sandynva

To me he seems awfully defensive. I could be reading too much into this but in trying to justify why his choices are so different than Michelin's he seems to me to be trying to defend his taste and judgement, to explain how his assessment could be so different than the inspectors of a guide generally respected worldwide.

Interesting article from wapo: "Why So Many of America's Sushi Restaurants Are Chinese-Owned" by Ana Swanson on washingtonpost.com "Some — but not all — of the difference in the price of Japanese and Chinese offerings has to do with food itself. Ray argues that Chinese food has earned a reputation for being cheap in large part because of the historic poverty of the country and its immigrants. “Foods we associate with poor immigrants tend to be cheap, and we are generally not willing to pay a higher price for it,” he says. He argues that the cuisine’s reputation could change as China’s economy grows and its people become wealthier. Already, more upscale Chinese restaurants are popping up to cater to a new wave of wealthy Chinese migrating to the United States. But others are skeptical that most Americans will ever pay top dollar for Chinese food."

Thank you for elaborating your thoughts a bit more, and helping us understand where you're coming from. I have not noticed Chang being in the media a tremendous amount, or doing any more self-promoting than other celebrity chefs, so I can't comment on that. And I think the idea of comparing the prices here to the prices in the country where the food is from is an unfair road to go down, because The good versions of food we have here will almost always be more expensive than the equally good version from the homeland. For example I've had a $10 plate of pasta in Italy that was as good as anything I've had at fiola, or I'd imagine that good pho in Vietnam is the fraction of the price we pay here. I don't so imagine that in Tokyo there were more expensive versions of Ramen available Than the 400 yen. What I do take issue with is the idea that Ramen is inherently a cheap food and that one cannot charge more than X dollars for it. A recurring problem that many "ethnic" restaurants have is that consumers are not willing to pay the same prices for say, Chinese or Indian, food as they are for say French or Italian food and it's a pet peeve of mine. So I may have read something into your post that you didn't mean. But what drives me nuts is the idea that X food, inevitably from a non-European country, somehow isn't worth the same prices as other cuisines. If you look at it in the abstract, $18 buys you a meal from a celebrity chef, that if you count all the meat used to make the stock and in the bowl ( I remember seeing a recipe for Changs broth once, and it seemed to use an insane amount of meat) costs as much in ingredients as an entrée at Central or the Daniel bolud place in city center. Why then is it OK for Central and DB to charge $20-$25 for their entrées, while Changs 18 is too high? It is my understanding that cassoulet was not originally a particularly high end or refined dish, and I know polenta was definitely cheap food, as a friend's Italian parents refuse to eat it because to them it's a food for the poor. Pizza wasn't a particularly expensive food, and hamburgers until recently weren't fancy food either. But many restaurants in the area offer $20 versions of each of these And I don't hear a general outcry about it being too much to charge for a simple food. Nor do I think the comparison to packaged Ramen is fair-- I love the stuff, and consider myself a bit of a connoisseur of the vegetarian varieties available at the local Asian supermarkets, but I think the stuff I've had at Momofuku is clearly elevated beyond the stuff I get from H Mart. And the fact that the packaged stuff exists at a certain price point shouldn't drag down how much the more elevated version should cost. After all, I believe you can get a Totino's party pizza for a dollar or two in your local frozen section if you're lucky, but no one cites that and says that the pizzas at etto or Ghibellina are consequently too expensive I'm not going to defend the pricing on the DC dining scene generally, I think there are far too many places that are really middle level charging top end prices and it seems to be a self perpetuating spiral with prices inching steadily upward. But given that model seems to be dominating now, I don't see why chang is any worse than anyone else or why $18 is too much for Ramen.

My husband likes the one from A Litteri

As Marty points out, there are a lot of places in town where the price to value proportion seems out of whack, so I'm curious why Chang would come in for more criticism then others, and why people might only feel the price is justified if he's paying his staff substantially more than other people do. I love José Andres, and actually think his places are overall one of the best values in town, but if you compare the prices of his falafel or spinach pie at zaytinya to what you pay at a smaller Greek/ middle eastern place it's got to be at least twice the price per volume. But I don't hear complaints. There are plenty of places in DC, many of which are beloved on this board, where I've paid $20 for pizza that was no better then a $13 one from 2 Amy's, or plate of about six ravioli that were good, but not amazing ( in some cases not even that much better than some of the higher end offerings in grocery stores or Trader Joe's ), and left me quite hungry and needing another course or two ( At least a bowl of chang Ramen is filling, and I think the hozon Ramen is the best vegetarian Ramen I've had in town ) But I accept it because you're paying for a nice venue, often expensive real estate, decor, and often a celebrity chef. Why is chang treated differently then? He's undoubtedly a celebrity and the restaurant is definitely trendy. Does it go back to people just expecting to pay less for certain foods than others?

i don't normally like paneer, but i think the paneer shashlik is very good, and very flavorful (esp for paneer). i agree with the suggestion of lemon rice above-it's only $1 more than plain rice and well worth it. (i don't think the other rice, a pulao i think, is worth it). i like the toffee pudding dessert a lot.

