winger1930

I too take advantage of this place for their lunch special, and it really is a good deal. I do think it's funny that their lunch deal is 2 rolls for $6.50, and 3 rolls for $9.95. If you do the math, it's actually more expensive to get the 3 roll deal than the 2 roll one, on a per roll basis ($3.25 VS $3.32). This is my go to sushi lunch place, and Yoyogi is my go to sushi dinner place. Both serve above average, and most importantly inexpensive, sushi. You won't get blown away with the quality, but you also won't go hungry afterwards.

We're heading out with a few friends Saturday night to celebrate my wife's birthday. Normally, this is an easy request - we start at Hogo, maybe sneak into the Passenger, and wander down to the street to a new restaurant we haven't had. Grab a little to eat, a drink or two, and move on to the next place. However, this year, my wife happens to be 17 weeks pregnant, so we need to get her some non-alcoholic beverages. Are there any places out there where they have some exceptional, non-alcoholic drinks? We were thinking of starting at Hogo still, as I'm assuming they'll be able to whip something tasty up for her to drink. After that, I wasn't sure where to go. We don't HAVE to be down in Chinatown, as long as we can have a couple places we can go to. I know when we went to Dino a couple weeks ago, she enjoyed one of their shrubs, so that gives you an idea of what she's into. Any ideas would be much appreciated!

For those that want to fight the crowds, Costco will have the 5200S for $349 on Black Friday. Here's the actual ad. (WARNING: This link does lead directly to a jpg.)

Blackfish is nearby in Conshohocken, about a 10 minute drive from KOP. I haven't been, but heard good things about this little BYOB. It was all the rage in Philadelphia a few years ago, and it sounds like they're still pumping out good food.

On a related note...as a child, my godmother (who was Pennsylvania Dutch) used to give me a pound of sweet lebanon bologna (sliced thin) and a tub of Philadelphia Smoked Salmon flavored cream cheese as a snack. I would smear some cream cheese on a slice and roll it up. It's one of those childhood memories where you remember exactly where you were standing in the kitchen, with the fluorescent light under the counter and a butter knife in my right hand that I used to smear the cream cheese. The best part of the whole thing was the last roll up. Once I filled it up, I'd dip the knife in the tub and scoop up a little cream cheese and eat it right off the knife.

Just to close the loop on this... We ended up getting all 7 of us (and an unexpected 8th person) into the Gibson. I think the reviews are mixed from the party. On the one hand, I thought the service was efficient but not really friendly. Honestly, we had a tough time navigating the menu with all the obscure (at least to us) liquors and ingredients. We tried asking questions, but between the really dark lighting cause us to have trouble reading the menu, and being stuck in the corner where it was hard to talk to the server if you were seated on the back side of the table, we had a couple of drinks that were misses for us. But, we did enjoy the Bren on the Patio and the Gibson Gamble was pretty fun for some of us. One big miss for me was, when I made the reservation, we were told the table would be ours for the rest of the night. However, around 10:45 or so, our server told us that there was another party booked behind us at 11:30. It wasn't a big deal because we were ready to move on, but it was disappointing because we did have to rush through our second round of drinks, and some of us didn't get a chance to finish them off. We were sufficiently lubed up at that point, and my wife wanted to go to Saint Ex to relive our city years, so that was fun. Not exactly the type of place to talk to one another, but good times nonetheless. Thanks for all the recs everyone, even if only to give us places to go next time we head out downtown!

Sounds like you'd like Euclid Hall. Great beer list with good bar food. The most notable items I had there were the sausage sampler, marrow, pad thai pig ears (best thing I ate that night), and hammed pork chop. I'd stick to the small plates, as my co-workers didn't really like the "Steak N' Sauce". But then again, they didn't find the food all that "accessible" either. Since you're going out there for work, just keep that in mind. I also went to ChoLon Bistro while out there, which I really liked, but didn't find all that unique. Lots of pan asian food that is well prepared, but nothing that really stood out for me.

