goodeats

Has anyone used Binchotan or a Japanese grill?

Tim Carman has a good article on trying it just wondering if anyone ended up using it regularly.

I imagine the cost of the charcoal alone would make it hard to use it regularly, but if your space permits it, it makes really awesome stuff, depending on the charcoal.

I will still have dinner at The Publican that night so I don't want to stuff myself, but suggestions for places to go that are easily metro accessible? I was thinking I might start the day in Wicker Park at Wormhole for coffee and go from there. Violet Hour and Big Star are nearby, Longman & Eagle is an easy metro ride up, and then from there I could potentially get to Hot Dougs. That may be too much though as I have to be back downtown at 2:30 for a boat tour.

Suggestion: don't call it the metro--the system is known as the "L" as marketing calls it. Probably best to get a multi-day pass if you will be traveling all over the place.

You should consider taking a walking tour with the Chicago Architectural Foundation in addition to the one you're probably taking by boat.

Be careful if you walk back to your hotel late at night--that area is still in transition. But it has quite a few nightclubs, iirc.

^The two better dim sums in Northern Virginia are at Hong Kong Pearl Seafood in Seven Corners and Golden Hong Kong in Springfield. People also like Mark's Duck House, but I haven't been in a long time.

Gilt City DC has a special deal for Bean Box that seems like a great opportunity to try different roasters (even if they are Seattle-centric ones), delivered right to your front door.

For this particular deal, each box contains 4 unique coffee roasts, makes about 16 cups, and includes tasting notes. New customers can use WELCOME20 to get 20% off, if you want to try it out through Gilt City. The prices include shipping.

I just emailed Bean Box asking if I could request certain roasts, and they responded right away, saying that I could switch to the other type of subscription service, if I wanted. So it's nice to see a rapid reply.

I'll report back after I get my first box next month.

*sigh* the downside of HOA-governed ownership is electric-only. Has anyone tried electric grills?

So I've been reading up on the most popular dishes, and I've found the dry fried eggplant, bamboo fish, and scallion pancakes on the appetizer menu. But I'm coming up empty handed on the main courses. I don't know if I see the fish with special sauce. There are a couple of fish dishes with pictures, but none of them looks like the one in the Andrew Zimmern vine posted a while back. And I suppose we can ask the server for recommendations for someone who wants to experience ma la for the first time, but recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks!

For something different, I recommend the Pan-fried Steamed Pork Belly  ($18) from the Grandmother's menu. The rice flour coating on pork belly is a dish my grandmother used to make and it's a nice homestyle dish that I don't see at restaurants in this area, even if it's made spicy here.

For fish, either the Peter's Volcanic Fish ($24) or the Boneless Whole Fish are good bets.

The pigs feet dishes look good too, as does the Three Gorges Chicken dish. Enjoy! I called yesterday and the lady who answered the phone said they were booked up this weekend...

The Georgia State shot was fantastic! Not to encourage matters, but if your office permits streaming, here is watching March Madness live link.

A slice of Bread Furst's corn rye bread, slathered with Kerrygold unsalted butter -- bread purchased just a few minutes ago at the Whole Foods on P Street! 

Lol, I couldn't resist buying Irish Soda Bread this weekend and slathered that with Kerrygold. Warm bread and good butter....

^ Ah, but "Make'Em Laugh" has one of the best choreographies in Singing in the Rain. And also, apparently the movie version of Into the Woods was revamped to be more accepted by a wider-range of audience. His stepmom and dad watched it with him, so I don't know. I think I'm going to catch the show at the Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse this Sunday, if anyone wants to join me.

As for animated musicals--little man will naturally gravitate toward them, so it's a no-brainer that we will watch them. Which is why I was asking for the old classics, because I know there are bound to be some that I will miss on my list.

As for condescending Asian profiling, there is no other classic-profiling than The Flower Drum Song, which, ironically, produced one of my fave R&H song's, "I Enjoy Being a Girl."

Don, you are welcomed to come over--I will let you know when we watch them.

I never got into The King and I--that one I found very off-putting, even if it was Yul Brenner. And at 8, it's great he misses major issues, such as the one talked about in Grease, but that one he watched with his stepmom and dad, as well as the much-forgotten Disney musical, the Newsies. (Can you believe Christian Bale was in that?!) But this does mean that I'll get him to watch Grease 2 with Michelle Pfeiffer at some point, too.

White Christmas and Holiday Inn are on this year's Christmas-watch list. At some point, Anchors Aweigh and I think, Follow the Fleet will be on the list, too.

I still can't believe my mom let me watch Benny Hill as a 6/7 yo, but it was a nice cameo in Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang.

Definitely adding Little Shop of Horrors and Yankee Doodle Dandy to the current list (love James Cagney!), with Showboat on a "watch later" list. Also Bye Bye Birdie and My Fair Lady (although, I prefer Gigi more, I think...).

The Rocky Horror Picture Show?

