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hoosiereph

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  1. hoosiereph
    Quality food truck lunch today from Rebecca's Ethiopian. A pleasant surprise, as I had resigned myself to choosing from the local row of food trucks today after cancelling a lunchtime bike trip. Rebecca's does not appear to have a Twitter account or any other online presence. There is an Ethiopian restaurant and grocery with the same name up in Hyattsville, to which I'm guessing the truck is related. Ordered the Meat Combo, ($9.99, tax included) which actually comes out looking better than the picture on the side of the truck. It's a combination of Beef and Chicken wot (the truck uses the Ethiopian words like "doro," but I always struggle to keep straight which is which) with a hard-boiled egg, and a choice of any two of the vegetables (I went with the Kiki Alicha (split peas in a turmeric sauce) and the Gomen (collard greens), and requested extra injera on the side. The truck offers a number of other dishes -- no kitfo, but beef and lamb tibs, a tilapia choice, and several others. Those ordering the tibs were asked if they wanted "spicy" or "mild" -- that choice wasn't given to me, but the wots had excellent zing without leaving me back in my office with a burning tongue. Leftovers will make a fine second meal. Visa and Mastercard are accepted via Square. I'll definitely be looking out for this truck again.
  2. hoosiereph
    Stopped in today to give this place some support. Unfortunately, I was one of only three patrons in a half hour around noontime. For $7.49, the buffet comes with a bottomless fountain drink: use your judgment as to whether you're thirsty enough to waste room on the bubbly stuff rather than on the food. No goat on the buffet today, but the delicious butter chicken was there alongside a curry chicken. The battered vegetable pakaudas were addictive, as was the daal. The owner told me he plans to have a tandoori dish on the buffet next week. I'll definitely have to come back for an a la carte try at the momo. Maybe for a takeout dinner sometime soon.
  3. hoosiereph
    An early brunch and a late-afternoon errand near Rockville Town Center brought us to the Dining Guide in search of a good meal that would still permit us to get back to Virginia by bedtime. So we arrived at this version of Bob's just in time for family rush hour, with a baby or toddler at virtually every table. And although our kids were not the best-behaved in the bunch, the staff certainly made us feel welcome, although we did end up at the far end of the restaurant from the window on the dumpling-makers. Our dishes were generally excellent, with lots of overlap between our order and those described above. Six of the crab xiao long bao were delicious. They were exactly the right temperature -- hot enough to be bracing, but just short of the temperature that would burn, and the flavor was delicious. Not enough of an expert to weigh in on thick or thin, but 4 out of 6 made it to the mouth intact, while the other two were inadvertently punctured with chopsticks. (which won't tell you much without a demonstration of our skill level). Are there places that serve them in a soup spoon rather than directly in the steam basket?) Peas with mustard greens were delightfully refreshing on a hot day - exceedingly fresh, nicely tender, good enough that we considered getting a second order. Cumin lamb -- very good, along the lines described by Cizuka Seki -- but just a little something missing relative to the best versions I've had, which have a little more zing. Shrimp siu mai - we ordered this, but I think we got some other sort of dumpling stuffed with pork. What we got was delicious, and I only realized it wasn't what I was expecting when it was all gone. Meant to ask about it, but forgot. Bamboo shoots - portion was a little skimpy, but fresh & nicely spicy with chili oil. Taiwanese noodle soup -- this is the one thing we wouldn't order again. The noodles were fine - tasty and cooked just to the right al dente texture, but the wanly-flavored broth was disappointing. There's probably a better choice among the soups & noodle dishes. I hate paying cash, but all in all, the food was worth the stop.
  4. hoosiereph
    Yesterday's Arlnow.com post about the Crystal City Restaurant included this tidbit: So, Don: that's 1941, but 2 out of 3 things changed (type I) in the 1963-1970 timeframe. But with a special asterisk for "restaurant mission" changed as well.
  5. hoosiereph
    Okay, who was the wag who decided to befuddle Tom Sietsema by quoting ad.mich today in the Washington Post chat? Just when I thought I'd seen it all....
