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dinoue

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  1. dinoue
    Realized the difference between Japanese ramen-ya and American restaurants today. Assumed Sakuramen would be open for lunch becasue what ramen place wouldn't be open for lunch everyday, but only so on Fridays and weekends. Daughter really wanted ramen so she went home with mom to make it at home and I went back to work to eat what was being served there. :-(
  2. dinoue
    Had dinner the other night and mostly things are unchanged, though the crab bisque had a slightly off taste from what I am accustomed to, can't quite place what was different though. Also a little sparse on the crab meat, no large chunks of crab meat this time. Hangar steak was cooked perfectly and mashed potato and spinach sides were abundant. Kids enjoyed the mac and cheese.
  3. dinoue
    Finally got a chance to try out Izakaya Seki and very happy we did. Ordered a variety of dishes which came out in the following order more or less. Gyutan/cow tongue - Wow, never had tongue that was so tender. The yuzu miso dressing had a nice little almost spiciness to it as well. Kids loved it without the sauce. Kaki/oysters fry - perfectly fired with nice amount of panko on the outside. Both kids loved this though without the sauce, which both my wife and I loved. Somen - Obviously a favorite for the kids. The tsuyu tasted great. Nice good dashi flavor. Shiso was somethjing I had never had with somen, but will have to do at home from now on. Grilled squid - Wow, that was a lot of squid. The one dish we could not finish. Our son preferred to just suck the sauce off the legs. Also nice with the yuzu to sprinkle over the squid, rather than a lemon that so many other places might do to save cost. Scallop with carrot sauce - Most interesting of the dishes we got. Carrot sauce was a very nice combo with the scallops. Sweetness of the carrots really came out in the sauce well. pork belly kakuni - Perfect for another meat dish. Generous serving of pork belly in a nice broth. 1 piece of tofu was appreciated by the kids. Sashimi - I think we got the matsu platter which was around $38? Nice assortment, though a little heavy on the tuna. Would have preferred a little less tuna with another kumamoto oyster sicne there were two of us. Also the waitress when going through what was on the plate said it was amaebi, but was actually just a regular boiled shrimp. Also only one of those. Waitstaff should probably communicate to the kitchen on something like this so that for a couple ordering this, they might be given smaller portions of some fo the fish to give duplicates of other things. Highlights of this plate though were the otoro, hamachi and kampachi. All three were some of the best we've had in a while. Onigiri - these were for the kids, and ofr $3.50 each, a great deal. Daughter inhaled hers with kombu filling. Our son was a little less enthusiastic, so we ended up finishing it for him. Salmon filling on his was quite generous. Overall, a very enjoyable meal and the pacing on the food coming out was just about right. Would have been nice to have the sashimi earlier in the meal but otherwise so much better than Kushi, though I've not been there in a long time so maybe they finally corrected their pacing issues, though I doubt it. Drank mostly water but we split a Sapporo recerve can which was just about right. Price was probably about right for the amount of food we got. We probably don't need to get as much food next time, though the only leftovers were the squid.
  4. dinoue
    This has become a regular stop for us in NYC, or at least on the last 4 visits. It is a branch of a chain of two restaurants in Roppongi executed in much the same style here though larger and with the addition of sushi. Our visit last year happened to be when they were having a special event to introduce Ten Qoo farm raised bluefin tuna. The tuna then was amazing in quality and the special tuna cutting ceremony impressed our then 3 yr old daughter enough that this is now her favorite restaurant. The other theatre that they do is a nightly mochi pounding though usually too late for our kids' bedtimes. The main theatrical element of Inakaya is the chefs cook in front of you and serve the food and drinks directly at the counter on long paddles. One warning about Inakaya is that the prices of the a la carte menu are comparable or even more expensive than Tokyo prices, especially for many of the fish offerings. The saving grace is that they have several set menu offerings which moderate the pricing and provide a good variety of foods. Set menus come with a variety of kushi yaki and a main course of some other kushi yaki, sushi or fish. Kushi yaki we had included eringi and shitake mushrooms, asparagus, eggplant, ginko nuts, potato, sato imo/Japanese sweet potato, chicken thigh, chicken meatballs (tsukune), okra, and beef. Nothing out of the ordinary. Also had sushi which was on par with table service at Sushi Taro and much better than sushi ko or Kaz, in my experience at those places. (Kaz is the most overrated sushi place in this city in my opinion). Pieces included were ama ebi, kanpachi, hamachi, salmon, unagi, and what I think was red snapper/tai. Since we were splitting it, I don't remember what some of the other pieces were that others ate. Last main course was the ubiquitous black cod with miso glaze which was very good and a nice size filet. A la carte additions for the kids were grilled onigiri (rice balls) and an avocado roll. Have no idea how the avocado roll was since our 20 month old devoured it and wouldn't share. Kushi is probably the closest comparison with regard to menu, though I've not been to Kushi in a while. The quality of the food is much better at Inakaya and what really sets it apart from Kushi is the service. Servers know how to serve and pace the meal here much better than Kushi ever has for us. Going with the set menus helps to keep the price down here as well.
