hopsing
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Everything posted by hopsing
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I love Carlyle Cafe, haven't been to the others in the group. My favorite appetizer is the lobster potstickers. Those are delicious. I also like their steak and crabcake combo. My husband loves the chicken paillard. Their bread is from their bakery next door. I don't know if it comes off a Sysco truck or not, all I know is that it tastes good. My only nit is the call-ahead system--I would prefer if they just took plain old reservations like other restaurants. Also the mashed cauliflower. I love cauliflower, but not that way. Would prefer some potato side. -
I've been to Dino's about 6 or 7 times since they've opened and the meals have been really good or really bad. The other night, I went again and the results were mixed. The bread was good, the saltimbocca meatballs were terrific. I ordered the much-lauded lasagna and it was terrible. It was obviously reheated and very dry and who knows how many days old. Now, the lasagna used to be my favorite dish in the past but I guess only if I get it fresh. I wish they would not serve really old lasagna. My dinner mates all liked their meals (short ribs, flat iron steaks, linguini pescatore). I guess I should just give up on the lasagna and go with other dishes. The 33% off wine was great and we were able to try terrific wines that we would never ordinarily try. So I guess if somebody suggested Dino's I would go, but I would stay away from the lasagna because I wouldn't know if I was getting it fresh or getting it old.
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My colleague recommended this restaurant to me 2 years ago and I finally got around to trying it out. Boy, I wished I had visited it as soon as she had told me about it because it was delicious. It was also reasonably priced and the portions were large. I had the 3-course dinner special: fritto misto (calamari, shrimp, green beans), seafood ravioli, and chocolate profiteroles. My husband had the endive salad and spaghetti with meat sauce. The fritto misto was huge, a meal in itself and very tasty. I think it also had zucchini. My ravioli was delicious too although the sauce was a bit too sweet. I would have preferred a simple cream or tomato sauce. The spaghetti with meat sauce was good and hearty. The endive salad was good but could have used some fruit and nut to make it more interesting. Nonetheless, great place and will be added to our regular rotation. I look forward to exploring the rest of the menu. The table next to me had veal canneloni. That looked mouth-watering. Another table had the mussels appetizer. It was a huge bowl of mussels and the diner told me they were really good. Wine list looked good and reasonably priced too.
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I have had some lackluster dishes (like the pasta with eggplant) and generally order the same thing when we go there (like we did yesterday). I generally order the fried zucchini appetizer (sort of a tempura zucchini sticks--juicy on the inside) and the osso bucco which is pure winter comfort food. My husband orders the fried calamari, salad with grapefruit and parmesan slices, and the linguini scoglio. All was good, except my husband not too keen on the calamari that night. We also ordered a bottle of wine, that when I googled it last night, turns out we were charged more than 4 times the retail price. My husband said sometimes it is better not to know these things, I am inclined to think he is right.
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Laugh if you will, but I happen to like Cafe Oggi in McLean for Italian. It has much better food than Sette Bello. If it were cheaper, I'd go there more often. Currently, I satisfy my Italian cravings at Argia's and Kora's (in terms of restaurants in my regular rotation). You have inspired me to make a reservation to eat at Oggi tonight!
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We just had another nice meal at Argia's last night. We like the spaghetti and meatballs and the beef tenderloin. Reasonably-priced wine selections. They just expanded, moving into the hair salon that used to be next door. Waiter says it is for private parties and overflow. The restaurant now also takes reservations! This means I don't have to rush over at 6:15 to ensure I don't have to wait or go somewhere else because we wanted to dine later. Now I will go even more often.
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We went again last night and the calamari was great. I guess sometimes it is on and sometimes it isn't Last night, it was tender and fresh and succulent. Also had the mussels appetizer. It tasted like the ocean. The broth is decent but wish they could make it more interesting. Ideal pairing: quality mussels from Kora with the smoky fennel broth from Liberty Tavern. Nonetheless, keeping this restaurant in the rotation. Good eats.
