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ema

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  1. ema
    I didn't think the burger was very special. It was the thin patty type that was cooked all the way through and placed on a bun that was too fragil to hold everything. However, I am a fan of their fries and various mayo based dipping sauce. I also loved the toasted marshmallow shake, which tasted like the crust on a creme brulee.
  2. ema
    I haven't been to many fancy places. Here is my list of some particularly good dishes that I had this year. salted egg yolk and corn dish-Hong Kong Palace shaky beef-Present mussels-Blacksalt (Restaurant Eve, Radius Pizza, and Brasserie Beck were also very good) oysters on the half shells-Hank's bbq meat and shrimp wonton soup-XO taste patrami sandwich-Restaurant Eve chilean sea bass and chinese cured meat casserole-Miu Kee kalbi-Han Sung Oak seafood pancake-To Sok Jip steak and mushroom-Makoto fresh kielbasa-Stachowski stirred fried garlic pea shoots-New Big Wong the most garlicky garlic naan-Delhi Club pate de fruits-Wanders Chocolatier dried chili chicken-China Star palak chaat-Rasika crab bisque-Ray's the Steaks I am sure I missed some. I can't believe I ate all that.
  3. ema
    I enjoyed the entire experience. The servers were very friendly, and not at all authoritarian or cold, although they were very obsessive with the placement of the marble tablet and eating utensils. My husband was jokingly moving the marble table placement and said "lets see if they notice that we moved it by 1 cm". The space was clean, cozy, and definitely showed signs of wear. course 1-conch and mushroom soup course 2-marinated mussels and fried eggplant with sesame sauce course 3-sashimi consisted of snapper, mackerel, and tuna course 4-fried mackerel in a seaweed broth course 5-persimmon with tofu sauce, spicy salmon with steamed snow peas, and avocado with spicy miso sauce course 6-shrimp, scallop, and beef cooked at the table and served with ponzu and grated radish. course 7-nigiri consisted of tuna, yellowtail, and mackerel. course 8-choice of steak, salmon, yellowtail, orange roughy, or chilean sea bass course 9-soba course 10-granita The standout for me was the steak cooked with mushroom medley and a butter cognac (or some other type of alcohol) sauce. The yellowtail nigiri and all the sashimi were superb. I wouldn't say that everything was so unique that I couldn't have made some of them at home, but I did enjoy most of the courses. However, number 5 and 9 were alot weaker compare to the other courses. The soba was bland. The flavor in course 5 just didn't complement each other with the spicy salmon being too salty, the persimmon was only partially ripe, and the miso sauce overpowered everything else. Wine and Sake were ridiculously expensive, so we ordered some beer instead. There was no tap water, but the green hot tea was free and they kept our cup full most of the time. I don't recommend anyone wear sweaters or suits. Slacks and a collar shirt was sufficiently dressy for this place. Twenty some people+12 recess lights+small room+proximity to the kitchen+space heater=one hot room (as in you wouldn't feel cold in tank top and shorts, so you definitely don't want to wear your usual winter clothing).
  4. ema
    I got a reservation at Makoto tomorrow night. I am kind of nervous that I might not enjoy it since this place seems formal and possibly stuffy. Anyone being here lately?
  5. ema
    Fantastic happy hour deal, but unfortunately I couldn't get a drink because I forgot my driver's license . Half of the time I don't get carded, but for some reason every restaurant on 14th Street have carded me so far. The okra was crunchy and hot. The mussels were delicious, cooked in a slightly sweet broth with prominent miso and ginger flavor (not a single closed mussel in the bowl). I also saw 2 neighboring tables ordered some chicken wings in a dark lacquered sauce, can't comment on the taste, but they sure looked tempting. I am not a fan of the hand rolls here. I expected to see some chunks of tuna, not mashed tuna and mayo. I guess Masa 14 is just opposite of Zantan. Skip the raw fish and stick with cooked food instead.
  6. ema
    We had to go to China Garden for our dim sum fix today. I really wish Hollywood East would open already.
