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mxyzptlk

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  1. My wife and I have been to one in London, and it's a pretty nice place. I would think along the lines of Wagamamas, but with dim sum instead of noodles. And without the communal, picnic-bench-type seating. Decent (and freshly made) small food in a modern decor. Definitely a good addition to DC.
  2. The thing that kills me about Bistro d'Oc, aside from everything else that's already been mentioned, is that if you walk one block further south, and one block west, you can eat at Central and get a meal that is 10^6 times better AND you would spend the same amount of money, if not less. I imagine with the Zagat sticker in the window and the semi-rustic looking decor, it probably draws in the more discriminating tourists walking down 10th Street, or people who don't know Central is right around the corner.
  3. Rice crackers, huh? Thanks for the info... As for the shortage of accompanying crackers, I have to agree. I usually have some of the pre-meal bread left over so I eat it with that. Although I have no issues of shoveling spoonfuls of tartare alone in my mouth, I am always a little leary of what it would mean for digestion later, if I were to eat it completely by itself.
  4. Maybe this is too common a response, but I am always a fan of the tartare at Central. It's nothing particularly fancy or inventive, but it always does it for me. Every time I get it, I am amazed at the tiny little croutons that are in it and wonder how they make them so small. I find that the appetizer portion is plenty big enough as an entree, especially with the accompanying frites. I've had Cafe du Parc's version as well and didn't care for it.
  5. My office mate and I went to Pho 75 for lunch and were caught up in this whole craziness. It was mass chaos outside the entire time they were there. President Obama and entourage were in and out in 30 minutes.
  6. I thought I would just add my bit to this topic... I have bought cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcake, Hello Cupcake, and Red Velvet all within the last two weeks (at least 3 from each place). In order of preference, I rank them: 1. Georgetown Cupcake-- very moist cake and the frosting wasn't too thick or too sweet. I am wondering though if they actually soak their cupcakes in simple syrup after they cook them. If not, their moist cake is a pretty good feat of physics. This is definitely not something I could replicate at home and the flavors were really good. A bit on the smaller side, but that's probably a good thing and what contributes to making it a great cupcake. 2. Red Velvet-- cake isn't as moist as the Georgetown Cupcake, but the flavors are good. Frosting is definitely fresh and made from scratch. Looks like something I could probably make at home. 3. Hello Cupcake-- cake is a bit dry and lacking in flavor (but not Love Cafe-flavorless) and there was way too much oversweet frosting for me. The only good one my wife and I had was the carrot cake one. My sister made cupcakes for my wife and I the week before (from scratch), and I would say her cupcakes were better than the ones from here. As a frame of reference, I rank Love Cafe well below Hello Cupcake.
  7. My wife and I went here tonight. I guess we arrived during a relative lull as the line outside was only 2 people deep when we showed up. On the continuum of burgers, here is how they stack up with me....(100 being best and 1 being worst): 99.98--Ray's Hell-Burger | | | | | 52.00--Good Stuff 51.25--Johnny Rockets | 45.00--Five Guys | | 32.00--Ben's Chili Burger Sub | | 15.00--Checkers 14.75--White Castle 14.50--Sonic 13.00--Wendy's 12.50--Burger King | 5.10--McDonalds 4.50--Old-school original MRE dehydrated beef patty
  8. My wife and I (along with both sets of parents) went to Co Co Sala tonight. Of all the new places in PQ, I think this was the one that we were anticipating the most. The menu is quite unique in my experience. Obviously, everything revolves around chocolate and coffee, and we were told that everything on the menu has either chocolate or coffee in it in one form or another. The savory part of the menu are different flavor combinations of appetizers: mac & cheese, mini burgers, crabcakes(?), and one other thing I can't remember. And of course the sweet part of the menu is pretty extensive. What I found really interesting is that they have four different chocolate tasting menus of five courses each. Each menu is reflective of a different chocolate region of the world, and includes an amusé, intermezzo, and cheese course. There is a pretty long hot chocolate menu where you can get a different type of hot chocolate flavor and you can even get it in frozen/coffeeccino form. They also do have a full-service bar with your favorite cocktails, et al. But from our first visit there, the most striking thing is the interior. The place is appointed like a lounge that you could easily find in Manhattan or London. It's really obvious they spared no expense in decorating this place. It is a really inviting space and, although theoretically sounds like a pretentious type of place, is actually very warm. To top it off, while you would expect London prices, it's actually pretty reasonable. I think the 5-course chocolate tasting menu was $30 and a hot chocolate was $5-$6. You can't even get a $5 hot chocolate at Mariebelle in Soho in NY. Hell, you can't even get a $5 hot chocolate at Starbucks these days, can you? I think that what they have in Coco Sala is a real winner. I definitely see this place getting real crowded really soon, and will be a destination place for the area. My advice is to get in there while it's still relatively easy to get in. I think it's going to become the next Proof.... lucky for us, my wife and I live only a block away.
