Mark Dedrick

This is our go-to spot before DC United and Washington Spirit matches. We're always able to grab seats at the bar, and the service is very good, and pre-match we get happy hour prices. I'll also note that a few months ago they expanded the Navy Yard location's menu, adding items that previously were just on the Shaw location menu.

Sounds like a delightful evening. We ate at Seki last week and also had a wonderful meal, as always. The pacing issue is key. We've found that it's best to have an opening salvo, then a second round, and then to reassess how we're feeling and what else we'd like. We always save the onigiri for last, because while delicious it will absolutely fill us up as I've learned in the past.

Sorry if this topic already exists, I couldn't find it! I've now eaten here twice, and I really like the place. I love Spanish food, and the type of food they do is very up my alley. The menu is divided into "raw bar", "from the fire" and "Let's Go". There's also a list of daily specials which include oysters and other items that would otherwise fit into the first two categories. It's a confusing set-up, but how we've navigated it both times is to get around two "Let's Go" for four people, and round the meal out with around four items from the other two categories. In both cases this yielded roughly the right amount of food, and as you'll notice if you check the menu, will also lead to a rather expensive tab. I think the food justifies the price, but it's good to go into this with your eyes open, particularly since they have billed this restaurant as not a fine dining destination. Standout dishes for me have been the Jonah Crab (basically crab rice), and the Ribeye from the "Let's Go!" section. The Hearth Veg from the "From the Fire" section are fantastic. And everything I've had from the raw bar or the daily specials car has been great.

Agree completely with this. The food is fantastic here, but the menu never changes. We dismissed going here out of hand recently as we'd just been.

We walked into this place on Friday night. They have an online system where you can add yourself to the waitlist and be texted when your table is ready. Do not use this. We signed up for this, then popped into Bar Elena for a cocktail. I kept checking the waitlist, and it didn't change. After our drink I walked over to the restaurant and checked, and was told that we could be seated immediately. We sat at the bar, where you can order a la carte. It was, across the board, a good experience once we were seated. Service was good, pastas were good. It felt expensive, but I think everywhere is expensive these days. We'll be back.

Last night we both had after work events, and ended up walking into Daru at 8:45. The place was packed, but they were able to seat us quickly indoors. The meal, again, was fantastic. This restaurant is firing on all cylinders right now.

Last time we ate there they definitely did, and I heard them mentioning it to other nearby tables as well.

I don't think there is a thread yet for this place and there should be! Daru is the closest restaurant to our house, and it is absolutely spectacular. It deserves all of the local and national attention it's getting. The cocktails and the food are exceptional, inventive, and fun. It can be quite challenging to book a reservation, but if you live in the neighborhood they don't take reservations for the patio, which means it can be relatively easy to walk in. I strongly recommend folks check this spot out, it is really good.

I've been back to Granville's a few times recently, and I think they're hitting on all cylinders. It very much reminds me of their glory days right now.

With the demise of Nooshi, we got takeout sushi from Sushi Capitol and it was both cheaper (big surprise) and better (not a surprise) than Nooshi. I still have never eaten there, but based on this experience I would very much like to.

Well, I hadn't been to the Monocle for many years but a friend suggested it for lunch a couple of weeks ago so I made my return. It was good? I had the crabcake sandwich, and enjoyed it. It was a nice crab cake. I'm going to put the Monocle back into my lunch rotation.

This pretty well sums up my feelings on this place as well. We had a very nice meal there, it was very pleasant, but nothing wowed me. The room is nice, however.

I take the bus by here every day, and the progress has been so slow.

Thanks for the update! We live just north of Lincoln Park, so this is great news for us. We've only tried their pizza once, via delivery, but really enjoyed it. Excited to give it another shot.

I would agree with this. I was shocked by some of his selections. Art and Soul is right by my office and we don't even consider it when going there for lunch or dinner for work. We gave it another shot earlier this year, and have no cycled it back out of our rotation. This was the restaurant I was most shocked to see in there. I like Andy's Pizza quite a bit, I think it's very good, and I like that they sell by the slice. I have no problem with it being in there.

A good friend got married last month in Oaxaca, and it gave us a good excuse to return to this gem of a city. We once again stayed at La Quinta Real, and it's a great hotel in a great location. As we had a lot of friends there who had never been, we also booked a mezcal tour out in the countryside with Alvin, and it was again wonderful. Strongly recommend him, and can pass his information along if you're interested. Some spots we visited this time around. As we were with friends who had never been there are repeats from earlier trips. Criollo - The night before the wedding we had a big group dinner here (ten people) which they were able to accommodate, and it was just perfect. We were seated outdoors in a space I hadn't been to before, and the whole night was great. It was Mexican Independence Day, so they had a special menu for that. In my estimation Enrique Olvera deserves his reputation. Origen - Origen was also fantastic. It's not as good as Criollo in my opinion, but it's also less fussy and more relaxed. If this place were in my neighborhood I would be there all of the time. Casa Oaxaca - Somehow I'd never been to this classic spot, and it deserves all of the praise it gets. They have a wonderful rooftop, and every dish we had was great. Great Mexican wine selection. Expendio Tradicion - We ended up here somewhat by accident, but it's a cool bar that has solid food. I'd likely come back here for the drinks (excellent cocktails and mezcal selection) rather than the food. Memelas Dona Vale - We watched Streed Food: Latin America, so we made our way to the Mercado Centro Abastos to find this food stall. It's an ordeal to walk there from the central part of town, and the market itself is absolutely huge and insane, but her memelas were just incredible, and one of the best things I have ever eaten in my life. Serveral times I turned to my wife asking "How is this so good?" It's so simple and so incredibly delicious, and I can't fully explain it. No need to add the meat, it is hard to deal with as you don't have any utensils, and it isn't necessary. The memelas are good as they are (both salsa morita and salsa roja are great. If forced to choose I'd go salsa morita but the great thing is you don't have to choose). Also, she closes up early, so don't wait too long to get there! Boulenc - This is a great bakery and cafe. It's a good spot to just pick up some coffee and a pastry to go, but the cafe is fantastic for sit down as well. I got their veggie "banh mi" which was great. Good spot for lunch, particularly if you want a bit of a change from "Mexican food" for one of your lunches. El Distelado - Very cool and chill bar with a nice mezcal selection, great bartenders and great cocktails. This would be my regular if I lived there.

