StephenB
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The far end of the bistro. -
My first venture to Restaurant Eve produced mixed results. Obviously, a lot of thought has gone into decorating the premises and planning the menu. But doesn't it stand to reason that when the front desk sees someone who has difficulty walking, as I do, they won't lead him to the table that is absolutely farthest from the front? We were in the first seating of the evening, so almost every table in the place was empty. I had the sense throughout that the servers are incompletely trained. The waitress took our order and then came back to check it, having written it wrong. I had the bouillabaisse, which I've been hankering for, and the broth was tasty and delicious, but there certainly were not the requisite four or six species of fish (according to traditional preparation). It was mostly shellfish -- two shrimp and a welter of inexpensive mussels. I had the goat/lamb cheese platter in lieu of dessert and that was very well done. Well chosen, well aged slices with bread, cherries and slices of fruitcake. I haven't mentioned the cocktail and the tea, which were fine but maybe a little fussy in their presentation. I had taken a look at the online menu before I went, so when the bill came I noticed that all the prices had been raised $1-3 beyond that which they advertise. I understand the menu changes regularly in an active restaurant, responding to availabilities in the market. But if the item is exactly the same as that listed, doesn't the establishment have an obligation to update the price online? This could be construed as bait-and-switch, though I don't think that's true in this case, it's probably just too many things to do. Restaurant Eve is very pretty and ambitious, just as everyone here has said. But there are some commonsense realities that seem to have flown past them.
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A lady I know has been touting this place for weeks, so we went tonight. It's a few doors down from Dino. The d�cor is plastic but the food is worth a trip. We had Crispy Spring Rolls (truly crunchy), Hue Spicy Beef Soup (needed a couple of hits from the spices on the table), Fried Quail (delicate and delicious), and Grilled Pork Hanoi (nice). She had a VN beer, "33," never heard of it. What happened in VN in 1933? And why do they have the name of the restaurant backwards?
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I have a hankering for a good, rib-sticking seafood stew with copious fish, crustaceans, vegetables, etc., not the kind, as at Black Salt and other local eateries, where they just drizzle the bottom of the plate, and certainly not the tomatoed variety, cioppino, that comes from San Francisco. Where around here do they pile it on so that a bowl is a sufficient meal and they don't hold back on oysters, clams, mussels, even (please!) chunks of lobster? It doesn't have to be French and it doesn't have to call itself bouillabaisse. If I could identify the right Portuguese place, that might work. I can taste it, I can see it, but I can't find it.
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Rain, enough to cool things off but not enough to soak us. A teeming crowd, well over the magic number of 30 -- our existence is justified! The benevolent presence of the Don himself. Two personalized pigs, one smooth, the other tangy, both tasty. An ostrich egg, bigger than 24 of the kind that come out of a petite poule, cooked sunny side up. A smoothly-run set-up by Scott and his minions. Comestibles and potables galore. A humongous array of dishes, a bit too heavy on the healthy variety, but plenty of the other kind, too. Yum.
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Scott, you and I seem to be on the same tracks. I have a gallon of Kosher pickles that I planned to bring. I should have mentioned them earlier. Are they now redundant?
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That's a mouth-watering voyage, MC. I do enjoy everything you mentioned. I wish you'd also checked in at Avery Island, where the only American product to be found in any Paris 3-star restaurant, Tabasco Sauce, is grown and produced. In addition to your account, I recommend the late Johnny Apple's tour 6 years ago: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html...751C1A9649C8B63
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Yesterday, Mother's Day, we went to Legal Sea Foods in Montgomery Mall. We ordered a couple of dozen Cherrystones and told the waitress in our mock tough guy voice that if any puny ones were included we'd send them back. A couple of minutes later, the manager bounced over and showed us an unshucked clam. She said sometimes they get bigger ones but this was it for the day (in a month without an r). We said the size seemed okay, but sometimes you can't tell what's inside. With that, she took her clam and went back to the bar. As it turned out, all 24 were plump, briny and suffused with tart, savory liquid. And LSF does have a good mignonette sauce. I also recommend the top neck clams at Sea Catch. These are the overgrown little necks. And they are really tasty. I have had less success at Black Salt. Their product is unduly expensive and inconsistent. Of course the best bargain around is happy hour at Old Ebbitt's Grill. FIVE DOLLARS FOR A DOZEN LITTLE NECKS if you're there 3-6 Mon-Thurs. They're small, but 3 of my friends and I once ordered a gross! After having le grand plateau de fruits de mer (shellfish platter) at Balthazar in NY one afternoon, a friend and I visited my aunt, a Frenchwoman. She said, "Ah, zees is dangereuse. I almost to die and must go to ze 'ospital." My friend, who happens to have a Putlizer-winning way with words (he has two), said, "That may be so but it would be worth it."
