Ericandblueboy

The menu had two versions of pork wonton, with hot sauce or with hot and sour sauce. We tried the hot and sour version, but it didn't taste much different from the normal version with hot sauce at other restaurants. In any case, they're pretty good (but not better than HKP or Peking Village, the two restaurants I frequent most often due to their proximity). Also two versions of spicy bean jelly salad, one is translated as happy, the other is translated as sad. We got the sad version, which is supposed to be the hotter of the two. It didn't taste very spicy but it still knotted up my stomach this morning. I'm not sure if that's better or worse than burning my mouth and screwing up the poop chute. We also ordered the Sichuan sausage. I don't eat Chinese sausage because they're fatty and sweet but others liked them. The fish we got was called Whole Fish and Bean Jelly in Hot Sichuan sauce (the lunch version doesn't have bean jelly). I'm not a fan of bean jelly in any form (don't like jello's texture and general lack of flavor). The star of this dish is really the sauce (garlic, fermented beans and hot peppers), which shouldn't just be doused over the fish but should infuse the fish with flavor. I wish they had a bigger fish since the $15 tilapia wasn't really enough to serve a table of 7. The eggplant was battered and deep fried. The batter is the type generally used in Cantonese restaurants to fry oysters, which are then served with a side dish of salt and pepper. The beef is called Sliced Beef and Vegetables in Fiery Soup. The beef was super soft but not flavorful (probably as a result of too much corn starching). Incidentally, the napa cabbage did a much better job of conveying the sauce. It's a popular dish but better versions could be had at Peking Village, Jasmine Garden, HKP (to name a few, I haven't been to Joe's) - also offered as a fish or pork dish.

We're going to Warrenton this Saturday to attend an afternoon wedding. The goal is to arrive early, grab lunch, drop the wife and dogs off at the hotel and then squeeze in 9 holes of golf. So looking for excellent lunch. Anyone been to El Agave? Is it a good Mexican restaurant? Iron Bridge?

The pastrami kampachi served with dijon ice cream was terrific, an interesting version of sashimi. The braised wagyu short ribs and foie gras terrine were good. The heirloom tomatos salad was really a course on a tasting menu? The frozen yogurt had no flavor. The worst dish was the poached lobster, which we substituted for halibut for a $6 upcharge. While the lobster claw was perfectly cooked, the lobster tail was really under cooked and had a tough/chewy/gristly consistency - all three of us (me, wife, MIL) had the same experience.

I know there's a liquor store next to Bob's Noodle 66! I think I'll get myself a tall boy in a paper bag.

What!!! Are we allowed to bring our own?

Oriental Bay International Hotel in Beijing Titan Times in Xian Courtyard by Marriott Xujiahui in Shanghai

Ok, I'm going for the "Whole Fish in Sichuan Hot Sauce." It's on their lunch special menu (#20) but they can't possibly give you a whole fish for $6.95. Strangely it's not on their normal menu. This is a dish that I think will test their seafood skills. When done properly, it's very flavorful as it's braised with fermented beans with a little spiciness to it - if done improperly, the fish will be fishy and not much else. Another interesting dish would be the baby bok choy with preserved egg on top (#16 under vegetables). This will be fun!

Ok, I'm going for the "Whole Fish in Sichuan Hot Sauce." It's on their lunch special menu (#20) but they can't possibly give you a whole fish for $6.95. Strangely it's not on their normal menu. This is a dish that I think will test their seafood skills. When done properly, it's very flavorful as it's braised with fermented beans with a little spiciness to it - if done improperly, the fish will be fishy and not much else. Another interesting dish would be the baby bok choy with preserved egg on top (#16 under vegetables). This will be fun!

Many fish dishes can use any number of fish so Chinese restaurants don't specify the type of fish. I wouldn't say it's necessarily tilapia when it's not specified. The chinese names don't specify the fish either.

I posted something similar on Chowhound last night, LOL. Dean will probably make Sichuan Pavilion dinner next week into a butt burner now.

Finally made it! First timne for saltena and arepa. The saltena is basically an empanada, in this case filled with egg white, olives, and stewed beef. Lots of juices poured out after cutting it open. It's good with a hint of sweetness. I had JP's favorite arepa. The bread itself is fine but the sliced beef sandwich meat wasn't particularly flavorful. Based on prior reports, prices have gone up. It's now $4.99 for a saltena. Service is English friendly.

