SSK

Very helpful--thanks very much!

Yes--$20 is what I had in mind. Thanks for any suggestions!

We are planning to celebrate a milestone with some friends and want to bring some special wine--any suggestions for celebratory-type restaurants that have reasonable corkage fees?

I have had lunch there twice now and have had very solid salads both times. First was the chopped salad--the smoked chicken and fried artichokes were both nice touches. The second time I had the grilled mesquite salmon salad--salmon was cooked perfectly. The only almost-disappointment on the second visit was that we were not offered the rather addictive Old-Bay caramel popcorn that came at the start of our first meal. The waiter said they stopped offering it at lunch but brought us a couple of bowls anyway. Good sit-down addition to the neighborhood, esp. because they have decent outdoor seating.

Thanks everyone. I'll investigate Public House and Harrington's and definitely not National Pastime Grill. I too would much prefer Old Town, but the older folks coming from Burtonsville are resistant to the idea of crossing the bridge around rush hour to go further away from their home. Maybe I should pack a picnic and we can sit in the Gaylord lobby area.

Thanks--I appreciate it. We have folks coming from VA, MD, and NY going to see ICE and then having dinner together before the NY folks continue onward to Williamsburg, so we really are stuck, unless there is something relatively decent nearish to National Harbor....

Where would you eat if you HAD to have a large group dine at National Harbor? We are taking a large multigenerational group in 4+ vehicles to see ICE so really need to eat there"¦.

Agree wholeheartedly with both of these suggestions. As much as rents may be/may have been on Wilson, I read recently that Arlington County has been having trouble with filling all the retail spaces that have been required on the first floors of all of the new residential/commercial buildings and are considering allowing rezoning (cited example was Ballston old Bob Peck dealership location) for other uses. Perhaps the County would allow interested retail businesses to get a deal on rent now in the interest of preserving the first-floor-retail ideal?

Wanted to give a shout out to this place. Started going here about six months' back on dcs's recommendation. It really is solid and has become a regular lunch spot for me. I'm a fan of the cobb salad, made with a fresh(ly microwaved) chicken breast, good avocados, and good bacon. One of my co-workers swears by the bulgogi cheesesteak. And the portions and prices are reasonable--I like being able to get a good-but-not-oversized salad for $7 vs. going around the corner to chop't for a salad that is too big (but not big enough for two full lunches for me) and costs $10+.

I'm devastated. Was planning on going next Saturday for the first time, for my birthday. I should just stop planning big birthday dinners. I also had reservations at Teatro Goldoni's chef's table the week Enzo left. Ended up stuck with a tasting menu of 9 pastas and 5 desserts or something along those lines.

Looking for any quick thoughts on Juniper--husband has booked it for lunch today, but I am concerned that it doesn't even seem to warrant discussion on this board at all. Should we be heading elsewhere? Thanks!

Any recent visits to Volt, Table 21 or otherwise? Wondering if the fear that Bryan Voltaggio is spreading himself too thin has borne out or not.

Kyoto We were in Kyoto for 2.5 days last fall. Given the short time (and that it was a milestone celebration, delayed and shortened because we originally had been planning to travel right after the tsunami/nuclear disaster) we went over the top--and in the face of conflicting views between which was better among the two best known ryokan experiences we ended up staying one night each at Tarawaya and Hiiragaya (which are across the street from each other). The experiences there were truly special--the traditional kaiseki meals are served in your room. After long days of sightseeing we basically collapsed into the bath, put on robes, and never left the room. Service was fabulous at both. Hiiragaya had the more traditional kaiseki, while Tarawaya was more modern (reflecting the style of each inn), but we enjoyed both very much. The presentation of all the dishes at both was wonderful. We also really enjoyed the Japanese style breakfast at Hiiragaya--lots of small dishes, including a fabulous grilled whole fish. Unfortunately we had to leave too early in the morning to try the Japanese style breakfast at Tarawaya, but they went out of their way (after initially saying that breakfast wouldn't be possible at all) to provide us with hot tea, croissants, and some cheeses and fruit. If you really want to focus on the best kaiseki meals in Kyoto, I've heard that they are at stand-alone restaurants rather than at the ryokans. Kikunoi and Hyoteihonten seem to be the ones that came up frequently in my research ahead of the trip. We also had the opportunity to have "French kaiseki" at Misoguigawa in the Pontocho district (basically a small alley along the river with lots of restaurants and bars. I am not sure how many rooms there were, but the room we were in held 6 people all sitting around a bar. We thought it was going to be some sort of French/Japanese fusion, but it was pretty pure French, only served kaiseki style. We really enjoyed it, especially the beef and the asparagus dishes. I was somewhat obsessed with making sure we got to a Kyoto tofu restaurant, and we ended up at Tosuiro on a friend's recommendation. It was wonderful--tofu in many ways, with a pot of tofu in hot water sitting on your table at all times--as an added bonus, they had the doors to the back of the restaurant open and a breeze was coming in off the river. Our friend recommended that we ask to sit out on the patio, but it wasn't set up at the time. The one thing I really wish we could have gotten to was a traditional temple meal. They are supposed to be a vegetarian delight. Oh, and by the way--you should try to make it to the central market, as they have lots of delicious snacks and things to pick up, in addition to a $500 mushroom if that appeals to you.....