I was thinking Pilar and Black Jack, and maybe one more place. Not sure what we'll do for that last one, but at least that gives me a plan for the first 2 places...

Union Market actually sounds like a great idea - but they close at 8 and we're looking to go out at 9. However, you do make a good case for my wife and I to head there for a long afternoon/evening. Doesn't Birch & Barley get really crowded though on a Saturday night? I've tried to go there once, but it was so packed, we had to go somewhere else. I thought about Bar Pilar and Cork as possible places. I was able to score a reservation at The Gibson for 6, but I'm probably going to be a party of 7, so I might have to find something else. Any other recs or ideas would be appreciated!

I'm trying to put together a birthday celebration for my wife for this Saturday night. We'll have about 8 people with us, all in our early to mid thirties, and are aiming for a post dinner outing at about 9pm. We are coming from Rockville, but can go to DC, VA or MD. I'm not just looking for 1 bar, but maybe 2 or 3 that are with in walking distance (like the Passenger and Hogo - but I'm just worried that we won't be able to get in with this many people). Everyone drinks cocktails, but some prefer beer. We are hoping to find places where we can sit down, but at least where we can all talk. I just don't know the bars in DC like I used to, and am hoping you all can help. Maybe some places on 14th St, but anywhere is fine. I realize as I'm writing this is that I used to look down on all these people who would come into the city on the weekends and invade "my neighborhood". I'd curse them as they forced me to get home before 6pm on a Friday night just so I could have the privilege of parking my car 6 blocks from my house. Alas, now I've become one of "them"...

Damn, I'm going to miss this one. I've gone to 3 now, with last week being my favorite - partly due to the company. My parents were with us, and as my dad said, this menu was "popularly priced". It was his favorite meal he's had in DC. This, coming from the man who has a freezer stocked with marked down meat, who spends his new found time in retirement going to a different grocery store almost every day to find the best deal on 5 pounds of carrots (and he enjoys this), who find ways to outsmart Wegman's coupon book so that a bag of frozen bagels will still ring up as $1 off, even though the coupon was waffles. So, Jeff, you have my father's "popularly priced" seal of approval. P.S. If the fried quail and shrimp and grits are ever offered again, special pricing or not, you have get them.

My wife and I are going tonight - we can't wait. I mean, how could we not go to arguably the best restaurant in Bethesda and take advantage of a deal that's better than anything on Groupon, LivingSocial, etc. As long as this deal is offered, and I'm in town, I'm going (I already did the vegetarian one).

I've had a great meal at Matyson maybe 3 years ago on New Years Eve, but I've also wanted to go to Cochon for a while. From my limited knowledge, I'd say if you want something lighter, I'd go with Matyson. For something heavier, so with Cochon. My wife and I love Amada, and we usually get their tasting menu. It's always plenty of food, that's well executive, has a good cross section of their menu, and we leave satisfied. That being said, I had a buddy of mine do the tasting menu at Zahav and said it was his favorite meal in Philly. It's been on my list for a while now, but if you can fit in both, I don't think you'll be disappointed. Another restaurant on my list (have you noticed a trend - I need to go to Philly more), but I've heard nothing but good things about Blackfish. It's BYOB, and I have had many people tell me that this is THE BYOB to hit in Philadelphia. I've actually been to the space to get a gift card for my parents, and I know it's a nice little restaurant space right in downtown Conshohocken, which is about 20-30 minutes outside of Center City. It's actually on the way to Longwood/Winterthur if you take the Blue Route via I-76.

Thanks for the recs...right, 2 o's. Force of habit from living in DC for 10 years... Those arepas sound great though!

So I'm heading down to Medellin next weekend for a bachelor party, and besides trying my hardest to stay out of trouble, I was just put in charge of finding places to eat. I did a very brief search, and beyond a No Reservations episode in Columbia, I haven't been able to find too many reliable sources. Anyone been? If all else fails, there's always Hard Rock. Actually, I'll probably try to avoid anything in Columbia having to do with rock...