johnb

I have but one word to say about TemptAsian's Roasted Fish With Green Onion:

BLOODY AWESOME!

Oops, sorry - that was two.

Rocks.

It may be their best dish, main dish anyway (those first course mini dumplings in spicy oil are awfully good). But if there's something better we will find it in a Tuesday lunch soon.

I previously posted this on the TemptAsian thread but it was probably mostly missed, so I'll do it here too. Anyway, several of us are meeting at Temptasian every Tuesday lunchtime (12:30) until Labor Day to work our way through the Chinese menu. If you're interested and would like to join us you're very welcome. The only rule is we mostly are ordering things we haven't tried previously. Last week 10 showed and early indications are we will have that many again (with luck).

The restaurant is the new venue of Peter Chang, previously the head chef at the acclaimed China Star.

No need to e-mail---just show up. The restaurant is on Little River Turnpike immediately west of 395, south side of LRT behind the Exxon station. No public transportation so it's drive only.

Massive download of everything related to Korean dining today in the Washington Post. Check out the links to restaurant info, too.

This was a series of articles (5 or 6) which appeared in the Thursday regional supplements of the Post, NOT including AFAIK the DC edition, only several of the suburban ones. I searched the Post website and I think found all of the articles. Here is a link to my post on Chowhound which in turn has a link to a Post search which displays all the articles

http://www.chowhound.com/midatlantic/board...ages/67855.html

Note: This was not in the Food section, nor did it appear in the DC print edition of the Post

If anybody is interested in trying TemptAsian with a convivial group, I have sent the e-mail below to a list of known food crazies, mostly chowhounds. If you'd like to join, please do so.

All:

I think it would be a good idea, and a noble chowhound pursuit, to work our way through TemptAsian's menu in some depth. This will require several visits--I've already made some, but there are 88 items on the Chinese menu, plus the wall board, plus the Chinese language page, so it's about 100 possibilities even without ever ordering from the Chinese-American menu which, who knows, may have a few gems too. And of course this is tough to try alone.

So here's my idea. Having consulted with some of you about the best day, I will plan to be at TemptAsian every Tuesday at 12:30 from now until, let's say, Labor Day. Anyone who has the time and interest is welcome to come. No need for e-mails etc., just show up. How ever many appear, we will order enough dishes for the group and will try whatever that turns out to be. If you come you can be sure there will be at least one other person there.

As far as I'm concerned, the more the merrier. So you are welcome to bring anyone else along you want so long as they are "chowish" and are prepared to join in adventurous Chinese eating. No General Tsao's Chicken please.

The only rule is that each time we should focus on things we haven't tried previously, although an occasional second evaluation of certain dishes may be necessary (wink wink).

This idea should in no way be allowed to impede us from our normal get togethers to try other places and things, which should continue as before.

John Binkley

Where is Queen Makeda??

Queen Makeda is on 9th just south of U, maybe six storefronts down on the east side of 9th. Sodere is across the street and a bit closer to U.

So where SHOULD I be going?

Near AFI there is a fairly new outpost of Addis Ababa. It looks nice, and even has rooftop seating, but I haven't tried it myself.

Best places are in the cluster on 9th just below U. My fav is Queen Makeda. Very family oriented, with Mama in the kitchen. If you go, ignore the menu---just ask her to bring out the good stuff she happened to cook that day. Sodere is also good.

Not to go on too much of a rant here, but I don't think it has to be this way.  By way of comparison, in my mind Hard Times Cafe comes far closer to maintaining quality while also expanding (granted not at the rate of Five Guys, but expanding nonetheless). I've never thought of Hard Times as offering the best of anything (including chili) but it has always been a reliable meal in which I know what to expect, despite recent expansion. Sadly, Five Guys used to have this same appeal, but has strayed too far from what made it successful in the first place.

I won't disagree, but I will say it's not necessarily across-the-board. I stopped at a 5 Guys in the wilds of Virginia recently, obviously a franchise and only recently opened, and the burger and fries I had there were as good as any I've had (I have gone mostly to King Street). So IMO the worst you can say is that the quality varies, perhaps more than before.

