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Gadarene

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Everything posted by Gadarene

  1. Gadarene
    If you have recommendations for good tiki places (i.e., not Dirty Martini), I'd love to hear them.
  2. Gadarene
    Agreed. I'm just speaking as a disappointed cocktail lover who will have nowhere to go for thoughtful and delicious tiki drinks after August. It's not about Hogo per se; it's just that I wish there were half a dozen more bars like Hogo so its closure doesn't leave such an absence on the DC cocktail scene.
  3. Gadarene
    That's a real shame. I don't know why this city can't support more decent cocktail bars.
  4. Gadarene
    The Partisan is approximately in that area; might work for what you're looking for.
  5. Gadarene
    In the handful of times I've been there when it's busy, I'm not sure that I'd really describe it as a place where you can sit down and hear each other talk. The acoustics in that space leave something to be desired.
  6. Gadarene
    Then it must be correct! (And not only does The Saloon meet the criteria of being a chill place to sit and be able to hear yourself talk, but it also has delicious beer and surprisingly good food. So that's a bonus.)
  7. Gadarene
    The answer to this question is absolutely The Saloon. Maybe Fainting Goat, but Saloon is my top choice.
  8. Gadarene
    The marinara pizza is absolutely fantastic, and the wine program is very thoughtful. My one critical note is that the octopus carpaccio presentation was not nearly as delicious as the one I had a couple of months ago. I had been enchanted by their use of lemon juice to brighten the dish previously, and this rendition was more earthy (with a heap of chickpeas) but also more bland and needing acid.
  9. Gadarene
    The Helter Skelter cocktail is delicious, and the snap peas with tahini are a huge bargain during happy hour at $4.
  10. Gadarene
    The octopus salad continues to be outstanding. And how glad I am that I can once again get a Dino burger.
  11. Gadarene
    Really hope the food is actually tasty, rather than just local and organic.
  12. Gadarene
    I will absolutely have to try this. I assume it's reservation-only, Chef?
  13. Gadarene
    Went there for the first time today for lunch and it was phenomenal. I had their porchetta sandwich -- roasted pork with fennel and garlic, crispy pork rinds, sauteed rapini with chili, garlic, and lemon, and salsa verde -- which was incredibly delicious and great value at $9 for a huge portion. The pork was cooked nicely, the bread was spot on, and the crunch of the pork rinds, bitterness of the rapini, and brightness of the salsa verde all played together extremely well. I can't wait to go back to try more things on their menu.
  14. Gadarene
    If my lunch there today was any indication, Duke's Grocery next to Little Serow absolutely belongs on this list. Their porchetta sandwich was amazing, and the rest of their menu looks fantastic as well. I'm gonna see if there's an existing thread about them, and if not, I'll start it.
  15. Gadarene
    Well, I don't have a car, and thus have never been to Bangkok Golden. And I've discovered that the best way to deal with Little Serow is just to find a weeknight where I can get off work a little early and make it up there by 5 pm, which does happen every once in a while; the three times I've done that, I've gotten first seating with no real problem and have made a minimal time commitment for a delicious meal. (I also hear that there's a sweet spot on weeknights where if you drop by around 7:30 with one or two people you stand a fair chance of being able to walk in for a seat at the communal table for the second seating -- it worked for me one out of two times I tried it, but I generally don't want to make the effort to take the chance.) I absolutely love Little Serow. I think the service could not be more friendly, the beverage pairing recommendations are always spot on, and the food ranges from good to absolutely stellar. I have never had a mediocre dish there. That being said, I do find the level of effort usually needed to get a seat to be frustrating and more than a little ridiculous, but I think the answer to that (as with most of the 14th street corridor) is simply to foster a climate where we can get MORE places like Little Serow (independent, small, creative, delicious); one would think that eventually -- eventually! -- the constant demand would flatten out. Not to always compare things to New York City or Portland -- both of which, I recognize, could not be more different from D.C. in many fundamental ways -- but my girlfriend went up to Manhattan this week and was able to walk into (for example) Wylie Dufresne's new place with a party of four, while in Portland places with the small footprint, creative vision, and idiosyncratic nature of Little Serow -- if not always the level of quality (although surprisingly often it's close!) -- abound by the literal dozens, and while one or another may be "hot" enough where you'll expect a significant wait on weekends without reservations, there's almost always another interesting place around the corner or down the block that can seat you immediately. Some semblance of that is what I would love to see here (especially for those of us without cars for whom dining options in Maryland and Virginia are something that requires concerted planning), though I confess that I don't know whether or how it is remotely achievable. In the meantime, I'll keep ducking out of work at 4:45 for awesome Northern Thai food every few months, and I'll keep doing the 14th Street shuffle (up and back, up and back) when I want to brave the primetime dinner hours to find a place with less than an hour wait. I may have gotten slightly off-topic. Apologies, Rocks.
  16. Gadarene
    Little Serow remains the best value meal in DC, in my opinion. When you want to jump through the hoops to get a table. I live around the corner from Beau Thai, and I agree with Daniel that the level of its food really doesn't merit the constant crowds. There's a level of sweetness that pervades most of the dishes where I would prefer things to be more sour or piquant. My favorite thing on the menu -- and the only thing I get when I'm there -- is the hot and spicy noodle bowl made with egg noodles, but even that needs a healthy portion of the pickled jalapenos from the spice tray to cut through the sweet notes of the broth. As I posted a week ago, newly opened Soi 38 on 21st and L has been very good the two times I've gone, but it's a place you have to go a bit out of your way to get to, the price point is slightly higher than a lot of Thai places in the city (but they're doing things that no other Thai restaurant is offering), and as of right now they're only doing dine-in orders. As for delivery, Thatanic II in Columbia Heights and Regent Thai south of Adams Morgan are both fine, solid, reliable options, but there's nothing particularly special about them. Still, they're my go-to if I feel like Thai food and eating in.
