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Pappy - I would hope that no one would oppose any review, positive or negative, of any restaurant here. I like to think we're an honest, responsible bunch and wouldn't be afraid to denounce an establishment for fear of excommunication from the Church of Rocks. If you had a bad experience somewhere, post about it! You're doing a disservice to others like you who might otherwise be wary of a restaurant if you DON'T post about it.

Look at me. One of my first posts was a scathing review of Citronelle. I took a few licks, but it's still up there if anyone wants to read it. And I'm still here! People don't disregard my posts just because they happen to have disagreed with one of them. On the contrary - letting people know how you feel is the first step to getting helped! The management can't improve your experience if they don't know something's wrong.

Do other people, lurkers, regulars, all; feel the same way that Pappy does? That you'll be somehow excluded or attacked ad hominem if you happen to dislike one of DR.com's "most-favored-restaurants"?

Don - maybe the solution here is to create, for each restaurant, separate threads. Maybe you could have something like:

Ray's the Steaks - Reviews

Ray's the Steaks - Chat

Or maybe split the Reviews thread into Positive and Negative so people who may feel a bit apprehensive don't have to worry about being drowned out by the other type.

post a negative review of eve and watch the hindu's go nuts.

went to sushi ko and had the omakaze last night. Three of us went and sat that the bar and had an amazing time. First course were some lightly fried pieces of eel served over seaweed and cucumber with a balsamic vinegar reduction. This was without a doubt the best eel I've ever had. The second course were pieces of seared white tuna with daikon,avocado and fried garlic. This was delicate and really brought out the flavor of the fish. The third course was a soup with spanish mackeral. This was good but didn't have the same pronounced flavor as the rest of the meal. The fourth course were several pieces of nigiri. The most outstanding was a piece of salmon paired with passion fruit, The fifth course was broiled lobster which was some of the best I've ever had.

went to ray's this week after returning home from a trip to denver and literally not eating anything all day. Two things struck me, #1, people need to chill about the policies and let the restuarant do it's thing without throwing out terms like lists. If there's anything, it's transparent to the customer and definitely didn't effect us so mentioning it here is just going ot create a stir over something that isn't necessary. #2, everyone and I do mean everyone who worked at ray's last thursday night seemed actually and legitimately happy to be there. It's a really odd feeling to be in a place where everyone from the hostess to the busboys to the waitress to the runners are all happy to be there and enjoying their job. It made the food and the experience that much better. this is I think at the root of what makes ray's so incredibly awesome. The food being as good as it is is a side effect of the really positive atmosphere that Michael's been able to create. That and the new tiger butter is incredible.

No, Cathal is making his with sturgeon roe:  Merluga it is.

with a side of corny fritters?

The pulled pork is over-sauced (oops, make that un-sauced).  The ribs are vapid.  The brisket is dry, and thus, is too thinly sliced.  And a sampler plate, IIRC, was like 12 or 13 bucks.  That's a lot for BBQ, especially technically poor BBQ, and their site is not an excuse--because the site detracts from their ability to do good Q.

Edit:  To remove misstatement.  Further discussion downthread.

was there yesterday, had the brisket and didn't find the brisket at all dry or thinly sliced.

today's flavor which we just had is puree du smurf. All I can tell you is that it's blue. it's got marshmellows and it tastes like. well. I'm not really sure how to describe it. It's apparently a flavoring named "Blue Moon". I thought it kind of tasted like almonds but my wife thinks it tastes kind of like the milk after you finish a bowl of froot loops.

we went last night and agree it is like eating in someones home complete with tv. It made me really wish I spoke korean so I could understand why there were dogs on treadmills. We had the pajun, the kimchi and tofu and the ojing bokkum. The bokkum was sweeter than I've had elsewhere but still very good. If it wasn't so warm last night I would have gotten the goat soup, maybe next time.

