Simul Parikh

So, just got back from a tour in 'Nam. We did a medical mission project there, teaching the Vietnamese docs how to treat cancer in a modern, evidence based way. Interestingly, they practice without residency training, and don't have lectures/presentations, didactics, text books, or basic science instruction. I couldn't imagine trying to treat that way ... They made me feel like an honorary Vietnamese, and have invited me back! But, on to the food. I was in Hue most of the time, the imperial capital and home of probably the more austere dining culture in the country. There are stories about why this is the case, and I'll leave it to Mr. Google to explain that further. On the very first day, we went on a food tour given by Tom at hueflavor.com. It was one of the single best tours I've ever been on - with the places we went to eat, a tour of the market, and historical facts - I learned a lot. There were 16 different foods sampled. The Bun Bo Hue is a hometown favorite. We got it at the most famous place, the name of the place is the same as the famous dish it serves. I can't give you an address, but it's on the side of the river across from the imperial city. It's a breakfast, maybe lunch food. Beef/pork noodle soup in beef broth, typically served quite spicy, but it doesn't have to be. I don't eat beef, but they have an option where there is no beef in it, though it's made in a beef broth. I was okay with that. It was great stuff! Super flavorful, they use 2 meats to make the broth, and it takes several hours (the post above said, "pork and beef partying in the same bowl". I really like that. Later that week, I talked to some of the younger doctors about it. It's a typical breakfast for them, they can't really make it at home because of the time for the broth, but it's very nourishing for their tough work days. The other dishes included the famous Banh Khoai - a rice pancake stuffed with deliciousness - pork, veggies. It's griddle fried and when made at the better places it's crispy and light, and at the places that don't really specialize in it, it can be softer and more crepe like. The sauce is peanut based, with liver, and shrimp paste. It does sort of organ-y, but I liked it. I didn't ask what animal the liver was from because I didn't want it to be cow (I utilize the old military hiring strategy, 'don't ask, don't tell', in foreign countries). I had it two more times, but the first place on the tour it was the best. We went to a place that served basically tapas, dumplings and other small items. It was an alley, and a place that mimics many of the small dishes that used to be prepared for the king. That dude was kind of a jerk, he would ask for like 60 small courses during these dinners, and they weren't even parties sometimes. Just a typical Tuesday night, watching "Vietnamese Idol" and he's asking for 60 dishes... Anyway, they had banh beo, these discs of steam rice stuck to the bottom of a flat small dish topped with shrimp in some powdered form, served with fish sauce/chilis. Really tasty. They had some other dumplings, a long shaped one with shrimp in it with the shell still on. Another one made in a banana leaf with a similar filling. When the head of the radiation department took me out for dinner, I ended up going back - it's a super famous place, but very tucked away, and no westerners in sight. Nem lui was another item, grilled meet on lemongrass with a tasty dipping sauce, usually pork based but can be chicken, too. Bun thit nuong, grilled pork over vermicelli noodles. It was good, but it's something that is made great in Eden's Center, too. There were a bunch of other non-notable things (I didn't care for the tapioca things, glutinous/gelatinous items, or the pinnate leaf cake). Anyway, the tour is great, you are on a cyclo (seated, with a man pedaling in front of you) and the tour guide rides a bike. You see most of the city. We had com hen, which has tiny little clams, clam broth, peanuts, rice, herbs, chilis, banana flower, and other stuff. It's awesome. One of my favorite things I've ever had. Reminded me of some lao stuff. You can have it "wet' with more broth, or "dry" with less. You can have a version of it with noodles, which is bun hen. It's made in little shops with all the ingredients laid out in front of the cook, and they put it together in front of you. With the chili sauce, it is so spicy. There are a lot of places in Hue that serve it, I went to one near the hospital, Phuong Phuong ("direction direction"). Ask the people you meet where their favorite is. Another night, I was at one of those little convenience stores that puts out tiny chairs and tables where people hang out and drink Huda beer. They pulled out a bag of something and put it in a bowl. It was com hen. They saw me looking and these guys invited me over to try it and drink beer with them. Very welcoming people. Had two meals at this awesome place, Tan Huang Phat, not far from the Morin Saigon Hotel. It's tropical in design, sort of a huge hut. Not a westerner in site, nobody speaks English, and the "English" menu doesn't have the same food as the Vietnamese menu. I hate when places do that! Anyway, the radiation oncology department took me to this place. What a find! They go there often. They had this fried goat dish that was awesome, pork ribs, thinly sliced goat (sort of like goat bacon) with a sauce, morning glory with garlic, I believe a roasted duck or chicken (they have living ones there that they kill and cook, pretty wild), and a whole steamed fish that was out of this world. If you can go here with some Vietnamese people, you will probably have a better meal. I ended up taking the other volunteers there the last night in town and we ordered basically the same things. Had some Western food at the Imperial Hotel, a club sandwich, because my GI tract was taking a beating by the end of the week. Beautiful view, terrible food, very expensive, even by Western standards. Club sandwich was an interesting riff on it, and included a fried egg and chicken rather than turkey. Breakfast was always at the hotel, buffet was pretty good. So much awesome Vietnamese coffee, rich and dark and intense. Very sweet. Condensed milk made it even more delicious, I can feel the type 2 diabetes coming on. They drink it 3-4 times a day, always served cold. I liked mine "Saigon Style", a little more water, making it a taller drink. The regular version "caphe meu" is just 2-3 oz, and I was done with it in like 5 minutes. They sip it slow, and I just don't know how to do that. Went to the famous "DMZ" bar/grill twice. It's the ex-pat place, but the locals love it, too, especially the ones that like American music from the 60s - 80s. The food there is actually not bad, but I stuck with pizza. My Vietnamese protege said when he first started working at the hospital, he was there like 7 nights a week. He can sing nearly every Queen song and counts Freddie Mercury as a hero. I found that to be hilarious. What a food paradise! It's funny, I piggybacked the trip with a week in Bali which I thought would have better food, but it was only okay. It's very heavily touristed now, the traffic was incredible, and it's drunk Australians as far as the eye can see. I can't wait to actually be able to order properly in Falls Church, now! S

