mleese

We've actually ordered delivery from Rolling Kitchen several times.  I'm not an expert on Sichuan food by any stretch of the imagination but we've liked their Chile Chicken and Double Cooked Pork.  

Anyone know of a local source (DC or VA, no MD) for piment d'espelette?

I've previously purchased it at the Butcher's Block in Old Town Alexandria.  I believe I've also seen it at Sur la Table in Old Town.

There's one stand in the Amish Market in Hunt Valley, Maryland that carries sorghum syrup.

Cane syrup is also popular in the south of Spain as "miel de cana".  It's traditionally served with fried eggplant.  However, despite the fact that they have a website (http://www.mieldelatorre.com/), the only place I know to buy it is in Nerja, Spain.

Wegmans in Fairfax sometimes has cilantro plants with roots attached (although they did not today). I think it depends on their supplier. I usually freeze the roots whenever I get cilantro with the roots attached.

Potomac Vegetable Farm at the Arlington Courthouse farmer's market has (at least as of this morning) shush into peppers. I think they also had padron.

We were here for dinner on Friday night as the cookout we were planning to go to got canceled because of weather. If it's not clear from the previous posts, the Thai menu has now been translated into English. Our previous favorite was (I believe) the Goong Gleur which is as good as ever but, after ordering off the Thai menu, we have a new favorite: the ground pork with thin noodles soup (I have no idea what the Thai name for this is). The soup had the perfect balance of hot and sour. I thought the ground peanuts also added a nice crunch. It was spicy (particularly the noodles) but we just couldn't stop eating it.

My hotel is south of St. Stephen's Green and Michelin guide suggested both Thorton's and The Pig's Ear. Money isn't much of an issue but interesting and good food is. Which one did you prefer?

The food was better at Thornton's but the tap water was virtually undrinkable and the bottled water my wife accidentally ordered was stunningly expensive (I want to say it was 8 euros for a liter). I think they occupy different market segments however. Thornton's is much more of a fancy restaurant whereas The Pig's Ear is more similar to a bistro.

We were in Ireland last May. Thorton's in Dublin (Michelin 1 star) was doing a three course lunch for 25 euro which is a spectacular deal. Unfortunately, I can no longer find any mention of it other website (if they're still doing it). Also in Dublin, we enjoyed our dinner at The Pig's Ear. Not at all related to food, but we had a really good time on the musical pub crawl.

Of the other destinations you list, we only were in Kilkenney and had mostly forgettable pub dinners.

If you end up in Dingle, Out of the Blue is very good (we went one night and made a reservation for the next night as we were leaving).

For reference, the Wegman's in Fairfax usually has 00 caputo flour in the Italian section of the store.

I've been to Jacalito for lunch several times as I work nearby (almost always carry out). Of those things that I've tried, the rotisserie chicken is quite good and the best thing they offer. The steak tacos are serviceable. The ground beef tacos were reminiscent of Taco Bell. I only got a cheese enchilada once but it was served without any sauce on it; I don't know if that is normal or if it was a mistake (I had already left when I saw that it was sauceless). I usually just stick with the rotisserie chicken.

Pizzeria Orso was a good place for a late lunch while watching the Raven's playoff game. First, they now offer a lunch special of a two topping pizza and a non-alcoholic drink for $8 which is a complete steel. Second, the pork cheek ravioli is spectacular. One of the best stuffed pastas I've ever had.

We went last Saturday for lunch. The large patty size is almost comically large on the roll. The patty does get a very good sear. The downside is that the burger is rather dry. I had whatever the regular smash style burger is while my wife had one with just cheese and ketchup. Our opinion on the burger were opposed which leads me to believe that the toppings are key to make the burger work.

I didn't have any problem with over salty fries but I do like my fries salty. I though the rosemary and garlic added a nice flavor.

We went again for lunch last Saturday. The carnitas torta is still very very good. My wife still likes the chicken quesadilla (it even manages to taste like something besides cheese!).

We went for lunch a couple Saturdays ago. The carnitas torta was even better than it had been in the past. They previously had made it just slightly too salty. It was just about perfect.

We met some friends (one of whom was from Rhode Island) at Freddy's on Saturday night. The fried calamari Rhode Island style was very good. The steamers were tasty but very gritty. The lobster roll was well made but the lobster had a slightly fishy taste and didn't have any sweetness to it. I wasn't a fan of the coleslaw but that may just be personal preference.

