hopsing

This morning I got an email from Liberty Barbecue about their online ordering.  I thought this would be perfect for the July 4 holiday.  I had read mixed reviews so I ordered with some trepidation.  Turns out everything was delicious.  High marks for the pork belly (Asian style), brisket and ribs.  Husband really liked the mac and cheese.  I was wondering how people could eat this food and not give it raves.  My theory is this:  they were slammed this evening so all the food was super fresh.  I can imagine if things are slow, diners may get old food.  I can see how that can taste dry.  I hate getting old food.  So next time I go there or carry out I will have to figure out when is a busy time. 

Some reviews complain about the food not being smoky.  I tasted some faint smoke esp. in the charred bits and it was good enough for me.

My only nit was that online ordering says it is ready in 15 minutes.  It takes 15 minutes for us to drive there.  However, upon arrival, they said they were slammed and it would take another 15 minutes.  Why not change the ordering website to give a realistic estimate?  I could have come 15 minutes later if they had told me.  Nevertheless, we will return!!!

There is also one in Eden Center.

Opened on March 29, 2018, at 801 N. Quincy St, Arlington, VA (via ArlNow)

My friends had dinner and lunch buffet there when it first opened and loved it so I was eager to try it.  I went about a month ago with my friend for lunch buffet on a Monday at noon.  What I got in the buffet was old, dry food.  Did not like it much at all.  Maybe if I came mid-week or mid-buffet hours I might have gotten fresh food.  The butter chicken was particularly dry.  Especially bad was the palak paneer (a favorite of mine).  Have you ever had paneer that tasted like brie?  Ugh.  I don't want to have that experience again.  Maybe I will try again at a different time.  My friends had raved about it, so I am willing to give it another chance, but thumbs down on my first try.

On 6/16/2018 at 9:57 AM, cheezepowder said:

Opened on June 7, 2018, at 4617 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA (via ArlNow)

My friend and I had lunch there on Friday.  On the whole very good and I will be back for dinner once they get their liquor license.  We shared the cold mezze platter, the 2 kinds of boreks and the falafel.  Of the cold mezze, my favorite was baba ghanoush.  The others were okay but didn't excite me.  What excited me were the boreks!  Just like in Turkey maybe even better.  One was filled with cheese, the other with cheese and spinach.  Heavenly Turkish egg rolls.  The falafel was great too.  They were slow getting out the food even though the place was virtually empty but I chalk that up to new-place temporary flaws.  Service was very friendly though.

We didn't sit outside albeit the day was glorious because of the strong sun and lack of patio umbrellas.  Apparently they have them but didn't put them up yet.  All in all, head and shoulders above the latest El Ranchero incarnation.

Here is the menu they posted on Facebook.  You don't need to be a FB member to see it.  They said they are working on building a website.

Istanbul Grill Menu

There used to be a place in Brooklyn Heights where my sister and I would routinely hit Starbucks first and walk in with our coffees for breakfast.  However, they didn't care because we always ordered the egg special.  The special came with coffee so we were "paying" for coffee anyway.

My defense against bad coffee is to bring with me those Starbucks instant coffee packets.  Put one of those in the coffee and it immediately improves.  I use the Italian expresso packets.

On 5/18/2018 at 10:07 AM, dracisk said:

But you look so friendly and jovial in your profile photo. 😉

On 6/11/2018 at 10:07 AM, DaveO said:

I'd insist on bringing thermoses of Qualia coffee.  If they want to charge a "corkage/thermos" fee.  I don't care.  It would be worth it.

This was probably 10 years ago, but I remember going there for breakfast one Sunday.  At a table near me, a couple had brought in Starbucks coffee.  They sat down.  The manager told them they had to get rid of the coffee or leave.  They left.  Perhaps the policy has changed since then.

2 hours ago, dracisk said:

But you look so friendly and jovial in your profile photo. 😉

That's because I remembered to smile!  Otherwise, frowny face.

19 hours ago, southdenverhoo said:

Sometimes people don't know what their voices sound like, or how aggressive their body language can be, or even how repetitive the exchange has become, when they believe they are communicating calmly regarding a matter in dispute.

I was thinking this too.  I have learned over the years that my default face looks stern and judgmental.  I try to make an effort to smile when I come into contact with strangers.  It reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer got the stink eye.  I have a natural stink eye.

I agree that we have only heard one side of the story.  After re-reading the story, my question:  if the remaining party was only one or two blocks away, why not just wait for them to arrive?  Sounds like it would have only been 3 minutes.

I also saw Landrum a little over a month ago.  He was actually the host and showed us to our table.  He was quite charming.  I didn't let on that I knew who he was.

On 5/11/2018 at 4:57 PM, beachgirl54 said:

El Ranchero is closed - heard that a Turkish restaurant would take its place.  I went once - and never went back.

Yes, I am very much looking forward to the new Turkish place.

Apr 4, 2018 - "Istanbul Grill Expected To Replace Ballston Area's El Ranchero" by Bridget Reed Morawski on arlnow.com

Epilog:  I ate my leftovers last night for dinner.  I heated it up, esp. the falafel and the chicken.  It tasted much better, the falafel and chicken seemed less dry after a nuke in the microwave.  I'll be back. BTW, they had what looked like American black olives but they told me they were Greek olives.  They are American black olives.

