lotus125

I'm a big fan of the Rad Thai -- only 365(ish) calories, and the dressing is delicious.  I also love the Spicy Sabzi (440 cal.) and the OMG Omega (555 cal.).   

FWIW, I had a pretty strong meal there.  Agree that it felt a bit overpriced.  But Don, you may have just had a really off meal.  Give them another shot some time. 

FWIW, I'm also a big fan, and I think they have great breadth.  Yes, the cumin fish is the their best. But I've had great shredded potato, mapo tofu, cold garlic cucumber, eggplant with garlic sauce, etc.  

We finally tried the Inferno tasting menu -- very good!  First up was caviar with meyer lemon.   A very soft lemon cream with a scoop of caviar and drizzled olive oil.  We briefly discussed whether we would have preferred a firmer lemon base and/or more olive oil.  But the dish was quite good.  Next up was crudo of madai (Japanese red snapper), grapefruit, ginger, chili, and cilantro.  Great dish.  There was a lot of chili; the chef is not afraid of the heat.  The grapefruit worked surprisingly well with ginger and chili.  Next was our favorite dish of the night, miso flavored spaghetti, sea urchin, olive oil & garlic.  Slightly umami pasta with a ton of garlic and, as I recall, some chili and picked ramps.  On top was a cold piece of fresh uni.  Fantastic sharp flavor from the garlc and ramp and delicious contrast with the cold uni.  Next was steamed black bass, fennel, green olives & basil.  Perhaps the least standout of the savory courses but still strong.  As I recall, there was some mint in the dish, which was very interesting.  Finally we had snapper with vaduovan spices, bits of cauliflower, an oyster mushroom, and a mound of chili garlic condiment.  Again, a fair bit of heat in places, and really delicious.  The dessert was an old school molten-chocolate cake with soft serve.  The downsides are (1) if you're in DC, Darnestown, MD is a bit of a hike -- a 30-75 minute drive depending on time of day and where in DC you're coming from; and (2) it's not otherwise a fine-dining setup if that's what you're looking for.  But for some really good food and a novel experience, this is worth a try.

Has anyone tried the tasting dinners?

After reading a short blurb in the Washing Post, we decided to try Mezcalero, the new Columbia heights Mexican restaurant.  This one goes in the column of "easy to like, easy to be disappointed."  We started with a round of very disappointing cocktails.  For a place called Mezcalero, we had high hopes for the mezcal based cocktails on the list.  Both were so sweet that we could barely get other flavors.  Queso fundido was solid but undersalted.  The chile relleno was quite good.  We had many tacos including nopales (cactus paddles), mushrooms, salmon, and tilapia.  The tacos were solid but also undersalted.  Service was lackluster.  For a neighborhood place, this is reasonably priced and has some authentic options.  But it doesn't impress.  And it's a very different experience from something like Espita.

I had dinner here this week.  It was fun to try a new cuisine, but I'm not sure I'd rush back. The noodles were by far their strong suit.  Chewy, savory, and different from Chinese noodles.  We had several fish entrees that reminded me of fine but not great Chinese food, albeit at higher prices.  Certainly worth trying, but this won't become a staple for me.  

Don,

Are you sure it's the same owner?  I'd thought Crane and Turtle (and the Cappy's popup after it) were owned by Paul Ruppert.  Himitsu's website and press describe Kevin Tien (the chef) and Carlie Steiner (who runs front of house and the cocktail program) as co-owners.  Is Paul Ruppert a partner?  And if so, is that enough in your algorithm?  

In any case, while I don't mean to veer off into a discussion of website organization, why wouldn't you want a new thread if the same owner opened an entirely different restaurant at the same address?  I'd have thought that because the thread tracks the restaurant, if there is a distinctly new restaurant, then you'd want a distinctly new thread.   

Thanks!

On ‎10‎/‎13‎/‎2016 at 10:16 AM, Simul Parikh said:

Jaleo = best tapas in the USA? Hmmm... I guess I don't enough experience to say otherwise, but really?

EDIT - didn't mean "really?" like disbelief, more like is this what people think?

Is Jaleo even the best tapas in DC?  I like it fine, but I'd take Estadio over Jaleo.

On 8/19/2016 at 0:16 PM, Gadarene said:

I'm going in two weeks, so I'll report back.  I also have a friend who lives in Copenhagen who sent me a detailed list of recommendations; when I can access my personal email, I'll relay them here.

I've got lunch reservations at Geranium (3 Michelin stars, for whatever that's worth) and Studio, and dinners planned at Amass (very excited about this), Radio, and Geist.

Other places on my radar include Kodbyens Fiskebar (open Sundays!), Aamanns, Almanak, and Oliver and the Black Circus for food, and Baest, Ved Stranden, Ruby, and Atze Peng for drinks, as well as the things that my friend recommends.

How was Studio?

