Ericandblueboy

Had dinner at Uncle Liu's but no hot pot for us. I did see other people eat it, it's a communal hot pot. Yes, you're all cooking in the same pot. For that reason, I'm not sure it's really a candidate for $20 Tuesday. The cooked dishes we ordered tonight - garlic fried fish (bland), sautéed A greens/veggies, scallion beef (where's the beef?), and spicy wontons were so so - not as good as HKP. Oh yeah, no booze of any sort yet. Actually, I don't even know if they're applying for a license.

Meals tax is a sales tax and not an income tax. The diners pay the tax, the restaurant is merely collecting it on behalf of the government. In this case, Donna is stealing government funds. Substantively I don't see much difference between someone who refuses to pay his income tax vs not paying over sales tax that's been collected. In either case, you're keeping money that belongs to the government but for whatever reason, one usually isn't punished as a thief for not paying his income tax. If you get caught shopliftiing, you'll probably take a trip to the local jail. If you don't pay your income taxes, you can negotiate a payment plan or even have it discharged....crazy.

I'm actually surprised at how little money the show actually gives to charity (or to winners in Top Chef). $100k really? I think they should up the prize money to $300k or something a little more sizeable, heck they get to deduct it so it's really only $200k after taxes. FWIW, I find Moonen's response ludicrous. He sells fish in Vegas...wow that's real environmentally friendly.

Went by China Wok for lunch after I read they got Hunan Lion's chef. I never did like Hunan Lion and he's not any better at China Wok. Same gloppy Chinese American food....my eggroll was disgustingly greasy. Eff that shit.

Not sure if it was less flubbed or he just didn't get docked points for "keeping it real." It certainly didn't sound delicious to me, whether it's authentically Ethipian or not. Granted, I don't particularly like Ethiopian food.

The judging is suspect and I believe Marcus won by default because Susur shot himself in the foot with that blob of tuna - which did not look appetizing at all. It was his finale to win and he could have outcooked Marcus and Rick but he screwed up with that dish. I think Susur was consistently better throughout the show but they did say the winner is judged solely based on the final challenge.

It aggravates me that Tom does not distinguish between Cantonese food and northern Chinese food. Willfully ignorant, imo. I can just imagine the dad bitching about "where are the carts"?

The tweet says he's left, not leaving. So what does that mean for those of us who have reservation for 24?

I haven't had the lobster at Shula's but it's a good steakhouse. FWIW, I don't think it's any worse than Morton's, Capital Grille, Palm, Ruth's Chris, & Flemming's. Another suggestion - Bond 45 in National Harbor.

Perhaps it's an attempt to drive away those families who think pizza restaurants are automatically romper rooms for their kids. I'm all for higher prices for a sane dining room and as much as I love 2 Amys and Red Rock, I will not drive into town for pizza if there's something just as good that's slightly more expensive but close to home.

Can't find it on Netflix!!

Examples of what's new to you would help. Oh, another thought is Eola - they certainly have some interesting and very tasty dishes (including offal) at prices lower than most of the mentioned restaurants.

For $75 a person - 20 bites at Poste. If not Poste, then I'm all for Palena and Corduroy. For over $100, I'd say Komi. Haven't had Vidalia's 24 yet but I'll be visiting RJ soon. scroll down for pics and reviews of Poste

Todd Kliman says it's closed (in today's Washingtonian chat)?!

Try il Canale?

He goes back to Bangkok and has the floating market noodle soup - does any restaurant here use cow blood in their noodle soup here? I'm not certain if Nava, Thai Sq or Saklulthai uses blood in their soup.

Unless the restaurant has been given a headcount and spent time and money, I'm not sure where the harm is? In this particular case, the interest is relatively low in the first place so even a few drop-outs make a big difference. I believe whether there ought to be a $20 Tuesday should be judged on a case by case basis. I think we should go ahead with La Caraquena and see how much interest there is.

Since I live and work in Tysons (get to work by 9 and leave the office usually around 6:30-7), traffic hasn't been worse than before with the construction. The economic implosion has thinned the traffic compared to 2007. There certainly isn't any traffic on weekends (except during holiday season). Yes, traffic is still bad during rush hours - with all the knuckleheads blabbing on their phones instead of paying attention to driving. However, I think the unsustainability of good restaurants here may have much to do with the economy - you need expense accounts to keep these restaurants afloat on weekdays. Also, most McLean residents seem to eat shit and like it. I can't figure out why J Gilberts is packed all the time...

Lots of variety (granted many were not typical dim sum dishes - instead they're just normal dishes in small portions) and generally better than Mark's Duck House and Sampan, and cheaper at $2.75 per small order. There was a cart with 4 stir-fried veggies (although I did not inspect it - looks like there were bok choy and Chinese broccoli). The place is so big there was no line at noon today. The savory dishes today were also generally better than Hollywood East prior to its move (in my opinion). There's not as much variety when it comes to the sweet dishes compared to the pre-move HE. Saw sautéed snails, sautéed clams, shrimp with mayo sauce...loads of stuff

The baby's been good generally. When we go out, we feed her first, burp her, put her to sleep via car-ride, and then we enjoy our early bird specials. In VA Beach, we felt bad because the baby puked in the restaurant. We cleaned it up (it's just milk and luckily uncarpeted floor). Then she puked outside of the restaurant right in front of the entrance. At this point, my wife just wanted to take the baby back to our room so she took off with the baby and the stroller. I was left to pay the check and get the last dish boxed up. We never did clean up the puddle of milk on the pavement. Left a nice tip though but that's probably compensating the wrong person. I guess the question is, what would you do if the baby starts hurling?

