goodeats

Pros - Good variety; tasty, white frosting on the red velvet and chocolate/vanilla (cream-cheese based; see "cons" on texture). Cons - Cake itself was a bit dry; frosting a little too aerated; pricey (runs $2.75 a pop, a little bit less if you buy more).

I would be interested in hearing if folks have tried the other varieties...

I went and bought 1/2 dozen ($15 pretax) the other day and there was no line, since it was a weekday afternoon. I ended up getting: 2 red velvets, 1 chocolate ganache, 1 lemon blossom, 1 vanilla, and 1 key lime or lime flavored.

The chocolate was a bit dry and its frosting was a bit sweet but alright. I find that I like the airy frosting, though it dies down when refrigerated overnight. ETA: It is cute that they put little edible decorations on top the cupcakes.

I too find the cake a bit dry. I also found annoying that they're wasting all that wax paper to individually wrap each cupcake. I think that is what causes the lines to go out the door. Overall, after trying this place, Bakeshop (though to be fair, I think I got day old ones), Natalia's in FC, Cakelove and Baked & Wired, I still prefer those sold at B&W.

Just a thought.

Totally agree! I have had two bags rip and spewed their contents to the street. One time was just outside their store, which they did swap out the broken Butter milk and damaged items. The second was at my house where I cursed the TJ name when the contents went rolling down my driveway. No bruises, but still the bags suck. I use reusable cloth bags now.

I wonder if they just changed them this year. My past bags from the year before did not have such wimpy handles. Maybe it's better if you bring your own totes? I saw several handles break on my way out two weekends ago, with the employees cleaning up right outside the store.

This restaurant has been on my radar for awhile, since I used to live in Cameron Station. I saw on another listserve that they offer baby food there too, so if you have little, little ones, there's something for them too!

Well, I don't want to sit here and pimp Restaurant Eve in every thread, but I had a fantastic cappuccino there last week - it was good enough where I'm questioning why I don't order them more often. Someone else please chime in about Eve's coffee so I can delete this.

Why delete? Can't pimp something any more if it's already proved its worth. Although this was two years ago, I too had a fantastic cappuccino at Eve. Been meaning to go back, but something about the bank account numbers....

I love Maxim. I think their prepared foods are a bit fresher than those at Kam Sam Rockville. It's also funny that 1 sells some things that the other doesn't sell.

I don't like Kam Sam Annandale very much either. I find that their stuff is not that fresh, such as limpy produce or not very good looking meats. I recently bought something from there that spoiled quite quickly (can't remember what), so I was not happy about that. The store is also cramped and parking is not very accessible or easy to maneuver in and out of. However, when it's paired with a meal at A&Js, then it's not so bad.

For the most part, I still like Great Wall in Merrifield, VA for my Chinese stuff. I really like the owners of their food court, and if you call ahead, you can pre-order Taiwanese style rice balls (shhhh, don't tell them I said so). But their you-tiao is just so-so. However, in the summer, they also have shaved ice!

For fruit & produce, I split between Great Wall & Super H. Meat is usually pretty cheap at Great Wall, and I like how you can tell them how many/much you want, instead of buying the pre-packed stuff.

Anyway, I'm just rambling. And Lotte in VA is not good. I was so unimpressed, esp. with Super H nearby. However, they had a yummy Korean cafe nearby, so I guess that sort of makes up for going there.

**Edited because I belated realized that Jake had already said some of the same things!

Omuraisu is fried rice mixed with ketchup, wrapped in a thin omelette, then topped with more ketchup. Some people love it, others hate it, I found it comforting in much the same way hash is.

Oh drool. Very jealous, especially when the quality of rice is still much better there than here. Must be the water + rice. Not that it's hard to make at home, but I haven't found any place here that makes it as good.

That's comfort food for me, as well as ketchup fried rice. Ah.

There was:

river eel with yellow chives

yellow chive & leek meatballs/dumplings

soup dumplings with crab roe

There was also a sight you will rarely see..... Amit and I sitting at a table of food not eating.....

The liver was beyond belief good, so was the eel and the fish. The Lion's head was particularly good today and the braised pork amazing. The antonese tripe was sweet, rich and the sauce delicious on rice.

All this for $32 per person including tip.

It was so nice meeting all of you for the 1st time. For $32, I felt like I ate for two for two days straight! The braised pork (ti pang) had this wonderful touch of anise to it that brought back such good food memories. Such great fat on that pork!

Also thanks to Dean and Daniel for organizing.