  7. ema
    Are you saying that his recount wasn't factual? It seems pretty detailed and logical to me. Now, I can understand some might complain about the timing of the review and many problems would not have existed in the first place if it wasn't for the fact that it was during the biggest holiday of the year. Online reviews are inaccurate if you only look at a small numbers of them, but in general, fairly informative if you look at a huge sample when the whining cancels out exaggerated positives. This is why I personally don't take negative reviews more serious than positive reviews, since the reviews as a whole are just reflection of restaurant's inconsistency and differences in personal taste.
  8. ema
    I have been to XO at least 6 or 7 times now. You can't go wrong with the lobster, stir fried pea shoots, and any of the bbq items hanging from the glass case. The chef here tend to be heavy handed with corn starch when making casseroles and soups, which is a shame because Cantonese are expert at making these dishes, and they are so good if done right.
  9. ema
    A negative review is not exactly a trashy review. A negative review just means the customer didn't enjoy the service or the food. A negative review can still be honest and to the point. Was DMG an overrated establishment or just had a holiday glitch? Others are free to extract whatever information they want from this review along with numerous other positive or negative reviews. It seems to me that whenever someone post a negative review, it always come under heavy scrutiny by others on the board. It shouldn't matter anymore than the positive reviews, afterall, it was all a matter of personal opinion. For example, I used to think Canton Cafe had decent food, but the last time I went, the food was disgusting (chunks of fat in shrimp wonton, soggy vegetable, skimpy seafood). Is it not within my right to give them a negative review and start going to other Chinese places for my Cantonese fix? Maybe it was a glitch on their part, but I don't really feel like experience that a second time when there are so many other choices and new places to try. A trashy review on the other hand has a degree of malice, while not providing any details as to why the customers were dissatisfied.
  10. ema
    How are the steaks here compare to other upscale steakhouses in DC? Are they grilled or broiled? Dry aged or wet aged? Seems like more people are ordering seafood than steaks.
  11. ema
    Our appetizer sampler was served lukewarm. Husband raved about the duck roll, but the satay was dry and the fried calamari wasn't crispy. The vegetable dumplings were mushy and unpalatable. Maki and sashimi were fresh and tasty, but also pricey, as expected for good quality seafood. I was particularly impressed with the silky sweet scallops and the buttery salmon. We also received some delectable complimentary crudo from the sushi chef (maybe that was our reward for eating everything with chopsticks). The spicy Thai martini served with sweet ginger garnish had a nice chili flavor, well balanced, and not sugary sweet. One of the best cocktail I have ever had. Conclusion: skip the cooked food and stick with the sushi at Zentan. Don't forget to earn 1000 dining points by making a reservation through opentable.
  12. ema
    I haven't been to Del Merei Grill yet, but I have been to Los Tios and Bombay Curry Company, and I didn't find them to be impressive even though both received many positive remarks online. I think people tend to give neighborhood joints higher praises due to convenience, which is something I tend to do when I review a restaurant too.
  13. ema
    I liked my squid ink pasta. The texture was more like ramen than anything else and the crab meat was good quality. Perhaps it was just inconsistency that made some bland. I had a small bite of agnolotti, it was tender and buttery with a nice lemony flavor that cuts through the rich sauce. I liked two of the three salumi (speck and sopressata), and didn't like the oyster one bit. It was served room temperature with an all too sour lemon sauce that completely covered up the natural briny goodness of fresh oysters. The 2 person tables were way too small for comfort. Its only about as wide as most people's shoulder and if you order one of the chauterie board, then you will barely have room for appetizer plates.
  14. ema
    Looking at the photos, the characters "dim sum" are upside down. Is that on purpose or just there to match all the other chains sporting hideous signs in Chinese that looked like they were written by 8 year olds.
  15. ema
    6244-K Little River Turnpike Alexandria, VA 22312 http://www.maizbon.com/ I think its worth going at night just to see the crazy lights (huge hanging potteries with cutouts to let the light through). The dinning room is very Arabian night-esque while the hookah area looks like a museum display with mannequins and horse statues. The food was delicious. I am not a lamb eater, so I couldn't fully explore the menu, but the kadu and mantu were very good. The chicken kabob was flavorful, but a little dry. The cinnamon scented rice and tomato mozzarella salad were delicious. Food is on the oily side, but I guess its typical of cuisine that uses abundance of spices. Price was moderate, only a few dollars more than the self serve kabob places.
