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Kibbee Nayee

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Everything posted by Kibbee Nayee

  1. Kibbee Nayee
    My hazy memory recalls that a handful of us showed up at one location -- I believe it was House of Siam, now occupied by Thai Ghang Waan in Brookfield Plaza -- and then most people just stayed in the one location. If that's the same model for the next go-around, then I would propose we start, and probably remain at, Afghan Bistro. Of course, the problem would be that if anyone wanted to wander to another location, there might be the cannolis at Bozzelli, which also has beer and wine. Jacalito Grill offers tres leches or flan for dessert, but following an Afghan feast, that might not be the ideal ending. Or if we met in Brookfield Plaza again, then Thai Ghang Waan would be a good place to start....but then the other options are Karahi Kabob (no alcohol), Kang Chon Korean and Chinese (so-so), Hai Duong (under-appreciated Vietnamese), and a few very average Indian restaurants. Oh yeah, and Tippy's Tacos and Wingstop. Then there's Springfield Plaza, but the options are not all that good. Pho Hang Anh, The Halal Guys, and Golden Hong Kong just don't add up to a Rockwellian progressive meal. And there's the plaza up Backlick Rd where Marib is located. But be warned, Lady KN won't join us because Marib offers no alcohol, and her definition of a good meal includes wine. I have no recent experiences at the other places in that plaza, like Saigon Quon, Yaksoku, and El Rancho Latin Grill, and the food court in the Fresh World is good but spare. As always, I'm open to lots of suggestions.
  2. Kibbee Nayee
    Continuing on the topic.... Honorable mention to Chef Feliciano, which is only open for lunch (plus catering), and has the best sandwiches and salads in Springfield. Also honorable mention to Jacalito Grill, in the same plaza as Afghan Bistro and Bozzelli's. It's open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and has a decent repertoire of Peruvian dishes with some Tex-Mex as well. I don't like Karahi Kabob House as an experience, but the food isn't bad. It's just that no alcohol is served, and if you're part of the "club" of frequent customers, you are not treated in a welcoming manner.
  3. Kibbee Nayee
    BTW, absent from my list is Chuy's, Yardhouse, Mike's, and Delia's. I'm not a fan of Dera either. I'm on the fence as far as Taco Bamba is concerned -- one visit was OK, one visit was very bad. Bob and Edith's has never been anything but mediocre. Same with The Halal Guys.
  4. Kibbee Nayee
    Afghan Bistro Monty's -- still hanging in there. Osteria Marzano - Walker Lane, technically in Springfield. Thai Ghang Waan Marib -- I haven't been there but word is that it's good. Eleni's Bozzelli's flagship on Alban Rd Della J's Delectables Le Bledo Pho Hang Anh and Pho 495 (tie) Village Chicken Rivera's Sabor Boliviano - best salteñas in our area.
  5. Kibbee Nayee
    Eater lists 14 places worth making the trek to Spingfield....not a bad list, but if it's in order, then Afghan Bistro doesn't deserve to be at the bottom of the list. I'm glad they gave the under-rated Rivera's some love. Yardhouse, Chuy's and Delia's wouldn't make my list. Also, missing Bozzelli's flagship on Alban Rd -- almost next door to Afghan Bistro -- is ridiculous.
  6. Kibbee Nayee
    I went here for dinner tonight with a friend, and we settled in for a nice meal, having heard all of the accolades. It mostly met expectations, save for one big miss. I ordered the octopus appetizer and the gnudi with crab main course. My friend ordered the arugula and finocchio salad and the cavatelli with Elysian Fields lamb, the latter mostly because we are both baseball fans, and those of you who are baseball fans will get the reference. He thoroughly enjoyed the cavatelli, but didn't seem enthused by the arugula and finocchio. The octopus was great, and although the shaved fennel added nothing special, the lone tentacle of octopus was very nice. (A main course with a few tentacles would be even better.) Then came the gnudi with crab -- delicious flavor, and wonderful texture on the gnudi. BUT, I started lining up the shards of crab shell that I was picking out of my mouth along the side of the bowl. I finished the dish, but 17 shards of crab shell lined the edge of my bowl. I pointed it out to the server, and mentioned that they shouldn't be serving this dish to other patrons in this condition tonight. I didn't ask, but the dish was taken off my bill. I give them credit for that. (I consider crab shell, salad green dirt, clam grit, and mussels beards to be in the same category of inattentiveness and indifference. All can be avoided, but the kitchen has to want to avoid them.) Nino patrolled the dining room and offered pleasantries all around. I would certainly return, but I don't think I would order the gnudi again.
