Escoffier

From WTOP: Ramen bar set to open in Mosaic District

Is ramen becoming the next fast food (or worse, cupcake fad)?

On 4/14/2016 at 6:54 AM, ylkim30 said:

Kogiya is the best bet, but it's merely passable. The marinated meats are really too sweet, but that's true of most bbq in the area. There isn't great korean bbq in the dmv. Among Koreans, we like Nakwon. But only for samggypseol. (That's where I go with my embassy friends and other out of towners with traditional Korean palates ... not necessarily the place to go if you have an Americanized palate)

Now you've done it, you've started a mee-guk stampede to Nakwon.

Lighthouse Tofu can always be relied upon, though a rather limited menu.

The seafood soo doo boo is one of my favorites, but Lighthouse isn't really in our regular "go-to" places.  Now Gom Ba Woo is.  If you go to Gom Ba Woo, try the mandu and the haemool paejun.  Both are excellent but are obviously not BBQ.

Escoffier--What are your thoughts on Yechon?

Great Duk Mandu Guk.  My standard for that at every other Korean restaurant.  BBQ is so-so.  They have sushi but it's way better at other Korean places (Momo or Yamazato in Alexandria for example),  the hot pots are good, the banchan varies.  A good spot to go to when you are out late and don't want to eat the emaciated hot dogs at 7-11.

Depends.  Pork or beef?  Spicy or non-spicy?  Annandale, Centerville, or some place in MD?

We go to Anan-Gol for spicy marinated pork (the spicy pork in Super-H in Fairfax is almost as good though it's not cooked at your table...just so you know).  We like Kogiya but it can be totally crowded and almost impossible to get a seat.  Honey Pig Gooldaegee is good now and then.  I think that might have something to do with phases of the moon.

We have an outstanding set of seats waiting for us whenever we visit Al Dente.  Roberto does some of the best Italian in the area.

They don't serve cucumber kimchi!  It's not on the menu! You had the unfortunate experience of having a server who didn't understand the difference between pickled vegetables and kimchi, and tried too hard to please you.  Annoying? Yes.  A damning piece of evidence that Chang has somehow forgotten or forsaken his Korean heritage to please the pale whitebread eating masses?  Hardly.

I stand by my opinion (which is in line with how the restaurant describes itself) that Momofuku is not at all a "Pan-Asian" restaurant.  Reasonable people can disagree.  Eric Ziebold has tempura on his menu right now.  And sashimi.  And a duck dish with fermented black beans.  And another with tofu and yuzo kosho sauce.  Is Kinship a Pan-Asian restaurant?

As for your 2nd paragraph:  An Asian chef has no obligation to serve Asian food.  If you have that expectation of Chang, that is on you, not him.

I think this discussion has been enlightening far from the concern about the issue of "kimchi."

Aw, who wants to be reasonable?  . I agree that we can disagree.  Regarding Eric Z., I somehow doubt that the vast majority of his menu is made up of Asian food (or derivatives) and that he plans on expanding to more Asian dishes to the detriment of his other dishes.  I would never go to Kinship with the expectation that I was going to make a night of eating sashimi and tonkatsu at his restaurant.  It's true that an Asian chef has no obligation to serve Asian food.

I agree that this has certainly been an entertaining couple of entries.  Amazing how easily conclusions can be leaped to over the misreading of a simple sentence.  All over something that none have any more interest than sitting down and eating and drinking.  Some restaurants I like you probably don't, some you like I don't.  Not sure that makes me reasonable, but I'm certainly not going to get upset that you don't like the same food or restaurants or wallpaper I don't.  Life is a bit larger than that.  (but it sure is fun to play devils advocate and watch the fuming )

I don't think that your conclusion follows.  No one could refute that you like food spicier than you were served, and no one could refute that you found the pasta dish to be strange and not in line with what you expected or what you like.  I personally agree with the point that the noodles at Daikaya are better than the noodles at Momofuku.  But what else is there to refute or (conversely) to justify?

Given how strongly David Chang has made the point that he is not seeking to serve the "authentic" food of any cuisine other than his own desires (and his chefs'), I am surprised that anyone would go to Momofuku expecting anything like Annandale in any dish.  (And I am especially surprised if anyone would expect the server to say anything like "oh, you ask specifically if we have oi kimchi, well I should tell you since you are obviously a connoisseur that ours is untraditional" ...)

