cucas87

I hadn't been to Burma in more than 5 years when I went last night with an old friend. We had a good meal. It was on the cusp of very good but it didn't get there. The main room of the restaurant is small with tables that are fairly close together. We were there at 7 last night and the room was full and loud. Not so loud that I could not hear my friend, but loud enough that I could easily hear the people at the table to my left, who were having a spirited debate about the relative merits of reading both the Washington Post and the Washington Times (debate redux: tastes great/less filling). We only ordered 2 dishes last night, both of them main courses: the chicken curry with potato (number 41 on the menu) and a rice-noodle dish (number 21 on the menu). Both dishes were good but could have been excellent with a few modifications. The chicken curry appeared as a bowl of 4 bone-in pieces of chicken and chunks of potato in a fairly thin, cumin-colored sauce. The sauce was flavorful but not spicy and would have been delicious with the addition of salt. The real surprise of the dish was that the potatoes were soft but not mushy. The curry was served at room temperature and would have been better warmed up a bit. The noodles were tasty but they also needed a hit of salt. We received a bowl of chili-garlic sauce on the side, which I added to the noodles. The sauce was vinegary and spicy, and I'm pretty sure it was the same brand as the chili sauce I recently bought from Super-H. The service was gentle and unobtrusive. The tab, including my diet coke, came to less than $24 pre-tip. I would go back, but I am not rushing.

Sure Dean, like we'd believe that story! Glad to hear you and Kay got the car back on track and had a good meal at the end of your ordeal. Dinner at Peking Cheers was very, very good, but I'm proud/afraid to say I stepped up and ate at least part of your share. I don't have a menu with me and my work computer cannot open the link to the menu that's provided earlier in the thread so I'm going to work from memory despite my food coma. Nine of us had: fried dumplings with hot sauce (really good hot sauce) dumplings in hot oil (or something like that, these are the dumplings that are in the bowl with chili oil) spicy soft tofu wheat gluten and mushrooms (delicious and "meaty" despite the name) spicy sauteed dry beef (this is the numbing beef. It was hot and slightly numbing but not impossibly numbing) crispy whole fish (very good, in a sweetish ketchupy sauce). three cup chicken (boneless pieces of chicken and basil in a slightly sweetish wine sauce served in a hot casserole dish. Delicious) pork in garlic sauce pea shoots and garlic peking duck (really well carved and yes, they did, upon request, give us the carcass) For dessert they gave us each a bowl of tofu in a sweet wine soup -- very soft tofu in a sweet and slightly eggy soup. Hot, comforting. Not my favorite (I didn't love the "egg" part of the soup), but nice. I really liked PC. The menu is very broad and I'd be happy to go back and try some of the many things we didn't get to this time. I don't know if I liked it as much as Temptasian or Szechuan Boy, but I'm more than willing to go back to test that theory a few times. All in all it was a great Sunday night -- with very tasty food and good company. The tab (including tip and leftovers) came to $16 before accounting for drinks. Thanks everyone for a good night. Dean and Kay, hope to see you next time.

I lost 1/2 pound this week which isn't bad considering I didn't get to the gym at all. That said, I have exactly 3 months from today until my 20th college reunion so I have used up all of my "wiggle" room and really need to get on this plan I intend to really be exercising and more careful about what I eat in the weeks to come. Stay tuned.

Not much to add about the Corduroy Cassoulet Convocation after reading Heather's excellent post. It would not be an exaggeration to say that I waddled out of Corduroy last night -- full and very, very happy. Before dinner we spent a few hours in the bar, enjoying a few drinks and the lovely spring rolls and parsnip soup, so for the first time ever I did not order my own appetizer at the table. Of course I was more than willing to taste the duck egg salad (which seems to have improved -- how is that possible-- since I had it last). The cassoulet was delicious and served in a very generous portion -- which will provide me with another wonderful dinner tonight. And to top it off we were treated to Rissa's incredible homemade macaroons (that looked just like mini miniburgers). It was a perfect "good-bye to winter" dinner, and we all were left wondering how Chef Power managed to get the weather to cooperate so perfectly with our dinner plans. Thank you Chef Power, Rissa, Ferhat, Katt, the staff, my dining companions and, of course, Barbara and DameEdna.

I'm sorry to say Scott Johnston and I will not be able to make it to Etete on Tuesday.

Last night's $20 dinner was terrific and both the company and food were excellent. The fact that we were served family style was great because I was able to taste some dishes I might not have ordered on my own (the delectable chicken wings come to mind). I will be back for certain for the shammi kabob, the vindaloo and the butter chicken. And the wings. And the naan. And now I'm going to read the fitness challenge thread and get back on track. Thank you Jacques Gastreaux, BBhasin and wife and our kind and attentive servers for a great Tuesday night.

