Roo

Open now with lines out the door before 11:45am. Lots of salivating people in line. Took a while to get the food but I'm sure kinks will get worked out over time. The breakfast taco I'm finishing off now is as excellent as anything I've had at the Arlington location and the salsa is great, as well. I'm also excited that they plan on being open to 10pm. Will be a great location for a quick bite before or after happy hours.

My wife and I had a pretty good meal here last night. We were on the early side, but it was still nice to be able to walk in without a reservation and be seated immediately, which is becoming next to impossible on a Friday night anywhere along the U St. or 14th St. corridors. My wife (with much better design taste than me) was very impressed with the interior space. Intricate details, lots of little touches without being overdone. The best thing I ate all night was definitely the Merguez sausage, piquillo pepper and polenta starter. The polenta was very creamy and flavorful and I easily cleaned my plate of the not-insubstantial portion, followed by briefly considering whether to order another plate of the same. My wife's beet salad was also excellent. I can't quite say the same of the entrees. My plate of gnocchi with duck confit was clearly superior to my wife's chicken breast with chorizo over paella. I agree with the poster above who appreciated the gnocchi - it was certainly the highlight of the dish. However, I didn't feel like the gnocchi and the confit meshed all that well. Each was good on its own (especially the gnocchi), but I didn't think they really tied together in the dish. A bit more seasoning may also have helped. Regardless, I enjoyed the dish even if not quite to the level of the sausage and polenta. My wife's chicken and paella was just plain bland. It looked very nice on the plate but totally lacked flavor. The chicken breast was cooked fine and remained juicy but didn't inspire any interest. The paella rice was very meh. Dessert perked up with a beignet dish easily big enough to share. I would order it again in a flash. Between the gorgeous space and most of the dishes we tried, I'm sure we'll be back again. The wine store downstairs (Boston Wine Company) was also pretty cool with a very friendly and engaging owner.

We used the "old" Corduroy and couldn't have been more pleased. The new location would be even better, I imagine. Not sure if they can handle everyone upstairs but perhaps renting out the downstairs would be possible.

Had dinner in the dining room on Friday night, about two hours after they had opened their doors for the first time. All the food we had was really terrific. Prices were generally reasonable in appearance, although the small portions (at least for what we ordered) means that you must order a few plates to complete a meal. We started with charcuterie and cheese -- prosciutto, a (very) spicy coppa and an Italian cow's milk cheese whose name escapes me. All three were very good, especially the cheese, although the plate was no bargain at $15. We split the Posto salad, also excellent, with a nice mix of salty cheese and crunchy walnuts. For entrees, the two of us each had pasta - tortelli and gnocchi. The flavors on each were great and I would not hesitate to order either, though the small portion size means that a starter is a necessity. Next time I'm going to try the pizza - a number looked really appetizing. For dinner we split the mascarpone mousse with coffee ice cream and chocolate "shot" which hit all the right (read: chocolate) buttons. All in all there was not a single miss with any of the dishes. Service was definitely hectic and spotty, but being that the doors had been open for all of two hours it was more than acceptable.

The smoked bluefish hash is currently my favorite thing on the menu here. Actually, it is likely my currently favorite thing on any menu anywhere. Available lunch or dinner! The bluefish is good as well. But that hash!

Sat at the bar and tried the "Three Day Chicken." A full meal (half a chicken) for $10. I'm pretty sure the chicken, which is described as being brined for two days and marinated with garlic and cumin for one, is an homage to El Pollo Rico down the street, especially the "zesty rico sauce" that accompanies the dish. I think it also compares very favorably, coming out juicy with a crispy enough, and spicy enough, skin. The bar is smaller than I thought, and I actually had to wait a bit to grab a seat. But the regular seating in the restaurant is self-service, first-come-first-serve, which is a clever concept. Next time I think I'll try the burger, as it is clearly the centerpiece of the menu. I hope they also plan to serve food late (til midnight at least) -- it is tough to get food late at night in this neighborhood.

I had a really great early dinner last night on Tallula's patio. The Gnome's Water cocktail (Hendrick's, lime, cucumber) was perfect for the warm weather evening. A really refreshing cocktail. My wife's cocktails (The Alchemist and the Blushing Tart) were excellent as well. The Amuses continue to be a standout. Especially liked the Ceviche (esp. in this weather), and the Crab Pot Sticker is just as good as the first time I had it. At about two bites per two people (i.e., four bites), it is a great chance to sample some intense flavors. I went and ordered the foie gras and was very glad that I did. I don't have a lot of experience with foie, but I loved how all the flavors combined together (quail egg, candied peach) in a rich-but-not-too rich bite. We also had the sunchoke soup -- good, no complaints, but not the home runs of the other dishes. Lastly, we split the vidalia onion ravioli. A really perfect spring dish to my mind. Just enough sweetness from the onions, a bit of richness from the ricotta. Five dishes and four drinks, just a tad over $100. Attentive, friendly service, too.

