kmcass

On 5/7/2018 at 10:47 AM, Poivrot Farci said:

Wholesale ducks worth a damn are anywhere from $4.50-$6/lb, weigh 5-7/lb ($20-$30 just for the duck) and there are Pekin, Muscovy or Moulard variables. It is easier and more definitive to inquire as to the type of duck being used than it is to speculate. Then the value of going to a fashionable boutique hotel for the luxury of eating out can be calculated. The Line might compensate their staff well, perhaps the duck demands a fair amount of work and maybe the novelty of standing is worth the premium. If a duck dinner feeds 3 or more, is a quality product and tastes good, then $33/pp might not be worth the fraught deliberation. There are other options

If Mr. Sietsema’s reviews are within the purview of consumer advocacy, the quality & provenance of the ingredients and how well the staff is compensated would help diners make a more calculated decision about where they choose to spend their ducats.

13 hours ago, Pool Boy said:

Hell no. Oh hell no. OH.HELL.NO.

I do not care how good the food is. No.

It will be interesting to see when the first lawsuit citing the Americans with Disabilities Act hits the courts, too.

See above. You could just ask the restaurant about accommodations for the disabled instead of speculating about ADA lawsuits on the internet. 

I'd personally rather have places like this occasionally run out of ingredients due to relatively fresh sourcing than the alternative... They also generally have mesclun, spinach and their supergreen mix available. The leap from "they ran out of romaine" to "this place sux" seems pretty ridiculous.

They've been doing seasonal dishes with fermented sour pork sausage ("naem" in Thai, I believe) and it's unlike anything I've had in DC before. The current iteration (below) is quite good. The lotus root special is also excellent. It's hard to go wrong here. 

• Stir-Fried Glass Noodles with Sour Minced Pork

  Sour minced pork, Chinese broccoli, onion, tomatoes, pickled garlic, scallions, egg, chili-garlic sauce  *Spicy

Sundevich dropped off my radar for a year or so, but I've eaten there twice in the last couple months and noticed no drop in quality. Still some of my favorite sandwiches in the city. 

I've been twice, most recently about two months ago. The first time I visited they were only offering chicken ramen broth. It was fine - a decent meal on a cold night. It seemed more like chicken soup with an egg, etc than ramen though, largely due to the fact that the "hellfire" spice level was barely detectable. On the second visit, pork (not specified as tonkotsu) broth was the only option, and I decided to up the spice level based on the previous visit. As I was watching the bowls of ramen being prepared, I noticed the cooks placing differing amounts of a red pepper powder into each bowl. This, apparently, is how they adjust spice level. The problem, at least on that evening, was that the pepper never incorporated into the broth. Nor was it particularly spicy. It was like having broth with an overwhelming amount of a paprika-like substance floating around. The broth itself was also quite greasy (not rich, greasy) so the combination was less than pleasant. I'd really like to see this place succeed - I think the concept is a good one and the staff seem friendly, but I won't be going back unless I hear they've really improved.

To compare it to Toki would be unfair, as it's not even close based on my two visits, but did anyone happen to catch this place trying to start a beef with Toki on twitter a few months back? It was dumpling-related and bizarre.

Thank you for posting this. You've got a new donor here.

Can anyone offer any details on the salon? I know they serve selected small plates, but is it intended as a snacks/drinks or is there enough substance for a dinner? Any idea on general price range?

Thanks in advance.

This post is long overdue. Thanks to the generosity of a mysterious benefactor ( ) I received a $50 coupon to Zentan on its last usable night in early December. We went in with zero expectations given it was the last night of the coupon deal, but the experience could have hardly been better. Managed to snag the last two bar seats and received absolutely phenomenal service from the bar staff. Happy hour drink prices were honored all night (with a couple of comped beers) and our accidental order of the small sushi plate ($21) instead of the platter ($51, I believe) resulted in a second, much larger sushi plate coming out in addition to the first one. The best part? They charged us $11 bucks for the second plate. I've always been a bit squeamish about coupons and still believe that this is a bubble that is going to burst significantly in the future, but this was a wonderful coupon experience. Zentan was not a restaurant on my radar, but now I'm eager to go back after being treated so well. This isn't Sushi Taro, but it's very good. Our final bill was a good $30 less than it needed to be, which we gladly compensated for with the tip.

It's been a few months since my last visit, but I have always done BYOB without any challenges.

Dave

BYOB is definitely still allowed.

Agreed on the oysters - very, very well done. The hangar steak with frites and salad at $16.99 is just an amazing value. Steak cooked perfectly and every bit as good as the fancier room down the road. Service, considering it was opening night, was fantastic. Can't wait to get back to try the catfish.

I had the Verduras de primavera con mole verde de Oaxaca a couple months ago and it was a fantastic vegetarian small plate. From the website: Corn, peas, spring greens, fava beans, seasonal mushrooms and queso fresco cheese served with a Oaxacan green mole of tomatillo, serrano chile, corn masa and epazote $11.00

And the guacamole, while expensive, is always delicious.

i've been making this place a regular lunch stop the past couple of months. the chirashi lunch is an amazing amount of food for twelve dollars. 10-12 pretty generous pieces of sashimi and a giant bowl of rice, veggies, tofu, shrimp, etc. i can never finish (i'm not sure who could) and they always seem a bit disappointed in me. best sushi in vienna right now, hands down.

Hi, I'm Kevin and I've been reading this board for a couple of years now. Took me until now, however, to realize I needed to post before I could see the dining guide, so here goes. Happy to be a "real" member now.