crazeegirl

Have you tried the Four Sisters (Huong Que) at the new location? How is Present in comparison? We were at Four Sisters past weekend and the dishes seemed tamed to suit a less adventurous palate.

For anyone planning a group dinner in NYC...you may want to consider 'Inoteca. I was invited to a small wedding reception dinner recently and was impressed by the good service, food (small bites to share for each course) and the plus factor is that it is tucked underground where the wine cellars are located (it is otherwise a boisterous restaurant--in a good way). http://www.inotecanyc.com/ Other notable places that I would recommend are (not in any particular order): Scarpetta, Del'Anima and Porchetta!

Made a birthday trip to Corduroy...we created our own tasting of 4 appetizers and shared a main dish, consisting of uni pasta, lobster carpaccio, mixed micro greens, duck egg/leg salad, followed by lamb loin with lamb sausage, washed down with a pinot (name I forget at this moment...Ferhat?). Recently I have been going to too many places that undermine the integrity of the ingredients at the expense of looking "froo froo" and Corduroy is just the antithesis of those institutions, what a relief!

In fact, I have. I would say that Joe's are slighter bigger and juicier. The skin is very similar, but has a more elasticity (in a good way). I find that since at Joe's it's made to order as opposed to Y.S. where it is part of their dimsum menu, Joe's are piping HOT!!! I like Joe's more, but of course palates differ.

Just returned from a weekend trip from NYC. I am so glad Joe's Shanghai is not in DC...my life would be shortened by at least 10 years. The soup dumplings were better than ever. I love their Shanghai fried rice, which has nothing but scallions and eggs...oh right, also pork fat(!). I wish we had a noodle place like Sobaya...fresh soba noodles made on the spot. I had their tempura and soba lunch set ($17) and it was way way more food than I expected, all of which were simple and delish! They really know how to let ingredients shine on their own....no pretentions here. Mapo at Grand Sichuan was suprisingly good. Lupa, lupa, lupa...I wish Posto was lupa lupa lupa.

Our babysitter had to back out at the last minute so we ended up sitting at the tables downstairs with our 6 month old. Maybe I caught them on an-off night, but nothing really shined...basically ordered all of the specials on their special menu. However, nothing was bad either. I thought the fish slices were tad too thin. I don't like them chunky (like TCB) but it was too thin to appreciate the texture of raw fish. I am probably spoiled by my recent meal at Soto in NYC. For any of you heading to NYC, try Soto, their sushi is sublime! They don't give you soy sauce or wasabi, the sushi chef will brush the soy on each nigiri, ready for you to just pop in your mouth with your fingers.

Appears from Opentable that there is no lunch service...any plans in the near future?

Thanks all. I am a more sushi/sashimi heavy kind of girl (!) so am inclined to go to Sushi-Ko after reading your thoughts. I'm going to see if I can make reservations at the sushi bar, if possible, in front of Koji.

My go-to place for sushi/sashimi at the bar was Sushi Taro. Now that it's closed for renovation, I am debating whether to go to Sushi Ko or Kaz Sushi. My MO is to sit at the sushi and request that the chef give me whatever is fresh and good. Which place would you recommend? I've been watching this Japanese documentary about tuna fishing---after each catch, they follow the fish to the restarurant it ends up at and shows "glistening" (from camera lights, i bet) toro and ever since I can't get my mind off toro.

Finally getting a chance to report back...since the dinner at Obelisk on the 8th to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary, we had a new addition to our family...first time parents, whew...sleepless nights ensues. We wanted to something low key despite the milestone anniversary since I could not drink...we plan to do Spain next year to make up for it. Obelisk's decor was bare yet inviting and warm, as was the service. The restaurant's forte is definitely their appetizers (antipasti and primi). The buildup was not there in the subsequent courses. Would I return? Yes, but I left thinking that I had not missed anything by not going there the past 7 years I lived in the neighborhood. If one were to ask, if one should dine there, I may more enthusiatically point them to Dino, where they will find better value. Especially after having dined at Dino couple days (restaurant week special) before this, I felt like at $75, Obelisk underperformed. For our purposes, Obelisk fit the bill, it was low key and we had a grand time with great company of family members. The menu we had consisted of the following: Antipasti misti (fried squash blossoms, burrata, pork terrine, pickled assortment of beans) Primi (Dandelion greens ravioli wit anchovy butter--our favorite; Gnocchi with persto; Bigoli with tomatoes and pancetta--heavy on the salt) Secondi (Quail with chanterelles; Culotte with flat beans and pine nuts) Formaggi: (Cincerino, carvanzina and pipe dreams farms goat cheese) Dolci: (Yogurt panna cotta with blackberries; chololate raspberry cake; peach infusion with vanilla ice cream) They have a new chef...Jessica Lee (don't quote me...I think that was her first name).

Has anyone tried Obelisk recently? I have reservations on Friday and would love to get a preview if anyone has visited since March 2008. Thanks very much!

Sign me up +1 please. One with wine and one without please. Thank you!

I've now tried the bistro several times--for lunch and for dinner and walked out each time as a very satisfied customer. The bartenders were amenable to making fun non-alcoholic drinks for me and also addressing the concerns I had as a pregger...are certain cheese pasturized, etc. My fav drink this summer has been the strawberry tonic at Central, but Eve's version on Saturday, trumped it! I have yet to explore the entire menu, but I didn't feel like prices were unreasonable for the quality and execution. So far my favorites are: beet salad, BLT sandwich, barbeque pork sandwich, halibut and the side of risotto!