Okay, I'm going to say this one more time (and for the LAST TIME).  We asked if they had CUCUMBER KIMCHI (see those words to the left?  The ones spelled C-U-C-U-M-B-E-R  K-I-M-C-H-I?)  We asked if they had cucumber KIMCHI, The answer was yes, they had CUCUMBER KIMCHI.  To expand the horizons of anyone who might want to go to a Korean restaurant (or Super-H) and try CUCUMBER KIMCHI I added the parenthetical (you know,  words that are between those things that are shaped like ( and  )) comment with the Korean for CUCUMBER KIMCHI.  That Korean two letter phrase is OI KIMCHI, we didn't ask for OI KIMCHI, we asked for CUCUMBER KIMCHI.

I hope that clears up any misconception that we asked for OI KIMCHI when we asked for CUCUBER KIMCHI (daggonit! )  I certainly can agree that he is not seeking to serve authentic anything, he's right on target with that effort.  As a matter of fact, he might be outdoing himself.  Just out of curiousity, what do you consider what he's doing?  He's certainly not breaking new ground anywhere.  What do you feel he's attempting to do?  If a restaurant serves 70% Asian food is it Pan-Asian?  How about 60% or 90%?

As to the Italian food on the menu (excuse me the XO noodles which were actually shrimp noodles even though on the check they were described as XO noodles), if I had really wanted Italian food, I would have gone to a place where I would have had the reasonable expectation that if I wanted Shrimp Pappardelle, I would have received Shrimp with Pappardelle noodles.

Anyway, it's entirely academic. I didn't go with the expectation that I would find a reflection of one of the better Annandale restaurants, I went with the expectation of being served food that would challenge the pedestrian, would expand my food horizons (even a bit) and would make me appreciate even more the width and breadth of the Asian influence on modern gastronomy.  Unfortunately, I was disappointed, and I said so.  There was nothing in the food that made it rise above the any of the most mediocre of the Chinese restaurants in DC's Chinatown or any of the Korean restaurants in Annandale.  There was no challenge, no "amazing" moment, just somewhat average food that (in my most humble opinion) was trying way too hard to be anything more than mainstream.

I'm not sure it is exactly "covering" yourself to say that you serve what you want.  It's what most chefs do.

If you go expecting to compare to Korean places in Annandale, you are going in with the wrong expectations.

I completely agree with you, Momofuku in it's finer minutes, will never be able to compete with Annandale for Korean food.  However, if you serve something with a Korean name, a Korean heritage, and supposedly a Korean taste, don't you kind of expect something that happens to fall within your Korean taste parameters?

And while it's true that most chefs serve what they want,  most chefs seem to think that if they're in an Italian restaurant, the food will have some resemblance to Italian food, just as an Asian chef will serve Asian food.  My complaint about another "Pan-Asian" restaurant is that they serve a lot of different ethnic foods, none of which are very good.  But if you think a wide variety is great, it's the place to go. If you want to play molecular chemistry with food, you don't call your restaurant a hot dog stand.

The funniest thing about this whole brouhaha (okay, food fight) is the spotlight on one word.  I haven't seen a single refutation of anything else that was written.  I guess that's some justification of my observations.   (Oh, and Milk Bar?  Don't even get me started )

On 3/5/2016 at 7:35 PM, ylkim30 said:

The lurkers are telling me the cool kids like nak won for samgypseol. It's good, though banchan is only so-so. But, that's true of all the bbq places.

In terms of "authentic" flavors, you're looking at To Sok Jip and Blue Sands. To Sok Jip may be too authentic for most, Blue Sands is certainly so. Caveat emptor, but I love both.

A friend likes Mr. Tofu. I have to try it -- his mother in law gave the banchan her seal of approval. In a similar vein, Lighthouse is solid, but I have an americanized palate, so ymmv. A real Korean (much more so than me) claims To Soc Chon is ok for soups.

Personally, Annandale could use a Ponderosa Grill. Nothing is more Korean than meatballs and cole slaw in a taco shell.

지냈어요 Pardon the rambling that follows, it's that kind of evening.  Mr. Tofu is owned by the people who own Shilla Bakery.  Nice interior, difficult to get to (pass Manny, Moe, and Jack, stop before the CVS).  Food was okay but nothing spectacular enough for us to put it into our normal rotation.  I'm a mee-guk but my tolerance for spicy is pretty high so I like the higher end of the Scovill scale (but not so much that the complexities of the food disappear in spicy numbness).  We were at To Sok Jip today so Grover could have Duk Guk and I could have that chicken noodle soup (Korean, not a hint of Italian (or Campbell's) anywhere ) that I really like. Unfortunately, it seems they're going upscale.  The interior has been painted, the rickety, old tables are gone, no more handwritten Specials on the walls.  It doesn't even smell like natto anymore.  Next thing you know, they'll be having sweet potato or corn topped pizza on the menu and we'll have to search out another small, authentic piece of Seoul in Annandale.

