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Has anybody mentioned RT's yet?

What's RT's?

...amazing keilbasa/red onion/tomato/blue cheese/watercress sandwich...

I had this sandwich when I was there late last summer and found it really difficult to eat--too overflowing on too hard a roll to eat with my hands and impossible to eat with knife and fork. Did they tinker with that and fix the problem?

I really like the place too, though--I find it so comfortable and quirky (in a great personality sense, not in a bizarre facial tick sense) I would LOVE to have it in my neighborhood. I'd be such a regular.

Curses! Foiled again!

Is there a Take Out Taxi in DC.  They deliver for a lot of restaurants in Montgomery County.

There is, but A La Carte Express has much better options. But those services can make getting delivery expensive fast, with prorated surcharges based on distance and cost. Plus, it takes them a while. When I found out that Nooshi delivered and that I didn't have to go through A La Carte, I noticed a marked increase in quality and temperature.

Um, no.  You're gonna have to venture out to the 'burbs for the good stuff.  Da Wah closed a few months ago.

Just to make sure: There are NO Asian markets in DC? NONE?

Mango that's amazingly good considering the season, and a biscuit that's amazingly bad considering that I know that place makes bad buscuits yet I still keep buying them.

My agenda every morning:

carefully thought-out ballet-like seating plan

My agenda by the end of the day:

a Chinese firedrill clustershmuck.

Ah, universality...

The Bistro Bis Segway rider has written to the Reliable Source chat in the Washington Post Live OnLine:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/conten...6012701279.html

I won't excerpt it here, but his post is currently halfway down and is identified as "Las Vegas, Nev., and Washington, D.C.:".  He has apparently left his phone number with the Reliable Source ladies.....

[That link isn't working for me. But the discussion is -->HERE<--.]

Half an Italian sub leftover from Vace last night. I know everyone raves about the pizza (including me!), but, people: This Is an Amazing Sandwich. Just meats and cheese and pepper oil & vinegar on a roll... I usually like the works on my sammies, but with ingredients this good, you just don't need anything else. Ahhhh...

But one last...

The owner has been incredibly gracious, professional, and responsive in regards to my original post--really above and beyond the call of duty.

I really believe that it's not the mistake but the response to the mistake that defines a business, which is why I'll enthusiastically return to Dino.

Well here it is 12 days later and your still talking about your experience....I firmly believe that the server was being attentive. Geed servers are trained to keep a careful eye on tables to ensure everything goes smoothly. Perhaps the server picked up that you were UNHAPPY at the time of the delivery of the wine.... If you were the last table in the restaurant, should that have been a HUGH clue that it was time to leave???

If the server was being attentive, we would have gotten the wine before we were halfway through the appetizers and the bread sometime less than a half an hour after we asked (twice) for it. We were not the last table in the restaurant--far from it; we were just the only table in the area. And the only reason I'm "still talking about" it is that people keep asking about it.

I don't get why all the bitchiness. Why are you so angry? I thought this board was for posting our restaurant experiences. But you know better how my evening went than I?

Or maybe you work there...?

I was in Galileo that night, and being unawares of Iron Chef history paid little attention, but the staff said the applause was due to his performance on Iron Chef.

BD

Aha! A confirmation! Anyone know when this will air?

the reviews on page 1 of the thread are uniformly positive (with the exception of the one on the bottom) with lots of use of words like great, delicious, the best etc etc by a variety of different posters....I would consider that well-reviewed (ignoring the whole photo brouhaha)

yes, its expensive, and yes, she's a bit of a diva/inflexible/whatever you want to call it....but to say it hasn't been well-reviewed for the food, not only by DR.com'ers but other critics and other boards is a little unfair.....people are perfectly entitled not to go there because of the bad press.....just means more good food for those who do! 

It's generally accepted to include in a summary of a night at Buck's that "we went in completely expecting to pay an arm and a leg for awful, authoritarian service..."

That is NOT a well-reviewed restaurant.

Still, like you said, one visit really isn't enough to judge a restaurant by.  If so, I never would have returned to Palena which is now a favorite.  Nobody is saying that the prices aren't on the high side, but much of what comes out of the kitchen is excellent.

I think one visit may not be enough to judge a well-reviewed restaurant by, but a mixed bag like Buck's, I'm just not willing to drop the dough...

