Gastro888

At Matuba in Bethesda last night: large sushi, miso soup and a few pieces of chicken teriyaki. Gotta love Matuba!

Food & dating...that could be a great new thread! hee hee Anyways, my benchmark for a good dim sum restaurant is the quality of the ha gaow. I had really good ones at Kim Phong in Montreal. They were superb! Checklist for ha gaow: 1. Is the ha gaow piping hot and fresh from the steamer? Extra points awarded if it's got steam rising from the container when the waiter lifts the cover. 2. Is the wrapper thin, translucent YET sturdy enough to withstand being plucked from the basket by eager chopsticks? Extra points if the pleats on the ha gaow are small and fine (instead of lumpy and mishapened). Negative points if it falls apart the moment your chopsticks touch them. 3. Is the filling mostly shrimp with a bit of bamboo shoots for textural contrast? Is the filling firm and fresh? BONUS POINTS if the shrimps are deveined and in large pieces with just a bit of finely chopped bamboo shoots. Negative points if the shrimp filling is mushy, not fresh, overloaded with veggie filler - i.e., water chestnuts (ONLY SHRIMP AND BAMBOO SHOOTS IN HA GAOW!) and is too finely chopped - we're not making quenelles here, people. Sidebar: Double negative points to your dining companion should they take said ha gaow and dip it in soy sauce without tasting it first...but I digress...

The sad, sad, sad part was he was Asian... But back on the topic at hand. You really need to scope out the dim sum restaurant carefully before you sit. Make sure you're seated in a good location where it's near the kitchen doors. Don't make the mistake of being on the wrong end of the loop - i.e. when the carts go BACK INTO the kitchen. My favorite dim sum - ha gaow (crystal shrimp dumplings) and dan tat (egg tart)

I personally prefer Oriental East for dim sum over the 3 restaurants mentioned in this thread. In terms of restaurant size, that may not be the best factor in determining whether or not a restaurant is good for dim sum. Unless you can score a prime table near the kitchen when the carts are rolling out with fresh, hot dim sum it doesn't benefit you to be in a large restaurant. The food will loose its "wok hay" (breath of a wok) by the time if gets to you if you're unlucky enough to sit far away from the kitchen. This is compounded if the restaurant is large, a la NF. Dim sum is not just about eating - you have to have the skills to snag a good table in a prime location and work your relationship with your waiter so they can snatch goodies off the cart for you before they're all sold out. Think of it as an intricate game of skill. I tried explaining this to an ex-boyfriend and he just didn't understand it...then again, he dipped all his dim sum in soy sauce prior to eating it so that should've said something!

Sounds like you had a good time, Nadya! I'd try Oriental East and New Fortune as well. MD dim sum is better than the dim sum you find in VA. Don't get me started on the dim sum I had at Dragon Star restaurant in Eden Center. Note to all: NEVER order anything Chinese in a Viet place...ai ya! As for the old Chinese waiter commenting on your physique - you are just experiencing the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Chinese unsolicited "concern"/criticism. (Hey, could've been worse - at least he didn't say you were as strong as a water buffalo...)

Powdered Green Tea and adzuki bean cookies from Hinata in Bethesda, MD. They're almost like a matcha tulie. Yuuuum.

Happy day before your bday, gnathrobed! Way to go, double header at Palena! As for the fries, each time I've had them, they've never been particularly crisp, just good. They're hand cut potatoes, fried twice in oil? Maybe? But shoooot, put enough of that aioli on it and anything tastes good!

gnathrobed and I are going to make our madien voyage next week at Dino's! We can't wait. Yummm...dreaming of cured meats and pasta.

Girl talk over some grub at Chinatown Express last night. On the table: Snow pea shoots in garlic (eh, they were "ok-lah" - could've been fresher) Chow lai mein with beef (good!) House special chicken (fried chicken on the bone, chopped and doused with a garlic, soy & cilantro sauce - YUMMY!) If you want the house special chicken, point to it on the wall. It's on the red poster board. Dinner for 3 hungry girls - 11 bucks per person. With leftovers...that I left at home today. @#$!

Reduced fat breakfast sandwich from Starbucks and a grande Columbian coffee of the day with 4 sugar in the raw and a good dollop of whole milk. Surprisingly, the sanwich is quite tasty! I am pleasantly surprised.

Some takeout "mai fun" from Kam San and a bottle of jasmine green tea from Maxium. Yum.

White Castle burgers in Jersey! For my first (and probably last visit), I had: 6 Original 3 Jalapeno 3 Cheeseburger A bunch of fresh, hot French Fries Some fresh, hot Onion Rings and a Diet Coke I've now satisfied my craving.

Chipotle burrito bowl with steak. Rice, black beans, extra fajita veggies, steak, extra mild tomato salsa and lettuce. Topped it off with Tabasco Jalpeno sauce and lime juice. <burp>

I've not a clue - they were small, fresh tasting green legumes on my plate. They had a texture comparable to edamame. Then again, I was more focused on the scallop than anything else. Heh. Oh yeah, if any eG/DR peeps are going to be at Ten Penh tonight give a holla to say Hi. I'll be there gettin' my chow on. Woo hoo!