---

Siroo Juk Story (cocobinga)

I don't see "Oi Kimchi" on the current menu, but that may have changed.  I do see cucumber pickles, which have been a mainstay since Noodle Bar. Regardless, it got me thinking that chef's often play with words just as much as they do with food.  For instance, Chef Ziebold has a dessert on the menu that lists "Pecan Nduja."  I asked our waiter about this when we first went, and he explained that no, there is not really any spicy, funky pork salami in the chocolate cake, but the chef used "Nduja" to describe the spreadable paste served with it.  I don't know where I'm going with this, other than to say you got me thinking about how what a chef names a dish can really color how we experience it.

I believe you misread what I wrote.  We asked if there was cucumber kimchi available.  I added the parenthetical oi kimchi, because that's what cucumber kimchi is in Korean. (You get not only a personal restaurant review but a language primer all in one neat little lump.)

"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean"”neither more nor less."

"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."

"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master"”that's all."

"• Lewis Carroll

Sort of reminds you of Momofuku in a way .

I'd be interested in hearing your recommendations as well, because I've really enjoyed Momofuku in New York at least and apparently there's even more deliciousness to be had and even cheaper! Bonus points if you remember any dishes or places that are particularly vegetarian friendly.

Vegetarian friendly is somewhat difficult in Korean food because a lot of the stocks are either made from beef bones, chicken, or fish.  You could eat lots of banchan but I'm not sure you'd want to make a meal from that (even though in some places it would be possible).  You might find pae-jon (the ubiquitous "seafood pancake" without the seafood some place).  I'm an unabashed non-beef (for the most part) carnivore but we have a friend in NYC who is a vegan and he always seems to find something to (overly) fill up on when we go out to eat.

Perhaps Chang isn't aiming for canonical versions of Korean dishes?

It's possible to dislike a restaurant without insulting the palates of those who dig it.

I totally agree with you.  However, if you are running what is described as a Pan-Asian restaurant, don't you think you might be a bit more reflective of the cuisine you say you are serving?  My noodle order (to repeat myself) would not be out of place in an Italian restaurant.  If David C. was aiming for a canonical Korean he missed by an extreme margin.  Korean foods are extremely varied, running from what might be described as bland to the pyrotechnical extreme at the other end. There are some dishes that common to vast areas of Asia, ramen being one.  The largest variation in ramen is the soup, the common factor is the ramen noodle.  There is a certain expectation of what the noodles should taste like, the texture, and the mouth feel.  If any of those are missing, it detracts from the dish.

I was referring to the restaurant, not you.

Darn it, Eric.  You've just ruined a perfectly good high dudgeon. 

To be honest, Kogiya isn't great. The pork belly and brisket are ok, but the marinaded stuff is so unbearably sweet. I guess it is the best bbq out of a lot of bad options.

Not sure that I've ever noticed that the marinade is sweet (maybe it helps if you're Korean ).  We tend to avoid Honey-Pig but you might want to try Anangol.  Their spicy pork is very good. There's another Korean-Chinese place you might also want to try.  It's across from K-Mart (left side going towards Columbia Pike) beside the tire store.  Name escapes me at the moment, but their combos (spicy seafood soup on one side, ja jang myung on the other is one of my favorites).  (And don't tell anyone, but now and then we duck into Bon Chon for the spicy wings)

What are your go-to spots nowadays?

Gom Ba Woo for soups, Kogiya for bbq, Tanpopo for ramen, To Sok Jip (but it's been discovered, so you have to go at awful times ) which has Dock kal guk su (Chicken noodle soup) that's amazing.  Lighthouse for Soon Doo Boo (tofu stew).  Choong Hwa Woon (on John Marr Drive behind Popeyes) for Chinese-Korean food.

Poor writing. Tom Seitsema calls all Chinese small plates dim sum. Similarly, all Asian pickled veggies are called Kimchi by many.

Gosh! you're right.  I just started eating Asian food this week and let me tell you, there's a big variation.  Why did you know that not all egg rolls are the same?  Actually, just to assuage you, you're correct, we didn't look at the menu when we asked if they had cucumber kimchi.  We were assured that they had.  Now, our server may not have known what cucumber kimchi was,  but we specified cucumber KIMCHI.  This was definitely not oi kimchi. As to Sietsma, what he knows about Korean food could be summed up in one word, "nothing".

