Ericandblueboy

Could someone just post the top 20 so I don't have to go to Washingtonian.com every day! I'm thinking about going to my dentist's office to steal their copy.

Doesn't sound like his guest is practicing any sort of religion so I say screw him.

Those are just pictures, not actual product served by North China. I've only had oyster pancakes at Bob's Noodle Bistro in Rockville, which were pretty good.

Portillo's serves delicious hot dogs and they serve big frosty mugs of beer like this:

Was there a Chinese menu or did your friend simply consult with the waitress for a customized meal?

The party guest cannot be kosher. I know plenty of people who follow the dietary rules somewhat. As for feeding the guest pork without his knowledge....that's just no respect.

Spur of the moment thing. Just be glad it was short notice and you didn't go.

Much busier today but the dim sum was not better. The selection was pretty good, but I only ordered a few of my favorites: chicken feet, spare ribs, tripe, and steamed chives dumpling (all tasted dry, like they were oversteamed). I also ordered a plate of pan-fried noodles topped with beef and Chinese broccoli (a big tasty plate for $12). I'm lukewarm about this restaurant but there aren't that many good Cantonese joints in VA right now

I ODed on meat by-products last night at Commonwealth. It was a combination of more food than expected and the extraordinary richness of the food. I started with potted pork and a butcher plate of deviled sweetbread, stuffed trotters and head cheese. Those were followed by roasted marrow and steak and oyter pie. My wife wisely ordered only fish and chips. The potted pork reminded me of Underwood deviled ham. They were always on the shelf next to the canned tuna. The little devil would say "eat me" everytime I walked by until one day I bought a can, and it was good, for canned meat spread. The deviled sweetbread was also good, nice flavor, seared lightly and very tender. Most delicious was the stuffed trotters. A thin layer of pork skin wrapped around a smorgasboard of pork by-products. In comparison, the head cheese was just bland. The roasted marrow came in 4 pieces. Since my wife wasn't partaking, I attempted to eat the whole thing by myself and failed miserably. That also meant I barely touched my steak and oyster pie. It was a huge plate of stewed beef, 4 huge oysters, topped with a puff pastry crust. I managed to slurp down the 4 oysters but I left the stewed beef alone (tough and bland). I had to try a few bites of the fish and chips. We couldn't help but compare them to Eamonn's, which we tried last week. We agreed that Eamonn's tartar sauce was much better. My wife does not eat fish, but thanks to Eamonn's, now she's willing to eat fish as long as it's battered and fried. And the fish at Commonwealth also met her approval. I'm not hurrying to go back because I'm afraid I'll OD again.

I want to go back to Canton Cafe to see if it's worthy of a full blown dim sum Sunday. If anyone wants to join me around 11:30 a.m. on Superbowl Sunday, post here or shoot me an IM.

I think Miu Kee did the cod a little better on the tenderness front on my last visit there. It could've been the particularly fish, the timing, etc. The fish last night was very flavorful.

Thank you Stephen for doing the legwork. 15 dishes in any one evening is stupendous. These are my takes on the food: tangy spicy wonton - not necessarily a starter to a big meal, wontons can be a meal in itself preserved pork - cured pork with plenty of fat, stir-fried (not for weight watchers) beef & beef tendon with szechuan spicy sauce - tripe and beef with tendon, marinated in hot sauce and served cold fried dry fish with peanut - tiny little fish, about an inch long each, fried crispy without batter, you can taste the fish but it's not overwhelming spicy oil-touched chicken - skin and bone, tender, but not very spicy or flavorful. steamed cod fish with ginger & green onion - nicely done, not fishy, this recipe goes with many types of fish, many times with whole fish chicken with hot garlic sauce - didn't try beef with vegetable in peppery broth - (water cooked beef in Chinese), beef stewed with napa cabbage in a spicy star anise broth, also available as a delicious fish dish (I've had it a Jasmine Gardne and Peking Village) chengdu smoking tea duck - duck with skin and bone (poultry is always well done in Chinese cooking) ma po tofu - a good version, definitely try it if you like tofu spicy sichuan ribs - I've never had this before, a little overcooked and not much flavor to me pan fried celery & wooden ear mushroom - I like veggies but I've never had this combination....lightly stir-fried cumin lamb - intro to Sichuan cuisine, you gotta try it, then try the cumin fish at HKP stir-fried sliced pork with chili pepper - this is chinese comfort food, nothing fancy, just tender pork stir fried with spicy pepper, the spiciness makes you eat rice and get filled up (that's what yo mama wants you to do) garlic flavor fried flounder - nice batter and great frying, could use a little more pepper in the batter....serve this with fries and and they can serve this in the UK (you can say I'm comparing apples to oranges but how many people have had English fish and chips but never had Chinese filet o' fish?)

This place is gone. Joe's Burgers has moved into its fomer space. The old Joe's Burgers space is not Joe's Gyros.

No +1 for me. She's working the closing shift at her bank and won't get out until after 7. More food for the rest of us

I just ordered this book. I'm assuming it's because these families can't really cook very well and hence they move to places with little or no competition.

What makes their mussels special? Is it their relatively unique broths? Or do they somehow cook their mussels better than other restaurants? For example, is their mussels marinere better than Beck, Cafe du Parc, or Westend Bistro's?

If you really want to try Baci, Restaurant.com, has various certficates (e.g., $50 for $20).

Went looking for the Commonwealth certificate but it's not there right now (dang it, since we're going on Sat. night). Instead, they're featuring Sequoia (really?).

Another cantonese speaker eh?

Are meatballs usually made in-house or just purchased frozen at most pho places? I always thought they just buy them from the grocery store (but since I don't order meatballs, I have no clue).

Try Canton Cafe in Springfield. I've only been once and I enjoyed it. If more people recommend it, we might be able to do a dim sum Sunday in NOVA.

I told my wife only Chinese people get red envelopes. She already took all of our winnings in Vegas so I don't feel so bad that she's not getting sh!t next week.

You want a whole monkey or just specific parts? I hear monkey butts are a delicacy.

My wife loved it. I got over the gimmick fairly quickly. At first the fish makes this tingling sensation but after a short while, you're more or less desensitized. Fish & normal pedicure is $45, fish and spa pedicure is $70. We asked for the normal pedicure and got the spa pedicure, which is 20 minutes + with the fish, 2 exfoliant scrubs, 1 mud cover, and then lotion. We got there at 11 and didn't get out until about 12:30. You get your money's worth. They're very friendly (almost too much so).