Not a full review, but went with my from out of town date. She had been to Laos before and I had really hyped up the place. The only thing I want to mention is that we got the papaya salad from the jungle menu, and instead of the mouth burning, esophagitis inducing, scalp sweating that I'm used to, we received a dumbed down version. She didn't even touch her glass of water until we got to the next course. Wonder if this is a one off... S

In front of the restaurant. Just a few small tables.

What else can be said about this place? Well, I will say it. It's still fan-freaking-tastic. Went there with my from out of town date. We got in line about 510. "Is it always like this? It's a Wednesday." Yes, it's always like this. Got to the front at about 540p, and they said it would be between 1.5 and 2.5 hours for "first available" (meaning it could be side by side at the kitchen spots). Not unreasonable. Went over to show her POV at the W, with the most interesting view of the snipers on top of the eastern aspect of the White House in the city. We got our text in exactly 2 hours and hustled back over. We were lucky to have the last table outside, and the weather was perfect. Bread and whipped garlic butter was baller, per usual. She got a peach bourbon cocktail (peaches were macerated in bourbon... or is the bourbon that was macerated in peaches? I don't really know) and that was like peach whiskey punch. I got the campari + grapefruit + IPA (Founder's All Day). Three of my favorite flavors all in one, and it worked well. Much heavier on the Campari. They now do the lychee salad with Morningstar veg crumbles (look, you purists, she is a vegetarian, but I did not want her to miss the dish of the city) and we got that. We got the vegetable panzanella (tomato and bread salad, with some other vegetables). And the griled avocado with tomatillo, poblano, cotilla cheese, and cilantro stems. That was really good, it was sort of like avocado salsa verde and the cotilla reminded me of Mexico City street corn. For pastas, we got the whole wheat reginetti and the spaghetti w/strawberry sauce and ricotta, and one of each Rose, because that's what real gangsters drink in the summer. That second one sounds really strange, but it works out well. It is sweet-ish, but not dessert like. This is when things started to get out of hand. We were full already, and Thea, our divine and all knowing waitress brought out a cacio e pepe on the house. I didn't love it the last time, but I really liked it this time. Then, another server brought out another pasta - again, on the house. I know it's only 12 hours ago, but for the life of me I can't remember it, though half of it is in my fridge. For two people that try to limit carbs, but love them, this was too tempting. We were too full for dessert, so we didn't ask for the menu, but then Thea comes out with the vegan coconut ice cream. Awesome. Just awesome. $133 + tip. This place is just head and shoulders in terms of what they bring to the table, literally and metaphorically. -S

In Crystal City... My waitress from a different restaurant was Issan and told me Urban Thai has Issan menu (like Little Serow's style). She says it's excellent. Funny, she hasn't heard of Little Serow and when looking at Yelp pictures she said "It doesn't look Thai, it looks modernized Americanized". Has anyone tried Urban?

