collije

Ouch on only a $20 Per-Diem to DC [dang, one would think they'd at least match the Federal GSA rates]. The pizza and burger at Hudson is pretty decent for the value downtown. Otherwise, the perpetual $5 HH burger specials at Chef Geoffs? Matchbox? Gordon Biersch?

Definitely from the bar area [was offered that by the Asst GM once]. I've heard conflicting info on the lounge area now [dunno if a new policy was recently put in place]. The restaurant may tell you that since the lounge area is technically part of the hotel, and that you cannot be served out there. [can't hurt to ask, right?]

Another is U Street area: Creme Cafe, Al Crostino, and Ooohs & Ahhs / Chix. Can replace one with Saint-Ex.

How about the Central, D'Acqua [although the salt-baked fish is what's best here imo so that's a full dinner], & give 701 Pennsylvania a try [very happy results just a month back]. Else, replace one with The Source, Cafe du Parc / Willard Room [same building], or TenPenh.

Were ya sprawled out Rocks snackin' away? Gotta try that out myself sometime! Oh, and Domaso can handle large groups pretty decently. Brought 28 people there this past Friday [in that elevated section in the back right]. Things went great, gave us our space but came back to check on us / fill glasses. Oh, and the Ravioletti has been tweaked [now, larger pieces than when I 1st tried them & cooked less al dente ... just right imo] and the Tiramisu seemed different [still good, but think I preferred the old one].

Well, there's 2 very large lounge areas just before you enter the restaurant [i.e. where the host/hostess station is, & is where the actual bar space is]. Dunno if you can eat there [never asked] but I've seen folks drink there. The bar space space has lots of seating, not so much space for standing. On the bar menu, the food is more sandwich-like/small plates if I remember correctly. But, I believe that if asked, they will allow you to order off the regular menu & eat there . Nice looking space [either the main lounge or bar area].

Dunno if you got to try the Querciabella 2005 Mongrana wine, but I do suggest that one the next time you're looking for to drink a red while dining there. Domasoteca carries it for $19 retail downstairs [noticed that a couple of days ago]. Nice wine for the price.

Dang, making me hungry. Had a decent meatball sub at Vace, but am yearning for those versions I grew up with in Philly. Gonna have to give that a try soon.

Although I've had many a late night drink/dessert here while listening to live piano jazz over the past few years, the food was never something to come here for. Well, gotta say that may be changing. I joined a group of 4 friends which chose 701 for dinner on Friday night. We were pleasantly surprised with our meals [we were sampling each others all night]. Seems that 701 has a new Chef Bobby Verua [sp?] who started this past Restaurant Week [whatta time to start lol]. Think he hails from NY, and brings subtle Asian influence to the dishes [but not in what I call the normal retread way]. For starters, we tried the Beef Carpaccio w/ Arugula, shaved Parmesan, & Mustard Vinaigrette, Ribbons of Tuna [Crushed Avocado, Rice Crisps, and a creamy Garlic sauce ... great contrast w/ the rice crisps and the tuna!], Fried Calamari [perfectly fried lightly w/ a light coating ... but the accompanying sauce really kicks it up], and Asian Pear/Romaine/Bleu Cheese salad, and a small plate of Pumpkin Raviolis [glazed Chestnuts w/ Truffle-Sage brown butter sauce, lightly sweet]. Very good beginning to our meal. For mains, we tried the Horseradish-Crusted Veal Chop w/ Quail Egg, Potato Dauphin, & a Sweet-Soy Bordelaise [hunk a scoop of everything in one bite, great], Glazed Pork Belly w/ Sweet Potato Puree & Pickled Cherries [tasty fatty goodness, another place for me to get my Pork Belly fill lol], Stuffed Saddle of Lamb w/ Braised Tomatoes, Crisped Potato Confit, and Pear Demi [quite good but didn't love], Dry-Aged Sirlion Steak w/ Ancho-Soy Glaze, Gingered Shiitakes and Truffled Potatoes [nicely done], and Roasted Mahi-Mahi w/ Sweet Potato Ravioli, Malayasian Chili Sauce & Basil Oil [liked but also didn't love]. Perhaps my tastes of the Veal Chop & Pork Belly tainted the rest of my tasting, dunno but the flavors of those 2 were excellent. As for desserts, not so much. We were cautioned by the server that the desserts aren't there yet, the Chef hasn't focused yet on them [putting his stamp on the 1st/2nds] but will be very soon. Thankful for that information [and not particularly attracted to the dessert list], we still shared a couple w/ coffee. Lemon cheesecake [eh], and honestly an Apple-something else which was cold [i.e. not fully cooked, not easy to cut through] that underwhelmed me. Our thoughts were that warm desserts would have gone over well with the cold weather, perhaps something lightened like a warm ricotta cheesecake, else a bread pudding or sorts. There are lots of choices if the Chef peruses the competition, looking forward to trying his versions once ready [just based on what we saw with the other courses]. As for service, it's fine as it's always been for me. He had a good sense of humor, chatted us up, and nicely prefaced our expectations about the desserts [so as not to ruin or lessen our experience much] We were mentioned how happy we were with the meals to the server, that the Chef stopped by to thank us. He's young, looks to be only in his early 30s perhaps? Very gracious. Server mentioned how liked he was so far, & has the kitchen's respect already. [guess plugging away at 200 meals during a RW night on your 1st week can do that heh]. Now I have an excuse to actually try meals at 701! Maybe take advantage of their Pre-Theater menu for less than $30.