Three coworkers and I went to TemptAsian yesterday for lunch. One of the coworkers doesn't enjoy spicy food, so everything we ordered was mild.  We ordered the scallion pancakes and mini-wontons with chicken flavor to start, and split orders of the duck with sweet peas and pork with ferny vegetables for the entree.  Having never been to China Star, we were not aware that the scallion pancakes were huge deep fried puffs of heavenly goodness.  We only knew that they were being brought out to another table, and that we were getting an order of whatever they were.  The dumplings in broth were fantastic, with little chunks of preserved turnip and dried shrimp floating in the broth.  The bowl came with 12 dumplings, easy to share for a group and a bargain at $3 somethng.  The duck with sweet peas was chunks of duck with sugar snap peas and carrots in a light sauce.  The duck seemed like it might have been brined, according to my friend, before being poached.  The meat was so flavorful and melt in your mouth tender.  The pork with ferny vegetables was slivers of tender pork and dark brown shoots that look like what you get with bibimbap.  It had the most amazing earthy flavor.

I went back today (third visit, also with three co-workers one of whom is so-so about spicy). We had the baby noodles both in chicken broth and hot & sour, and both were excellent in their own ways. Love those little dried shrimp. We also tried the fish rolls with cilantro, which I've often read good things about from the China Star days but had never tried. FANTASTIC, probably the best dish of the meal. For main courses we had the fish in bamboo basket which had been a special at CS, which everyone loved -- really great. We also happened to have the pork with ferny vegetables and General Somebody-or-others beef, both of which were good. All in all, a really good meal and even our not-too-hot co-worker was suitably impressed, I certain plan to go back and continue working through the menu.

BTW, Tom mentioned the place in his chat today. I would not be surprised to see both him and Todd doing reviews in the not-too-distant future.

A new star appears to have entered the Chinese restaurant firmament. TemptAsian, a rather non-descript place on Little River Turnpike, is the new home of Peter Chang, previously the chef at China Star, arguably the best local Sichuan restaurant at least until he left it several weeks ago. The menu follows the old China Star fairly closely--the Sichuan menu has 88 items in English and Chinese (there is also a Chinese-only first page with another 10 or so and a chalkboard on the wall with 7-8 more, also Chinese only). Be sure to get that menu, as there is also the usual American menu. Two visits, one with a group of 8, confirm that the quality is there, including the baby wontons, diced rabbit, ma po bean curd, Lake Windless prawns, fish with bean curd (or was it wheat gluten), etc. No weekly specials yet, and I'm not clear if these will be part of the new regime--remains to be seen. Apparently PC left CS because they were trying to have him do too many things he didn't wish to do--he has a freer hand in his new digs.

The place is at 6259 Little River Turnpike. It is immediately west of 395, in the same strip center as Grand Mart and Hee Been. It is in a little building close to LRT, across the parking lot from GM and facing it. FWIW, Washingtonian gives it a favorable review in the new (July) issue which also has some useful information.

The dinner is good, at least as good as Sorak Garden, but the lunch buffet is a steal at $13. It is a 3 sided permanent buffet: the first side has jap chae, different dumplings, pancakes etc.; the second side has 6 different types of meat, raw, which you can copok at your table or have the chef cook, this side also has various soups and rice. The third side has different salads, kimchees and all the things from the little dishes that usually come out first. There are also desserts and sushi (not so good). Its usually pretty crowded but there aren't waits on the weekdays.

Disagree. I like the sushi (as unlimited sushi buffet goes--you don't expect Makoto quality at these prices); the buffet items are fine but not enthralling to me. Either way, it is without question a good deal at lunch. However, with TemptAsian now rolling just across the parking lot, it has become significantly harder to choose Hee Been.

Re CPS bitch-out:

This is the stuff of true comedy if not for the potential damage to the establishment's reputation.

Never fear. In this as in so many other matters, there really is no such thing as bad publicity.

Going to Vegas in a few weeks.  I already have reservations at Le Bouchon and Mesa Grill.  Any place else I shouldn't miss?

