Ericandblueboy

I assume you mean aspersion and I didn't really mean to cast aspersion on the restaurant, rather I meant to cast aspersion on Spike and people who eat his food. But my main point is peer review and I admit to talking plenty of shit.

It's late at night so I will post my response which DR may delete before the sun rises. I know it ain't easy maintaining this forum and I do appreciate the mods who ceaseless index everything so it's user friendly. I hope these last few posts really contrast the members here and those on CH and the philosophy behind these two forums.

There's no check and balance on CH. You can't discredit another post no matter how egregious it is and that's what makes CH frustrating to read. There's no accountability from anyone and no peer review. The more I read on CH, the less I think that I trust anyone that posts there.

Did I libel someone? This amply illustrates the difference between DR and CH. If you questioned me on CH, you'd get banned. Here I am offered an opportunity to respond to your baseless insinuation.

I think the DC Chowhound board is particularly bad. I've used Chowhound for research purposes in other cities and countries and got some pretty good feedback. Maybe my personal knowledge of the DC restaurants makes it much easier to detect the B.S.. Some posters seem hellbent on libeling restaurants they haven't even been to. Example

Corn dog $3. The batter is very sweet. I saw Dipsy Dog mix at one stand, not sure if all the vendors use that mix. Egg Roll $2 at Chan's Famous. It's a smallish eggroll with lots of white/black pepper. Carne Asada Tacos 2 for $6. Pretty tasty, each served with 2 corn tortillas. Italian Sausage $7, oversized bun, flavorless red pepper and onion (I threw them away), Gyro at Demitrio $8. They said it's huge but it's mostly shredded iceberg lettuce with a ton of thick super garlicky sauce (I hesitate to call it tzatziki). Overall - some of the worst fair food I've ever had. We were recently at Greensburg IN fair. It's a tiny city with nothing yet they had better food.

That's a surefire way of getting fined next time the inspector comes around. Getting the sign back won't do much good if Arlington doesn't change its rules (where you gonna put it?).

There's no basis in assuming that world class chefs have better taste buds. Below is an excerpt I found regarding the blind tasting by Top Chef Masters: http://ny.eater.com/archives/2009/08/top_chef_5.php

Roberto Donna is no saint, in fact, he's admittedly a criminal, but there's no doubt his food is good if not great. So would you still pay to eat his food? What about sexist chefs, as some people interpret Mike Isabella's behavior on Top Chef? What about chefs that chew out their staff, like Marc Forgione? What about mere arrogance - plenty of examples from Top Chef and Chopped? Is ignorance bliss in this case? What if the best chef on the planet is a pedophile? Would you boycott his restaurant? My question is, how much research would you do before you eat out, and what is an unforgivable sin?

Just watched the extended judge's table online and no discussion of what Alex prepared. It's like they just ignored their own rules. If that's the case, why show the charge being leveled? Oh, the editors also claimed that the two cameras in the kitchen never caught who took Ed's pea puree. They didn't say whether they have footage of Alex making pea puree either. The integrity of this show just went down the shitter.

There's something to be said for using your judgement and when the banter is initiated by the customers, then it's safe to assume that you can reply in kind. Nevertheless, if you don't like the service, then tip accordingly. There's no need for violence.

A waiter must not have any personality and assume all diners have no sense of humor like this chatter? Given that the chatter's friends all laughed, I think it's the chatter that's overly sensitive and has anger management issues. These dudes better not go to a a NYC deli.

I'm not sure that dude was anything other than baby's daddy (not sure they were ever married) and Holli never mentioned that dude being in the picture. In anything, I think Jay and Holli hooked up. I'm not even sure Holli has custody of the baby.

It looks like Jay performed much better than Holli yet Holli got the job.

There's a show called the Great Food Truck Race hosted your favorite Foot Network personality Tyler Florence. Starts this Sunday 8/15 at 10 p.m.

ORLY?

Did the judges take into consideration the charge leveled against Alex that he did not prepare the lamb dish? In reality, they showed the other chefs constantly fixing Alex's mistakes. So what dish was Alex responsible for? Kenny deserved to go home but at least explain why the other team wasn't disqualified for violating the rules. I'm sure Tom will make some excuse on his blog.

Ghar-E-Kebab from Groupon if the link doesn't work. $20 certficate for $10. Deal is for sale on August 10, 2010.

menu

Seems like Joe and Graham switched roles based on the last half of the that I caught. Joe was waving everyone thru while Graham was playing the hard to please tough guy (giving his thumb down to a guy born with only 3 fingers on each hand). At one point, Gordo gives this Mexican (?) lady a second chance by sending her home so she can cook stuff she cooks at home instead of the soul-less fancy schmancy crap she cooked the first time. It's gonna be a train wreck and I'll be there to adding more coal to the fire (assuming I've got nothing else better to do).

They were open at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday and already very crowded. I ordered 1-7 plus chicken just so my wife has something to eat. The tripa (inner guts - most likely intestines) was the only one that I didn't finish - I love cleaned and stewed intestines but am not a huge fan of grilled/sautéed guts - I might have taken more than 1 bite but for having so much else to eat. My wife ate the chicken, pastor (spicy pork) and cecina (salted beef) and I ate the rest - lengua (tongue), suadero (beef), cabeza (head meat), and carne asada (grilled steak). Most of these tacos were pretty bland so we spiced them up with the green hot sauce. The chicken, the tongue, and the salted beef were the most flavorful so I really liked those. I ate only 1 tortilla with each taco and it held up just fine.

We had a 5:30 reservation on Saturday night. We arrived much earlier (at 5) and was told they won't start seating until 5:30. Fortunately there is a bar and they were serving beverages. At 5:30, they lead us upstairs, to their outdoor patio. It was a hot afternoon so we declined to sit outside. We were told at that point that indoor seating won't start until 5:45. Eventually we took the elevator to the 3rd floor. From our table, we had a view of the city dock and the parking lot next to the city dock. It was actually more interesting watching people jostle for parking. The online menu looked really good, which is what prompted me to make the reservation. Unfortunately, the kitchen didn't execute very well. The "stuffies" with chorizo, i.e., stuffed claim, was doused with butter. Similarly, my house-made fettuccine (with garlic, clams, parsley, and pancetta) was swimming in butter. I could see the clams but could barely taste them. The raw oysters were fat and fresh and my wife said the heirloom tomato salad was delicious. Her sesame crusted tuna was nicely seared (rare, but the fish itself was a little mealy); however, the accompanying cold soba noodles were overcooked and bland. We never got the sautéed baby bok choy nor were we charged for them (the waitress was very pleasant but did not remember everything that we ordered). Go for the view and the location but don't expect perfection. A little bummed that the historical houses can only be toured with a guide. Even more bummed that London Town & Garden didn't open until noon on Sundays. Finally, wish Grace Garden was open on Sundays. At least we got some decent tacos at Taqueria La Placita.

From Wapo: I better start taking siestas and eating more jamon.

Ever heard of fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me? You're suggesting that I keep throwing money at Spike in the hopes he can actually turn out something decent. Yes, I'm telling people, don't throw your money away feeding the troll.

Do they take reservations?