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schulju

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  1. schulju
    I was thrilled to join a friend on opening night of "Addie's 2.0". They plan to start taking reservations in about two weeks and will be on Open Table. Expect lunch to start in a month or so. And brunch will be added at some point. Seating at the new restaurant ins't much more plentiful than the old one. However, there's a nice two-sided bar (one side outdoor, one side indoor). There are several original craft cocktails on the menu. The two we tried were quite nice. But these are a bit complex to put together and I can see the bartenders getting backed up on a busy night. When we arrived at 5, the bar was already hopping. The dining room opens at 5:30 and was full by 6pm. The room is simply but elegantly dressed with very high ceilings. The only issue we had was the heat. There are fans over the bar area, but not over the dining room; given a whole wall of the restaurant was open on one of the hottest days of the summer, we were uncomfortably hot. They did turn up the AC upon our request, but that didn't do much to alter the temperature in the rear area we were seated in. As we left, we could feel the AC in the front part of the dining room, it seemed much more comfortable there. The menu is quite small, with one whole page devoted to the raw bar/seafood tower selections. The seafood tower comes in three sizes (starting at $78 for 7 choices) and can be composed from a lengthy list of selections. The remainder of the menu is split between appetizers and 8-10 entree choices. My companion chose the crab cakes for dinner. While these are only listed on the menu as an appetizer (two 2oz cakes for $22), you can order three for $33 to make it an entree. She said they were excellent. I chose the tuna as it was a favorite of mine from Addie's 1.0. The tuna was extremely fresh and high quality. It was a very large serving as well. My only complaint is that the tuna, the roasted romaine salad and the radishes and avocado that accompanied it were all HEAVILY dusted with chili powder. There was no element on the plate that didn't taste of the chili powder. It was a bit overwhelming. We finished the evening by splitting an order of beignets. 6 piping hot, deep fried dough balls served with a trio of dipping sauces. These were very good and I would definitely order them again. While there were certainly some tell tale opening night issues going on, overall our experience was smooth and free of any significant snafus. For that alone, Addie's gets a gold star.
  2. schulju
    Third trip to Q in 6 weeks and second dim sum brunch. While the dim sum menu is small it is filled with high quality tasty bites! There were four of us and we ordered up a storm. We had taro puffs, almond shrimp balls, soup dumplings, shrimp dumplings and egg tarts from the dim sum menu as well as the pan fried dumplings, Peking Duck appetizer, Kung Pao chicken and Dry Steamed snapper from the dinner menu. The dim sum was all excellent. The almond shrimp balls were unique and very good. The broth in the soup dumplings was really tasty, although these are probably more petite than the soup dumplings you've had other places. The Kung Pao chicken is a favorite. The only dish that was not excellent was the snapper, and that could be because it wasn't what we were expecting. The fish is hidden beneath a pretty thick layer of shredded "stuff"...it was okay, but the fish itself didn't have much flavor. I've probably OD'ed on Q a bit, but it's nice to find a place that offers dim sum and a full menu so that both my husband and I can enjoy visiting (he's not a dim sum fan). There are a number of people in my circle who want to give Q a try...so I'll likely keep going!
  3. schulju
    Mazel Tov!
  4. schulju
    A group of 5 of us (2 of my companions were from Southern China), tried Q for the first time Thursday night. We all had positive impressions overall and wanted to return for the dim sum brunch. This was a business dinner, so I didn't take any pictures. Interestingly enough, the person picking up the tab thought the bill was very reasonable for the amount of food we had. We started with four of the dim sum appetizers. I loved the texture of the Scallion Bubble Pancake when it arrived at the table, but it does get a bit greasy as it cools. We all really enjoyed the Cilantro Fish Rolls, these were crispy and the cilantro gave them a pleasant flavor. Pan Fried Pork Dumplings were good, a bit more gyoza than dumpling, but the meat had a very nice flavor. The only appetizer we didn't love was the Joyful Pyramid Dumplings. These were beautifully presented, each dumpling having a different color wrapper, but they were over-steamed and the wrappers were too soft. They fell apart as you tried to remove them from the bamboo steamer. We reserved a whole duck. I was a bit disappointed in the Peking Duck. It was sliced very thickly, which means it was a bit greasy. It also came to the table a barely warm. (The duck is carved and plated in the kitchen.) One of our party was quite late (almost 45 minutes) so I'm prepared to chalk this up to the kitchen having to hold the entree, but next time I'll only try the appetizer before I order the whole duck again. In addition to the 4 appetizers and the duck we ordered two entrees. Perfect amount of food for 5 hungry people. I loved the Fu Rong Chicken. I am not one for really spicy dishes, so this was right up my alley. The chicken absolutely melted in the mouth and there were a ton of bright, crisp veggies with the dish. Highly recommend for those that want to retain some of their stomach lining. My colleagues absolutely loved the Hot and Numbing Fish in Clay Pot. This dish arrives at the table boiling hot and remains really hot the whole time we were there. This was a bit too hot for me, I only tried a bit of the broth on some rice. The broth was rich and complex. My spice loving friends didn't think it was numbing hot, but they enjoyed it quite a bit. All in all a great experience, but not a replacement for Peking Gourmet Inn, unfortunately. I keep looking for a reason to never have to go to PGI again. I can't wait to go back for a dim sum brunch. I will report back once I've had the opportunity.