We found ourselves back in Mexico last month for a wedding in Oaxaca. We ended up sandwiching a couple of days in Mexico City on the front end, and one evening there on the back end. We stayed at the Nima Local House, which is perhaps our favorite hotel there and which is very well located in the Roma neighborhood. We love Mexico City. Em - The fanciest meal of our time in Mexico City. This spot is actually open on Sunday evenings, which is a rarity in CDMX. The reservation process was somewhat confusing for me, but we ended up at the chef's counter looking directly into the kitchen. It was a fantastic meal and wonderful experience. Great food, great service, great beverage pairings. Would happily return. Loup Bar - This was another Sunday night, and Loup Bar produced a very nice meal of small plates. They have a wonderful wine selection as well. Ticuchi - Enrique Olvera's "casual" restaurant, in the Polanco (pretty sure it's in the original location of Pujol, but I couldn't confirm that). Great cocktails, and really good food and service. We really enjoyed our meal here, although I wish it wasn't quite so dark! I prefer to stay in the Roma if I can, but this spot was worth the trip (it helps that an Uber here costs like $3. Maximo Bistrot - We'd been before, but not in their new location (Em is in the old Maximo location). Great meal all around. Wonderful service, great atmosphere, it's just a great restaurant. El Tizoncito - Claims to have invested the Al Pastor taco. I don't know about that, but they do make very good al pastor tacos. El Hidalguense - This was recommended to us for lamb barbacoa, and it did not disappoint. Fantastic meal, cool atmosphere. Baltra Bar - Probably my favorite bar in Mexico City. Great cocktails, super chill, great service. Licoreria Limantour - This place seems to always be packed to the gills, but they have fantastic cocktails in a great location.

Coming back to this, I've spent a substantial time in Portland over the past year, and things are getting back to "normal" in downtown. The downtown is still relatively empty, but new restaurants are opening, particularly in hotels which closed them during the pandemic. I've had multiple meals at Normandie, and it's a real favorite for us now in the city. While my beloved Imperial has closed, I'm instead now a regular at the bar of Bullard Tavern. For late night dining, such as after arriving on the nonstop flight from DCA to PDX, I seek out Luc Lac for excellent Vietnamese food. The kitchen at El Gaucho is also open late, and I've hit it up for steak tartare, and crab and shrimp cocktails. Canard may be my favorite restaurant in the entire city right now. Incredible food. I also had a great Italian meal at Nostrana. Most disappointing experience was Republica. The food was all good, but service was weird, the beverage pairing was a terrible value and had miniscule pours, and they didn't once refresh our plates or silverware. I won't return. I'll also highlight the roof deck at Revolution Hall. Fantastic views of downtown Portland, and a great place to spend some time on a nice evening.

We will be in Ireland for the first time next month. We'll be in Dublin, Galway and Dingle. Any recommendations are certainly welcome.

That's too bad. This has been our go to for to go sushi for years.

It's definitely a lot worse than it used to be. For regular workday lunches there's still Chopt, Potbelly, Chipotle, Roti and Cava as well as Shake Shack.

My office is nearby, and I can agree, it's a bit of a restaurant wasteland over there.

We'll be in Mexico City in a couple of months. We've been a few times, but welcome any suggestions from anyone who has been recently.

We ate dinner in person at Maketto for the first time in several years last night, and I will say that it's as good if not better right now than it has ever been. We got some regular favorites of ours (Crystal Shrimp Dumplings, Fried Chicken, Spicy Cauliflower) and all of them were great as usual. We then tried some newer items (at least to us) or specials as well. The tuna crudo was really good and flavorful. The fried softshell crab special was also very good, and perfectly fried. Finally, my favorite thing was the roasted trout, with a red pumpkin curry, roasted hatch chili, and herb salad. Just an awesome dish. They are sticking with full on contactless ordering, and that's not my favorite way of doing it, but that's a minor complaint. The food here is outstanding.

Just dropping in to let folks know that they are no longer open for lunch Monday-Wednesday. I am back on grand jury duty right now, and tried to go for lunch on Tuesday, only to be diverted to Daikaya.