mxyzptlk

I'm not quite sure how long it's been open, but Amelie and I decided to check it out this past Friday. The decor is reminiscent of Morimoto's in Philadelphia insofar as the wave theme has carried over into Paulimoto's. We were expecting a bit more, I suppose, because the Morimoto's in Philly is really something else in terms of appointment and furnishings. Paulimoto's is more spartan and industrial- open ducts, naked woods and solid brown bakelite-like tables. Paulimoto's advertises that it serves Chinese and Japanese food. The menu reads a lot like PF Chang's except the Japanese (Morimoto-inspired supposedly) dishes are a bit more fusion-ey. We decided to skip the Chinese and go for the Japanese and that was a wise decision. We looked around at the other tables' orders and the Chinese looked less-than-exciting. We started with an agedashi tofu which was very good, and we also decided to order lettuce wraps (just like PF Chang's), because we just can't get enough of them. The lettuce wraps are identical to the ones at the other Asian bistro to include the "special sauce" that they put together for you. We ordered three robatayaki just to see how they were here and they weren't very good. I should say the Kobe beef one we got was very good, the asparagus was ok, and the scallops were down right awful. I honestly thought they served us dried scallops on sticks. For the main course, I got the miso black cod and Amelie got the tempura halibut with spicy miso. Luckily, both the entrees were well above the quality of appetizers. The miso cod had enough miso to flavor the entire cod steaks and the halibut was lightly fried in cubes and served with a spicy miso sauce on the plate. Both were served (as are all entrees) with brown rice (you can get white rice if you want). We did also order a side of wasabi mashed potatoes because Amelie had never had them before, but neither of us liked it so we didn't eat it. Too buttery, and for my palette, butter plus wasabi equals not good. So all in all, the Japanese entrees were very good, particularly considering they were about $16 and you're in a shopping mall. The appetizers, ehh... not so good. The Kobe beef robatayaki was good though. The Chinese choices were nothing extraordinary from what I could tell and I wouldn't go there to eat Chinese anyway. If you've been to the Morimoto's in Philly, you'll recognize the inspiration of a couple of the entrees, but aside from that and the Morimoto sake, there is no clear influence of the Iron Chef here. Total bill for two appetizers, three robatayaki, two entrees, one side dish, and three Pellegrinos was $80. Not too shabby. Definitely make a reservation if you want to go, otherwise you will wait a long time for a table. Also, as of the time of this writing, they didn't have their liquor license yet so we couldn't have any Morimoto sake.

I frequented the one in Chicago when I lived there. I'm still not quite convinced that the Fogo de Chao format is not some contrived American restaurant idea under the auspices of being Brazilian. But the meat was good and their salad bar (at least in Chicago) is worth going for by itself. It's one of those "experience" places more than an actual food place if you ask me, though. Who knows, maybe someone can enlighten me on how a real churrascaria works.

I never understood what the appeal of Billy Goat's Tavern was. I moved here from Chicago last summer and I can tell you that no one that actually lives in Chicago goes to the one there. I certainly have absolutely no desire to go to one anywhere else. If they were to open a Portillo's out here, however...

I've eaten at Morimoto's in Philly. From a physical design point of view, it's the coolest space I've ever been in, restaurant or otherwise. It's really a well-designed place. The food there is good... nothing particularly outstanding though. I felt it was a case of doing lots of things ok, but nothing REALLY well. The live lobster sashimi was somewhat cool, though, if you are in to that sort of thing. It was still moving when they brought it to the table.

Sollong tang is traditionally served (alongside the scallions, etc) with slices of boiled beef tongue and tripe. The broth is similar in nature to pho, except pho has much more seasoning in it.

Hmmmm.... probably. All I know is that my friend's father told me he has been eating in the same place for 15 years. So I guess that doesn't necessarily mean that Spezie has been there the entire time. My bad.

Spezie is one of my favorite places to eat. The food is excellent and they make my favorite pasta in DC. I'm always shocked that there aren't more people there in the evenings, but it's predominantly a business lunch place. My friend's father has eaten there for about 15 years now so I imagine that longevity isn't such a problem. I go back there about every two weeks on the average and it seems to get more crowded everytime I go.

I love McRibs. One good thing about living in Germany was I could get them for breakfast.

"Toast" in Lincoln Park near DePaul. (773) 935-5600 746 W Webster Ave Chicago, IL 60614 Haven't been since I moved away (duh), but it's very very kid-friendly and a pretty funky take on breakfast. Gets crowded quick though. I would do it earlier rather than later.

