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Just got my first issue of Saveur in the mail yesterday and can't wait to "dig into" it, as it were. Would it be horribly gluttonous of me to read it while solo dining in a restaurant?

I know a couple of food trucks/carts are in set locations depending on the day of the week. District Taco, for example, is always in Crystal City on Tuesdays and Thursdays and in North Arlington on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays (usually Rosslyn or Ballston). The bulgogi cart is always on 14th and L in the District, right? I haven't been yet, but am itching to try it... Not really interested in the other food trucks/carts that are popular in the area right now, so not sure about them!

I know this might be blasphemy, but...The Cheesecake Factory. Hey, they're nachos, not filet mignon, right?

Sorry for the delayed RW review of BDT, but I was away for the weekend... Anyway, had a great lunch there Friday! To start, I had the corn soup and my sister had the bone marrow. The soup was served cold and it wasn't sweet corn, but it was delicious nonetheless. An interesting summer soup that's not your typical gazpacho or melon concoction. The bone marrow starter was three BIG bone halves with a whole bulb of roasted garlic. I'm not a bone marrow fan, but my sister loved it. For entrees, I got the braised beef rib and my sis got the escolar (butterfish). Both were great. At first I thought the braised beef rib portion was sort of small (two small pieces on a big bone), but there was plenty of the side (pureed potatoes with garlic) to fill me up. My sis got the fries, which were great as well. Dessert: The in-house chocolate cinnamon ice cream and the key lime tart. The key lime tart was a bit too much for me (too tart and too sweet at the same time), but that may be because I was already 110% full and my brain was trying to tell me something. The first bite of the tart was great, though. And the ice cream was perfect: not too sweet and sugary, perfect balance of bittersweet chocolate and cinnamon without one overpowering the other. Would definitely love to come back for dinner. Thanks to wwashington and everyone for answering my questions, and thanks to everyone at BDT for great service and a great RW experience!

Ha! You got the same exact items that my dining partner and I had my eyes on! Good to know that this is something to get excited about. Incidentally, is there a dress code? I want to know if I should go business casual or a bit more dressy...

Has anyone been to their Restaurant Week lunch yet? I'm going this Friday, but just wanted to see if they were serving drastically smaller portions or inferior quality or what-have-you. I'm sort of excited. The person I'm dining with is REALLY excited about the bone marrow!

So I made the horrible mistake of watching The Food Network's "The Best Thing I Ever Ate", and they were talking about kouing aman. http://modern-baking.com/bread_pastry/kouing-aman-croissants-0909/ And now I REALLY want to try one. You can apparently buy them for 4-for-$24 + $25ish overnight shipping from the bakery in Salt Lake City that was featured on the show, but that's just sort of ridiculous to a regular sclub like me. Does anyone know if any of the bakeries (metro accessible, hopefully!) in the area sell this incredible-looking pastry? I'm such a sucker for baked goods.

Love their iced teas. I think one of my most heartbreaking food-related moments was when I dropped my almost full LARGE iced Passion Envy tea outside right after buying it on a hot summer day last year. Not even the hippie crack could console me!

Bland, especially in the context of Nonya cuisine, that it's not got ten million flavors going on and is supposed to enhance the flavor of the chicken (even the rice is supposed to taste like chicken). The chili and the light soup are all there to compliment the chicken. There might be other subtle flavors in there (cilantro in the soup, pandan, coconut and maybe even some cream in the stock that the rice is cooked in, etc), but it's all about the chicken and not spices, marinades, salt, chili, etc.

I find MK's Hainanese chicken pretty good, but again...I've had one bad and one good there (bad at lunchtime, good at dinnertime). It's essentially a fairly "bland" dish, which is why it's served with a chili sauce (if the chili sauce is done well, it's got lots of flavor and you don't notice the heat too much). But that simplicity basically is what gives it such a huge following (and why tons of Singaporeans want it to be named the national dish). Everyone wants to try to inject as much "flavor" into it without changing the ingredients too much. Incidentally, Bangkok 54 in south Arlington (the grocery store, at least) sells prepared meals of Hainanese chicken, and theirs is good. A bargain at around $6. Good to know that their laksa is worth trying. I just might order that next time I'm there. I've been trying to stick to making it at home with this laksa mix, which is surprisingly good.

