dinwiddie

They changed names, changed formats (added rotisserie chicken) raised prices, and then went out of business.

Closed and empty space there now. Not the best location due to the lack of parking for all those restaurants, but the Tex/Mex place next door is doing very well.

I have to add some cold water to the lovefest, but I don't consider Silver Diner to be a real diner. It is a chain that has a gimick. A real diner had a huge menu, running to 10 or more pages. Silver Diner has a very limited menu. A real diner offers lots of breakfast options, all day long, Silver Diner has way too few. Etc.

The food is OK, and I like the local produce/sustainable focus, but it just ain't a diner in my eyes. Good shakes however.

click me

Inventory to post very soon; inspection is Fri 8/20 10a-4p in the former Spezie location at 1736 L St NW.

Any idea when the inventory will be available to view on-line? Or is the inspection the only way to do so.

Banner for new Againn spotted on Rockville Pike across from the strip mall with Bagel City.

Please tell me that I did not imagine this.

This is the old Houston's location isn't it?

My wife and I stopped in a Buck's about a month ago. I was underwhelmed the first time I went, but thought I'd give them another chance. The meal started out well, I had the iceberg wedge with Maytag blue cheese and applewood smoked bacon. It was excellent, lots of cheese and well presented. My wife had the greens and enjoyed them a lot. It was early, about 5:30, so we didn't want a large meal so we ordered burgers. Mistake. Both were ordered medium, both came out VERY well done. We sent them back and hers was ok, not great, but ok. Mine was very well done again. I sent it back again and said to forget it. The fries were ok, but slightly undercooked. The special Kaiser roll was not that good either. I guess I should have stuck with the specials. I don't think I'll be back.

We went to Palena Saturday night for my birthday. The food is as fantastic as ever and the service was superb. Efficient, friendly and not obtrusive. I also appreciate the fact that they allow me to bring wine (for a $20 a bottle corkage fee.) I don't see that the construction/planned expansion has affected them at all. Still one of the best meals in DC and for what you get, the price is more than reasonable.

Jake and I went there a couple of weeks ago (Karen decided she wasn't going to try to eat the weird stuff we would be looking for). When we asked about duck feet, one of the head folks said that they don't normally have them on the carts, but they do make them and when they know that someone likes them will make sure to provide them if asked (and they are available.) Once it was obvious that we were the type who ate almost anything, we were offered all kinds of things that we normally had to ask about. Once we ordred the jelly fish (good), duck feet (quite good), tripe (good but more to Jake's taste than mine) and the duck blood (boring) they were sold and we wer offered everything under the sun. Like I have said earlier, not the best dim sum, but a solid place, good service, nice decor, and a willingness to please. It does get crowded on weekends, especially Sunday, but as a standby that is only 5 minutes away from the house, it is definitely a good place to go when we just aren't in the mood to drive to Wheaton or Gaithersburg.

When I was going to WeightWatchers I lost 50 pounds in about 9 months. Then I quit because work got crazy and I was always missing the weigh ins. I gained 15 back. Time to start losing again. My goal, one pound a week. Hope to lose 12 pounds by Memorial day.

I'm a big fan of the wings at Urban BBQ in Rockville, MD.

I thought I'd update my observations. In this market, I'm finding that more and more restaurants are lowering their corkage fees, or doing away with them all together for certain nights, in order to attract more customers. I recently dined at a restaurant that I'd never been to before for Restaurant Week. When I called and asked about corkage, I was told that they had lowered the corkage fee from $20 to $10 for RW. I then asked whether there was a limit to the number of bottles as we were a party of 8, and I had planned to bring 4 bottles with me. I was then offered a deal. Bring as many bottles as I wanted, and they would charge me $20 total corkage. We had a wonderful time and a great meal. Appropriate glasses were provided for each bottle of wine - we opened 4 bottles (a 2004 Peay Chard., a 2006 Radio-Coteau Savoy PN, a 2005 Kosta Browne Sonoma Coast PN, and a 2001 Karl Lawrence Napa Cab, along with a 375 of a 1998 Thirty Bench icewine) We left about 3 ounces of wine in each bottle for the staff to finish. (The server and chef were offered a glass during the meal but felt it was probably not a good idea to drink until the dinner rush was over.) And BTW, we left a VERY healthy tip for the server.

As a result, several of the folks at dinner that evening have returned in the following month.

I usually take a few big bites of Kay's felafel to satisify my jones for crispy balls. Or we add a ball or two to a Schwarma plate.

Dean, I always get the schawarma platter since I'm usually taking it home with me and don't want to have to deal with the mess of a sandwich. They always add a couple of felafel to each platter.

They had whole flounder in a variety of styles on special, I just don't eat east coast flounder as it is overfished. But I odn't want to leave the impression that I didn't like my meal. The frustration comes from comparing what we had, a really good Thai meal on a par with our current favorites, to our former memories.

I also don't eat flounder for the most part. I much prefer a rockfish or snapper for a whole fish, whether it be Hunan style or Thai.

Dean,

I agree, I haven't been as impressed the last couple of visits. Besides, you can't get a whole fish there.

