ktmoomau

Glad this is finally open! I am looking forward to some gluten free items and doggie cupcakes! Hope they don't admonish Arlingtonians for reading on ipads or checking email while drinking coffee (but not table hoarding). Arlington is not a hard paper sort of place. That area has a very different vibe.

OOh I miss this pizza so much. Ashburn seems so far away. Maybe I will be sent to court in Prince William sometime soon.

Perhaps the new thread title should be #31 is where it is at, as that seems to be consensus

Was at the Ballston location last night. Got the gluten free grilled pizza again. I really like that pizza. It doesn't have a lot of cheese, which I like and the I really like the tomato sauce and the meat on it. It just doesn't feel as gluttonous as some pizzas. I love the meat with a little bit of crispness on the edges. We were with friends who love beer and really enjoyed exploring the list. I am not a big beer drinker, I have had one glass there before that I loved- Abbaye de St. Bon Chien which was very wine like beer that I really liked, but it wasn't available by the glass that I saw and the bottle was $44 (it is a 25.4 ounce bottle) so I decided against that. But I really love that beer, and that is the only beer I have ever even really enjoyed for more than a couple sips. I am just not a beer person, I have tried and failed. But apparently I like very pricey wine/beer. Everyone had salads and pizzas and we just had a casual nice evening, which was good since it was a long brutal day. I didn't realize I could call ahead for a table, btu am happy to know that know, should save us some time in the future. Although we always luck out and find a seat at the bar. There is a lot of outdoor seating available now, which is really nice. I also saw that it looked like Buzz was getting closer.

Show off.

I was happy for the sake of all the people who would find great relief in this, and for any help it might bring to our nation and other nations fighting terrorism, and any help it might bring to those in the Middle East seeking peace loving societies, and to help Islam be what the Qu'ran truly wrote it to be. Although it seems his role was largely restricted at this point, that was because of the constant work and bombing by the U.S. troops. And there is such a large political and religious history at this point I don't know what it will mean for anyone on either side, really. But I think it had to be done. He would not have surrendered, he probably would have hung himself in a jail cell, he would not have talked about anything I am sure. He wanted his guards to shoot him instead of being captured, so I don't think it really would have been possible to take him alive. Therefore, voila, it is what it is.

Thanks for the info! I was thinking about doing this too.

I wanted to write a review about Sonoma and a great pizza I had there a few weeks ago, but I had so much wine I can't write a very thorough review, so suffice it to say, the pizza was the Ouvo- fonduta, bacon, sunny side up egg and arugula. It was not something I should have eaten, but oh it was good. And after the amount of wine I had that evening it was like the best munchie/been drinking pizza ever. It was gooey and crispy and just fantastic. And our server was so nice to us!

Well nevermind then...

On a note, the five spice beef here with broccoli is nowhere close to as good as the knuckle stew with five spice over at Thai Square, but it was ok. Some pieces were really tender, some were not as much, the flavor of the broth had a nice five spice taste to it, but the beef stock just wasn't very strong coming through. Just a little to subtle in flavor. Panang curry with chicken was pretty tasty. Not very spicy, well seasoned and flavored. Duck spring rolls- meh, will not order these again, I forgot what they tasted like from last time.

Well that is what is important! My husband just adores Georgetown cupcake, I will have to remember that for his birthday, although his new office tends to do all sorts of fun stuff for it's employees so they might do something cool. They already have fresh fruit Wednesdays and free ice cream Fridays. But that is an excellent idea. He is addicted to the key lime ones.

$10 is the delivery fee anywhere inside the beltway. I don't think they deliver outside the beltway. I forget if you have to have a minimum order, I would assume there is one. The delivery is awesome though, very convenient. And they do have nice packaging, I think that is in store or out though, they seem to have consistent packaging.

So number 31 here Nam-Viet Grilled Pork w/Crispy Spring Roll over Rice Vermicelli is where it is at. I spent a long morning gardening with a friend and we went to the Arlington location with her husband to eat after our hard work out of weeding and mulching and planting. They told me number 31 was their favorite order here, so I went for it. The pork is so well caramelized on the outside it is just a great dish. Of course I was also starving, I ended up eating the whole bowl and a shrimp toast, which was also very good.

I love these too, they remind me of my grandmother, rest her sole, she always had these at Christmas with other random items that made up the Christmas meal, and I mean meal in a very loose sense, think of it more as random items we all liked and would not let slip off the Christmas menu, and they could be on one plate, but in no way resembled a cohesive meal. I really miss them now that she is gone. I especially like the bright pink and orange ones. That not food like color is strangely appealing.

