for last-minute Thai take-out cravings. Their Passion Beef is a pretty good entree, although more often than not, comes out chewier than one would hope for something that has been marinating for three days. I actually haven't ordered from there in a while, so I'm not sure if the quality remains roughly the same or is headed downhill...

Neisha Tysons has become the Thai delivery of choice in my office, which provides lunch for us on Wednesdays. They have a few dishes that are standouts---the Yum Eggplant appetizer is my single favorite eggplant dish anywhere, hands down. The leaf-wrapped dishes are also good, though a bit awkward to eat. They do a good job on hoi obb (lemongrass steamed mussels), though I haven't had those delivered. On the whole, the appetizer menu is probably a bit stronger than the mains, but the main courses with seafood and cellophane noodles are generally winners.

Considering how fusiony some of the dish presentations are in the restaurant, some of the dishes are surprisingly spicy.

Our last encounter with live music there was a few months ago. It was a pleasant enough flute and acoustic guitar duo, playing snippets of classical music. A suspiciously high number of their selections appeared in books 3 and 4 of Suzuki method violin lessons.

Can anyone point me in the direction of a restaurant or market that serves or sells Kakigori?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kakigori

Thanks.

Temari Cafe in Rockville serves it. (1043 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852)

Temari is a gem.

Pho Hot in Annandale serves plump, moist wings Asian-style, without sauce. I've always had them served so hot from the fryer that we need to let them cool a bit. You could douse them in rooster sauce at the table next time you're satisfying your craving for pho and wings or just bring your favorite sauce. They also have one of the best phos in the area, so it is an all-around winner.

Myself, being Korean would pick WLO as my favorite Korean restaurant in DC metropolitan area. Foremost, I don't think that there are any Korean restaurants that serve the quality/grade of beef--which explains why they don't have to guise the quality by overpowering it with the marinade and msg. Second, pyong yang naeng myun is as close to authentic as you can get in the US (close comparsion to the the flagship WLO in Seoul) and third, they do not recycle their banchan. As for non-Kalbee/naemg myun dishes, it is probably best to go to "specialty" restaurants, for example, Vit Goel for sundubu, etc.

As it turned out, I need not have worried about what to order at Woo Lae Oak last week---my client did all the ordering and we ate family style. We had kalbi and jap chae. The kalbi was cut into cubes, which was the first time I've had it in cubes rather than slices. The upside was that it was nice and pink inside; the downside was that it didn't have as much of the bouncy texture I enjoy in most versions of this dish. The jap chae may have had the most deeply flavored noodles I've ever had in this dish; they had really soaked up some broth. I also liked the tiny slices of baby bok choy (or similar green, I'm not positive of my green skills), which were not overcooked.

I think there actually is a contender for quality of kalbi beef in the area. Soowon Galbi (14102 Lee Highway, Centreville,) has the most highly marbled pieces of kalbi I've ever seen. They grill on a wire screen and the fat just melts into the meat.

Not sure why people (koreans) go to WLO in tysons. Once was enough for me.

It's a business meal being arranged by a Korean company. I know that one thing that makes it attractive to my client is that they have a more private back room for business discussions, and some sort of VIP status for companies who use them frequently. The Korean breakfasts for breakfast meetings are also attractive to my client.

It looks as though I have a business meal at Woo Lae Oak this week or next week. Which dishes do they do particularly well? I'm very familiar with Korean food, just not with their execution of the dishes.

This is a pre-Passover Public Service Message.

Should you choose to make fresh grated horseradish in your blender, do not open the blender lid and look inside to see how fine the dice has gotten. Take the blender outside, remove the lid, and run away. Only after the fumes have dispersed can you safely look inside.

The first time I made horseradish sauce, I looked inside the blender. I knew not to inhale. As best I remember it, one moment I was peeking into the blender, and the next, I had teleported about 5 feet and made a 180 degree turn to find myself on my knees, hanging onto a large trash can, and gasping.

These days we trim the root and have people microplane fresh gratings at the table.