I'm in (assuming we're not eating earlier than 7).

How's the parking situation?

I've never even seen razor clams on a Chinese menu so I was a little disappointed that they were out. On the other hand, I belive conch with yellow chives is a cantonese dish that I've seen (I'm not crazy about conch but yellow chives are delicious).

New Big Wong may be the best in DC but it is far from consistent. The jelly fish was an atrocity - limp and watery. The pea shoots were fine but that's a simple dish that most other restaurants can handle as well. The clams in black bean sauce were nice, mostly due to the freshness and plumpness of the clams themselves. They were out of live shrimp. We did have a unique dungeness crab dish - with tempura-like batter flavored with some hot pepper flakes - good (not not as good as the crab masala we had recently). We also ordered the house special fried rice and kingdom pork chop at Steve Hitchcock's request. He can impart his impressions on those dishes if he wants to (I did not touch the kingdom pork chops). Some observations about the restaurant itself. It's a relatively small space and pretty crowded on a Saturday evening, which made the place really noisy. I think the diners are about half Asian, half non-Asian, and the Asians look to be tourists. No one else in the restaurant was drinking anything resembling alcoholic beverages but they do have beer. Our Tsing Taos were pre-poured and served in glasses. Live seafood included dungeness crabs, lobsters, and the ugly fish Dean had. The menu now has lots of Chinese dishes - so the list on the wall is much shorter (maybe 10 or so dishes) - and the menu is translated.

My favorite Persian restaurant is Rose Cafe in Vienna, no booze though. Maplewood Grill is a decent place with a varied menu. I'm not too impressed in general though with Vienna. You can go to Monterrey Bay in Tysons for good seafood.

By that you mean scallion pancakes with egg? I love those too!

Going on a tour that covers Beijing, Xian and Shanghai. I've never been to China and could use a nice guidebook that has good restaurant coverage as well as food market coverage. Any suggestions? Most of our meals are actually included in our package but I don't want to eat breakfast buffet for 8 straight days at our hotels and I have no idea where the tour is taking us for dinner. I need a backup plan!

She's the executive chef there.

Tennille also can't do scallops yet she's still working at Sweet Water on Rt. 50. And Andy looks like chump - how do you work slower than Lovely?

I'm interested but I have a hard time getting anywhere outside of Tysons prior to 7:30.

So Obama's really a redneck?

The Roost is expanding to DC, according to their website. I was hoping that garlic crab is more popular and a better version can be found than the ones served at Mo's. I have no interest in visiting Mo's.

Chaps Pit Beef Garlic Crabs Lake Trout Read some rather negative feedback from Baltimoreans but I think I'm more attracted by those 3 restaurants/items than Charleston. Would like your view of the 3 featured restaurants/items, and an indication of interest in perhaps duplicating the feat.

AC is a cesspool, the Boardwalk especially so. We stayed at the Showboat and walked as far south as Caesar's Palace - nothing but fast food and souvenir shops. It wouldn't be so bad if the population on the Boardwalk wasn't mostly hideous and deranged. We popped into Bally's for a few hands of Black Jack and a couple of free drinks. Beers were still served in plastic cups with no selection at Bally's. Fortunately Showboat upgraded to bottle beers although they wouldn't tell me exactly what kind of beers they have. Even more fortunatley, I won a little over $1k during our less than 24 hrs stay in AC. As for the food, everything was forgettable, even White House Sub. The Special was huge but truly nothing special (our sandwich was stuffed with the core of an iceberg lettuce), other than its size? I prefer Al Casapulla's (in Bethany Beach) to White House. We also tried their cheesesteak - it's a bargain (loads of steak, onions, and cheese) compared to the shops in Philly but I still prefer Jim's on South St. As for dinner, we went to Il Mulino in Taj Mahal. Everything was oily and garlicky. I woke up in the middle of the night due to paper-thin walls and noisy neighbors, and all I can taste is the garlic in the my mouth. The gnocchi special was fine, the spaghetti alle vongole was terrible (no salt, no clams, no wine, just garlic), the jumbo prawns, however, were terrifically tender (sauteed with garlic). The worst food offender was the brunch buffet at Showboat, which was expensive ($23 per person) and terrible. They can't even make decent sausage gravy. We're not going back to AC - evah!!!