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I finally was able to drag my husband to RTS yesterday. He doesn’t like to try new places and is very picky, hence his nickname El Exigente, the “Demanding One”. However, he left there a convert. First, the bread came. Immediately he was annoyed because there was no butter. I said, I think it’s foccacia. Then he said, well, then they should have olive oil to go with it. After he took a bite, he said, oh, it doesn’t need anything else, it already has olive oil on it and it is good. Then we ordered. I braced myself because my husband likes his steaks medium-well and a lot of serious steakhouses will snear at anyone who asks for anything more than medium. My husband ordered the filet mignon au poivre medium-well. The nice waiter couldn’t be more accommodating—he said sure! We started off with the crab bisque. Wow! My husband said this must be what the Soup Nazi soups taste like. I agreed—I could see dumping my husband to continue access to that wonderful soup. Then the steaks came. My husband was very pleased and so was I—both in the steak and in my husband’s reaction, because that meant we could put this wonderful restaurant in our regular rotation. I wish more restaurants would follow Michael Landrum’s philosophy of great food and wine at reasonable prices. My entrée cost less than lesser entrees at other restaurants. The wine markup was a bargain compared to the restaurants that I usually frequent. If Landrum can do it, why can’t they?
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I look forward to trying these frozen fries. This is what I grew up with in Brooklyn, either in my own home or at the numerous luncheonettes in my neighborhood (from the 60s). My realization that frozen food could be better than fresh food came about 15 years ago when I went to the famed Carnegie Deli in Manhattan for the first time. Of course, I ordered the knish since I love knishes. Well, the knish was homemade and fresh and I guess it was okay, but it didn't hold a candle to the frozen ones heated up at the Kosher delis or sold by the vendors at Coney Island when I was a kid. I don't like McDonald's fries for they just taste fried, but I have had frozen fries that had a specific frozen potato-y taste that I really enjoy. Call it a guilty pleasure....one I hope to enjoy at Ray's Hellburger.
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My husband and I dined here based on a friend's recommendation. We both thought it was top notch and will be putting it into our regular rotation. The stand-outs are the warm mushroom salad with pecans (although my husband wished they would add more pecans), the spaghetti and meatballs, and the squid ink pasta with seafood. Canneloni was delicious also. Bread was very good. Calamari was decent but not the best I've ever had, although I liked the basil aioli and marinara dips. Also liked the decor, the high ceilings, and chic atmosphere. Looking forward to trying more of the menu on future visits.
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Went for lunch today as it is near where I work. Really great first impression. Had a delicious salmon burger which comes with a nice side salad with lemon vinaigrette. My friend had the tuna with tapenade. He also raved about it. He has been here 3 times this week. He raved about the buffalo burger. I am looking forward to trying their other dishes. I also noticed that they served wine in nice big goblets so I hope to make it to a happy hour too.
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The blueberry pancakes at this place are great as are the sweet cheese pancakes. Coffee is decent. I also like the chicken and mushroom samsa and beef piroghi. The bread around the meat is sort of brioche-like. The "danishes" are really good--my favorites are the vetrushka with sweet cheese and raisins and the vetrushka with fruit. I would love it if they could make a vetruska with sweet cheese and fruit! I had a slice of chocolate layer cake and it was heavenly. I went for dinner once and got the manti, but was not a fan of it as it tasted kind of reheated and way too much garlic. Plus my wine was warm. Maybe it was an off day. I agree they need a website as it is hard to describe to family and friends what they have. But I am a fan of a cafe like this that serves something unique (and not too sweet).
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My husband and I love this place. We usually get the fried calamari, zucchini fritti, ossu bucco, and spaghetti with seafood. The salad is quite good too. The crowd skews old or you may see teenagers with their parents; it seems like a family special occasion place. Yummy!
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I had been to Willow about 5 or 6 times since it opened, but kind of forgot about it plus it was a little pricey. However, after this review, it got on my radar again so we went tonight. Wonderful meal! Just interesting new taste treats we never had before. Loved the cauliflower tart and the day boat scallops with shitake mushrooms. Everything was wonderful. My husband who is very picky really enjoyed the crabcakes and filet mignon. Plus we had a nice bottle of Crianza Rioja. We will be back!