Am I being dox'd? "Date Lab: They Each Had a Card To Put on the Table" on washingtonpost.com EDIT: I guess I overreacted...

Um... Everything! Recs in PDX or Bend? We ate only at breweries, food trucks and had breakfasts at coffee/bakeries. Fearless Bakery has great coffee. If you check in on Yelp, you get a drip coffee with your pastry/breakfast sandwich purchase. Thump's coffee was great, too. The food was great at 10 Barrel (I guess it's now owned by one of the macrobreweries, but the place is awesome, despite that) and at Cascade Lakes Brewery.10 Barrel has really good pizza. Cascade Lakes has a great patty melt.The food wasn't as good at Crux Fermentation Project, but the beer there is incredible. Plus, they have a taco truck on Th-Sat. Not as good as you find in Portland, but still good. There is a New Mexico style burrito/enchilada truck by Pine Mountain Sports (a great place to rent a mountain bike and easy access to Phil's Trail), called Sol Verde. Very tasty! Rat Hole had good beer, didn't love Oblivion, as much. This is an amazing place for beer. I think it has nearly as many breweries as Asheville, but in a much smaller space - can bike your way to most of them. Food is mostly bar food, nothing fancy, except one or two places. It does suffer from the Hawaii problem on Yelp (everything is basically 4.5 stars because everyone is in such a great mood). S

Interesting. Where I was in Pennsylvania, you were BYOB regardless of your license status, so the restaurant just decides if they want to allow it or not. TIL In VA, it seems you have to have an ABC license to be BYOB. That's dumb. Over the last five years, I noted that Virginia's laws tended to be a lot less stupid than Pennsylvania's (like the ridiculousness of not being able to buy 6 packs at grocery and convenience stores, but you could go to a bar an buy them at jacked up prices; also, you could only buy 2 six packs from a bar. So, it's a real logic puzzle of how to buy exactly 18 beers, since at the beer stores they sell them only in 24 packs). Talk about byzantine ... Anyway, that's just plane silly...

Do they have a license for beer/wine? Is it BYOB? Think I'm going tonight..

I've never been to French Laundry or Per Se or Alinea or whatever, so hard for me to really know what you mean. But, until I get there, I'll take your word for it. I agree that status and to be able to "check in" on Facebook and Instagram your meal at a place like French Laundry carries a social cachet, and a lot of people are into that. Is better ingredients/better prep/ambience/worse taste > worse ingredients/worse prep/casual/better taste? The taste of the food should play some role in evaluating the reataurant. Can't believe I just wrote that sentence It's sort of the primary thing I judge, but I'm a bit of a heathen that way.

I just read this thread. 6 years years ago, it seems like a dinner for two at French Laundry approached $900. I wonder what it costs now. 4 years ago at Komi, I spent around $600, with the wine tasting. What makes a meal worth $600-900 (maybe $1100 now?)? Has the rest of the country caught up, and so the marginal benefit of a place like French Laundry has become much smaller compared to the many fine restaurants in the country? I think you can get the whole menu at Rose's and a few good bottles of wine and be under $300. I guess it's different, but Little Serow ends up running $150 for two with drinks... And I love that place. I wonder if it is 6-7 times better to go to French Laundry. Maybe for the ambience, service, and experience it is. But I'm not sure. I think 2-3 times sounds reasonable, but 6-7 seems like a lot. Just seems with sourcing of foods, innovative chefs, discerning customers, the advent of social media in dining - I wonder if the so called best places in the country truly are the best? I wonder how Rose's would do if in Heald County, or how French Laundry would do in Capitol Hill (and if they could suspend the prices they charge). But, man Don, you got a rich group of people on this website! Simul

Going to be in Bend for a few days next week. Any tips? Going to go to Deschutes, Bend Brewing Company, Crux Fermentation Project, Planker Sandwiches. Heard ethnic isn't big there, but Wild Rose has some good Northern Thai. Heard Zydeco is pretty good. Anything other that's must eat/must do? S

