pras

10 hours ago, DonRocks said:

These sandwiches aren't cheap.

Anyone have an idea why Pastrami is $1 more than corned beef?  

This is my second post about this place, but they really deserve a bump.  They continue to amaze me with the rare beers they bring to Montgomery County.  They announced today that they will have some offerings from Captain Lawrence both in bottles and on-tap.  Please check them out so they stay around for a long time!

4 minutes ago, DaveO said:

I ate there in the 90's.  Fairly consistently and because I thought it was good then.  Possibly its all in the owners.  Interesting.

They waited a year or two before opening Sabai Sabai and when they did, the chef came along for the new spot.

1 hour ago, DanielK said:

I went once in a while because it was 5 minutes from my house (and better than Tara Thai), but it paled in comparison with Sabai Sabai in Germantown or any of the better places in Wheaton.

For the record, the owners of Sabai Sabai are the former owners of Benjarong.  They sold Benjarong and then opened Sabai Sabai (sorry if this was mentioned up-thread).

On Rye (website) opening November 11, 2016 per the Washington Post.  Looks promising.  Aside from the sandwiches, I need to try the babka ice cream sandwich profiled in the Post earlier this summer.

I saw that it is now being sold at the Costco in Gaithersburg.  Didn't pay much attention, so I don't know the details.

2 hours ago, DanielK said:

The service and quality increased, IMO, when they converted it from a KFC/Taco Bell to just a Taco Bell.

From Taco Bell to Taco Bell/KFC, back to Taco Bell.  The Rockville Pike Taco Bell was the spot when we were in high school.  One of the many great memories was when the cashier asked my friend if he would have anything else, and he was about to say "water" looked to his left and saw a police officer standing there, then said, "nothing else".  Not sure if the story translates in writing, but who cares.

Went back there a couple years ago when driving a high school friend home who was visiting.  He forced me to eat a taco.  Our desert was an order of fries from McDonald's down the street.

1 hour ago, ktmoomau said:

The one with a tablet looking screen?  (I haven't but googled to see what you were talking about.)

My office had a soda fountain and we are trying to modernize a bit.  My boss loves the soda fountain and we thought an upgrade might be nice.  Space is an issue though, thus the need for the mini version.

I gave it a try a couple of times but never really got it.  Interestingly, I had dinner at Chipotle last night and it seemed that either it wasn't as good as it used to be or my tastes have evolved.

Has anyone ever seen the smaller version of this machine in the wild?

I was underwhelmed after my visit here on Saturday.  I was reminded of my younger years when hanging out in College Park on a Saturday night, but more of that later.  We were the next to last table seated at about 8:45.  We ordered two of each skewer, with the exception of the pork.  The sausage was a normal pork hotdog with some some spices sprinkled on top. The chicken, beef, and lamb were all dry.  There was no discernible difference in flavor between the beef and the lamb, just dry and stringy.  The hot oil noodles and beef noodle soup were the stars of the evening with the burgers being close seconds.  The beef noodle soup had a very deep broth with a strong anise flavor.  It was spicy, tasty and a bit numbing.  The hot oil noodles were also very nice, with a spicy/numbing/tart (from the vinegar) flavor.  There was a true depth to this dish as well.  The burgers were also very tasty.  I may have built this place up a bit based upon the positive reviews and the inclusion in Tom's fall dining guide--but it did not live up to my anticipation and trek from Gaithersburg.  As mentioned at the beginning of my review, there was some typical Saturday night College Park excitement on this trip--we watched a sobriety check which everyone got to watch from the window.  I really felt bad for the guy walking the line and tracking the officer's flash light.  Unfortunately, it didn't end well for the driver.  Also, as we were leaving and walked past Bentley's, the bouncer wrestled a drunk patron out onto the sidewalk in front of us and we got to watch them grapple on the cold cement.  

Has anyone been here lately?  Is it going to be impossible to get a seat for two at say 8 pm on a Friday at either bar?

