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hoosiereph

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  1. hoosiereph
    Considered going into the Rosalyn store yesterday when passing by on Bike to Work Day -- location reportedly has flavors of McSundaes that are not available anywhere else: http://www.rosslynva.org/feature/mcdonalds-opens-new-rosslyn-location
  2. hoosiereph
    Between this and Josh's story, maybe they're giving up on making Chef Chang's delights and instead making a bid for the Dick's Last Resort clientele?
  3. hoosiereph
    I have no plans to check out the new location after the checkered history, but a colleague who lives nearby reports that he had a good visit, with the minestrone soup as the highlight, and the chicken parmigiana as satisfying.
  4. hoosiereph
    Finally made it here this weekend and we tried to sample across the menu: fish & chips, hush puppies, a tamale of each kind, and a posole. An excellent meal. Echoing the comments above, the fried food was perfect: fresh, hot, crispy, flavorful, and not at all greasy. Not sure I've ever needed a napkin less with my fried fish. And the option to add individual pieces of fish to an order at $2.00 each is a great, customer-friendly option that lets diners customize to their appetite. Others have nailed the hush puppies -- we liked them so much, we ordered a second round. Wesley appears to have taken Don's comment about the salting of the French fries to heart as well - ours were lightly salted, and we added a shake at the table. The fries were great with the "smoky hot" salsa on the salsa bar, by the way. As to the Mexican items, rich, deep flavors -- especially the bottom of the posole bowl. We should've stirred a little more, I guess. The posole is served with a pair of chicken flautas, which I think are unnecessary -- would rather have the posole on its own and choose other options from the menu, or have plain tortillas to dip or soak up the last of the posole. DR.com story time: the gentleman manning the counter, who I assume must be Wesley, asked where we had heard about the restaurant. "Don Rockwell's," I replied. He nodded knowingly. "He's been in a few times. I can remember his orders, but I can't remember him at all." Looks like the Fairfax Circle shopping center will be vacant any time now and ready for the construction crews to arrive. All that remains is the Advance Auto Parts, and their new location down the street looks just about to open.
  5. hoosiereph
    This thread cued me in to the fact that the location on the unit block of H Street NW, underneath the Walmart, belongs to a chain. Unusually, that was the trigger for a visit when I needed lunch for two in that area this week. Two of us shared a whole chicken family meal: 1 chicken, 2 large sides, $17.99. The chicken did not disappoint: a large chicken with generously seasoned, crispy and crackly skin and moist flesh underneath. Cleavered into four quarters, each quarter makes a filling lunch for one, and we were left with two quarter-chickens for subsequent meals. A side of plantains was a standard pile of deliciousness and generously portioned. A side of yucca was fabulous, but likely atypical: the yucca tray was approaching the dregs when we ordered, so all the remaining crispy bits of well-done yucca were poured atop our portion. Ultimately, unless the food is flawed (dried out, tasteless, etc.) it's hard for me to distinguish among the many Latin-style chicken joints around town. Chicken Rico - at least for one lunch at the H Street location -- is a fine example and fills a great need in that location for delicious, economically-priced*, lunches and dinners. *The whole and half chickens are where the value is: a half-chicken is only a $1.80 upsell from the quarter-chicken; the whole chicken, a $1.80 upsell from two quarter-chickens.
  6. hoosiereph
    The southern China answer to Peking duck?
  7. hoosiereph
    Lunch this past Sunday was a "Mosaic Platter" (6 oysters, 6 clams, 6 Carolina shrimp, ceviche) to share, and a pair of Fish & Chips kids meals for the younger guys. Between a half-dozen and a dozen tables were occupied, plus a couple more outside, so the noise level inside was not a problem. The highlight of the seafood platter were the oysters: soft, succulent, and perfectly shucked. The clams were Olde Salt clams were on the small side, but definitely briny and delicious. The Carolina Shrimp, however, were the opposite: huge, but relatively bland. The kids fish & chips meals were another highlight -- irresistible to the adults as well as the kids. Perfectly battered and fried, wonderful texture and taste, and served with malt vinegar and a cup of piping hot and delicious fries. Definitely "adult food" that appeals to the younger set, and reasonably priced at $5 per meal as well. My only suggestion for Brine would be to pair the malt vinegar with another dip for the fries as part of the kids meal -- if not ketchup, perhaps the cocktail sauce.