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I am captivated by this place and plan on returning. Yesterday, I walked by just to check it out. I ended up buying some sweet buns that were very delicious and different. There was the vol-au-vent filled with sweet cheese (sort of like the kind that come in a cheese danish, but fresher), a brioche-kind of bun filled with the sweet cheese and raisins (my favorite), a pastry with nuts (sort of baklava-ish but not phyllo dough), and the rose--some gossamer-like pastry. They threw is a cinnamon bun as well. These pastries are sweet but not crazy sweet like American desserts. Makes a nice change. This morning, I went there for breakfast. Their coffee is very good (and I had to have half-decaf). I had the sweet cheese pancakes. Yummy. Kind of like blintzes. It comes with jam--which was homemade and more like thick apple sauce but it was raspberry-colored. My friend had blueberry pancakes. They were good too, but mine was better. They don't taste like American pancakes--they are fluffier and lighter. Anyway, I look forward to going there again for lunch and dinner. I encourage others to check it out--it is a totally new food experience for us jaded DC-ers. Also, they have been open for just two months and I don't think word has gone out yet that they exist. Service is friendly and efficient. It is a restaurant that we want to keep around! Their website was under construction and they said it would be ready next week.
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I was a regular patron of the Ballston Ted's in 2007. I thought their burgers were the juiciest and tastiest. Plus they had these really good margaritas. Unfortunately, my visits came to a crashing halt when I was diagnosed with high cholesterol. When I googled Teds, their burgers were twice as high in saturated fats as their competitors. Unfortunately, I have never been back. If I weren't worried about heart attacks, I would be all over that place.
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I was there for the first time this weekend and was not impressed. Burger was tasteless and the bacon was totally burnt and hard. Ok atmosphere but there are a lot better places to spend my money for now.
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I've not been myself, but my colleague (who is very picky) gave it a big thumbs up. She said her fish was superb and her husband, who did not like fish and had filet mignon, was also very happy. She said the restaurant was extremely big and well decorated and service was good as well. I will be putting it on my must-try list.
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The three of us found ourselves in Georgetown last night. Concerned that we couldn't find a place to eat because of Restaurant Week, I looked up Open Table and saw lots of openings for Bistro Francais. That made me wonder if it was unpopular since plenty of restaurants had no openings. Well, we booked anyway and were glad we did. We all had the Restaurant Week special: husband and I had the onglet with frites. It was delicious. Friend had lamb, also good. Nice starter salads and I had the mussel soup, very tasty. Good chewy bread. Dessert was apple tart, pretty good. Plus a good bottle of wine. They had plenty of wines in our price category ($30s). My husband and I decided to add it to our rotation if we could manage the parking headaches. The service was great and we felt perfectly comfortable and casual. It is quite a large restaurant and although there were lots of diners and a good vibe, they had many smaller empty tables. I wondered why more people didn't go there. I had gone to La Ruche in the summer and thought that this place trumped that one in all respects.
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I was also there Thursday night. It was my first time at Palena, a restaurant that I have wanted to visit for years, just working up the road at Intelsat. My friend and I had a terrific time there -- great cocktails, great service and wonderful food. I thought an artist had made the food--so much thought had gone into the taste, the seasoning, the texture. I can't wait to go back. Sorry that emu had a rough time that same night and I'm not disbelieving her for a moment--just wanted to balance it with my extremely positive experience.
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It's a good place for a night when I don't feel like cooking. It's not horribly expensive although I do tend to get the ribeye. My husband gets the burger so he keeps the final tab reasonable. I also get a Cosmo which is great. Also pushing the tab up. Staff is friendly and competent, albeit somewhat impersonal. Overall a decent place.
