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Also had the mushroom tart, and I agree with Don's take on the crust. Also, the frites we had were not great - a medium size cut (bigger than Beck, smaller than Granville Moore's) that came out soggy and undersalted. That one was surprising, as I figured their fryer game would be strong right out of the box. On the other hand, the quality of their seafood was outstanding. Oysters and mussels were super fresh and plump. The steamed mussels were cooked perfectly and were bigger than I've seen around lately. Their Citron Presse is really well done if you are not drinking. The vibe and layout of this place really compels one to drink though.

So the summary is that it is awesome, although not as idiot proof as advertised (granted, I'm a curve buster on the idiot scale). I'm finding temperature control to be a bit of a work in progress but I've got a pretty good handle on it at this point. It's one of those things that you just need to spend a little time on it to learn how to fiddle with the temps. As advertised, it really will sit on a temp for a long time if you leave things alone. I made pizzas last week for a crew of my fiance's girlfriends and kept the oven humming at a nice 550-600 for a good hour+. Worked like a charm, and if they had been rolling the dough thinner I would have pushed the temp up higher. Still, for a first run on that everyone was very happy. I anticipate us doing that a lot this summer. I've also noticed that if I pump up those temps I can dry fry vegetables in a dish right on the grill and get a blistering sear on them AND a little smoke from the charcoal. In the last few weeks we've done that with green beans, asparagus, and green onions and they've all been home runs. When the temp settles down lower I would then grill a protein like on a normal grill. The vegetables have been a revelation - I'm strongly considering getting a big wok for use on the egg. So it's given me everything I expected on the low end of the temperature scale, and it has been a pleasant surprise on the high end.

I was just there last night again, and after several visits I think the complaints and compliments are basically saying the same thing at this point. If you want slightly upscale diner food come here and you're going to be happy with the sandwiches, salads, and fried things. If you come here expecting Volt or destination dining you're going to be disappointed. Treat this place for what it is.

My go tos are the Bologna sandwich from Blue Smoke and the Hard Times Veggie Nachos. I will eventually get to Shawafel but I love both of those other two things and kind of associate getting one or the other with a trip to the park now. Ben's at the park has always been a train wreck for me.

And if you'd like to try the Pok Pok line of shrubs, they sell them at Society Fair. The pomegranate and tamarind are good.

The bacalao croquetas and jamon rollitos are worth your time. Especially the bacalao.

If they're in the 8-10 range they've lowered their prices and lowered them significantly. They were all $12 when they opened. Some were good, some were misguided. All of them made me wish I was having a $10 cocktail at the Passenger, Hogo, or Rogue 24 instead.

Cheap? Wait what? My visits there involved $12 cocktails and I saw PBR was $5. Unless they lowered their price points they are above average for the neighborhood.

Frankly I'm still waiting for some Top 50 _____ slideshows around here

I could see a Del Frisco's proper move in now that they are in the area with their Grille concept. Starr moving fast on a second restaurant wouldn't be super shocking either.

The NoMa Teeter gets *something* delivered nearly every Friday. They send out an advance email on it and you can reserve quantity through them if you want, but if you're there on Friday it's not an issue (they ship in enough to get them at least through Saturday). In addition to the stone crabs I've snagged fresh Alaskan King crab (legs one week, clusters another) and wild U-3 prawns. It's not always that exciting (farm raised drum!) but when they hit they deliver strong. They actually overbought on those stone claws too and I saw them marked down to like $6.99/lb on the Wednesday after they got them in. If I didn't know better... As for Joe's, I'm with you. I can see myself with a few claws and a drink on a nice evening in a heartbeat.

Harris Teeter overnighted fresh stone claws this winter at the start of the season and I ate my face off. As for Joe's - if it opens I won't be upset but I'm going to need more expense account friends.

Well, okay then.

The whole setup of the CBA is as convoluted as, well... a CBA. So the CBA company is based in Portland (where Widmere was founded) but Redhook is keeping their offices in Seattle (now CBA offices) and their massive production facility in Woodinville. If AB has 32% of the parent company, that leaves 68% of the company for 3 breweries. If they all have around 22% then AB has more weight and would only need one vote from the 3 to carry a majority vote (albeit the breweries could still outvote). But this is all speculation. My regional bias might be showing here but IMO many of the deeper cuts on the Redhook and Widmere product lines are quite good. If AB can swing their weight and put them on a shelf I'd certainly they rather do that than keep trying to push things like Bud Black or Platinum or whatever metal/color/test item they want to brand with next.

Did you see Shawafel took over one of the stands on the lower level next to Hard Times and Boardwalk Fries? I've enjoyed Shawafel in a pinch on H Street and the menu at the park includes both the shawafel and fried cauliflower sandwich, which are both solid. YMMV at the park though...

I would eat the heck out of some Matzo Brei breakfast tacos.

They've been pretty busy every time I've been in, with longer lines typical on weekends. That being said, some things they do leave me scratching my head. No pourovers until 11 because of how busy they are. Drip only. I'd be happy to wait for the option of a good morning coffee but ok, fine. When I was in a hurry and tried to grab a quick drip last week, I was told they don't do drip after 11. I'll still be back, but it was all in all a very weird transaction. Try those little caramel waffle things they sell at the counter.

I was wondering what caused that - Kells is a good joint. Then a quick google showed me they're getting into the Irish lager game themselves. I can't really tell if the recipe is the same as it was before. I can comment on that one (probably more experience there than I should admit) but I haven't had the newly rolled out version.

