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Genevieve

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Everything posted by Genevieve

  1. Genevieve
    I love that bookstore! One More Page Books - they may be small, but they are very well curated and they are terrific at book suggestions for gifts or for yourself. Since Olsson's is gone, it's one of the few indie bookstores left in NoVa (there's some indie kids' bookstores I know of, Hooray for Books and a couple others, but I don't know of other all-purpose ones in or near Arlington). We ate at Yayla for the first time a couple weeks ago and liked it very much also. Excellent bread and spreads (hpititi was my favorite, feta and red pepper) and good main dishes, and nice service.
  2. Genevieve
    Went to Chaia for the first time on Sunday and the tacos were absolutely amazing. I had the combo of 3 tacos of my choice: mushroom/feta/red sauce/cilantro; skillet corn/queso fresco/cilantro lime crema/sungolds; smoky eggplant/goat cheese/salsa verde/cilantro, all topped with microgreens, and with scrambled egg lining the tacos. All three were fantastic - corn and mushroom tied for favorite. The corn flavor was outstanding, and I've never had better sungolds (I dropped a couple off of my taco and was really sad because they were so good with the corn). The mushrooms were so flavorful and the feta and sauce were perfect foils. (The eggplant would have been my favorite anywhere else, as it was wonderful, but the other two were a shade even more wonderful.) I also had a side of black beans with jalapeno crema, which was nice - next time I might get that along with the green rice. They have a nice outdoor seating area near the canal. The watermelon/lime/basil juice was delicious. And the (vegan) cinnamon coconut cookie was scrumptious. (I have been skeptical about vegan cookies, but after eating Chaia's and Shouk's, no longer.) (Full disclosure - I now have a relative who works there. But I fully intended to go there before I knew she'd even heard of the place, after I read all the reviews here. The fact that she works there did not affect my review in any way, or the food or service that I got and paid for.) I will be going back frequently!
  3. Genevieve
    Did a Seamless takeout from Kabob Bazaar (Clarendon) last week and, apart from the ridiculously long time it took, Seamless got the order wrong - they gave me regular rice instead of the zeresh polo (rice with saffron and bayberries). This gave me a chance to see how much the zeresh polo enhances the meal, and the answer is a ton. The meal was disappointingly ordinary without it (though mixing in my usual side dish, noon paneer sabzi -- excellent blocks of feta and walnuts and herbs -- did jazz the food up quite a bit - it's such better feta than you usually get at restaurants). The chicken and veggies were still cooked well (moist and juicy chicken, nicely charred grilled veggies), but I could see why some people don't find Kabob Bazaar that notable. Moral of the story: unless you strongly dislike tartness, get your kabob with the zeresh polo! The tart barberries and the saffron flavor make the meal much more delicious. Absolutely worth the extra 3 dollars over plain rice. (And also get their very good pita, either the bread that comes with the noon paneer sabzi, or a separate order of bread. I get an extra order and enjoy it later in the week. And the must-o-kheyar yogurt dip is very very good with the bread. But the main takeaway is the zeresh polo.) Second moral of the story: I'm done with Seamless. (Maybe DoorDash will do better, or maybe this is going to be a meal we go pick up all of the time instead of some of the time. Delivery options in Courthouse/Clarendon that don't use Seamless seem to be dwindling, but admittedly we haven't tried DoorDash yet.)
  4. Genevieve
    Agree with these. The lemon cashew rice is very much worth it as a side dish, and the dal is particularly good. Other than that, I've had many wonderful things at Rasika in the last few years (including twice this year), but I wouldn't say any were more must-haves than others. I go with what ingredients I'm fond of. I very much like the fish chutneywala (they do a great job with fish), and the goat cheese kulcha (an unusual bread), the ragda patties, and the tawa bhangan.
  5. Genevieve
    I had seen some early posts mention meals at Kinship taking three hours. Are they always that long? I very much want to go (preferably while they still have soft-shells on the menu, but I couldn't get there last week and probably not next week), but three hours is going to be difficult, especially if I want to get someone to join me.
  6. Genevieve
    Absolutely agree - I will never patronize a place that is run by a tax cheat. What he has done is hurting Arlington and DC (since he hasn't paid Arlington back at all and DC forgave him a large amount).
  7. Genevieve
    So glad to know where Will Artley will be! If they're open for lunch I'll make the hike to go try it once he's settled and has his new menu. Otherwise will have to go for dinner on my way home - my family loved Will's cooking at Orso and would likely come in to DC to join me. Edit: and that's a pretty good location for pre-theater dining before a show at the Warner, National, or Ford's - not right next door, but not bad at all.
