dlebby

The board is curiously quiet on the topic of Cabo. Spending ten days there in early August. Any restaurant recommendations at all? Anyone? Buehler?

Nava Thai in Wheaton uses it in their Floating Market Soup.

New discount deal in town - www.villagevines.com - $10.00 buys 30% off on the entire check (food and beverage) at a small but growing group of DC area restaurants. No coupon, they make the reservation for you and the discount comes automatically. Membership is free. Tried it in NYC twice this week and it worked flawlessly (including Le Cirque). Not a lot of heavy hitters yet, but a couple of goodies, including Prime Rib, Vidalia, Sou'Wester. Coco Sala, and Bistro Bis.

Old fart (not as old as Master Po or Anthony Burgess) says, "Kung Fu" and "Clockwork Orange"

A year ago, it was noon - 3:00 and 7:00 - 10:30 and back then I'd recommend a reservation. Closed on Sunday. Don't know about now.

I absolutely agree about Manolo. It was the best dinner I had in multiple trips to Panama.

Tuli Kupferberg. Thanks for the memories.

Me, too.

Masala Art has apparently been discovered. And when people are standing three deep at the bar and two deep at the door, it's not a good time to try it for the first time. We were seated immediately (with reservations) and ordered appetizers and entrees. Forty-five minutes later everything arrived at the same time. Whoever was running the FOH asked if we wanted everything at once. We asked if the entrees would be recooked. He responded that they "would be kept warm for us". We took everything at the same time. The appetizers - Aloo Aur Pyaz Ki Bahji (juliennes of potatoes and onions in chickpea batter) and Murgh Tikka Ambi Chaat ( tangy chicken tikka salad) were both served cold ( not room temperature, but cold). Tha Bahji tasted only of the batter and the chicken tikka portion of the salad was found hiding under the lettuce and behind the tomatoes. We ordered three entrees - the Adraki Lamb Chops, Tawa Murgh Khatta Pyaaz, and a half order of the Lassoni Corn palak . All of the saucing was excellent. However, the lamb was fatty and was so buried in the sauce that we couldn't tell how it had been prepared. The Tawa Chicken seemed to be an excellent if standard jalfreesie. The spinach and corn was excellent. Only one of the two breads we ordered arrived, although when we commented on it the second was quickly delivered. Whoever was managing the FOH stopped by to ask how our meal was, but seemed totally uninterested in our response which, as above, mixed both positive and negative comments. Our waiter was profuse in his apologies for the lapses in service and quality. He seemed to be the only one who genuinely cared about our experience. I'll try Masala Art again in the off hours, but as of now there are at least a half dozen Indian restaurants whose food and commitment to customer satisfaction rank far above it.

Arnold Stang

What she said...

Hey, Dean, Got any idea what's up for New Years Eve yet?

Mary Travers of Peter,Paul,and Mary; a significant figure to many of us boomers.

After spending a week on the beach in Connecticut and having the single best pizza of my life (a clam at Pepe's) I returned with a devout wish to experience something close to the epiphany I'd had in New Haven. Unfortunately, the Yalie at Comet didn't do it. The crust was cracker crisp and there wasn't even one clam per slice. I never thought I'd be saying that I miss Carole.

The best of your not very good choices is Arucola, about a block south of the theater on Connecticut. (See the dining guide.)