Escoffier

    Trying to say this in the nicest way possible without sounding totally cranky      

Please do not PM me if your name is on the list above.

Instead, PM me if your name is NOT on the list but you would like to attend.

Thank you.

Rocks,  split the thread please.

Jeez, just noticed that neither mine nor my wonderful +1 are on that list....does that mean we can't come?

how tender their squid is in either the pajun or in bokkum. also how many cold noodle dishes they have.

a man after my own (greedy little gastronomic) heart. Gotta love pajun. A vital ingredient in the upcoming Korean dinner.

Good point!!

Mandoo (dumplings) is very labor intensive to prepare.

I made dumpling soup (mandoo guk) for Chinese New Year and it took more than 3 hours.

It takes at least 3 hours to make the beef broth and 2 hours for preparing the stuffing and wrapping the dumplings.

Therefore, if a Korean restaurant serves good dumpling soup, then it definitely is a good restaurant.

I have a question that has bothered me for a while. I know that rice is served with some soups. You add the rice to some of the soups and not for others. How do you know which soup you should add the rice to?

When Koreans talk about restaurants, the question always asked is; "Do they have good Kimchi?"

How do YOU judge a good Korean restaurant?

If the duk mandoo guk is good and there is a lot of panchan, I'm happy.

Not on a school night!!! 

WHEW!!! had me worried that I would have to sing...

the wednesday through saturday bartender is thom dodge and we are very happy to have him on board.

it was very nice to put faces to screen names for so many people, and to see old friends as well.  we had a blast hosting the happy hour.  as some of you know, all of the discounted wines were courtesy of the inventory inherited from nectar.  the nectar gang had great palettes and a great selection of wines. 

Danny,

Wanted to thank you for a great dinner and a great pairing of wines. NB has now been added to our list of "must" restaurants. I've been bragging about the food to everyone I know all day.

I don't know who norae is, but this sounds like it might be fun. 

Here you go...

Here's the BMW "noraebong". That's where you do karaoke. I haven't been to one of these yet, but the Koreans are totally serious about them. What's different is that instead of singing in front of a huge audience, you get a private room and just sing with your friends. Oh, and the "BMW" part--that's just shameless copyright violation. (I borrowed this description from someone's blog...)

There's one at the shopping center where Il Mee is located. You sure you want to do this? Normally, you don't go until large amounts of soju have been imbibed, inhibitions have been beaten far past submission and each step is an adventure in inner ear control.

Well, the 1/2 is about two and half feet tall, weighs about 22 lbs, and wants nothing to do with solid food...he just needs a place to sit (high chair) and flirt with anyone who will look his way.

Rob

Sounds like the perfect candidate to sample the kimchi...I don't think that will present any kind of problem at all (other than having a whole bunch of (female) waitstaff flirting with him...)

Hey, if we go to Cafe Muse, then we can even rent out a noraebong and check out everyone's karaoke stylings! 

ARRRRRRGHHHHH!!!! this is supposed to be an ENJOYABLE dinner...(you wouldn't want to hear me sing unless you have a bunch of pigs you want called)

Escoffier, I have to second this excellent advice.  Even though I just found out I'm working 1/21-1/23 and thus unable to join you.  (damn fluid work schedule)  Schedule it for when you can and let the chips fall where they may.

I'm taking you at your word. It is going to be Feb 21 but we'll move the time back a bit to 7:30 pm. Everyone can show up from 7:00 to whenever, I've never known a Korean restaurant to turn anyone away hungry unless it's 5 minutes after closing time.

Negotiations are continuing with two restaurants...one is going to be the lucky winner...the food will be good, plentiful and no one will leave hungry.

Okay, I don't want to be wishy-washy here, but would a weekend be a more easily doable time for everyone? I have no problem with getting to Annandale at any time but there might be people who would prefer a nice long leisurely lunch or early evening dinner on a weekend. So, you tell me...Tuesday or Saturday or Sunday? We can always change arrangments because we have time.

I'm out.  It's a school night and Annandale is the boonies for me.

Ok, sorry that you will miss it. We'll see how it goes and if it's good, maybe we can schedule another one at a different restaurant later.

I thought I had put my name in for this one, but apparently not.  I would like to attend, although 8 is a very late start time for me on a work night.  I'll say tentatively yes for now, if that's OK.

That's fine. We'll do a head count when we get closer and if you can't make it, we'll miss you.

Here's where we are so far. The following are (tenetatively) attending:

agm

notQuickDraw

MelGold

rvanrens +1 +.5

mbk

porcupine

DanielK

hillvalley

Mr. Shorter but not Mrs. Shorter ( -1 ?)

mdt

shogun

StephenB

cucas87

crackers

principia

tweaked

UStreetGuy

CrescentFresh

goldenticket (?)

escoffier

grover (the instigator)

Tuesday night February 21 is going to be the night. Dinner will start at 8:00 pm.

My +1 is negotiating with the two restaurants and will make reservations at the one which gives us the best food at the best price. We have settled on roughly 4 courses which may not seem like much but I guarantee no one will leave hungry.

I only have one word for NB....WOW! My +1 and our dining out friend threw ourselves on the good graces of Danny Boylen for dinner Friday night. I asked for three courses with a complementary wine pairing. Danny took us seriously. When we arrived he told us that in the staff meeting before opening for the evening, he had told everyone of our request and asked them to plan the meal. OHMIGAWD!!! it was wonderful Even though everything was exquisite, there are some standouts...the risotto with squid ink was creamy, flavorful and disappeared quickly; my +1's diver scallops were everything you would want in a scallop, marvelous flavor, tenderness and a great mouth feel.

