Ericandblueboy

Article from Washingtonian about how Nara-Ya came to be. Steve chose this restaurant. I didn't object because I haven't heard much about this joint at all. This place is on the third floor above La Vie & Mi Vida with a nice view of the water. The dining room is very pretty, but you can't eat the view. We started with uni butter that came with very few rice crackers for $15. There was no uni flavor and I had no great desire to eat plain butter with rice crackers. We also had a roll called "Its Business Time" for $22. Avocado, king crab, unagi, lemon zest, mascarpone and the whole thing is tempura battered and fried. The big issue is that the rice was mushy, as in they cooked it with too much water. Second course was Smoked Zuke Tuna ($27) - raw tuna served under a cloche of smoke. In retrospect, I don't know why we would ever want to eat smoked tuna sashimi. The smoke doesn't enhance the flavor of tuna in any way. There was very little fish too. The Prawn Okonomiyaki ($24)was a tasty okonomiyaki serve with 1 overgrilled prawn. I cut it in half and gave the tail end to Steve and he spat it out. Last course was green tea soba noodles ($23). The noodles were overcooked the kombu broth really just tastes like soy sauce. They can at least pan sear some scallops ($26). The table next to us was there just to put it on their social media. They each had a drink and one roll and spent most of the time taking pictures of themselves and chatting with the waiter. For the avoidance of any doubt, I do not recommend going to this place. Steve had to apologize for picking the place.

I’m at Great Wall Merrifield and it’s open.

Didn't know that Tim Ho Wan (cheapest Michelin star restaurant in HK) is now owned by the same group that owns Panda Express. https://mothership.sg/2021/08/jollibee-take-over-tim-ho-wan/?fbclid=IwAR0A2nWTI60qntRmWz69_AoNW-AdKUEJFD4gnXwX2LWp-G7zMiL1KD9IUHE

I read through some just to see how batty this owner is.

I just went to Maialino Mare's reservation page, which says only people over 12 need proof of vaccination. So I can take my kids to MM. I hope other restaurants similarly exempt children under 12. So vaccinated people generally are less likely than non-vaccinated to spread covid. I suspect non-vaccinated people who mask up are even less likely to get and spread covid than vaccinated people who don't mask up. It's a good thing that I don't live near 2Amys and haven't been there in ages.

I don't always read the chat but sometimes there's gold in them hills. In this case, a person read @Tom Sietsema's review of Heirloom. Said person apparently knew more about Heirloom than Tom and posed the following question:

Messi has officially signed for PSG. I love Leo but I cannot cheer for PSG, which is owned and funded by the Emir of Qatar.

The whole situation with Messi is ironic. I think Barca's mess started with Neymar leaving for PSG. The reason Neymar left is because he didn't want to stay in Messi's shadow at Barca. In order to replace Neymar, Bartomeu (Barca's then President) wasted Neymar's transfer fee and more on the likes of Coutinho, Dembele, and Griezeman. Bartomeu also overpaid the salaries of many players, leaving Barca with over 1 billion euros of debt and salaries way over La Liga's cap. So Barca cannot resign Messi. In the mean time, Neymar hasn't won anything that mattered at PSG. So Qatar is now going to give PSG's the funds to sign Messi to hopefully finally win the Champions League. If PSG does in fact win, no doubt it's Messi and not Neymar who will get most of the glory. So Neymar will never win the Ballon D'or. So F U Neymar for screwing up Barca and forcing Messi to leave.

In his latest BBQ round-up, Tim Carman has DCity at #2, behind Two-Fifty and ahead of TX Jack. This warranted a revisit. I went for the pork ribs and wings combo, with a side of cole slaw. Because I had decided ahead of time that's what I wanted, I didn't see the "secret menu" blackboard which included oxtail until it's too late. Anyhow, I love the smokiness and texture of the pork ribs - they have that firm chewiness that I really love (I don't want falling off the bone when it comes to ribs). DCity claims it's DC style - not sure what that means. The BBQ is dry rubbed, but not as peppery as TX BBQ. Unfortunately, I don't love their seasoning. The wings used the same seasoning. I would recommend this place for people who like a little sweeter and less peppery BBQ.

Barcelona's finances are so messed up they can't resign Leo Messi because they can't clear enough room under the salary cap. Rumors are Messi is joining PSG. So earlier this year I finally cut the cord - got Sling with ESPN because ESPN just bought the rights to La Liga. However, BeIN Sports has the rights to Ligue 1, which could soon have the best soccer player in the world. Sufferin' succotash!

Finally ran across a hotel that is cashless. It was in upper Manhattan so I went down the street and bought a bag of chips at the corner deli to get some change.

