peasoup

On 7/3/2017 at 2:18 PM, peasoup said:

Holdfast Dining. Exquisite dinner. Incredible value.

The meal here was the most joyous and delightful dinner I've had in some time. The 2 chefs were so earnest and enthusiastic and utterly unpretentious. Their ingredients were pristine and beautiful, at the peak of ripeness, totally fresh. Their dishes were well thought out with no out-of-place components and well executed. The wine pairings were picked by the wine maker of Fausse Piste and were selected with obvious consideration for the food (c'mon, a 2001 Kalin Sauvigon Blanc to pair with the salty-sweet corn bread!)

Really glad I stumbled upon this place on the internet. I don't know how this isn't bigger in Portland. And it's only $105.

scallop with pickled green strawberry and apple, borage flower, lovage leaf, frozen hollandaise

hamachi with squash, nasturtium, granola in curried yogurt

squid and peppers with squid ink squid chips and anise hyssop in hazelnut romesco sauce

cherry wood smoked sturgeon, pickled onion, dried morel, potatoes in bone marrow broth

poached breaded and fried sweetbreads, tomato, artichoke, marigold leaves, garlic chips in a brown butter artichoke sauce

beef brisket, cherries, and dried olive

corn bread madeline with lardo, parmesan, and honey comb

yogurt and honey

lavender cream with blueberries

Hit Himitsu last night with a couple friends. Waiting time drinks at the Reading Room where Chantal had to explain the meaning behind the use of dark rum and blanche armagnac in a Zadie Smith inspired cocktail...

It was my 2nd time at Himitsu and the meal was not as delighting as the 1st. Excluding the nigiri/sashimi, we ordered everything except for 3 plates. 

My biggest criticism is that there really isn't flow or progression to the food, no connection from one course to the next -  it's just a bunch of plates: some good, some not. Second biggest criticism is the wine program is pretty poor and while I believe they allow corkage, they charge $35 for that.

We had:

chicken liver mousse - OK. But the 4 small, crouton-sized pieces of baguette served with the mousse struck me as ungracious

tomatoes and strawberries - pretty nice dish, though the tomatoes were not so good (I think they were underripe). The parsley sauce and crisped quinoa along with good strawberries made it nice.

hamachi with "orenji" (which I think is just orange) - OK, but the fish sauce flavor was overdone and too powerful

Akamai + "meron" (it would be even cuter if they used 漢字) - poorly conceived. The flavor and texture of the tuna was completely obscured by the watermelon and some hot peppers

eggplant - good but quickly surfeits as the fermented black bean flavor is very prominent and not much else comes into play

cabbage e pepe - actual cacio e pepe would be much better

squash done in "elote" style - ok. best part was the popped sorghum on top

rapini, snap peas, pea leaves, soft egg - good, definitely my favorite dish

fried chicken and biscuits - mediocre. I preferred their duck with biscuits (which came out too cool and sweet this time). The fried chicken had a heavy gochujang covering that wasn't good

braised pork shank - OK. The meat seemed a little dry (not sure how that happens) and a little bland. Each bite definitely needed the pickled shallots that were in the dish to be tasty

Interesting. I have a few fond memories of Soigne.

Ha! 

I ate at Marc Veyrat for lunch about 23 years ago, by myself in my teens....I still remember a roast beef served in a cast iron vessel smoked with mountain herbs....and that cheese cart!

The best places that I've been in Japan are just a different ballpark than what you can get here in the US. Even if a restaurant can get the same quality of fish sent to the US, a lot of the other ingredients are not the same quality. It has been a long time since my last visit so I may be romantizing a bit but the seasonality of individual parts of the Japanese cuisine is what is missing from the experience in the US and those textures and tastes can be quite compelling in their uniqueness.

It's not even the best places in Japan.

Last time in Tokyo I ate here, a non-descript place that seemed like a local joint for bottom-rung office workers in Nihombashi to hit up before training home, or grandma and grandpa taking the grand kids out for dinner after a shopping trip to Takashimaya.

It was straight up amazing, and of a different kind than anything in DC.

23 hours ago, Marty L. said:

Just checked:  5100 Macarthur, just south of Arizona; Sept. expected opening.  It might well immediately become the best restaurant in DC west of 2 Amys.

Interesting geography lesson!

Holdfast Dining. Exquisite dinner. Incredible value.

14 hours ago, Tom Power said:

That's not all true. The faux rib eye, which is real beef, is availalabe 99% of the nights we are open.

My memory of most nights I've been there the menu has the salmon with hijiki and rice, a pasta dish (often fettuccine with mushrooms) and a pork dish (either cheeks or a loin preparation). I might just overlook the beef shoulder all the time.

Corduroy bar is great value....but often no beef dishes. And the ambience is not good...

Dinner last night was really good. Had the ricotta ramp dumplings mentioned above, asparagus vinaigrette, green tomato soup, and, for the first time, the roast chicken. Everything was well done and tasty. For dessert the crema fritta with rhubarb and a grand marnier vanilla ice cream float was lovely. 

