jrichstar

We've eaten at Nark Kara a couple of times in the last few months on Thursday nights----our "date" night. The second time was because my wife and I liked it so much. What was disturbing was that both times, we were only one of two parties in the place at prime dinner hour. This is very good Thai food and certainly the best that Bethesda has to offer for Thai.

Everything we've eaten has been excellent. For the salads, we've had the yum talay and the pla goong (shrimp). On the entree side, we've had the ginger fish, a seafood combination called "z-food" and both times, the drunken noodles. We've had drunken noodles at several Thai establishments, and this is the best.

Not affiliated with the restaurant but really hope this note will put the restaurant on your radar. Nark Kara has been positively rated by Zibart and is in the most recent Cheap Eats from the Washingtonian. We'd just hate to see a fine place like this go under and have to subject ourselves to Tara Thai when the urge hits us.

I am surprised that I have not seen this mentioned before.

Chewing the Fat: No Reservations' Anthony Bourdain (from DCist)

Seems that he is not really taken by Ms. Waters.

And another relevant post, from Mr. Bourdain himself on the Travel Channel website. This passage seems most interesting:

"I'm a pretty happy guy these days and in no hurry to live up to any reputation as a snarkologist. I don't see myself as being in the business of travelling around the world pissing on people who are just trying to be nice. I don't go to Iceland or Romania, for instance, looking to make fun of anybody. That's no way and no good motivation to travel. A happy and successful show for me (honestly) is one where everything goes right, where everything is delicious, everyone I meet engaging and everything I see, genuinely interesting to me."

http://anthony-bourdain-blog.travelchannel...e-sweet-science

I'm going to start the theory that if you are from the city that appears on No Reservations then you are unhappy about the episode.

The DC people are complaining.

I'm off to Puerto rico in a couple weeks and I've noticed the PR people complain about the PR episode.

My sister-in-law is from S. Korea and she was mocking the Korean episode.

Just an observation...

That's a very good point. He and the producers are catering to a national, if not worldwide, audience. This is certainly much different than the local audience, who will put their episode under the microscope, knowing and looking for inaccuracies.

That said, I still think the DC episode did not have much creativity or interesting items in it as compared to other episodes. In fact, the show really has lost some of its edge from the first year or two. Back then, I'd say to myself "Did he really say that?" or laugh out loud from time-to-time. That does not seem to happen very much in the most recent episodes.

Maybe Fatherhood is softening Tony up.

As a loyal fan of the show, I'd have to say the DC episode was clearly one of the worst ever. It seems like it was slapped together, without the usual creativity, just for the pre-inauguration Monday evening. And it had every trite symbol of DC in the book, such as:

-- Everyone who lives in DC is here for 4-8 years, depending on how long their political appointment!

-- DC has so many spies, oooohhh!

The admitted unplanned segment at the chicken place in Arlington was another sign that there was little thought put in.

Still love the show, but with the high expectations of a hometown episode, this was a real clunker.

The make your own place was called Pizza Paison (spelling?) and it was on the east side of the Pike, just south of where Rt.28/First Street intersects. My sister worked there in high school.

We were in the mood for seafood this Columbus day and headed over. Really an excellent lunch. Entree was the rockfish in a really good light cream sauce with artichokes and mushrooms. But the highlight was the Addie's mussels appetizer, which was the best sauce I've ever had with mussels. In fact, this would go great with any seafood. We asked for the recipe and the chef would not reveal it. However, we were told that the ingredients were a combination of saffron, garlic, shallots, lemon, tomatoes, chili flakes and lots of butter.

If anyone has adapted the recipe or somehow knows it, would greatly appreciate if you'd share.

Also tried a box about a month ago, a gift from my Dad. He went to Penny because he forgot that the other Olney chocolatier had moved to Bethesda.

They went over really well with the family....it seems these are excellent chocolates.

Have probably had 5 or so hot dogs at the park this year, and just like susanmab, the only place I have hot dogs is at the ballpark. Have had no problem with them all year long, including the delicious half smoke I had at Tuesday's game against the Mets.

We had a very nice overall experience here on Saturday night. Went a la carte as the tasting menus are just a composition of various items on the regular menu, so we went with what we wanted. Had the grits and escolar apps, painted gazpacho, chicken and salmon entrees and chocolate espresso cheesecake and peanut butter tart for dessert.

Everything was good to great but would particularly highlight the shocked escolar, which was really tender and buttery with some nice accompaniments, as well as the orange scented salmon, cooked to a perfect medium rare, with a side of yuca couscous which was surprisingly crunchy.

