Ericandblueboy

Thanks, that gives me a good idea of the portion size. It just sounds like so much food....

Did you manage to eat all that food or were there leftovers?

D'Acqua wasn't particularly good with the fry platter of calamari, zucchini and eggplant. The seasoning was fine but the frying was oily and limp. The sea urchin was listed at $94 a pound but fortunately the sea urchin pasta only cost $24 (I was sweating bullets for a little while). The rockfish was listed at $99/lb and even the tilapia was $34/lb (pretty expensive!). The urchin pasta turned out well but after having it twice (I liked it better than Corduroy's, only because there's no distracting seaweed), I'm ready to take a break. Next time I go to Le Bernadin, I'll have to try Ripert's version with caviar. My wife enjoyed her shrimp & prosciutto and her fettucine bolognese. Very good meal with very good service, but with the $10 valet parking, this place is more expensive overall than its competitors.

The Floating Market Noodle Soup came out very hot today and very salty (they did not ask how spicy I wanted it). I thought the meatballs tasted delicious, although they were similar to the ones found at Pho joints even though I think they're made in-house. The pork rinds were also good, after being softened by the broth. I didn't finish the noodle or the soup because it was extremely hot and salty. I was sweating, my nose was running, and I was choking. I also had two more dishes, although they didn't show up until I finished picking through my noodle soup. I ordered the crispy pork with chinese broccoli and tilapia in chili sauce. The pork was fried so the skin turned into pork rind, which adds a nice crunch but I think the meat itself was a little overcooked. The fish was fantastic, lighted battered and then cooked in a fairly spicy chili sauce with a hint of sweetness. I use think I didn't care for Thai food but Nava Thai definitely gave me a new outlook.

Well, fluck me then, maybe I'll go to Sushi Sono with my not so trustworthy sidekick miniature husky.

Tomorrow's off. I'll go Sunday at 12:45 if Daniel is up for it.

Anyone? anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

My preference is 11 or 11:15 a.m. Sat morning. We're sure to get a table then and we can eat leisurely. Who else is in?

The time is nigh! Let's hash out a plan lest my stomach be bereft of dim sum this weekend.

I'm flexible. I can eat later on Sunday or go on Saturday (but it has to be on the early side on Saturday, because we're going to D'Acqua at 6 p.m. Gotta give my stomach time to digest the dim sum).

I like mixing it up, so how about New Fortune (in Gaithersburg right)? The place is so big you don't need reservation on weekend. 11:30ish?

I'm interested in brunch this Sunday. You got any suggestions? I've never been to Nava Thai. I could go to North China or Joe's Noodle. I can even go eat some Korean porridge!! Of course I have no problem eating some chicken feet either. When and where?

We were married in San Juan last year and we thought the bio-bay is really cool. We did a combo tour of El Yunque & bio-bay in the same day.

I guess Vidalia is definitely not a top 3 restaurant in DC then.

Saw this on their website. Sounds really cheap for a 4 course meal. Restaurant Week was 3 courses for $35. I'm actually kind of scared to go there now on Sat.

I'll be happy to tag along.

Had an interesting brunch here today. I started with a combination rice cake platter (S.4 Bánh Huê Dac Biet) which consisted of the following: Bánh Bèo - Steamed thin-rice-cakes with shredded shrimp (bland and boring, the shredded shrimp didn't add much flavor) Bánh Ít Ram - Steamed-flour cakes stuffed with shrimp on crunchy rice cakes (this tasted good but the crunchy rice cake was deep fried in not so fresh oil). Bánh Uot thit Nuong - Grilled pork, mint, lettuce & bean sprout wrapped in steamed rice-flour-sheet (really tasty grilled pork). Shrimp patty - fairly tasty shrimp paste The platter comes with (i) fish sauce like the ones served with Vietnamese spring rolls, (ii) a different fish sauce with chili peppers that's not sweet, (iii) a purplish peanut sauce with a hint of sugar, (iv) a container of hot sauce (much hotter than Sriracha), and (v) a container of purplish gray crab or shrimp paste. The crab/shrimp paste is definitely an acquired taste. Very very salty and fishy. I didn't much like the peanut sauce either. I ended up dipping my rice cakes mostly in the chili that's already on the table. I like rice noodles but not the concept of it being the main feature. (I also don't go nuts over congee). I followed that with a bowl of Bún Bò Huê - beef noodle soup with round rice noodle (it's thick and round, almost like udon) with sliced beef shank and pork patty. The soup is flavored quite differently from pho, wth lots of herbs that tastes slightly medicinal to me. I was not a fan of the soup and didn't care for the noodles either. If you never try central Vietnam cooking, I don't think you're really missing out much.

TC Casey's Take On Finale and Carla: http://sidedish.dmagazine.com/2009/02/26/c...about-top-chef/ P.S. I can't get the link to work. I copied the above from CH.

I suspect they will do more seafood similar in style to Cantonese cooking but with a Vietnamese twist. At that price range, they have to serve lobster, crab, fish, jumbo prawns, clams, etc. I'm interested in what menu they end up proposing.

So the youtiao at Great Wall is better? I usually end up getting pig knuckles at Great Wall. They're really delicious. So there's no reason whatsoever for me to ever go to Oriental Gourmet given that I live out by Tysons and I can get to Great Wall/Peking Village fairly quickly.

Now I'm curious as to the identities of Ray's hit squad.

That's what I thought. Stefan should've kicked Hosea's ass at that point. And then Hosea had the gall to say he grabbed them first.

Hosea got very lucky. Richard Blaise was the only sous chef who seemed genuinely interested in winning and he's by far the most talented among the 3. Hosea also got to pick his protein for the hors d'oeuvres. Did Stefan set aside some foie gras which Hosea subsequently took away?

Carla fails on a consistent basis. She can't get things done on time. She can't overcome obstacles. I can't imagine hiring her and having to rely on her to do anything. Over the course of the competition, she's had some highs but overall, not top chef material. Hosea is consistent but I really have no interest in eating his food though. Stefan - did he overlook Hosea again?! Why do that dessert if it isn't anything special? I enjoy watching Top Chef in general. My only question is, how well would they do if they open a restaurant in DC? Would the best contestant in the history of the show be in the top 20 in DC? I'm pretty sure no one from this season would but I have alot of respect for Richard Blaise and Hung.

The Imperial Autumn Roll is just cha gio wrapped with some rice made latticework. The cha gio itself is delicious, as good as any I've had. The rice thread adds more crunch but not more flavor. I'd just as soon order the cha gio on my next trip. Did anyone see scallops in the seafood salad? I saw the shrimp and calamari but didn't see any scallops. The shrimp and fish were the highlights - very similar to Chinese/Cantonese in style and very well executed. The fish was served with a ginger fish sauce, which made it uniquely Vietnamese. The fish was $40 but it easily served 7 of us (they have different sized fish). I don't think Daniel's pictures did justice to the food (taken from a Blackberry I believe). I believe there will be better pictures that's more representative of moo moo frolicking in the meadow, young prawns mating, rockfish jumping out of the frying pan, etc.