I actually ate at Leopold's on Wednesday and the service was PERFECT. I was so shocked... my girlfriend insists on going to Leopold's because it's very Euro and she is from the UK, so.... I had low expectations and was really surprised with very attentive service. I didn't recognize a single server in there. I was so happy I left a 25% tip.

Of the food from Chicago, I miss Portillo's the most. It boggles the mind that when you ask for a hot dog out here with "everything," that means mustard AND sauerkraut. Let's not even talk of the Italian Beefs and proper Polish Sausages. The good thing is, though, that you can order Portillo's online and they will send you a frozen party pack or whatever it's called.

Isn't Iron Chef Morimoto opening a place somewhere around Tyson's Corner?

Well, that's what happened to me last summer when I first moved here. I looked at the Best Bets (because in Chicago the analogue is actually quite accurate), and I saw Ruth's Chris and OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE as two of the top ten. I was shocked to say the least. But at least I realized that the survey might be stupid.

Wait a second. Which place by the University of Chicago? Cardinelli's? I went to the UofC as well and I really miss Cardinelli's. They closed down after my 2nd year there. I am very partial to the pasta at Spezie on 18th and M to include their ravioli.

I ate there yesterday and had a nice conversation with the person behind the bar.... I didn't see any hush puppies on the menu, and the only crabs I saw were in their crab cake sandwich. I may be wrong, however, but I have a menu at home and can re-look later. Interestingly, I didn't know that the owners of Clare and Don's (took me a while to figure out the double entendre of the name) in Clarendon are the same people that brought you Mexicali Blues and the ice cream shop next door to it. Also Big Belly Deli... I definitely want to go back to try their scallops.

I had the strawberry cake from their cafe a couple of months ago and it was very dry. The cake itself was dry and the whipped cream, or whatever that white fluffy stuff on there was, was pretty bad tasting. Looked damn nice, though. I actually think that I got a little bit of digestive issues from the cake that day. I had a companion with me and she agreed that it was not so good and she also had digestive issues later that night. I haven't been back since.

[Paraphrase of what's posted on my blog] Went to Belga Cafe last night. I forewent the RW menu and went straight for the normal menu. I had: Lauwe Aspargesalade: a baked asparagus salad with frisee tossed in a simple vinegarette topped with slightly cooked pieces of salmon. I have to note here that they totally forgot I ordered this. As I reminded them after one of my dining companions had already finished her salad and they were setting down the flatware for the next course, they finally brought it to me. Time was about 40 minutes after we sat down at the table. The salad itself was perfectly done otherwise. The salmon was fresh and just the right combination of seared on the outside and pretty much raw on the inside. Mussels with Rodenbach Ale, bacon, and asparagus: Nothing really to say except this was exactly what I was looking for. Served with Vlaamse frites, this really hit the spot. I don't have a bad thing to say about this. Ice cream with waffles and chocolate sauce: The waffles were soft and tasty, the chocolate sauce was the consistency of Nutella, but good nonetheless. It reminded me of getting waffles at this corner pastry shop on the Leidsestraat in Amsterdam. Not Belgian, I know, but they were good waffles. So I have to mention that the service was flat out bad. Between them forgetting my salad, LONG delays in service, I was really ready to hate this place. I really wanted to hate the aspargesalade but damn it was good. I just couldn't get myself to do it. The place was packed, and we even had to wait quite a while to get our seat even though we had a reservation. The staff was trying though, and I think RW just really pushed the limits of the small space and the small staff. I'm not quite sure I could hold that against them in good conscience. I definitely would like to go back when it's not RW and see how different things are then. I'm definitely going back for the mussels.

I went to Ted's Montana Grill in Crystal City for lunch today and it was ok. Nothing spectacular or noteworthy. A couple things though: 1. Everything they offer in beef, they also offer in bison. There is a nominal upcharge. 2. The onion rings are enormous. If you order the onion ring appetizer, you will get what amounts to probably 3-4 onions on your plate. 3. Service today was very overzealous, but that's to be expected as they opened recently (not sure of the exact date). 4. I was the only uniformed military member in the place which is very odd for Crystal Drive at that hour. Edited for grammar.

I would recommend Avenues at the Peninsula off of Michigan Avenue. Trotters and Topolobampo are good, but there are fresher places to go that are equally good, if not better. I think Avenues is one of more under-rated places in Chicago. As a caveat, I just moved from Chicago last summer.