Escoffier

There is also the problem of language translation at times. I have been to many restaurants where the menu is in "fractured English" at best...and what may be spicy to someone may be mild to someone else. That said, it does not overlook a policy that's severely misguided.

I think I got it...1. original poster went out to eat 2. not recognized by staff at restaurant she decided to enter 3. miffed because of not being recognized 4. ate everything on table with exception of salt and pepper shakers 5. left cryptic note on business card (just in case nobody recognized minor celebrity from restaurant biz) 6. tipped 15% (at least didn't stiff the wait staff who didn't recognize minor celebrity) 7. started forum to complain about poor service and not being recognized as minor celebrity 8. forum created minor sh*t storm because minor celebrity wants things both ways I think that's how it goes...YMMV

Joe, PM Dean Gold. He pointed us to some great restaurants in Venice and I'm sure he can do the same for you. He spends as much time in Venice as he does in Cleveland Park.

Or "One man's meat is another man's poisson"...(hmmm, that sounds fishy for some reason)

Put yourself in Dean's capable hands and sit back. The man knows his food. We were there last night and had 5 courses and paired wines. Heavenly.

George's Restaurant Equipment415 E. Raymond Ave Alexandria, VA 22301 Phone: 703 836-1800 I can't say for sure this is the place you're looking for, but it's worth a try. There is also a restaurant supply house near the Fedex office on Eisenhower Avenue but I think they do only new and not used.

Rather than just come here and write about how good the food is (which would be redundant by any account) which has already been done to death, I thought a few pictures might be more enlightening. From the dinner that the four of us had last night a short trip through a lot of really good food is here.

So, where did you end up?

I tend to have the same problem. Seem to shoot first and then after everything is posted, ooops! I do have a bit of Korean experience. Grover and I have organized 3 Korean dinners so far. Too bad you haven't attended. We could get your Korean back up to speed.. To answer the last question first, I don't find the spicy spicy to be that (ingredient) hot. But for a mee-guk, I eat pretty spicy food. I tend to like Jam-bong and soldier's stew in the authentic manner. I eat it spicier than some Koreans. It took a long time to convince servers at the restaurants we go to that I wanted it spicy. I haven't been to the restaurant in MD, I live in Alexandria so go to Annandale (or stay at home) when I want real Korean food. (If you're Korean, ignore the next line) My yah-bo is one fine cook and feeds us very well.

Heavens to murgatroyd. I'm a mee-guk and I found this review really interesting. Let's start with the panchan (the 4 which turn out to be 5) small dishes. Number 1 is indeed soybean sprouts, number 2, I have no idea even though I've been a fan of panchan for a number of years, number 3 is nabak kimchee, number 4 probably is cucumber but it's not kimchee (it's not made the same way) and number 5 is kacha ree kimchee which is more like a salad than serious kimchee. Normally this is made and eaten the same day. While the panchan here is good, it's not in the same category as panchan at Gom Ba Woo or Yechon.Cold bori-cha is almost always offered. Very rarely is anyone offered water (might have something to do with the water in Korea) unless you're not Korean. You did the egg part correctly, you break it and stir it into the soondooboo. The heat of the dolsot (heated stone pot) and the stew cooks the egg. I assume you took spoonfulls of tofu and put it on your rice to cool before you ate it and didn't try to eat it from the dolsot (a practice which can lead to serious damage to your body from the boiling liquid). I always order my soondooboo with the shrimp and oyster and clam and spicy spicy. Grover and I have only ordered panjun (seafood pancake) from there once because it's not one of their specialties. It was all right but not as good as Han Sung Oak or Gom Ba Woo. While I've never tried the bulgogi there, others have and it appears to be well done. It took a while to find this place after Book Chang Dong closed but I'm glad we did. We highly recommend it for the soondooboo. This sounds like another $20 Tuesday excursion to the land of tofu and kimchee.

Remind me to tell you how Vinegar Hill got it's name when I see you on Friday night. We now return you to your regularly scheduled forum, already in progress..

Try parking near the Fed Courthouse and walking down Second Street. If you don't find something interesting, hit the White Spot (or the Grease Spot as we lovingly knew it) on the Corner (across from the hospital on W. Main St) for representative (heartburn inducing) food. Personal preference would be either some place on Second St or pick one of the places on the mall. (Sorry I can't be more specific, but it's been a while since anyplace I ate in C'ville wasn't a relative's house)

Oh my, at the risk of starting a "Defining Jewish (or Kosher) food" forum...I think of smoked meat, blintzes, kreplach, matzo(h optional), half-sour dills and good pastrami (and I'm not even Jewish...I just play one when I'm in a deli)

With a lot of help from Grover, we've added names and menu numbers of all the food we ate to the pictures you can find here.

Do you feel strongly about this, Dean? I realize this is off topic, but a friend of ours is a vegan and once forced Grover and I into eating tofurkey...it took 2 years to forgive him...and I want real corned beef not a veggie substitute.

See a pair of Scotts:

Hooray! Now maybe Sietsema will have worthy companion in the food taste/testing arena. From this, it sounds like Joe Yonan has done some more adventurous foodie exploits. This can only be a good move for the WaPo.

Back from A&J and here's a sample of what one table ate (and ate and ate). There are more pic's from A&J here.

Welcome, it's always nice to see a new person. With that said, from your remarks, it sounds as if you have some personal relationship with Le Pigalle. This isn't possible now, is it?

Hmmm, I thought we were talking about BBQ. Every meal at Rocklands in Alexandria has been a disappointment. Dry meat, cornbread as moist as drywall. Not even the sauces seem to help. (I have to admit, I haven't tried the ribs but I've been so disappointed with the BBQ I haven't been back after the second time). My son (who is at the age where he will eat just about anything, and does) suggested Red, Hot and Blue the last time I said I would take him to Rocklands.

I am indeed talking about the wine pairings. If PS7 follows the lead that Danny set earlier, there is no doubt that the bottle pricing will be both fair and well priced.4 course $25 or $50 5 course $30 or $60 6 course $35 or $70 7 course $40 or $80 If prior experience is any indicator, these (roughly) $12/glass, $6/half glass wines will be well paired and quite a bargain.

I haven't had any experience with Val but Phuong is excellent (and customer service oriented).

Aye, jist be watchin' yer bleedin' gob...

Just like any fish and chips place. They cook, you eat, you clean up....not nice to leave spilled salt or vinegar on the table when you leave...

Vermilion is very good (no patio or outdoor seating), Al a Lucia is a moderate Italian with a decent wine selection. Southside 815 has good Southern food and a patio on Washington St. 100King is a mezze (small plates) place with a lot of variety in the foods served and again a decent wine list. Vermilion is on the higher end along with 100King. Al a Lucia and Southside 815 are on the more moderate scale. Mai Thai is reasonable but the room can be noisy and the service can be a bit iffy at times. 100King is noisy downstairs so either eat upstairs or in the sidewalk area (exhaust fumes have never been one of my favorites). Southside 815 can be smoky at times (you enter and the bar and smoking is on your left), seating is on your right. Sometimes there's a bit of smokiness at the entrance but you can get past it. Hope that doesn't add more confusion to your decision. Personally, I'd rank them like so:1. Vermilion/Majestic Cafe 3. 100 King 4. Southside 815/Al a Lucia 6. Mai Thai I can't really say anything about Cafe Salsa because I've never eaten there.