Went on Saturday and had very good versions of several standards that were less greasy and definitely fresher than, for example, Fortune: shrimp dumplings turnip cake steamed rice noodle wrapped around shrimp shiu mai steamed pork buns chive dumplings fried taro fritter pork/mushroom meatball wrapped in tofu skin Also had: clams in black bean sauce--echo the review above that this was great chinese broccoli--crisp with not too much sauce fishballs (surprisingly good) a fishball type dumpling from the cart with the turnip cakes (also surprisingly good) sweet tofu in syrup (good version--not as good as from the tofu shop across the way in Eden Center, but good nevertheless) some sort of pink coconut jello thing with an umbrella stuck in it (an unsurprising choice by the kids, less offensive than i thought it would be) All in all a great addition to the dim sum scene. It's also bright and clean (the fish tanks in the back are, at least for now, very clear). We went just before noon and didn't have to wait. Not sure how much longer that will be the case. Looking forward to trying their non-dim sum dishes.

Alas, that was what I feared--wasn't sure whether the bar literally meant the bar itself or included what I remembered to be behind it. Many thanks.

Not being experts on either northern Thai or Issan, my husband and I really, really enjoyed our first meal here two weekends ago--cooking style was very reminiscent of a marathon cooking lesson we had in Chiang Mai some years back (11 dishes over an eight-hour day). The mushrooms were his favorite, it was a toss up between the beef and the pork rib for me. Service was very friendly and down-to-earth. Unlike other places where we might go on rare occasions for a set meal, this could very well become a regular on our rotation.

Does anyone have thoughts on a party of 4 trying to do the bar menu deal at 5:30 pm on a Saturday? We haven't been to CityZen in quite some time, and I don't quite recall if the setting would be conducive to a group of 4 trying to have a meal together, and also am wondering how crowded it might be at that time?

Thanks so much for the suggestions (though I am not sure the sitter can stay long enough for triple play--esp. if we decided to really do the Occupy DC experience right).

We have friends coming in town with their father, who would like to treat us to somewhere downtown-ish for dinner (they're staying at the Sofitel). The father does not have an adventurous palate but does have a real appreciation for very good food and wine. Any suggestions? Corduroy? Maybe Equinox? They've also mentioned that they might want to go to a Jose Andres restaurant...should we just go to Jaleo? We don't want to suggest someplace too too expensive, since we aren't paying....thanks!

Two games ago, I had the Jammin Island BBQ combo platter--maybe I was lucky, but both the chicken and ribs were surprisingly moist and tasty (agree with the earlier post that the plaintains were too sweet for my taste, and they were out of yucca so I haven't been able to judge on that front yet). Last game, for comparison, I got the Blue Smoke ribs--maybe I was unlucky, but the meat, while flavorful, was surprisingly dry. So here's one vote for the Jammin Island ribs....

We had family driving in from out of town Friday and didn't know exactly when they'd be arriving so we ordered a lobster pot for 4. All we needed to do was pour a beer in and put in on the stove for about 30-35 minutes (the instructions were for 25 minutes, but we think it had to run a bit longer because it had been in the fridge there were so many in one pot--we would probably try to have no more than 3 in a pot if we did it again). The results were delicious and good value considering the quality: per person you get a lobster, at least 4 large, sweet and meaty mussels, at least 3 giant tender quahog clams (we didn't keep track of the shellfish, so it might be more), a corn on cob, a split-and-grilled chorizo sausage, and lots of sweet onions. The lobsters were a good size and really tender. Before we did it I was worried a bit about the cost (all in, $41.50 pp), but now I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

A query for Brian--we had a really lovely meal with our toddler at Restaurant 3 back when it first opened (he couldn't get enough of the duck confit in the lettuce wraps and ate most of my chopped spinach salad). All of the staff was wonderful with him and quite engaging. Soon thereafter, we saw a promo in our neighborhood newsletter advertising Restaurant 3 as a "kid-free" environment, so we've been reluctant to return with the kid. What's the official position? I feel a bit bad that we might have unwittingly spoiled the atmosphere that people are expecting when they dine there....