Given that my other nearby lunch options are the USDA cafeteria, Cafe Mozu or the deli inside the FCC building, I find myself at the Potbelly's that recently opened next to the Mandarin Oriental probably three times a week. Even though the line is nearly out the door half the time, they do an admirable job of getting everyone their sandwich in about 10 minutes. The sandwiches are a huge step above Subway and Quizno's, and the sandwich makers are fun and friendly to boot. And I'll second (third?) the praise for the peppers and the oatmeal cookies.

My wife and I ate here early last night, on the basis of a rave recommendation of a friend who lives in the neighborhood. I would describe the restaurant (on first blush) as having a pedestrian but well executed menu. A solid addition to the neighborhood. We started with the french onion soup and the portobello and tomato caponata. Both were basic renditions but the flavors were right on. The caponata was probably my single favorite dish of the evening. For dinner, we had the pork chop and the gnocchi. Neither plate was frankly much to look at, but the flavors were again certainly there. Well seasoned, fresh tasting. But they were still gnocchi in a cream sauce and a pork chop over mashed potatoes, not very inspiring. That said, the prices were reasonable and they were competently executed. I am still rather novice when it comes to wine, but the wine list didn't strike me as having much interesting, and there were only a few wines by the glass. Though, prices were moderate so I am really not complaining. The space itself is pretty cool looking, with a nice, light-filled front room with the bar and more tables located in the back. Service was friendly if on the novice side. It wasn't too busy so we had plenty of attention and management was friendly and available to answer lots of questions. I'm not sure I exactly share my friend's rave about the place, but we walked out thinking we got a fairly good value for the money. It would be nice to see a bit more adventurous menu and wine list. I'm still partial to Granville Moore's in the area, but this place is a good addition.

The crispy fluke entree is tremendous. I really enjoy the herbed sauce that accompanied the crisp fish. My wife had the chicken, which we hadn't ever had before. Great flavor. The space is wonderful, as others have described. I'm looking forward to eating at the rather more expansive bar at some point.

Friday evening, 6:00pm, 70 degrees and sunny. Perfect time to grab a beer and a snack outdoors somewhere before meeting friends for dinner later. Noting that this is one of the first Friday evenings of the year with truly glorious weather, I anticipate that roofdecks and patio-side dining areas will be jammed all over the city. I recall success in years past with the roofdeck of Straits of Malaya and hope we can manage to score a table. Fears of overflowing patios are confirmed at numerous restaurants passed on the walk from the metro. Geez, there is already a line outside Lauriol Plaza. We ascend to the top of the stairs at the Straits, hoping we will be lucky. We see at least a dozen perfectly set tables gleaming in the early evening light. One table in the back over by the rail is taken. Two Tiger beers, one order of Five Spice rolls and several handfuls of shrimp chips, all is well with the world. Service was attentive and friendly. The place did fill up a bit over the course of the 45 minutes or so we spent enjoying the sun. The Five Spice rolls were very good, if unexpected in appearance. A description of "Malaysian meatloaf" is appropriate. The accompanying dipping sauce, with a nice amount of chili-based spice, is a must for the dish. I've yet to eat a full dinner here, but it is really hard to top their roofdeck on a nice day - and it is easy to pity the hordes jamming LP across the street.

After several very mediocre Five Guys' burgers, I started wondering what all the fuss was about. And comparisons to my home state's In-N-Out? Hah! Ok, so the first two were from the location at National Airport, so I knew I had to cut the chain some slack. I still haven't had a great Five Guys burger in VA (but my experience there is slight). However, my last three burgers at the Chinatown location have been terrific. After the first, I thought "wow, I finally get it." I'm still not a huge fan of the well-done burger, but the flavorful toppings and good bun more than make it a good bite. That said, I nearly always have to remove a patty (or two! - last time it came stacked three high!) in order to really appreciate the burger.