I hate to double-post, but I just have to rave about the lunch buffet. I went today at around noon, and the selection was great (so much more than Bombay Club's Sunday brunch, though less inventive). All the standards they had before were there: butter chicken, saag paneer, chicken curry, lamb vindaloo, tandoori chicken, chickpeas, lentils...I think they only vary a couple of items in their buffets. It's about the size of their weekend buffet when I last went (about two years ago), so I can only imagine what they add to the weekend buffet (must...find...out!). Everything was as delicious as I remembered, too. I wish I had a bigger stomach. I could live off their butter chicken. Sure, it's not "authentic" or innovative Indian food, but they do the classics (well, that westerners are used to) wonderfully, and they don't make things bland at all (fans of spiciness won't be blown away, though you can feel a bit of tingle on your tongue on some of the curries). I can't wait to go back. The service was as friendly and great as I remembered, too.

Thanks, goodeats! I guess Martin Yan stole from Stephan Yan and not the other way around like my family had thought! The episode of Galloping Gourmet that I remember most is when he was stirring a pot of water with oil, and the water and oil exploded all over the set due to the fact that the oil didn't allow the heat from the boiling water beneath to escape. So when Graham broke the surface with a spoon, it went everywhere and the audience gasped. Ever the cheery guy, Graham just took a short break and assured his audience afterwards that he was fine. I also miss his 90s PBS show where he made healthy versions of dishes, and he was IN LOVE with arrowroot. I had never heard of arrowroot before seeing that show (granted, I was like, ten years old!), but he loved using that instead of cornstarch and used it in basically every single sauce he made. That, and the suspenders...

I grew up on and loved dearly the "Great Chefs of the World/U.S./North America/Europe/Whatever region" that used to be aired around 4:00/5:00 PM on the Discovery Channel/The Learning Channel. The perfect after-school programming for me! I don't think they show them anymore. I learned so much from those programs because it was just such a simple concept, no frills. I didn't even start cooking until I moved out on my own after graduating college, but I knew exactly what to do, the names of the techniques, what I needed and how to do all of it because of the cooking shows I watched and absorbed in my youth! Who says TV rots the brain, huh? BTW, does anyone know/remember the name of a cheapish-looking cooking program with a Chinese guy (obviously trying to emulate Martin Yang) who used to wear personalized aprons featuring horrible-but-amusing puns containing the word "wok" (like "Wok the dog" and "Take a wok on the wild side")? My family and I loved teasing the guy (not personally, but while watching him on TV) about his aprons... Mean, I know. I'm sure he was/is a wonderfully nice guy.

Yum! I do love buying food souvenirs whenever I'm in a different country/cultural area, if only just to go to the supermarket and check out what they have that might be different from what I'm used to seeing. Something I love that they have in Europe but not here: chocolate pudding-filled croissants in a bag. I don't know the chemicals or preservatives needed to keep it fresh for however many months inside that bag, but it tastes delicious.

Also, you should ask yourself a few questions before you make an actual decision: -Are you familiar with all the components and necessary preparation it takes to open and maintain a restaurant, no matter how casual or small? -Are you willing to spend the time to familiarize yourself with all local/state/federal laws regarding the food and restaurant industry? -Are you aware of the requisite people/agencies that you need to contact in order to get things started? -Are you aware of what kind of licenses and certifications you might need in order to keep your establishment legally open? -Do you know what it takes, not only to run a food establishment on a daily basis, but how to hire people to do jobs and what to look for in potential employees? -If you plan on doing a lot of the work yourself, especially in the beginning before you establish any sort of reputation among locals, are you prepared to work 10+ hour days? -Are you confident that, especially in this economy, you will be able to get the financial backing in order to even start your venture and sustain it for possible 6 months? That really is just a sampling. If you are really serious, I would talk to a restauranteur/euse in detail (preferably one who has opened/manages a place similar to what you are thinking of) about what you would need to get started and then to maintain your business. I think the restaurant industry, more than any other type of business that can be started on the "mom and pop" level, is seen with rose-colored glasses by a lot of people. I still cringe when people tell me that their dream is to open their own restaurant...what they are really dreaming of being the MANAGER of a restaurant in which they don't really have too much financial stake. And even then, it's harder and more complicated than most people think. This isn't to discourage you, it's just a learning process (even for the seasoned pros) and most businesses fail because they don't know what to expect or how to plan for/deal with the variables that dare to pop up in their reality that weren't there in their dreams. And some people are just lazy like me.

I actually kinda like the Cooking Channel, and would probably watch it a lot more if I were home on weekdays since they show a lot of the older shows during that time. It truly reminds me of the Food Network about 10-15 years ago, when they actually focused on cooking and food instead of those ridiculous reality food competition shows. As it is, the ONLY shows I watch on the Food Network nowadays is Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. They've relegated Good Eats to late hours... On TCC, I DVR "Chinese Food Made Easy" because it seriously amuses me, and I love to catch "The Galloping Gourmet" if it's showing when I'm home. What I WISH they'd show are the episodes of "Taste...with David Rosengarten". The man was so pompous and hilarious...but amusing and informative. He knew his food and his cooking techniques, and I learned so much about cooking and the various types of food he cooked from that show. The other cooking shows on The Cooking Channel aren't that great, but I maybe leave them on in the background when I'm doing something else. It's a nice "default" channel some days.

