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Kibbee Nayee

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Everything posted by Kibbee Nayee

  1. Kibbee Nayee
    Not so fast! The best of the Levantine style restaurants in northern Virginia, by my opinion and seconded by an informal poll of Lebanese and Syrian Uber drivers, is Me Jana in Arlington. Although I go downtown infrequently these days, I have heard positive things about Albi, which picked up a Michelin star this year -- for whatever that means -- and Maydan. If anyone asks me for a Middle Eastern recommendation downtown (eh, check my Board moniker), it's one of these places. (BTW, my Board picture is the Kibbeh Nayyeh that Roberto Donna received on his birthday from Gladys Abi-Najm a few years ago. Yes, he loves Kibbeh Nayyeh. Who wouldn't?) Zaytinya is a fusion place. Eat there with the same expectation that you might have with an Asian fusion restaurant that serves Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Thai from the same kitchen. In other words, expect a few good dishes, probably no great dishes, and an occasional dud.
  2. Kibbee Nayee
    Lunch today at Old Ebbitt was OK-ish. I'm on my annual hankering for soft shell crabs, and the waitress assured me they just got in a fresh batch, so my expectations were high. The entree platter had one scant cornmeal-crusted and fried soft shell crab atop a wilted pile of watercress and an otherwise forgettable cucumber salad of sorts. so, roughly 3 oz of crab for twenty-two bucks. Lunch companion had the soft shell crab sandwich, and may have made out better for five or six bucks less. The place was filled with the standard late May assortment of early tourists and enrobed graduating classes, so Old Ebbitt is still thriving. I still wish I can find a good place for a large-ish pile of soft shells.... (BTW, the "Half-Priced Raw Bar during Happy Hour" for all Clyde's should be amended to read "Discounted Raw Bar during Happy Hour" ... a dozen oysters drops from $37.99 to $24.00 during Happy Hour, and the really big Poseidon drops from $259.99 to $239.99 during Happy Hour.)
  3. Kibbee Nayee
    What am I to say when two of my favorite food groups -- eggs and sushi -- combine into one restaurant within walking distance of my home? And it's almost across the street from Perfect Pita's flagship bakery, which makes that walk all the more rewarding. Eggs and Sushi is a great concept. All of your breakfast egg-based options are available throughout the day (it closes at 7:30pm), including a really good egg salad sandwich for lunch. But then add the combinations of sushi and sashimi, with poke bowls and smoothies and wraps....kind of covers a lot of fast-casual bases. I can't imagine how long it will take me to taste my way through the menu, but trust me, I will. (Forgot to mention, Cervantes Coffee is about a block away, which can claim to be among the better local roasters in our area....)
  4. Kibbee Nayee
    Renewing my occasional plea for a great soft shell crab dish in northern Virginia. I would prefer not to cross a bridge into Maryland or DC during the Memorial Day weekend. Any recent raves about soft shells in northern Virginia?
  5. Kibbee Nayee
    Tim Carmen did a good job of capturing the feel of the dive bars of days gone by, when many workers were smashed by 1:00pm and still worked through their afternoon, at least in most cases. Stan's is still alive and around the corner, a touchpoint to the days gone by. There was a bar in the area called the Barrister, long since closed, where the local workers went at lunchtime for the Bloody Mary, which was very powerful and came with a skewer of alternating pepperoni cubes and cheddar cheese cubes as the garnish, which also served as lunch. A few of those and it was back to work, wobbly and in a whole different mood.
  6. Kibbee Nayee
    Reminds me of the Yogi Berra story about Yogi ordering an individual-sized pizza, and the waitress asked if he wanted it cut into six pieces or eight pieces. Yogi replied "Six pieces -- I'm not hungry enough to eat eight pieces."
  7. Kibbee Nayee
    A little more on Richard McCooey here and here....his print collection was his pride and joy. He had the basement of his Georgetown townhouse lowered by a few feet to hold all the flat file cabinets that stored his massive collection of prints. I have one of those prints, a 1905 Cincinnati Reds print, as a birthday gift from him, in my baseball man cave.
  8. Kibbee Nayee
    The prints that came off the walls were from Richard McCooey's collection. Richard owned F Scott's, The Tombs, and 1789 until Clyde's acquired those restaurants in the late 1980s. Richard then went to work for Clyde's as the decorator of the new restaurants. Valuable stuff here.
  9. Kibbee Nayee
    Is Andre Soltner in the kitchen?
  10. Kibbee Nayee
    The new show on WETA called Signature Dish had Maydan in its S1E1 "Cooking with Fire" episode, which was a nice tease for me.
  11. Kibbee Nayee
    Jared Kushner now cashing in bigly from his father-in-law's stint in the Oval Office. https://scheerpost.com/2022/04/12/hes-cashing-in-kushner-firm-gets-2-billion-from-saudi-fund-run-by-crown-prince/ https://saharareporters.com/2022/04/12/how-saudi-gave-trumps-son-law-jared-kushner-2billion-investment-fund-after-alleged https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/jared-kushner-s-deal-saudi-arabia-sure-looks-corrupt-n1294342?icid=msd_botgrid Always remember, with this family, it's never about peace. It's always about money.