One day...just not for a few more years.... I actually haven't watched it from start to finish--only caught bits and pieces....

Ok, first, I think, to post a "help needed" in the non-food part of this wonderful site. I got into movie musicals as a child, and now I want to pass that love onto gelittleman. Not looking for animated musicals (like Aladdin, The Lion King, and the such).

I'm a bit stumped as to which musicals to introduce him to next. He has watched the following so far:

1. Mary Poppins
2. Bedknobs and Broomsticks
3. Sound of Music
4. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
5. Pippi Lockstocking
6. Wizard of Oz
7. Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
8. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (I know, I know, I'm stretching it with this one)
9. Annie
10. Into the Woods
11. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

Singing in the Rain is definitely on the "must watch soon" list, but not sure when to introduce ones like Meet me in St. Louis or West Side Story and all. Definitely holding off on Sweeney Todd for a long while, though.

Thanks!

While I still need a Windows-based laptop for work, I switched my kids over to the Toshiba Chromebooks (got them for $250) last year, and have never looked back.

I just purchased a small Windows-based laptop for $199 that isn't a Chromebook. I couldn't justify a glorified web-based shell, even for $199 (no offense to those who purchased one), since I wanted a hard drive. So far, my ASUS EeeBook X205TA-DS01 11.6-inch Laptop has been a good purchase, small and portable, and has Office essentials plus MS apps, if I need them.

I had a Toshiba laptop once before, and it's nice they are reliable. I think my laptop lasted about 4 years, which is pretty good for PC laptops....

This is going to make me seem pretentious, but the vast majority of people, including most of the people on this forum, have never experienced a truly great coffee. You really can't appreciate what your missing if all you have ever had access to was just good-to-mediocre brews. That's not to say we are either the sole arbiter or purveyors of great coffee, but when you have that first transcendent cup of coffee, you will know the difference.

Joel

As I'm brewing my coffee this morning, I started turning Joel's statement of "the vast majority of people...have never experienced a truly great coffee," in my head and wondered, if so, then why do so many commercial roasters, assuming they have access to the proper equipment, knowledge of temperature, etc. only gives us mediocrity? Why do most people buy into the mediocrity of the beans out there?

Personally, I have a major reason why I have had very excellent coffee, but cannot on a daily basis:  affordability. I cannot sustain great, mind-blowing coffee financially. This makes me sad.

Maybe this can be a class, Joel, on how to pick beans good-enough for an above average cup of coffee for affordability purposes and teach us how to roast at home? Just rambling here.

Kitchen renovation is on my list for my next big project some time down the road and my conundrum is that my place's HOA only permits electric-operated appliances, so no gas stove. (Daydreaming about renovation a lot.) I have two issues: 1. Is there a decent electric range or cooktop brand out there? and 2. What is the benefit of getting a range vs. cooktop + wall oven?

Thanks.

Keep separate or merge? 1 is in Dining and 1 here....

I guess I'll be the first to give a mixed review. My friend wanted to try the new Ballston location, so we made plans for dinner last night. We split the melitzanosalata spread, falafel, and the fava, which was plenty of food for two.

The misses of the night were the melitzanosalata spread and the falafel; both were over-salted and both of us drank at least 5 glasses of water for the rest of the evening.

On the other hand, the fava and flatbread were really well done--the lentils were nicely cooked with very little seasoning (thankfully), while the flatbread was warm and fluffy.

The music was a bit too nouveau chic for me, which contributed to a slight headache, but the interior is well-designed and it was neat to see Chef George IRL, instead of on TV.

Is it my imagination, or has the Harris Teeter Organics ice cream changed slightly?  I appreciate that their Unit of Issue is still a real 16oz pint, but seem to remember it previously being denser / having less overrun.

Maybe all this cold weather is skewing my judgement.

Nope, not your imagination. I stopped buying it for that reason.

Can you do a ramen tour? Lucky Peach published this guide in January that I would like to do 1 day if I could spend a lot of time in Japan. Kyoto ramen is very different.

If you can, I recommend hiring a day English-speaking tour guide for 1 of those places (probably Kyoto because the temple tour is a key attraction and a must-do). I found this Hiroshima/Miyajima guide from the Japan Tourism website that might help. Have a kaiseki experience.

I find the Shibuya area in Tokyo fascinating and recommend exploring there.

If you are a fan of Studio Ghibli films, little man and I had so much fun exploring their museum. If you go, you'll need to buy tickets here at an authorized travel agency. You can eat at the museum (which costs an arm and a leg, but the scenery is beautiful) or you can eat at nearby shop or near the train station. The park is so much fun and I wish we had time to go on a paddle boat on the little lake there.

Also outside the norm is visiting a Japanese arcade. It's an experience.

