Night Owl
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Not at all! More likely I had an off night there. The dressing for the salad was good! -
We live nearby and have tried this place several times, hit and miss for us, so this whets my appetite to try it again. The last time I went, simply ordered the Frisée Aux Lardons -- the "softly poached egg" had been cooked in the microwave in a silicone mold (criminal), refrigerated for storage (which I realize is a common practice, but -->), and had been plopped on top of the salad without being warmed, was cold to the core of the yolk. Husband (a French chef, knows the people there) and I were incredulous on many levels. Haven't been back since. But that lamb sounds amazing. And I want to love the place. So will go back and give it another whirl. Thanks DCandOhio and Don for the encouragement with that lamb description!
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Mexican dark chocolate wafers with dulce de leche sandwiched inside. Made some for Christmas, went over well, so now making for friends for New Year's Eve... Both components are ridiculously easy to make, a very yummy combo, don't know why I haven't made these before this year.
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I'm on here daily, too, just not posting often because I'm not part of the core group of posters/old timers. But It's 8:30am on a Saturday, I'm in Sarasota, FL and as usual, I want to see what's happening here. Cheers! -Stephenie
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Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! This is the first of our annual "unpardoned" turkeys for tonight's dinner -- gobble gobble!!!
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Peter Chang's New China Express
Night Owl replied to Scott Johnston's topic in Events and Gatherings
Thanks so much -- really appreciate your suggestions and offer to call. Will let you know when we schedule the trip out there. Again, thanks so much! -
Peter Chang's New China Express
Night Owl replied to Scott Johnston's topic in Events and Gatherings
(Wasn't sure where to post this, thought I'd seen a thread specifically about Peter Chang's place in Richmond, but couldn't find it -- sorry if this is in the wrong place.) A friend and I plan to go to Peter Chang's place in Richmond -- to those who have been out there, would welcome recommendations on what to order for our much-anticipated feast. Thanks in advance! -
My husband and I went to Central for lunch last week -- the highlight by far was the Watermelon Tuna Salad. Classic Michel Richard, the watermelon and tuna each were diced into equal sized cubes so they were cleverly indistinguishable from each other, and tossed in a lovely vinaigrette. Delicious. The tarte flambée was wonderful, as always. On the downside, unfortunately, the tuna burger bore no resemblance whatsoever to the wonderful original at Citronelle's bar. The potato "crisp" was flabby and the tuna itself way too salty and no subtle ginger nuance that made the original distinctive. (((sigh))) Another reason to miss Citronelle. But all in all, a very enjoyable meal...
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A huge thanks to Chef Ris Lacoste and RIS for offering: "Quilt In the Capital" tasting menu July 22-28, 2012 A farm-to-table menu with locally sourced ingredients and wine to honor The AIDS Memorial Quilt returning to Washington, our hometown 15% proceeds to benefit The NAMES Project Foundation, caretakers of The Quilt More info + menu at risDC.com Please support RIS and The Names Project / The Quilt and participate! * Full disclosure: I am working for The NAMES Project (mostly volunteer) while they are here in DC.
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My basic division/differentiator is northern-style dumplings and Cantonese... (my father is from Beijing, mother from Shanghai, then the southern region of China) I'm a big fan or northern-style. Northern style: Tony Lin's, oddly enough, has excellent spicy red oil hunan wontons (tho not much else that's worth ordering) and ok xiao long bao. Tai Shan in Gaithersburg -- very good xiao long bao soup dumplings, good vegetable dumplings, plus they make something hard to find elsewhere -- steamed puffy bao filled with pork and preserved vegetables - delicious. Agree re: Joe's and A&J. Cantonese: Wong Gee on weekends does the rolling carts, traditional dumplings for dim sum - served fresh and hot - har gow, sharks fin dumplings, etc Hollywood East - I like the fact that they do "different" dumplings (my daughter loves the fried sweet dumplings made to look like carrots), but due to crowds and volume, they keep a lot of the food in those warming things, so some of the food is not freshly made and hot when served. I'm getting hungry just writing about this...
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that's how it's written in this piece from Borderstan: http://www.borderstan.com/03/taqueria-and-bar-coming-to-shaw-in-shipping-containers/
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BGR burgers vs sliders: a study in contrast... Have eaten at BGR in Bethesda and mostly Dupont Circle. Regular burger -- cheese, sometimes bacon, lettuce and tomato, nothing out of the ordinary. No matter which place, the burgers are always sloppily excessive -- tasty, but too much -- to the point of ruining the lovely brioche bun that BGR goes through the trouble of serving them on. I have no problem with a good, messy burger -- that's part of enjoying the whole thing. But when the burger is so huge compared to the normal-sized (already large) bun and the extra "stuff" is so piled on that it's all just a jumbled wet, squishy mess, it kinda takes the fun out of it. Today, went to the Potomac BGR for lunch (almost empty) because I was in the neighborhood. I thought, OK, let's try the sliders, which are a more respectable portion. So we got one order of regular sliders (you get 4) and one order of the kids sliders (2+soda and smaller order of fries). Both orders were grossly (in both senses of the word) overcooked. Instead of a nice little juicy beef patty in a nice slider bun, each slider of both orders was more like a hard, shriveled, burnt cow pie overwhelmed by a comparatively large (cold) slider bun... and a half slice of cold, unmelted cheese on top to boot. Maybe it's just a Potomac-specific BGR thing. And I'm sure some snarky smart-ass here will make some remark about Goldilocks/too big, too small, just right. My point is: Having tried both the regular and the sliders, which are polar opposites of one another, I guess I'd have to go with the regular burgers... because the sliders are downright inedible. I'll take excessive and messy over inedible any day. But it would be nice to have a smaller option to enjoy -- I'd probably be much more of a regular customer if so.