Ate at 1906, the year Du Pont purchased the property that became Longwood Gardens. The food was surprisingly good. We started with fried oysters served with chicken salad, and a Maitake Bloom (tempura battered fried maitake shroom). The shrooms were served on top of a fake wood stump - cool presentation. They were followed by SEVERINO STUFFED RIGATONI (meyer lemon whipped ricotta, pancetta, english pea) and BERKSHIRE BONE IN PORK CHOP. The pasta was al dente, the pork chop served at the requested medium well was juicy and tender. Unfortunately the restaurants don't have a view of the fountains.

Left the Bronx Monday morning and arrived at Matunuck just as they opened. The place was packed immediately. The reservation only provided you 75 minutes of sit-time, and the pace of service probably could get you out in 60 or less. We did clams 5 ways, RI chowder, Littleneck & chorizo, clams casino, stuffie, and clams & linguine. We also had a large caesar salad. The kids decided they don't particularly like the RI style of chowder, or the stuffie, or clams casino. They preferred the clams with white wine sauce. I thought everything was delicious except for the overcooked pasta. Solid seafood restaurant at a moderate price point - beats the crap out Salt Line, which is an imitation New England seafood restaurant. Biomes is more or less a bust. It's some fish tanks inside a warehouse building by the side of the road. Dinner was at Oberlin. The menu is interesting, and I had to guess which dishes the kids would actually eat. I whiffed on the first dish, Raw RI Scallops, Cherry Blossom Mayo, Sesame, Radish. While I know they generally don't like raw seafood, I thought they wouldn't be able to resist fresh sweet scallops. I had to eat almost the entire plate. I fouled off a pitch with Brandade, Herbs, Grilled Country Bread. I know they can handle salt cod, and they'll definitely eat the bread. Hit a couple of line-drives with the pastas, Cacio e Pepe and Fregola Sarda, Rock Crab, Radicchio, Almond Bagnat Verd, Roasted Chicken Broth. The pastas were thankfully al dente. Lastly, Piri Piri Gnarly Vines Pheasant, Marinated Greens, Baby Potatoes, Papo Secos was a miss for everyone. The kids thought the piri piri was too spicy and I thought the bird was overcooked and tough. Oh yeah, dinner took 2 hours and that really tested the kids' stamina and patience. Tuesday was spent in Newport. I bought a membership to the Newport Preservation Society so we can skip the line for the Topiary Garden, the Breakers, Marble House and The Elm. I downloaded the audio tour and made the kids listen to the highlights of each mansion. After touring the mansions, we barely had time to take the cliff walk before heading back to Providence. Dinner was at Hemenway's. They have a dress code for men so I wore jeans and a collared shirt. But I saw other diners in shorts so the dress code isn't enforced, at least not during Summer. We started with a bowl of NE Chowder and Caesar Salad. That was followed by the Assorted Hot Seafood Platter with fried calamari, scallops and bacon, and stuffies. That was a gut busting amount of food. Finally we had their paella with shrimp, scallops, swordfish, chourico, clams, mussels, pimentos, English peas, saffron rice. All the seafood were seasoned well and properly cooked except for the swordfish chunks (they looked like tofu and were rather bland). The place felt like a recipe driven restaurant without much creative energy. Wednesday was spent at the smallish zoo and then we took a gondola ride. We also trekked to Brown/Thayer St. and Federal Hill. We were quite tired and then it rained. So rather than going back to Federal Hill, we went down the street from our hotel and ate Korean at Mokban. It's Korean food but in a urban and hip setting. Traditional noodle soups are labeled "ramen" to entice the ramen crowd. I did enjoy their seafood pa jeon (pancake), made with small tender shrimp rather than squid. It was a nice break after eating lots of seafood and Italian/American food. Thursday morning we stopped by Modern Apizza partly because it has good reviews but mostly because it opens at 10:30 a.m. We ordered a salad and a white clam pizza. It's the best clam pizza I've ever had (but I haven't had many, Pete's Apizza sucked compared to this). I think the kids didn't appreciate how hard it is to find a good clam pizza.

Spent the entire day at the zoo and didn’t manage to see everything. Mario’s is terrible compared to the zoo. Overcooked fried calamari, overcooked linguine with white clam sauce, tripe Livornese needed more salt, veal parmigiana was chewy, and sautéed broccoli was mushy.

