Ericandblueboy

Is this a good place as warm-up for our impending trip to Venice? We're gonna hit Dino this weekend. Maybe we can do Spezie the following weekend.

We spent a week at Solana Beach, between Carlsbad and San Diego.

Two reasonably priced restaurants (dinner, tip and drinks for 2 < $200) that we really enjoyed were (i) Blanca, and (ii) Mille Fleurs. Blanca is located in a strip mall on Hwy 101 in Solana Beach. Mille Fleurs is in Ranch Santa Fe (just east of Solana Beach). Both restaurants are nicely decorated inside, with good service. The food quality is on par with Vermillion.

After eating airport food all day yesterday, I was ready to chow down today. The plan was to go to Canton Cafe, order a couple of dim sum dishes off the menu, get a plate of stir-fried veggies and maybe a meat dish. The plan didn't work because Canton Cafe had dim sum carts (3 to be exact, 2 steamed and 1 not).

The first cart that came by had: (1) pork spareribs, (2) beef spareribs, (3) pork shu mai, (4) shrimp shu mai, (5) har gow (shrimp dumpling), (6) tripe, (7) steamed chives dumpling, (8) bean curd wrapped roll, (9) shark fin dumpling, (10) sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves stuffed with chicken, sausage, etc., and (11) chicken feet. There may be more stuff on that cart.

I never saw the content of the second steamed cart probably because I had already ordered 4 items off the first cart, and they brought me a plate of pan fried turnip cakes.

On the non-heated cart were various desserts (I didn't pay much attention), and flakey taro dumpling.

Of the items I ordered, the pork shu mai was too dense and meaty. I expected the same with the shark fin dumpling but it was much lighter. The turnip cakes were wonderful, as were the chicken feet (they're the best I've had recently, with lots of black beans, garlic, pepper, etc.). The sticky rice was good too. The seasoning in every dish was how I would expect them. Generally there is no need to use soy sauce.

I arrived shortly after 11. There was another Chinese family there and shortly before I left, another Chinese family arrived. This place can be an alternative to schlepping to MD (although it's a schlep for me from Tysons) but they need to have more dim sum customers first. Presumably with more people, they will have more variety.

After eating airport food all day yesterday, I was ready to chow down today. The plan was to go to Canton Cafe, order a couple of dim dishes off the menu, get a plate of stir-fried veggies and maybe a meat dish. The plan didn't work because Canton Cafe had dim sum carts (3 to be exact, 2 steamed and 1 not).

The first cart that came by had: (1) pork spareribs, (2) beef spareribs, (3) pork shu mai, (4) shrimp shu mai, (5) har gow (shrimp dumpling), (6) tripe, (7) steamed chives dumpling, (8) bean curd wrapped roll, (9) shark fin dumpling, (10) sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves stuffed with chicken, sausage, etc., and (11) chicken feet. There may be more stuff on that cart.

I never saw the content of the second steamed cart probably becuase I had already ordered 4 items off the first cart, and they brought me a plate of pan fried turnip cakes.

On the non-heated cart were various desserts (I didn't pay much attention), and flakey taro dumpling.

Of the items I ordered, the pork shu mai was too dense and meaty. I expected the same with the shark fin dumpling but it was much lighter. The turnip cakes were wonderful, as were the chicken feet (they're the best I've had recently, with lots of black beans, garlic, pepper, etc.). The sticky rice was good too. The seasoning in every dish was how I would expect them. Generally there is no need to use soy sauce.

I arrived shortly after 11. There was another Chinese family there and shortly before I left, another Chinese family arrived. This place can be an alternative to schlepping to MD (although it's a schlep for me from Tysons) but they need to have more dim sum customers first. Presumably with more people, they will have more variety.

What should we order in Venice?

My wife would taste seafood but she's not going to order a branzino or a sea bream by herself. She basically only eats shrimp and scallops as far as seafood goes. What's a non-seafood person to order for primi, secondi?

What are some things I should try in Venice (I'll eat anything)? I love linguine alla vongole?

We might have to go to Dino and take a lesson on what to order in Venice.

It's now Ocean M.

do they do dim sum by cart or order off a menu?

how does the place stack up against its competition?

How does this work at an Asian restaurant? Do we have individual portion of many dishes (i.e., a tasting menu) or is this done family style?

The menu looks like this place should be heading for a Kitchen Nightmare revamp!! They serve everything!!

One thing we learned while traveling in Morocco - do not order pasta. All the pasta dishes have very heavy olive flavor.

I'm sure it's not just the restauranteurs who are guilty of this. A little story for the unwary busines owners. Often employment taxes are withheld from paychecks but not paid over to the IRS. The funds are instead used to fund the operation of the business. Despite the business itself having limited liability, the tax code makes the person responsible for withholding personally liable for employment taxes.

I rather eat at McDonald's, at least they don't pretend to serve good food.

During the week I tried to make a reservation on their website for 7 tonight but it was never confirmed. Luckily we got hungry early so we went at 6:30. The place was already 3/4 full. By 7, it was packed and a few people had to wait for table.

We ordered 6 mezzes:

M'saka'a (lightly fried and baked baby eggplant cooked with fresh garlic, onions, tomatoes, chick peas and spices) - a very tasty dish. I'm not a fan of mushy food and I'm glad the eggplant held its texture here.

Sayadieh (grilled fish filet) - a little smoky but very tender fish, deliciously seasoned. This is the best dish of the night.

Samak Bezre (fried smelts) - a little on the small side (much smaller than I recall) but they're crispy and almost as good as I remembered them to be.

Arayess Lebnan (bread baked with a filling of ground beef) - tasty gut filler.

Shawerma - nice and tender but nothing special.

