Lydia R

After finding Bangkok Garden in downtown Bethesda, I stopped going to Benjarong. Bangkok Garden was followed by the places in Wheaton and later Sabai Sabai. Benjarong was a little too formal and didn't seem authentic anymore.

I'm taking heart over this loss after reading Tim Carman's review of the new Thai Cuisine up the road and next door to Mama's Dumpling (AKA China Bistro). 

On 9/11/2016 at 2:38 PM, nmorrell said:

Note for non-NewYorkers: The city is still under blue laws. Who knew!?!? So we drew out our 11am reservation so that we could enjoy one mimosa at 12:01pm before departing.

A weekend too early! Governor signed a repeal! 

"Starting This Weekend, Brunchgoers Can Finally Booze before Noon" by Clint Rainey on grubstreet.com

Fabio Trabocchi's Facebook page posted:

"""All Fabio Trabocchi Restaurants donating $5 for every Pasta (shape may vary, bucatini, cavatelli, etc.) Amatriciana sold to the Italian Red Cross through the end of September."""

Food & Wine lists other restaurants (none in our area) also donating to earthquake relief. 

The bar formerly known as Red Porch is good for air conditioning and bartenders Laura/Karen. Today, they had a Honeycrisp Apple Wheat beer from Shocktop that was light and refreshing (sweet too)! The rest of the tap line was the usual "brewed the hard way" ABI line-up. 

If you ask nice, the in-stand vendors have (or will bring) tallboy cans of Atlas/1500 or Port City/Optimal Wit. Since the beginning of the season they've openly carried Flying Dog/Snake Dog, but the others are more recent additions.

This may not be a representative sample, but  the District Drafts at Sec117 (DuJuan - attached beer list starts with Mad Fox) and Sec129 (Sharon - list starts with Heritage) tonight have: 

Here are some updates for the last half of the regular season:

Sadly, according to a cashier, Haute Dogs isn't selling the Lamb Slider anymore because "not enough people ordered it." I still like their chili, but will wait until the heat wave's over to get more. 

During a previous home stand, I was in the Club level and eagerly tasted what turned out to be a freezer-burned, inedible Babka & ice cream sandwich and sat next to somebody trying to eat one of their soggy deli sandwiches. I hope their upcoming brick and mortar Chinatown location is able to focus on quality because I have no reason to return to On Rye's ballpark stand.

Last month, I shared an elevator with a gray-polo-shirted Shake Shack manager. Probably because I was carrying a Shake combo, they asked about my customer experience. They noted the NY-based managers have never left and are trying hard to maintain quality. They've gone so far as to bring line workers from NY to replace under-performing local hires. Because there are now three eCard registers, the line moves fast enough to be in my rotation. Their customer attentiveness and "sense of urgency" with keeping the lines moving are only matched by Max's. Oh, and their fries stayed crisp!

At least the "Mac Tonight" moon hanging from the construction crane behind left field isn't trying to send me subliminal messages anymore and has been dark the past few games. [After game update: the illuminated moon was switched back on and provided random color changes and strobes throughout the game. Thankfully, I don't feel compelled to go get a Big Mac.]

On 7/15/2016 at 2:39 PM, MC Horoscope said:

Good review:

"Pizza CS Review: A Salute to Naples on Rockville Pike" by Tim Carman on washingtonpost.com

For me currently I like the flavor of their crust the best out of 2Amys, Comet PingPong, and Pizzeria Inferno. Best tomato sauce for me is currently at Pizzeria Inferno. We have some good pizzas to choose from!

In his review, Tim mentions key ingredients in one of Ankur's creations:

Quote

In fact, the CS Margherita Extra on the specials menu — a pie topped with little blackened orbs of Piennolo cherry tomatoes grown on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius — popped with a mineral sweetness.
<snip>
The Soppressata arrives looking like a round of bubbling lava. Its looks are not deceiving: Topped with hot soppressata salami and chili flakes, the pie will burn your house down. 

The Picca's been on their specials menu for a few weeks and is a blast furnace compared to the Soppressata. 

If you've had a great Szechuan meal including a dish that almost made you shed tears of delicious pain, but kept you going back for more -- just try the Picca. It is a wondrous combination of sweet, salty, creamy, chewy, and hot, hot, hot. However, please note there is no merciful, anesthetic numbing pepper involved -  your tastebuds are naked and sober. The ricotta is a mirage and will not save you. If I'm going to burn, my only request is for more char on the crust. 