  8. hoosiereph
    Ended up here a couple of weeks ago when we had a craving for Milwaukee Frozen Custard and wanted to make a single stop. Four of us thoroughly enjoyed a half roasted duck, eggplant with garlic sauce, and a lo mein noodle with bbq pork. It was all very good and we're likely to come back -- hopefully in a mood to be more adventurous in our ordering. Aside from us, the clientele appeared to be all Chinese, but the English spoken by our server and others was excellent.
  9. hoosiereph
    After hearing Thai Box touted for a couple of years, we finally made an excuse to trek out and give it a try for lunch. The Thai Red Curry Jerk Chicken mentioned by CSRoute1 was being offered on a bed of thin rice noodles as a special and was outstanding. What's amazing about this dish is that the crunchy exterior of the fried chicken breast remains crunchy even while it swims in the red curry sauce. Outstanding flavor and fire -- this is what dishes inspired by two cuisines are supposed to be about. Portion-wise, the chicken was the size of a breast, served as two cutlets. Plenty of food. Those with less of an appetite for spicy may prefer the Curry Chicken Bombay. It has a more sophisticated flavor and is creamier than other Thai curry dishes that I've ordered. The sauce has a rich and buttery texture -- as a Southeast Asian dish, it feels closer to something Cambodian or Laotian with a European influence than to a lot of Thai cooking. Also sampled the gumbo. Delightfully spicy and meaty with wonderful sausage and perfectly-cooked okra. Although billed as a shrimp and sausage gumbo, it was a little light on the shrimp, but good enough that it didn't matter. It'll be on my list when passing on I-95 or in Springfield or Kingstowne or Woodbridge, for sure.
  10. hoosiereph
    Mrs. Hoosiereph was here with a small group on a recent Saturday night, and she reports that the service is much improved from the time of our original review, and that the food remains good. The price has edged up by a whole dollar since then, to $22.99.
  11. hoosiereph
    Closure of the Crystal City location made Cafe Pizzaiolo rather inaccessible to my usual routine. Happened to be at the Shirlington Library this week & in need of takeout, and the nearby CP caught my attention. Very satisfied with my old favorite, the Diavala. This is still a fine pie with a great combination of flavors, and it reheats nicely on the stovetop, too.
  12. hoosiereph
    The Side-by-Side shakes are what make this chain go. Particularly when they're half price: 2-4 p.m. and 2-4 a.m., in most places. Not much better on an all-night drive than a half-chocolate, half-strawberry shake in one cupholder and a tumbler of coffee in the other. S&S even tacitly recognizes this in their $4 menu -- which includes as one of the options a triple with fries. They've got a 7 patty, 7 slice of cheese model for when you really want to minimize the bread, too.
  13. hoosiereph
    City Paper reports that Cause is closed. Looking at the thread above, what's striking is that it doesn't seem that anyone at DR ever actually tried the food
  14. hoosiereph
    Also surprising given the far higher cost of most of the beverages at Starbucks vs. Dunkin. My guess is that it's balanced out by a far higher percentage of DD customers purchasing food items. I'd say they must be selling both food & beverage to well over half of their customers -- and in many cases, a single customer is buying a dozen donuts or 50 Munchkins, so they're reaching many more mouths than enter the store. And yes, if there's a nearby Dunkin Donuts, it almost always gets the nod over Starbucks for me.
  15. hoosiereph
    I'm not surprised. I find their signature sandwich, the "Bobbie" (mentioned in the Biden coverage), to be a mediocre rendition of the turkey/stuffing/cranberry combination, often dry and with a flavor dominated by the mayo. (Other sandwiches, like their pastrami reuben, are better, IME). It's a little pricey -- $10 to $11 for their medium-size (i.e. footlong) sandwiches and subs. Pricey enough that the VP couldn't afford his order:
  16. hoosiereph
    In my absence, the family did a takeout chicken from LCP last week. There were no leftovers for me to try, so I can't give a firsthand account; however, they rated it "delicious" and comparable to other Peruvian chicken establishments in the area.