I saw this place near the library.  I believe it replaced Naked Pizza.  It's a sort of Lebanese Chipotle.  You choose a base: wrap, rice, bulgar, or greens.  Then a protein:  falafel, chicken shwarma or kabob, beef, lamb.  Then toppings:  I chose many but my favorites were baba ghanoush and hummus.  Then sauce, I chose tahini dressing.  They give you a lot of food.  We got there at noon which I guess is early so I was eating leftover falafel and  old chicken shwarma.  My friend got fresher shwarma and she said it was very good.  This place has a lot of potential and I plan to visit it again soon--maybe later in the day so I get fresh falafel and chicken.

Here is the menu:  https://www.eatbadaro.com/menu/

I agree with Erichandblueboy.  I went a couple of years ago to the Tysons one for lunch.  Food was mediocre but pricey.  Soda came only in a can.  Ironically, place was mobbed on a weekday.  Don't know why.  Business lunches?  I'm never going back.

When I was on vacation in Germany in 2013, we found the food very heavy (lots of meat, lots of potatoes).  I love meat, but it was even too much for me.  We ended up eating at Italian restaurants in Germany, and, oh my, they were terrific.  I think due to the immigration from nearby Italy.

Awhile back, I talked with Gladys Abi-Najm, and she seemed to imply that the Upper NW location was their true flagship. 

Boy, I remember the days when Lebanese Taverna was a tiny little mom-n-pop in Westover - always crowded, always good.

I remember even earlier than that when they had the Airborne Pizza place in Westover and sold Lebanese goodies on the side.  

The first time I ever heard of pork pie was as a kid watching the old movie Great Expectations on TV.  The idea of a savory pie stayed with me over the years but I have yet to try one. Maybe it's time.  I love the traditional and the Indian curry chicken pasties at Pure Pasty.

The owner of the Cleveland Park gift store Wake Up Little Suzie has announced her retirement on the CP List serve and mentioned that "Pierre Abushacra and the Firehook Bakery team will be starting a new business unique to Cleveland Park in my space". 

No other details were given...so TBD?

I remember the good ole days when pre-Firehook there was Roma restaurant.  They had the best pizza and you could eat it in their grapevine-draped garden.

They have a new executive chef and menu!  This is good news.  While I like their breakfasts, their lunches and dinners have been a real letdown.  I'm going to try them again!

https://www.arlnow.com/2018/02/06/cassatts-cafe-hires-new-executive-chef-updates-menu/

The places I am talking are small coffee shops that serve dim sum.  People usually buy them for takeout.  There is an eating area in the back where you can sit and have coffee and order dim sum.  These are not the typical staff wheeling around food carts.  I just asked my sister (who still lives in NY) for a recommendation  but she doesn't know if they exist anymore.  They were more for locals (no English spoken).  I know the place I used to like closed down.  When I visited, my mother would do take out suigow from there, suigow was my favorite dim sum.  It looked sort of like this but wrappers were more yellowish.

My sister's friend's theory: the secret to their great coffee was adding salt.  Hmmm, must take that with a grain... ho ho!

On 1/26/2018 at 9:03 AM, Kibbee Nayee said:

(I wouldn't drink Starbucks coffee at gunpoint. I'd rather drink the ooze coming out of a dumpster behind a Chinese restaurant in August.)

I never thought I would see coffee and Chinese restaurant in the same sentence, but it brings to mind some of the best coffee I've had--and that is at some NY Chinatown dimsum places.  I don't know how they make it so good.  My sister would ask them how they made it but it was always delicious with just the right amount of sugar and cream.  Drinking it along with some yummy dimsum hit the spot many a time.  I don't know if it is true anymore because I haven't had dimsum in Chinatown since my mother passed away 16 years ago.  She lived there.

---

I had their cheese pizza last week.  Avoid that!

Instead of my usual pizza or spaghetti and meatballs, this time I tried their branzino special.  It was really good and perfect for the light meal I was looking for.  BTW,  they have a bunch of new wines by the bottle.  I've tried two of the reds and they are spectacular for $29.

In my never-ending quest to find quick breakfasts in my neighborhood, today I tried the Marymount University Ballston Cafe next to the Starbucks at the Blue Goose location.  I had a breakfast sandwich with sausage and it was quite delicious.  Croissant was nice and buttery.  Their morning fruit bar looked good too with fresh strawberries, blueberries, grapes, pineapple, yogurt, granola toppings.  Coffee was decent though no match for the Starbucks next door.

The other day I was walking to the supermarket, but it was so cold I stopped by the Inova building lobby to warm up for a few minutes before continuing on.  This is across the street from Booeymonger's.  Inside, I noticed they had a cafe. I gave the cafe the once-over and saw that they served Illy coffee (my favorite) and their breakfast sandwiches looked pretty inexpensive. So this morning I went back and had breakfast. The freshly-made egg and bacon sandwich I had was decent. It was not greasy maybe a bit too ungreasy if that makes any sense. The Illy coffee was really good. I had drip coffee but they also served it as espresso, cappuccino, latte, etc. The place is totally clean and also fairly empty. Good place for me to eat breakfast and read my paper once in a while.

Here is their menu. I'm leaving the photos in large form so you can read it.

I just walked by today and the sign says they are closed for good.  Looks like they removed all the furniture.  They weren't the best restaurant in the world but we did regularly use them for takeout.  My husband and I are sorry to see them go.