  5. schulju
    My wonderful brother-in-law/resident chef just served these biscuits on Easter. He purchased them frozen from a local grocer. FROZEN..and they were THE BEST biscuits I have ever tasted. Absolute biscuit nirvana! I can't wait for work to be over today so I can go on a hunt for them at a store near me.
  6. schulju
    While I cannot offer any help on the construction of a wine cellar, I'm more than happy to participate in it's inaugural launch! Cellar warming anyone??
  7. schulju
    I know I've been MIA for a while, and offer my apologies for being an under-performing member of our community. Let me earn a bit of redemption by letting you all in on a little secret hide-away all the way up in Monrovia Maryland. Wilcom's Inn is a refurbishment of the old dragway bar that sat at the crossroads of Routes 80 and 75. The building has been divided into a sports bar with full kitchen service and a white tablecloth steakhouse with Peruvian flair. L'Academie de Cuisine-trained Chef Mark Fuster has built his menu around steak house staples such as cowboy cut rib eye, NY strip and crab cakes. The real genius of the menu lies in the Peruvian inspired dishes such as LOMO - a very savory stir-fry of filet mignon; empanadas, ceviche and tacos. Wilcom's Inn also offers a bottomless brunch both Saturday and Sunday for $30 that includes tasting sized portions of many of the diner menu options. Mimosas are $7 with 50 cent refills and Bloodies are $10 with $1 refills. If you're a late riser, brunch is served until 4pm! The pot of gold at the end of this particular rainbow is Wilcom's wine list. Curated by the man behind Gaithersburg's former Rico Y Rico, this list is comprised of 90+ rated bottles offered at extremely reasonable prices. Find a new wine you love? Wilcom's has a "carry out" license that permits you to purchase their wines at retail (not menu) prices to take home with you. Hubby and I double dated with friends from Westminster last weekend. We managed to try three different appetizers and four different entrees. Everything was very well received. My friend's LOMO narrowly edged out my scallops (a special) for best dish on the table. Our server, Dani, was friendly, attentive and knowledgeable about the menu. She had great recommendations. It's small, it's a bit loud, and the parking lot is filled with jacked-up pick up trucks. All this is superfluous. Great food, great wine and great service are waiting for you in this dusty corner of Frederick County.
  8. schulju
    You should have taken a picture of that "thing" they have erected over the entrance to the parking garage. I believe it's supposed to be a Phoenician war ship..but it's "faux" aged...looks crazy...
  9. schulju
    Such cuties!
  10. schulju
    Can I get a stuffed animal that looks like Zooey's puppy picture??
  11. schulju
    You may have noticed the adorable kitten who serves as my avatar. Here are a few pics of Belle all grown up, six years later. Also a few of her older brother from another mother, Blade. Belle is very "cat" like...she will deign to lounge across your lap, at her leisure...never yours. Blade is more dog than cat. He follows us from room to room, always wants to be our complete focus, and will cry if you walk out the door and leave him alone with only Belle for company.