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As a Chinese American who usually gets handed the "American" menu (then takes great pleasure in ordering in Chinese once I'm given the "Chinese" menu), I'm all for DanielK's suggestion. All this aside, in case anyone's interested in seeing the "authentic Chinese" menu for the Chalin's downtown, it's on their website, first link on this page: http://chalins.com/menueye.html
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Was there for dinner this past Friday (my second time only) and had the oddest service mishap. My daughter ordered the oyster po'boy and they brought her a shrimp po'boy... Might be a common mistake at any similar restaurant except there's no such thing as a shrimp po'boy on Pearl Dive's menu (which the waitress also noted after the fact). That said, the food itself was great. The (correct) po'boy was very tasty, oysters superb. I had the CEBLT po'boy, which was decadent, but honestly in a do-over I'd go for the oyster po'boy instead. To start, we had the braised pork cheeks appetizer -- it is a must-try. The cheeks were perfectly cooked, meltingly tender, the sauce so packed with rich flavor and depth I wanted to lick the plate.
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Grabbed a slice of the Greek pizza today -- haven't been there in a few years. I agree, the sauce also struck me as sweeter than I remember, too sweet. But the crust was still as thin and crispy-good as ever.
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This thread ended on a not-so-encouraging note... Has anyone been to PC recently? I'm interested in the Peking duck, in particular. Thanks...
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Was there last night, too, with a friend and oinked out with great pleasure... Salt & pepper calamari - Great smoky "wok hei" flavor, a switch from the curry crispy calamari they used to have. Crisy crab wonton rolls - A guilty pleasure... crispy thin shell, light and creamy with huge knuckles of jumbo lump inside. The chock-full-o-chili ponzu sauce is fantastic. Peking duck flatbread - The flavor was fine, but the flatbread was soggy from the hoisin and there was an inexplicable and huge pile of bean sprouts on top. Pork belly steamed buns - Meh... Wok-seared cauliflower - Very tasty. Chocolate flan - Lapped this up... It had a s'mores-torched melty marshmallow on top and was swimming in that light, delicious caramel sauce. Great service, as always. Fun, as always.
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Slavin's and another stop by BlackSalt -- thanks so much, all!
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I'd like to prepare black cod, also called sablefish, at home. I've asked Whole Foods (a few locations) and BlackSalt, no luck. Would appreciate any insight/help. Thanks...
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DanielK, you just made my day. Gotta get there -- thank so much...
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We loved those, too! And I still long for Gifford's mint chocolate chip ice cream from those days... ((sigh))
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(Sorry in advance - having computer problems and couldn't use bullets.) We battled rush hour traffic and the unbelievable construction last night, and enjoyed a truly delicious dinner at Michel's (official night #2 for them): Reminiscent of Central, they brought over a little "fryer basket" of gougeres I started with the onion carbonara - clever and so flavorful. My husband had the wonderful and gorgeously vibrant leek and quail egg app. We both had the veal cheeks blanquette (because we were each unwilling to share!) -- a must-try. The veal cheeks were lovely and tender (not sous vide, Michel said), the sauce is unlike any other blanquette I've had -- rich yet light with a subtle touch of celeriac, which makes it. Served with basmati rice on the side. Both the blanquette and rice are topped with a sprinkle of fun rice crisps. For dessert, my husband had the Ile Flotante -- the sauce, a fresh banana cream, is unreal. We also had Michel's very fun take on profiteroles... ice cream topped with a shower of mini sugar-encrusted choux, decadent warm chocolate sauce served at the table with a "say when." And finally, reminiscent of Citronelle, they brought us a lovely plate of the paper-thin caramelized nut mosaic wafers. Michel's meticulous eye was on every detail throughout the night, from prep and plating to service and more -- he was all over everyone -- making the experience this early in the restaurant's life very smooth and thoroughly eye- and palate-pleasing. Can't wait to hear what others try...
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For those of us who grew up eating Gifford's ice cream when the family still ran the shops, this (from the Wash Post article) is criminal and just says it all: Asked why he served Hood ice cream, Cooper replied, "We never sold any ice cream in our shops that wasn't super premium ice cream." Sad to see Gifford's disappear... again.
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My husband and I just went here for Sunday lunch with my family. It's a haul from DC, but definitely worth the drive. There are so few really good northern-style dim sum places in the area. Partial rundown: XLB, an obsession, was excellent -- plenty of broth, great flavor (but you have to ask for soup spoons)Sesame shao bing (I think that's the right name) available if you call in advance, worth it... crispy crunchy outside, tender and not too doughy inside, got an order of thinly sliced 5-spice beef to stuff insideSteamed buns with pork and preserved vegetables, not commonly found, very tastySalty soymilk and ma la tendon also very goodSpicy wontons (another obsession) were OK, have had better... mock chicken also just OKWe over-ordered out of sheer excitement. The only reason there were leftovers was because we stuffed ourselves so silly that we just couldn't fit anymore in. Will definitely be going there again...
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Just saw this post. Are you still looking for candidates?