That just doesn't really feel like a fair statement, at all, that they can't survive or don't exist. As people said above, there are several examples of places that have lasted, and if not lasted, set a precedent for a genre. The long standing Ethiopian places, though now accessible to "WASPs" (not even sure what is meant by that... Maybe you mean "white people" like in "Stuff White People Like", which talks about things that the yuppie moneyed class like, race not really being an issues, so maybe I'm a WASP, too?). Just because a place is accessible to (I'll keep using) "WASPs", doesn't mean it's not deep ethnic. Bangkok Golden keeps a thai menu to keep the lights on. Doesn't stop it from serving some spicy, authentic, and sometimes weird stuff. It's popularity led to Soi 38 and Thip Khao. Same with Little Serow- to some, that places isn't accessible - they don't adjust anything. Rasika is fancy as heck and caters towards the moneyed and hip, but just take a look at the brunch menu and you'll see some of that "deep ethnic" stuff. Almost every kabob place worth it's weight has mughaz masala (brains!! Brains for crying out loud). The Vietnamese area had plenty of restaurants that have been there before I came 5 years ago, and still exist now, with throngs of Vietnamese people and "WASPs". There is stuff on those menus that my Vietnamese friends are shocked to see in an American restaurant. The Korean area- same thing. Not just bim bap and bbq. Salvadorean in my neck of the woods in Del Ray/Arlandria. Chinese in Rock Vegas. Joes has been there forever, and maybe a bit weaker, but maybe not. Bobs 66 is all chinese people and some adventerous "WASPs" The Ethiopian places keep the Ethiopian population here from feeling homesick. The two places I went to for that in metro Detroit where I grew up were not serving raw beef (kitfo), yet all of them here, do. When you think of distance to many of these countries, the fact that we have so many (maybe not perfect, and maybe not enough) ethnic places is pretty inspiring. When friends visit from smaller cities that I used to live in - Detroit, Pittsburgh, NOLA, and even larger places like Chicago and Phoenix, they are always surprised at the options. If you compare the metro population of NYC to DC, it is more than triple. Even LA metro is just 60% of NYC metro. We do well with what we have. If you do apples to apples, and compare the metro statistical areas within 1 million of our population - 1) Dallas- we are smaller and have way more options 2) Houston - we are slightly smaller, and they are comparable because so many immigrants from Mexico, Vietnam, India, China 3) Philadelphia - clearly more ethnic options for us 4) Miami - has a lot of options but regionally specific - Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Cuba, other Caribbean, and mostly central/South America 5) Atlanta - some Indian, mish mash of other stuff, but not comparable. If you look at other world capitals - I lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, for example. There is a Turkish enclave. There is some African countries with a small footprint. The other Scandinavian countries have a presence there. That's it! Other places not lived in, but been to.... Ottawa - not much at all. London/Paris - tons, but it's a world class city and no one would debate that we have more than them. Lisbon? Barcelona? Madrid? Hardly, just regional specialities, different types of spanish, some north African. Mexico City - so much Argentinian, some Italian, some other South American. And that city is huge. Bombay and Delhi - some Chinese but it's indian-chinese, some thai, but indian-ized, the worst mexican I've ever had, some pizza places. Many regional indian places, but that isn't quite foreign. Don- I respectfully think you're glossing over that we have it pretty good compared to much of the country (especially those in MSAs of less than 3 million). We have some distinct cuisines others don't really have - Ethiopian and Salvadorean. We have places that have nice long runs, and places that flame out fast but leave people wondering what might have been (Karaikudi being one I think about ) I think if we keep saying it's not a restaurant town or an ethnic dining town, it will just feed into a less and less true narrative.

Forgot to ever post this: http://web.stanford.edu/class/linguist62n/morrot01colorofodors.pdf The tasters were grad students at a French Wine academy.