  12. Kibbee Nayee
    Crystal City is Pentagon South, and Rosslyn is Pentagon North, and both of them are eyesores because of the Department of Defense-funded spillover from the Pentagon as well as the Defense Contractor community and its poor taste in commercial real estate. I hear you about Tysons too, but Silicon Valley East should have higher standards.
  13. Kibbee Nayee
    Wondering if anyone with a clue still thinks Jared Kushner negotiated a peace deal....(didn't think so).
  14. Kibbee Nayee
    I was surprised by the high quality of the oysters at The Smith a few months ago. Perfectly shucked and presented. My gripe about Vola's was less about the price and more about the preparation. The oysters looked like the product of a drunken amateur oyster shucking contest. They almost looked like they had been pre-chewed. Spitting out shell fragments about every other oyster didn't help either.
  15. Kibbee Nayee
    Wife and I had a hankering for oysters, and she's coming off a week of being non-Covid under the weather, so off we went to Old Town and Vola's. A few previous visits had our hopes up, but....today was not a good day for oysters at Vola's. First off, the two of us were vectored to the bar because all of the open tables next to the window and overlooking the waterfront were reserved. One nice little two-top was empty from the time we arrived until the time we left. Those would have been better seats than our perch at the end of the bar. We ordered three dozen oysters, one dozen each of their signature Green Torpedo, Chingoteague, and Blue Point. Big disappointment today -- at least half of the oysters had shell shards in them, at least half of them were not sufficiently scraped clean of the bottom shells, and maybe one oyster had a funky enough taste for me to think it was bad. I suppose I'll know more about that later today. Note to the DR.com community -- oysters not scraped clean of the bottom shell result in slurpus interruptus, and not being able to enjoy the full slider experience is a total bummer. They must have had a novice trainee doing the shucking today. That's just not acceptable for a restaurant charging $3 per oyster. Overall, meh.
  16. Kibbee Nayee
    Wife and I took daughter, son-in-law, and 3 grandchildren to Mama Chang's for Sunday brunch, and it was a very pleasant experience. We grabbed a larger table in the back, and as soon as the scallion bubbles arrived to quell the kiddies' manic excitement, brunch was on. And it was gooood. Shu mai, dumplings of various kinds, tofu skin salad, and of course, Peking Duck, among other dishes, were devoured. Everyone from a 3-year-old to a crusty old fart like me were satisfied. And the kitchen's practice of bringing the dishes as they are ready set a perfect tempo for a busy multi-generational table. The place was about 75% full, with many families and children, and it was humming exactly how it should have been. It was an enjoyable family gathering, accompanied by some of the best Asian food in the area.
  17. Kibbee Nayee
    Brand-spanking new one opened in Springfield.
  18. Kibbee Nayee
    I was very familiar with the people who decorated that restaurant with the horse statue, the hunting print montage across the back wall, the Georgetown Crew prints in bar, and many details that the casual customer wouldn't even notice. I own some prints from the same collection. I had many a memorable meal there.
  19. Kibbee Nayee
    For what little it's worth, my kibbeh nayyeh picture was a birthday gift to Roberto Donna from the Abi-Najm family a few years ago. He *loves* kibbeh nayyeh!
  20. Kibbee Nayee
    For what little it's worth, Hank's unusual hours -- they don't open until 4:00pm on weekdays -- cost them a 7-top and about $600 in revenue last week, as we took our tribe to an oyster feast in Old Town. Hank's was first choice for us, but we were convening at 2:00pm so we went to Vola's. All those oysters....yum!
  21. Kibbee Nayee
    Almost identical. Plus you're welcome to build your own charcuterie board from the extensive menu. I also like some of the nice touches, such as advertising that all employees are fully vaccinated, and the monthly terroir menu -- this month it was Portugal, with 7 Portuguese wines by the glass and the bottle.
  22. Kibbee Nayee
    Stumbled on this little gem while the wife was having her hair done about a block away. Very nice assortment of curated natural wines, and a lovely little menu that matches up nicely with the wines, and that charcuterie plate is worth the visit on its own. The friendly and knowledgeable staff adds to the cozy neighborhood feel of the place. I'm happy to take my wife to her hair appointments at any time in the future.
  23. Kibbee Nayee
    On December 4, my wife and I enjoyed a nice meal at Henlopen Oyster House in Rehoboth. Naturally, the oysters were of the highest quality, and we enjoyed a few dozen of various kinds. The house special kumamoto oysters were very nice, but we also had some plump and briny Chesapeake oysters that we thoroughly enjoyed. After we downed about 4 dozen oysters, we veered into other parts of the menu, and I went for the fried cod cheeks. They were delicious, and fresh out of the fryer, so they were hot. We both raved about this treat and pledged to order the cod cheeks whenever we see them on menus in the future.
  24. Kibbee Nayee
    Ignore my previous post. Harth is in the Hilton Hotel, the next building over from the Hilton HQ, where The Social is located. As far as The Social is concerned, it's a middlin' food court kind of thing, and my Club Sub came with very good house-made potato chips. Otherwise, nothing special to report.
  25. Kibbee Nayee
    Standing, clapping, stomping, and shouting! Sister restaurant of a New York restaurant,
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