Simul Parikh

That soup does not look at all like wonton, but looks mighty delicious! Indian expected to be cheap, too. Asian food should be allowed to evolve... all others do.

Tough location ...

This place has a very strong Yelp following. 4.5 stars after 503 reviews. Anyone been here recently? Just looks like normal Pan-Asian without anything special (Chinese American + Thai American + Sushi+other Japanese odds and ends).

Well, I called it "pork belly" above, which is a fatty, boneless cut of meat from the belly of a pig. It was crisp on the outside and soft underneath. It fell apart with a fork. I don't know - it's like most pork belly. Not sure what you're asking. It had sauce, vegetables, a soft fried egg, and rice. You stir it up before eating.

Every single dish was different than the last post. Uni topped lobster in turnip soup Sashimi Some sort of fish with yam and a great sauce cooked in a big lead. Pork belly made like a bibimbop Roasted apple ice cream, soy ginger tapioca balls. Game changer for Old Town TS from WP came last week. They called for pictures with the chef today. Go before you can't. Dope.

Well that was quite a trip... few things 1) Air China is very low cost compared to other airlines, and there is a reason for it. 3 of our 4 flights were at least 1.5 hour delayed (3 hours, 2 hours, 1 hour). One was on time. They cannot help you in the US, if you are certainly going to miss your connection. And it sure is a lot of fun trying to talk to representatives in Beijing after a 14 hour flight at almost midnight. If you look at their average delay from IAD to PEK, it's remarkable. 2) The air quality is so bad, especially in first tier cities. Beijing was incredibly challenging to deal with. White out conditions on many days. The trees were not covered with pretty white snow for the holidays. That was pollution. Masks necessary. Sore throat within hours of landing. Sinusitis got really bad. Eyes burn. 3) You can't use Google or Gmail. Just kidding. You certainly can. Download Hexatech VPN and you're good to go. But, every time you connect to a new wifi, disconnect and reconnect the VPN. Don't google too much about this and overthink it. Download the app and hit connect. You're good to go! Crush it on Instagram or Facebook. Watch videos on YouTube! 4) Labor is cheap, cheap, cheap.. cabs are better than the first world and inexpensive. Utilize! But, you'd better know where you are going or have the address in Chinese on a piece of paper if you have a phone. In first tier cities, can get an English speaking driver for $140-150 for 8 hours. Good idea for the Great Wall. We roughed it for some extraordinary reason, using a train. Dumb. Get massages or your hair did. Get those custom shirts you've always wanted. 5) The Chinese century is not this one. I don't care what people say about these massive first tier cities. This is a very, very poor country, as any trip 20-50 miles outside a first tier city. Their income inequality is like India's, despite official government numbers. The rural people live in extreme poverty, and get none of the "promises" of mandatory 9 years of schooling, minimum moderate income, health care. See pass the glitz and propaganda ... oh, and any educated Chinese person (we met several friends of friends know that there is the "official" new (sort of like our fake news) and then the real news (probably sort of like our mainstream media, but presented through oral discussions, the internet, and other more clandestine means). 6) The government is always around, always armed. Assault rifles and surveillance cameras everywhere. Me no likey. 7) They assume you don't like unusual foods, organs, or spice. Just use google translate and tell them you are okay with it. Unless you aren't. Then saying nothing will get you some pretty ordinary stuff. 8) Like other Asian countries (Thailand, India, Nam) - food courts at malls and markets are your friend for food. 9) Very few people speak English. But most of them know the words to some American pop songs, and that made me very happy. 10) Extremely nice people that really like American tourists. They love taking pictures with us. I felt like a celebrity. Or, maybe it was my 6ft blond/blue eyed friend. I was probably thought of as his manservant. On to the food in the next post.

Maybe they had additional charge per person over 8? We had more than 8, and were way over stuffed. Did not finish the food. Finished the bottle of whiskey. I think that was included ? Or maybe small surcharge ?

DBGB has a fun whole Pig dinner. I think it was like $400 or so.

Totally agree. KP rules

Cost unfortunately has nothing to do with quality in this era... Ambar sounds tasty but Ravi is always going to be cheaper and probably more delicious. No drinks though, but service will be meh.

Haha. I'm in China. Sorry about the early / late post. But, I read exactly what you said. That's why I responded. Not an exact example, but there is a difference watching a movie at the cinema vs on your home theater. Same directing, same actors/acting, same popcorn. I think the OP was asking about the applicability rather than saying one approach was better or worse. But based on your response, it sounds like you disagree. I'm okay with that And, if the original poster says "this may not apply to me" I would think it's worthwhile to consider. Not that eating at bar is good or bad. But it appears, at least me and OP feel similarly.

The question wasn't really answered. Seemed like the question asked was whether the experience at the bar vs at a table is different, and thus, applicable to most diners. The way I read Don's answer, he was describing whether it was better or not (in his opinion), as a reviewer of a meal, not about applicability to the average diner sitting at a table. Two different comments entirely. I'd say it's definitely different. I love eating at the bar. In my opinion, it's better (I agree with DR). But, it's no longer the same meal compared to when you have service at a table. Not a direct comparison any more.