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For the sake of rockwellian integrity, I will try to be negative. One of my sons and I arrived at 6 tonight and there was already a line (but they took us right in). We sat near the kitchen (which I happen to think is a good spot from which to view the room). It was noisy (but what can my son say that I haven't heard before?). The oppressing blank walls need a visit from a muralist. We started with off-the-menu clam chowder (for him) and soupe à l'oignon (for me). I had the diablo sirloin and Lucas had the hangar. The doneness was as we requested, but I'm used to that by now. The portions were generous but not overly so, the take-home will yield a couple of sandwiches, no more. They brought the regular potatoes the first time around and we had to ask for the garlic version. It was distressing to see how quickly all that beautiful food disappeared. My favorite waitperson (Simone) was off having a baby, but the other service people were good, too. The "Place at the Table" gimmick has grown stale -- I no longer get a rush out of knowing that satisfying my gluttony is an eleemosynary act. The always-amusing Michael Landrum was nowhere to be seen. That's it. Everything else was good to good-plus. Drat.
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It sounds like you'll be back just in time for the Fall event. No leftover MRE's, please. And bear in mind both definitions of "duck."
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Don, it sounds like you've done some hard work on behalf of the membership for which I, and I presume others, are duly grateful. Now you have to explain precisely what this card does. A discount -- how much, where, when? Is it limited to certain eateries that are friends of ours? Are there other benefits, such as off-the-menu offerings, banquets, newsletters, extended happy hours, chef's tables? I am happy to see this recognition of our group, but I can't help reflecting on your oft-proclaimed injunction against seeking special favors from restaurants. I believe the establishments are glad to recognize those patrons who really care -- and are likely to return -- and it looks like you've come around to that view also. Or am I misreading the whole thing? In any case, I am excited to hear more. So put me down for a low-numbered card.
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Don, I'm surprised to read of your concern on this issue. I've been to two such events and they've been well attended (and entertainingly raucous). I make more of my specialty deviled eggs each time and they always get scarfed down quickly by marauding hordes. What makes you think that attendance will be paltry this time? How many have signed up so far? My guess is that people will again respond positively to the propspect of unusual, plentiful food and the pleasant camaraderie. I anticipate seeing you and other dr.com acquaintances there.
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That's just what I was going to say. 20 years ago when I was in Kyoto I received a tour of the Kyocera plant (in Spanish, of all things). I was mainly interested in printers but my host wanted to talk about knives. He said the company had come up with a model that was sharper than anything on the market and never needed to be sharpened, lightweight, long-lasting and easy to clean. There was one little problem -- un problemito -- and that was that if you happened to drop it on the tiled floor of your kitchen, and it landed on its point, it would shatter into a thousand pieces. This flaw evidently has not been completely solved. I have a black Kyocera with a six inch blade. Soon after I got it, it acquired a nick in its edge when it encountered a bone. But several years later, it has deteriorated no further. I have been careful not to drop it.
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Une bénédiction, uma bênção, a mitzvah.
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I had dinner the other night at Victor's Grill on Lee Highway, an Argentine joint. My companion and I shared a parillada, enormous amounts of barbecued strip steak, pork chop, chicken, black sausage, and intestine, along with copious salad, rice and french fries. All accompanied by Argentine beer. I had the cebiche appetizer, which may have been the best thing of all. Or maybe the fruity/cream dessert. The service was very attentive, and nobody corrected my Portuguese-accented Spanish. It is not an elegant restaurant, but it is an honest place, and the meat, while not up to RTS standards, is tasty.