  12. schulju
    First visit to the Pike & Rose location this past Saturday night. I was shocked to realize they had been open for nine months already! We only saw a handful of tables besides our own 4-top all night; one larger party and two 2-tops. Certainly good company can make for a nice evening in any venue, but we really enjoyed ourselves and were planning our next visit while still at our table. We even moved from inside the restaurant to an outside table for after-dinner drinks. The outside tables have heaters and Owen's Ordinary next door has a large outdoor fireplace which kept us comfy on a cool evening. Our server, Carla, and her management team made us feel like welcomed guests. Carla was very knowledgeable about the menu and wine list and graciously brought us a number of wine tastes as we struggled to choose a white wine from the menu. Italian white is not something I know much about and since the wine menu is not on the web site, I wasn't able to do any reconnaissance. We ordered both the Salumi and Formaggi boards. The Salumi board is HUGE and actually quite worth its $25 price tag. The Formaggi board is much more modest, but at least as generous as most of the cheese plates I see around town. There was nothing unusual in either of these items, but they were solid offerings. Frankly, these two boards and a couple bottles of wine were probably all we needed...but of course, we pressed onto full entrees. Three of us had pasta: an order of lasagna, an order of agnolotti and an order of penne allla luganica. The lasagna and penne were both excellent. The agnolotti were filled with burrata and herbs and served in a butter and cream sauce. While quite tasty, the dish was just too rich to be able to eat more than a bite or two. I regretted my decision not to order the lasagna of which I only got one small bite before my husband completely devoured it. He declared it "almost" as good as the lasagna at Floriana..high praise indeed! I thought desserts were the weakest offering here, an order of tiramisu was only mediocre at best. The gelato was okay, but not the rich, creamy dessert that is ubiquitous in Italy. All in this is my favorite restaurant of the Pike & Rose complex to date. I'm sure we'll be trying Owen's Ordinary soon, hopefully while it's still nice enough to sit outside an enjoy that enormous outdoor fireplace.
  13. schulju
    We were next door at Carluccio's Saturday night (post to come). Our waitress told us they were in "soft" opening for family and friends, expected to open to the public this week.
  14. schulju
    Weezy, from your description, it sounds like you may be referring to Gemelli's Italian Market in Darnestown ( 12169 Darnestown Rd, Gaithersburg, MD 2087). I have bought many a great sandwich from them. it's also my go-to place when composing an antipasto plate for company.
  15. schulju
    Although it's likely not worth a trip across the river, I thought I'd let my MoCo comrades know that the 2nd annual Corktoberfest has been scheduled for October 22-23 at the Fairgrounds. Last year there were about a dozen and a half wineries along with half a dozen food trucks. There's also a small area for wine-related crafts and merchandise. We went last year and had a good time. Corktoberfest
  16. schulju
    China Garden for dim sum on Saturday morning. We got there just as they opened, so there was no worry getting a seat. In fact, there were tables available the whole time we were there. When you arrive early, you are almost inundated by carts. We had four different carts a the table before we could even take our seats. We were seated at the side of the room along a wide aisle, so there was always a flow of carts by our table. Once a few more tables showed up, it was easier to pace ourselves. One benefit of getting there early is scoring egg custard tarts. I saw one cart with a few of these on it as we came in and I snagged an order to eat later. It was the ONLY time these ever went by and my guess is they sold out of these yummy treats early. China Garden had all the usual dim sum dishes you would expect to see. Everything we tasted (too numerous to mention) was fresh, hot and good to very good. They also offer full menu service during dim sum, which was nice for the member of our group who isn't a dim sum fan. I noticed up-thread a number of posters indicated there are better options in the 'burbs. I found the offerings at China Garden to be as good as those at Silver Fountain, New Fortune and Hollywood East.
  17. schulju
    Had dinner last evening with friends at Rakuya. We ate at a high-top in the bar as we had not made reservations. We likely could have gotten dining room seating, but the bar tables are nice for a small group of three. We tried a number of things and they were all very good. My companions each got sushi, which I just cannot get into, so I didn't try any. It was very fresh and they both enjoyed their selections. Any fish selection is likely a winner here, but the miso marinated black cod was fantastic. The heritage farm pork belly was served in a large, meaty square. Very tender, but not as flavorful as I would have expected. An order of the gyoza was also well received. Washed it all down with a glass of whispering angels rose, perfect for a summer evening. The wait staff could not have been nicer or more accommodating. All this and a two-block walk from my companions' front door...Rakuya will be in heavy rotation.