It appears that no matter what kind of chese I am, I need to ripen for a number of months. Using my first and last name, my cheese rating is: "Your cheese rating is: Meira Meira is a traditional Iraqi cheese, made from sheeps milk. The curds are cut into strips and matured in a sheepskin bag for between 6 and 12 months." Using my first, middle and last name, my cheese rating is: "Your cheese rating is: Red Leicester A hard, grainy cheese, coloured red with annatto. Red Leiceter ripens quickly, and is typically sold after maturing for 10 - 12 weeks, but can be left to ripen for up to 9 months."

A huge thank you to Dean and Kay and Chris and Chef Amaya and everyone at Dino and here ar dr.com for such a great happy hour.

Weight loss this week: 1/2 pound Times at the gym: 1 (plus a number of lunchtime stair climbings) On the workout front, well, I need to do more, but I'm trying to at least do something. I finally have started trying to do push-ups again. My success at push ups (and my ability to deal with the elliptical machine) are indicators of how far I have to go and will be indicators of how "fit" I'm getting as this challenge moves into the spring. I used to be able to do 50 "real" push-ups and am now doing about 30 shaky "knee" push-ups. I also used to be able to work out for about 45 minutes on the elliptical and this week I could not do even 5 minutes on it (but I did get back on the bike, so at least I didn't just stop exercising). Stay tuned. Thank you to everyone here who has posted recipes and food logs, they are of great help. (Comic relief: Jmchen, I misread your food log and thought you had written "2 cones" which led me for a brief, happy moment to think of ice cream for lunch, but I realized, of course, you'd written "2 coney dogs." Sigh).

I made a mistake in the topic title; the happy hour is scheduled from 5:30 to 7:30.

We are rapidly approaching critical mass for tomorrow's happy hour. If you already have PMed me or posted that you plan to attend and your plans are changing (so you don't think you will be able to attend), please let me know. Dean has promised some very good drink specials and treats, including: pancetta, do it yourself crostini with various toppings, olives and "some other things to be determined but probably a chorizo." Fit for summer participants/walkers: I plan to be at the Woodley Park metro between 5:10 and 5:15 tomorrow afternoon to begin my walk to Dino. If you'd like to join me, PM me and we'll figure it out. (It's really not very far, I'll just feel better doing it) A last thought: a few people have mentioned that they will be able to stay for only part of the evening and others will be joining us late. To protect everyone (and save you from my own very bad math), please be sure to take care of your own tab. Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow.

In addition to the things mentioned above, we also had a good variety of panchan (kimchi that was more vinegary than spicy), egglant, tofu, fishcakes, and I think some green beans. We also had stir fried vegetables and jop chae (warm sauteed cellophane noodles with veggies and meat). I really liked the jop chae, it was warm and comforting. I also really enjoyed the spicy chicken dish we had (I do not know the name of the dish). While the food at Mandu is not exceedingly spicy and definitely not as spicy as some of the other Korean restaurants where we've had $20 dinners, the chicken dish had a nice kick to it. For dessert, we had some fresh fruit (melon and berries). I also had a grape sojutini. It was well made but too sweet for me, at least as a before-dinner drink. I thought Mandu was very generous with the portions and the selections. At the end of the meal there was a lot of food left over and they happily brought us take home containers to fill.

As of today, 18 people have said they plan to attend next week's happy hour, along with 3 people who are "definite maybes."

Weight loss this week: nothing. Times at the gym this week: 3 This has been a frustrating week diet and work-wise. I'm hoping next week will show better results in both areas. No real problems or "cheating episodes," just time to up the exercise factor.

Sometimes I really miss New York.

I'm still trying to find the non-fat smoothies you've written about. So far I've only seen the regular (not light) smoothies. Are you buying these anywhere in particular?

I'm doing ok on motivation re: eating less but I haven't been exercising in any kind of "real" way. Work has been difficult and I haven't felt so great but if I had pushed, I certainly could have made it to the gym three times this week. That is my real goal for next week and into the future. As for rewards: I will treat myself to a massage if I exceed my fitness challenge goal and/or when I reach my actual goal weight. I haven't really come up with interim rewards .

This week I lost 3/4 pound. I still need to get an exercise plan working. That said, I persuaded a colleague to walk up and down the steps in our building during lunch. That was yesterday and I'm not sure she'll forgive me for it. On the plus side, I have started drinking decaf tea (Celestial Seasoning's Candy Cane Lane) at work and it's a good snack-preventor. Victory of the week: in the bar at Corduroy for dinner the other night I shared the (delicious) steak with a friend, left most of the fries for my friend and ordered a salad. Increased motivation: a recent college mailing listed those alumni from my year who are planning to attend our reunion this June and my name was included. So, I have a hard deadline of June 8th to make visible progress.