Can't wait for everyone to chime in and expose Banh Mi as the industrial-bread nasty-filling FAD that it is. Not much to like about it, quite honestly, other than the opportunity to immerse yourself - for a brief, fleeting moment - in the snack culture of Vietnamese-Americans. Low, low quality bread, meat, and vegetables - sorry, but that's what it is.

Cheers,

Rocks.

On the other hand, so is McDonalds, and this is both cheap and better tasting than McDs. Not a great comparison, but that is the first thing that came to mind.

For DC Chinatown, I heard the Vietnamese place next to Kanlaya has decent Banh Mi. It's on 6th near H.

As for Eden Center, I still prefer Banh Mi So 1 for my banh mi -- very good tasting bread. The pickled vegetables are hit-or-miss depending on the day.

Taro man-tou with DS, added with some pork sung. DS at most of it, I just picked off what he missed, since he's only 15mos.

Here's the headcount as it currently stands:

DanielK +1

deangold

porcupine

Scott Johnston

rkduggins

xcanuck

legant

goodeats

Tweaked

eating out

hm212

synaesthesia (?)

And I have 2 more maybes in email, so we're at 12-15 - that's more like it!

Um, can I add 1 more person? Lion's meatballs are always a sign of homecooking to me! Mmm.

Come on, people. It's the pre-eminent Taiwanese restaurant in the area, it's a holiday, and the owner is cooking special for us. And all we can get is 6 members, and all of them regulars? Shame!

I would love to meet you all, but would be lame to be 90% sure?

I was at the botanic garden and saw their lovely tree all full of fruit and was reminded of how much i like loquats.

Has anyone seen them (the fruits, not the trees) sold in the area, and if so where? they should be coming into season soon i think.

thank you!

I remember seeing them at Great Wall in Merrifield, VA last year, but haven't yet seen them when I went last week.

For RTC (Silver Spring), you may call in advance to make reservations, but for RTS (Arlington) you must show up day-of in-person to make reservations.

Thanks!

Very stupid question, as I've not visited in over a year (I know, silly me), but can you only make reservations now in-person? Or are they still accepted by calling?

Reading this thread has lit a fire under my you-know-what to get over there...

Thanks!

In my experience, most restaurants don't place an extreme amount of emphasis on their coffee programs. There are exceptions though. Restaurant Eve uses a local roaster (Caffe Pronto) and like everything else they do, they do coffee well.

Our coffee is served at Oyamel. If you get a chance to try it there, let me know what you think!

That and patience is needed to make a good cup of coffee, which by the end of the meal, most people don't have. The Hario siphon that Nick mentioned takes awhile to heat up and then another small while for the coffee to siphon down because of simmering time.

Most people just want to drink and chat, so sometimes I think half the time they don't or aren't enjoying their coffee. That or trying to sober up after drinking one too many glasses of wine.

The last time I had a french press at my table was at Carole Greenwood's old restaurant *several* years ago, and that was a pleasant coffee experience.

Nick, if you're reading: 1) When is Aaron in? I would really *love* to relish on a good Hario made cup of brew and 2) when you are you at the Arlington location because the last couple of lattes I've had, the espresso tasted reaalllllllly bad. Had bad stomach pains after. Cupping and chatting with you would be nice.

I don't really understand the whole cupcake thing, but there a lot of folks (and kids) that love them.

Personally, I think it's a personal indulgence thing. Sometimes you don't want a whole pie or cake, but just a few slices, yet some places only offer all or nothing.

That or the person can choose a personal variety to take home and indulge a different flavor every night.

I also think that Baked & Wired already does a good job in the G'town area covering this market, so I'm not sure how well this place will do.

Tried the 7 corners outpost last night. It was good . . . but not great. Maybe I ordered wrong? Had the golden nuggets, which were served in a too-sweet gloppy sauce. They were okay. My friend had the General Tso's and that was much better. Also liked the steamed dumplings for the fresh ingredients but the wrapper was not freshly made. Finally, we shared the avocado lemon pie - interesting. I will try it again but order differently.

Nope, it's not you. It's whoever is cooking at the 7 corners location. I think things are a bit over-flavored there compared to the 1 time I've been to the Vienna location. My Golden Nuggets were super-vinegary the two times I ordered it (I forgot that I ordered it the previous time).

My one other dish (and sorry, i forgot which one) was off-balance too.

The one dish I really like at the 7 corners location is their turnip/daikon cake appetizer. Really out of this world for me. Soft, not too floury/carby, good flavor, much better than the dim sum cart version.