jandres374

Finally made it here last Sunday, we brought my Mom here for her birthday. They were in town from Philadelphia and my Dad is somewhat of a food snob and is rarely pleased with a meal. He just called me and he was still talking about how great his dinner was last week.

Between the 6 of us we had:

Red and yellow Heirloom Beet Salad with Crumbled Bleu Cheese and Toasted Pecan Nuts

Baked Snails with Garlic Butter and Toasted Bread

Parmesan and Passendal Cheeses Croquettes, Green Salad

French Onion Soup Topped with Baked Gruyère Cheese

Baked Mussels

Flemish beef stew simmered in dark beer, served with Belgium fries

Hanger Steak (Origin: Vintage Farm, Wisconsin) with Green Peppercorn Sauce served with Belgium Fries and Salad

Everything we had was excellent as was the service. Although not a cheap outing once you through in the wine and desserts but we all left very full and happy.

Need to get back here to try the mussel burger - looks interesting.

I was in Charleston last weekend running in the 1/2 marathon. We hit a couple spots over the weekend:

Pearlz: great happy hour deals here from 4-7 M-F, $7.95 for a dozen local oysters, known for their oyster shooters (not my thing, plus I was running the next day)

Husk: it was restraunt week while we there (our first choice was Fig but they were closed for a remodel). This is a place that knows how to do restraunt week right, probably 5-6 apps and 7-8 mains to choose from for $30. Great ambiance, food and service - just a perfect night.

Amen Street: hit here for lunch after the race. We were headed to SNOB only to find they don't serve lunch on weekends. This place really surprised us. Really nice fried oyster app to start and I had a Hot Shrim and Crab sandwich which was outstanding. Washed it down with some killer Bloody Mary's, one of the better version I have had in awhile.

To celebrate our successful run we decided to head to King St for the night at hit a couple places. My family who went to school and now live in Mt. Pleasant said this area was pretty run down while they were at C of C but is making a come back.

We started out at Charleston Beer Works - decent beer list and typical bar grub. Mostly a college bar. Good place to watch a game over a few cheap beers.

HoM: Relatively new burger place. Great looking spot with two ping pong table in the rear (albeit with no tvs to watch the games). Solid burgers and fries but nothing earth shattering. All their sauces are made in house.

Mercury Bar: ended up the night here for a few more drinks. Happening little bar, not a huge place, but friendly bartenders. Thing get a little fuzzy at thi point after a very long day.

If you are in Charleston and looking for something different and want to avoid the tourist traps downtown then I highly recommend hitting King Street. Even saw the Newt campaign bus on King St while walking back to the hotel.

They opened up the market side this week. Stopped in to grab a sandwich for lunch today. Wine bar is not open.

Here is the sandwich menu: http://www.urbandaddy.com/uploads/assets/file/pdfs//85934109ab66e7625e64ea7e218d33e4.pdf

Tried the Soprano - had a nice proportion of meat to bread and bread was very fresh. Little too salty for my taste and at $11 a little pricey to make it into the regular rotation.

Anyone know how hard it is to snag a couple seats at the bar around 6:15 or so on Saturday. Want to hit here tonight before a show at the National Theater.

Website http://www.caphebanhmi.com/index.html

More info on this place here http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Blogs/Table-Talk/January-February-2012/Gaffneys-and-Asian-Caf-both-closed/

Website http://www.themajesticbethesda.com/

Tonight was the 3rd time I ordered a "Plain" (i.e. no cheeses) for takeout and when I arrived for pick-up they had made an "Original" (i.e. cheese). Granted they made me another one as I waited but still. You either need to train your staff better or change the name as something is getting lost in translation. I was standing there as they ordered my replacement pizza:

Guy at register: "I need a 14" plain on the fly"

Pizza Maker: "You need a plain with cheese"

Guy at Register: "No plain with no chesse"

Pizza Maker: "Oh, okay"

Description on menu is as follows:

NEW! Plain (V) $10.50 / $14.95

In New Haven, you have to ask for "mootz" to get what most people think of as a plain pizza. When you ask for "plain," you get a simple, classic fresh tomato pie the way Frank Pepe made them when he first opened for business in New Haven in 1925. Ours features our crisp thin crust, all-natural tomato sauce, fresh chopped garlic, extra virgin olive oil, a dash of oregano, and a good sprinkling of pecorino-romano. Light, healthy and a great value.

Pete’s Original - 14" / 18"

Tomato Sauce, Whole Milk Mozzarella - $14.50 / $18.95

Also ordered a "Boola Boola" (House-made Meatballs, Roasted Peppers, Caramelized Onions, Cherry Peppers) and there was not one meatball to be found on the pizza - very disappointing considering it is a $19 pizza.

We ordered from the Friendship Heights location.

Drove by today and looked like a huge delivery of flour sitting on the sidewalk out front. I suspect with the Christmas/New Year holiday upon us that a January opening seems likely.

Great - I will stop by today.

Don't belong to Costco so looks like I will give Safeway a shot. Is there much of a difference in Prime tenderloin versus Choice tenderloin - since there is not much marbling?

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[JoeH's Costco post split off here]

Free burgers today from 3-7 for Grand Opening.

http://www.kraze.us/events/

Need to pick a beef tenderloin to feed 9 people for Christmas dinner. Anyone seen any specials out there that I can take advantage of - not looking to break the bank since its just my wife's family.

Happened to be at Capital Grille in Chevy Chase, MD last night - hardly the place to find affordable wines. They sell the same Mark West Pinot Noir for $30 a bottle that Newton is selling for $44.

I also have one expiring today that I will be unable to use. Please direct message me if interested.