  16. ema
    Its not that unusual for someone to post a review months after they have been to the place. I just did a search and there were 3 reviews after the 2 stars cheese plate review, being 4, 3, and 2 stars respectively, with the 4 and 3 stars review written by someone who has less than 2 reviews total. Average rating of Restaurant 3 is three stars with very few 5 stars and 1 stars, a significant numbers of 2 stars, and over whelming majority being 3 or 4 stars. Its a typical bell curve distribution, since people are more generous giving out 4, 3, 2 stars and more reluctant to give out 1 and 5 stars (except when they want to purposely be a troll). Two stars means "meh, I have had better", so a 2 star review isn't as negative as you think. Overall, Restaurant 3 has more positives than negatives. As for lack of response, it depends on how often the person logs on, how serious are they about reviewing the restaurant, and how much they felt like respond over the internet (there is a saying that argue over the internet is like winning the special Olympics). I agree people are free to post whatever float their boat without accountability, but that's what majority of the websites are like.
  17. ema
    Ok that too. I gave it 3 tries and it worked on the last try. I still don't know what I did differently on the last try.
  18. ema
    I always see the announcement the day after the event. One day, I will catch you.
  19. ema
    I had the Virginia sausage pizza here tonight. The crust was crisp and chewy. The toppings were fresh and had a good balance of vegetable and sausage. Even with the abundance of mushrooms, the pizza wasn't soggy at all. It was pretty pricey for pizza, but that's the premium you pay for organic and local ingredients. Being a pizza place, almost every table had kids, but if you want some peace and quiet, you can also sit at the booth by the bar, which is away from the main dinning room. My advice for the place is put a changing table in the man's bathroom too. Come on, this is the 21st century, dads change diapers too.
  20. ema
    I can't see how a salt of glutamate can cause people harm (other than highblood pressure for ingest too much sodium). It's one of the 20 essential amino acids, therefore, anyplace, where there is protein, there is also glutamate. I wonder if the side effect people reports for ingesting too much MSG is actually the result of side products or residual starting materials of MSG synthesis rather than MSG itself. I think its true if MSG is produced from enzymatic reactions, however, both L and D stereoisomers can occur through organic synthesis. I think the method that produces MSG is more relevant to the discussion about MSG toxicity.
  21. ema
    Somebody please take some pictures and help out those who can't go.
  22. ema
    They have a good deal on oysters at $18 per dozen. They were not as good as Hank's, which in my opinion has the best raw oysters anywhere, but still very satisfying. Other items were also decent. The food is a bit more adventurous than average American restaurants. Since this place is in the heart of downtown Alexandria, its a good place to take any visitors who are on the conservative side when it comes to food.
  23. ema
    Wegman's had some nice looking halibut. I seasoned the filets with salt, pepper, a quick pan fry, and finishes it with lemon, garlic, and herbs. I like my fish slightly underdone.
  24. ema
    Here lies the problem. Anything posted on the internet should be taken with a grain of salt and that includes reviews on this site as well. I find Yelp's photo section to be very useful, and I also have about 300 pic store in my account. A picture speaks a thousand words. I can see what kind of food and what kind of atmosphere is offered at a restaurant. It is also helpful if you can identify other reviewers who share the same taste as you or have a passion for a particular region of cuisine. I haven't had any reviews deleted, but I have noticed that I became a first reviewer on one of the restaurant I reviewed, which means the person that came before me got deleted. I think its helpful to mention that users themselves can request having their account deleted, so not all disappeared reviews are of sinister nature. Whenever I do read reviews, I sort the reviews according to dates rather than the default on the site. Some of the shenanigans I have witnessed have more to do with "reviewers" themselves. There are always lots of fake reviewers with less than 5 reviews, either give a place 5 stars or 1 star without giving much details. I have also saw restaurant owners/managers reply to reviewers with insults, with the most popular being "if you don't like our food, then you should go to (insert name of crappy national chain) instead". Yes, its very tacky, but that doesn't mean this compilation of information online is worthless if used with caution.
  25. ema
    I had the raw crab cut into 8 pieces. When I got home, I lightly dust each piece with some flour and pan fried it first. Then add more oil in another pan, add a bunch of ginger and scallion, salt, pepper, cooking wine, crab, and a tiny bit of water to finish cooking.
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