Stopped by on Sunday for brunch. Definitely wanted to like the place, as from the outside it appeared like it could be a perfectly charming neighborhood restaurant. The place remained about half full most of the time we were there, and looked to be populated by a fair cross section of locals. The gentleman who served us (one of the brothers?) was very nice and attentive, even if it did take a while for our food to be served. However, two problems stood out. The first was that the entire dining room next to kitchen (the bar is the front room, farther back is the small dining room) smelled of the kitchen grill. I think they need to invest in a better grill hood. When we stood up to leave, I could see a fair haze of smoke hovering over the entire room. My jacket retained the distinctive smell of grilled meat and cheese (cheeseburgers seemed to be the most commonly ordered item while we were there). Second, my burger was completely mediocre. Ordered medium, it came out well-done. The bun was dry and tasteless, as were the lettuce, tomato and raw onion toppings. No mayo, no mustard. I had to resort to ketchup to coax any flavor out of it. Not what I expected for $9. As a $5 burger at a cheap diner, sure, but this was a disappointment. Why did I not complain at the time, then? Well, I was pretty much starving after waiting about 40 minutes, and didn't want to wait another ten or more minutes. And (most of) the fries were pretty good. Plus the chances are fairly remote we will be back in that specific area any time in the future. I'm trying to get better at taking the advice of the restauranteurs on this board and speaking up when less-than-satisfied, but sometimes my (likely flawed) calculus tells me that it is not worth the effort. If we lived in the area, I would likely want to try it again, perhaps for dinner. The immediate neighborhood seems to be calling out for a decent restaurant. But we are unlikely to skip over all of the other options along 14th St. for Veranda any time soon. Sorry I can't give a more positive report.

Last night was my first experience at Rasika, and the restaurant really shone. I had just completed a multi-month project work at work and was looking for a last minute chance to relax and enjoy a good meal. A scan on OpenTable revealed a 6:30pm slot for Rasika, a place my wife and I have been meaning to try for quite some time. Not having had the time to check DR.com for dish recommendations, I scanned the menu and was overwhelmed at the number and variety of choices, many of which looked very good. Fortunately, I noticed that they have a four-course tasting menu that looked pretty reasonably priced at $55. We were glad to put ourselves in the waiter's hands and have him select the courses for us. We started with the crispy spinach Palak Chaat that a few people on this board have praised, and I would agree with their assessment. I doubt I would have ordered the dish if the waiter hadn't insisted that it was their "signature" appetizer. The crispy texture was unexpected, and the yogurt and chutney sauce was very delicious. Still, I think I preferred the second savory a bit more, which I think was the Sev Batati Puri. Little biscuits with a fantastic tamarind chutney on top with a bit of crispy vermicelli for texture. The next course brought my single favorite dish of the evening, the Fish Chutneywala, a perfectly cooked piece of tilapia with a very flavorful, quite spicy mint-cilantro sauce. We also had the crab cakes, but I wasn't quite as big a fan of these. The orange sauce was a bit overwhelming and the flavor of the crabcakes quite subdued. By the time the two curries arrived -- Chicken Makhani and Lamb Dhansak, we were becoming dangerously full. Both curries were very good and served with their own different rice, basmati for the chicken and a flavorful brown rice for the lamb. Still, we managed to maybe eat half of each entree before just becoming too full. Fortunately, we managed a tiny bit of room after a few minutes for the closer of apple beignets and cardamom ice cream. The beignets were very flavorful, and just the right size to close the evening. To drink, we had a bottle of Kabinett Riesling that took extremely well to each of the courses, especially the more spicy ones. Finally, service was very good throughout. We are definitely eager to return, but I would probably forego the tasting menu (too much food!) and focus mostly on the savory appetizers and other small plates. While the curries were both very good, I didn't get the sense that they were a cut above, say, the Delhi Club. But the first parade of small dishes made the experience quite memorable, and not at an outrageous price.

I watched the Stanford/UCLA game upstairs at Penn Quarter Tavern last Saturday early evening and was mildly impressed. Upstairs were numerous quite large flat screen TVs that were tuned in to a few different games. My wife and I had the cheeseburger and the turkey pesto sandwich. Each was much better than I thought they would be, given the standard sports bar vibe of the place. A major plus was that the bread seemed of good quality and the ingredients fresh. Service, however, was definitely slow and indifferent, especially given that the place was not very crowded. We waited at least 10 minutes for our first round of beers, which is criminally long when you are in a half-empty sports bar and are watching basketball. I would definitely return, but be wary of decent service if the place is too full.

My "Never Again" experience regarding Whitlow's was when they tried to charge my two friends and I the $5 cover at 8:57pm. The $5 cover is only charged starting at 9:00pm. When we pointed out this fact to the bouncer, and (very politely, I swear) showed him our cell phones with the time registering at 8:57pm, he told us we'd have to ask the guy standing next to him (the manager?). This guy, who overheard the first part of the transaction, just looked at us, shrugged, and said "5 bucks." So we left. And I went to the Galaxy Hut for the first time, which proved much better than Whitlow's ever had been. The sheer indifference of the bouncers, trying to blantantly rip us off and not caring if we left, upped the experience to a "Never Again."