  7. Kibbee Nayee
    Cruise ship bad?
  8. Kibbee Nayee
    Very sad. This man was a presence on the L.A. food scene, and I never dined out in L.A. without first consulting his spot-on reviews. He planted in my mind the concept that Los Angeles is the second-largest city in Mexico, from his comments in Lucky Peach some years ago. I have confirmed that comment on many yummy occasions, and I even use the point when certain Trump supporters argue in favor of The Wall -- I would point out to them that it would have to be built north of Los Angeles. The disease that claimed him is frightening. He was diagnosed in early July, and passed away only a few weeks later.
  9. Kibbee Nayee
    Technically, you're correct. Brooks wrote left-handed. He signed autographs left-handed. On the diamond, he was decidedly right-handed.
  10. Kibbee Nayee
    Then, it was in the space currently occupied by the forgettable Piola? Just a few doors down from Cafe Asia, which was bustling at lunchtime, and has now been closed for going on 2 years....
  11. Kibbee Nayee
    Had lunch today at Pinea. I ordered the cacio e pepe, and considering what I had heard about the kitchen's Italian credibility, the best I can say about the dish is that it wasn't unpleasant. The pasta itself was cooked overly (or underly?) al dente, sort of between al dente and uncooked. The pasta itself looked like the ramen that comes out of the instant package, with squiggles and curls here and there. The sauce was wet, with a puddle at the bottom of the bowl. I assume that, as in classic preparation, some pasta water was added to the sauce to thicken it. Instead, it thinned it. And the taste of the dish was more salty than pepe.... I give it a C- on a scale of 10.
  12. Kibbee Nayee
    I love the conversation here.... At its essence, hummus combines chickpeas and tahini, which is sesame paste, and fiddles with additions of lemon, garlic, and other spices. No two are alike, but quite a few of them are delicious. The concept of hummus fits perfectly with the Middle Eastern mezze, which is a table full of small plates, and fresh from the oven pita bread is used to scoop the various bites from the multiple dishes. Baba ghanouj plays nicely in this arrangement, as do other dips like labneh, and multiple meat stews.
  13. Kibbee Nayee
    One of my employer's offices is on the 1700 block of Pennsylvania Ave, where there is a Taylor Gourmet, and across the street, Breadline. There is also a Jimmy Johns on that street, but who cares. I prefer the texture of the rolls at Breadline. I don't like the cutesy names of the sandwiches at Taylor, like Ritner instead of Roast Beef. I also don't like that I can't get a legitimate Philly cheesesteak or Italian hoagie at either place. Rather, they have their own version of these, but not the originals. Most of the millennials in our firm head right across the street and grab Jimmy Johns for lunch.
  14. Kibbee Nayee
    Based on what we know about its provenance, it would be hard to believe it's in Virginia....but then, it's changed hands a lot.
  15. Kibbee Nayee
    OK, another story....I took a friend* to meet Yogi at a baseball card show in Baltimore in the late '90s. He had a copy of the Sports Illustrated cover with Yogi wearing a Mets uniform in the '80s, and with Yogi facing away from the camera. The title on the cover was "Yogi's Back!" My friend wanted it signed "It ain't over til it's over." He wanted to hang it on his law office wall to serve as his motto for upcoming cases. In the autograph business, such a slogan is deemed to be personalizing, and it costs more money than a straight autograph. I think the price tag was $200, but my friend was greasing every palm in the place, including some people who had nothing to do with Yogi's appearance there. After about two hours of signing for the fans who had autograph tickets, me and my friend were ushered into a back room to meet Yogi and get him to sign the magazine cover with "It ain't over til it's over." My friend wrote the quote on a piece of paper so Yogi would know what to write. Funny thing, Yogi corrected him, and said it should be "It ain't over till it's over." We got a good laugh at getting an English lesson from Yogi. The magazine is framed and hangs in the office of one of the major lawyers in DC. If you ever get to see it, you must be getting ready for a big lawsuit. *(My friend was representing Paula Jones in her lawsuit against the president, but he's otherwise a good guy.)