FWIW, I heard Washington City Paper food critic Tim Carman's review on NPR late week I believe. Not exactly enthusiastic. Here are links to the specific podcast to listen yourself [hosted on WAMU]: Windows Media format Real Audio format Don, don't often see Critics reviews here, hope that's OK.

Cozy Shack's quite tasty, I do admit. After dusting off my Lorna Sass's pressure cooker books lately, been meaning to attempt rice pudding in the pressure cooker [i've done regular rice and risotta with great results]. Maybe something to schedule in the next week or so!

That's a nice offer Dean, hope this one sticks!

Decided to go solo tonight and grab a RW meal at Domaso [continuing my exploration of the menu]. Seems Domaso's doing OK so far. The place was nearly packed at 8 p.m. on a Sunday night and still relatively unknown [yeah I know about the Hotel traffic, but to me it seemed more than that]. Had my sights on that huge Veal Chop, but was told tonight that they ran out. So, for starters I tried their Baked Polenta w/ torta ambros fondue and truffles [very rich & cheesy, in a cylindrical mold served sliced in half on a bias]. For my main, I went with the Orata [fileted roasted Mediterranean sea bream with marinated baby artichokes, olives, and potatos and lemon white wine sauce]. Very nice, the marinated artichokes and the lemony wine sauce blended well. Paired that with a glass of fruity Nero D'Avola that complemented the flavors well. For dessert, wanted to try something different than last time, so chose their Bombolini ... a trio of mini-fried dough, sliced in half & spread with concord grape jam / rum pastry cream [and I love Italian Rum Cake, so that one was a hit] / chestnut mousse. Satisfying & just enough sweet without stuffing myself too full. As for the service, I continue to like what I see. They give you enough space to dine, but checkup on you to see how things are. On this trip again met the same server & Asst. GM, as friendly as the last time I went here. This time, I also met their Chef de Cuisine. Saw him manning the point position,getting meals outta the kitchen and ready for the servers to pickup. He delivered a # of meals himself, watched him explain the menu/give recommendations/etc. Nice to see him out there w/ the clientele. Still some opportunities for the small things [i.e. refresh water more frequently, etc]. As for the wine list, talking w/ the Asst. GM, their list/inventory is due for a big makeover. Since in VA, nudged him towards the Italian Store for some of my favorites wines that they carry [please add the 2003 Marramiero Inferi Montepulciano d'Abruzzo if you can!]. Sounds like they want to rewrite the list to make it more reader-friendly as well [organize it by region, light -> heavy, etc] as wel as some educational. I'd welcome seeing that [good luck btw!]. Oh, and Domaso's decided to extend their RW deal through month-end. So, I yet may get to try the Veal Chop on special!