If I had known we were going to be eating in a more expensive Cafe Asia, we could have saved a lot of money and gone to Annandale.

I accept your apology.

First time at Momofuku, probably one more trial before we go back to authentic food in Annandale.  Way too much XO and 5 Spice everything.

For the food:

Grover and I split an order of Shrimp buns and Brisket buns.  More like flattened Chinese steam buns turned into tacos.  For some reason, every time I looked at the brisket, it reminded me of pork belly.  I think it had to do with the layer of fat under the skin.  The Shrimp buns were an interesting dish.  A large blob (I really don't know how else to describe it) of shrimp bonded into a contiguous mass.  I have to admit, it did taste like shrimp which was in it's favor.

As a side we got cucumber (oi kimchi) kimchi.  Sorry, no resemblance to oi kimchi.  No bite, no spice (with the exception of XO(?) again.  With nuts or some crunchy something and coated with some mysterious green something.  David Chang seems to have forgotten his Korean upbringing.  This was more Mott Street than Seoul.

For a main I got Shrimp noodles.  When the dish arrived I thought I'd made a mistake.  This is a dish that belongs in an red tablecloth Italian restaurant.  What looked like pappardelle noodles in cream sauce with pieces of shrimp.  It was presented as XO (again?  Arghhhh!) noodles.  The addition of potato chips (or something similar) was an interesting touch.  A nice cream sauce that Dean Gold would happily serve on a date night $9.96 special pasta dish made me long for a good bottle of Barolo.  Well, the pasta was a bit al dente so that was a minor point in it's favor (especially if this had been an Italian restaurant).  Made it through about a quarter (six 2 foot long noodles ) before I gave up.

Grover had Ramen: quick synopsis:  Soup was good. The ramen?  So-so.  She did say that Daiakya had better ramen.  This is Asian food for people who have a passing familiarity with Asian food and are afraid of spice.  The nice thing about the food is that I could take my grandmother here and she would have no problem with the spiciness (or lack of).

Service was a bit haphazard at times.  The table next to us got the wrong order a couple of times, I think I may have been served the incorrect dish (one of the servers Italian take out, maybe?) but our server was a familiar face, she kept the sparkling water coming and it was a pleasure seeing her again.

 The bill, including taxes but not tip was just short of $80 or the rough equivalent of three dinners for two in almost any restaurant in Annandale.  As I said, we'll try once more just to see if what we experienced was an off night

From Italian to Italian...pretty normal progression.  Villa d'Este to Hank's Pasta Bar. (took me a while to remember that Villa d'Este was marginally Italian)

Shinmoto-san was the real reason we went to Tanpopo.  His omakase was unique, colorful, inventive and extremely good.  He was a very quiet person and when he was creating sushi (not making, creating), I don't think you could distract him in any manner.  I've never seen anyone treat fish the way he did. Even rolling the sushi rice, you could see the feeling he put into such a simple task.  He was one hell of a great sushi chef.

Once upon a time when Kent was the general manager at Overwood and they had done the soft opening and were open to the general public, the menu was a lot more adventurous and two of our favorite servers from the "old" Majestic had come to work there and the service was amazing, we went quite frequently.  When the three of them left for other places, we did too.

Speaking of La Bergerie, I just received their New Years Eve menu via email.

New Year's Eve
Thursday, December 31, 2015
5 "“ 10 pm  
Strolling Violinist

First Course
La Soupe de Palourdes í  la Franí§aise
Creamless French Clam Chowder with Smoked Duck Breast,
Clams, Fennel, Purple Potato and Pernod
   
Terrine de Foie Gras, Brioche et Figue Caramélisée
Terrine of Duck Liver with Homemade Brioche and Caramelized Fig   

Fricassée de Champignons Sauvages dans une Pate Feuilletée
et sa Sauce au Porto
Wild Mushroom Fricassée in Puff Pastry with a Port Sauce

Le Carpaccio de Koby BÅ“uf í  l'Huile de Truffe Blanche et Parmesan
Kobe-like Beef Carpaccio with White Truffle Oil and Parmesan Cheese

Second Course
Les Grosses Crevette Tempura sur une Salade d'Algue, Sauce au Raifort
Jumbo Shrimp Tempura on a Seaweed Salad with a Horseradish Sauce

Le Tartare de Thon Rouge Ahi sur une Sa Sauce Sesame et Chips Phyllo
 Ahi Tuna Tartare with a Sesame Seed Oil Dressing and Phyllo Chips  