On ‎9‎/‎3‎/‎2016 at 2:57 PM, Gadarene said:

Copenhagen must be one of the only cities in the world where chefs and servers, upon hearing you're visiting, routinely ask "oh, where have you been so far?" and then geek out about how much they love those restaurants too.  (Or -- worse! -- judge you, with a moment of polite silence, for not maximizing your available eating and drinking slots at the best possible places.)

This is a spectacular part of the Copenhagen food scene.  Many of the chefs are friendly and cooperative.  The old Kadeau had a communal table up front, and local chefs would stop by and try new items. 

Nostos is another option.

Just now, Dr. Delicious said:

How many people are the "For the Table" selections expected to satisfy?

It depends a lot on the item.  The cookie dough souffle (no longer on the menu) was basically a souffle for one.  The fishes, such as the dorade on the current menu, work well for two but could feed more if you added more small plates. 

Has anyone been recently?  Given that it's Summer, I would think the food at Patowmack would be at its best.  But I haven't seen anything on the board in quite awhile.

Regarding the back dining room, it's best to avoid.  In addition to having no windows, the acoustics are truly awful.  I hardly ever notice such things, but it's difficult even to hear the person sitting across from you, let alone anyone in a larger group.  

Are these different from Christina Tosi's bagel bombs?

Tried a good chunk of the menu on Friday.  It's ok, but just ok.  Seems like a scene.  For food, you're better off at Estadio, Jaleo, etc.  

On 6/1/2016 at 6:42 PM, Marty L. said:

Sietsema raves.  Anyone been?

I had a fairly mediocre meal.  Indeed, the disconnect between my meal and Siestema's review is so large that it makes me wonder if I hit them on an off night.  

6 hours ago, Pool Boy said:

So, question to everyone, I see almost universal acclaim here. There are some comments about pacing, and being hungry, but, at the end of the meal, were you full/satisfied?

I am over tasting menus (or so I keep telling myself, as I went to Metier recently), so while P&P solves my problem with Rose's Luxury (problem being no reservations taken), P&P only does tasting menu, right?  TIA

Yes, tasting menu only.  And yes, definitely full/satisfied.  (More like Komi than Minibar on that front).

Any recent reports? The time of our departure from DC is quickly approaching, and I'm trying to hit places that need hitting before leaving.  Curious to know if folks still think this is a top restaurant.

We ate at the bar two weeks ago and had a good meal.  (Better than a meal I had when it first opened).  Worth checking out before you go.

We finally had an omakase at the sushi bar.  It was a really fun experience.  The servers were gracious (and steered us towards reasonably-priced sake).  The food was quite good.  And they had many interesting things to try, including baby eels and three kinds of uni.  My only nit is that I found the rice a bit too soft and some of the fish had too much soy glaze or wasabi.  Thus, several pieces were falling apart, and I sometimes thought the purity of the fish was overpowered.  But that said, it was still delicious and, at least by DC standards, a terrific sushi experience.     

The raw fish items are amazing.  And the apple/radish/miso-butter dish is an excellent hybrid of radishes with butter and apples with peanut butter.  If Yona were in DC, it would be packed every night.  For those close by, take advantage.   

Ocopa was terrific (though mostly non-traditional) until Carlos left.  Sadly the answer may be China Chilcano, though I don't find the food very exciting. 

I've found at Rasika that ordering curries that sound similar to what you can get at other Indian restaurants resulted in getting fairly ordinary curries. Since then, I've only ordered the more interesting sounding dishes that I wouldn't find elsewhere, and those have been exceptional every time I've been there.

Their appetizers and vegetable dishes are often outstanding too.

I'm a huge fan of Fiola Mare's food and beverage.  (Though I acknowledge that they occasionally fail.  The one time that I had to take an out-of-town foodie to dinner on a Monday, when most places are closed, I had my worst Fiola Mare meal).  But the place is extremely pricey and often tone deaf about that fact.

Egregious upselling is terrible wine service.  But what strikes me the most about this story is that even after zgast redirected the somm, she did it again!  Since I assume the wine list was open, and the price difference was obvious, the somm surely could not have been trying to pull one over.  It was just knuckleheaded, bad service.  At an early meal at Fiola (the original), I had a waiter take away the list and then upsell; much more annoying.  In some sense I'm more bothered when the somm drifts up by 30%; a bit hard to call it an error but leaves me wondering what the motive was.  The somm here drifted up 500%; that's almost funny.

I recently ordered a half-portion of a pasta at Fiola Mare that is $36 for a full portion.  When the check came, the half-order was $32.  I, and the waiter initially, assumed it was an error.  Half orders are marked up slightly, but not from $18 to $32.  The waiter returned and explained that the half order includes the full amount of langoustine that is normally served in the dish (only one langoustine--itself odd in an entrée), and it is therefore only $4 less.  This shows the tone problem.  Why allow a half order of that dish?  Why suggest so clearly that you value the rest of the dish at only around $8?  And once the customer (and waiter) flagged this as presumably a mistake, why not just write down the dish to $22 or $24 and know for next time?