That's my understanding as well [at one time Donna was affiliated w/ Cesco, but since then the that partnership ended]

Noticed on DCFoodies that they list which restaurants are extending their RW deal beyond this week. Might be a sticky for me after this week!

Notti really is one of my favorite places [and close to the Kennedy Center, love grabbing a meal there for post/pre theatre dining]. Hadn't been there in a long while, and since Restaurant Week just started, so I went back yesterday with my dining group, many of which didn't even know of the place. Their RW deal was 1 choice from Appetizers/Salad section, 1 from Pasta/Seconds, and lastly desert. Some select upcharges [i.e. scallops w/ bacon as an appetizer = $3, for the mains short ribs=$5, linguini w/ fresh dungeness crabmeat =$5] We were told that there was a special RW menu was created [although the RW menu on their website as of last night had completely different items]: 4 antipasti, 3 salads, 5 pastas, and 4 seconds [mains]. Healthy amount of selections for us. Across the table, folks got a mix of salads [Hearts of Romaine w/ anchovies/olive puree, Organic Baby Lettuces w/ golden raisins, toasted pinenuts and balsamic] and appetizers, of which most of us chose the Diver Scallops w/ grilled housemade pancetta, sweet golden raisins, and I presume chopped scallions for garnish . It was 2 fresh scallops, and what was a little surprising was the bacon was unexpectedly very sweet [was expecting the smokiness]. It paired well with the golden raisins. Very tasty. For our mains, there was a mix of pastas [agnolotti w/ roasted veal and barolo reduction, tortelli w/ porcini mushroom and ricotta, and linguini w/ fresh dungeness crab and meyer lemon] and seconds [striped bass w/ braised beans and kale in a barbaresco sauce, braised short ribs w/ caramelized radiccio and polenta cake in a barolo reduction]. Everyone enjoyed their meals, the biggest praise went to the HUGE short ribs. That alone looked like a $30 item by itself: I had the linguini w/ fresh dungeness crab. Have to admit I hoped for large chunks throughout the pasta, but it was finely shredded & dispersed throughout the linguini. Still very tasty. The linguini was fairly thick and a substantial amount was on the plate, so with anticipation of the dessert I saved half for lunch today For drinks, 4 of us shared a bottle of their 2005 Montepulciano which complemented the meals just fine. [good value for $40]. For desserts, a special menu at the end was provided. Our choices were tart/sweet blood-orange sorbet, pumpkin ricotta cheesecake, and a chocolate cake of sorts. Nice desserts, the pumpkin ricotta cheesecake was thankfully a round 2" mini-version [was worried how big it would be, given how full I was]. Everyone seemed to enjoy them. Service was pretty good last night. Pleasant and professional. Good night all in all.

Had lunch there yesterday, to continue my tour of the menu. Based on the comments above, tried the Lobster Roll [not the platter this time]. Toasted bread, large very flavorful chunks of lobster [bobby told me it was a mixture of knuckle & claw meat I believe], binded with mayo/lemon juice and his touch of spices. Reminded me of the ones I've tried in Maine over the years. Happily the Key Lime pie was available again, so had that for dessert. Echoing what ol_ironstomach said above: great comination of texture, tangy/not too sweet, deep graham crust. Ate it slowly & in small bites to savor it. Bobby, whereever you're sourcing that, keep it Washed everything down with water just so I concentrate on the flavors. Talked with Herbie who was providing service on the floor [really pleasant guy], and chatted with Bobby for a bit. I believe he mentioned that he's looking into adding entree-like dinners to the menu. More & more challenging with sourcing quality crab. Oh, and suggested I give the chicken salad a try. [one of his favorites, and its he makes it lol]. Maybe chowdah and the salad next time.

