Ericandblueboy

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

Krinn didn't own 2941 and I'm pretty sure he didn't deal with any "boorish" landlords. Perhaps you mean the owner(s) of 2941 are boorish, but how would you know that?

I admit there aren't many great restaurants in McLean/Vienna but I still don't go to a GAR restaurant voluntarily. If I had to eat in the area, I would go to Woo Lae Oak, Evo Bistro, Capri, Kazan, Tachibana, Rose Cafe, Yoshi, and Plaka Grill. More importantly, it's not a long drive to DC. And there are solid restaurants in Annandale and Falls Church that are a short drive away.

First impression, this is like Atlantic City without the fancy casinos and half decent restaurants. First meal was at Luna Sea - the best thing is being able to eat outdoors on a nice late spring evening. The menu said the fish bites were battered and fried but our waiter said the fish of the day again is tuna, how would you like it cooked? I said, what do you mean, I thought it's fried? He replied it's seared, and we can have it from rare to well done. We asked for medium rare but it came out medium well done, with a soy dipping sauce and sriracha. The Lunasea salad was okay, if you don't mind slightly firm avocados. The steam clams were tiny - thumbnail sized ($11 per dozen - rip off!). My wife did eat her chicken sandwich but she added that she was starving. Lunacy indeed. Umm....it's either buffet or barfood around here.... Second night. A little farther from the boardwalk is One Fish Two Fish. This restaurant is actually in a marina, thus giving you a nice water view. The interior is modern and airy - exuding a sense of fine dining. We started with some smoked salmon and smoked trout. The menu does't specify whether the fish is hot or cold smoked - and I was a little disappointed that it was hot smoked. Fortunately both the salmon and the trout were tasty, especially with the horseradish cream sauce. My Caesar salad was nothing special - lots of flavorless dressing. My fried calamari tasted of uncooked dough. My wife's Greek salad was a work of art - layers of tomato, cucumber, feta cheese and olive paste topped the greens. Her seared ahi tuna was also nicely done. This was much better than the night before.

That's gonna suck. We have lunch planned and reserved in a couple of weeks. I did manage to squeeze in a couple of great dinners there.

What models are you looking at? This sounds like a fabulous idea for home hot pot entertaining. We currently use portable gas burners.

Ah Mi Tuo Fo

FWIW, I don't mind a little sogginess and I definitely don't like a crunchy crust. My favorites are pizzas that aren't too soupy and not crispy.

I know nothing about this place. Only been there twice for brunch and we're definitely not insiders. Friendly staff though, they commented on the big eyes of our baby (but not the chubby cheeks).

Good brunch venue. It's a little farther away than A&J and Joe's (less than 10 minutes farther from McLean) but well worth the extra time. Had some soup dumplings, potstickers, and spicy wontons. The spicy wontons' sauce was really flavorless despite a heavy coating of red oil slick. The soup dumplings were good but not oozing with juice like Din Tai Fung's. They're also not as good as Joe's Shanghai in NYC (according to my bro who lives in NJ). We also tried their clear beef noodle soup and dan dan noodles. The place is known for their hand made noodles and both dishes were quite good. The beef noodle soup was particularly good, whether as a result of MSG or not, we're not so certain. The dan dan noodle is made with dry shredded pork, something we've never seen before (yet it's strangely tasty). The you tiao was crispy with no aftertaste.

Family's in town to visit and we went to China Star last night (Sat). The place was crowded but not packed at 7:30ish. We ordered the (i) cold spicy beef and tripe app, (ii) scallion fried fish, (iii) sauteed bok choy, (iv) chives stir fried with shredded chicken (the menu says these are leeks but they're not), and (v) a duck stew/hotpot (must be called the spicy emperor duck). Everyone enjoyed the scallion fried fish, which is very similar to the cumin fish served at HKP, except that HKP accompanies the fish with onions and spicy green chili peppers instead of scallions. The batter is a little thicker here as compared to HKP (we prefer thin vs. thick). The duck stew is surprisingly good - I don't think the entire duck is in there but we got some neck pieces and a kidney (or maybe it was a heart). The duck was brought out simmering on top of canned heat, it was flavorful but not all that spicy (despite its name, the menu). The other dishes were homestyle dishes that are tasty but don't require much talent. It's definitely worth visiting. Of the VA Sichuan restaurants, I'd rank them HKP, China Star, Tempt Asian (with no recent visit to Sichuan Village in Chantilly, which has a massive menu and a good reputation).

I'm a little annoyed when they call baked pizza bread "focaccia." Maybe they're technically correct, the menu even describes it as "homemade dough, pressed flat and baked with extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and fresh herbs." The cold cuts of prosciutto, soppressata, and salami were quite salty. The G'town Pizza (broccoli rabe, sausage, and basil) was quite soupy. Even the Diavola was soupy in the center. Despite this, they're pretty good pizza, but not as good as 2 Amys or Red Rocks. The pic is our leftover "focaccia." When I lived in G'town, the place was the Alamo, IIRC.

Where's the closest good Neopolitan Pizza to Tysons Corner as of today (i.e., Pupatella isn't open as of today)? Another question, what time does 2 Amys get packed? Don't want to wait for a table tonight...

The chicken liver was quite nice but the burnt toast kind of ruined this dish. The oysters crudo didn't do much for me, I couldn't taste the lemon emulsion so it tasted like I was just downing raw oysters with no accompaniment. What was good tonight was the squid ink pasta with crab meat. The crab meat was chunky and fresh, the pasta was firm, and the touch of spiciness made me wish I had double portions. (I almost didn't order this because the first time I had it the pasta was bland and overcooked).

I've seen DiNic's featured for this sandwich. I have no idea who invented it. I've only had it at DiNic's - it doesn't rock my world. Maybe I'll try the version at Tony Lukes. ETA: they pile on the broccoli rabe at DiNic's and my wife had to pick hers off.

I associate hot pots with winter - so I'm waiting...

I think we'll be eating every dinner around 5:30. What's good (presumably the yakitori)?

I've been to Katz's (back in the early 90s). I wouldn't say the lower east side was all that exciting back then and I was more interested in staying in shape and hitting the bars rather than fat tasting. What exactly is fat tasting?