My professional mentor was in town to give a lecture at a conference, and said that in return for the years spent training me, I was to take him to one of the finest restaurants in DC. Fair trade! Decided on Sunday Brunch at Rasika West End, and made the reservation a month ago. We invited another rising star in the field and his wife, who were from Bombay but now lived in Baltimore. We got there at 12pm, when it opened, and the restaurant filled up quite quickly, but there was still open tables. This location is overall less busier than the Penn Quarter one. I got a latte, others got the masala chai, and the ginger limeade. The menu is super interesting. It truly had things on it that my parents make for weekend meals that I have never, ever seen on a menu stateside. We started with the Besan Ka Chilla, Palak Chaat, and Malai Chicken Tikka. Besan is gram flour, and this dish is a flat, pancake-ish snack that goes great with chai. Its less cakey than a pancake, though, flatter and a little crispy almost. This was a great version of it. The Palak Chaat is still fantastic, and the other 3 guests had not had it before, so it was fun to see them say things ilke "I've never had spinach that have tasted like that." It really is a special thing we have here. The malai chicken tikka was a creamy chicken curry, it has cheddar and mozzarella in it. Unique. Didn't love it. For entrees, we shared three dishes. Pao bhaji, which is essentially an Indian sloppy joe. It's potatoes, peas, onions, and spices (bhaji = vegetables) served with buttered bread (pao = bread). It is one of my favorite things to eat, and mom makes it great, but it's best at Juhu beach or on the street is every Gujarati town. Theirs was very good, but not the largest portion. This is a dish that has very cheap ingredients, we could feed 20 people for $10 worth of ingredients. Anyway, it's a good "memory" dish, because so many dinner parties, birthday parties, and large family events center around this favorite meal, which again, you hardly ever see on a menu (at least in DC area; you can definitely get it on Devon in Chicago, some places in Metro Detroit, and some of the Indian street food places that are popping up hipster cities). The second dish was one of the "Sunday Curries", vegetable rassa. This wasn't super interesting to me, but it got eaten up quite quickly. The last entree was the Chicken Green Masala. Super cool, it was a green curry, with cilantro and cardamom, and green chili peppers. Had a great bite to it, and cilantro made it taste very fresh. I enjoyed that. There are a lot of other cool things on the menu - Gujarati dokla (spicy lentil based cake), kedgeree (a modified version of kichdi or kichidi, a rice/daal based dish), shrikand (a spiced thick custard like yogurt), kathi rolls, and egg based dishes. Many of these have so much sentimental value to me, and I can't wait to take my folks here. Really neat experience. I'm happy to see some of the less commonly seen dishes that are quite commonly eaten in Indian households are making it onto menus. S

2 trips to NOLA the last two months... just some highlights/brief reviews, not much details. 1. Commander's - still the finest service I've ever seen at a restaurant; turtle soup with sherry still has it, as does the bread pudding. You should make reservations. They relaxed the jacket thing for guys, I think. 2. Restaurant August - one of the finest meals I've had in a long time, also great service. We did chef's menu with wine pairings. 3. Mandina's - man, I loved this place before, and I really felt like it slipped. For po boys, the bread wasn't as good as I remembered, and the seafood just felt flat. Kind of a bummer. Oh, and the onion rings were just limp. Very sad for me, maybe off night. 4. Elizabeth's - in the Bywayer, great breakfast and brunch, pretty decadent, the benedicts are awesome, the praline bacons started a revolution and now everyone has encrusted bacon 5. Boucherie - neat place, awesome interior, great casual service (sort of like how I feel about Rose's Luxury here), it's back to basics menu wise in terms of ordering, app, entree, dessert. Niman Ranch pork ribs were delish. Duck confit app is tasty, too. 6. Stanley - breakfast/brunch next to the cathedral in the Quarter. What can you say? Greasy spoon, good bloody's. Hit the spot after a long night out. 7. Jazz Fest food - it's really good, but really heavy. Crawfish bread is cheesy goodness, soft shell crab po boy hard to beat. There is Vietnamese food that looked really good - big population in NOLA and east of the city. Cochon de Lait po boy is really good, it's a classic. 8. Liuzza's - (not Liuzza's By The Track) - "red gravy" Italian-Creole. Really love this place, with the frosted goblets of Abita and now other local brews. Their onion rings and fried green tomatoes were fantastic. We boys got into a heated discussion about vaccines and it involved the waitstaff, who were cool about it.. And they let us stay after close to watch the Blazers game. 9. Killer Po Boys - I didn't go, but friends did, they said it was fantastic, maybe the best place in the quarter for PB or that could be Johnny's, too. 10. Verti Mart - 24 hours deli, great sandwiches, "All That Jazz" - ham, turkey, cheese, other deliciousness. Greatest post party food, ever. See picture of Po boys eating po boys below! (okay maybe po in med school, not so much now) 11. Port of Call - I'm a non beef eater, and yet I always take my friends here when we visit. The best burger ever according to many. They cook it properly, too - medium rare is medium rare. If you don't eat beef, you will not have any options, so eat before hand. Or, drink a typhoon and forget that you're hungry. They'll only serve you two. Lagniappe - after or before the Fest, if you have a hankering for crawfish, go to Broadview Seafood. Vietnamese family, $3.99/lb for boiled spicy crawfish. All the sides, and some other sandwiches and things, too. Can dump out on little tables, and get beer from the cooler - all kinds, not just American lager, but lots of craft stuff. UberX is not very good here, drivers arent' great and always a surge for Jazz Fest (I've been to ACL and UberX worked well there). Uber Black is good if you have a big group, otherwise stick with regular cabs. Spitfire Coffee in the Quarter is really great, 3rd wave coffee with pour overs, etc.