  9. Seeing as my wife and I live upstairs from this place, we went tonight more to see what it was like inside after watching it being built for the last year. Bottom line up front: Good. Not pan-asian, but Thai. The menu is 75% Thai, 15% Japanese (sushi, yakisoba, miso soup), 10% Chinese and/or Chinese influence. The only Korean on their menu was the OB beer. So here is what we ordered: ~ Spicy scallop roll: I am a real fiend for spicy scallop rolls. I haven't had one, I don't think, since I left Chicago in 2004. The surprising thing about these scallop rolls was they put tempura bits around the outside and inside the roll. Fresh, raw scallops have a very subtle flavor and texture and the tempura bits kind of distract a little from that. Not a deal-breaker though. The spicy sauce is like the way I am used to--made with Kewpie mayo. I'm not sure what the spicy sauce normally is here on the East coast, but it's different somehow. ~ Spring rolls: Spring rolls. They were good. ~ Penang Curry: Curry was good, wasn't bad, but definitely wasn't anything unusual. It was a fairly large portion size too. ~ Kapow on rice: Let's talk about this for a minute. I really like a traditional ka prow (I think it's traditional anyway) which is made with ground chicken. I actively search this out and the only places I've found it anywhere near DC is at this little place outside Fort Belvoir (Rice and Spice Thai, I think) and Bangkok Joe's down on the waterfront in Georgetown. The one I had here at Asia 9 is by far the best I've had in a really, really long time. It was a really large portion, and I told me wife that I would be hard pressed not to order this every time we go there. I like this place just for this dish alone. Service was actually really good, prompt, no problems. I'm really happy to have a place like this in my building. It will definitely save some money from getting delivery from Thai Chili. Is it a ground-breaking place? No. But it's a nice little place to have downstairs. Next time we go, I am going to order the chirashi...
  10. Cityzen isn't all that cozy, but if you tell them that it's a special occasion, they will make a little effort to make it memorable, to include a little less-exposed table. There are some corners of the dining room that are pretty private. I can almost guarantee that you will have at least one or two "holy shit" moments. That would be my recommendation.
  11. I'm a big fan of their battered burgher, but I've noticed that it, also, is a hit-or-miss thing. Some nights it's really good, other nights, it comes out as a rock-hard orb of discoloured protein. It would be nice if they had a bottle of HP sauce on the tables as well for it.
  12. I don't remember it word-for-word, but I think it's something like: "Break off a square, push it up to the roof of your mouth to let the chocolate melt and enjoy the flavor of the bacon and the salt." Surprisingly, it actually made a little bit of difference to eat it that way.
  13. My wife and I love this chocolate bar... it's not as obnoxious as you would think. The bacon is cooked really crisp so you just get a smoky, salty flavor with no big fat chunks. It pairs really well with the chocolate. There is even a suggested eating method which actually does make a difference in getting all the different flavors out of the bar.
  14. Having lived in Chicago, I've gotten delivery from and eaten at Wildfire many times. I would place it a tiny step above Outback Steakhouse than anywhere near a proper steakhouse. All of the "Lettuce Entertain You" restaurants in Chicago (with the possible exceptions of Everest and Tru) are all about faux atmosphere and ok food, but not really worth the price. It will do in a pinch, but I'm not sure I'd rather go there than an Outback. Maybe this one will be different though... once I hear the "Lettuce" name associated with a restaurant, I pretty much write it off.
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