Smith & Wollensky on the menu for last night. I'd definitely go there again for RW. We had great service and great food. There was none of that "red-headed stepchild" feeling you get at some restaurants during RW. We weren't rushed (in fact, it took us quite a while to get the bill settled!) and our server was gracious. I had: -Blue Point oysters -Casear salad -Filet mignon (served w/ wild green and matchstick frites as sides and Béarnaise sauce) -Cheesecake My gripe: slim menu selection. I wish there was more to choose from for the apps than just 2 salads and pea soup. The desserts were carrot cake, cheese cake or fresh fruit. It would've been nice to mix it up a bit and have some originality but the filet made up for it...a bit. The filet was very good & tender - suprising considering you'd expect restaurants to skimp on the quality of the meat during RW. Perhaps we didn't get the center cut filet but whatever cut of filet we got, it was great. The oysters were good - large and fleshy. Are Blue Points supposed to be more "earthy"? (In a good way!) I like my oysters briney and salty with a crisp finish. Eh, it's just me. Tomorrow, Ten Penh and Saturday Cafe MoZu.

OK, went to Galileo for the first time ever for dinner the other day. Note for men: I saw lots of business casual and not many jackets. Perhaps they relaxed the rules during RW? What we ordered: Le Capesante Sautéed Scallops wrapped in Bacon served with a Ragu of Cherry Tomatoes, Pattypan Squash, Chiceri Beans and Asparagus in a White Wine Clam Broth Linguine Con Molecche Linguine tossed with Soft Shell Crabs, Marinated Tomatoes and Basil Il Grosso Rombo Sautéed Filet of Halibut Dusted with Porcini Mushrooms served with a Ragu of Chiodini Mushrooms, Fresh Peas and Fennel Lobster Sauce Il Manzo Tower of Grilled Beef, Grilled Eggplant and Roasted Local Tomato served with Potatoes Dauphin and Beef Jus Carpaccio di Ananas Carpaccio of Pineapple with Passion Fruit Dessing and Mango Sorbet Napoleone di Pesca Chocolate Mousse Puff Pastry Napoleon served with Peach Salad I really enjoyed the antipasta and pasta that we had. The scallop was well prepared and cooked exceptionally well. The pasta was very light and reminded me of food I had in Italy. The fish was great - definitely get that if you go. The sauce was delicious - very intense. The beef was alright, I felt it needed more salt to bring out the flavor of the meat (why are there no salt shakers at upscale restaurants? I know why, but c'mon...) and the chocolate dessert was a tad too sweet while the sobert was a good palate cleanser. Overall, I wasn't impressed. I had high expectations b/c it's Roberto Donna's restaurant and all that jazz but honestly I was, to use Al Dente's words, just whelmed.

Ditto on the house cured meats. The gnnochi we had Saturday night had fava beans and guiancale - holy moly I could've eaten a whole slab of that if given half a chance!

FYI While waiting for my homemade lunch to warm up in the microwave (if you must know, it was HK style fried rice with a steamed entree - chicken wings, shiitake mushrooms, wood ear, lily buds and straw mushrooms in a soy/rice wine au jus ) I stumbled upon a menu for Pinto Thai in Silver Spring. A fellow co-worker told me they're just remodeled and reopened. Supposedly, they're better than Thai Derm and the prices are extremely reasonable - looking over the menu, there is nothing that costs than $8.95. They have a lunch buffet for $7.25, all you can eat. The owner told my coworker than on Saturdays, the lunch buffet will feature more traditional Thai items. Pinto Thai 8223 Georgia Ave Silver Spring, MD 20910 301-585-7200 Lunch: Mon-Sat 11:00-3:00pm Dinner: Mon-Sat 5:00pm-9:00pm Closed Sunday

Last night was pure comfort food. Kung Fu chicken flavored ramen noodles with gai lan. The Chinese equivalent to mashed potatoes. Ahhh.

Ok, Rachel Ray going to Teaism is good but they could've hit so many different places. Granted people who come to DC don't think of the 'burbs like us locals but dang, they couldn't go to great foodie places Eden Center or Annadale? Outside of Cali, Eden's the biggest centralized places for great Vietnamese food and such - ya think they'd appreciate that. No, they had to put "get ice cream in Georgetown" on their list. Ai ya! Shoot, did they even mention Max's Ice Cream?!

Saw it, thanks. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, GENERAL TSAO'S CHICKEN?!?! HOT AND SOUR SOUP?!?! SPRING ROLLS?!?! WTF? They shoulda mentioned Sizzling Express instead. Looking at the list, I'm surprised they didn't. <shakes head over typical stereotyping of Chinese cuisine> There's a host of better dishes to be had a Fu Shing. The fried fish with peanuts and chiles, the pork chop rice bowl, the Taiwanese/Northern dim sum on the weekends...gah, this is the best they could pick out?! Sigh. PS: And they couldn't mention Palena's cafe menu? (Which by the way, was awesome on Saturday night. They had 3 of my favorite servers there so service was excellent and so was the food!)

Yeap, I've been to Fu Shing in Rockville and Gaithersburg. Not bad - I wouldn't call it 100% authentic but it's definitely a step above your average Chinese-American chop suey joint. (Not that there is anything wrong with that...heaven knows that's how many a Chinese family earns their honest living!!!) The one in Rockville is better than the one in Gaithersburg. I can't watch the FoodTV clip at work but I'm assuming they mention Fu Shing?

$50 gift certificate to DC Coast for my birthday. Whee hee!

There are many reasons why service could be slow but there is no excuse, regardless of price or class or restaurant, for poor service. (EX: not giving out menus and water when people are seated, not being friendly, etc...). I guess I have a different viewpoint b/c my family owns a restaurant and I worked there for 1/2 of my life...

If you get Liz or Kate, you're guaranteed good service at Palena. Those two servers are great. One time I had a server who took 10 minutes to give us water and menus in the cafe area when there were only 2 other tables in the room. He didn't explain the two menus in the cafe area and wasn't friendly at all. Then we got another server (didn't get her name, ack!) who was great.