Take it out of the fat, toss in a hot cast iron pan for a few minutes to brown, then the whole thing into an oven until heated through. Or shred the meat, put it a food processor with a tablespoon or more of the fat, and briefly chop until you have rillettes. Spread over toasted country bread with plenty of pepper. Or shred the meat and make duck confit burritos. Mmm, I just made myself hungry and fortunately enough I have some duck legs I confited a month ago sitting in my fridge.

My wife and I are not necessarily excited about restaurant week because we get to try new places that we couldn't otherwise afford. It seems for many of the restaurants participating in RW, $30 isn't that much of a deal -- perhaps a free dessert -- based on their normal prices. And generally the menus are much more limited. However, we DO get excited about RW because it seems like it provides a convenient excuse to invite friends or coworkers out to dinner and have them say yes. People seem to be generally more interested in eating out during RW even if little money is actually saved. So I look forward to RW simply because I know we can usually get some interesting company to join us. Now, maybe we just need to either remember to invite friends out with us on other weeks of the year, or develop more sparkling personalities but RW usually ends up being pretty fun.

I made my first veal stock this weekend, inspired in part by this thread. I got the veal bones at Balducci's in McLean, where they were nice enough to cut them up for me. The butcher also couldn't recall how to charge me for veal bones, so charged me for beef bones instead. Not too bad. I used the recipe from Tom Colicchio's "Think Like a Chef," which is a white stock (or at least the bones aren't roasted). Next time, I'll probably go for a brown stock. Looking forward to using the stock, maybe with the mushrooms and shallot sauce from the eGullet thread linked above?

Twice in the past few weeks I've enjoyed the house-cured pastrami at Eat Bar. I feel it is a great dish for $12. Add to it the chorizo and goat cheese stuffed pepper that has been rightly praised in this thread, and you have a filling meal for under $20. The pastrami provides a wonderful contrast between the charred, crunchy, flavorful outside and the melt-in-your-mouth richness of the inside. The pastrami is presented atop a bed of buttery smooth potato puree and a savory reduction sauce that provide a nice counterpoint to the meat. Last night I also tried the acorn and butternut squash soup, which was delicious. Very nicely spiced, and definitely full of good buttery flavor. I am glad that Eat Bar is so close to home, and I've enjoyed making the acquaintance of the friendly bartenders. It is more fun to come back when you are recognized. If only the staff at Eleventh was so welcoming. Both Eat Bar and Eleventh have very good food, but the difference in the warmth of service is stark.

The Menu della Sera really is quite a steal, especially given the nice variety of choices that appear on it. I've only been to Dino a few times, but I feel the food has gotten better with each subsequent trip. This past time, I had the Tris di Crostini and the Papardelle ai Cinghiale. Even though I had ordered the papardelle back during August Restaurant Month, it seemed like the right choice with the excellent Rosso that I was drinking. I'm glad I did order it again, as the chef has re-worked the dish and, in my opinion, taken it to a new level. The sauce is definitely thicker, and really holds to the pappardelle well, giving each bite lots of flavor. The three crostini were also far and away better than previous times I've ordered the appetizer, with each having a nice bit of spice tempered with richness from the olive oil. A major selling point of the menu della sera for me is that you can swap another starter for dessert as one of the three courses! Even though I've liked Dino desserts in the past, it was great to be able to add an heirloom tomato salad as my middle course. I really wish this restaurant was closer to home, but a trip up the Red Line isn't too far to not make this part of my rotation. It was great to see dirtymartini behind the bar as well. Between Chris and Tom, I definitely enjoy eating at the bar here best.

This is tragic news. He definitely was a pleasure on the few occasions I ate at the Corduroy bar. He told great stories, and usually had me in stitches from laughing so hard.

Scallops at the bar at Corduroy. Especially when Rissa was around.

Tried out the new filet tartare last night. Really exceptional, especially the texture. Go ahead and ask about the crunchy spheres that dot the tartare. I was surprised when I found out what they were!

The GF and I had dinner last night sitting at the bar and had a great time. I hadn't had a chance to sample Chef Burrell's food before but I left impressed and glad that Eleventh is just two blocks from my GF's condo. The two highlights were the chef's crostini of the day with duck pate and carmelized onions, and the beef tartare. I'm not a tartare connesseiur by any means, but this was very good. Probably a higher ratio of mixings to beef than in other versions I've had, but I thought the flavor was well balanced. The BBQ shrimp and leeks were very flavorful, with a good amount of heat, and the leeks lent a nice texture to the dish. We also had the duck confit with egg, which was very rich. I wouldn't put it in the same class as what I had at Corduroy but that is an admittedly high bar. These four "small" plates left the two of us very full. Add in the $3 wine special (perfectly drinkable) and we had a great meal for a bargain price. I look forward to trying quite a few of the other dishes, as we had a hard time just settling on the four we had.