DanielK

That's not a mini-burger, that's a SLIDER.

I think that's your million-dollar-idea: SHORT tall bar tables! I think the point was just to remove the booths, 4-tops, and chairs, which take up too much space per person in that small room. They could turn the divider into a bar/rail with stools, and do the same all around the outside of the room, and the number of people that space could hold would double. Of course, they'd then actually have to hire some waitstaff to work the room...

It was good, but was not my favorite tasting there. I personally found several of the cheeses overly sweet. But I ascribe this to personal taste, and not Jill's fault, as I should have expected sweeter cheeses to match the chocolate, and I just generally don't like sweet cheeses! The audience reaction seemed very positive, and my wife enjoyed the cheeses I did not (including my portion of the cheeses that I didn't care for...) The chocolates were fabulous, there was a take-home goodie bag with more chocolate, and I did find several cheeses in the tasting that were worth buying a wedge to take home. And, of course, filled a shopping bag with other goodies from her store. In some ways I'm glad it's a 40-minute drive to get there, or I'd be a lot poorer and fatter.

Ate at Los Tios last night after a tasting at Cheesetique. I thought it was decent Salvadorean/Tex-Mex, but nothing outstanding. Chips and salsa were very good. We got the combination fajitas for two (and took half of it home). That's steak, chicken, shrimp, pork ribs, and all the fixings. The steak was fine, the chicken was a bit dry (typical for fajitas), the shrimp were excellent, but the ribs were sickeningly sweet. Service was fine, with one blunder: another couple we ate with requested no guacamole on their plate, due to a food allergy, and this was either not written down properly, or not passed to the cook, as there was a big ole scoop of guacamole on her plate. I'd probably go back, since the only other thing I know of that's walkable to Cheesetique is Taqueria Poblano, of which I am not a fan.

CrescentFresh and I were there on Friday night around 7:30. It was pretty busy, and somewhat understaffed. We waited 10 minutes before we could even get a bartender's attention, but then a couple of seats opened up at the bar, and we were fine from there. Definitely a quality beer list, if a little too weighted towards the Belgians. However, the HAND PUMP WAS EMPTY, leaving us to the regular taps for our brew. My only complaint is that it is in Georgetown, which means it is neither parking nor Metro friendly, which is a PITA for us suburbanites. Since I'm far more likely to be at the MCI Center than Georgetown, I'll probably land up patronizing RFD more than BP. Clearly I don't hate Bricks and RFP as much as CrescentFresh...

Stock up - Mallomars season is almost over!

Anybody going to the tasting this Sunday? We're thinking about getting a bite at Los Tios afterwards, depending on how full we are...

Ho, hum. Another dinner at Kotobuki. As usual, ridiculous amounts of sushi consumed, all of it pristinely fresh. Fabulous toro. Spicy scallop roll. Eel. Under $20/person, with tax and generous tip. Friday night at 6:30, no wait for a table. There was a small wait an hour later when we left. If this wasn't a 30 minute drive for me, I'd be here at least weekly.

The guys at Salt River Lobster advertise steamers on their website. They have stands at the Bethesda Community Market on Fridays, and the Kensington market on Saturdays. I've never gotten anything but lobsters from them, so I don't know if the steamers are good and/or seasonal.

If we don't do something in a private home, we could always do a field trip to the Royal Mile Pub in Wheaton. Food's decent (for bar food), and they have something like 75 whiskys available... My home collection is actually all highland malts at the moment, which makes for an interesting comparison, but doesn't really span the field. Nothing to really challenge the palate (Laphroaig, Talisker, etc.)

A wee dram (ok, a fair amount more than a wee dram) of Oban 14-yr. Neat.

This will unfortunately be the first Dim Sunday that I'm going to miss. The boy and I have soccer clinics on Sunday afternoons for the next month. Take notes!

Never mind - dinner just got cancelled. So, Rockville Pike Lunch Club, Friday 2/17, 11:30am, Yekta Kabob. Who's in?

I've never had difficulty getting marrow bones or oxtail bones at the Giant at Montrose Crossing (admittedly, one of the larger Giant locations in the area). If you don't see them in the display case, just ask - this has never failed for me. And, as JPW mentioned, Whole Foods has them pretty regularly as well, though at twice the price of Giant. Maybe the local Asian or Latin markets?

I'm going to land up having middle eastern food tonight for dinner at a friend's house, so this isn't my first choice, but I'm game for whatever the concensus is. Who else is in?

I would like to purchase some foods that we enjoyed on a trip to the UK this summer, but they're things you don't see often. I've checked the international food aisles of local Giant, Balducci's, and Whole Foods stores, and found some things, but looking for some more variety. There are also a number of online places, but I'm hoping for something local. Anyone know of any local markets?

יום הולדת שמח Yom holedet sameach!

Yikes. We still trying this place for lunch on Friday?

We waited, we saw, and there's no reason to risk life and limb for soup dumplings. Well, it was close, but limbs win. We'll try again soon.

I hope we're talking dinner - I live in Monkey County, but the office is in Baltimore! Monday dinner at Kotobuki is fine for me...

I guess we're still in a wait-and-see mode for Shanghai Cafe on Sunday at 12:30pm, so if you're interested in joining, send me a PM with your email address, and check in here tomorrow morning...

Pick a date - I'm overdue for another trip.

I'm kinda thinking we should postpone Shanghai Cafe. Even if we only get 4-5" of snow Saturday, and not 10-12", there are a lot of narrow windy roads between the Beltway and west Potomac that will probably not be plowed by noon on Sunday.

Thursday or Friday next week would work for me at lunch, or any evening for dinner.

We posted in the restaurant's topic here.