  18. schulju
    First visit on Saturday night. We arrived before 7pm without reservations and were seated at the upstairs bar. It appeared there were still a couple of tables available, but they must have been for reservations. The dining room is QUITE small, so even though their web site says they take reservations for half their tables, and walk-ins for the other half...your chances at either of those options are pretty slim. The bar upstairs is small so we received a great deal of personal attention from Zach, who is clearly excited about their offerings. He had a great deal of knowledge about the various ciders and pintxos, and helped to steer us through our meal. The three of us shared a number of small and medium plates. We ordered both hams as well as the manchego and idiazabal cheese plates (the latter being my favorite). We had two orders of the shrimp croquettes and could have easily had a couple more of these wonderful little morsels, one of the best things we had. I would recommend passing on the tortilla de patatas, this was served cold on cold bread with a cold tomato jam...the only real miss of the night. My companions each had an heirloom tomato salad which were quite large portions and very fresh. The other stand out dish we ordered was the red snapper escabeche. I highly recommend this dish. The butter-poached snapper was incredible. Between the three of us we sampled a wide variety of the ciders. There's a lot to learn about cider here and Zach was enthusiastic about helping us choose, he offered us a number of tastes when we couldn't decide. These ciders are very dry for the most part (these are not the ciders you see at your run of the mill County store folks), and were better with food than without. I recommend the "boozy" flight as an after-dinner option. The Foggy Ridge port-style cider was my favorite and I could imagine curling up with a glass of this as a nightcap. We really enjoyed our first visit and I look forward to my next visit.
  19. schulju
    Chef Daniel Hlusak left Floriana earlier this year. Under his kitchen reign the "old standards", most notably the lasagna, were elevated to new heights and his own additions to the menu were delicious as well. In his absence, the menu has remained consistent for the most part, but many of the dishes (pastas especially) are not quite as ethereal and elegant as they use to be. Daniel will be missed.
  20. schulju
    I do love that cucumber cocktail, made it multiple times last summer. I also like the tart bite of a cirtropolitan in the summer: 1 ounce lemon juice 1 Tablespoon roses lime juice (.5 oz) 1 ounce Cointreau 2.5 ounces vodka Shake over Ice Superfine sugar and lemon zest to rim glasses
  21. schulju
    Dinner at Agora Saturday night was lovely. We ate at the bar and although we arrived early (around 5:30) the restaurant was pretty slow even when we left a couple of hours later. I really enjoyed a (couple) of glasses of Whitehaven Sauvingnon Blanc recommended by Aaron the bartender with our meal. A wine I will search out for my home inventory. The highlight of the meal was the zucchini flowers which were stuffed with shrimp and fried in a light tempura batter. Two large flowers served over a tomato/red pepper coulis were included in each order. This was easily one of the best dishes I've had this year and would have been perfectly at home on the menu at Convival. We also ordered stuffed baby eggplant, taramosalata, olives and lamb chops. In full disclosure, my companion lives across the street from the restaurant and is a regular. The level of service and care provided, especially on a slow evening, may skew our experience. That said, the food is consistently good and sometimes even superlative (as in those blossoms) at Agora. Almost everything on the menu is freshly prepared and very little of the ingredients are purchased frozen. If you're near 17th street, this is a great option..especially if you don't make Little Serow's cut-off!
  22. schulju
    I didn't see a thread on this winery so I thought I would add one. We visited this winery yesterday, and were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the wines. Hiddencroft was founded in 2008 by Clyde and Terry Housel. Terry is the winemaker and we enjoyed speaking with him about the process as we had our tasting. Like many of the smaller wineries in VA, Hiddencroft has a small tasting room and we were asked to wait just a few minutes when we arrived because their tasting room was full. They have a lovely deck and patio that provides a beautiful spot to picnic and enjoy bottles of their award winning wines. You are able to bring your own picnic, or you can purchase some grab-n-go picnic items from the tasting room. The wines were among the best we tasted yesterday (having made three other stops). I particularly like the Chambourcin Rose. Along with the rose, they were serving two other whites, three reds and two fruit wines during the tasting. They offered a plate of selected nibbles to accompany some of the wines, which was really a lovely little extra. I generally dislike fruit wines, but the pomegranate based wine was pretty good. Clyde explained that since pomegranates are really seeds, they contain tannins just like grapes. The wine avoids that cloying sweetness that is so common with fruit based wines. The warmth of the reception in the tasting room, combined with the quality of the wine, made for a really enjoyable visit and we all agreed we will return to the winery again.