On 5/25/2017 at 10:35 AM, DonRocks said:

When's the last time you heard a restaurant writer mention Range?

The list looks interesting...how's the food? Aggio there was lackluster...

3 hours ago, DonRocks said:

I could rattle off some examples, but I see a lot in the triple- or quadruple-retail price points. 

How is that different from most, if not practically all, wine lists in DC? And most of those other overpriced lists are insipid.

I'm not sure that their list has much higher mark-ups than most other places, and it at least has interesting options.

The worst part is they don't allow corkage. I almost always BYO.

We had a very good still pinot noir from Champagne. $125 before tax/tip. Winesearcher has the bottle at $40 in Chicago and $70 in NYC.

Had a good dinner here recently. Food was well done with lots of good seafood (scallops, rockfish, dover sole), some nice meats (cornish hen, veal) and an interesting, overpriced wine list. 

I dressed casual and don't recall feeling out of place at all (though casual not in the American sense...ie, not tennis shoes and under armour shirts).

I seem to remember restaurant prices including service.

Da pan ji was real tasty. Noodles in it were better than in the laghman, too.

First visit to Tosca in years. Busier on an early Saturday evening than I expected.

Ordered the 5:30 - 6:30 menu. Soup (asparagus and crab), salad (radicchio, candied walnut, pear, gorgonzola), pastas (beef ravioli, mushroom and pea risotto), and desserts were strong.

Only weak dish was grilled octopus - tough and overcooked.

Mostly good service (some trouble opening my wine) and $30 corkage. 

A nice visit and decent value.

Just finished a second dinner here....reminded me much more of Palena, right down to the busted bathroom ceiling.

Consomme with foie, beef tartare with razor clams, duck pate, tete de porc, and roasted turbot all tasty, flavorful, and very good.

The matcha and rhubarb dessert very good. Baba was kind of ruined by a large pour of raw rum at the table....but if you like alcoholic heat in your dessert than you'd love this.

Besides the baba, my only nit to pick: $35 corkage, and the stems are Rona?

Can't explain the difference between tonight's food and the last time!

Wet City has nice beers. Never had the food but it looks ok.

A Dukem is right by there....and they actually serve pretty rapidly.

I have never been. But if what Michelin writes ("Maine uni is downright epic") is true I'd be disappointed...$595 for food and they don't serve uni from Hokkaido?!?

5 hours ago, stevem said:

I'm trying to figure out if we ordered wrong tonight. We got the half and half bowl. The spicy broth was, well, spicy. 

Nothing else really has much flavor - lamb, shrimp, mushrooms, etc.

The process was fun and my $4 IPA was nice, but I don't feel like I need to rush back.

I'd guess you didn't order wrong. Their ingredient quality is not terribly high.

Had dinner here tonight. Not awesome but not bad. The people seemed nice, they have booze (probably allow BYO with some corkage or bar purchase) and are much friendlier than the Queen A folks.

The eggplant salad featured perhaps too much zhenjiang vinegar. The lamb kebab was tasty with cumin. The "mom's" laghman tasted good (are the noodles made there??? They were chewy but lacked the toothsome bite I associate with hand-pulled fresh noodles) but seemed much like lomo saltado; maybe a bit less soy sauce, a bit more vinegar, and some hua jiao would be an improvement to that dish.

I'll return again to try the da pan ji and their dumplings.

3 hours ago, Pool Boy said:

I found the seasoning throughout our dinner was spot on. While I am surprised about your comment about the spring soup, it is possible that the dish evolved from your experience to our experience. Curious, did you happen to mention to your server that you thought the dish was gross (thus providing the team the opportunity to correct the situation)?

The server said the kitchen purees whatever leaves they have in that day for the soup. So entirely possible we ate different pureed leaves.

And yes, we mentioned our dislike of the soup. We weren't charged for it.

13 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Maybe your palate has moved to the point where you want more done with the food than simple ingredients presented simply?

(I'm talking about Ruta, not Chin.)

To be honest, both the pictures and your descriptions of them look and sound wonderful *to me at this point in my life* - that doesn't mean they work with you, or that I'm right and you're wrong. Believe me, I appreciate what I think you're searching for as well; it's just that I've had it done poorly *so many times* that I often yearn for simplicity.

Actually, over the years my palate has moved more towards preferring good ingredients cooked or prepared in a way that highlights their innate flavors. But even a long time ago Palena quite impressed with: ground beef, cheese, toasted bun; fried potatoes and lemon; chocolate, flour, egg, baked.

And I agree, the dishes at Mirabelle looked nice (except for the "spring soup" which looked like an algae bloom). 

They just did not taste very good!

Bad nights can happen, sure. But I also think an underdone, chewy lobster, multiple over-salted items, and a permeating blandness make for a highly disappointing dinner.

On 4/11/2017 at 10:37 AM, malokd said:

Has anyone tried the Kobo omakase at Sushiko?  I have reservations for the vegan one for my pregnant wife's birthday

Thanks in advance

Yea, the non-vegan. It was pretty good, competition for Taro, but a little too much gilding of the Lilly for my taste (e.g., otoro topped with foie)