If you’ve found that the cold weather and dashed hopes for a snow day (or two) have taken their toll, I hope you’ll come to happy hour at Dino on Friday, February 23rd from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. Dean has promised some great specials, including a Rosso di Montalcino wine flight (3-3oz pours for $12); a special martini for $6 and prosecco for $5, as well as some delicious nibbles. If you’re interested in joining in, please PM me so I can let Dean know how many of us to expect. (Note to any other “fit for summer” challenge participants: I plan to take the metro to Woodley Park and walk up Connectict Ave to Dino as a preventative (or guilt-blocking) measure and I would welcome company.

New York magazine discusses restaurants' increasing use of beef and lamb necks in dishes. I've posted the link here as well as an excerpt below. "They Feel Good About Their Necks:An unfamiliar cut is showing up on local menus, prompting the question: Is neck the new cheek? * By Robin Raisfeld & Rob Patronite In their constant quest to utilize every part of the beast—and to keep food costs down—chefs have historically turned their creative attention to the offcuts, the nasty bits, the calf’s brains and pig’s feet and everything in between. Thanks to scrap-meat enthusiasts like Mario Batali and London’s Fergus Henderson, no truly sophisticated modern diner would look askance at an oxtail or a duck tongue these days. Recently, though, an upstart animal part has been making its debut on menus around town. The neck, in all its bony, low-yield, tough but flavorful glory, seems made for the kind of long, slow cooking needed to extract the most flavor from the hardest-working muscles. Gordon Ramsay has long been a fan and serves a lamb cutlet with braised neck at his posh London Bar. Maremma’s Cesare Casella offers an occasional special of peposo, a Tuscan stew made with beef neck. . ." -------------------- CGR

Scott Johnston and I are in.

We took a quick trip to Philly in late December and had a great time, thanks in large part to the information in this thread. I see that MDT already has posted about the Rittenhouse location of DiBruno's and that's a great idea. If you feel like exploring more of DiBruno's and more stores like it, I'd recommend a visit to the Italian market in South Philly. It's an outdoor market (well, really many, many shops lining a few streets) and is incredible. I do not know if SEPTA stops there, but I'm fairly certain a bus would get you there. Incredible shops and wonderful food and housewares and it has a real "market" feel. It's also great fun to see each shop and the differences among the various butchers and shops. I'm still kicking myself for not bringing back some cheese from a few of the stores. Yummy foods. I second the recommendation for the White Dog Cafe in the University area. In a neighborhood a little above the Penn campus we had delicious Ethiopian food at Dahlak on Baltimore Avenue (by S. 47th). When we ordered a few spicy dishes we were asked if we wanted the food spicy, we said yes and the food was indeed spicy but also very well flavored. I am adding this link from menupages (although I see from some comments that the menu is a little out of date). Dahlak.

1. Lebanese Taverna in Woodley Park. It is nostalgic for me and reminds me of the old days, when I lived in Cleveland Park and used to go to City Blues all the time (Ah, City Blues, how much do I miss you?). I like the menu and what the restaurant was like when it first opened. 2 I also reluctantly admit to going to Penang. The service there runs from indifferent to horrible, which describes the time my friend ordered Beef Rendang (it's her favorite dish) and what was served to her was some other dish unrecognized by either one of us. When she questioned the waiter he insisted it was the Beef Rendang she had ordered. Ten minutes later he admitted that the cook had made the wrong dish and finally agreed to bring her beef rendang. That was a few years ago and to this day the phrase "I was beef rendang-ed" is a sort of code between us. But I've been back -- it's a convenient location and the food is more than decent (and occasionally great).

I'm down another 1/2 pound, which means I need to up the exercise to keep making progress (Walrus, are you reading this?). This morning I went to my second step aerobics class of the week -- yes, it's a little 80s, but then I wouldn't mind weighing what I weighed in the 80s, so maybe it's ok. In other (not weight-related) fitness news I finally received a stand for my computer monitor at work and I can't believe how much better my neck feels -- it's *like* I've lost so much weight. If only.

The information below is courtesy of a good friend of mine who moved to LA a number of years ago. I trust his judgment without reservation and am posting his thoughts here to add to the mix. "I think the best thing about LA food is the sushi. My favorites are Echigo and SushiGo55. Go b/c of the food, not the atmosphere (both are in malls). Other places worth trying are: Grace [Closed Jun 19, 2010]: Californian/Mediterranean. It's widely considered the best food in town. I had my best meal in LA there once. The sommelier is great. Providence: I haven't been to it, but it's supposed to be the best high-end seafood in LA. The chef is great....his old restaurant (Water Grill) was my favorite before he left to open Providence. Ortolan: [Closed Jan, 2011] Great modern French place. Similar to Citronelle in the type of food (almost as good but not quite). Izakayas (Japanese pubs). Musha on Wilshire in Santa Monica is the best of the bunch....a really fun place with some good food. Father's Office in Santa Monica for the burgers. It's a sit-down place. Expect a line."