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Half of the population of India is under 30 and there is a seismic shift in terms of appreciating one's own culture and the broader 'foodie' culture. Over the past forty years visiting my family in India, the change has been dramatic. I remember summers in India where we didn't eat any protein except for eggs for weeks. Now everything from around the world can be flown in and is at high end hotels and restaurants. Our last trip to India, we were mainly in Connaught Place and a bit south. Traffic is so bad sometimes getting around takes half the day. Personally I love gulab jamun. But a friend recently brought back some jaggery sweets that was like peanut brittle. Man that box went fast!

Man, I miss Spicy Tuna Poke.

Thanks for the in depth recommendations! I was reminded by your posting and a recent episode of The Great Indian Rasoi that focused on Delhi how many places there are to try in Old Delhi. Our next trip to India wanted to spend a little more time in Old Delhi, eating food instead of just non stop shopping. Though it is worth it buying some good pashmina shawls. The Great Indian Rasoi is also a good travel food show for India, if anyone is interested in the food diversity of the country, kinda of like Anthony Bourdains shows.

Colorado Kitchen and its successor whose name can't recall were the last places I went out of the way to get their fried chicken.

I've also been there for private friends/families parties and the food has been good. Definitely one of the better Indian restaurants in the area.

Our All-clad pans are going strong still after many years of use where others have fallen apart and needed to be replaced. They are quite heavy to hold but not as bad as Le Creusets. I would like something which is lighter but those don't tend to make it for years of usage.

Go outside the city to L'Auberge Chez Francois.

Thanks for mentioning this article and posting the link! Was just discussing okonomiyaki and its availability in the area wth my sister. She lived in Osaka for a few years and misses the okonomiyaki from there. I agree if one is willing to do the work and make a commitment, it doesn't matter where you are from.

Mark's dim sum is limited items off peak times.

Congratulations on getting up and running again!

Interesting and timely article Poivrot Farci, thanks for the link. I can see some of the concern voiced by others such as Simul Parikh and JoshNE in the article's main points which leads me to believe we are talking about different things. Can ethnic restaurants be authentic if they don't charge a lot of money? Can they be considered in the same light as 4 or 5 stars restaurants? Frankly, these kind of questions are not interesting to me. When I think of authentic in terms of food, foremost I think of taste. For example, I was trying to reach a Japanese friend yesterday who studying the tea ceremony at a temple. Twelve years ago, I attended a full day of tea ceremonies at that temple, six times if I recall correctly. It wasn't the atmosphere of the different settings that made it authentic, it was the decades of experience in preparation preparing the macha and the quality of the tea itself which made the taste, authentic. When restaurants here use only 5-10 ingredients versus others which use 15-20, there is a difference in taste. I assume the chef makes these decisions based on time constraints or that people will not notice the lack of complexity. Unfortunately the complexity is lost and that is fairly significant to the taste.

Don, you do a great service to the culinary community of Washington DC, but there is nothing more important than taking care of your health.

I'm currently reading The Secret of the Nages, the second novel in the Shiva Trilogy. The first two books in the trilogy have been a very fast read and encapsulates a lot of philosophies and religious thoughts from many different texts. The popularity of the trilogy is impressive but understandable. Tripathi's novelization makes it very approachable. However it is not authentic as the original texts which at the very least are written in a different language, i.e. the intended audience is different. There is nothing wrong with using the word authentic to describe cuisine. Of course one word is not the entire shebang. Its an easy way to identify a history of experiences which in this case would identify a restaurant that makes a food for many years that suddenly has become popular versus one that is new. Having watched this year's season of Master Chef India, it is clear with the growing middle class and it's relative youthful age, "Indian" food is taking a large step forward as techniques and ingredients are added to the repertoire that have never been there before. But, as is, Asian food with it's thousands of years of experience, is just as complex as French cooking and it's techniques. I'm not a fan of Rasika, but then again, I rather not eat Indian food outside the house. Rasika for special occasions is fine, just like before going to the Bombay Club.

I think Ericandblueboy raises a good point here which unfortunately gets drowned out in this thread by making direct comparisons between certain restaurants. Sometimes when ethnic food is presented to a wider audience, it is presented as something new. Or it can get 'cleaned up' for new palates. Or it looses it's freshness to fit into a western dining time frame. When any of these happen, there is something lost and if there are existing restaurants with many years of experience at providing authentic cuisines, they tend to be well more authentic and usually taste better. That being said one of these days would like to try Maketto.

Kogiya is current favorite but like Escoffier said it can be hard to get into and the wait long even on weeknights. Lighthouse Tofu is reliable but not as festive one would like for a Korean BBQ experience. Honey Pig is good for what it is, usually no wait quick service BBQ.

I'm still very fond of the Jerk Chicken sandwich at Negril.

Usually when we go out to Thai we ask for sauces without the fish sauce and most places are happy to adjust. Is definitely is an issue for most pure vegetarians.

From the article, space looks nice, actually does look like a grown-up version of Rose's Luxury.

"You can't reply to this thread" problem has been fixed for me. Thanks!

Reston Town Center will have $2 per hour paid parking starting this summer. Reston Now

Where is going to be in Reston?

Huh, never tried to make crab cakes at home. As a side, anyone tried the Zimmern recipe with Albacore Tuna as another commenter on that site mentioned?

Has anyone tried Monkey 47 Gin? And if so do you know of anyplace locally that sells it? Thanks!

Unfortunately that is the case in my experience.

You're not the only one having this occurring.