Ericandblueboy

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!!!

I thought the sushi fad is over, so why all these new joints serving rolls? I guess if it's fusion, it's okay?

According to my wife's Branch Manager whose son works at Sweetwater, Tennille works at Sweetwater. She said last night that she's never worked with whole shrimps before (that's why she can't devein them). I guess the fried shrimp at Sweetwater came pre-cleaned?

Tried two dishes today. 1. Fragrant River Vermicelli (Bun rieu), described as gumbo with crab paste and shrimp. I love this noodle soup (even though it's the first time I've had it) but it's not thick and it has some rather mysterious seafood paste (could be crab, could be fish, could be shrimp), fried tofu, blood cubes, and lots of tomatos. Not spicy but very flavorful. 2. Mushroom in the Field, described as stir fried mushrooms, okra and chicken intestines but the version I got was more like Roosting in Cauliflower Basket because my plate of stir-fry had heart, liver and gizzard but it's served with green peppers, mushrooms, some kind of squash and some kind of eggplant. The gizzards were crunchy - thus perfectly cooked. If you grew up eating this kind of stuff, you'll love this dish. Description of bun rieu and photo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%BAn_ri%C3%AAu

Well, I sit behind a desk all day and I love watching this mindless drivel. Maybe I'm a bit disturbed.

I don't have much interest in traditional steakhouses and I think BLT fits in that genre. In contrast, despite it's name, Bourbon Steak isn't just a steakhouse. There are lots of stuff on the menu. We did order a filet last time which was really good (in recent experience, Ray's and Hook also has filet that are just as good). Another possibility is Charlie Palmer but I think Bourbon Steak is better than CP.

A new season of berating! Robert is back!

I guess it doesn't hurt to try to call ahead? Does anyone else know if this still gets you the food faster? My wife gets really cranky when she's hungry.

How does thr grilled romaine look and taste? Also, the website mentions the suckling pig is for 2, do they also do it just for one?

Other than the Special, any other sub worth trying? I think we're going to split a half of a Special and try something else too.

My wife was reluctant to go to Passage to India last night. She tried to make a deal wit me, if she didn't have to go to Passage to India, then I wouldn't have to go to her company's picnic. I didn't make the deal and we were both glad. I went to her picnic where the food sucked but they had free beer. She got to try Sudhir's crab masala and crab gassi mangalorean. I knew I had to do all the dirty work so we chose to go with dungeness crabs, and we asked the chef to put a little kick into the crab masala. Unfortunately we didn't take photos but we (me, wife, Sthitch and his wife) all agreed the crab masala is awesome, as good as any crab dish I've ever had. The crab gassi was good but the sauce was more mundane - nevertheless, we ate nearly 5 pounds of dungeness crabs. The crabs were cracked but there's still some work left (you will get messy) but it was well worth the effort. We also ordered saag gosht (spinach & goat)and a tandoori grilled meat platter (we did not order the sides that were served at the crab feast). I really must thank Sudhir for accomodating our request, we'll be back!

Washingtonian has a menu. http://www.washingtonian.com/blogarticles/Food%20&%20Dining/bestbites/12597.html

I'm pretty sure we tried the butter poached lobster at Adour and it was good but since we're going to the Oval Room next month anyway with my MIL, we might try it there as well. Question regarding their preparation with young coconut, cassia, pearls of peach and wasabi - what is the dominant flavor? Is it sweet? fruity like coconut? fruity like peach?

Sounds like a great idea.

Menu reads like upscale Cheesecake Factory (lots of choices and all over the map)...we got a coupon for the Tysons branch, probably will use it and see what Chef Geoff is all about. It's been awhile since I've been to Hermes (still can't afford anything in there though).

We're staying at Showboat. My wife can't walk very far because she's still recovering from torn ACL surgery. I don't want to pay for parking (why am I being cheap, I don't know). My wife loves Italian, especially pasta arrabiata or bolognese. So I booked a table at Il Mulino. I wasn't too impressed with it in Vegas but I thought I'd give it another shot. Talk me out of it?

Any local restaurant that does Korean lobster?

A generally good episode on Chile. Pork sandwich with guacamole, blood sausage, pork wrapped in skin, cow foot soup, footlong dog slathered with mayo and guacamole, fried eel, razor clam, beef ribs....all so tasty!