Holy Moly! My sister was there a few weeks ago, said it was a terrible situation. 65% of people defecate in open sewage areas there... wonder why PM Modi didn't make that a prime issue, instead of causing a humongous nightmare for 95% of the population.

Had dinner when it opened up, and for 3 people it was probably $150 and we were still pretty hungry.. didn't care to write it up. Dim sum seems to be a better deal.

Does anyone know of a restaurant that started off at too high of a price point and recovered by going much lower? I think they are screwed....

Nasime in Old Town, a tiny Japanese place has 14 reviews. This place has 7. There is no way a place with this sort of budget and overhead can exist for very long if no one is going. Even mediocre reviews would be good. But 7... Damn.

I just meant people with money clearly do go on Yelp. Nobody is going to this place, or nobody is reviewing it. I pick the first...

He doesn't and is very obvious in his biases. It's the first thing in every article. My friend's good friend worked for him and left. Not because of personal reasons with TPG, but because of the heavy reliance on advertising and sponsorship. They seemed to have gone in a different direction. There are plenty of websites like this with far fewer sponsors. But, his is really good and useful, even when biased.

Hey - does Mobile Passport add anything to Global Entry? Does anyone have it? It's a free service. Some sites say that the Global Entry program is getting more popular and the Mobile Passport line is basically empty.

Just tried the second Blue Apron meal, after getting a free week. Eh. Very so so... ties back into the other thread - if you like cooking or are good at it, this is a poor facsimile. This weekend I was joking with my married with children friends about their upcoming all-inclusive vacations. Okay, not joking - derisively mocking - "I get only 10 weeks of vacation and I would never spend one of those weeks at those resorts." It made me think of this... Why Cooking With Blue Apron is Like An All Inclusive Vacation 1. You really want to cook/go on vacation but you sure are busy 2. You really like cooking/vacations and you used to do it before 3. You are just too busy to plan a meal/vacation 4. You have the money to cook nice meals/go on vacations but you don't have the time 5. So maybe someone can plan the meal/vacation for you 6. Maybe someone can even purchase all the ingredients/set up all the hotels-flights-meals-activities 7. You literally just pay money and the meal ingredients-instructions/itinerary just show up at your house/email 8. You have to do things similar to those activities like pack/cut things and fly/sauté 9. While you're doing it, you think "Man, I'm cooking/vacationing" 10. You don't really learn anything about the meal/place you visit 11. The pictures of all the meals/vacation look sort of like all your friends. In fact if you squint you can't tell it's yours 12. Afterward you tell your friends that actually cook/go on vacation all about your meal/trip and they look at you with a weak smile and say "That's sounds really ... nice" 13. Eventually you realize you aren't really cooking/going on vacation and you try to get back to actually doing it again...

Fiola Mare is $4500 for a room minimum, +$175 room fee. $390/person before tax/tip... Fiola pending ... Kinship $4500 minimum + $2000 room fee. $542/person before tax and tip Metier - $3000 minimum, service included. $250/person before tax. Who knew that Metier would be the best "deal"?

Anyone try the newer home models? Joule seems to be getting good reviews.

So, due to the excessive travels and eating and newfound lady friend, I've unfortunately gained weight and may be a touch on the hypertensive side, so will be spending a lot more time in these sections compared to the dining out section, since I'm cooking nearly most meals or getting healthy snacks from grocery store for lunch. I just read the Kenji Lopez Alt book - The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science. Very fun to read, especially if you like the "whys" and want to learn about "evidence based cooking". I've listened to him on podcasts and read some of his Food Lab stuff on Serious Eats. Anyway, he spends a lot of time on poultry and so I decided to try his roasted chicken. I got as good bird as I could find at Whole Foods, air chilled, organic, free range. Turns out "hormone free" is nonsense, because you aren't allowed to give American birds hormones. It was a 3.5 lb bird. His two big things are 1) drying out the bird is based on temperature, and if you have good technique, brining is unnecessary and possibly worse 2) Crispy skin is optimal, and best way to do that is dry it as much as you can with paper towels, rest it overnight in the refrigerator uncovered, and separate the skin from the meat. So, as far as technique, the basic issue is that you want the breast at a lower temperature than the legs/thighs. And if you just roast it whole, you'll either dry out the breast (white), or leave the legs/thighs undercooked (dark). Can roast in parts (as mentioned above), do it whole but with a pizza stone (so the high heat gets into the legs and you keep the temperature differential), or the way he prefers - spatchcocking (butterflying). It's easy to do, but you don't get the pretty whole bird. So, I spatchcocked it, separated the skin from the meat but left it on and rubbed it with this Chinese chili oil I've had in the cupboard. Put it on a baking pan and cooked at 450 for about 45 min. Skin turned out nice and crispy, breast was moist, and thigh was the best part. Very easy. Also roasted caulifower, and that turned out awesome (oil, salt, pepper, 500 degrees for about 30 minutes... brown and sweet... just like me). I think I'll definitely be eating more chicken... Where do you get the good birds in NOVA?

Good lord. Terrible. Rose was so sweet.

Eh, DaveO... different than our mortal world. -$4 billion over 7 years but $8 billion in back and $1 billion owed by Didi. They probably will get to profitability... building market share was their ploy and they are winning.