  16. Kibbee Nayee
    Marib is on my list too. It is technically in Springfield, but if you're on that road, Annandale is not that far away.
  17. Kibbee Nayee
    Hear! Hear! for Cervantes. Very good call. I can walk there from my house. (I can also walk to Starbucks, but I wouldn't do that at gunpoint.) Thai Gan Wan and Afghan Bistro are two of the best in Springfield. If you're looking for a third, you can pick from Monty's (in the Whole Foods plaza), Osteria Marzano (down the Parkway near Kingstowne), or the Mediterranean Gourmet Market (down Franconia Rd towards Rose Hill). Namaste is also in Rose Hill, but you've departed Springfield....
  18. Kibbee Nayee
    Actually, Rosslyn has few really good dining options these days. Plenty of counter service and food trucks for the lunch crowd, but sit-down dining options are a thing of the past. Who remembers Tom Sarris Orleans House? Or the really good Appetizers Plus, a before-its-time all-you-can-eat sushi place now occupied by Perfect Pita? Or how about the outstanding Khyber Pass, Afghan when Afghan was good in the plaza where Ray's Hellburger first landed? Or Tivoli, classic old school Italian above the Rosslyn Metro -- Tony ran the front of the house at Tivoli, and still waits tables at Amuse in the Le Meridien. Rosslyn of a few decades ago had quite a bit of dining options. Today? Not so much.... (And you don't have to go as far as Clarendon for good food. The best Lebanese restaurant between here and New York is Me Jana, right between Rosslyn and Courthouse.)
  19. Kibbee Nayee
    That's quite a group of athletes. At the risk of digression, a story or two....I met Yogi at a baseball card show in Richmond about 20 years ago. Shaking his hand was like shaking a catcher's mitt. It was very thick and very strong. I'm assuming strong hands and wrists contributed to his success against pitches out of the strike zone. Ron Guidry wrote a book a few years ago, Driving Mr. Yogi. One of the stories was about the day Yogi was catching Whitey Ford, and the first four batters of the game clobbered the first pitch they saw, putting the Yankees behind by 4 runs. Casey Stengel decided to go to the mound to talk to Whitey, and he met Yogi about half way to the mound. Casey asked Yogi "How does his stuff look today?" Yogi responded "How the f**k should I know, I haven't caught one yet!" Guidry had a similar experience, where the first four batters of the game teed off on his pitches, and while he was cursing and kicking the dirt behind the mound, Thurman Munson showed up behind him and said "Should I stop telling them which pitch is coming?"
  20. Kibbee Nayee
    Coincidentally, Yogi grew up 2 miles from Stan the Man in St. Louis, and Joe Garagiola lived right across the street from Yogi.
  21. Kibbee Nayee
    There's a Starbucks nearby, but I hate Starbucks. Besides, Mandarin Oriental serves Illy.
  22. Kibbee Nayee
    1956 - 2nd to teammate Mantle, who merely won the Triple Crown.
  23. Kibbee Nayee
    I've been to Fat Pete's twice in the past month. It's not far from one of the office buildings I work at, and I wanted to give it a try. You don't have to, because I did. Obligatory catering truck is usually parked across the street from the 18th St location, which is located almost next door to Taberna del Alabardero. From its splash page: "We are not Texas and not North Carolina nor Memphis or Atlanta, we are 'life is short, so we make it the best you possibly can so you never forget it' kind of BBQ." Yes, you can never forget it. But "best" it is definitely not. I have had the pulled pork (tasteless and dry), the ribs (chewy and forgettable), and the brisket (tough and dry). What look to be homemade sauces in squeeze bottles are only somewhat of a palliative, or at least they add some moisture and flavor. The sides are at least edible, with the vinegar cole slaw and the collard greens standing out. The cucumber salad is watery. No alcohol, which makes matters even worse. Enjoy your Pepsi products with the District's most mediocre BBQ.
  24. Kibbee Nayee
    Well, at least we're not getting a DC outpost of Cabbages and Condoms.....
  25. Kibbee Nayee
    Say hi next time.
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