That's not what I'm saying at all.  Sorry Rocks but I'll beat that dead horse one more time --- I am saying SPEAK UP, SPEAK UP, SPEAK UP!!!  Tell the restaurants that all their 'vegetarian' offerings suck and that you will take your money elsewhere unless they start being more creative.  The argument I hear through many of these posts is that no one wants to say anything and that the chefs should just automatically know that what they currently prepare is boring, tasteless, repetitious, etc.  How do they know unless you say otherwise?

Isn't that exactly what that article and this thread is doing though? Why would anyone go into a restaurant and THEN say, "hey grilled veg is great, but come on"? Like other people here have said it's putting the cart before the horse. If there isn't a good option to begin with, why would be at the place anyway and why would you want to give them your money?

I typically frequent restaurants that prepare the type of food I like.  I do however, ask for alteration to the prep at times such as sauces on the side, etc.  Goes over very well actually.

So you don't have a dietary restriction at all and it comes down to a matter of taste and taste only? It seems that you on one post are telling vegetarians to essentially shut up and stay away and then on the other make special requests that far exceed simply asking for "sauce on the side". It's this mentality that is annoying. People in the majority not caring or thinking about the minority and dismissing them with terms like self-select. That because of someone’s moral, religious or health views differs from the majority that they should just suck it up and be happy with what they're given. I wonder how many of you here with that attitude have a dietary restriction that limits what you can eat at the vast majority of restaurants to 1 choice and some to zero? It's easy to say the minority doesn't matter when you're in the majority and your choices aren't the ones being affected. I also don't really get why there's so much emotion on the majority side since what's being talked about wouldn't actually have any baring on you.

If you let a restaurant know that you dislike their vegetarian offerings, then perhaps they'll change.  If you remain as you said earlier -- supplicating and submissive -- then how are they supposed to know about your dissatisfaction?  Tell them, perhaps directly instead of through a public forum, and maybe you'll get the results you desire.

Just out of curiousity do you often walk into an establishment and ask them to make things that aren't on their menu for you? If so, how does that go down?

I have a disturbing mental image of ravening packs of vegetarians, descending in somewhat polite, deferential chaos upon unsuspecting produce carts and slaughtering the wild tofu by the dozens...

Now I'm going to go wash out my brain with my favorite vegetarian consuamble, one made from malted barley smoked over peat fires in Scotland, where vegetarians are hunted down and shot as a food source.  Of course, these are also the unrepentant carnivores and junk food eaters that gave us Scotch Eggs (hard-boiled eggs covered in sausage and deep-fried) and deep-fried Mars Bars.

Rob

considering it's infinitely easier to be a vegetarian in Scotland as well as the rest of the UK as it is here, I think you might want to head over for a visit again and then we can talk about how the vegetarians are actually treated. You can find vegetarian scotch eggs at holland and barret in even the tiniest villages. here's a list to make it easier. http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/pages/sto...otland#Scotland

Now if you wanted to talk about Japan, that'd be a different story.

Um, ok.  I think it is more of the I am special, I must be pleased mantra that really bothers me.  If they are a growing segment of the population then the market will change and veggie friendly plates will be more readily available.

Restaurants are personal businesses in which the owner(s) put a ton of hard work and time trying to please as many people as possible and still try to make a living.

And to the post above, is Austin, Texas really a more veggie friendly city than DC?  Not doubting, just amazed.

Or the mantra of "I'm different therefore it'd be nice if I was considered too" would be a more accurate represenation. And how can the market grow if there aren't choices to begin with? How do you have a market impact if there is no product to consume?

a good number of posts in this thread come off as "I'm not in this group therefore their concerns don't matter". It's all so self-focused that it's almost sickening. The reality is that yes, vegetarians do make a small but growing segment of the population. The other reality is that they also don't travel in packs and don't segregate themselves from the majority of society, so having a stable of choices for groups is just good sound business. I honestly wonder how many of you that posted negatively here ever think about the other side of the coin. And yes, for the record, I eat meat. I am also married to a vegetarian and I can definitely sympathize and relate.

stopped into the dairy godmother today to have some carrot cake custard and found carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese icing as well. She's also been doing really excellent chocolate with cream cheese filling and a rich chocolate icing.