I've been reading her work without putting it together: https://clippings.me/users/laurahayes

Good reads, congratulations!

Is it wrong to still miss Todd Kliman's time at City Paper?

I seriously had to Google this. Among other things, here's what Washingtonian said:

Quote

The splurge dish: The $165 dry-aged Florentine bistecca, which serves two-to-four. Just don’t let Rancic buddy Donald Trump do the ‘well-done’ ordering. 

The “save” dish: Mama DePandi’s $14 pasta pomodoro, which serves one person as a small appetizer (so no, not how mama would make it).

On April 7, 2016 at 10:52 AM, Lydia R said:

The Haute Dogs stand is near section 106's The Fan booth (not serving funnel cakes, yet) and in the old Hard Times location. Their menu leads with hot dog concoctions, but the lamb sliders and tots will be the first things I order:

I have a new favorite!

While the dumplings at Pinch (at sec 302) are fresh and well-seasoned, plan to eat them at the nearby picnic tables because they do lose something when they travel (at least in the cold weather we have now). Pinch is much better run than the Isabella stands across the concourse. At a recent promotion for STH, the Isabella staff flunked line management; so I bailed. 

I've now had Haute Dog's tots with chili and their lamb sliders. The tots are hot & crispy and their chili beats Ben's* by a mile. My new favorite park food is the lamb sliders ($13 for two bigger than slider sandwiches) with juicy, griddled-to-order lamb patties, mint, diced onion, tomato, and savory seasonings. Because each is made-to-order, the sliders take six minutes to prepare and the freshness screams. 

Thank you, Morgan, for your kindness. I was your last customer yesterday.

At the previously known as Red Porch, the best of their all ABI line-up is (the recently ABI-acquired) Devil's Backbone Vienna Lager. Ole!

* Edit to add: before tonight's game, Dusty Baker escorted Viginia Ali to Home Plate so she could deliver the line-up card to the umpires. Guess he's a fan. Also, consider skipping the cheez sauce on the tots...

On April 24, 2016 at 6:18 PM, Mississippi Snopes said:

Max's Kosher Deli, whose turkey/lamb shawarma was by far my favorite food at Nats Park, is not on the online listing of the 2016 food vendors on the Nats website. Has anyone walked by there to see if they're really gone?

If so, it's a huge loss. 

Max's cart was moved closer to the escalator. It'll reopen after Pesach.

Today the Red Porch has (left to right) Blue Point (blueberry ale), Kona (big wave golden ale), Elysian (blood orange pale), Goose (4-star pils, ipa, 312 urban wheat), Shock Top (lemon shandy, belgian white), Stella (beer, cidre), Blue Point (toasted lager), Elysian (pineapple habanero sour), Blue Point (nitro stout), and bud light. There was also a huge Bud Signature tap with a Farenheit temperature display (31F) in its own Buick-looking parking space off the line. The Three Stars, Atlas, Flying Dog, and Port City taps from the exposition game days have been taken over.

The dedicated eCash line at Shake Shack is at the left-most register when facing their bay of registers. During previous games this season, their crew would have benefitted greatly from a road trip visit by the Shake Shack NYC-based management team. Maybe they're on-site today.

If not reported upthread, the relocated tacqueria is now at section 233.

Changing of the Guard is Changing of the Guard. The Sentinels are there to guard the Tomb.

This site was listed in your original post and has some problems going from http to https, but is otherwise is informative and has a good-hearted FAQ: http://tombguard.org/society/faq/

The Guard is changed every thirty minutes during the summer (April 1 to Sep 30) and every hour during the winter (Oct 1 to Mar 31). During the hours the cemetery is closed, the guard is changed every 2 hours. The Tomb is guarded, and has been guarded, every minute of every day since 1937.

Sadly, the in-stand vendors had 100% compliant ABI offerings (Bud, Bud Light, Stella, Stella Cidre, Shock Top, etc.). I'll miss the Heineken and Flying Dog. Maybe their offerings will evolve during the season. 

We found at least one roaming vendor in the 300s who had Flying Dog cans, so they are still out there somewhere.

Yesterday, in-stand vendors in the lower bowl had orange/peach cans of Flying Dog Snake Dog (7.1 ABV) too. But, for me, it was a Port City Porter kind of day (it won't be in July).