  8. Genevieve
    Your last post finally got me over there - I've been wanting to go since I heard about it, but since it's not super-close I was waiting for a cooler day to walk over there. Yesterday was a great day for it. I'm not vegetarian or vegan, but I am eating a lot more plant-based than I used to, and it sounded delicious from this thread. It was. I had the cauliflower pita pictured above, and the pita with cashew labne. Terrific lunch. It was only afterwards that I saw that you can get any of the pita fillings on rice and lentils instead, and I'd do that next time (more filling, and don't need the pita if I also get one with the dip). The pita was pillowy - thick and fluffy. It was definitely whole wheat, which I hadn't expected from the pictures, but it wasn't too "healthy" tasting. The dip was creamy (without dairy) and zingy with za'atar. Made a great contrast to the cauliflower pita which was excellent - nicely cooked, with great tahini. Everything tasted very fresh and well-cooked and bright. I risked a migraine for the cardamom chocolate chip cookie, because I love cardamom and that combo sounded so good. It was. I won't risk it again because I really hate getting migraines and usually it's not worth it, but I had to try it once. Cardamom should be in more desserts! (Preferably non-chocolate ones so I can have them, but it pairs really well with chocolate.) It was a great cookie, fluffy and yet substantial. Haven't had a lot of vegan cookies before and didn't think it would be that tasty without egg or dairy. Aside: whenever Pitango Gelato has the cardamom gelato, it makes me very happy (had some on Monday). Wish they listed daily flavors somewhere since they don't have it frequently. The Almond Delight drink was wonderful - light and yet a little creamy, highly unusual in flavor, perfect in summer. I have to go back and try the mushroom pita (with spinach and cauliflower), and the other pitas pictured above which look so good. I would've gotten a salad too but I think it would've been too much food for me for one meal. Definitely worth the walk over there whenever it's not incredibly hot/humid like today or pouring rain.
  9. Genevieve
    I look forward to your reports! Never would've considered Cheesecake Factory. Do they deliver? (We would not make them a frequent stop - also haven't eaten there since the year they opened, once - but for chicken parm sandwiches we might do it occasionally.)
  10. Genevieve
    Someone had ordered the (giant) pretzel as an appetizer and I had a large piece of it - very tasty, good texture. The cauliflower steak was pretty good, with romesco sauce, sliced almonds, and some roasted red pepper pieces. I prefer mine roasted longer, but it was all cooked through and browned nicely in some parts, and I would definitely order it again if we go back for trivia night. It was a generous serving (an entire head). Someone should have fully removed the leaves from the bottom, but no big deal, it's a bar and not topnotch cuisine - I'm just glad to have had a fairly healthy and tasty option for a main dish. I shared tater tots too (the not-healthy portion of the meal), which were presumably frozen ones but tasted good and made a good snack on the side. The place was packed, but we didn't have service problems as described in some posts from last year. We were seated outside, ordered food at the outside bar and it came fairly quickly. I'd forgotten to get water at the bar along with my drink, and the food runner went and brought me water quickly at my request. Everyone we encountered who worked there was pleasant.
  11. Genevieve
    Has anyone been here since last summer? Meeting a bunch of friends for dinner and a movie, and this is the place organizers picked. I was pleasantly surprised to see a cauliflower steak on the menu, so that may be my go-to even if it won't be as good as at other places. Either that or grilled chicken sandwich w/roasted peppers and arugula, probably can't be too terrible. From last year's reports, I'll avoid the burgers.
  12. Genevieve
    How is Green Pig Bistro these days? I haven't been in a long time. Me Jana is still terrific, but they're really Courthouse rather than Clarendon. Kabob Bazaar isn't fancy but it's definitely a bright spot of Clarendon dining for me. Always delicious. I gave my niece a walking tour of the area and surprised myself at how many times I had to say "that restaurant closed recently," and I didn't even know about ATR.