If you can, take a trip to Yokohama. It's about 30 minutes from Tokyo and if you take the shinkansen from Kyoto, there is a stop at Yokohama. Then you can take the regular subway to Tokyo to save some money. In Yokohama, there is a fabulous Ramen museum (we ate a good amount delicious ramen), as well as a famous naval museum/battleship, and the largest Chinatown. There is a nice shopping area near Chinatown too.

As for food, I recommend trying stuff other than sushi/sashimi. The yakitori, yakiniku, ramen, small eats, are all equally famous throughout Japan (like what silentbob was saying). (I watch way too many Japanese tour tv shows...)

^ Definitely not over the top. It is easy to feel frustrated when a) you've not visited the place before and b ) information found online only give a sliver or part of the whole that you need.

The other thing I encourage is to bring a phrase book or some type of translating app. Even though professionals state they speak English, there were a few times I found the concierge person or other professionals could not understand my question. (This happened at Tokyo Disneyland too.)

Btw, Baozi is really popular in Japan now and sold in many downstairs of department stores with quite a queue. Something for your toddler to munch on if you need a pick-me-up/quick snack.

^ Hear, hear. Very sad to hear. Might have to dig up his old albums tonight....

^ I don't feel Japan is exclusive of children in restaurants, but the expectation of children is much higher when compared to somewhere else. It also varies, depending on where you are. I feel that Kyoto and Osaka are more family-friendly oriented than Tokyo when little man and I went last summer.

Children are expected to be well-behaved, not loud, and running to a minimum, based on what I observed in department stores and restaurants, especially in Tokyo. They are much calmer. I saw many families dining in the restaurants we dined at, and I don't really think you should curtail some of your dining choice, if you think your toddler can handle it. For example, if you were to take toddler to Tsujiki, I recommend baby-wearing him in a carrier, since strollers aren't allowed, I think. Here's a family blog about their trip to the market.

One more thing is that I feel like there are a lot more places to see and eat at without trying to eat at the fancier-type of places. Street food, temple food, basement level of department stores, grocery stores, 7-11, all serve really delicious food.

Finally, if you are traveling by public transportation in Tokyo, please buy a PASMO card. It's like the EasyCard/Yoyo Card in Taipei.

Don't dash your hopes yet. Do a google search for family blogs on travel to Japan with toddlers and see what you come up with. Here's another blog with some good tips.

Better still, what's the difference between Hibachi and Teppanyaki? (I guess we'll need to get into the precise definition of the terms - didn't we discuss this once before?)

I hope someone answered your question.

Hibachi: specific type of Japanese grill/stove using charcoal (sometimes a specific special charcoal) to cook food.

Teppanyaki: cooking food on a griddle top.

The only two teppanyaki places I recall are in the suburbs: Benihana in Bethesda, I think, and a Tokyo Buffet place down in Springfield.

^ Not quite, darkstar, though, thank you for pointing me to that site--I had forgotten about them. I am looking more along the lines of this picture.

I have been meaning to purchase a small bar-top or patio set for my condo balcony, but I haven't seen anything I liked from World Market, Home Depot, Lowe's, Pier 1, IKEA, and the like. I've always liked the wicker-like/steel combinations found in restaurant outdoor seating, but never have the courage to ask restaurants where they buy their furniture.

Can anyone suggest a place or know any places that are decently priced and will sell to consumers?

Thanks.

wow.... I remember my parents taking us here when we were kids in the late 70's/early 80's.  back when there weren't a lot of chinese restaurants in the area.  I wonder what the kay-bee toy store that used to be there is now.....

If you step into Duck Chang's today, you might have a momentary flashback. I certainly felt like I stepped into the final scene of A Christmas Story last night there, but mentioning this detail isn't to point out a negative, per se; remodeling is really expensive, even if it might be a bit overdue.

Regardless, the peking duck here certainly hits the spot (properly prepared crispy skin!). Much better than Peking Gourmet Inn at least, compared to the last time I dined there. Friends I met through little man's school and us celebrated Lunar New Year last night (4 adults + 5 children) with good food and cheer. Service was lovely, with Peter Chang, his wife and mother all stopping by frequently to check on us. I felt festive for once, wishing them all a happy new year and seeing such big smiles.

We ordered the following dishes:

Vegetarian Egg Rolls

Duck Bone soup (for 1)

Vegetable soup (for 1)

Spareribs

Peking Duck

Vegetarian Ho Fun

Fried Tofu

Szechuan String Beans

Beef with Scallops

Chinese Broccoli

By the end there were only some beef, duck bones, and fried tofu leftovers to take home. It is nice to see children who aren't picky eaters (the duck skin was the first entree plate to be cleaned off, and the adults had to "save" a piece for themselves asap!) and little to take home. Friends really loved their Duck Soup and it smelled very fragrant, and everyone loved the duck; the other dishes were fine and satisfied the typical Chinese-American criteria. I think also what was unbelievable was we all felt like the meal was reasonably-priced at $45 after tax and tip per family for the 4 families present. But we all pretty much agreed we have to come back for the Peking Duck.