A wonderful dinner and if I may commit a 'heresy' as good as anything we've had at Restaurant Eve.

Here's where we are up to now.  The following are (tenetatively) attending:

agm

notQuickDraw

Scott_Johnston

rvanrens +1 +.5

DanielK

hillvalley

Mr. Shorter but not Mrs. Shorter ( -1 ?)

mdt

shogun

StephenB

cucas87

crackers

principia

tweaked

UStreetGuy

CrescentFresh

goldenticket (?)

escoffier

grover (the instigator)

Tuesday night is going to be the night...next is the restaurant selection and then which specific Tuesday.  Anyone have a preference for a specific Tuesday night?

Now, for the next two big decisions, what night works best for the majority and which restaurant would you prefer? The choices are:

1. A restaurant that's close to I-495 and easily found and is somewhat small

2. A traditional Korean restaurant that's more hidden but handles large crowds of Korean tour buses every day

Keep your calendar open for Tuesday Feb 21. We're aiming for dinner at 8:00 (2000 hours for people on 24 hour clocks). I'll announce the place after tomorrows restaurant negotiations. Look for about 3 to 4 courses and a wide variety of tastes and textures. It's making me hungry already.

Warning!!  Disturbingly Sentimental and Truthful Post to Follow

On Sunday, October 6, 2002--some six months later--Ray's The Steaks became a Seven-Day-A-Week Restaurant (from six days a week, Monday through Saturday) in a desperate bid to stay afloat.  The kitchen was me and a dishwasher to help, Monday through Saturday.  Sundays I washed the dishes too.  We did 35 covers that first Sunday (at that point we averaged 40 covers a night weeknights and 55 covers weekends) and I left two racks of glasses and one flat of silver for the dishwasher the next day.  I left at 4 AM, too tired to even dream about the nanoLAB.

On Saturday October 5, 2002, myself, my wife and my friend ate at Ray's for the first time. We were the only people in the restaurant for almost 45 minutes. I had the sirloin with blue cheese crumbles (a fact that I remember after almost 3 years)...haven't been able to get a damn reservation since.

Take the day off Michael, take two days...they are well deserved. And one day the three of us will be able to score a reservation and show up again and inhale your wonderful food.

My better half is industriously making mandoo for the Asian New Year. I've been taking pictures of the process. If anyone is interested, I can post them.

Here's where we are up to now. The following are (tenetatively) attending:

agm

notQuickDraw

Scott_Johnston

rvanrens +1 +.5

DanielK

hillvalley

Mr. Shorter but not Mrs. Shorter ( -1 ?)

mdt

shogun

StephenB

cucas87

crackers

principia

tweaked

UStreetGuy

CrescentFresh

goldenticket (?)

escoffier

grover (the instigator)

Tuesday night is going to be the night...next is the restaurant selection and then which specific Tuesday. Anyone have a preference for a specific Tuesday night?

Now, for the next two big decisions, what night works best for the majority and which restaurant would you prefer? The choices are:

1. A restaurant that's close to I-495 and easily found and is somewhat small

2. A traditional Korean restaurant that's more hidden but handles large crowds of Korean tour buses every day

Count Mr. Shorter in.  I am sitting this one out because he's the Korean food fan. 

but how do you know you wouldn't be one as well until you try? Okay, the Mister is there but not the Mrs...

#1 and #2 are good; assuming the night we pick doesn't interfere with his classes (W or Th, the day is still in flux), my +1 is interested as well.

#4 I don't mind so much, but it would be an awful lot of work for our "tour guides"!

Okay, I've made a (one) decision. We're going to have a Twenty-dollar Tuesday on Tuesday. I am going to talk to two restaurants today and will post the cost-per-person (including tax, tip, title, registration fee, wheels and tires optional) including tax and tip by Sunday evening.

Would you like a representative menu as well?

I think you're better off in the long run if you just pick a day and place, and post about it. What place is your favorite?

Weeknight or weekend, enough will certainly show up to make it worthwhile.

It's a toss-up between 1 & 2. I think (with the help of Mapquest) that #2 is going to be the winner. A bit difficult to get to but well worth the effort.

Here's where we are up to now. The following are (tenetatively) attending:

agm

notQuickDraw

Scott_Johnston

rvanrens +1 +.5

DanielK

hillvalley

mdt

shogun

StephenB

cucas87

crackers

principia

tweaked

CrescentFresh

goldenticket (?)

escoffier

grover (the instigator)

Gee, 3 more and we get the free egg-rolls... .

Now, for the next two big decisions, what night works best for the majority and which restaurant would you prefer? The choices are:

1. A restaurant that's close to I-495 and easily found and is somewhat small

2. A traditional Korean restaurant that's more hidden but handles large crowds of Korean tour buses every day

3. A "new-style" blonde-wood and fern bar type Korean restaurant with more Americanized Korean food.

4. A Korean only place where the menu is printed on a placemat, in Korean, the waitstaff might have one English speaking person, and most of us will be asked if we want forks.

"I can only deal with one problem per day. Today isn't the day for your problem. Tomorrow doesn't look so good either."

Please file your problem with the complaint department. That's 15th floor, left off the elevator, pink door on your right at the end of the hall....NEXT PLEASE!!!!

+1 1/2?  Jeez, how're we gonna figure out the tip on all this!???? 

by weight consumed?