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My husband and I were looking for somewhere to eat on Christmas evening. Last year, we went to McCormick & Schmick in Arlington which was a big mistake. Long wait for service, for dishes, and what finally came out was burnt. They comped our meal but I didn't want a repeat of that this year. On OpenTable I saw that Piola was open and being a pizza lover from NYC and having meant to try it for a long time, we went. I thought it was terrific. I am kicking myself for not having tried it earlier. I had the Trento (pizza with mushrooms) and my husband had the ham and pineapple (I made believe I didn't know him). Anyway, both were great. I really like their creamy mozzarella. Service was good. House red was acceptable. It was about half-full which seemed pretty good for Christmas evening. I went again for New Years Day and it was also good. I am adding it to my rotation. Now that my portfolio took a dive, places like Piola seem a lot more attractive. OK, it isn't Two Amys, but it is right in my neighborhood and you can make a reservation and don't have to wait on a big line to get in.
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I finally made it to Church Street Pizza, which is down the block from my dentist. It was as good as advertised. Growing up in Brooklyn, I can say this is the closest to NY pizza I have had in my 30 years in Northern VA. Closer than Vace, closer than Italian Store. Good crust, good mozzarella and tomato sauce. Not as good as my memories of the pizza of Flatbush, but the closest in this area. Everyone seems to have gotten the word as there was a big line when I left at 12:30pm on a Monday. Part of that though was due to the poor gal who was basically by herself handling the cash register and heating up the slices. I wll return!
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I am also a big fan of zpizza. We discovered them last month when they sent us a coupon. We use the one in Arlington. Their toppings are very fresh and where else can you get Kalamata olives!!! I also like that they use low-fat mozzarella so I don't feel so guilty about all the saturated fat I am ingesting. One tip though--I once ordered a custom pizza which was great just to realize it was the same as the American Classic which would be cheaper. Next time, I ordered the American Classic and it was not very good. I think they make those in advance and they don't taste as fresh as a custom pizza. So I went back to ordering the custom pizza and paying the extra couple of $$.
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As you may have guessed, my name isn't really HopSing. He was the cook on the old show Bonanza. As a Chinese-American, these stereotypes always amused/dismayed me. Anyway, I read this forum almost every day. I was a lurker until Don Rockwell asked us to reveal ourselves, so I did. Like some of the other introductions I read, I also hail from Brooklyn. My father had a laundry on Coney Island Avenue. My house was across the street from my favorite Italian restaurant, Vesuvius. When I went to the Amalfi Coast a couple of years back, the food reminded me of my beloved Vesuvius. My favorite food is pizza and I was in pizza heaven, with a great pizza parlor (we called them parlors in those days) on every other block--the best being on Avenue J near the Midwood Theater. My sister told me the Avenue J pizza place made Zagat's. So of course, next time I was home, we went there. Disappointment. Not the pizza I remembered from the old days. Pizza in DC isn't that good but has improved in the last decade. My ideal pizza would be the crust of Sbarro's with the toppings of the Italian Store. I regret that Chinese food is not trendy. I hear good things about Hong Kong Palace and will be going there with my Chinese class next month. Aside from that, I go to Charlie Chiang's (snooze) and PF Chang's (my parents would be rolling over in their graves). Before Chinatown became MCI Center and knocked out most of the Chinese restaurants, I used to go to the Ruby Restaurant. The owners were from my parents' part of China, Taishan in Guangdong Province. It was comfort food for me--especially the roast pork with bean cake. Why doesn't anyone have that on their menu. Seems tofu is always relegated to the vegetarian section. Eating out is one of my hobbies and where I spend most of my money (unfortunately). My husband and I cannot seem to make it out with a bill under $100 these days. I eat mostly in Clarendon which is close to where I live. The restaurants are good but pricey and hard to get entrees under $20. They knocked down one of our regular places, Aegean Taverna. The food was so-so, but the live Greek music on Saturday's was tops. My biggest pet peeve is the markup on wines. They are outrageous, esp. at McCormick and Schmick. Lesser pet peeve is that Virginia doesn't allow you to bring your own bottle of wine. I do enjoy this forum and look forward to reading future posts and learning about new restaurants for me to try.