I'm looking to source some grass-fed beef one of these days. But yes, their stuff is good and terribly convenient for me. I think if you give them enough notice and are clear enough about exactly what you want, they can get a good bit of stuff for you. It just requires some extra effort -- but some stuff I think they just won't carry (like slabs of pork belly).

I believe that Roots on GA Ave just south of Olney has grass fed beef on a fairly regular basis. You might call them and ask.

On my last couple of visits, the soul rolls have remained fantastically addictive, but I can't say that I'm a fan of their ribs. Meaty, yes, but a couple hours short of fall-off-the-bone, and underspiced. Which I can't understand, because they have a pretty decent dry rub in the shaker on the condiment counter. Arguably not as good as the last time I tried Rocklands' ribs, and I wasn't a fan of those either.

In a BBQ competition, falling off the bone ribs will lose you lots of points. They are supposed to be well smoked, tender, but not fall apart in your hands.

I think you can't make multiple reservations under one account at the same time... though it sounds like this person has no problem making multiple accounts.

Actually, it is pretty easy. Just ask for an Administrative Professional Account, and you can make reservations under as many names as you want.

There was the time I cam home and found Jake (then about 13) making sushi rice and complaining that it was difficult to find good sushi grade tuna.

How is anyone to know the answer to this? It could be someone hostile to OpenTable, or hostile to certain restaurants. It could be someone who mistakenly thinks they're getting points for each reservation, or maybe someone with a hacker mentality - who does it "just because they can." Or, it could just be someone selfish enough to think they can make a bunch of reservations, and choose one at the last minute - if that's the case, it sounds like that strategy isn't going to work much longer. In general, I find that people tend to be tools on a case-by-case basis.

I think the most obvious answer is that the individual likes the convenience of OpenTable, but is one of those folks who makes multiple reservations and then chooses which restaurant they want to go to and fail to cancel the other reservations. There are folks that do this over the phone too, OpenTable just made it easier.

Also a personal disclaimer, I love OpenTable, but I have never not cancelled a reervation well in advance if I was not going to keep it. If you don't show up for a reservation there had better be a really good reason, and it should include blood at least.

I see there is some confusion over our Wine Vault program. Let me shed some light: The $1500.00 is NOT a rental fee. It is more of an initial deposit. That money goes to the purchase of wine for your vault. We give our vault holders a 15% discount for wine in their vaults. There are other perks as well (tastings, dinners, pre-releases etc.), please feel free to contact the restaurants or myself if you are interested in learning more. Some of you were also concerned over the limited choices through Montgomery County. Let me tell you, the county has been really great at working with us to bring in some nice wines. I recently got them to bring in the 2003 Katherine Hall Cabernet that I tasted in Napa (it is absolutely delicious). We feel that this program is really a point of differentiation for us. Most places do charge a rental fee, we do not.

Regardless of how well Montgomery County has been working with you, they do not have the inclination or ability to get the wines I'd like to keep in a locker. What use is a wine locker if I can't put some of the wines from my cellar in it? Besides, $1500 in MoCo, even with a discount, goes about as far as $900 does in DC, and the selections available in DC are much, much better. Yes the Katherine Hall is nice, but I can think of several I like better that MoCo has no intention of helping anyone get. Sorry, but I'll pass on the wine locker, and take something from the cellar with me to DC and pay the corkage instead.

My wife and I went to Oro Pomodoro a couple of days ago. It wasn't bad, but nothing special. She started with the insalata mista and it was good, the dressing was served on the side (at her request) so it wasn't overdressed as many are. I started with the mozzarella and prosciutto since they make their own mozzarella. While the serving was large, it was served too cold. It was obvious that it had been prepared beforehand and kept in the chiller. That was unfortunate because the flavor was much too muted. Both mozzarella and prosciutto should be served at room temperature for the best showing.

We both had pizza (they are aboaut 10 inches) and like others have said, the crust is very good. Thin without being too crispy or soggy. My wife had the "Squisita" Genovese, white pizza with artichokes, smoked mozzarella and basil pesto. The oil in the pesto made the plate oily, but the flavor was good and it was cooked perfectly. I had the Piaa Diavola, tomato, mozzarella and spicy salami. When the server brought it he first said it was pepperoni (something that is not on the menu) but quickly said it was spicy salami, but it could have been pepperoni for all one could tell. Not much of it either with a couple of leaves of basil. However, I did enjoy it.

When we arrived we were given a "wine list." Now I don't expect much from a wine list in Montgomery County, and this had at least 30 choices with several relatively expensive Amarones and some Montepulcianos, but there were no years listed. When I asked the server if she knew what year some of the wines were she had to go ask the bartender (always a bad sign when the bartender, not the manager is the one who is familiar with the wines) and it turned out that 5 of the 6 wines I asked about were not even available. I ended up having a forgettable if fairly inexpensive (for MoCo) 2003 Bosco Montepulciano Reserva that went well with the pizza. Service was good, but I had to point out to the server that she had forgotten to charge me for the wine. It turned out that the computer did not have the wine prices programed in so it didn't add in a charge for them. I could have just paid what I was originally charged, but I didn't want the server to end up having to pay for it.