There is so much good food in LV it is hard to know where to begin. A few random thoughts:

Off the strip--Lotus of Siam, Rosemary's (both are must go to's)

Burgers--In-n-Out, Fatburger, Burger bar at (Mandalay I think)

Steaks--N9NE in the Palms, Craftsteak

Fine dining on the strip--Picasso, Renoir, Cirque, Bradley Ogden, il Mulino, lots of others, including new places at Wynn

Famous name places--Emeril's places, Commanders Palace, Carniege Deli, (BTW Mesa has been getting mixed reviews), many others

Buffet--Alladin, Bellagio, new place at Treasure Island

Places with great food AND great views--Mix at The Hotel, Alize at Palms

Luv-it custard

This is only a sample. I would suggest you go to Chowhounds Southwest Board and spend an hour--you will find much good information and varying takes on everything. Dave Feldman is an active poster there and his opinion is very reliable; also torta basilica.

I agree the crab was quite tasty and the risotto was a little bland.

I found that a quick grind of the sea salt (the grinder is right there on the counter) did wonders for the risotto (the crab too, actually). A really good crab. And the little grains of salt on the risotto just add that nice zing both the the flavor and the texture.

I usually get meat at Eastern Market (since I work @ a vendor there on Saturday mornings), but always am excited by the selection at Wegman's, too.

Does anyone else like to leave his or her beef (or venison or elk or antelope or horse or moose or [insert red meat]) in the fridge for several days until in turns dark, dark, red?  I think it tastes fantastic that way.

What you're doing is dry-aging your meat. Better to do it yourself than pay somebody else (Wegman's has dry-aged beef, to name one source---they have their own facility to do it). I have successfully dry-aged rib roast on various occasions, and yes it greatly improves the final result--now you'll know where that particular flavor you've had in that really good meat you has at some expensive steakhouse came from. I imagine it is especially useful for game meats, where the amout of fat is less and the aging helps in the tenderizing process (what happens is rhat some little buggers are eating in there and spitting out nice enzimes)--same thing with the English practice of "hanging" their game birds for several days before cooking and eating.

Alton Brown did a show on the process once and his directions for home aging are good if a bit fussy.

They also have a fairly good burger and fries. And the night life comes from some live music they have, several night a week I think. All in all, not a bad hole-in-the-wall.

Why so negative? It's just another formula restaurant. And it's been open for a week.

Here's an idea for a rotating weekly schedule that's easy to remember. Why not just say that there would be a get-together the first Monday of each month, then the next week it would be Tuesday, the next it would be Wednesday, etc. There often would be a date on Friday followed by the Monday 3 days later, but that's OK. Sometimes the first Monday is a holiday, so when that happens it could just be shifted to Tuesday.

Just a thought.

It opens at 11:45.  If you get there much past noon, the line is long and it is hard to find a place to sit outside.  The DR.com protocol is to get there as soon after 11:45 as you can make it.  Right, Nadya?

If it's OK with all of you, I'll try to be there too. Gotta try that pizza again.

johnb

'mdt said:

While many restaurants make some truly wonderful ice creams, where do you go to get a cone to go?

One of my favorites is the local Milwaukee Frozen Custard 'chain'. I really enjoyed the time I worked out in Chantilly and could frequent the place on an almost daily basis. Best flavor was malted milk ball!

Nobody has mentioned York Castle. Great tropical flavors

Don't buy 'em, find 'em. I found over 150 huge blond morels on Saturday. Almost filled a grocery sack.

You wouldn't care to give us a little hint where you were looking would you?

There is a small restaurant supply house in the DC Market area, in NE, off Florida near Galludet. It is one block from the Italian grocery place (Listrani's???), on the same side of the street. It is run by some Asian ladies, and in addition to a prety good supply of the conventional western stuff they have a decent selection of Chinese cookware. There is a sign on the door saying wholesale only, but anybody can shop there. Don't expect service, but if you know what you want they have a decent selection of truly professional cookware, which is not at all the same as the "professional" stuff seen in yuppie places like Williams-Sonoma.

My daughter once asked me what makes cookware "professional". I told her, only one thing baby, an NSF label. That's it.