+1 on the gougeres, still my favorite in the area, and the kitkat bar, which is delicious, and i'm a big fan of the banana split too, because it's giant portion and all the different sauces and toppings, and the way you can mix and match them for many flavors, makes me feel like a kid again. And i think ktmoomau's comment is really on point--i patronized it a ton when it first opened because it was a place where the food was great, yet the prices were affordable. And i loved the lack of pretension. it was sometimes amusing but it was, most of all, good, and satisfying. Even leaving aside the prices, i preferred it to Citronelle, which i don't think was great for vegetarians.( I admittedly only went their twice, but both times i was served an unexciting vegetable plate, that was almost identical on both visits).Central doesn't have a ton of vegetarian options, but i like the ones they do have, which is why i still go. I think that now, when there are so many fun, mid-range places serving great food, it's easy to forget how unique central was when it opened.

My experience has been like frogprince's--the szechuan dishes--which are all i order here--are the best i've had in dc (though I think they are a notch below either peter chang or panda gourmet or some other places in Rockville). Yes, many of the dishes like mapo tofu are oily, but it's with that chili oil that seems to be present in many szechuan dishes, wherever you go and is probably half the reason they are so delicious. My faves are the mapo tofu, the salt and pepper tofu, the fried eggplant and dan dan noodles, and they will make most dishes vegetarian, which is nice. I think the key here, as it is many places, is ordering wisely, or ordering within their known area of competence.

I thought this article, and the mention of the iggy azaleas of cooking, was interesting: "Cooking Other People's Food: How Chefs Appropriate Bay Area 'Ethnic' Cuisine" by Luke Tsai on eastbayexpress.com

got carryout from panda gourmet sunday and it was great. the hand pulled shanxi noodles were great-- i loved the seasoning and the texture, the noodles felt almost fluffy. other hits were the cold shanxi noodles--a very thick, dense, slippery noodle, a very different texture from the hand pulled ones, the celery/tofu salad, and the mapo tofu which was very flavorful. one thing i wouldn't order again was what i thought was the northern schezuan bean jelly salad. at other places i've had wonderful dish of bean jelly with a savory chili seasoning. that's what i was trying to order, but i recieved a dish that was actually quite sweet. has anyone else ordered this, and if so, was it sweet? i'm trying to figure out if that's just how they do the northern bean jelly salad, or if i recieved the chengdu bean jelly salad by mistake instead.

i wanted to echo the comments above and say that i adore the Taj chain. the level of personal service is wonderful. examples--plate of chocolates by the bed. i only ate the dark ones, as i prefer them. next day--only dark. same thing happened for the fruit in the fruit basket they gave us every day--after the first day there was more of the stuff we liked and none of the stuff we hadn't touched. when we checked in, someone must've noted my long hair, and my sister's, as after the first day there was always extra shampoo and conditioner, even though we hadn't asked for any. one time i was staying there and was ill (not a stomach thing--the cipro worked--i had a bad allergic reaction and didn't have an epipen) and the hotel found out about it because my dad asked where the pharmacy was. the chef-unasked-sent up some curd rice (good for an upset stomach) that night, the house dr. stopped by, and for the next few days everyone was beyond solicitous, at breakfast the chef came out and asked if he could make me something special and got pomegranates to make fresh juice (because i guess sick people need juice?), when i walked out the doormen asked if i needed a water bottle or umbrella (for the heat), and even the guy who pushed the button to get the elevator asked how i was, and if i needed any errands run. it was really sweet. and of course the facilities, rooms, etc are lovely. the Taj isn't cheapest option out there, but i think having a night or two there is well worth it.