The 14-minute condensed game video pretty much skips over the 85-minute rain delay between the top & bottom of the second inning. Oh, and Bryce hit his 99th MLB homer in the 7th.

Today is the 2016 home opener for the Washington Nationals. Rain is falling and a delay or postponement is distinctly possible. The two exposition games last Friday and Saturday gave fans a first look at the food and beverage changes briefed at February's Hot Stove event.

I'll let Bill DeBaun, DC Beer, lead-off with his thoughts on the change-up from Miller/Coors to Budweiser/InBev (ABI).

Given the above, it might surprise you to hear that you can actually take in a baseball game without losing yourself in the politics of beer. The Nats will hopefully play more than 81 games in their home confines this year on their way to the postseason success that has eluded them in their first decade. Regardless of who has branded the terrace...restaurant...loft...staircase...emergency exit...happy hour...and so forth, it's encouraging that even with a new sheriff in town the option for consumers to choose local, craft beer remains intact.

I was pleasantly surprised to see familiar faces and taps at District Drafts. There were similar offerings at their stands at sections 117 and 139.

Similar independents were on the far end of the Red Porch's tap line. The Three Stars (peppercorn saison), Atlas (Rowdy Rye), Flying Dog (blood orange ale), and Port City were also available at the various District Draft stands. The Elysian (pineapple habanero sour) is probably an acquired taste. The remaining taps were ABI: Goose Island (goose ipa, 312 wheat), Shock Top (lemon shandy & Belgian white), Stella Artois (beer & cidre), Blue Point (toasted lager), Elysian, Bud, and Bud Light.

Sadly, the in-stand vendors had 100% compliant ABI offerings (Bud, Bud Light, Stella, Stella Cidre, Shock Top, etc.). I'll miss the Heineken and Flying Dog. Maybe their offerings will evolve during the season. The exclusively Nationals Atlas 1500 draft  was missing from last season's tap at G-sandwiches, maybe its tap is somewhere else.

The Haute Dogs stand is near section 106's The Fan booth (not serving funnel cakes, yet) and in the old Hard Times location. Their menu leads with hot dog concoctions, but the lamb sliders and tots will be the first things I order:

If you have a spare hour, maybe during a rain delay, I recommend listening to NPR Latino USA's podcast with host Maria Hinojosa and producer Michael Simon Johnson detailing "the past, present and future of baseball. From how Latino players bent the rules of the color line to why Dominican fans started showing up at Boston's notoriously white Fenway Park." (I'll miss you Big Papi)

From Scott Allen in yesterday's WaPo Sports Blog:

"Anheuser-Busch will be our promotional partner in the park for 2016 and beyond," said Camillo, who explained that the new partnership "” a switch from MillerCoors, the team's primary beer partner since 2005 "” is exclusive from a marketing perspective. In other words, Anheuser-Busch is the only beer company permitted to advertise in Nationals Park, but beers from outside the Anheuser-Busch InBev portfolio will continue to be sold. Yes, that includes the rotating selection of craft beers at Nationals Park's four District Drafts stands. They'll be back this season.

"There will be craft beer," Camillo said. "It's not going to have an impact on our ability to serve craft beer or local beers."

Another thing that won't change at Nationals Park in 2016: beer prices. (The cheapest beer per ounce at Nationals Park was around the MLB average last season.)

Levy Restaurants handles the pour rights for the Nationals and is responsible for determining the allocation of beer at Nationals Park. A Levy Restaurants spokesman said that the beer list for 2016 is still being finalized, but confirmed that MillerCoors products will continue to be sold at Nationals Park.

OK, let's play ball!

Maryland Public TV posted this on their youtube page. Suddenly, I crave goat cheese.

Their evil will be cloaked because their Trojan Clydesdales will be in attendance on Opening Day!

Any word on soft or hard opening for Kapnos Kouzina in Bethesda?  Seems like work has started progressing again there.

According to their twitter feed, it looks like they've started hiring.

Today is "truck day" for the Nationals. Their whole kit and caboodle is boxed and heading down I-95 to Viera for the last time. Next year, they'll be at a new park in West Palm Beach for spring training.

Saturday, 06 Feb, the Nationals hosted season ticket plan holders in the Club Level for a "Hot Stove" event. A good overview was written by the NatsLady on her TalkNats site.

I'll just relay some of the National's food and drink updates.

There is an effort to improve the concessions available on the Gallery (300) level. An additional location of the Virginia Country Kitchen will be located there. In its rookie year, the Virginia Country Kitchen served 18,000 biscuits and was wildly popular.