The service, on the other hand, was underwhelming. It took awhile for someone to acknowledge us as we waited to be seated. We sat down, a waitress came to take our drink order, we said we wanted to wait for our friends before ordering who sat down just as we were saying that. We then spent at least 15 minutes waiting for someone to come back and actually take the drink order. We ordered a pitcher of beer which showed up as a single glass (they graciously took it back and returned with the pitcher). Finally, after our food had arrived, we ordered a second pitcher of beer which never showed up. Throughout this time we had at least three different members of the waitstaff serving us.

We went for dinner Monday night with some of my coworkers who were from out of town. The space is very attractive and fits the ambiance well. The menu is a bit unusual in that it only lists the name of the item with no description or ingredient list. Even after a google search, I can't tell you what Shaggers Pie is.

First, it's obvious that they just opened and that things aren't running as smoothly as they (hopefully) eventually will.

I had a near perfect mojito after a 15 minute wait for our drinks to arrive. I had the duck confit which was good but, unfortunately, the majority of the potatoes that came with it were undercooked. My wife ordered the macaroni and cheese with ham, the fried calamari, and the pigs-in-a-blanket. The macaroni and cheese was tasty but nothing out of the ordinary. The calamari were perfectly cooked and came with a very good dipping sauce. We spent part of the meal trying to figure out what exactly was in it. The pigs-in-a-blanket didn't work for me. It had too much pastry surrounding it and not enough sausage.

My coworkers seemed to enjoy their rockfish and pork shoulder but I decided to be polite and not eat off their plates.

Despite the missteps we experienced, we enjoyed our time and do plan to go back.

We went to the Pentagon Row location Wednesday night as we had a Groupon we needed to use up. We ended up ordering too many meze. The cheese pies were excellent. The hummus with ground beef and the chicken shawarma were good. The falafel was decent and the calamari were unexciting. The pita bread was also quite good. The wines by the glass we ordered (a Lebanese rose and a Lebanese white) were fine on their own but didn't really pair well with the food.

We went to Brabo for an impromptu dinner out on Tuesday (we had a certificate from Restaurant.com). It was our first visit.

I started with the Caesar salad and my wife had the mussels. The Caesar salad seemed a bit under seasoned but still good. I liked the anchovies served on the salad but it could've used more anchovy flavor in the dressing. The mussels were very good and the portion was generous. The presentation in a cast iron skillet was also nice. A side order of fries also showed up with the appetizers (we didn't order them, no one told us why they came, and they didn't show up on the bill; we did point out that the woman at the table next to us had left her purse). The fries were very close to perfection: perfectly crisp, well seasoned, and flavorful. The trio of mayonnaises was also good and went very well with the fries.

For entrees, I had the pork shank and my wife had the filet. The pork shank was good but not amazing. It's coated in a spicy sauce that's somewhat reminiscent of barbecue sauce. The sauce seemed to overwhelm the flavor of the pork on the outside of the shank but be conspicuous by its absence on the inner pieces of pork. That said, it wasn't objectionable, just not as well-balanced as I'd like. I had a better pork shank at Vermillion sometime last winter. The filet was well cooked.

The problem with Brabo is that its prices are higher than most restaurants in the area and the food doesn't seem to be significantly better. In the future, I'd consider going to the bar and ordering mussels and fries but for a full meal I'd be more likely to go to Vermillion.

I was there about two years ago. My memory is a bit hazy but I'd describe it as decent but not particularly exciting. I think I ordered some form of Chesapeake seafood soup. It wasn't memorable enough to want to return.

I've bought it at the Butcher's Block in Old Town Alexandria to make duck confit. I believe it was house made. I seem to remember it was $3 or $4 for something like 8 oz. of duck fat. However, they didn't have any duck fat the last time I walked in (about two weeks ago). Previously, it was in the cooler with the drinks.

While they seem to be running out at the Springfield location, I've become a big fan of the Tuscan olive oil. To me, it has just the right level of peppery.

We went to Rustico Tuesday night. It was crowded and loud but we were seated right away. My beer (Bell's Two Hearted Ale) came out flat and lukewarm. I sent it back and, while the replacement wasn't flat, it wasn't particularly cold. The softshell crab appetizer was good. My burger came out overcooked. My wife's pizza was so-so. The service was mediocre.

Rustico is one of our go-to dinners out. Everything just seemed a bit off. The attention to detail seemed to be missing. We may go back to see if this was a singular occurrence but it will be awhile.