Re: WD-50, since you haven't had the molecular gastronomy experience, WD-50 may be a good place for you, however, last time I was there, I thought the presentation was novel and interesting, but the flavors just didn't do it for me. I kept on having this "chemical" kind of flavor in my mouth. I would try to go to Joe's Shanghai in Chinatown if you can.

Recently I tried both Harris Crab House and Crab Deck on Kent Narrows. I preferred Crab Deck because they had bigger/plumper crabs and the outside sitting area is actually leveled on top of the water...whereas, the outdoors at Harris' is rooftop. Either way, I couldn't complain...the weather was gorgeous both days. I've only tried steamed crabs, coleslaw, french fries and corn. Coleslaw at Harris's was not to my liking...way tooo much mustard! I haven't been for couple years, but Obryki's in Baltimore, albeit not served with Old Bay seasoning, is good.

lunch at prime rib--sauteed soft shell crab and prime rib followed by a massage at the ritz and dinner at sushi taro--drooling at crazeeboy and his dad devour 3 grades of toro and other sashimi while I ate rolls. Can't wait until I can eat raw fish again. tomorrow...lunch at either BLT or Equinox. Thoughts? Where would you pick?

Stopped by Friday evening for Happy Hour. Realized that I have been negligent in taking advantage of one of the best deals in town--50% entire tapas menu from 5 - 7pm. On the other hand, I thought the seafood paella on the menu was average...at $30/person (2 person minimum), I expected more.

Weekend in NYC-- Friday at Kun Jip in NYC: Kalbee, Barley bibimbap and Steamed Pork Belly with Oyster Kimchi Saturday Lunch: Joe's Shanghai for soup dumplings followed by lots of hot tea to help the drainage down my system so that all that pork fat can make its way down. Saturday Dinner: Tory's Tottos for awesome small Japanese dishes and robatayaki--and then off to Sakagura for some more. I strongly recommend both places. Sakagura even has a sake sommelier. Sunday Brunch: Park Avenue Spring--the word was that GW was there. Too many secret service running around the place. Decor was inspiring and the food was above average. Sunday Dinner: Dimitri's on 3rd and Catherine in Philly for best Mediterranean food ever! (we were there last weekend too). Whheww....after all this and 4 lbs, back to the grind at work.

Myself, being Korean would pick WLO as my favorite Korean restaurant in DC metropolitan area. Foremost, I don't think that there are any Korean restaurants that serve the quality/grade of beef--which explains why they don't have to guise the quality by overpowering it with the marinade and msg. Second, pyong yang naeng myun is as close to authentic as you can get in the US (close comparsion to the the flagship WLO in Seoul) and third, they do not recycle their banchan. As for non-Kalbee/naemg myun dishes, it is probably best to go to "specialty" restaurants, for example, Vit Goel for sundubu, etc.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARK!~~ I am doing a little birthday dance for your right now! Best wishes, Crazeegirl & Crazeeboy

As part of my eat-a-thon in NYC before New Year's, I checked out Fiamma....It was evening reminiscent of Maestro--(a) divine creative and playful teasers such as the beef carpaccio/tartare topped with quail eggs and caviar, escargots with scallops and pesto sauce; and ( familiar faces. Fabio had offered to do a tasting for us, but we opted to pick and choose from the menu so that we can try most of the items on the menu. We thoroughly enjoyed nibbling from each other's dishes. Five courses among the four of us allowed us to experience most of the offerings. I thought the weakest dish was the duo of veal which consisted of duo of veal ribeye and slow cooked veal cheeks with hazelnuts. I encourage y'all to try it out in the big apple if you miss Fabio's cooking!

I was invited for dinner at Sichuan Pavillion couple nights ago. Prior to my visit, I searched on the web to check out some reviews...there was almost none. Despite the fact that I probably passed by the restaurant thousands of times, it never struck me to check it out. The restaurant has a "traditional chinese/sichuan" menu on the last page of menu...the remaining of the menu is what you would see at a typical Chinese-American take out joint. We ordered from the traditional menu and we were pleasantly suprised at the authenticity of the dishes. We ordered the husband and wife beef tendon/tripe appetizer, sweet and sour cabbage, ma po tofu, steamed flounder, noodles with meat sauce (chinese take of spaghetti bolognese), chicken with dried red peppers, steam beef with red sauce and sauteed pea shoots. All of the sichuan dishes definitely had a kick and numbing sensation. Compared to Peter Chang, I would rank it lower but compared to Hong Kong Palace, the Szhechuan place on 14th Street and China Star, Sichuan Pavillion fared better. Can't wait to try out more dishes with a larger group.

the sign says that they are serving free duk gook from 11am to ??? Sorry can't remember when the freebies ended. However, if circumstances have not changed since new years day 2007, per Grover's post above, it will end at 2:30pm.

Has anyone tried yet? Since watching Top Chef last night. I have the foie gras jiggers. I am thinking about going tonight or tomorrow. Any other recommendations would be much appreciated! Thanks.

Grover: I think you got the noodles mixed up. Pyong-yang style noodles are not chewy--it contains more buckwheat flour. You should be able to taste the "wheat" because it contains more buckwheat flour than potato flour--which accounts for the chewiness of the Hahm-Hung style. Woolae Oak Pentagon City has been closed for awhile. I don't think they plan to open it in the immediate future. IMO, Woolae Oak in Tysons serves the best Pyong-yang style noodles in town. As for Hahm-Hyung, I have yet to find a place that serves the real deal. Best bet, fly to Seoul and go to Oh-jang dong!