Ahhhh I just wrote half of my brunch review only to hit some button and it all disappeared. Ok here goes again. Had a nice very quiet brunch at Palena on Sunday. I imagine in time it won't be so quiet, as the food was quite good. And the prices so reasonable. We had: Pastry Basket- chocolate croissants were baked too long and very crispy, but the madelines and doughnuts were quite nice with a beautiful soft pillowy texture. There was a large assortment of goodies in the basket and I didn't get to try it all. But we didn't seem to have any complaints. Chervil, morel and creamy shrimp soup which was slightly rich, but also very refreshing and a nice start to a rainy day brunch. I loved the flavors of the soup which were so fresh and spring like. Up next was a potato frittata, cured smoked salmon, leeks and some sort of mozz, I think. The potatoes were dense, not crispy, but very much like a tort of potato and egg, it was an interesting texture for potato. But it was good, the salmon was very good and I loved it with the leeks, which really made the dish. Next up was a buckwheat crepe with spinach, fontina topped with fried egg with ham on the side. The ham oh man, was that a good thick block of ham, grilled just enough to make the taste really perfect. I also liked the crepe although perhaps a little bit too crispy. The fried egg though really brought all the flavors together and masked the crispiness of the crepe. Last was a buttermilk panna cotta with rhubarb and pepper meringues. This was the weakest dish, it was ok, but just had a lot of competing flavors. The panna cotta itself was nice and smooth, the rhubarb was nicely tangy and sweet, although apparently hubby isn't a rhubarb person, which I didn't know until yesterday. And the meringues had much needed texture, but I am not sure about the pepper component, it made the whole dish almost seem to have a dillish flavor when all combined, or something. I am just not sure about this one. All in all it was a good brunch. I think in the future I would stick to more lunch items, I mean they just do pasta, soups and etc so well, that I think those would be real highlights. The soup was definitely the winner of brunch for me, although for hubby it was def the crepe and ham or salmon. I like that it is something different than most brunch menus. I do want to try the eggs and ramps though. I generally avoid ramps as I grew up in WV were the annual ramp feeds were more of a human gas attack and hazard than an enjoyment, but ramps and salsa verde and eggs sounds like that could be a real winner. And our friends really enjoyed the environment and the ability to talk and converse in a nice serene environment. We were saying goodbye to friends leaving for the West Coast so that was the most important factor. And they were so impressed that we did something nice and special to send them off.

GoodEats is willing to do it with me for the scientific study of it, but would love to have more! Am keeping the offer open. I also have a friend who I am not sure if he is on here that might be interested.

I actually was there again a while back and had a very good sandwich there. And the addictive chai on the patio. I like that they have nice umbrellas on the patio too.

Well Hubby already got our Taste of Arlington tickets which is the same day and times, but we will try to split our time and stomach between the two.

Congratulations All!

Well just keep me posted on the day/time. I can probably make it.

Why yes, yes I do Don Rockwell Don Rockwell Don Rockwell Don Rockwell

Would anyone be interested in getting together before the Spring picnic to bake some different things- some of which we could devour straight from the cooling racks and some to take to the picnic?

Well if you are ever in Melbourne, the Queen Victoria Market is worth a stop. Fish, meat, breads, cheese and other grocer type vendors inside, fresh fruits and vegetables and bins of bulk grains, beans and etc outside. There is a huge variety and a lot of fruits we had never eaten before, or that just were so much better here than we get imported like passionfruit. Really was a fun stop.

Had a fun meal last night at Honey Pig. My Hubby is changing jobs- had his first day today! A couple of his employees that he was very close with wanted to take him out to a celebratory dinner. We wanted something fun and different and Matt had been craving Korean BBQ, so Honey Pig fit the bill. So we had a group of six, we ordered the brisket, boneless ribs and spicy pork bellies. I actually really enjoyed the brisket this time around, although I like it all to some extent. The ribs were good too, nice and tender as the fat melted on the grill, but they didn't get overcooked. I was a little surprised how tender these were. I didn't want to get my normal favorite the chul pan with octopus because I just don't know how well it would be received by all, so we went slightly safer. They were low on beer choices, and we had to go up to the pass to get more lettuce after asking several people, but they brought us out coddled egg on the house to make up for that. I think they just weren't expecting Easter to be so busy. But it still was a very nice time and a few of our friends had never had Korean BBQ and really loved it. We also had a seafood pancake which I really like. All in all I think the quality of meat is better at some other places like Han Gang, but if you want a fun upbeat atmosphere where you can laugh and drink with friends then Honey Pig is a great place for that.

Had a quick trip down to Cville for Friday and Saturday with the in laws. Friday we explored the Main Street Market, which is really nice. They have a little coffee place, a version of the Organic Butcher like the one in McLean, a little gourmet market where you can get sandwiches, fruits, meats, chocolates and other goodies, a flower shop and a nice Japanese/seafood shop with sushi grade fish, other fish and some Japanese and Chinese items. We ate at Orzo there and it was quite good. I had a delicious lamb stock tomato soup that tasted like extremely fresh good lamb and fresh chunky tomatoes. I also had a salad with their rotisserie chicken, grilled veggies- artichoke, sunchoke, green beans, parmigiana and a lemon vinaigrette. I had a bite of Hubby's meatballs which were really good too. All the sandwiches looked great, but I was happy to stay good because my salad was big and excellent. The whole menu looked good though, I would like to go back and peruse other items. Stopped by Kluge to get a $45 case of wine. All they have left is the Simply Red, which is a little young and fruity, but for $4 a bottle will do for parties and paired correctly. Also may get a little better as it is in the bottle. That wine shop is a beautiful building and property in the middle of nowhere, which is too bad it would really be neat for something.