Loved the Cloisters. It’s a great collection of European cloisters moved to the Bronx. The unicorn tapestries are the most complete and informative that I’ve seen. Dinner was at Manolo’s Tapas. It’s faux finished to look like a tavern in Spain and the food is quite good. I really enjoyed the Madrid tripe stew. The tortilla espanola was too eggy for me. We also had nicely grilled langoustines, clams with green sauce, and serano ham with artichoke hearts. Service was excellent , on the formal side. Cash only but their ATM only charged 99 cents. Technically this was all in Washington Heights and not the Bronx.

Finally went back to the Arlington location with Steve for lunch. We ordered our favorites: dan dan noodles, dry fried eggplant, crispy pork belly, fried diced chicken, and bamboo cumin fish - all from the hot apps. Dan dan noodles were overcooked and the sauce very watery - nevertheless good favor. The diced fried chicken was bland. The eggplant, fish and pork belly were good. It's just a bunch of fried food, hard to tell if the cooking is really back up to par.

Danny Meyer wants proof of vaccination to eat in his restaurant. I'm just trying to test the logic of that statement. Vaccinated people can still get covid and spread covid. In fact, I see lots of vaccinated people who don't wear masks in tight quarters. I'm leary of all people who don't social distance or wear masks (because my kids aren't vaccinated), including those who are vaccinated. I guess we won't be eating at Maialino Mare for a while. This paragraph from Washingtonian just confirmed that vaccinated people are catching and spreading covid.

I’ve got that marked down. The pheasant ballotine with foie was delicious. The same goes for the tempura calamari. The portions aren’t big so i had two pheasant ballotines. Veuve is $16 until September i believe.

Fitzgerald’s and The Tombs have the same menu right now but the Tomb is still closed, lacks staff. $16 for a glass of Veuve is dirt cheap.

Saturday morning just after 10. The restaurant was at most half full while I was there. The dim sum comes out first in trays and then they go into the steam cart. The same people that ran it that last time I went are still running the place, but they have some very new staff. I tried some chicken feet ($4.5), spare ribs ($4.5) with black bean sauce, daikon cake (very black peppery, $4.5), shark fin dumpling (no shark fin but lots of cilantro, 4 for $6.5), and spring rolls (3 for $5.5). The spring rolls' filling is a mystery to me, tastes a little yammy but I couldn't be sure. The prices may have gone up a little since my last visit. Quality is good/decent, on par with Vinh Kee (but I like Vinh Kee because you order off a menu). With the carts, you never know what's available. They did update the dining room, it's bright and clean-looking now.

From Tysons Reporter:

Right now the plan is drive from DC to the Cloisters on Saturday, then check in at the Opera House Hotel. I was having a really hard time finding a place to eat around the hotel. Finally booked at Beatstro - it's walkable. Sunday we'll go to the zoo, and if we have time, the botanical garden as well. Then we'll check out Little Italy and have dinner at Mario's (where I look forward trying tripe Livornese). We'll be parking at the Southern Blvd lot. Any idea whether we have get out of the lot by 5 p.m. when the zoo closes? I was hoping to keep the car in the lot while we have dinner. ETA: Just read that Mott Haven isn't particularly safe. Canceled Opera House Hotel and Beatstro. Staying at The Edge Hotel in Washington Heights instead.

Went back to Maialino Mare this weekend. We started with fried artichokes, fried sardines, and Testarella (crispy suckling pig head). At first I thought the pig head meat, fat & skin would be picked and then mushed back together into a block, but nope. You get half a head and a steakknife. The skin was crispy and wonderful, very delicious with all the fat underneath. My only concern being the number of calories associated with such a fatty dish. There is a little bit of meat, which actually doesn't taste nearly as good as the skin. I really wanted to order the MALFATTI AL MAIALINO (Roasted Suckling Pig, Grana Padano, Arugula) but it wasn't on the menu. So we ordered TRENETTE ALLA VONGOLE, SPAGHETINI CON BOTTARGA, and PAPPARDELLE ALLA BOLOGNESE. All the pastas were really salty. I actually had to send the clam pasta back for a refund. I would've sent the mullet roe pasta back too had I tasted it before sending the clam pasta back, but I ate it anyway (the kids tried it and hated it). They at least ate some of the pappardelle. Other than the saltiness, the pastas would've been really good.

Went back to try a few more dishes. Fried Hog's Head Cheese - grilled sweetbreads, tarragon-crab remoulade. Excellent preparation with tender sweetbread, nicely breaded and seasoned. None of that awfully offally flavor. Paneed Skate Wing - crab, kale, beet, sherry & creole mustard beurre blanc. Bottom line - nicely fried well seasoned fish. Cochon de Lait - grilled pork neck steak, red beans, collard greens, puffed rice. Looks boring and tastes kinda boring.

I was able to get a 11:45 reservation at Matunuck for Monday Aug 2.