durwoodx

Can anyone recommend someplace a party of 8-10 can get a top notch Las Vegas Steakhouse experience with the following problematic caveat: we are on a month long tour with a large group and limited luggage. Thus, no access to suits/jackets. All constructive ideas welcome.

I am from New Mexico. Had I known this place existed, I would have been there as often as possible. Guess I'll have to enjoy it for the next month as many times as I can squeeze in....

I do not believe they have outdoor seating, which is something the previous tenants struggled with mightily as well....

Stumbled across this place for lunch today. Arrived about 12:30 and grabbed the last available table in the restaurant. Two or three more parties arrived after me and walked away deciding not to wait, so beware during peak lunch hours - apparently the word has gotten out about this place. Service was quite good despite this, however. The entire meal from sitting at the table to walking out the door was perhaps 35-40 minutes. Summer rolls were adequate - not the best I've ever had but certainly not the worst. Could have used a bit more of the herbal flavor that was just barely peeking through and perhaps could have been a little more tender. The peanut/plum sauce that accompanied it was perhaps a bit heavy as well. The steak salad was quite good. Thin and tender strips of steak with a good char flavor atop greens and onion strips with (a bit too much) of a nice vietnamese vinaigrette. As others have said, the best vietnamese ever? No. Does it fill the empty hole in my heart where Ba Bay used to be at it's peak? No. A strikingly affordable lunch option (You will be hard pressed to spend more than $15-20) and a welcome variety to dining in the heart of Old Town? Absolutely.

Holy mama, that is one awesome and inspired rant. Applause and approval.

Also it should be mentioned that the "Retro" Bistro has a full (but limited) bar. Translation: pre-steak manhattans are in my future.

You ought to make your way down the road 40 miles to Las Cruces and environs. Plenty of great local, quirky places there!

Stopped in for a quick lunch today. While the temperature upon walking in (right by the oven) came off as uncomfortably hot, once seated at the bar I found it to be rather startlingly chilly, even in a sweater. Kind of wacky. Started with the Polpette. Delightfully tender but somewhat underseasoned to my admittedly over-stimulated American palate. Also HOLY COW large. The appetizer could easily have been a meal if I hadn't been so hungry. Moved on to a Margherita, which was a good bit oversauced (perhaps a one time error?) and came off as excessively salty/astringent as a result, but the crust was definitely worth writing home about. Hits that lovely crispy/chewy Neopolitan sweet spot with just the right yeasty overtones and a nice but not overpowering char. The only two in the area I have had that best it are Two Amy's and Pupatella. Most assuredly worth a return visit.

I can confirm the reopening of HB too as of last night - place looked bustling with a big mea culpa-ish sign up saying they were back. To clarify, the steak and cheese sandwich has been moved to the menu of Ray's^3, not the restaurant itself.

I think I may be done with Pumking. Every year I find I enjoy it less than the year before. I am not sure if they are changing the recipe or my tastes are changing, but this year seemed so extremely biscuity I just couldn't get into it. To be fair, though, I think that pumpkin beers are the most overdone, cliche, ubiquitous trick in the brewers world today and I have put a jihad out on all of them, so my opinion is, admittedly, a bit subjective.

It mellows quite a bit if you cellar it for a year or two. The sweetness goes way, way down the same way barleywines tend to. Not to brag, but I currently have bottles of all three cuvees laying down in my cellar for some special occasion. So I got that going for me.

I don't want to be alarmist, but the menu up on the website currently has no fried chicken on it. Can anyone confirm that my supply of chicken crack has gone away?

It is indeed good stuff, but the 12 is upwards of 97% indistinguishable from St Bernardus 12 (just in case you want an idea of what all the fuss is about.) In fact, St. Bernardus brewed for them for years and still has their original yeast strain.

I'd say you could afford him about as much culinary prowess as Emeril deserves at this point. Can a Doritos endorsement be very long in coming?

And an angiogram at Ray's the Blood Pressure the next morning. I think he is secretly trying to kill us all.

This thread makes me sad. I am going to break into one of my cellared beer treasures tonight. I don't want to be a now deceased husband that didn't get to drink his good stuff...

You must have been there on an off night or gotten a misfire, because the three times I've gotten them so far (my aching arteries...) gummy in no way would enter into the equation at any point during the experience. In fact I would categorize them as crunchy, briny, and bursting on all three occasions.