Heh, yeah a friend and I noticed that as well. Forgot to note that to the manager while we chatted him up for awhile.

Just went back again to try the hamburger & fries platter. As one of the best [compared to Central/Colorado/etc], not in my opinion. The pimento/cheese [which I do like the contrast of warm meat to cool cheese] is too overpowering to enjoy the flavoring of meat. I was able to try the meat on its own in a few bites, but the flavoring wasn't to my taste [sorta bland], also tend to like mine medium rare /medium [it was cooked done / welldone]. Bun was good though & held up. The french fries that came with it were alright [sorta limp from cooking in oil, but tasted fine], but wished they'd do the yuca fries with the platter instead [which I love]. As a value at $5.50 in the District, yeah ... good deal. Willing to absolutely give it another try or 2 [i'll ask if I can get it cooked Medium, is that safe for swell meat lol?], but my 1st preferences here will be da tacos and yuca fries. Maybe try a few other things too before attempting the burger again. Taqueria was doing brisk service around noon today [seemed like lots of regulars ... folks had their orders down pat]. Like that folks are noticing the place!

Ha! I used that to soak up the flavorful leftover buttery liquid from the oysters Still, hungry enough for the veal medallions and the rum-raisin bread pudding. Acadiana does pack a lot of flavor in almost all of their dishes. Also, had one of my favorite red blends, Mulderbosch Faithful Hound. Let it open for about 20, love the bouquet and the smoothness. Only miss we noted was the turtle soupand gumbo seemed a bit watery, not quite pronounced enough to our liking. The rest of it was tasty. Staff was attentive and very cordial. Hung around till midnight, Acadiana provided all diners felted top hats, flowered leis, and a glass of champagne. Most rung in the New Year around the bar. Good night, glad we came here. Fit the bill for a lower-key New Years Eve.

Hmmmmmmm....triple order [insert Homer drooling]! Need something semi-heavy though for the gratuitous amount of drinking tonight.

Decided w/ friends for a low-key New Year's Eve. So, dinner at Acadiana it is, charbroiled oysters and all lol.

Yeah yeah that's it. I had to double-take on the high alcohol content, but that beer is nice. Folks should give that a try if they eat there Off myself to find a six-pack hopefully near the Metro area, or maybe I'll be lucky while I'm visiting family/friends in Philly this weekend. Hmmm, reminder to self to get some tasty Peking Duck at Sang Kee on 9th! Oh, and can I still justify continued holiday eating and get a cheesesteak at Mama's / Dalessandro?

Wanted something homey last night to eat and noticed CK's special Holiday menu for 12/27 was their burgers, so introduced a friend to the restaurant. Gotta say it's a dang fine hamburger. Cooked medium-rare exactly as ordered, added sauteed onions and a touch of their mayo [house-made?]. Large mound of fried onion straws. Very very tasty. Gillian, you produced an excellent burger. I think it's tied for #1, but I'm happy to retry Central's and some of the others again for a taste-test in the next couple of weeks Tried 2 beers there: the previously mentioned Ephemere [apple-ly ale], and a quite-nice Brown Sugar Ale I believe. All-in-all very satisfying. And the friend is a new convert.

Just stopped by there for the 1st time. Agree with many of the comments above. The Fish tacos and yuca fries are excellent. Also tried the Chorizo taco [liked, but a little less so than the fish version] and the Beef taco [little dried out, but given very slow day on the 27th I'll assume to try again when they're on full cylinders & food is being purchased more quickly]. The sauces aren't particularly hot [bummer], but they are decently tasty. As for the drink, once I heard they had Coke w/ the cane sugar version in the good 'ole glass bottle, I said yes as soon as he mentioned it. The containers for the food are still in the heavy brown cardboard-ish boxes. Seems overkill for 1 taco, but I guess it does protect it well Chatted with Wayne [seemed in charge this afternoon], nice guy. All in all, liked the place. Will be back to try the hamburger and other items in the near future.