This article pretty much covers the civet coffee phenomenon, which seems to enter the media cycle a few times a year out of sheer shock factor. Key takeaway:

It's not bad, it's just weird. Strongly boozy and bitter in a unrefined, homebrew sort of way... except you're paying $13 for 4 of them. That being said, I'll remember this mostly failed experiment more than I will the 5000th overly hopped IPA I've had forced on me in the name of 'drinking regional'.

Fork has gotten a lot of buzz in the last few weeks, receiving write ups in stories about Philly in both WaPo and NYT. They recently poached a chef from Torrisi Italian Specialties in NY, and with that came a revamped menu. The meal didn't start great, with a pretty standard kale salad and a 'burnt grains' pasta that did everything it could to avoid letting the ragu cling to it. The saving grace was the bread service, which was two mini homemade bialys with fresh cream cheese. I could have taken down a half dozen if I didn't know what was coming... Our main entree was duck feast for two - which started with the completed roast bird presented on a slab to the table. It was then whisked away and about 10 minutes later we were presented with 4 plates. The breasts on the roast bird were sliced and served with a celeriac puree underneath and a duck liver/fig sauce to go on top. It was... perfectly roast duck. The other plates were all duck but not part of the just roasted item (unless they are magicians back there). Plate 2 had two baseball sized duck meatballs smothered in a duck liver marinara. These were rich, crazy meaty (I think I've been having too many ricotta meatballs), and I was scraping the sauce off the plate. Plate 3 was duck confit with broccoli rabe and sharp provolone. Yes, the sandwich filling on a plate. It worked. Plate 4 was a salad of bitter greens, duck prosciutto, and duck heart. This was the only real miss of the feast, primarily from lack of seasoning on the duck components of the dish. Still, I'd order that feast again in a heartbeat. Or maybe the short rib feast the table next to us had. Hop Sing Laundromat is ridiculous by design. It's a faux speakeasy that makes you wait outside for long periods of time, is cash only, is decorated like a gaudy library out of a Muppet movie, and the manager presents you with a monologue of do's and don'ts before you are even allowed to set foot inside. The drinks are awesome though, and a relative bargain (all are $12) given the quality of spirits they are using. El Dorado 15 rum is life changing. I'd be annoyed as all hell if this was what I had to do to get a decent drink night in and night out, but as a tourist on a weekend? Yeah, it might be worth it. Federal Donuts is likely who to credit/blame for the rash of fried chicken and donut shops that are about to infect DC this spring. I'll be pretty damn surprised if any of them are able to do it as well as FD is pulling it off. I tried two different glazed varieties (honey ginger and chile garlic) and the chicken itself had a shatteringly crisp outer crust. Like halfway to Bon Chon crisp. Meat was juicy and not too salty. One glaze seemed like straight siracha but the spicy honey was more interesting. Both were great. Half a chicken is $9 and got me 6 pieces (interesting anatomy there) and you also get a fried to order honey donut. Chicken and donuts pulled directly from the fryer are a good idea. Go figure. Resurrection Ale House once served my fiance what she remembers as the best fried chicken she's ever had. That was 3 years ago. Be careful when you try and chase your memories folks. My schnitzel wasn't great either. Absolutely killer draft beer list though. Sarcone's Deli makes a killer cold sub. Sometimes I think the bread at Taylor is close enough to the real thing. That's usually when it's been longer than a few months since I've been to Sarcone's. I co-sign on the poster above who suggested hitting Reading Market on Sunday morning. Much easier to traverse. But we grabbed Tony Luke's on the way out of town and I still don't see how anyone can pick DiNic's roast pork over Tony Luke's. Better bread, and a proper ingredient ratio on a sandwich where that is essential. Both of my DiNic's experiences were all out of whack with too much broccoli rabe, not enough pork. I'm going to eat salads for a few more nights in a row now.

While you do taste a little coffee/cocoa on first sip, the bitterness totally overwhelms from then on out. This drank less like a porter than a dark IPA. Interesting experiment I guess and while I didn't hate it, but I certainly won't be running out to buy more. Gotta agree with the comment above about Sixpoint in general though. The only one in their line I've really enjoyed is Bengali Tiger.

A Rogue 24/Hogo/Passenger bar crawl will get you incredible drinks, the chance to experience vastly different crowds/vibes, large cocktails (albeit around $12) that will get you where you want to be, and good-to-great food if the mood strikes you. And no bullshit to experience any of them. I was just in Philly this last weekend and experienced the ridiculousness of Hop Sing Laundromat. The drinks were really good and it was fine for one visit, but more than anything it made me really really happy that DC has moved along enough that 'a place pouring damn good drinks' is enough of an angle for a bar to open and thrive now. I'm sure you can have a really great time at barmini if you're game to play the reservation roulette and pick the right things off their Cheesecake Factory sized menu. I'll happily go if someone else takes the time to pull the strings. In the meantime I'll take advantage of how far the other options have come.

In. Although I might need to be wheeled around while bound Hannibal Lecter style, or else I can't guarantee I won't shove my face directly in any giant tanks of harissa I come across.

I don't love MM as anything other than a rail bourbon, but for real Dean? I'm 1000x times more annoyed at those 'small batch' brands that are actually buying their liquor from LDI. Like *GASP* Bulleit. We'd all be better off if those Big Bad Corporate Brands all listened and responded to customer feedback the way MM did in this situation. I'm still not going to drink a lot of MM, but I'll tip my cap their way in this instance.