Ericandblueboy

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?

Excerpt from the GQ article by Richman, specifically his niece's diary: There's much more to dining ethically than just automatically buying local produce.

I ended up ordering both the fish tacos and the lobster roll. Both were edible but nothing exciting. The fish tacos were fish sticks topped with some cabbage in a very thick tortilla. Not much flavor. The lobster roll was meaty but didn't taste as fresh as the one I had at Passionfish. I also like the sauce better at Passionfish.

Llajtaymanta is the only other Bolivian restaurant that I've been to. Washingtonian had this: I had the duck at Llajtaymanta (IIRC, just salted and fried - no breading or other seasoning) and it was pretty good. Their empanada is a like a deflated football though (in size and not very good).

Chima $50 for $25 at Living Social

Link to article. I read it. Made me want to buy bottled milk.

It's short for Picante Mixto Lengua Y Falso Conejo. I don't speak spanish other than "donde es el bano?" Orso is also not on Rt 7. I was just driving down Rt 7 from my office to reach these joints. Tomorrow I go to Chef Geoff and Friday maybe I'll be in love with Mad Fox.

Do restaurants have signs that says "our chef is out taking care of newborn" somewhere that I don't know about?

This is explore Rt. 7 week. Monday I had Blanca's. Tuesday I had Orso. Today I went to Luzmila's. The small restaurant was packed at 12:30 p.m. I ordered a beef saltena and plate called Falso Mixto. The saltena arrived almost immediately - probably because lots of people order them for eating in and taking out. They're definitely on the sweeter side, filled with potatoes, an egg yolk, beef, and maybe other stuff. I prefer the more savory version down the street at La Caraquena. The Falso Mixto is a mix of thinly sliced beef tongue, crusted thin beef filet, both simmered in Bolivian sauce served with rice, potato, and chuño I really enjoyed the sauce and the proteins. Left the starches alone because I don't need more calories. The one thing that I didn't like, in fact, find it gross, is the chuño. First of all, I had no idea what it was but it didn't look appetizing. After I had finished what I had intended to eat, I decided to try a bite. I almost spat it out. It tasted kind of like rotted fish. Gringos beware!

To be fair, those aren't actually appetizers. I would order them as appetizer because I'm interested in trying them and there's nothing listed as appetizers that seems appetizing to me. I was thinking about getting some linguine with clam and shrimp as my entree. No - I'm not paying for the meal so I don't mind the cost. And I'm in Tysons so the pickings are slim to none.

Which sounds more appetizing? I have to do a business lunch here and would like to try one of these as an appetizer.

How's that a martini? Isn't that just vodka on the rocks? [Don't shoot me - I don't really drink mixed drinks]

WaPo on Grouponomics: So a restaurant typically collects less than 1/4 of the face amount of the coupon.

What's the joke?

I last ate at Two Boots to Go Go on Bleeker in the early 90s. Most of the pizza I use to eat while I lived in NYC I would not eat again, that goes for Two Boots' pizza as well. Places that I would go back to are John's and Arturo's.

Shhh....that's the secret Safeway because no one knows it's there. We shop there but obviously I haven't paid any attention because I don't recall seeing a sign of a new place opening. I'm officially not rejoicing at the addition of another uninteresting McLean restaurant.

Didn't check the website before I headed over for lunch. Well, they're now closed on Mondays. The sign in the restaurant says they're closed on the next few Mondays - didn't specify how many weeks they'll be closed on Mondays. Fortunately my favorite pupusa joint (Blanca's) is just down the street.

My wife hates the smeller here. Just as I thought I was getting used to the smell and our food started arriving, a new wave of raunchiness wafts out of the kitchen. At this point the baby starts to get fussy and my wife used that as an excuse to leave the restaurant, telling me on the way out that she is never coming back. I'm left in the restaurant to eat (i) kimchi pancake, (ii) short-ribs, (iii) fried croaker, and (iv) chicken noodle soup by myself. Of course we were warned in advance that it was too much food, but I didn't really care until my wife left. The croakers were deep fried this time (I prefer them pan fried so this was a little disappointing) otherwise the food was very good home-cooking.