Gadarene

You both make it sound quite tasty!

Just had a few things here tonight.  The boquerones fritos were good, if really expensive ($13) for ~10 sardines lightly fried and served with some piquillo pepper aioli and a lemon wedge.  I know it's not fair to compare D.C. to Spain, but it's hard not to think of how I had twice as many little fishes that were twice as good at half the price in Seville last year.  Also had the black rice, which was tasty and rich, and the mussels, which were tasty but a little salty (and, at $18 for a dozen or so small mussels in broth with chorizo, probably not the best value proposition).  The bartender was super nice and the wine was good.

9 hours ago, DonRocks said:

[It's because I forgot to split it off until this afternoon. I also had it too low in the Petworth Dining Guide]

I sincerely think it should be in bold.  And "one of Petworth's best dining destinations" is a bit of an undersell; if I could choose literally any dinner in DC right now, it might well be Himitsu.  I didn't write about it at the time, but the dinner I had there in March or thereabouts was almost literally perfect from start to finish.  Amazing food.

(That being said, if extolling their virtues this much here ends up making the wait times longer, I will be happy for them but sad for me.  I prefer them as a well-frequented and quite successful secret, relatively speaking.  We can spill gallons of virtual ink on the $40 entrees at Mirabelle; just leave the miraculous composed dishes at Himitsu to me and like-minded brethren and sistren.  Any secret society whose members include Justice Sotomayor is a secret society worth not publicizing.)

19 minutes ago, jca76 said:

Either we were there on the same night, or she's been back -- she was leaving as we were sitting down a few weeks ago!  (Given that three of those posts are mine, I'm in firm agreement with you on how great Himitsu is.)  

This was almost two months ago (May 13th), so it might have been different nights.  Pretty cool if she's a semi-regular; we got into a short conversation with her, her dining companion, and Carlie about the merits of Barcelona vs. Madrid.  Her companion said Barcelona, and she concurred.

Judge puns!

Food was phenomenal as always.

...if a bit expensively.

How does this thread have only thirteen posts?  Himitsu is one of the most sublime dining experiences in DC right now.  (And last time I was there, we were seated right next to Justice Sotomayor: appeal to authority!)

2 hours ago, Rieux said:

I guess I feel that if you are making an entire concept for a restaurant, investing money and time in decor and, hopefully, dong menu research and development, that you get these basic things right. 

Edited to add:  it also goes to a pet peeve of mine - namely lumping Mexican, "Spanish", and Latin American foods together.  Latin America is a geographic concept - the countries are individual and draw from many different influences.  Central Americans tend to hate spicy food, whereas Mexican love it.   You'll find no tortillas in Brazil or Argentina or Chile, where corn is not a huge staple, just as you'll find little yucca in Mexico.  People get upset about Pan-Asian, what about getting upset about Pan-Latin?   And don't get me started about Spain -- yes, Spain was an influence on most of these cuisines, but in general you'll find few traditional Spanish dishes in the Americas.

Could not agree more.

26 minutes ago, Tweaked said:

CP location closing

Nooooooooooo

54 minutes ago, Ericandblueboy said:

Fried chicken skin paired with vanilla ice cream, inside toasted white bread.  I cry fowl!

That sounds awesome (health and calories aside).  We discovered at a wedding in India that vanilla ice cream and butter naan is a phenomenal combination, and this is sorta that plus fried chicken.  Mmm.

I enjoy this place a lot.  Nice wine list, too.  (Try the Villard!)

8 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

Blame Rock Creek.

I do every day.

As a longtime resident of Mt. Pleasant and former quasi-resident of Cleveland Park, that hill has consistently thwarted any notions of biking over to grab a meal at Dino, Nam Viet, Ripple, Vace, Indique, etc.

That hill is a bastard.

I have a soft spot in my heart for Nam Viet and their beef hue.  I love those round noodles and the overall level of spice.

31 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

What I don't get is, if Cleveland Park has no foot traffic, how do places like California Tortilla survive? It seems to me that Fast-Casual restaurants would need foot traffic (or easy parking) to survive - Cleveland Park has neither. I can't remember if Sam's Parking Lot gives a free hour - if so, that might explain it (although I think Yogiberry closed there).

Maybe it's easier for franchises.

There's virtually no foot traffic up there.  A shame for the restaurant.  :-(

We had a nice meal here during the soft opening.  Everything we had was tasty (esqueixada, black rice, quail picada), but the star of the show for me was the spinach ends with anchovy and romesco.  Really well-composed and full of flavor.  I've always liked Estadio's grilled-vegetables-with-romesco-sauce dishes more in theory than in reality, since I tend to find that the romesco overwhelms everything else.  Not the case here, as it was integrated very nicely.  One note about this dish: it contains copious amounts of almonds, which I thought were delicious and added a lovely crunch, but which were not mentioned in the menu description.  Those with nut allergies take note.

My girlfriend's favorite dish was the black rice; that was quite good as well.

Looking forward to coming here soon.  What was the favorite thing your group ordered, saf?

I haven't seen them in a long time.  They were the first food truck I ever ate at, in Farragut Square.

I always really enjoyed their little salad of tasteless iceberg lettuce (but I repeat myself) and vinegary dressing.  Great crunch and tang.

9 minutes ago, Ericandblueboy said:

Gutless are your fellow D.C. diners.  Innovative cuisine doesn't thrive in D.C. Because there's little demand.  

Hard to spur demand if you scale back the menu at the first opportunity.  And round and round.

1 hour ago, Deac said:

Was Kushi not considered an izakaya?

Kushi will always disappoint me for the fact that its opening menu actually did have really interesting and not-usually-seen-in-the-US yakitori options, like chicken skin or cartilage, and then by the time they were a few months old, they had drastically scaled back the menu to the old standby meatballs and shishito peppers and chicken wings etc.

Gutless.

And I agree with Don that, while Kushi served some izakaya-esque food, it was not an izakaya.  Far too big.  Izakayas should be cozy above all else, in my somewhat limited but still consistent experience.

Still don't have much in the way of quality yakitori, though.

The first place in town to start serving bonjiri, bonbochi, and nonkatsu on a regular and accomplished basis can have all of my money.

Just ate at 2Amys for the first time ever (it's never been remotely close to where I've lived, and I've never owned a car).  It's loud (children like to scream!), but pretty awesome.  The wine list is super-interesting, and the marinara pizza was excellent.  It doesn't supplant Etto or Ghibellina (yes, I know the provenance) for my favorite marinara in the city, but it's excellent nonetheless.  I love love love the crust.

1 hour ago, funkyfood said:

Ended up making it in last night solo--and wow am I glad I did.  What an outstanding meal.  Those veggies are unbelievable; I have never had such crisp, flavorful veggies as I do at LS.  The shrimp toast was one of the best things I've had in a while.  It wasn't 1/10th as spicy as usual, but some delicious vermouth went perfectly with it all. 

Litttle Serow always makes me remember how much I like munching on high-quality raw cabbage and lettuce.  I probably go through two baskets' worth every time I go.

Everything was delicious, but that shrimp toast was downright extraordinary.  A stunner.

(And get the blaufrankisch sparkling rosè as an aperitif.)

Thanks for the heads up, Marty.  I wouldn't have gone had it not been for your post.

Okay.