xdcx

I used to go to Connaught Place in Fairfax before it closed. Does anyone have a recommmendation for good Indian food?

indian city grill in fairfax. same chef. really great food

The best root beer in the world (fact not opinion) is Sprechers which used to be sold at Adega when I lived in Silver Spring.

At the conference I was at in Chicago, they had Grown-up Soda as part of the beverage options for lunch. I had the Dry Cola, and it was quite tasty, although the Dry Ginger Ale looked awesome as well. I liked the fact that they use natural cane sugar and *less* of it at 24g per serving compared to some others. The only downside was that it's not as fizzy, even compared to Boylan's. The website stated that MoM's carried it, as well as Balducci's.

I'm a Cajun too... guess it varies from town to town, family to family.

As far as I'm concerned, though, it's far tastier with potato salad!

I make regular trips back to acadia parish and I've only ever seen in people's home, along with rice, never in restuarants.

After seeing some of our friends in a show in Leesburg on Friday night, we decide to return the next day to stroll around in the sun. Opting not to grab dinner at American Flatbread on the way home (since I was making pizza the following night), we wandered around town for a place to eat. Everything was either too expensive or just "meh." Honestly, I'd hoped for much more.

What sealed the deal was that, as we were browsing the menu for the Cajun Experience, the chef came out to talk to us and he pronounced "etouffee" the way I imagined Paul Prudhomme would have pronounced etouffee. We were in. The meal averaged out to "okay": this was definitely a "book end" meal (i.e. apps and dessert were the highlight):

At the beginning, the boudin balls: bits of sausage, onions, rice, and cajon spices deep fried with a spicy dipping sauce. Addicting.

At the end, beignets with cafe au lait: the beignets were heaped with powdered sugar and were the perfect match for the cafe au lait. Addictive. The cafe au lait, however, was a little cold - not sure if that's traditional or not.

And then the books in the middle:

Had the crawfish etouffee and the seafood gumbo. Both were served with a scoop of decent potato salad and some toasted bread. The crawfish were cooked great, but the gumbo was a little lacking in actual bits of seafood. All in all, neither dish had the "wow" factor I was hoping for.

Service was a little odd. No spoon for the gumbo. Had the apps within five minutes of ordering and the entrees five minutes after that, but the beignets didn't come out for another fifteen to twenty minutes. The chef, however, who initially brought us in continued stopping by to chat - so definitely an A for friendly.

The decor is a work in progress. Mostly white walls. Where are the mardi gras masks and the beads (definitely need more beads)?

Final question: how can you have a New Orleansian restaurant but not serve Abita beer???

Final thought: $40 after tax and tip for an app, two entrees, dessert, and coffee was about what I would have expected to pay for what I got: an okay meal with a few great standouts.

boudin actually is the sausage, it's made from rice, pork and pork liver(hopefully more pork than rice), green onions and spice. it's put into a casing. boudin balls are just the same thing minus the casing and deep fried.

I've never been to this restaurant, nor have I even heard of it, but I'll tell you this - if they served the gumbo with potato salad, they *do* know what they're talking about - at least a little. Cajuns (generally speaking, those from the area around Lafayette, in the southwestern part of the state) always eat their gumbo with potato salad. New Orleanians eat theirs with white rice.

speaking as a cajun, this statement isn't quite accurate. while it's not uncommon to see the 2 mixed, most people eat their gumbo with rice.

went there this past weekend and they had signs up for a grand opening for a third location at 7050 Sping Garden Drive in Springfield.

I don't think this should be treated as a touchy subject because there are no moral/religious aspects to the guest's picky eating. It appears clear from Dan's description that his friend is not observing kashrut if he is coming to eat what is coming out of a kitchen not under rabbinical supervision (and is known to eat shellfish and cheeseburgers). Dan has already said that he considers his guest to be a picky eater. Why respect what is essentially the guest making up his own version of Judaism? Dan also considers the vegetarian to be so as a dietary preference. Therefore, I would treat the situation as one where the host feels that it is his duty not to serve food that would make his guests aware that they were eating bacon or meat. If the guests are not aware of the presence of those ingredients, then there is no harm. Perhaps it is bad manners as observed above, but that judgment appears to require more knowledge of the social interactions between Dan and his guest .

is there any reason to believe this will be any better an experience than bebo was/is? It's not like the original galileo had a stellar service record either.

Don't assume this is true - ask when ordering! Ethiopian food often is made with kibe (or kibbe, kibbeh, niter kibbeh, etc.), a form of clarified butter. Delicious, but not vegan.

most Ethiopian vegetarian offerings are vegan.

http://www.vegdc.com/ also has a full listing

regarding the parking, does everyone just park in the giant parking lot? Has anyone ever had any trouble with ticketing/being towed?