Maacarona Bacchus - overcooked pasta in supergarlicky tomato sauce....don't bother.

Other things I wanted to try were chicken livers and frog legs. It's nice to see a menu that's somewhat unique. Just takes a little trial and error to find out what's good and what's not.

Sounds like it's only real competition should be L'auberge chez Francois, which is prix fixe at around $75. Would Passion Fish be able to pull away lovers of old world food and charm?

After many years, the Hong Kong Style Whole Crispy Fried Striped Bass ($28) with Asian cucumber salad and garlic-soy dipping sauce is coming off the menu next week. I'm told this is Jeff Tunks's recipe, and I remember having this dish the last time I was here - I liked it then, and I liked it just as much last night. It's a beautiful, timeless presentation that I will miss. Yes, the fish can be a little dry on its own, but that's why it's sitting on a pool of broth (along with the ramekin of dipping sauce). I'd love to see this served with a small bowl of plain, short-grain white rice, but it's a moot point since it's coming off the menu. However, I hear that Cliff Wharton is serving a similar presentation with flounder down at Ten Penh.

Every time I've tried a whole fried fish at one of these fusion restaurants (so far, Ten Penh, DC Coast and the Source), it sucked cause the fish itself is dry and has no flavor. In a chinese joint, the sauce would've poured over the fish itself so that it wouldn't be dry. The secret of course is the sauce itself. When I was at the Source, I saw a table of 6 order two of these. Neither of them were able to finish the fish. I didn't finish mine either. Whole fish should be served family style. That's just my perspective.

I e-mailed the restaurant and they said you don't need a party of 6 to book the chef's table. Hmm.....I'm sure my wife will go, it's just a matter of whether I want to drop $300+ on dinner.

If you order a burger, you get an oily glop of ground meat. If you order chow-fun or lo-mein, you get an oily noodle dish. I liken it to many people praising Palena as a great Italian restaurant after eating its burger and chicken.

I typically order the beef chow fun and lo meins of varying sorts. I've found them to be pretty good and not drenched in oil like other places in Chinatown (Chinatown Express comes to mind). I also like their dumplings and their egg drop soup is pretty good. My wife likes the congee quite a bit if that is your thing.

Those aren't exactly the food I would order to judge a restaurant. That's the equivalent of eating at a Chinese McDonald's.

I ate at Ford's just under a year ago, and I was underwhelmed. And since then, I've eaten several times at the place directly next door--Tender Greens--which has fresh, inexpensive salads/grilled meat/eat outside, very Southern California. The crowds next door at Ford's are very loud and young. Much better food can be had nearby at Beacon [Closed Jan 16, 2011], which is Asian fusion (no sushi). The owner-chef spent 20 years running the kitchen at Chinois, Wolfgang Puck's place in Ocean Park.

Thanks, I'll keep that place in mind. My brother says we're not eating anything but Chinese in L.A., and he picked Din Tai Fung for lunch.

Spending Thanksgiving week near San Diego but we're flying in to LAX on Sat 11/22. Will have lunch in LA before driving down to Solano Beach. Saw something about Ford's Filling Station [New arrangement as of 2014] on Bizarre Food, which looks right up my alley. Anyone's been? Anything else near LAX that we should try? My wfie's not into sushi.

Going to Bacchus (in Bethesda) for dinner this coming Saturday night. I remember having the best fried smelt at this restaurant years ago. If anyone wants to join us, let us know. If anyone has anything to recommend, let us know. What about the other shrimp, fish, scallop dishes?

really good event. HEOTB is a solid place and there really wasn't a bad dish. Would definitely go again. Was very happy to find another person who ate chicken feet (they were good).

Soup

I went to Woo Lae Oak on my own for lunch on Monday cause my office is a block down the street. Based on a Korean colleague's recommendation, I ordered Yukgae Jang. This is actually something I've had before at Songbird (they do this soup as part of their buffet) but I didn't know the name. Woo Lae Oak's version actually sucked in comparison. The meat was tough and stringy, the soup not spicy enough. I also ordered shrimp/veggie tempura as an appetizer. It came out cold, the batter too thick. This is why I need a $X/(Y day of the week) Korean feast!!! Even the panchans sucked at Woo Lae Oak (maybe not ventworm nuts but damn close).

As for dim sum, I'd love to try different venues and I'm just as happy with northern Chinese brunch as Cantonese dim sum (I just don't know which restaurant serves which).

We had one fantastic meal in Marrakesh, Morocco. We arrived early, were served drinks. We didn't know there is only one sitting a night so we waited and waited. Finally everyone arrived and we were escorted to the beautiful dining room. We stuffed ourselves silly and we didn't even stay for the belly dancing, which probably didn't start until midnight. I haven't had Moroccan in DC....pretty sure nothing is going to measure up to the meal we had in Marrakesh....so is it even worth trying?

Didn't this place actually belly up?

Wife and I went there for dinner on Friday night. The place was packed and we actually had to wait a little while before being seated. Right away they bring out warm bread, yogurt, and that spicy green sauce (what's it called?). The bread is better than the cold bread they serve at Shamshiry and I like the softer texture of Rose's over Moby Dick's. The yogurt and green sauce are both fantastic. We also ordered hummus as appetizer which they forgot to bring out. Whem reminded, they brought out the hummus and comped it. My wife's entree was a combo platter of chicken and kubideh. How they get the chicken so tender and juicy is beyond me. The rice is almost as good as Shamshiry's. Unfortunately they ran out of Gheymeh (beef stew) so I tried the lamb shank. The lamb was served with the dill and fava beans rice. I've had this rice at Shamshiry and now at Rose, I'm not a big fan. I also think the lamb shank lacked flavor. I've never had lamb shank at another Persian restaurant so I don't really have a basis for comparison.