  6. hoosiereph
    This video is the best thing BoLoCo has served up... (although they have nifty-sounding options on their menu, they're all bland and surprisingly similar).
  7. hoosiereph
    Not many places where a restaurant can long survive using an unspellable symbol for a name, but Del Ray might be one of the few. If not, paging "Sushi Bar Rescue" -- maybe Jon Taffer can remake it into a pirate sushi bar...
  8. hoosiereph
    You're more forgiving than I am, that's for sure.
  9. hoosiereph
    Although Sea Pearl's website lists a weekend closing time of 10:30, on several occasions I have noticed a high-energy, party-like atmosphere there at least as late as 10 p.m., with throngs of Asian faces, dance music, merriment, and revelry. I suspect that this is a missing part of the story of how a place like this can survive for nearly 5 years with rarely a dinnertime crowd. For what it's worth, Sea Pearl has been a big success with some of my visiting family, thanks to high-quality fish and a willingness on the part of the chef to accommodate complex dietary restrictions.
  10. hoosiereph
    Had already finished my own lunch and was passing by when I saw a group of colleagues go in and decided to tag along and sample a few tastes. Matzo ball soup was yummy and almost enticed me to order my own. The matzo ball was a little heavier than I like it, but the broth tasted right (floating vegetables may be a turnoff for purists). Also, the ratio of (large) matzo ball to (small) cup of broth was not quite right -- would think about ordering the bowl and (if there is one) taking the second ball to go next time. Best of the sandwiches I snagged bites of was the crispy corned beef. Great texture, delicious flavor. A little salty -- I wouldn't order it with a side of fries. The egg salad, interestingly enough, also drew raves, and virtually everything was finished, except for the bread crusts. And the green salad looked far more enticing than its menu description would suggest. If you go at lunch, I think the two 1/2 sandwich combo for $10 is the way to go to try a couple of things together.
  11. hoosiereph
    Is there anything worth getting in the market here, short of doing a takeout meal? Homemade pasta? Raviolis? Sauces?
  12. hoosiereph
    It's so baffling that this menu is so hard to get -- even when you know to ask for it! Thanks, Don! So baffling that they make it so hard to get this menu, even when you know they have it and try to ask for it!
  13. hoosiereph
    Same experience -- glad it's not just me. Thought maybe they were just shorting the ingredients on the "free hoagies" on opening day, but all of the roast pork sandwiches (Washington, Girard, and Pattison Ave.) are redolent only of the pork and greens or peppers, with nary a taste of cheese to be had. Tony Luke's may need to go back in the Philly rotation.
  14. hoosiereph
    Surprisingly uncrowded at dinnertime on Saturday night. We'd been planning to try the omakase, but an unexpected lunch at Hong Kong Pearl left us a little too satiated to appreciate it. Two rounds of nigiri and an order of futomaki were outstanding. We enjoyed the orange clam, which they'd been out of on our previous two visits. Followed it with a bowl of ramen and extra noodles to share and ordered with a side of the #3 spicy sauce, learning from the weakness of the #2 on a previous visit. #3 is quite spicy -- glad I sampled before ladling it into the broth. Pure bliss -- we let the tastes linger for a long while before we opened a package of dduk that we picked up at Siroo on the way home.
  15. hoosiereph
    I think dishes might actually be easier than ingredients, actually. Like chicken schnitzel parmesan, or curry pie, or the meat pie in split-pea soup. We used to stop at Matilda's in Newark, DE, as the closest entrant in this category we could find. Sadly, it changed owners a couple of years ago and now serves a menu of numerous kinds of identically-bland tasting mac-n-cheese. Closest place I know now is in Atlanta
  16. hoosiereph
    Or these guys just outside Yellowstone National Park.