i hear you, and as someone who got sick on many, many trips to india i can understand the desire to avoid it. and i will say that in general i tend to have a weak stomach or system in that every single time i've gotten sick other people eat the same thing as me and don't get sick (and i get sick here too, even whole foods did it once!). i think it's quite possible that if you follow the normal rules (and have a normal stomach) you'll be fine. many of my friends have been to india without any problems (and i envy them!) i haven't gotten sick in my last few trips, when i just started taking cipro the moment i felt unease. i don't know if that's an option for you (and i know its bad to take antibiotics if you don't need them, etc). the reason i mentioned my sad history of getting sick is this--even with my lousy system, the cipro made sure i didn't get sick, even though i was eating all sorts of things (including street food and juices like every day). so, if you can do it, it may be the best option. but, as i said there are many, many people who go to india and don't get sick or only have a few days of sick. i don't know that i know anyone who's gotten sick eating cooked food from a non-sketchy restaurant. the main thing in india that gets you sick is the water so i think cooked food anywhere is fine (including street food), but if you want to be safe you can stick to the restaurants. and still eat amazingly well. the safest bet of all is to eat at restaurants in high end hotels, which should be 100% safe. and the food at many of them is actually really good. and high end indian service is amazing and will make you grumpy with all the waitstaff here, it's definitely worth experiencing a couple times. if street food in other countries upsets your stomach, definitely avoid it here. i've eaten cooked street food in many countries without problems, including india, and i don't think your liklihood of getting sick from, say tasty fried street snacks, is any greater in india than elsewhere, which is why i reccomended it, but there's so much good food in india you'll eat really well even if you avoid the street. make sure you drink bottled water (which is available everywhere) avoid salads/anything with raw veg in it, and as i learned once, ice cream which also apparently has water in it. fruit is ok if you wash it yourself. chutneys (the pourable watery ones) are made with water and are to be avoided unless at a nice restaurant or hotel where they are likely made with purified water. another thing to be careful of is water on washed plates or glasses, sometimes they give you a glass that's fresh from the washer with some drops clinging to it, which can (as i've unfortunately learned) be sick. you may also want to chose your antimalarial carefully. some of them have nasty side effects (including nausea).

India is amazing and I hope you love it. there is so, so much to see though! I think one thing that may help you decide where to go is to decide what you are most interested in--temples, mughal stuff, or scenery. if you're interested in ruins and temples you may want to reconsider staying in the north only--the most spectacular ones are in the south and are absolutely worth seeing. the south is also very different than the north, so you'd get so see two different aspects of the country. near the taj is fatepur sikri, which i've never been to but looks unbelievable (and my husband, who has been there, agrees that it's amazing). in delhi itself i like the red fort. many people love rajesthan, and if you're in delhi it's convenient to go and it is very scenic and tourist-friendly. i think most people go to jaipur, and it is lovely. but by far my favorite of the places i visited there was jaiselmer--it's unfortunately the farthest away, but its right by the desert (complete with dunes and camels, etc, the moonrise is unforgettable) and it was just so much older and better preserved than the other cities i saw, or at least that was my opinion. my other fave in rajesthan are the temples at mount abu/dilwara. definitely much farther off the tourist path but so gorgeous.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilwara_Temples what is must see depends on how far you're willing to go in northern india. for example sikkim is gorgeous, and the monasteries are very cool, but it's quite far from delhi i think. Kolkata isnt nearby either (and is usally called east india, but it's more north than south), and is frankly hard to navigate unless you have an insider to go with you (maybe a good guide would do?) but i adore the city. it's the most intellectual city i've ever been to, there's college street with literally a mile or more of book stalls on both sides, and people literally arguing over poetry and politics in the coffeehouses for hours. and it's interesting to see the remnants of the raj, the old, slowly declining buildings. Kerala and goa are very popular too, though i've never been so can't speak to them. though i have many dear relatives there, i don't love mumbai, to me it's mostly like any big international city but with parrots and crazier traffic. but if you go the elephanta caves are neat. and please do yourself a favor and eat as much as you can, including the street food, which is amazing.

i love this stuff, add a bit to all sorts of pastas or stews when i want a bit of non-salty umami. and of course if i'm making anything with mushrooms, particularly a cream based sauce, it's great, i often find that the mushrooms don't flavor the sauce as much as i'd like, and this helps. i bought mine on amazon, it wasn't very expensive at all.

i am really excited about this place as I love indian street food. any info on the menu (when such info becomes available) would be appreciated.

does Big Bowl do indian chinese? Woodlands has a decent gobi manchurian (they offer it on their weekend buffet but the dinner version is better. ) i also feed my cravings by using the "ching's secret" (i know the name is iffy) packets of soup, spices, etc. i think the hakka noodle miracle masala makes a decent hakka noodle (if you add way more spice and veg than the recipe says to, along with some ginger). i remember jewel of india was marketed as having a big indo-chinese selection, but the one time i went i was dissapointed by the relatively small number of vegetarian options, and underwhelmed with the manchurian i ordered (though it was presented nicely).