Service was excellent and it's a really contemporary, relaxing room. And nicely packed in for a holiday weekend so good to see the place is doing well.

Fuck that. Have an actual counter point?

Dude's a groupie. A persistent and almost shrill groupie. Nothing opaque about it. But he is persistent enough that I made Ashburn a meal destination.

The specifics of the meal aren't important. What I remember is watching high school kids coming to their part time job. Normal suburban high schoolers acting the way they should - taking the world in. They all stood around a big oven and tasted something. A few heads bobbed yes. When I asked my waitress where something came from she told me. "Down the road." I worked at a place in high school that was a local favorite. When the "Chef" ran out of the yellow goo the food was cooked in he'd look up at the ceiling and roar, "more jizz!" Then I'd run the stairs to get a new jug. If anyone had asked me where it came from I would've said "the basement".

I agree. Until someone comes in with a negative food review, there really is no valid counterpoint.

One can always choose not to read if they are bothered.

So because your fiancee couldn't finish her meal it shouldn't appear on the bill???

We don't know all the facts, such as how much of the food was left.

If the food was thrown away by mistake, which has happened to us a few times, the restaurant has always made a new order to make up for it and we've been quite happy with that solution.

If TB really did not have containers, which seems highly unusual, it would seem being comped is the correct solution.

Actually, you just agreed with what I said. Reference map here. Those two lots off Woodmont (31 & 57) fill up by 7p on Fri/Sat, and you can spend quite a while driving up and down looking for a spot. However, garages 47 (Waverly and Mongomery) and 49 (Woodmont near the Metro) never fill up, and are less than a 10 minute walk. And garages 35 (Woodmont & Rugby) & 11 (Woodmont & O.Georgetown) are on the free Bethesda Circulator route that runs until 2am on weekends.

Thanks for providing. This is a good education for folks. Garage 57 and lot 31 are the "go-to's" for most going to the south side and they are absolute nightmares on the weekends.

There are a lot of factors that are somewhat unique to the area that I think affect Bethesda as a dining destination. First, there's such a huge number of restaurants in such a small space that it's inevitable that most of them WON'T be great, hence the reputation for mediocrity. Given sky-high rents, it's hard to find "bargains" there - even neighborhood Chinese places have to charge a few bucks more for every dish than they would in Rockville. And, though there is a LOT of money in Potomac/Bethesda, which should support some great restaurants, there is also a lot of silver hair, so early birds and "safe" dishes drive many places. The insane Mont Co wine/beer/liquor sales laws do not help. But, with a few exceptions, Bethesda has very few chains, so at least you're supporting a local business most of the time.

One thing that's not deserved is the parking reputation. Except for the south tip of Bethesda at prime time on Fri/Sat, the garages never fill up, which means you're never more than 1-2 blocks from parking. A number of the high-end places have valet parking. And a secret is that the NORTH end of Bethesda garages never fill up, and they have a free shuttle that runs from there to the south end!

The only thing that's clearly missing is a "top 10 in the DC area" destination restaurant. We don't have a Komi, Eve, CityZen, Citronelle, etc. Lots of cheap eats a few minutes away in Rockville, and there are many very good moderate-to-expensive places, but nothing top-tier. Maybe that also drives the mediocrity reputation.

All in all, I think Bethesda is a far better dining destination than it was 5 years ago, and between Bethesda, Rockville (and RTC), I rarely have to leave Mont Co to find whatever I want to eat, from cheap eats to special occasion.

Agree with everything here except the parking. I live in Bethesda and basically refuse to go to the South side on Fri/Sat due to the lack of parking after 6pm in the immediate area. This includes the stacked lot and even the outside pay lot. There's been too many times I've gone into the stacked lot, gone all the way to the top with no spaces found and had to come back down. That whole process can take 30 minutes in itself. If you feel like walking (about 10 minutes), there are stacked lots on the other side of Wisconsin Avenue, near the road that becomes East-West Highway, that have availability even on Fri/Sat.

We did some picking at the local farm yesterday and got a ton of strawberries. We also noted the muted flavor.

Last year, the berries were smaller and sweeter. I'm wondering if that's due to the near-drought conditions last year vs. the rainy conditions this year? Not sure how the science works.

Just wanted to shout out that Eamonn's is still doing great stuff in Old Town. The family had two orders each of the fried cod and the chicken bites. Can't imagine that you can do fried fish any better this and the chicken is what you'd wish fast food would be. All great ingredients and cooked with care. The fries are good, not great, but when you add in the homemade sauces, they are elevated. We got the chile, caper/olive combo and the curry. I don't like olives but that one was my favorite due to the flavor intensity, especially with the fries. The curry went really well with the fish. To top it all off was the excellent fried snickers. Batter, sweet and creamy at the same time---how can you go wrong?