I've had one meal at the RTS and I really really enjoyed it and the only reason I haven't been back is due to my line of work making it difficult to know where I'll be or when I'll be available. In any event. I like how upfront he is. I like the fact that he cares about his business AND his customers and that he seems really really sincere about serving good food for people who get it. Not foodies. Not rich folks. But people who understand his mission and how he executes it. I also like the fact that he's got an edge and doesn't come off as just another owner/chef who cares mre about good PR over doing the right thing. I also like the fact that the one time we were there he had what I can only hope was his copy of "hey soul classics" blaring on stereo and still managed to make us feel welcome and appreciated.

When Koreans talk about restaurants, the question always asked is; "Do they have good Kimchi?"

How do YOU judge a good Korean restaurant?

how tender their squid is in either the pajun or in bokkum. also how many cold noodle dishes they have.

we regularly visit my inlaws back in england and after eating steak bakes and pasties just about every day for lunch really missed them when we came back. never heard of eating brown sauce with pork pies before though, but did have a pretty good one from sainsbury's with cranberries on top this last trip.

Does anyone know of anywhere that does these that aren't already frozen? ie, british pantry out in aldie or tea cozy in alexandria.

I'd also submit Le Matin De Paris. 7326-A Little River Turnpike Annandale, VA. Korean run, but amazingly cakes and buns.

they also do some really nice fruit based tarts and cakes. We got a "french fruit cake" with peaches, blueberries, blackberry, strawberries and kiwi on top of multi layer sponge. it was good times.

reopens Wednesday, and is rumored to be making cupcakes. Brat Night Thursday as well.

Giant and Safeway sell commodities -- I ask nothing more of my baking soda than that it make my corn bread rise, and nothing more of my bulk potatoes than that they fry up well.  Target etc. are inherently suspect, like a menu item with a little tiny heart next to it, but are beyond the scope of this thread. 

"They?"  "They" are the little men with HP calculators and tastebuds ruined by Au Bon Pain sandwiches eaten hunched over their desks as they weight the costs of adding free breadsticks to every large pepperoni against profits to be accrued by selling them to the jaded and undiscriminating masses. "They" are the ones buying artificial flavor from a chemical plant in New Jersey to make the strawberry taste more real and them lemon flavor more tart. "They" are the ones buying potbellied stoves by the gross, and shipping them to sandwich factories across America in a depsarate attempt to stand out in a market already crowded with offerings too bland and market-tested to be distinguished from one another.  "They" are the ones who look at Ray's, Palena and Dinos and covet the location and plot day and night to bankrupt them and steal their customers away.

if you think that the same mentality for chains doesn't extend beyond restaurants then you're not looking hard enough. There's a reason why the vast majority of restaurants in this area are chains and why the vast majority of shops are chains. The mindset is the same and justifying your behavior of using one while deriding others of eating at potbelly is hypocritical. Or are independent restaurants the only businesses that matter? What about independent food shops? Farmers markets? Kitchen supply? Clothing? Music, etc. etc etc. It all comes back to a common theme, if people prefer to shop/eat at a chain it does have an effect on anyone doing any form of independent business.

Ate here Sunday night (Arlington) Great steak Tacos El Carbon, and a Tacos El Pastor.  I always say I'm going to try the mole and then get sucked back into the tacos....

the mole verde is insanely good.

Last time I went to A & J in Annandale -- they advertized bubble drinks.  Don't care for them myself (texture of the gummy balls coming thru the straw along with the liquid) so I can't comment as to quality.

they're good and they're tea based vs smoothies. I always end up getting passion fruit and my wife always gets the guava.

By the way, have I lost my mind, or did I see another Bangkok 54 over near Del Ray?]

I'm 99% sure it's just a food market and nothing more.