after hearing about this place from the Post's list of must-try dishes, we had some pupusas from here this weekend and they were great, the best pupusas i've had in a while. The place was packed at 2 pm on a saturday, and i understand why. The pupusas ($2 each) are about 4 inches wide, the stuffing-to-shell ratio leans more heavily towards the stuffing, which is how i prefer them, though the corn still added its sweet flavor to everything, they offer both rice and corn shells,we only got corn, but the very nice man behind the counter said the queso pupusa with the rice shell was great. they have a wide variety of pupusas--cheese, beans, lorocco, chipelin leaves, pork, chicken, squash, spinach, and many combinations of these ingredients. i liked the salsa that came with them, and the fact that they gave us generous portions of both that at the curtido. i thought the curtido was a little to plain for my taste--i prefer it more seasoned, this just had a hint of vinegar. if you want carryout, you can order ahead, which is nice, as pupusas often take a while to make. we'll be back. http://www.pupuseriaelcomalito.com/

had brunch there last weekend and as everyone has said, the gougeres are amazing. i am still somewhat regretting not getting a second order. we had the grilled cheese with clothbound cheddar (delicious, the cheese makes all the difference), and the grilled artichokes which were also very good. However, for me the standout was the carmelized fennel, which i'd never had before. often when i braise fennel, or even roast it, the flavor is diminished. in contrast, this seemed to concentrate the sweet licorice flavor. since then i've looked online at recipes for carmelized fennel and they seem to say you just slow cook it in a pan with oil or butter and the magic happens. if anyone has carmelized fennel at home, and also had the garrison version, and could offer some advice on how i can make this magic happen at home, it would be appreciated. our waitress was lovely and a number of people had children with them, and the staff seemed to dote on them, which was sweet.

i went to the rockville location a couple of weeks ago and as always, came away full and happy. the fried eggplant is always good, however there was something spot on about the spicing that night--they were particularly greaseless, the cumin particularly fragrant, or something--that made it amazing, one of the best things ive eaten in months. the scallion rings (a special) were only so-so--they seem to be the same batter as in the scallion pancakes, formed into little doughnuts and fried. like the scallion pancakes, these didn't have enough scallion flavor for me, but the sauce they came with was very good. Also tried a new dish, the three-pepper hot pot. wonderful, deep, complex pepper flavor.

in my experience if you get the food "mild" there's absolutely no heat. usually "medium" has a hint of heat, but on my last trip i ordered medium and got something that was medium-spicy, definitely some heat. i'm not sure if they've made their food spicier or something, or maybe i just had an outlier.

wasn't there a piece a couple of years ago on how they weren't as farm-to-table as they seemed? there's this one, but i thought there was a different one as well. Dec 7, 2009 - "Think You're Dining 'Green?' Menus Won't Always Tell You" by Jane Black on washingtonpost.com

the pizza isn't cheap, but i think their margharita is pretty decent, decent enough that i don't feel obliged to run to two amy's all the time. i agree that the crust isn't crispy, but i don't mind that in a neopolitan style pizza. ymmv.

i haven't been there in 6 months, but i used to go there at least twice a month (my visits declined because of my being busy, not through any fault of theirs!) i love them. i find their ginger salad addictive , and if you like funky flavors and olives, you might want to try their tea leaf salad (doesn't have olives, but kind of tastes like them, a similar deep umani salty flavor). i usually get the tofu with pickled mustard greens-like a scramble of tofu with tart pickled greens, simple and homey but tasty (v12), v6, broad rice noodles stir fried with tofu, romaine and a nutty/soy sauce, or n1, a dish of 4 different noodles with potatoes, onions, and cilantro, it's not the most strongly flavored dish, but is good nonetheless, and the potatoes with noodles work surprisingly well. i'm not a fan of their curries--they are less strongly flavored than the indian ones i'm used to-but my husband likes the chicken in coconut sauce with cilantro. we've tried the desserts once or twice but didn't love them.

i didn't understand the comment--is it that most things served as vegetable risottos aren't properly cooked risottos, or are you saying that risotto, by definition, can't be vegetarian?

a vendor at the penn quarter market (sorry, forgot which one) had plants of the mexican sour gherkin yesterday and i bought 2. I think they are the same vendor which had pineapple tomatillo plants last week, whcih i also bought some of. I've seen the gherkin in seed catalogs for years and am excited about finally tasting some (hopefully).