  13. Genevieve
    Had dinner at Garrison with my husband this week, and he loved it, which made me happy since I think it's terrific. My first time back since last summer, but I will not let that much time go by again before we go back. The two little things I didn't like last time have both been changed: they seated me right away instead of making me wait at the bar till the rest of my party arrived, and there is now a hook in the ladies' room for a purse. Also, last time they made me a wonderful mocktail, but now they have specific mocktails on a list (though they would also make me something else if I requested it), which I am always glad to see. The mocktails aren't on the website, but I had something called "The Other Side" which included pineapple-cardamom soda (I think housemade but am not certain) and mint. Delicious. My husband had a housemade ginger beer. They brought us an amuse bouche "to celebrate my second time there," which was very classy and reminded me that I need to go there significantly more often. It was served on top of an upside-down squat mason jar, which meant we lost a few delicious bits. Not sure exactly what it was other than that it involved beets (which I usually don't like but did this time), and small bits of cauliflower, radish, and herbs. The freshest produce available, touched up with a sprightly light dressing or acidic topping. Beautiful. We started with the gougeres, which were as ethereal as last time. Followed with the caramelized fennel with goat cheese - man, that was good. And the roasted cauliflower, which was very good, but became exceptional when combined with the crumbs of parmesan and pine nuts and slightly spicy peppers. I got half-orders of the two pastas - sweet corn tortellini with stracchino, chives, and nasturtiums, and toasted farro and fresh ricotta ravioli, with quail egg, garden greens, and fontina. Both were great; the freshness of the corn in the tortellini was wonderful, and that was my preferred pasta - the flavor was a little more multi-layered and the pasta was more delicate. The ravioli was great, but heartier, which I didn't so much need after the gougeres . All the produce was amazing per usual at Garrison. My husband had the bison hanger steak with heirloom tomatoes and blue cheese, and he liked the combination very very much. We ended by sharing the blueberry buckle and the stone fruit papillote. Loved the buckle (the little biscuit in it was so good too). We were a little disappointed in the papillote, which to me was not as jazzy as what I had last time (maybe because it was all one fruit - nectarine, I think - and more variation in flavor would have been good since the dessert is just grilled fruit and ricotta sauce). Husband wished he'd gotten the ganache after all (I placed the order too quickly, based on earlier discussion). Then they brought us two house-made caramels which were soft and buttery and delicious. Definitely going back before long.
  14. Genevieve
    Has anyone been more recently? Since they're coming to Clarendon in the Boulevard Woodgrill space, I'm going to try them.
  15. Genevieve
    My teen will be sorry they're closing, I think. I'll be excited to have Ambar there, though. Off to read the posts in that thread.
  16. Genevieve
    People from the Vietnamese embassy went there a lot if they were going out for a big working lunch. I think it was their favorite place.
  17. Genevieve
    Oh nooo!!!!!!!!! We loved Minh's. Really delicious food, huge menu, nice people. Glad to hear Nam Viet owns its own building.
  18. Genevieve
    It's worth multiple postings! A favorite of my entire family too. The teen loves the roast beef and cheddar (also likes the grilled cheese a lot); I go back and forth between the Roasted Earl (fresh pork and roasted peppers), the Pork and Provolone (which includes garlicky spinach), and sometimes the Mona Lisa (grilled eggplant, roasted peppers, mushrooms, provolone and greens); my husband likes the turkey reuben, the roast beef and cheddar, and some of the others. The gumbo is great and I really liked the breakfast burrito. Have to try that tomato crab bisque now.
  19. Genevieve
    The menu looks the same as it did last year. If they haven't changed chefs since I had a quite disappointing meal there last year, I would think it might be worth downgrading on the dining guide. Edit: I've had much better meals (consistently) at China Chilcano and Oyamel, for example, which are below Cedar on the dining guide. Cedar has this comment on the dining guide, " The "sleeper" restaurant in Penn Quarter, Cedar deserves more recognition than it gets, seasonal cooking that integrates vegetables very nicely", which based on the meal I had is no longer justified, though admittedly I only went once so my view is based on one visit and two people's opinions.
  20. Genevieve
    The dinner theater there did pretty decent theater, and some kids' matinees - took my kid there with friends at around age 2 for his first ever live theater, a Winnie the Pooh story.
  21. Genevieve
    Yay! I will try to get there for lunch this week - if not, then next week.
  22. Genevieve
    In the summer, Bayou Bakery generally has Sno-Balls (not in cones, but in Chinese takeout cartons). They've been lovely. I like the Wedding Cake flavor (there's also been raspberry and dreamsicle and others). I haven't had it yet this summer, so this reminds me to go!
  23. Genevieve
    I went a few months ago and it was great. Loved the Bastilla. Unfortunately don't remember what else we got, but we liked everything we had.
  24. Genevieve
    It's not superclose to my work, but I have got to get over there. It all sounds and looks so good.
  25. Genevieve
    Since Palette 22 sadly lost its chef, we didn't go there when we went to Signature this past weekend, but went to Osteria da Nino instead. Lovely meal. While the burrata appetizer didn't have the plum/nectarine ingredients Don mentioned above (too bad, as it's prime season for them), it had a nice olive base, and the burrata itself was the best I've had in quite some time, with a proper creamy center that has been lacking in other restaurants. I had the ricotta gnudi with crabmeat over a sauce made of peas. Delicious tender gnudi. I would have liked a little more crab, though. Son had calamari and then two large beef meatballs that were great. Others in the party had salads, but my husband also had a beef lasagna special that he said was exactly what he wanted. Desserts - mini cannolis and a panna cotta with morello cherries - were very very good.
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