Kanafa

I guess I'm a little more gullible (laugh!) So, what does Helen order? I could use a few suggestions from the menu, and don't tell me hummus, I love it, but that doesn't round out s meal at Mama Aisha's. They have an amazing menu there. I'd love some advice on how to order for two or three people. When we went in a group and my Ustath (prof) ordered, we all shared a delicious bunch of mezes. But if I go with 2 or 3 novices for dinner, how best to order for us? It's almost like asking how to be a great host. I'd love some advice. Thanks, Tamara

Hey! I'm confused a bit by these posts! I found Mama Aisha's elegant, beautiful, and delightful. I did notice a couple of issues--it's hard to get to by metro (a couple of blocks walking or more) and it's hard to park around the Adams Morgan area. I also thought the food was Palestinian. Is it more Lebanese than Palestinian? Either way it was delightful, and unbelievably luxurious, as well as affordable. The only thing that prevents me from going there more often is the parking and (embarrassed): sometimes not knowing how to order. I had the delight of going there last with an Arabic language teacher and he helped all of us students order great and delicious foods, some were mezes, appetizers, but others were meals--like the chicken with powdered sugar--amazingly good food all around. I recommend the dining experience there as an A+ for food and ambiance. It's beautiful and a lovely and healthy experience all around. I felt as though I was the guest of Royalty when we ate there. That's a nice experience! Tamara

Thanks Leviathan, That is a wonderful Article! Not only did it give Chinese cooking the honor it so deserves, but I learned a few things about different cooking methods that I had taken for granted--I had begun to think only of ingredient combinations instead of the added layer of subtlety with preparation, more even than just 'fried or steamed or stir fried'. Nice article! Er, the visual from the next blogger was pretty amusing too. I took a year of Mandarin, so I can't laugh as hard as I used to about foiled translations. I used to collect bad translations, but then I tried to read and write the other language. hahahaha! Not to easy! Food is easier! so many choices, tonight I'm not sure what to eat, Seriously, I think that happens to amateur cook explorers: it's overwhelming when you look in the fridge and see so many possibilities. Sometimes, I wish I only knew about one or two spices, one or two recipes, but the universe is full of possibility, Tamara

Hi All, I hope I found the right webpage for newcomer introductions. My husband and I work in software and love to cook, anything from simple to complicated. Our gardening skills are being tested, as we are from the Southwest--everything is slightly different here! We've also found that there are an overwhelming number of choices for dining out here, but where to start? And what's really excellent/unusual/funky/fabulous/well designed? Moving to a different part of America is a real challenge for us after years in the Southwest. Back home I'd learned the restaurants and markets. Our first good find here was Crystal Thai--the service is excellent, the atmosphere is lovely--the beautiful attire of the wait people is visually very nice, the food is very good. Recently we discovered the Sunflower restaurant, which thoroughly meets the Vegan needs of our daughter and pleases us all with it's variety. (husband is not really interested in Vegetarian, but still likes the menu offerings there.) We also love La Tasca tapas, Henry's, Red,Hot&Blue, Lebanese Taverna, Stray Cat/Lost Dog---We like all kinds of food. Recently word of mouth led us to Artisan's Confections, and the whole family was stunned with their fabulous chocolates. Okay, here's me: I'll try almost anything, humble, funky, whatever, sharing a meal is a spiritual experience, then, here's my mother, who received the chocolates recently: Martha Stewart/World SeasonedArtist/a serious "Excellence" snob--she loved Artisans! I was really proud to be able to offer those chocolates, . Those are the kinds of win experiences that we have been looking for here in the D.C. area. So we're interested in everything, from just really good to amazing. We're currently in need of some recommendations for Vegetarian/Japanese/Asian in the Arlington area. We once naively traveled on 95 for 2 hours in traffic to find that a Centerville restaurant in the Washington Post Restaurant review was a darn chain restaurant, and while tasty in a fattening/unhealthy style, wasn't worth our time or travel. Andrew Weil has had a serious influence on how I cook and what I choose to feed my family; Anthony Bourdain has made eating out and cooking fun. So stereotype me! Not! please. We are eclectic in that we will eat a delicious French or Eastern European meal one night, and then balance it with Asian or simple or healthy the next night, so I don't think we're snobs-- we do like the dining experience to be tasty, interesting, and preferably healthy. My husband would love to find a really good Mexican restaurant locally--on the order of El Charro in the West . There's a Mexican restaurant near Santa Fe in Los Alamos, New Mexico, that is so good you can never quite compare another restaurant to it. And Cisco's, in Austin, Tx has the best Migas in the known universe in my opinion. Does anyone make Migas here? Scrambled eggs with fresh tomatoes, a few corn chips, and cheese? (shudder--it might even be Velveeta!) Sounds so simple, but I've not been able to reproduce it in my kitchen. I'd like to find a great Indian restaurant locally--I've found one in Fairfax but that's a bit far for us to drive most nights. Clarendon's Delhi Club was awesome on atmosphere but my fish curry was bland, maybe I chose the wrong dish for me. Tandoori Nights was exquisite the one time we dined there. Any others recommended? Mama Aisha's in Adams Morgan was astounding to me, but we went with a person who knew what to order, so, just like the issue with Dim Sum, I'm not sure how well I would do ordering on my own. If I forgot some nationality, Ethiopian, Estonian, Afghani, please let me know what to try! <smile> Also, currently I'm searching everywhere for vegetarian dishes to cook that taste good. We've done a lot of experimenting with Indian and Asian cooking, and dabbled in MiddleEastern and Mediterranean. I find it interesting that the world's best dishes really share a finite, know-able set of spices and ingredients. I recently made "Kanafa" from an online recipe given to me, and it was delicious, but oddly, it was so gentle in it's sweetness that I began to worry that a high fructose corn syrup culture might not be able to enjoy it as much as one without that history. Any opinions? We look forward to learning from you about where to eat and where to shop for ingredients, and we are honored to be privy to this list of area expert opinions, Tamara