mtureck

Now open south of Dupont Circle in the old Yaffa space. 
First time trying them…pretty solid NY style slice. $4.19 for a slice of cheese is a bit high, but what isn’t these days. 
 

3 hours ago, eatruneat said:

@MichaelBDC walked by over the weekend and decided to stop by and grab a sandwich for lunch. We split a Mort and Mootz and...it was fine. There was a bit of hype around this place and I thought the sandwich would be revelatory and it was just as one would expect a mortadella and mozzarella sandwich to be. If anything, it was a bit heavy on the mayo. I wouldn't be opposed to grabbing another sandwich from this place, but we are not in a rush to go back. 

Mortadella and mozzarella with mayo?

Don’t think this place is gonna be high on my list. 

Re-opening in Bethesda over on Cordell, in a small spot that was previously Paris in Town. 

I liked this place a lot when it opened...then the prices went up, and the quality of the mussels went down. Switched to Black's for my mussel fix, and wasn't surprised when it closed. 

I'll be interested in trying it again years later. 

On 3/10/2024 at 10:14 AM, NolaCaine said:

Thus far, I've been to the KPot three times. Once for the very confusing soft-opening, once on "girl-date" with my 10 yr old daughter, and last night with the entire family of four. I went to the location at 7-corners in Virginia; in the same parking lot as Home Depot. FWIW: My first hot pot was in China, in 1999. Such a fantastic and memorable experience done in pantomime. 

Anyway, hot tips: Get here at 5pm for dinner on Saturday, not later. It got packed. Go hungry. Don't eat too much. Don't accept the ice cream. Start with the bar, it's included. Have fun; make a few dipping sauces. The plates are hiding by your knees. 

We love this place. My son, 14, who is picky, ate 5 servings of BBQ protein: steak, 2-chicken bulgogi, and two different porks. Husband and I had beef bulgogi and focused more on hot pot. My son also ordered tofu soft and BBQed it in the bulgogi spot. He loved. He also at a lot of Jello. Not sure anything green crossed his lips. 

HOT Pot: I love that i get to cook my own pot stickers and fish-balls in the both and then get to dip them in sauce. I've had Tom Yum and miso and I like tom yum better. Miso is fine but too bland. Tom Yum is not that spicy but there's a bar full of spice so it's personalize-able. Of the usual stuff we got quail eggs which sort of pop in the mouth. So good. Veggies were very fresh but when you order dumpling like things, only 3 come with an order.

I think the meat quality is good and there's a nice variety but find the shrimp hard to deal with. Served shell on, I find grilling them uneven and cooking them in broth makes them difficult to eat. 

That's my only complaint and I realize it's cultural. In New Orleans we don't eat the shells.

 

 

They also have the smaller, shelled garlic shrimp, which I'm not a huge fan of, but my wife really likes. 

This is still my go-to place, especially now that I have teenager with a big appetite. Like your son, he goes the steak and bulgogi route. 

I do more hot pot, mainly with the schezwon broth, dumplings, pot stickers, and sliced meats. 

I also really like the iPad ordering, and try to go just when they open, but the last few times I tried that, they really weren't ready to go. Sauces weren't out, bowls missing, and it took a while to get our first batch of food. 

Luckily, you can check in online before you go and get on the waiting list. I remeber doing it though google maps, but I'm sure there are other ways. 

I’ve been to the Dupont location a number of times, and I’ve been very happy with it. 

I don’t like their shrimp rolls…too bland and a bit rubbery…but both their lobster rolls and their new crab rolls are surprisingly good. 

I love hot dogs and sausages, and I've now tried this place a few times in Bethesda, and a few times in their new Dupont Circle location.

Sadly, it's been constantly disappointing. Essentialy, they take a mediocre hot dog or sausage, cover it with enough toppings so that you can barely taste what's underneath, and serve it all on a Hawaiian bread bun, which ineveitably falls apart about after two bites. A hot dog, decent tots or fries and a drink costs $20.

Haven't tried their burgers, and my son says their chicken fingers are pretty good. 

Hungry after a youth soccer game in Reston, and not knowing the area at all, we went to the closest high rated place that we found on Google Maps.  

Absolutely thrilled that led us to Taco Zocalo...we really, really enjoyed it. 

