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LauraB

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Everything posted by LauraB

  1. LauraB
    I also miss the numbered post feature, but I accept your explanation. Another feature I miss, is that in the index for a forum you used to be able to click on an arrow in the middle of the page that would take you automatically to 'The last post,' in the thread. There was also one that would take you to 'The first post.' I found that feature very useful and would like to see it come back, if possible, without a lot of work on your part.
  2. LauraB
    You said the 'Western media' has not covered this. I assume you mean the American media, because the BBC has covered this extensively, as you might imagine. Also, NPR has been all over this story.
  3. LauraB
    Update: I said previously that Allstate had issued a check to cover the damages and our initial hotel stay. Well, that check never arrived. So, we got our own insurance company involved, and lo and behold, a new check in a higher amount was issued and over-nighted to us. Meanwhile, I learned that Allstate had wasted precious time trying to strong arm our contractor into agreeing that we could live in the condo while the work was done. That was done without our knowledge until our contractor informed us about it. Our insurance company put a stop to that. Bottom line: involve your own insurance company from the outset. Thank you, Rich, for that advice! We have been living in a Marriott Residence Inn since May 2nd and will be here til May 22nd. We informed Allstate from the outset of our need to stay in a hotel. Still, it will be interesting to see how Allstate responds to our request for reimbursement of our hotel and meal expenses.
  4. LauraB
    There you go! Like I said upthread, surge pricing. The traffic in C'ville that weekend was the craziest I've ever seen there. Also, the photos that you posted above, Don, I suspect most of those are not of the rooms themselves, they are the 'lounges' that are open to any guest -- note that you don't see a bed in any of those photos. As I also said upthread, the hotel capacity in C'ville does not meet the popularity of the town. I was happy to read recently that there are something like 6 new hotels being constructed in town. They're greatly needed.
  5. LauraB
    The sign is still there. That's a very long time to have a 'Coming Soon' sign. Makes one wonder if it's really going to happen.
  6. LauraB
    Any idea when?
  7. LauraB
    Anyone know when the Springfield location is going to open?
  8. LauraB
    I googled: they announced it on their website on May 4, 2010, so 6 years ago. I didn't realize that it had been that long. I do remember a few years ago MrB came home from a business lunch and I asked him where they'd had lunch and he said, "Silver Diner." I said, "Why on earth would you go there?" He replied that they had completely revamped their menu and it was wholesome, organic, and local. I rolled my eyes, but turns out, it was true.
  9. LauraB
    I can't give you the exact date, but it was sometime in the last few years.
  10. LauraB
    Back in the early years of this century, MrB and I would occasionally go to the Silver Diner for breakfast -- which I found to be ok, but nothing special. At that time I would never have dreamed of going there for lunch or dinner. Fast forward 15 years and include the SD's transformation of its cuisine to fresh, organic, locally-sourced and throw in the fact that MrB and I have been displaced from our home (due to extensive water damage) and are living in a hotel in downtown Springfield, not too far from the Silver Diner. The Silver Diner has suddenly become our restaurant of choice when we want a reasonably healthful meal, be it breakfast, lunch, or dinner! Their Chicken Noodle Soup is good! Not Tom Power-good, but like a really good homemade version -- the noodles are actually shells, which makes it easier to eat and the chicken appears to be white meat and is not dried-out. Terrific comfort food, which I need right now. I also liked their Veggie Chili -- it's got some spice, but nothing too strong. I never thought I'd order a salad in a diner, but their Greek Salad is good -- way, way, way better than the 'Greek salad' I had at the Greek restaurant, Eleni's, a while back. The romaine is very fresh and it is a generous serving, containing chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, feta, and black olives. The dressing is tasty. I've also had the Roasted Local Veggie Salad: which contains beets, squash, brussels sprouts, red peppers, basil, arugula, kale, sunflower seeds, pecans, dried apricots and their house-made champagne dressing. I like this salad a lot. It provides a lot of vegetables, and under our current living situation, that's really important to me. The Summer Citrus Salad consists of baby spinach, mangoes, strawberries, dried cranberries, pecans, carrots and a fat-free citrus vinaigrette. This came as a side to something else and I found that it was a bit too acidic for me. On the other hand, the baby spinach was really fresh. For breakfast, MrB almost always orders the Bison Huevos Rancheros, which he loves. I often order the Oaxaca Omelette that contains black bean salsa, pepper jack, salsa roha, cilantro, and mashed avocado. We like these dishes a lot. Two nights ago we went for dinner and MrB ordered the Meatloaf which he thought was fairly pedestrian. I ordered the Fish Tacos (never imagined myself ordering fish tacos in a diner). This was not Taco Bamba quality, but they were not bad either. The fish was grilled halibut. Anyway, we'll probably be working our way through the menu over the next several weeks until we can re-occupy our home. We'll report in if anything is worthy of note.