Went last Saturday and ended up with the chefs table in the kitchen, definitely quieter and more entertaining. Go here now and immediately order the fried chicken, hand down the best in the DMV. Also sampled the fresh oysters, étouffée, rockfish and shrimp and grits. They are turning out some great stuff here right now.

Work was a disaster today so decided to treat myself to a late lunch here today. Arrived a little after 1:00 to find a pretty full place but the bar on the 1st level ws pretty empty so I settled in. Had a conference call later in the day so settled for an iced tea as I looked over the menu. Asked my friendly bartender about the specials and he highly recommended the special rost beef sandwich with homemade chips and side salad. Turned out to be great selection, the salad was Alice portion and perfectly dressed, chips were crisp but maybe a bit to salty, the sandwich had a nice portion of thinly sliced roast beef with horseradish on some fresh bread, well worth the $12 in my opinion. Loved th space and can't wit to return and try out more of the menu.

Stopped in here for lunch on Saturday after fighting holiday traffic on Rockville Pike, also had a Capitol Deal coupon in the car. In short, we really enjoyed the pizzas here. Wife and I split a SONIA (Fresh Mozzarella, Spinach, Roasted Peppers, Red Onion, Mushroom, Olive, Basil) - $11. Really liked the crust and topping were fresh, could have used another couple seconds in the oven. Also split the CS HOUSE (Spring Mix, Grape Tomato,Parsley, Mint, Grana Padano, Balsamic Vinaigrette) - $5 for large. Nothing special but a decent value. Kids each had their own kids pies: GIA (Crushed San Marzano Tomato, Fresh Mozzarella) - $6; SOPHIA (Crushed San Marzano Tomato, Fresh Mozzarella, Pepperoni) - $6.50. The shuffleboard table kept the kids entertained. Will happily bypass the debacle across the street and head here next time we are in the neighborhood.

I have continued to keep this place in my lunch rotation since it is close and the people are extremely pleasant. I was in earlier this week and noticed some dramatic changes, particularly with the pricing.

Curry increased by $1.50 (Chicken - $11.50, Lamb - $13.50, Keema - $11.50)

Roti Wraps went from $7.50 to $8.50

Flatbread Pizzas from $8.00 to $9.50

Mustard Shrimp Salad from $7.50 to $10.50 - this was my go to order.

North Indian and Bengali food are as different as traditional offerings from Wisconsin and Louisiana. Same country - different food completely. I wouldn't expect to see (and indeed would be horribly disappointed) if I were to find chicken tikka or naan on the menu. Bengalis don't eat that. Lots of fish and veg, mostly, and not as hot as what you get in North Indian restaurants.

They are now offering Naan on the menu as well. I will continue to support but not as often.

Really $3.25 for an iced tea?

Apparently they opened last Tuesday: My link

I may try and take one for the team later this week and give it a shot.

Had only had lunch from the old location once but today I tired the new location on King St with a coworker. Nice space right next door to Lighthorse (our first choice but not open for lunch). We arrived around 12:30 to a nearly full restaurant - pretty solid crowd for a Monday. Lighthorse should re-think about opening for lunch, not to mention we saw a few other people trying to open the door to Lighthorse only to find it closed.

Started to get a little nervous when it took nearly 10 minutes for our server to appear. We ordered food and drinks when he arrived fearing he would not return but to our delight drinks arrived promptly as did the food. We both went with the Create your own Platter:

CREATE YOUR OWN PLATER

Baba Ghanouj, Hommos, Fool M'dammas, Labneh, Loubieh Bel zeit, Grape Leaves, Falafel, Spinach Pie, Sambousick Cheese, Kibbeh, Sambousick Meat, Tabouleh, Avocado Salad, Moujadra, Beef or Chicken

Choice of 3 - $8.75

Choice of 5 - $12.75

I selected 5: Baba Ghanouj, Hommos, Loubieh Bel Zeit, Avocado Salad and Chicken Shwarma. Everything was tasty, well prepared and a good sized serving of each. Good value in my opinion. The only downside to me was the pita bread, obviously not made in house.

Will be back to try some more of the menu.

We hit Wild Tomato probably more than we should but its close, quick and easy. I even find myself doing some takeout lunches when I work from home. Good not great food but we know this going in to it.

Noticed that they finally have a website for those interested: My link

Had a really nice meal here a couple Saturdays ago. Called ahead and asked how long the wait would be for 8 and they asked what time and told us they would reserve a table for 6 pm on Saturday (4 adults/4 kids). We arrived right at 6 and were shown to our reserved table. Service was excellent and between all of us we sampled a fair amount of the menu. The stand outs were:

Sweet Thai Chili Wings $8
Asian marinated chicken wings tossed in sweet Thai chili sauce

Fried Oysters $11
Plump, sweet, and briny lightly fried oysters served with apple horseradish sauce

Grilled Hanger Steak $19
Grilled hanger steak served with creamy Dijon potato gratin, sautéed spinach, crispy shaved fried onions, and Cognac green peppercorn sauce

Also, they a Pot Roast special that looked really good but no one ordered

Nothing mind blowing but solid food at affordable prices and great service. Nice place for easy family meals. Place was packed by the time we left but it is a small spot.

Not sure this belongs here or not so feel free to move it. Amex has a special promotion running for Small Business Saturday on 11/26. Go to the AMEX Facebook page and register your AMEX card for the promotion. Then on 11/26 use your card at any of the places listed (can search by zip code) and you get a $25 statement credit when you spend at least $25 at one of the participating stores.

Some of the places included: Georgetown Cupcake, Ray's the Steaks and Hellburger, Cashions, Z Burger, Italian Store, Jack Rose, Ripple, Passage to India, Weygandt Wines, Grapeseed, EtVoila, Chain Bridge Cellars.