Starting with elotes, moving on to a bunch of different tacos, and finishing up with churros, we couldn't have been happier. 

The corn tortillas on the tacos were the best I've ever had, flavorful and crispy around the edges. The barbacoa taco was my favorite, but everything was very good. 

So happy we stumbled our way there!

With prices as they are in restaurants these days, it's been a while since I had a meal and thought, 'wow, that was really worth the money!'

Well, Chef Geoff's Restaurant Week lunch in the West End sure was.

For $25, I got a big order of truly excellent honey siracha wings, which were big, plump and perfectly cooked, a large burrata and beet salad with grilled shrimp, and a very tasty cholcolate Pot du Creme for dessert. 

Went away quite full...could have just eaten the first and last course, and taken the salad home for dinner...and quite satisfied with the quality as well. 

Restaurant Week lunch at RWE is now up to $35.

Sadly, not worth it any more. Used to be my favorite RW option. 

Had excellent RW meals at Chef Geoff's West End and Pisco y Nazca, both at $25, on the other hand. 

45 minutes ago, Keithstg said:

RIP (forever ago) Famous Luigi's. I had an irrational love for that place.

Wow...totally forgot about that place. Ate there a few times and wasn't particularly impressed, but I know a bunch of folks that were deeply saddended when it closed. 

So on their four course tasting menu, (their words on the website) you get a salad, a tiny entree, cheese and a dessert? Or is there another course where you bought the upcharged version?
That does sound pretty weak for $140. 
 

Pines of Florence in DC is now open in South Dupont Circle on M St. 

Haven't tried much there yet other than a pretty solid Veal Parm, but it's really nice addition to the neighborhood. Not a whole lot of pizza or red-sauce Italian around. 

Looks to be a NY mini-chain that just opened a few places in DC...one in Chinatown, and one in Dupont, right next to the south Metro entrance, which is where I went. 

This is gonna be an incredibly short review...it's virtually indistinguishable from all the other fast casual burrito/taco spots. 

It was fine, but with Well-Dressed Burrito and District Taco within a few blocks, I don't see much of a need to go back. 

5 hours ago, lion said:

Duck Chang or Peking Gourmet Inn for duck? 🤔

Can't speak to Duck Chang, but I had a solid PD at Peking Gourmet a few weeks ago. Really crisp skin, good amount of meat, although it's not quite as tasty as Q, which is my favorite at the moment. 

Bethesda location looks to be doing very well. 

Can't tell you a whole lot...just two of us for dinner...but what we did have was excellent. A very plump and meaty whole bass with three different sauses on the side, beautiful scallops, a refreshing watermelon salad, and the addictive Parker House rolls. 

On the other hand, it was VERY loud, the lighting was dim, and the type on the menus was small...felt like they were looking for a younger clientele. 

Looks like the Bethesda location finally opened. Look forward to trying it. 

19 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

If they're paying a higher wage, then the tipping percent should go down, no?  I'm okay with a higher minimum wage but not another disguised transfer of wealth (actually, who am I kidding, I hate the minimum wage and unions).

Thank you for perfectly illustrating why the new initiative was so important.  Far too many people are happy to exploit restaurant workers in order to save a few bucks on their bill. 

While the initiative phases in, I believe servers are now getting $2 an hour more, or about $16 a day. If you want to tip less in response, that’s your right. 

2 hours ago, Bob Wells said:

Is there any good felafel left in the area? Cafe Max is gone too.

Yafa Grill in south Dupont had been my go to, but they recently closed as well. 

Hearing good things about Taim in north Dupont, but haven't made it there yet. 

We've been here a few times over the last month or so for dim sum in the dining room, and it's been fantastic. 

I thought I'd miss the carts, but the easy online ordering system, and the fresh items clearly being made to order changed my thinking. 

I'd prefer few more vegetable options...most of their vegetables come in a dumpling...but beyond that they hit all the right notes. 

I think the deep fried taro shimp cakes benefit the most from getting rid of the carts. Came to us right out of the fryer, and the taro was shatteringly crispy and hot. 

The only thing I don't like there is their overly dense pork dumplings, but beyond that, we've rarely had anything that we didn't really enjoy. 