Note to the Nats front office: I'll know you're serious about the "status I deserve" when there's an e-cash line at Shake Shack and dependable WiFi that reaches down to my seats.

The Shake Shack is expanding into El Verano Taqueria's space (the Taqueria is relocating), adding more registers, and taking e-cash. When will the Nationals expand the WiFi coverage? No word.

Mike Isabella is doubling down and adding two stands in addition to the "G-Sandwiches" concept. They are: "Kapnos at the Park" and Catchfly (southern inspired cuisine, think fried chicken and ribs).

The "Pitch Your Product" contest is still evaluating entrants and may yield 3 - 6 new stands in the park. Early leaders' menus include: tots, empanadas, and vegan food.

On the downside, although there is no word on the future of District Drafts, the Nationals have signed a major marketing deal with Anheuser-Busch/InBev that will prominently change the name and concept of the Red Porch to Budweiser Brewhouse and replace the Sam Adams stand with Goose Head. If anyone needed a reminder of how their products taste, there was a "beer tasting" as the finale of the Hot Stove.

I guess Cardinals fans just need to feel more at-home in Nats Park. 

To end on an optimistic note, here's the May giveaway bobblehead commemorating Bryce Harper as 2015 National League MVP.

I realize you asked for DC/VA, but please keep Grace Garden on your radar (if you're ever near BWI/Ft. Meade).

My 2008 post, unfortunately, spelled this "wok hay" as it was spelled in NPR's July 2005 interview with Grace Young. In this seven and a half minute radio piece, she goes wok shopping with Melissa Block in NYC's Chinatown. Together, they season their carbon-steel purchases with Chinese chives in Ms Young's home kitchen. Then, they go to East Ocean Restaurant's kitchen and observe cooking over 80,000 - 150,000 BTU burners. Grace Young compares the sound of the industrial-grade burner to a fiery dragon.

Fun to hear again after all these years.

We ate there this weekend and, in addition to a couple standbys, got the Red Pumpkin Curry (added pork) from the specials menu. The Red Pumpkin Curry was smooth and enveloping like a warm quilt. They have DC Brau (in cans) on offer which is beneficial because they're still kicking heat (when requested). I greatly respect the temperment and grace of this place.

Their website mentions they serve dim sum every day until 3:00 PM.

Has anyone had dim sum from their menu?

Extremely sad news: The son of the owner and brother of the chef, USAF Staff Sergeant Peter Taub, was killed yesterday in Afghanistan along side five other airmen. He didn't tell his family he was in AFG so they would not worry. They thought he was in Saudi Arabia. Understandably, the restaurant is closed for the rest of the week. 

Is anyone associated with the Bao Kitchen a member of this site? If so, please PM me.

I ate dinner there yesterday and would like to give them feedback.

They're new and I want them to succeed.

There are 7-8 tables, with room for maybe 8-10 people at the bar

We were were among the first customers tonight and there were originally only five stools at the bar. An additional stool was squeezed in so that there were three on each side of the corner near the oven.

It looks like the remainder of the bar is being used for pick-up by the servers. At one point, Chef Conte asked a dad sitting at the bar to move his toddler off of his knee and away from the pick-up area. Chef Conte pantomimed hot pies coming out of the oven and landing where the child was reaching with her little arms. The toddler was ultimately moved to a booster seat on a bar stool one over from the pick-up area (she had started to wander around the pick-up area as her parents chatted while sitting up on their stools). At this point, between the sparse square footage and the bustle of activity, there is no space for small children to wander unaccompanied and no real estate for strollers. It's too bad that future expansion into the currently vacant storefront next door is not possible because that space has been taken by an Italian butcher. I wonder if it's the business from the shopping center one block South.

I agree with the previous posts regarding the crust, hopefully, being a work in progress.

Rockville Rewards launches on Sept 9, 2015. Rockville non-profits sell a $25 rewards card good through August 2016. Participating businesses offer discounts to reward cardholders. Some DR-mentioned restaurants include:  Ev & Maddy's (10% off dine-in, excludes HH), Quench (20% off at lunch), and Spice Xing (10% off entire check, excluding lunch buffet, max discount $20). Here is a list of the participating businesses. Non-profit partners keep 100% of card sales.

On opening day, Sept 9th, the cards will be on sale at these locations for $15 versus the regular $25. A $10 savings up front!