Can't really eat this kind of meal too often to keep the arteries unclogged, but for a price of less than $40 for a family of 5, it will be pretty tempting.

For decent fajitas in the 'burbs, definitely try Rio Grande. There's a few of 'em around the area.

I could not more strongly disagree with this: as noted above the original Hofberg's on Eastern Avenue. I remember going to Attman's and a second deli (whose name I cannot remember) in high school in the early '60's. Decent deli but both were far behind Hofberg's. What I DO remember was a competition between D. C. and Baltimore for deli (of all things) and the refusal of friends of mine in Baltimore then to admit that Hofberg's was superior let alone far superior to Attman's or the other deli. Regardless, then, Hofberg's was THE standard that Duke's/Posin's/Parkway et al all aspired to. Years later Hofberg's open at Randolph and Nicholson but it had NOTHING in common with the Eastern Avenue original.

Can't really comment on Hofberg's in the 60's (too young) but in today's world, Attman's is the best deli hands down in the DC/Balt metroplex. Katz's in NYC is the best I've ever had but Attman's is the second best. Anyone else have an Attman's experience? Nothing in the DC area approaches its quality. I agree that the DC area needs even a good deli.

I think there's pretty much universal agreement that the Bethesda Raku is superior, top-to-bottom.

It was really buzzing here both in the restaurant and take out orders with the big game going on. They were particularly on their game here last night, with the pizza being excellent (though I've never had a bad experience in the 10+ times I've been). Enjoyed the pizza special with calamari and assorted vegetables (and a tinge of some hot peppers), the ever-reliable norcia (salami) and a margherita extra (w/cherry tomatoes) that shows how great simple pizza can be.

Had holiday lunch here yesterday and need to put in a good word. Central is an excellent experience from top to bottom: great food and relaxed service and atmosphere. Heck, even the bathrooms are modern looking and memorable.

We got most of the standards mentioned previously. Outstanding were the plump mussels in a lovely rosemary tinged broth, the corned beef sandwich (how they get such great flavor, who knows) and the kit kat dessert. A notch lower was the lobster burger, not because it was not delicious, but because the value at $32 just did not seem to be there. Also, the french fries that come with both sandwiches were a mixed bag---the crisp ones were great but many were somewhat limp and soggy.

Also had to try the Blusser on tap. It was a very good Belgian pils and gave it a go because of its exclusivity at Central. A bit cold yesterday for a beer but it will be much more satisfying on a hot summer day.

For the record, the ten or so times I've ordered the spicy noodles with spinach, I've never asked for any special level of spice---just gotten what they have given me. I guess it's worth asking for more spice. But that's just an added pain that I may or may not remember to do. It's a shame that there seems to be a downward trend.

Recently ordered an array of our favorites and have to say I was a little disappointed. Now, not so good at Joe's is still much better than most Chinese in the area so hopefully it was just an off night. Maybe others out there have been recently with experiences that were excellent. Joe's is usually so good that I've probably raised the bar too high.

A26 Shredded Pork w/Hot Pepper and Pressed Bean Curd--hit the mark with that nice pepper and onion flavor.

N36 Spicy Noodle w/Spinach and Ground Pork-- this is usually my favorite dish but was strangely flat. Not enough spice in the hot sauce and not enough ground pork, so was mostly noodles with spinach and a thin red sauce.

V13 Eggplant w/Basil in Garlic Sauce-- again, the basil flavor was flat and there is usually magic with the combination of garlic and basil that makes this scrumptious. Something again missing here.

T11 Salty and Crispy Squid-- what has done it for me in the past is all that garlicky stuff on the bottom that goes great with the squid. The squid was fine but the flavors again were missing.

T14 Fish Fillet w/Pine Nuts-- great as always. The mild sauce worked beautifully with the nuts and white fish. Really good.

Second the Urban BBQ in Rockville.....

mmmmm.......more trouble with the press. Is there a trend here?

Fabio's departure is a blow to DC dining and yet I still feel grateful that we had such a great chef in our midst for quite a long time.

The issue that comes to mind is that DC still has a long way to go to approach the level of restaurants that are in NYC. Yes, we've come a long way. But though we have the disposable income to compete with New York, as we see from the comments by the Chef himself, the tastes of the general population in this area are not as well developed.