Bottom line, not bad, a good addition to the Rockville Town Square area, but nothing that I'd go out of my way for. The place was fairly noisy but not overly so. One odd thing, there were some big screen TVs there tuned to the Food Network (with the sound turned off.) Personally, I consider that a bad sign in a restaurant that wants to be considered even a little upscale. It wasn't cheap, the salad was $7.95, the appetizer $8.95 and the pizzas $12.95 and $14.95 respectively.

If I could only choose one place, it would probably be Singapore. However, one cannot go wrong eating their way thru Italy.

I'm not much of a fan of Haagen Dazs supermarket products, I find that many other smaller specialty brands are much better and don't cost any more. That said, many years ago I used to stop in the Haagen Dazs stores to buy Casis sorbet, but they haven't made if for a long time. It was great, tart and perfect. I'd buy it in a heartbeat if they ever brought it back, but I haven't seen it in over 20 years.

I'm posting this for an acquaintance who wishes to remain anonymous - if you know of any restaurants struggling in this climate, perhaps looking for a soft landing, then this person is ready to step in. This is not normally something I'd post myself, but I don't mind this one time. Just contact me and I'll put you in touch.

Cheers,

Rocks.

Gee, is Bernard finally planning on coming back?

We decided to try Aroma last night. It was early, about 5:30 on a Sunday night and the place wasn't very busy. Aroma is in the old Bella Nolte space, and they've done a great job renovating the place. It is done in creams and browns with burnt orange. Very modern and clean. There is a bar now too. The music may have been a little loud, but not so much you couldn't converse (a mix of techo-Latin to begin, and later that evening more traditional, although some Gypsy Kings were in the mix too.)

Dinner was very good. The three of use shared the Cebiche Nikkey, ahi tuna, fresh avocados, ginger and scallions cooked in lime juice and soy sauce. It was beautifully presented and tasted delicious. I wish it had been larger, but ahi tuna is not cheap. We also shared a couple of tapas, the Calamares, breaded calamari strings served with a basil aioli. The calamari was ok, but nothing special, but the basil aioli was fantastic. We also had the Camarones a la Sarten, shrimp, roasted shallot, garlic, green olives and aji Amarillo cooked in a hot wok with olive oil. It was excellent. Finally we had the Hongo Portobello, a baked portobello mushroom in balsamic vinegar and Pisco reduction with roasted red peppers, manchego cheese and baby spinach. Again, excellent.

For our entrees I ordered the Pescado Chino-Latino, a pan-seared rockfish fillet served over a large mound of Peruvian fried rice and Asian criolla sauce. I loved it, the rockfish was cooked perfectly and the fried rice was moist and flavorful and each mouthful was a delight. My wife had the Salmon a la Parrilla, grilled Chilean salmon with quinoa tabbouleh, avocado and salsa ciolla. She also thought it was cooked perfectly and presented beautifully. The avocado was just the right ripeness, creamy and flavorful. My son had the Parrilla China, slowly cooked pork belly served with sauteed potatoes in an Asian BBQ sauce. You have to love pork belly to appreciate this dish (and he does) but it was excellent (if not on my diet so I only had a small bite). It was also huge.

Dessert was the only disappointment. We ordered two to split between the three of us, first a fairly good Cafe-almond kiss, a sugar free (Splenda) rich decaf coffe-almonds tarta served with coffe-frangelico cream. It was good, and considering it was sugar free, even more so. However, the Tres Leches was a major disappointment. The "sponge cake" was hard, dry and heavy. It was sitting in a pool of tres leches with a little orange liquour. My son had ordered it because he loves Tres Leches, but didn't even finish it. I won't judge them by it alone, but next time will know not to order it.

On Sundays they have a special, each couple that spends $50 on food gets a bottle of wine for $5.

The wine list is nothing to write home about, but this is Montgomery County. Ten reds and 4 whites, all from Chile or Argentina, all relatively ordinary but not at all bad. The all cost between $26 and $29 with the exception of a Malbec for $34. By the glass they are $7 or $8. We took advantage of the Sunday special and had a 2008 Santa Julia Organica Torrontes. It wasn't bad, and for $5, you couldn't beat it (Normally $27 on the list)

They also have a long list of mixed drinks that are priced at $8 ($5 on Wednesdays)

Tapas and Cebiches ran from &6.95 to $9.95. Entrees ranged from $16.95 to $19.95(the whole rockfish baked in a dome of salt) On Mondays, all entrees are $12. Desserts were $6.

Bottom line - This is a place that Olney needs, a real white tablecloth restaurant. Service was friendly, knowledgeable and efficient. We will definitely be back often and recommend it to anyone in the area.

One last thought. My son decided to take some of his pork belly home and the container they gave him to take it in was made from recycled paper, not styrafoam, a nice touch of green I thought.

Cool -- I'll make the reservation this weekend. Mmm. Radish cakes.

Walrus,

Do you have room for two more (don't feel obligated) so Karen and I can join you. HEOTB is our favorite place for dim sum.