  11. LauraB
    I noticed the other day that Yindee Thai is apparently open. I'm not going to take one for the team and check it out -- not when I can go to Thai Ghang Waan and have a guaranteed good Thai meal!
  12. LauraB
    We've been here 3 times, most recently earlier this week. When we were living in DC we were addicted to Baan Thai and we've missed it so much. TGW is not Baan Thai, but it is a really good Thai restaurant. Our best visit was earlier this week because our server was Oom (I probably haven't spelled that right), and she was so personable and friendly and quickly identified that we like real Thai food. We ordered exclusively off of their 'Thai Menu' and we started with their Papaya Salad (Som Tum). We've had this here before and it's always good. We followed that up with the Issan Sausage. Here is the description from the website: "Thai northeastern style pork sausage served with cabbage, ginger, chili and peanuts" We really liked this. There were 3 sausages, each maybe 4-5 inches long, on skewers. The sausages were really moist and well-cooked, and very flavorful. We'd definitely order this again. Our third choice was the Pad Thai from the Thai menu (this is different from the Pad Thai on their regular menu). Let me clarify: we never order Pad Thai. However, this was described as 'the best Pad Thai you'll ever eat.' We decided to take the challenge. This Pad Thai is served with head-on giant prawns. We have not had good experiences with giant prawns in the past (they're usually really dry), so we asked if shrimp could be substituted. They agreed. This Pad Thai was served with the heat-inducing chili flakes on the side, so you could control the amount of heat. The taste of it was fantastic. All of the flavors you want in a Pad Thai, plus the heat that you control. Perfection. Finally, we ordered the Thai Basil Chicken Wings. That may not be the exact name because I couldn't find it on their online menu. Anyway, these are not your dad's chicken wings. The closest thing I can come to describe these are the whiskey pork ribs at Little Serow. Don't get me wrong: these are nowhere near Little Serow level, but they do have an elegance and a restraint in the glaze that Little Serow delivers. The wings are chopped into 2 or 3 pieces and I found that I preferred to peel off the skin because it was still flaccid. The meat was really tasty. It was a delightful visit and certainly enhanced by Oom. We'll be going back soon.
  13. LauraB
    Simon, I am so glad you are here! Please keep posting. I love Charlottesville 29 and read it regularly. We still live in the DC area, but are hoping to make the move to C'ville within the next couple of years. Do you know where Jose de Brito is going?
  14. LauraB
    I see that this market is being run by Central Farm Markets. We used to be regulars at their Bethesda, MD market location on Sunday mornings and we loved it. We thought it was very well run with a lot of great vendors. And bonus: they allow dogs at the market, which I realize is not to everyone's liking, but we enjoyed it. Hopefully this new location will be equally successful.
  15. LauraB
    We're in Philadelphia fairly frequently and some of our favorites are: Vedge: this is very near your hotel. It's one of the top restaurants in Philly (but totally casual). It's vegan and believe me, you will not miss the meat and there will be no seafood in sight. Truly a fantastic, unique restaurant. Fork: a bit further afield, but still close in Old City. It's a fine dining restaurant serving what I would call American food, but I've seen plenty of people casually dressed there. Amada: also in Old City. An oldie, but a goodie. Spanish tapas -- yeah, I know, been there, done that. This restaurant is still our favorite in Philly and, frankly, I think it's better and more soulful than Jaleo. You can have a fantastic octopus dish while your wife has something land-based. Pizzeria Vetri: if you want to go extremely casual and eat really good pizza. It's across the street from the Barnes Foundation. We walked there from the Sofitel, which is probably the same distance as your hotel. Two others have mentioned Zahav and it is a very good option as well (best hummus you'll ever have). I just wanted to offer you a few more choices.
  16. LauraB
    I want to thank everyone who has offered advice here and via PM. Rich's advice to file with our own insurance company was particularly salient, and we followed that advice, filing with our insurance company 2 days ago. The response we have received from them is vastly superior to what we had previously received from the culprit's company, Allstate. In 20 minutes I got more information from the adjuster for our insurance company than I've received in 5 weeks from Allstate. He has already been to the property to assess the damages. It remains to be seen what will happen here. Thanks to your recommendations, and those of MrB's clients, we do have attorneys waiting in the wings, if need be.
  17. LauraB
    I'd appreciate whatever you come up with, Dave. Thanks.
  18. LauraB
    Thank you so much, Keith! I'll definitely look into it. I want to thank you, Don, and the others who have reached out to me via PM. I really appreciate the support of this community. Meanwhile, back to packing....
  19. LauraB
    The Oval Room? Iron Gate? Neither of them have stairs to get into the restaurant or to the restroom.