I don't get what we're supposed to be in disagreement about, but okay. I was just saying American Chinese and what people actually eat in China (whatever region) are two different things, that's all? ::confused::

Cedar has a Saturday and Sunday brunch (Sat: 11am to 3pm; Sun: 10am to 3pm). This is possibly my new favorite restaurant in Penn Quarter. Haven't been to their brunch yet, but was very impressed with their dinner offerings! My sis has been for lunch and raved about their pork belly BLT sandwich.

Yeah, I've had it at Delhi Club before and I've definitely had far better in North Jersey, but I haven't had it in ages...and you know how you always crave what you haven't had in ages. I'm just excited about the entire buffet, really, ::patting belly::

I'm trying to use up all that excess stuff in the fridge that seems to last forever, so tonight I decided to make fancy egg sandwiches for dinner. Sauteed some shallots and cooked them with 2 scrambled eggs to split between two whole wheat pita halfs (1 whole pita). In one half I spread this jalapeno cheddar spread I had lying around and stuck in one last slice of honey-baked ham from the deli section of the grocery store. The other half, I put in a bit of smoked gouda (not too much, didn't want to overpower the other flavors) and quite a bit of homemade caramelized onions I had in a jar in the fridge. Very filling and satisfying. You'll never starve if you have eggs and some form of carb in the fridge.

Ah, thanks for the current buffet info! Will definitely have to trudge up to Clarendon on one of my weekdays off! I am drooling thinking about the gulab jamun...

Okay, so I'm Chinese...love REAL Chinese food as my favorite cuisine...(best shared with my family). But... I grew up on the Americanese (what I call it) stuff since my parents worked in Chinese take-out restaurants ever since they moved here (and moved the kids here), and I basically could have whatever was on the menu for dinner every night until they finally got jobs working for other people. Even though nothing will beat my dad's cooking, I still crave Americanese food like crazy sometimes because it's just got all the "so bad for you it's good" elements in it. General Tso's is the dish I always get a biggest craving for, and I must try it at any new Americanese place I order from. Heck, my parents were visiting me a couple months ago and I brought them to Full Kee (they only eat REAL Chinese food) and while they ordered off the real menu, I couldn't help but satisfy my need for General Tso's because I honed in on the lunch specials and it was branded into my brain that I must have it. You know what? Because it was so hot (temperature-wise) and freshly-made, the version at Full Kee was pretty damn tasty. Maybe a couple of notches below my dad's (biased, I know ). The version at Chinatown Express was way too sweet and sticky for me, but it would definitely do in a pinch (and the price is right). Yeah, definitely recommend reading THE FORTUNE COOKIE CHRONICLES by Jennifer 8. Lee. Went to her lecture at the American History Museum a couple months ago and got her autograph in my book. It was a bit repetitive, but a lot of the people at the lecture had never read the book, so it was still interesting, and she had a lot to add to what was in the book as well. Edited a bit because I realized I start way too many sentences with the word "and"!!

Just went to visit family in Jersey over 4th of July and one of the top things on my list: BUY GOOD PIZZA. I don't know why it's so hard to find a good pizza in the DC Metro area. I'm not talking neopolitan like at 2 Amys or Comet Ping Pong...I'm talking the kind described in the OP! Every "pizza by the slice"-type pizza I've encountered in the area is absolutely DRIPPING with cheese, and the crust is too thick and doughy... ::sigh:: If my family ever moves out of Jersey, my stomach will weep.

I love making caramelized onions, putting them into a jar, and then freezing it for later use throughout the year. It takes forever over the stove, so I just slice the onions thinly directly over my crockpot, throw some butter on top (or however much olive oil you want to use), maybe a few pinches of salt if you used unsalted butter/olive oil...then just cook on high until the onions cook down. It'll stink up your kitchen/apartment/house at first, but once they cook down, the smell gets nicer.

Does anyone know if Delhi Club is recently under new management? I only ask because I used to go to their weekend buffet on and off (between 2006 and 2008). As far as I could tell, it was an all-year thing. But I just stopped by again to try the buffet over Memorial Day weekend and there was a sign stating that it would start May 31st, so we missed out on it by one day. Was just curious. I think the price was also $11.95 or $12.95 (can't remember). I just hope the quality of the buffet food hasn't changed. I always thought it was the best metro-accessible Indian buffet in the DC/NoVa area (I guess I'll throw in Bombay Curry Co. in there, too).