  5. dinoue
    Spent the 4th weekend in NYC nd made this the stop for our lunch on the 4th. As others have mentioned it is overwhelming with the sheer masses of people milling around, though it wasn't too bad when we first arrived a little before the big lunch rush. First stop was at Rosticceria. As we stood there looking at the menu, one of the people behind the counter asked if we had any questions, we said we were just looking around to see what they had so he offered a sample of the porchetta, roast pork tenderloin, which was the day's special. He actually cut off two generous slices and cut it into smaller bite size pieces for the kids to eat too. Decided that a sandwich would be part of our lunch choices. Made our way around to the fish restaurant and found that if we got a table there, we could not bring a sandwich in from the other location. A little annoying, but I figured I could go back after our fish lunch for some meat dessert. Never made it back. Lunch at Pesce consisted of a dozen oysters served simply with vinegar and garlic. Very nice and clean tasting. Kids still wouldn't eat them though. Main courses were salmon, whole fish, flatfish that I forget what kind, and squid. All were simply prepared and really let the freshness of the fish shine through. Salmon was a simple grill with some herb seasoning. Squid was also grilled and a very generous serving of 5 whole squid. The highlight though was the whole fish. Pan seared with a really nice crust on the outside and flaked right off the bone. This was the favorite of the kids, well except for the grilled watermelon. Other sides were a grilled lettuce and roasted potatoes. Food was really good because of the quality and freshness of the fish and simplicity of preparation to really highlight the fish itself. For eating in what really is like a high end food court, this was pretty good. The other advantage of eating at a place like Eataly, especially with kids is the plethora of things to keep kids occupied while waiting for the food. Kids loved watching the bread dough being prepared for baking and the cooks enjoyed entertaining as well. That seems to be part of the schtick of Eataly in that the preparation of the foods for sale is as much of the draw as the food itself. The only other samples out were some peaches in the produce section that were disappointingly not very good. Prices were definitely higher thsan the average grocery store and even a little more than Whole Foods, but probably somewhere in between the two in quality for the peaches at least. I think some people have mentioned this as a possibility for development here in DC. I don't think we have enough volume of people to support this, but then with the way people travelled to Wegman's when there were only a couple in the area, maybe it could survive. I don't see tourists in DC going there like they do in NYC. I know for my mother who was with us from Cincinnati, this was a stop well worth our time.
  6. dinoue
    Ate at the Silver Spring location during opening week and it was pretty bad. Had a salmon salad in which the salmon seemed like it had been dumped from a can onto the salad. I think it was actually fresh, or at least from whole salmon, but it had been shredded rather than just keeping it in larger bite size pieces. Amazing was that the kids barely touched their food, and when do kids ever not eat pasta. I can't even remeber what my wife had. They were certainly trying and driving by, they clearly have decent crowds of people dining there. My other previous experience was dessert at the Georgetown location shortly after moving here. However I soon realized that Citronelle was right around the corner and you could pop in to the bar area upstairs for dessert only, which I greatly miss.
  7. dinoue
    La Madeleine would probably like to stake claim to status as a big chain French restaurant, and the two times I've eaten at one I've been pretty unhappy with the food as being sub par for even what I expected.
  8. dinoue
    That is one ugly pen.