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Linda, I am happy to recommend a place in São Paulo, one of the best restaurants I've ever been to anywhere. It's called Antiquarius. The food is Portuguese, with an emphasis on bacalhão (cod). It's expensive and elegant, almost museum quality. The owner is Thales Martins, with whom I became chummy after several visits. If he's there when you go, please tell him I send a forte abraço. If you like churrascaria, the meat carved on your plate, the best place (again in SP) is A Jardineira. Don't make the mistake of passing up the salad bar in order to save room for the meat. (N.B., donrocks!) You want to have a good, balanced, tasty meal, and the salad bar is delectable, light years ahead of anything I've seen in the US, a worthy part of the meal. My friend John C. Dvorak almost cried when he spotted the pickled turnips. There are tons of good Japanese restaurants. The thick-crusted pizza will not remind you of anything you've had around here. Excellent Italian restaurants abound, notably Vila Romana. On the other hand, in all my time there, I was able to find only two Chinese places, and they were not as good as I had hoped. Save time on Wednesday or Saturday afternoon for a feijoada and a soneca (nap). Bom viagem!
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A friend and I indulged in the Orca platter yesterday promptly at the beginning of Happy Hour, 3 p.m. We enjoyed it a lot, especially the large and succulent shrimp and the sweet, easily-accessible lobster. The crab claws seemed not quite thawed, and it would have been useful to have a nutcracker to get the last hunks of meat out of them. The clams were littlenecks, very tasty, and predicatably little. There were six varieties of oysters available. I asked for four each of the Katama Bay (from Martha's Vineyarrd), Rappahonnick River (VA) and Wianno (West Bay MA). They were all good-sized and suitably briny with plenty of liquid. If I had my way, OEG would provide a mignonette sauce in addition to that ketchupy stuff. Parking is a problem down there, but we lucked into a spot a block away. When we were seated, the manager came over and chatted for a moment -- Merle is his name. He is eager to be accommodating, and Rockwellians might want to say hello. The Orca platter is the best plateau de fruits de mer I have had in this area (I haven't tried Kinkead's yet). It is a real bargain, irrespective of the Happy Hour rakeoff. And the quality, with the possible exception of the crab claws, is very high. To my surprise, a bloody mary was only $5, but I'm not sure if that's part of the HH bargain.
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Antonio, Melony says the next time you're there you should speak with her when you order.
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MORTON’S // EBBITT’S “PRIME OCEAN” // “ORCA” $87 // $47 (happy hour) 4 LOBSTER PIECES // 1 LB LOBSTER 4 SHRIMP // 12 SHRIMP 4 CRAB LEGS // 12 CRAB CLAWS 4 OYSTERS // 12 OYSTERS JUMBO LUMP CRABMEAT //————————- ____________________ // 12 CLAMS
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After 6:30, you can park behind the restaurant. There is an alley about three doors past the place, turn in there and then right when you hit open space.
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Not yet. But that's on my list, along with Kinkaid's. Ebbitt's is hard to park at, so do the other Clyde's outlets have the same Orca platter?
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I received an e-mail from Morton's plugging their new "Prime Ocean Platter." The accompanying photo is intriguing, and I am always on the lookout for a plateau de fruits de mer. I have not had a good one in Washington, including Oceanaire (skimpy) and Sea Catch (incomplete). Kudos to the Morton's photographer, but for $87 they're offering 4 shrimp, oysters, lobster pieces, etc. That comes out with tax to about $4.50 per thing. It would be way cheaper to order the ingredients one by one. How can Balthazar in NY provide so much more for only $12 more? To say nothing of Montreal's Au Pied de Cochon or places in Paris like La Coupole and Le Bar à Huitres.
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Excellent report, Matt. Thanks.
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At a Chinese restaurant in Havana, I was served bread and butter. It would be interesting to do a survey of Chinese food as perceived by different cultures -- Thai, Vietnamese, Peruvian, etc. One could do that right here in Washington.
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Is there room for a late starter?