Flying Dog's latest rarity is Bee Beer.  Bee Beer was produced to shed light on bee colony collapse.  Evidently, rates on collapse are very high in Maryland.  The beer is a Belgian style Saison, which comes in at 7%.  It is available now in draft and bottles.  It has a classic saison aroma when first poured and more comes through in the taste.  The honey is not cloying or overpowering, but is there in the background (it becomes more evident as the beer warms).  If you like saisons, it is a nice beer to try.  

6 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Yes, and those are close to the way the dishes "should" look (I've never had the cumin lamb chops - they look a bit oily).

Oily and delicious.

On 10/5/2016 at 3:05 PM, thessaly said:

That does seem to be the prevailing theory as to why they're closing down.  Thankfully, Russ & Daughters own their property, so no danger of that happening to them!

So what is the prevailing theory?

Closing at the end of the year "for good".  I wonder what the real story is.  My guess is that the building is being sold for somewhere in the "Billion Dollar Range" (before anyone yells at me, I am being sarcastic about the price).

They are offering a "Founding Member" status.  Per Robert Dyer.

I had dinner here on Saturday night.  It was pretty good.  A nice space with a lot of separate dining spaces.  They don't have a liquor license, but it is BYOB (evidently they are too close to a church to get a license).  I think they charge a reasonable $5 corkage fee for the table (they will bring you proper glassware and an opener).  If you forgot to bring beer or wine, there is a liquor store directly across the street.  People were sitting there with small coolers full of beer.  They don't take reservations, but they do take 30 minute call aheads.  The menu was very heavy on seafood offerings, with a couple steaks and perhaps a chicken dish (non-seafood items can have crab added).  They also have a sushi section on the menu.  We started with mussels, which were very tasty, but it was a slightly small bowl of bivalves.  For an entree, I had the bouillabaisse, which while it wasn't the best example I have had, had a nice flavor and a ton of seafood.  My wife had pappardelle with a bunch of crab and lobster in a light cream sauce--it was very good.  My parents each got soft shell crabs, which they chose to get sauteed instead of fried they were served with a starch and veg.  The standout of the  night was my cousin's sea bass which was coated in sesame, cooked perfectly and served with a ton of vegetables and roasted fingerling potatoes.  For desert we had Smith Island Cake (how can you go wrong), vanilla chocolate chip gellato with chocolate sauce, and an apple pie sundae--all were a good end to a nice meal.  

Bethesda Magazine reports that they have closed.

4 minutes ago, dracisk said:

Also on the topic of food in prisons, my friend wrote an article for Slate a few years ago about Nutraloaf, which is served by many prisons, asking whether the dish is so disgusting as to make it cruel and unusual punishment and thus a violation of the Eighth Amendment: Taste-Testing Nutraloaf by Arin Greenwood in Slate.

A guilty pleasure of mine is watching Lockup on MSNBC.  When they did the Fairfax episodes, they talked about Nutraloaf a lot.  If someone at the Fairfax Jail gets put into seg, that is what they are fed.

It is somewhat of an academic dicussion at this point unless you have already purchased a VIP ticket.  VIP is now sold out.

When I say "cattle call" I mean a litteral sprint for the line.

21 hours ago, Rovers2000 said:

I am going and if I get to taste CBS and / or BA Abraxas I will consider it time and money well spent. 

If you do not have the VIP ticket, CBS might be hard to get a pour.  Last year, rare beers like that had a cattle call as soon as the gates opened.

I will be volunteering again this year pouring beer.  IMHO, that is the way to go.

On 8/24/2016 at 2:39 PM, DaveO said:

From 800 to 2 to finally 1.  Another piece of Americana waves bye bye.  I recall their patty melts and ice cream sodas. 

And then the Howard Johnson Hotel across from the Watergate, from where the burglars spied on Democratic Offices before the break in .  That former hotel is now a dormitory for GW University. 

Actually no longer a GW Dorm per Washington Post.