  9. dinoue
    Seems like a pretty good deal considering frozen unagi now costs upwards of $14 each at the grocery store now. How much did they give you in the unadon portion?
  10. dinoue
    We had Ten Qoo brand farm raised blue fin up in NYC at Inakaya which was fantastic. They had a special whole tuna cutting event for the North American debut of the product and it just happened to be the day after a wedding we attended up there. The akami was like chutoro.
  11. dinoue
    Or maybe it's just a 6 oz pour. If full sized, I'd just go for a glass of Delirium before heading someplace else for food. Anyone else notice that oysters are $2.50 each, but if you get a half dozen, you have to pay $16, or an extra dollar ($2.50 x 6=$15)?
  12. dinoue
    They were at the Silver Spring farmer's market this morning serving free samples of a mushroom slider which was quite good and interesting. Primarily composed of oyster mushrooms and with a nice slightly spicy and tangy sauce. Served with some pickled zucchini and onions on the side. They were definitely trying to emphasize that the restaurant is undergoing dramatic changes from what it used to be like, whatever that might have been since I had never been. They had little info cards that indicate that happy hour features half priced wines on a couple nights and the card included a 15% discount on meal, excluding alcohol.
  13. dinoue
    Did my grad work at OSU and actually worked at a Japanese restaurant that no longer exists, but was one of the best at the time. Columbus does have surprisingly good Japanese considering it's the middle of nowhere, and it's much more reasonable than DC or NYC, though not quite on par with NYC's best. If they are still up to par, Kihachi and Basho were very good and the biggest competition for where I was working at the time. A lot of places seem to have changed since I was there and only the Refectory remains, which introduced me to fine dining. On the other hand, although they are Cincinnati specialties, Skyline Chili and Graeter's Ice cream both have locations in Columbus. Also, City BBQ is one of the best BBQ places I have ever eaten at.
  14. dinoue
    If you want to try your hand at preparing it yourself, it's available at H-Mart in Wheaton, MD and I would assume at their other locations. I've sometimes seen it for as little as $3-4 per pound.
  15. dinoue
    Does he have a verified allergy to MSG, as in a doctor has tested? Or is it just an aversion to Chinese restaurants suspected of using MSG? For example, has he ever eaten dry aged steak and had a similar reaction? http://seattlefreepress.org/2013/05/14/the-racist-myth-of-msg-and-chinese-restaurant-syndrome/
  16. dinoue
    If you don't want to buy a whole bottle of okonomiyaki, or tonkatsu as another close substitute, sauce, you can make your own with ketchup and worcestershire sauce. Not quite the same, but close enough, and our daughter loves to mix it up herself and taste until she gets it just right, which is actually different every time.
  17. dinoue
    Could have also been miora. http://korin.com/Miora-Rice-Cooking-Powder?sc=28&category=282889
  18. dinoue
    Onigiri can be made with nothing at all on the inside. Sometimes can have furikake (variations of nori, fish flakes, crushed dried fish, sesame seeds, etc) sprinkled on the outside. I'd think of them as an easy meal to go. Could also be grilled, called yaki-onigiri. The ungrilled type are common for lunches, snacks, etc especially when going on a trip to the beach or similar. Our daughter loves them for breakfast made from the previous night's rice. As for rice, try upgrading to Koshi hikari or Kagayaki. Kagayaki is on sale right now at H-Mart for $25 for a 15lb bag.
  19. dinoue
    I'd like to put in a plug for Upper Georgia Ave either on the DC side in Shepherd Park or in South Downtown Silver Spring. There's a couple vacant storefronts on both sides where Tropicana Restaurant and a T-mobile store used to be on the DC side and on the Maryland side there is the location where Mayorga Coffee used to be as well as Tortilla Coast which just closed a month or so ago.