Back to the new lunch burgers... Stopped in today. As opposed to across the street at Hellburger where the burgers are cooked on a grill, these are made on a griddle and fried in butter. The result is a delicious, juicy, glorious, greasy guilt/shame spiral of a burger. Seriously so so so good. Recommend one per person per angioplasty procedure. The piece de resistance: there is a burger with a runny egg and bacon on it billed as a breakfast burger. I felt like I was in a Simpsons episode...

I managed to score one bottle by being on a waiting list since LAST JUNE. A few people I know were lucky enough to either find out when it was being released at Whole Foods and Total Wines in the area or just randomly walk in at the right time, but it invariably sold out in less than 20 minutes. For what it's worth, I had it on tap today for lunch (rough life, I know) at Pizzeria Paradiso Dupont and while it is in no way a beer I would refuse, I still think I would prefer the straight up KBS over it - just not convinced the maple adds much to it.

This is a variant of the Kentucky Breakfast Stout, which is itself a variant of the regular Breakfast Stout. Honestly I don't see a reason why we shouldn't just have one thread per brewery.

I believe they actually call it the "Oyster Not-So-Po' Boy" since it has this redonkulously rich remoulade sauce all over it. Very good. My only complaint - A bit TOO much bread that overwhelms the (very tasty) filling inside.

Good luck actually finding it on shelves. Most places have had waiting lists to sign up on for months.

No, my last meal there was definitely at the Light Horse. I am sure of that having dined at Bistro Europa prior to it's closing (no great loss there.) Overall, a very, very much improved experience. A few misses. More hits. At least one item (if not more) out of the park good. The biggest negative being (still, and as several others have noted) the use of the downstairs dining space. The bench/wall sconce seating for both the booths and tables seem quite uncomfortably high. At the tables in particular my wife (4 inches shorter than me) seemed to be towering over the table while I (in the humble chair) was left to gaze up towards her. A situation I am sure she quite approved of, but just has an aspect of "what on earth were they thinking when they put this place together." (I realize the new chef is inheriting this - but the whole downstairs layout just seems so odd it still bears mentioning.) On to the food! First, our quibbles. The Crispy Spinach Salad, while on some levels a delightful combination of flavors (how did they get the almond flavor to transfer to the honey?) was overcome by an overabundance of oil, which seemed to frequently quench whatever "crunch" there might have been. The Corn Bisque, while quite good, was rather lukewarm - perhaps because the coddled egg it was served over was actually cold. Premade then stored in the fridge perhaps? A Chocolate Mousse Tart, which was contained a serviceable but not exemplary mousse cradled in a light, flaky crust didn't seem to come together really. Probably because it was served without the intriguing sounding Salty Almond Brittle which was promised on the menu? After asking about it, we were told the entire last batch was ruined for some reason and a sampling of the brittle was whisked out as soon as it was ready. While this was appreciated (as was the comped dessert) we were left wondering who in the kitchen made the decision to serve the incomplete dish and just hope the omission wasn't noticed. Unfortunate, as the brittle was quite good and possibly could have made an otherwise flat dessert come alive. OK, whine time over - on to the good stuff: My wife was over the moon about the Lamb (which I can't seem to find on the online menu) and it was well prepared with a lovely melange of potatoes (but perhaps could have used a good bit less "lemon" in the lemon basil spinach), but the star of the night was the Angus Filet with Celery Root Slaw, Applewood Smoked Bacon , and Crispy Brussels Sprouts. I eat a lot of steak. It takes a lot to surprise me in the steak arena. This knocked my socks off. Served more in the style of some sort of Sauerbraten (minus the "sauer" aspect) sliced and arrayed with a tomato based sauce on it. The combination of the sauce with the (delightful) crispy sprouts made it seem as if everything good about autumn jumped into the chefs pan and onto my plate. Highly recommended. Overall about 827 times better than my initial visit and well worth further looks as the kitchen continues to develop. Cheers.

OK Light Horse, three or four years ago you served me one of the worst meals I've had in the DC area if not my life. I swore I'd never go back. Now my pal dr.com tells me you've changed. I trust this friend - he's given me great info in the past - so I am giving you one more shot. You better not burn me again. You just better not.

We had lunch there today. The corn chowder was quite good with a nice spice from the peppers, but not near as good as a similar seasonal offering we've had at Equinox. The amish chicken - again, quite good but just shy of similar dishes at Brabo or Palena. My wife's bitter green salad with burrata was fine (has burrata officially supplanted pork belly as the most grotesquely ubiquitous Beltway menu offering yet?) The shining star of the meal was her Grilled Summer Squash Sandwich with pesto, pine nuts, and goat cheese. Nom.