 La Saucisse de Venaison sur des Lentilles de Puy et sa Sauce au Vin Rouge
Venison Sausage on a Bed of Lentils with a Red Wine Sauce   

Foie Gras Poèlé et Abricots, Gastrique de Gingembre
Pan Seared Foie Gras with a Ginger Gastrique and Apricots

Third Course
Le Filet d'Ombre d'Arctique au Cous Cous d'Israí«l et Cerfeuil
Filet of Arctic Char on Pearl Cous Cous and Fresh Chervil Sauce   

Le Filet de Bar sur du Quinoa Rouge et Blanc, Sauce au Pistou de Persil
Wild Maryland Rockfish with Red & White Quinoa and a Parsley Pesto Sauce   

Le Homard Entier aux Risotto de Safran et sa Sauce au Homard
Roasted Lobster with Saffron Risotto and Lobster Sauce   

Le Duo d'Agneau Rôi sur des Flageolets avec une Sauce au Romarin
½ Rack of Baby Lamb & Lamb Sausage with a Rosemary Sauce on Cannellini Beans  

 Le Filet de Veau Rôi avec une Sauce aux Girolles
Milk Fed Veal Tenderloin with a Fresh Chanterelle Mushroom Sauce  

Tournedos de Boeuf et son Gratin de Pomme de Terre
au Bleu d'Auvergne, Sauce Bordelaise
6 oz. Aged Black Angus Beef Tenderloin
 with Blue Cheese Potato au Gratin and a Bone Marrow Red Wine Sauce   

Filet de Venaison aux Pommes Violettes et Lardons, Sauce aux Fruits Rouges
Venison Loin with Roasted Purple Potatoes, Smoked Applewood Bacon
 and a Lingonberry Sauce

Tagliatelles aux Truffes Noires
Homemade Tagliatelle Pasta with Black Truffle Shavings

Fourth Course
Le Choix de Soufflés
Choice of Raspberry, Hazelnut  or Grand Marnier Soufflés   

Les Marrons Glacés
Candied Chestnuts served on Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream  

 Profiterolles
Puff Pastry with Vanilla Ice Cream and Hot Chocolate Sauce   

Le Clafoutis de Poire et sa Glace í  la Cannelle
 Pear Pound Cake with Cinnamon Ice Cream  

4 Course Dinner "“ $99 per person, excluding beverages, tax and gratuity

Children's (12 & under) Menu - $18
Free Range Chicken Breast with Pasta
 or Black Angus Hamburger with Fries
and Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream with Chocolate Sauce

No, but Laurent Janowsky has owned the restaurant since 2000. I don't know if he's Chef de Cuisine, but if not, he's not making much effort to publicize who is - I spent about five minutes looking, and couldn't find the answer. I've certainly dined here since 2000, and remember it being a perfectly pleasant, old-school French dining experience, it not something I can recall vividly.

No, Laurent isn't Chef de Cuisine, he's the harried owner. He also owns Del Ray Cafe which is where we will be dining tonight. I'll find out who the chef is at La Bergerie.

ScotteeM: we were there for dinner just before Christmas.  The food is very good French comfort food. Cassoulet, coq au vin were on the menu then (might still be, this was about 3 weeks ago).  Service? excellent old-school, non-intrusive but timely.  Food?  also excellent, flavorful, comforting, and satisfying.

The ultimate BYOB would be getting a table somewhere during New Year's Eve, and bringing both the 1975 and 1976 Lafite - one for before midnight; the other for when the clock strikes 12.

No, the ultimate would be bringing the 1975 and 1976 Lafite and then drinking a bottle of MD-2020 at midnight.  (Some things are way too good to waste on a paltry date change like Dec 31 to Jan 01).

Our annual homage to Stephen B. with a journey to Hong Kong Palace.  Last Christmas we started ordering dishes that Stephen really liked (and ordered ofter) so our pilgrimage now includes our two (always) ordered Dan Dan Noodles and Cumin fish.  This year we ordered the Fried Chicken with Dried Peppers as the third dish.  Nice, small bite-sized pieces of coated chicken (no bones!) with LOTS of dried peppers, onions, and garlic.  I believe this dish is going to become a regular on our list.  Excellent all way around.  Nice moist chicken pieces, not numbing spice but with a definite spiciness.  I started eating this after we finished the Dan Dan Noodles, and almost didn't have time for the always excellent Cumin Fish.  Even when I was totally full, I found myself seeking out any overlooked pieces of chicken.

To you Stephen B.  A hello from Melanie, and a raised cup of hot tea from Grover and me.