I've been a few times and the rather tame sushi that we tend to order has been consistently and beautifully fresh and appealing. Once we have our order in, however, I'm usually making little matchstick girl eyes at the other tables with what must be the Japanese specials, because they don't resemble anything on the regular menu. I need to remember to ask about the specials beforehand!!!!! If anybody in the know happens to go, could you post what specials you've had? It would be helpful to have an idea of what's on the sometimes menu...

takoyaki is pretty constant and good. oden (sp) is seasonal and very good, root vegetable stew. I tend to get one of the set meals usually kakuni or tonkatsu sets which come with rice and 3-4 small side dishes of various things most of which I have no clue what i'm eating but enjoy nonetheless. The staff are all very nice and will make recommendations based on how busy they are and what you tell them your taste is.

You just decided my evening. I'm craving all things pumpkin these days and the Creamery is damn good. Plus, those gooey marshmallows always make my day!

We only had the omakase once and it was so bad we can't find it within ourselves to ever go back. We were seated at the sushi bar during the dinner rush. And I wouldn't be able to recognize Koji so I'm not sure who was making our sushi.

All we got was basically a deluxe sushi plate - standard nigiri and maki served all at once. There was lots of it and it was decent quality, but that's not what I think of when I think of omakase. I'm looking for imagination and creativity in addition to top quality ingredients. Presentation becomes almost as important as food itself. Sadly, that wasn't what we got. I'm sure it wasn't lack of communication with our server - if memory serves correctly, omakase is right on the menu. So I have no idea what happened.

We'll stick with Kaz for now, I guess.

My guess is that there are people who want to eat what they used to eat, only made from vegetables, not meat? Is it nostalgia?

Shirataki Noodles are supposed to be the latest miracle diet food. A guy at Lotte Plaza told me they carry them. Any other sources would be most appreciated.

We went to Mayuri today for lunch. They had a nice variety of Northern and Southern Indian cuisine.

I am sorry if anyone feels I am posting too often but I am trying to relay my experiences as a "noob" to the Reston area and I did not see any postings about this restaurant yet!

This is located by the RCC so it would be great before/after a swim or exercise.

Here is their link:

http://www.mayurimahal.com/home.htm

They had several types of breads. Three types of rice (one had lamb or goat in it!) and then the typical indian fare more or less. IMHO it's worth checking out if you like indian food and have gone to nearby Minerva. I think I'll keep both of these on top of my list of indian food places to visit often.

Oyamel closing or Oyamel moving (to the Andale space)?

Dish Away! Enquiring minds want to know the dirt.

This replaced Big Mango Thai sometime within the last few months and most of the interior is a hold over from that. The location is horrible. It's not visible from the street and unless you know there's something back there you won't find it. I went there for lunch about a week ago and it was really good. It's not as good as Myanmar but the service was faster and the menu is about as big. I had the Green Curry Beef and it was done nicely.

Every time I go to Minerva (Fairfax), my usual order comes out slightly different. The eggplant bharta two times ago was out of this world, lick-the-bowl-as-my-mouth-is-on-fire, fantastically good. This past time it was just, "pretty good," with less heat and a little too much grease. The lamb korma/pasanda has ranged from "turkey-gravy-like and oversalted" to "delicately spiced, creamy yumminess," generally leaning towards the latter. The vegetable samosas are usually decent, but this time they were dry and hard, with little filling. The naan is always great.

The third was when our bill came. Despite no mention of this on the menu or by our server, we were charged between $2.50 and $3.75 EACH for the four toppings we ordered. I've never been charged extra for these items at other Mexican places I've dined (granted, none were particularly high class or authentic), and even so I'd no more expect to be charged extra for sour cream at a Mexican place than I'd expect to be charged extra for parmesan at an Italian place.

After having my first shaved ice and fruit dessert/treat last Saturday, I realized that not many people may have experienced this wonderful treat. A large plastic bowl of cubed ice is put into a machine which turns it into finely shaved ice, mixed fruit is poured over the top and then you mix the two up and...eat and shiver. A perfect hot weather treat.

As an aside, here is a list of Korean grocery stores across the US. There are a number in the DC metro area which will make shopping for Korean ingredients much easier. Korean groceries.

Edited to add link to Korean grocery stores.

le matin de paris also does them in annandale with vanilla or green tea ice cream in addition to the ice and fruit.

if anyone in your party is vegetarian, do not take them to rio grande. The only thing that is vegetarian is the vegetable fajitas. Even the things where meat isn't an ingredient like cheese enchiladas, chile rellenos, rice and beans all are either cooked with stock or lard.