Did anyone watch the Iron Chef America special Sunday night? If so, did anyone else connect the tidbit in Tom S's chat about Roberto Donna's staff cheering for him with the tidbit in the special about Donna training for a rematch???

They're my primary resource as well. Could a non-subscriber check for us and see if you can get access?

I've found their recipes to be pretty reasonable, i.e. not so constricting as to be flavorless.

On just a quick click-around, I was able to search for recipes and browse menus. I couldn't, however, access any of the "Kitchen Assistant" bits, like the links at the bottom of the recipe for more salads, chicken, whathaveyou.

Also, the articles may or may not be shortened; they seem reasonably complete, but all have a "Want to read more?" at the bottom. This ingredient glossary ends after Thai basil for me. Does yours tell more?

Edited to add: Huh. That's funny. I posted at the same time as goldenticket. Seems like I can get at a lot of the archives as a nonmember, but some of the recipes on the home page are a no-go.

I'm still sort of new here. What's the mailing address for bribes?

"Also, if you drop the check but we still have a half bottle of wine left, there's really no reason to come back every five minutes to see if we've paid, is there?"

Are you certain that is the reason why your server was checking on you?  I've continued to return to tables to refill waters and coffees long after the check has been dropped.  My doing so is not an attempt to push them out the door, but to ensure that they are well-serviced until they choose to leave.  I would rather be accused of hovering than of neglecting my tables.

I suppose one can never be certain about what's in someone else's mind. But we were the only table in the area, and while continually walking all the way over, she didn't actually ever fill up our (empty) waters.

This is a small, tiny complaint though--most likely unnoticeable had the rest gone more smoothly.

Fresh Sunday morning bread???

Well, even if not, I'm interested!

These are the same "it's all about me, so gimme for free" people who expect to be comped entire meals for any misfire in their dining experience... If you're over the age of 12, you shouldn't expect a restaurant to fuss over your birthday. 

Um, no, we're not. I agree with Tom S here--it is still the "hospitality" business, isn't it? If I like to celebrate my birthday at 30, does that make me a stunted adolescent? Why is there something wrong with arriving early to ask the host if we can get a candle in my friend's birthday dessert, which we're paying for?

Most restaurants operate on a thin margin and need to balance their pride in providing a flawless experience....

"Most"? I am clearly dining in the wrong places.

This sounds seriously good!

Did you try different fishes, or stick with red snapper from the start? How were your results with other fish?

Attended Chef Roberto Donna's cooking class Monday night.

Thanks ctay! This is definitely something I need to do. Silly question: what did you wear? Five hours in the kitchen seems to call for comfort, but dinner at Laboratorio...

I liked the way 1789 did it: I was there with my mom, and when our waiter asked if we were celebrating a special occasion, we said that is was "sort of" a birthday dinner because I couldn't see her the month before on hers and she couldn't see me a month later on mine. With our desserts came a card for each of us with happy birthday wishes from the staff. Nice. I'm sure they'd have done more had we asked, but as a baseline gesture, I think it was perfect.

I'm a fan of Astor. I actually ate there tonight and wrote it up on my blog.  The chicken kabob was juicy, flavorful.  A soda is 75 cents there; you don't see that often.

Astor is really one of my favorite places in the neighborhood. I don't know if I'd really travel for it, but I am weekly grateful to live across the street from it.

The moussaka is one of my favorites--Egyptian style, just roasted eggplant with an amazing spackle-like tomato sauce that you scoop up with pita. The quarter chicken is the best in the neighborhood, I think, though some nights they only offer stuffed chicken, which is a distant second. The gyro sandwich ROCKS, and so does the small Greek salad (it has a better proportion of ingredients than the large). I also like the vegetarian pizza + chicken; it's not a good pizza by standard measures, but in its own class, it's delish. I'm also a big fan of the Astor Vegetarian, which is basically a collection of spoonfuls of all their salads and dips (you can swap out the spanikopita for an extra falafel ball or more salads). And the rice pudding always hits the spot. (Holy crap I eat there a lot.)

Speaking of which, the rice pudding at Chef's Kitchen, the not-quite-new Indian place on 18th Street, is SO good. Maybe because it was late and the guy tossed it in free with my korma, maybe I was just tipsy and ravenous, maybe it's just made almost wholly of heavy cream and sugar, but yummers.

This is a good topic! I'd love some hints from any of you on where in Adams-Mo, Woodley Park, or Dupont, I can go to pick up the best weekend morning croissant...