Took advantage of the beautiful weather yesterday, and had brunch outside at their Bethesda location. 
it started out poorly…the price in person was $4 more per person than the price on their website, which always annoys me…but after that, we had an all around excellent meal. 
The place was really slammed, and I would have forgiven some sub-standard service, but the waitstaff was excellent.  Our waiter had just started there the day before, but he was really pleasant and efficient 

Last time we were there, pre-pandemic, the seasoning was off…the frites were too salty, and the meat too peppery…but everything was spot on this time. Plus, the bread was warm, crunchy, and refilled regularly. The brunch came with all you drink mimosas, Bloody Mary’s etc., and they brought them out in carafes, so we were able to top ourselves off without having to flag down waitstaff, which was very nice.

Hope this nice weather sticks around for a bit!

Incidentally, I’m not sure if they do the “second helping” any more. I know it’s not at brunch, and I was told they don’t do it at dinner either, but the guy I talked to didn’t seem too sure. 

On 8/10/2022 at 12:45 PM, Ericandblueboy said:

Had a wonderful dinner at Moon Rabbit last Friday.

We started with some snacks and a salad.  The snacks were (i) foie mousse tart ($12) with 5 spice foie mousse (absolutely delicious, could've ate half a dozen easily), and (ii) banh cam ($18),  deep-fried glutinous rice ball with sate mushroom duxelle and summer truffle (pretty good but I'm not crazy about fried glutinous rice balls - mostly associated with sweets in Chinese cuisine).

The salad, goi du du ($17), consisted of papaya, herbs, lychee, stone fruit, and crushed peanuts.  I thought it was lacking in flavor compared to some of the salads I've had at Eden Center.  The only miss for the night.

The 3 mid-sized dishes were all banging.  They all arrived at the same time.  The tom nuong ($28) was one perfectly grilled head on prawn with Thai basil & garlic butter, served with muoi ot xanh (that green dipping sauce).  Is $28 for one prawn a bit much these days?  The Middendorf's laing ($22) is huge plate of cornmeal fried catfish with snow pea tips, fermented mustard greens, and pork floss.  Everything is plated in a circulate fashion, resembling a wreath.  Importantly, the greens did not soften the crunchy catfish below, which were some of the best fried fish I've had.  I only remember catfish that tasty in New Orleans.  The crawfish noodles ($32) with confit garlic miso, crab fat and aromatic panko was the second fantastic noddle dish we've had lately (the other is the KING TRUMPET NOODLES  zha jiang sauce, daikon, cucumber at Rooster & Owl, we ordered 2nds because it was that good).  

Afterwards we checked out the 2nd phase of the Wharf, which will include a Gordon Ramsay joint.  

That is a wonderful description of what sounds like an excellent meal, but all that’s going through my mind is “$28 for that prawn?!?”

Bub and Pops just reopened after a few weeks of renovations. No eat-in at the moment, it's all take-out...orders and pick up both from the front windows. They have a handful of small tables out front to eat at. 

And I highly recommend eating at those tables. The sandwiches are as wonderful as ever, but they still have structural integrity issues...the bread is normally soaked through and falling apart by the time I get to my office a few blocks away. 

This is excellent news. Since Meiwah closed, there's been a severe lack of Chinese options in south Dupont. And Mai Thai certainly won't be missed, with the superior Soi 38 around the corner for Thai food. 

5 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

This was supposed to be Peter Prime's fancier dig but he and his sister went separate ways.  Peter just signed up with Bammy's, and Jeanine Prime took over both Cane and St. James.  I was going to try this place out until I saw this on the website:

I'm not sure what the service fee is (as a percentage of the check).   I'm less enthused about trying this place now - may not ever go.

Website.

So is your problem with the service fee, or with not knowing what the service fee is?

Just a reminder that the Greek Deli made it though the pandemic, and is still serving the best lunches in the area. 

This note on their website though,

"Folks - I have 2 priorities in life. My family and my customers. For 31 years, I have lived to serve you high quality food. I am here in rain, sleet, snow and the pandemic. Today, I need your support more than ever. Please tell everyone that The Greek Deli is here to serve you! Let us put together your next family dinner. Thank you for the last 31 years and I hope to serve you for another 31!"

Please, please go if you're near Dupont. I'd be crushed if they ever had to close down.