  17. hoosiereph
    For a couple of months, Jamba has been running a $1 oatmeal special on Wednesdays. Far better than the McDonalds oatmeal, available right next door at the Union Station location. The smoothies are as good as ever, and they also do a fair number of specials on these (right now, $2.50 for the small size of Hawaiian Pineapple, Banana Berry, and something else), that make them less of a budget-buster. They were distributing samples of the flatbread sandwiches one day. Definitely a "meh," as was the apple pretzel I tried one day to make a "lunch" alongside the oatmeal.
  18. hoosiereph
    Delicious lunch at Tanpopo this past weekend. We ordered one bowl of the pork belly ramen and one lunch deal with the shoyu ramen and spicy tuna roll, plus an order each of tako and unagi nigiri. Our experience with the shoyu and pork belly ramens mirrored that of Saycheese -- two distinctly flavored broths, rich and complex. Requested an order of the #2 spicy sauce with the pork belly ramen, thinking that would add enough spice without overwhelming the flavor, but ended up wishing we had gone for #3 (spicier). Many slices of pork belly in the ramen left me feeling that the premium price charged was not unreasonable. We were also impressed with the nigiri -- the fish was lovingly cut, the tako was properly poached for a tender texture and subtle flavor, and the portions were generous. Service was a little spotty -- waiter asked for our drink orders without providing the (separate) drink menu, which features a number of premium Japanese beers and sakes. Our attempts to flag him down for the check were so unsuccessful that we (wrongly) concluded that their procedure must be to approach the bar/cash register and pay directly. Oops. We'll be back soon. Probably the next time we crave either sushi or ramen, although in either case, it may be difficult to resist the lure of the other. Need to go sometime when I'm in the mood for a splurge on one of the more expensive sakes on the list, too!
  19. hoosiereph
    The space will apparently become another outlet of Fuel. Not too much of a change, I guess.
  20. hoosiereph
    In Chinatown and in need of a snack, I stopped in at the Joy Luck Chinese Bakery, next to Chinatown Express at the corner of 6th and F. It appears to have been given a new exterior sign sometime recently (perhaps the interior has also been remodeled?). Left with a roast pork bun and a red bean bun, each $1.50 and on display in the bakery case. Not sure how much authenticity Joy Luck is going for, given that they label these items as "Chinese-style" on their to-go menu, but they were decent and filling. I warmed both in the microwave -- the dough was sweet and chewy and the ample fillings tasted "right." Not transcendent, but not as objectionable as most of the Chinatown glop -- and probably far better than the standard Chinatown lunch special noodle and rice dishes on offer. An assortment of these for lunch would surely be more interesting, and satisfying, than the sandwiches on offer at Corner Bakery across the street.
  21. hoosiereph
    Amazingly, both today and last Friday there were folks scarfing their slices outdoors at Wiseguy. Not sure if that says more for the pizza or the decor...
  22. hoosiereph
    Has anyone been in recently? At Cheogajip, they are now distributing a menu for UCB labeled "Ultimate Chicken Bistro: Season 2" and looks a little different than the old ones. Not so much that there seem to be new offerings, but the menu seems to emphasize the Korean Fried Chicken much more heavily, with the "Western" dishes relegated to an afterthought. The bento, Teppannyaki, and western-style dessert options all remain. We might give it one more try to see if they've brought some of the Cheogajip magic to their Korean chicken.
  23. hoosiereph
    Satisfactory lunch this week at Zengo -- reasonably priced through Savored, would likely have felt overpriced otherwise. We weren't wowed by the "Angry Zengo" roll, although it wasn't bad. Struck the right balance between the sesame-chipotle sauce and the other ingredients, which is sometimes rare, but the tuna just didn't shine. The vegetarian torta sandwich box, ordered with the squash salad on that day's menu, was better -- generously portioned, flavorful bun, and vivid hummus, with a heaping side of the squash. The pork ramen was a mixed affair: five delicious and large slices of wonderfully-charred pork belly were a terrific topping, but the broth was oversalted. Neither a lunch spot to avoid nor one to prioritize returning.
  24. hoosiereph
    I once knew a woman nicknamed this. She wasn't Balkan, though.
  25. hoosiereph
    Can't help you there... that's just about the only Korean dish I can't stomach.
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