  20. dinoue
    I didn't think I was up in arms about their no-kids policy, it's more of a questioning of whether he knows what he's doing opening a sushi place and the proposed BBQ pork roll would seem to support my point of view. Back to the kids issue. I was also trying to convey that there are other credible sushi places that are de facto kids free (Makoto), or have policies (Sushi Taro) that discourage bringing kids that are going to cause problems for other diners enjoying their meal. I think there can be reasonable limits on kids, without what seems to be a blanket policy as being implemented here. The Jean Georges example is one that is reasonable in my opinion. As for my kids, 18 months and 4 years and both do eat sushi and sashimi, though without wasabi, except for the times we forget to request it without which can result in an unpleasant few moments for us and the tables nearby. We're not all that affluent, but if I'm going to spend money on sushi, it better be good. Generally, the spread in price between bad and good sushi is not usually as great as the disparity in quality. You can give the same piece of fish to two different sushi chefs and get a totally different experience depending on the chef's understanding of the cut.
  21. dinoue
    Or maybe beer girls like at Japanese baseball games?
  22. dinoue
    I'm not familiar with Mike Anderson, nor his other restaurants, but based on the news show I saw, he has a burger and BBQ place. That makes me question whether he really knows what he's doing just from the perspective of opening a sushi place. Not anyone can open a decent Japanese restaurant, which brings me to my point about disallowing children. My personal favorite Japanese restaurant is Makoto, but haven't been there since our kids were born. It is simply not a restaurant conducive to bringing kids. I don't think they have a no kids policy, but they have essentially put one in by structuring the restaurant the way it is. Sushi Taro likewise, just doesn't allow high chairs at certain times/nights, but still allow kids if you are willing to manage without the aids to make bringing kids easier. I think I would much rather get sushi from either one of those restaurants over this new place anyway. As for restaurants that have outright bans on kids, Jean Georges restaurants in NYC have age minimums. Nougatine is 3 yrs and the main dining room of Jean Georges is 10 yrs. It's not on their website but is in the confirmation email you get upon making the reservation. We had to cancel the reservation at Nougatine due to our 18 month son. I think these restrictions are much more reasonable than an outright ban, and those restaurants are in an entirely different class from the restaurants in Del Ray. Note that J&G Steakhouse here in DC does not have any age restrictions as we brought our daughter there when she was probably 2 yrs old.
  23. dinoue
    Tried this place because we couldn't wait for a table at Ray's having the kids in tow. Waiting for Ray's would have been worth it even if the kids got unwieldy beyond belief. Burgers were way over salted and overcooked. Medium was a perfect well done. Took forever for food to come out and clearly some discontent between the one server and the kitchen staff. Took over 30 minutes for the chicken wings to come out, and then only one plate of two. The other one came out after the rest of the food. And then our daughter's hot dog came out last of 6 items, after a plate of uncooked chicken that was sent back. The coup de grace was the cook eating his dinner at the last booth wearing the gloves he had been wearing while cooking in the kitchen and proceeding back to work with those same gloves. It took a lot to keep from throwing up my dinner after seeing that. BTW, we were the only other table besides a couple who came in about 15 minutes after us, and received their burgers before we got our wings. DO NOT EAT HERE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE!
  24. dinoue
    I personally like the sterile convenience store feel of the Silver Spring location as former regular customers of the Kennedy St location where I always hoped my daughter would not have to go to the potty while we were there and we always cringed at putting our son in the high chairs. Simply not the cleanest of environments. The carry overs are the warm welcome of the staff and identical menu. I had always lamented the lack of reasonably priced and good Mexican food in this city until we tried TDF. We moved here from Chicago where good Mexican could be had for a fraction of the cost here. I always get the taco combos with multiple choices of meat. The one problem is the meat is sometimes on the dry side. Agree with previous poster that the chorizo could be spicier. The other plus here is the free plate of beans, rice and chicken they give to kids.
  25. dinoue
    Father of a 19 month old daughter we're trying to make sure has an appreciation of good food, since we certainly don't want to deprive ourselves as she grows up stuck in the wasteland of Chuck E Cheese. Pre-parenthood, we frequented a lot of the "top" restaurants in DC though that;s slacked off quite a bit, though she has been to Adour 3 times, and we had been regulars at Rays the Classics in Silver Spring, though haven't been in for a couple months. Do a lot of cooking at home in our remodeled kitchen with a wonderful 25k BTU wok burner. I have worked in the food industry as a sushi chef in Columbus, OH working my way through grad school. I now administer a homeless respite care facility in DC.
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