  23. schulju
    First visit to Pennsylvania 6 was for Sunday Brunch. The restaurant has shown up on a number of top 10 lists for brunch, and was recently listed in a Zagat article of best bottomless brunches in DC. I was excited to try their unlimited champagne and bloody bar. Our reservations were for 1:30, which is pretty much prime brunch time in DC, but the restaurant only had a few tables and I don't believe the number of occupied tables exceeded 8 the entire time we were there. Even though it wasn't crowded, we found the restaurant to be quite loud. The food was excellent. We began with oysters and fresh ricotta. The ricotta was served with grilled crostini which were refilled upon request. I had the frittata with sausage, boursin and potatoes. It was served with mixed greens on top. This was excellent! Well seasoned and the filling ingredients were nicely distributed so that every bite had flavor and texture. It was also a very filling entree. Hubby had the eggs Benedict and our companions each had burgers which they thought were also excellent. The bottomless champagne and bloody bar consisted of a number of fresh juices, syrups, fruit, bitters, olives and vegetables. The champagne or basic bloody was provided by the waitstaff and then you could go to the bar for whatever accouterments you desired. Nothing on the bar was replenished, so it got a little "picked over" by the time our brunch came to an end. The juices were not refilled, so options got limited after our first visit to the bar. The real issue with the 'unlimited' concept was the need to wait for your server to refill your glass with either bloody mix or champagne. Since our server tended to disappear for 10-15 minute intervals, we spent most of our brunch with empty glasses. Even when we were able to ask for refills, it took a while for those to be delivered. I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt and say our server was having a bad day. She seemed very knowledgeable about the menu, and was able to answer our questions. But she was almost comically unenthusiastic! We asked for salt and pepper to go with our appetizer and that showed up halfway through our entrees. As previously mentioned, drinks were infrequently refilled and only after having to flag her down, and a single glass of chardonnay took almost 25 minutes to be delivered. We may try the restaurant again for dinner, as the food was excellent. But there are better, and friendlier, brunch options to choose from.
  24. schulju
    Hubby and I grabbed a last minute reservation for the Bonefish in Gaithersburg (Kentlands) last Friday night. I will admit that I love Bonefish, almost as much as my husband loves Outback. The Kenlands location is always crowded and while there's better seafood to be had in DC, I don't believe there is better to be had in MoCo. That said, I will admit to almost always ordering the same few dishes on every visit. Sorry, but the Bang Bang Shrimp are a must order item for me. They are best straight from the kitchen when still hot and crispy despite the gloppy dressing. Once cool, these definitely are not as appetizing. Hubby always orders the PEI mussels. The broth was a bit sweeter this time then on previous visits, but the mussels are tender and generally grit free. I must have eaten most of a loaf of bread dipped in that broth! I usually have the sashimi tuna appetizer for dinner. I couldn't finish it this visit given the amount of bread that I'd consumed, but it is always very fresh. Hubby ordered the boneless pork chop and it was very tender and had a nice glaze on it. He's a very big eater, and he had to take leftovers home. It's certainly not gourmet, but I always feel like we've gotten great food for a decent value whenever we go. Service is very nice and attentive. Make sure you say hi to Rachel, who makes the best cosmos in MoCo!
  25. schulju
    Wonderful first visit to Convivial this past Saturday night! Four of us at the table and a first visit for each of us. Ultimately we loved the vibe of the place. We like that it was "fancy" food that you didn't have to get too dressed up for. The crowd was a mix of 30-something to 60-something's, mostly couples and small groups. We did not see any kids. Everyone was having a good time, but no table was overly loud. We were ale to hear each other over the din of our fellow diners without any issues. We did three courses for the four of us as we made our way down the menu. Most of the dishes we had have been mentioned above, and there was not any single dish that none of us liked. There were two or three that we all thought were fantastic. To start: Tartiflette Fritter, Escargots in a blanket and the Latkes. I loved each of these dishes, but especially the escargots which were served in a very delicate springroll wrapper with greens. I would order all three of these again. Second round: Turkey Leg Confit, one of the best dishes of the night. Was in everyone's top 3 as we all ranked our favorites throughout the evening. We also had the Socca with Beets and the Leeks. The leeks were the one dish I would not order again. Last dish of this round was the Scallop Boudin Blanc. This was one of my top 2 dishes of the night. It has a very soft consistency and some folks won't like that. I loved, loved, loved the trout roe that was served with this dish. I would definitely order this again. Third round: 2 orders of the Fried Chicken, the Cheeseburger and the Veal Blanquette. The chicken was every bit as good as everyone says it is. You really MUST try this dish if you visit. The veal was incredibly tender, but this dish was a bit too rich for me. I didn't partake of the cheeseburger, but was told it came to the table cold, which was not the case with any of the other hot dishes we were served. For dessert we shared the Key Lime and Celebration cake. The Celebration cake is served with a big sparkler that made for quite a fun presentation. The Key Lime was the better dish. For the quality of the food and the reputation of the chef, I found the prices to be very reasonable. The food portion of our bill was $50 per person and we ate A LOT of food for that. Cocktails are $12, which is in line with DC prices. This is not cheap eats, but doesn't need to be saved for a special occasion either. I look forward to my next opportunity to visit Convivial and hope I won't have to wait too long.
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