Ericandblueboy

As a long term subscriber and reader of GQ, I find Alan Richman humorous and I think his points are as valid as anyone else's. Rather than debating something that is essentially subjective, what do you think of his assertion that there are 7 styles of pizza? What is NY pizza considered? What about the best of each style that can be found in the DC area? I don't think there are any stuffed pies in DC? I don't even know of any good pan pizza.

I've never had chop suey or egg foo young. Have you had it? Any good? Would you still eat it today?

I've seen a few people praise the smokey petal. When I tried it, the baby clams looked like they were out of a can. What I tasted in that dish was mostly dried bits of beef. I can see the clams but they were flavorless and overpowered. While it's a pretty presentation, which reminded me of clam taco salad, I was not at all impressed with that dish. I wonder if I went on an off day and should try this again.

Only 1 knuckle on the plate. Sure there were other small flaps of skin but most of the plate was filled with meat and greens. Nevertheless the pig knuckle stew has great flavor (very similar to Chinese braised ham hock), the skin very soft and gelatinous. I also tried the floating market noodle soup and the Chinese broccoli with pork rind. The Chinese broccoli has tons of garlic in there, and the sauce is quite sweet. When I had this dish at Nava Thai, I don't recall the sauce being sweet at all, in fact, I thought it was somewhat spicy. Given that I don't particularly like sweet food, I much prefer the Nava Thai version. The floating market noodle soup was pretty good even though the meatballs were store-bought. I don't know if this is as good as this restaurant gets. If it is, it is not anywhere near as good as my experience at Nava Thai. Should I try Bangkok 54 down the street? At least they have parking.

Damn....I wonder what's going to happen to that space?

$2 per sq. ft. for rent? No wonder they want to evict! I'm not sure what Tim Carman expects to get out of the landlord's attorney. Something called attorney-client privilege is probably going to make him not talk to Tim.

Are you implying the people here are just a bunch of fawning sycophants (I prefer to use the word "nuthuggers" but the usage of big words is highly encouraged here)?

Something is going in this space. They actually built a deck and I'm sure there are renovations going on inside as well. I would really welcome a good Korean restaurant.

Are you telling me that places like Subway don't sell eggrolls and wonton soup?

Took a friend from high school to Mark's today for dim sum. We arrived at 10:30 and there was already a line even though several larger tables remained empty. My friend commented it can't be very good because there weren't many Chinese in there. The food was in fact pretty good but not much variety.

Lima has very little to do with the capital of Peru, but that shouldn't shock anyone who has perused their website. Nevertheless, we kept comparing Lima to our meals in Lima. Here's the outcome: Ceviche sampler of traditional with slices of jalepeno, tuna in ginger dressing, and salmon in chipotle dressing. I call them dressing because the fish taste like they were simply mixed with some dressing rather than soaked and cooked by the sauce. The fish were cut into small 1 cm cubes. While not really ceviche, they taste pretty good. Empanadas with chimichurri sauce - simply not as good as the one we got at a street cart at Mi Tierra in Adams Morgan. The filling was heavy on sauce, which reminded us of barbeque (so my wifed liked it but I gave up on mine). The chimichurri was another aberration, served in a little plastic take-out container, it looks kind of creamy and tastes nothing like chimichurri. Chicken croquettes - chunks of dark meat, with a hint of blue cheese - fairly tasty. Salt cod fritters - salty fish and potato (nothing special here). Razor clams - I finally get a chance to try them and I was disappointed. These were cooked, chopped into small pieces, dressed in olive oil and lime juice, and then put back in their shells. They were tough and chewy and the dressing did little to make them appetizing. Lime breaded shrimp - 3 nicely fried shrimp but we don't know how the lime fits into the equation. Assorted spanish cold cuts and a side of manchego cheese - good. The city of Lima prides itself on using the freshest seafood. Lima the restaurant prides itself on attractive nightclub goers. We're more likely to return to the city than the restaurant.

Out of town that week....

Including bone or is this deboned? If you enjoy gnawing on pig knuckle (I do), the diner at the back of Great Wall does a tasty version (braised with star anise). This probably answers my question. The tasty part of the pig knuckle is the skin and fat, so I'll be trying this.

The fish taco I had today was pretty good - a nice chunk of fish seared crispy with lots of cilantro sauce. The chilaquiles, on the other hand, came in an incredibly sour green salsa (ulcer patients should probably avoid this dish).

Prices going up is a general trend. The Narrows is good but it might take too long.

They're packed generally, all you need is a few extra tables to pack them to the gills. If I were to celebrate Mother's Day, I wouldn't treat my mom to dim sum...that's just an ordinary Cantonese brunch. 10 course banquet is more like it.

My guess is the place will be mostly dead on Mother's Day. As Asians, we don't really celebrate Mother's Day.

Any place good to eat along the Boardwalk near Showboat/Taj Mahal?

Talk to DanielK (or Grover) about organizing it. If you organize it, I will come.

I saw Andrew Zimmern eat fugu on Bizarre Food. They showed the fugu being sliced razor thin for sashimi. Does the fish in the stew still numb your mouth?

Any idea what market price for blowfish might be in the U.S.? Fried or sauteed both sounds good to me.

Sashimi? How 'bout a fugu me Tuesday?

I think one can be interested in both, i.e., the food and self-promotion. In Don's case, he may be more interested in the food than he is in self-promotion but there are certainly benefits to being well known. I see Joe as equally about promoting the food and himself. He's not promoting himself in the sense of getting paid but being invited to exclusive events. I don't read Metrocurean but Amanda (is that her name?) there the blogger admits to trying to leverage that blog into something more in a commercial sense. These are just my personal observations....not based on actual knowledge of the principals involved.

I think you're right that most people that go to high end restaurants do drink wine but is that who the reviewer should gear the review toward? Many people who read restaurant reviews don't go to high end restaurants on a regular basis and yet they still read restaurant reviews.

I did not intend to slight anyone by my post so if anyone's feeling is hurt, I apologize. I'm just asking what are the essential requirements of a restaurant review? As a counterpoint, let's say a restaurant has a superb collection of wines but only so-so food and it receives a rave review largely based on its wines. How does that do justice to those who don't drink wine? Doesn't your point require a reviewer's subjective determination whether a restaurant has devoted effort to its wines?