After almost a week in VA Beach eating mostly seafood, I was looking forward to some comfort food so we popped in on a Friday night. The lot was full but not the restaurant - as most of the people were upstairs at Tachibana. We ordered based on recommendations of our waiter. He said the scallion pancakes (didn't see it on the menu) were good and they were indeed - slightly chewy with pungent scallion flavor. The waiter also recommended H17 Chopped Fried Beans Fish Fillet - nicely steamed fish but definitely not spicy. I don't know what kind of dried beans they used but it was mild and even my wife enjoyed this dish. Then we had E10 Sautéed Scallions Beef - simple but tasty dish, especially for those who don't like to eat veggies. Lastly we had some stir-fried Chinese broccoli - fresh and crunchy - just like mama's. I recently thought I found a contender for the best Chinese in Tysons/McLean/Vienna at China Wok. The former House of Hunan chef apparently went over there but after trying them out, I find House of Fortune much better.

For our last meal in VA Beach, we went to Pacifica. This place is off the beach, 1 block past where the boardwalk ends but it has the most interesting menu of any place we've been. So we ordered (i) Smoked salmon on bagel crisps w/ caramelized onion & fresh horseradish - $7, (ii) Cumin spiced black bean dip w/ roasted corn, tomato salsa, & pita chips - $5, (iii) Cardamom spiced pulled leg of lamb on pepito w/ chipotle apple chutney - $9, (iv) Confit chicken adobado w/ soft polenta & avocado salsa - $7, (v) Grilled chimichurri flank steak w/ plantain mash - $8, (vi) Grilled ahi ssam w/ bibb lettuce & mustard seed sauce - $9, and (vii) Grill squid piri-piri (a special of the day). The bean dip came with deliciously fried pita chips that were crunchy on the outside but chewy on the inside. One can't go wrong with cold smoked salmon, onions and some form of bagel. The lamb was a bit gamy and I have no idea what pepito is (the lamb came with a pita-like bread) but definitely worth trying. Similarly I have no idea what adobado means but in this case it was a rather bland tomato sauce that topped the flavorless chicken - they struck out on this dish. The ahi was nicely seared. I didn't get to taste the chimichurri while it was fresh because the baby upchucked during dinner and we had to take that to go - but it was nicely marinated and thus flavorful. The grilled squid were a couple of slabs of squid generous coated with hot sauce - they weren't kidding around with the piri-piri. They were a little tough - would've been nicer if they scored the squid first but certainly worth trying. ETA - cheap drinks. 1/2 bottle of Gruet was $18. Xingu Black beer was $4 per bottle. (feel free to combine all these into one post)

A thread for a restaurant that no one ever ate at and it's now gone. Has this ever happened before?

Pi Catch 31 Lunch today was at Chick's Oyster Bar. They had fresh jimmies. We didn't know what jimmies are so we asked. They're crabs. Should've guessed since the table had all kinds of caked on crab parts. Unfortunately, the place doesn't have hush puppies. I spent a chunk of my youth in Atlanta - not having hush puppies just ain't right! We ordered simply - dozen steamed clams and Caesar salad to start. Nice big clams (same size as Catch 31) steamed just long enough to open the shells. I tried the cocktail sauce and the drawn butter but fresh clams don't really need any adornment. The Caesar salad was okay - no table-side dressing making and no anchovies. My entrée was a combo platter of fried shrimp, fried oysters and fried fresh catch. Lightly battered and lightly fried - loved the oysters and the fish. The shrimps were fine but honestly the only fried shrimp I like are tempura fried shrimp. My wife had a pulled pork sandwich which she said was good - I don't eat pulled pork so you'll have to take her word for it. Dinner was at Ammos on 14th st. They advertised authentic Greek cuisine but we just wanted gyro sandwiches. The fried zucchini tasted good but they look suspiciously factory made. The gyro meat were all the same width - like they were pre-cut and then heated in a pan. At least it was relatively inexpensive for a meal on the boardwalk. In the last few days, we did a dolphin watching tour, the aquarium, and today the botanical garden. We wanted to check out the Cape Henry lighthouse but when they wanted to body cavity search us, including the baby, to enter Fort Henry, we told the lighthouse, no matter how magical it is, to kiss our asses.

Third Night. Was taken in by Pi-zzeria's rotating brick stone oven. I was wondering how the oven rotates but it doesn't really rotate. There's a spinner inside the oven, like a microwave - the oven itself is stationary. The crust turned out thick, as did the layer of cheese and sauce. It wasn't all that bad for a quick bite to eat on Memorial Day. Any other day I'd say this place is pitiful - Domino's like in quality. Fourth afternoon. After a morning of golfing, I was famished. We went a few blocks north to the Hilton Hotel and ate at Catch 31 (on 31st St.). This place is swanky, with seating right on the boardwalk. Incidentally, the beach is much less busy on weekdays. Sitting on the patio and looking out at a wide expanse of sand, it almost felt like the Caribbean. Started with a dozen clams, big and juicy (twice the size of the ones at Lunacy). Then we had a pound of steamed King Crabs and a crab-cake sandwich. I like the crab legs sheared vertically - easy to get to the meat. The crab-cake was lump crab - good (but pales in comparison to the freshly steamed crab legs). We didn't try anything extraordinary but what we had were really good. At this point, we've already decided to head home a day early. No reason to spend Friday night here when we know it's a zoo on weekends