  17. Gadarene
    Deschutes beers are consistently fantastic; I wish I could find them around here. I miss Oregon.
  18. Gadarene
    This reminds me of a hilariously bad night of service that my girlfriend and I had at Sushi Seki in New York, which I might post about in the relevant thread if I remember to do so. Having a service experience like that really sucks, and I sympathize.
  19. Gadarene
    I haven't had the pozole. I'll have to try that. I've been underwhelmed by their cocktails in the past, and atmosphere doesn't count for much for me if the food doesn't match up.
  20. Gadarene
    What have you had at El Chucho that you've been really psyched about? Everything these just ends up tasting okay when I've been. DaRiv18, I know these are totally different types of cuisine that have nothing to do with each other, but if you're not set on Mexican you can always take them to either Estadio or Barcelona for some damn good Spanish food.
  21. Gadarene
    I've never had an outstanding meal at El Chucho; everything has always been...fine. For my money, Super Taco on Columbia between Adams Morgan and Mt. Pleasant provides a much tastier Mexican experience -- I really enjoy their huitlacoche quesadillas -- but with one small table it's certainly not the kind of place to dine in for dinner. Casa Oaxaca in Adams Morgan is okay and might be a little different than most of the regional Mexican food in California. D.C. proper is not a great area for Mexican food; I'll be watching this thread to see if anyone has some great recommendations from Maryland or Virginia.
  22. Gadarene
    This is a huge problem in DC. For myriad reasons, including what Joel outlines above, our downtown is so characterless and dominated by big chains and large restaurant groups. It's pretty dispiriting to come home to DC after spending time in other cosmopolitan cities where independent and small bars, cafes, and restaurants can be found on almost every street corner -- I was in Brussels for three days recently, and despite it being the "DC of Europe" in many ways in terms of the amount of the city taken up by large government buildings, it had so many neighborhoods that were phenomenally dense in interesting and local places to eat and drink. And don't get me started on the prevalence of high-quality corner markets. There's a lot to like about DC, and a lot to like about DC's food scene, but it does not suffer the comparison to other cities very well at all, and it makes me sad sometimes to realize what we're missing here.
  23. Gadarene
    I've eaten there twice now, and I like it a lot. I think it's tough to thrive at that location as a higher-end lunch and dinner place, but I'd love to be proven wrong. Both times I ate at the bar, and both times the staff was extremely friendly. Those of you who enjoy cocktails before, during, or after your meal should be excited about a very strong beverage program. The Thai Manhattan (rittenhouse rye, pu'erh tea infused sweet vermouth, chili aromatic bitters, $13) in particular is actually an excellent value, as it comes pre-bottled in a gorgeous little glass container and gives you the equivalent of around 6 ounces of deliciousness. The house draft Singapore Sling (beefeater gin, luxardo cherry, benedictine, clarified lime, chili aromatic bitters, sloe gin, pineapple juice, $10) is also excellent. Of the five dishes I've been able to sample, the Tubb Wann (pork liver, red onions, toasted rice, chili, fresh mint, $9) has been the standout. Good portion, nicely spicy, with a pleasing kick of acid and the earthiness of the liver and the roasted rice powder. I agree with Simul that the Kor Moo Yang (grilled pork neck , fresh lime, chili sauce, $9) has a ton of flavor but is fairly small for the price; I still enjoyed it a lot, though. The Kanom Jeen (steamed noodles, spicy chicken green curry, bamboo shoots, chili, $14) has good flavor but is fairly standard; people who don't like Thai eggplant should be advised that it is an unlisted ingredient. The Ped Oop Numpuang (honey-roasted duck, fresh ginger sauce, chinese broccoli, $18) is definitely on the sweet side, but it's got a great fresh ginger kick and the duck is prepared nicely; I thought the rice was also very flavorful and well-cooked. Today for lunch I had the Som Tum Gai Yang (herb-grilled chicken, spicy green papaya salad, sticky rice, $16), which is very good but a little tricky to handle. The chicken comes as two giant wings on wooden skewers, and the sticky rice was extremely hot to the touch in its plastic baggie. All the components individually are tasty, but to get a composed bite means maneuvering the meat off the wingbones and levering steaming hot sticky rice out of the bag, which was a bit awkward since it's tough to use your fingers. The flavors work very well together (along with the papaya salad) when you manage to do it, though. On the whole, I've been very happy with both my meals there, especially for a place that's only been open a couple of weeks, and I look forward to going back and exploring more of the menu (including the spicy lemongrass and pork rib soup that Simul mentions, which one of the bartenders said was her favorite thing on the menu).
  24. Gadarene
    That is a damn shame. I really enjoyed their brunch chilaquiles and pozole. They'll be missed. Meanwhile, Pasta Mia keeps on trucking next door, dispensing monstrous portions of mediocre noodles to lines of people. Ah, justice.
  25. Gadarene
    Yeah, personally, I find Graffiato to give much better value among Mike Isabella joints. I was saying to a friend on Saturday night that one of the things I like about Graffiato is that most of the items seem like they could easily cost two or three dollars more, given its real estate and the general DC restaurant scene. At Kapnos, by contrast, that extra two or three dollars is definitely baked into the price.
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