eroica38

Based on the rave review in the January Washingtonian, my wife and I recently decided to have dinner at Anada as we live but a few miles south. The setting is quite grand, but alas the food was mediocre at best. I had the almond-crusted lamb chops and my wife had shrimp buna as main dishes. Both dishes were not hot, just barely warm, when they arrived, further they were both underspiced and flavorless bland. My lamb chops appeared to have been grilled earlier in the evening. We have had much better food at numerous steam table lunch time buffets. Lastly our waiter disappeared after delivering our food giving us no opportunity to get the food set right. In sum, I agree the above "meh" comment as to the food.

Was thinking of trying the new Attman's this Friday and was surprised as to the silence since July. Has anyone been there recently?

The wife and I finally got to try Range this Saturday evening and it was not a happy experience at all. First the good: We were immediately seated, our waiter expertly explained how the menu worked and we ordered a good bottle of Rhone wine through the Sommelier. From there it was down hill. We ordered a sequential set of four dishes - goat cheese ravioli, a pizza, pan seared halibut and hanger steak. Alas each one arrived at tepid room temperature. We were quite hungry when the ravioli arrived and we each tucked in before realizing it was quite cold. When our cold pizza arrived we were on guard and returned it. The replacement pizza arrived at the proper temperature. We did not fuss the lukewarm halibut but returned a cold portion of hanger steak. It was replaced by an equally cold new portion. The manager finally came over and apologized. He took the steak off the bill and comped us one dessert.. That was a nice gesture but the meal was quite lumpy. On leaving Range I watched the food delivery process for a bit. IMHO it is flawed - food sits for a long time waiting for server pickup, the plates are not pre-warmed, and the distance from kitchen to the far reaches of the dining room is long. The result is room temperature food delivered to the table.

Over the past five years or so I have experienced their products in both Paris and London, especially one branch near Convent Garden in London. They have great breads, wonderful pastry and excellent sandwiches. They bake a variety of breads including croissant. Prices have been very reasonable too. Some branches have sit down space. I eagerly await their DC venture.

Hooray, what a pleasant piece of news hidden in the Manhattan Deli thread - perhaps it deserves its own thread. On frequent business trips to London Paul was my go to place for consistently good pastries and sandwiches. On my way to Heathrow I would often stop at Paul near Convent Garden for breakfast and my in-flight picnic. IMHO Paul is way better than Prete a Manger. I would expect them to open several shops in the area as a single node will not be viable. I eagerly await a slice of their plum tart.

Please put me down for The Sichuan Pavilion lunch and the waitlist me for the tour. I quess I should check this list more often ....

Ruan Thai will shortly be doubling their dining room space. The caterer next door has moved and Ruan Thai is expanding into 1/2 of the caterer's old space. They expect to have the new space up and running in "about 2 months." The new space comes with at least two more parking spaces (hooray). The new parking spaces are available now. I was there last Friday and the food is as good as ever.

I have been to Siriwan Thai three times now - two lunches and one dinner. So far i have sampled Spring rolls - very good, fried dumplings - excellent and not seen before, Tomyum Chicken soup - better than most, Drunken noodle - excellent and spicy, Crispy basil duck - wonderful and just the right spice level, Ka Pow - ok but under spiced. Server says until we know you tell us what spice level you want. They were busy at dinner, almost a full house and we came late. Lunchtime crowd is a wee sparse. All in all this is a good place hidden in scenic Cloverly just north of the Safeway. BTW I asked the server if the chef had worked at Nava Thai and he said no.

That could work for me too - what's our fancy??

I went to Joe's for my Sichuan food fix yesterday and found they have new and very broad lunch time menu. They have initiated a lunch menu with over thirty "home style" items on it. Lunch is an economical $6.50/$7.50 including soup for traditional Sichuan food. I had a wonderful and properly spiced beef w/cumin. I am planning to work my way through this delightful new menu.

Menu looks great, pls put me down for two. that's eroica38 +1

Me too, me too - shooting to be at their door by 11:30 am.

I would love lunch at Sichuan Pavilion - Thursday/Friday works for me.

I have often stopped at Silver Fountain for a week day dim sum lunch and never seen a cart. I believe they have carts only on Saturdays and Sundays. That said, their dim sum offerings are consistently good. Until Hollywood East 2 rises from the ashes of Hollywood East 1 this is my go to place for dim sum. Count me in for a dim sum Sunday.

Their address is 11315 Fern Street is in Wheaton. Fern Street is two blocks east of Georgia Ave and runs parallel to it The restaurant is just south of where Fern Street intersects University Blvd. Their telco number is 301 929 2822.