  20. LauraB
    How about Corduroy?
  21. LauraB
    Yes, I feel the need for an attorney, which is why I posted this. Can you or anyone else recommend one? And, wow, it's funny you say it was an 'accident.' This woman has never apologized to us. The closest she came was to text me that "I'm as upset about the accident as you are."
  22. LauraB
    We have been living in a condo that we own in Springfield, VA since last summer. On March 24th our condo was flooded due to the person living upstairs (a tenant, not the owner) having turned on her kitchen faucet, plugged the sink, and left the unit to go to work. The damage to our unit was extensive. We had completely renovated it last May, so less than a year. Our relatively new hardwood floors are ruined and have to be completely replaced. Other work includes replacing the dry wall, the ceiling, it goes on and on. We will need to move out next Monday and the repairs will begin on Tuesday. We filed a claim with the culprit’s insurance company, Allstate. They have issued a check to cover the repairs and our initial hotel stay immediately after the flood – the disaster recovery team installed enormous fans and dehumidifiers that rendered the unit uninhabitable for 5 days post-flood. We are now faced with at minimum, an 18-day hotel stay and the removal of all of our belongings to temporary storage for the duration. We are getting push-back from Allstate. They claim that we can remain here for the duration of the repairs. I don’t know how you can remain in a place where ALL of the hardwood floors need to be replaced. This is a less than an 800-square foot condo. I just don’t know where you push the furniture. Not to mention how it would be living here while this work is done. In addition, this has disrupted our lives greatly. I am currently spending all of my time packing up our belongings, only to unpack them in about a month. We did not ask for this and yet the Allstate agent treats me like I am hassling him. I would greatly appreciate any advice you have to offer. Even if Allstate finally does pay all of our expenses, which I greatly doubt, what about the great inconvenience we are suffering. Is there any way to be compensated for that? Thanks for any advice you have!
  23. LauraB
    Can I make a suggestion for the next poll? I'd like it if you didn't solicit any more nominations and just held the poll with the numerous already-nominated restaurants. It's really hard for these suburban restaurants to compete with the likes of Kinship and Tail Up Goat, etc. Just a thought.
  24. LauraB
    MrB and I have been living in Springfield since last summer. Before we moved down here, we had never been in a GAR restaurant. (I take that back, we ate at Coastal Flats in Tysons Corner Mall whenever we were there because we thought it was the best restaurant in the mall.) Since moving to Springfield, we have dined at Mike's more times than I can count. Why? Because it offers consistency. The service is always good, the food is good (but not spectacular), and the price is a fairly good value. The only thing I don't like about Mike's? The parking -- the place is so popular that it's relatively small parking lot is often full. Today we had a late lunch/early dinner at Mike's. I had the crab cakes, which I've ordered many times in the past. These are good -- they're relatively filler-free and are served with a remoulade sauce and a coleslaw that I like a lot -- it's tangy and fresh. MrB had Mike's chicken salad, which was very fresh and, despite containing the 'hated dried cranberries', which MrB actually likes, he liked his salad a lot. I am the last person to praise a chain restaurant. You won't find me at any of the national chains, ever. But, GAR, I like. It fills a niche and a need. I really don't understand the hate that has been expressed on DR in this (and other threads) for GAR.
  25. LauraB
    We went to Eleni's yesterday late morning for an early lunch, late breakfast. This was after we had tried to go to the Springfield Silver Diner, but found the line to be really long. We should have stayed at Silver Diner. Our visit to Eleni's was extremely disappointing. We ordered the hummus and pita to start. The hummus was the worst I've ever had. If there was anything other than chickpeas in it, I'd be stunned. There was no flavor other than chickpeas. The pita was very pedestrian -- like something you'd purchase at a chain grocery store in a plastic bag. MrB ordered the Greek Omelet and it was very badly cooked --very brown on the outside, no fluffiness, all of the internal ingredients stuffed into a very small pouch. It also came with 'Greek potatoes' that he described as 'horrible.' I ordered the Spanakopita. The waitress pointed out that they had a special of Spanakopita with 'homemade dough.' She recommended that I order that, rather than the usual menu item which is made with phyllo dough. Against my better judgment, I followed her recommendation. To my chagrin, I should have followed my instincts. This was the worst spanakopita I've ever been served. The dough was really thick and under-cooked. I scraped the spinach innards out of the dough and ate those, which weren't all that good. My side was also the 'Greek Potatoes,' which I also found to be undercooked. It's really saying something when you don't want to eat potatoes! And, in case you think it can't get worse, the service was unbelievably slow. We sat and sat and sat before the hummus was delivered, and then sat some more for the entrees. This was our second (and certainly, last!) visit to Eleni's. Our first was many months ago and we left very underwhelmed. We decided to give it another try yesterday and it failed again.
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