  17. hoosiereph
    On a recent takeout stop, I was surprised to learn that very few customers do what we do: order empanadas "straight from the refrigerator," then cook them at home. The kitchen will pack them for you with flour and wax paper to keep them from sticking together, then you can pop them in your deep fryer or just brush them with oil and bake 20 minutes at 400, and they come out almost as good as in the bakery. Great way to enjoy empanadas when you're in the area but it's not the right time to pick them up hot. A couple of menu notes: - They now have Bolivian-style tamales (maybe I just haven't noticed them before, as they were hiding on a shelf below some of the pastries). Baked rather than boiled, and filled with only cheese and cornbread. Pretty tasty, but small. - Whereas empanadas are $3.00 each and $16/half dozen, saltenas are $3.00 each and $17/half dozen. A mix of empanadas and saltenas is priced at the higher price, naturally. - Dulce has a permanent "deal" on the case of bakery items next to the cash register, including the fruit empanada selections, alfajores, and the aforementioned tamales. Pick 5 for $5.99 or 10 for $10.99.
  18. hoosiereph
    This has to be it, yet in all but the nicest weather, it's an absolute deterrent to going there. There's room for what, eight people inside, before the line hits the door?
  19. hoosiereph
    "Glacial" is the word -- swung through the drive-thru window for a cone of custard last week. There was one car waiting, so I figured "what the heck?", but it still took about ten minutes. The custard had proved a great base for a concrete -- definitely a better version of this treat than a Blizzard or a McFlurry -- but on its own, it was pretty meh. Not sure the drive-thru for a burger would have proved any faster than stopping at Smashburger (which indeed does not have drive-thru) for take-out.
  20. hoosiereph
    Thanks, Don. When I do searches for restaurantname site:donrockwell.com I don't see those, so it's not as good as a thread! And I wasn't sure what the custom was for linking those.
  21. hoosiereph
    How is it that Wild Chicken doesn't have a thread yet? Two locations, snazzy logo (yellow, cartoon chicken holding a "Wild" sign), tasty chicken, heck, the location opposite Fair City Mall is even the reference point for the neighboring Sheba Ethiopian restaurant. Problem solved. We brought back from the Fair City location a whole chicken with a double-size side of yucca and an order of anticuchos last weekend. The order easily fed three of us, with leftovers to feed two -- the chicken came with side salads, the anticuchos with a nice hunk of large-kerneled corn. Could have used more of the spicy green sauce -- next time, we'll order more at $.20 per mini tub. Chicken was juicy and very flavorful -- to my tastes, superior to Super Chicken and the equal to Crisp & Juicy. The spicing of the skin, possibly a little saltier. The green sauce is good, but a little bit of a letdown here as compared to the addictive renditions at competitors. The anticuchos weren't perfect, but they were pretty darn good. Rich with flavor, and obviously authentic (i.e. the heart, not some random cut of steak), they were not quite as tender as they would be at a beachfront Lima wedding. I'd go back just to have these. All in all, definitely worth adding to the chicken rotation. And worth a thread of its own.
  22. hoosiereph
    Recent visit to Minneapolis confirms that Hell's Kitchen is still going strong. Made it over for lunch, but was able to get the walleye hash and the lemon-ricotta pancakes off the breakfast menu. Both were terrific. Also outstanding was a stop at Pumphouse Creamery, where they offer something that should be available at every artisan ice-cream shop: a sampler of small-size scoops to work your way through the menu (5 mini-scoops for $4.25). The Door County (yes, Wisconsin) Cherry was particularly terrific. Less exciting, but still worthwhile, if you find yourself in the vicinity. Nook in St. Paul, one of the "homes" of the Juicy Lucy, combined a great burger with a very friendly cohort of bar denizens. And Pat's Tap, back on the Minneapolis side at 36th and Nicolett, is a neighborhood bar with a nice vibe, good patio, and noshable munchies.
  23. hoosiereph
    For a special occasion one day last year (a Chinese holiday, perhaps?), they had a table set up outside and were handing out rice cakes and small cups of congee. Both were good, but we asked and they are not regularly available.
  24. hoosiereph
    Not mentioned on their website, but when I crossed through the basement food court at Pentagon City mall last month, Curbside had a kiosk location there, as well.
  25. hoosiereph
    Yep, the truck was downtown. If I see them again, I'll ask if they're connected to the place on Annapolis Road, just to make sure the hypothesis is accurate. Would Langston Grill be another example of this trend, Don? I don't know anything about the proprietors, but their food truck, in a number of variations, seems to give them a lunchtime outlet when I'd suspect their home business is slooooww. I think the Fasika Ethiopian truck is also a restaurant offshoot.
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