It was very, very good. Welcome addition to the area, if the quality remains the same.

Went last night, after Bombay the night before. What can I say? I'm Indian, I love this stuff, can eat it every day. In fact, I did growing up. Nice space. Large bar for an Indian place. Typical white table cloth on table with glass on top of it, maroon/red furnishings. It's like there is a kit for these places. All the places in Devon Ave in Chicago are like that, too. Complimentary app was not papadam (at least for me), which is very very thin with small areas of black char. Watching my mom make this in the kitchen is a childhood memory I still think about, right on the open flame, her fingers dancing as she expertly rotated it around, going from soft to crispy. Here, the crisps was thicker, probably the chips from pappri chaat, with a red sauce that was good, tamarind, and coriander chutney. They had wine and liquor and beer. No fancy cocktails listed. Started with house Pinot and was served a little too warm for my taste. We ordered the palak chaat as a starter, and it come seconds after the complimentary dish. If you're expecting Rasika's version, don't bother. It's fine in it's own right, but nothing like one of our region's finest dishes. Got the Port City IPA after that. We ordered the goat biryani and lamb vindaloo. The meat in the goat biryani was super tender. It's served in a really cool way, with like a bread top sort of like a pie. I'd never seen it like that. The rice and seasoning on top, goat on the bottom. Really tasty. Lamb Vindaloo was fierce. Very spicy. They were not messing around in the least. Potatoes, lamb (not as tender as the goat), vinegar based sauce. Pretty awesome. Price points are high ($15-19 for most mains), had a Groupon to soften the blow. There is pretty much nothing else in Cameron Station. I wonder if it's doing well. Not that many people there last night, but it was Wednesday. I would think Friday and Saturday, the locals would just walk over and bring their strollers and little monsters and enjoy some curries. I'd probably come here for a solo meal at the bar, they have sports going and some AsiaTV (I think). Service was very friendly, too. They have a private room, seats around 20ish, for small parties. Oh, I found the menu to be quirky. I don't know - it's really funny that they are talking so much about London. And, I get the idea that London is a hot bed for South Asian food, but it just made me smile, all the British flags on the menu and in the space. The specials are named after neighborhoods in London (Picadilly Circus, Mayfair, etc.). The Brits stole the Hope Diamond. The least we can do is have our own flags up

Estadio's morcilla slider is awesome.

Near Alexandria/Falls Church/Annandale/Arlington?

Good post! Hope to check it out, it's so close to me

Buzz is growing. Was trying to go tonight, called to see if there were reservations needed. Completely booked, he said try coming after 830pm. Sheesh....

New China and Hot Pot are absolute disasters. Hot Pot doesn't even have hot pot. There is a pollo place right by Pembrooke in the plaza with the BAM! and Bed Bath and Beyond and Chipotle. It's good, 1/4 chicken dark and 2 sides is under $7. I haven't tried the one where 5/301 splits. There is a passable Korean place in Waldorf. There isn't one Indian place in Charles or Calvert, but there is one in St. M's that not bad, Bollywood Masala. Even if you ask, they are very hesitant to make the food spicy, which is kind of annoying. With all the money in the tri-county, you figure the people would be clamoring for better food options, but they get more excited about BW3 or Margaritaville opening up. Hopefully, it will get better in the next few years.

I shouldn't have said that, I felt a few seemed similar. I actually want to try the place and think it sounds cool. I will edit what I said

Anyone try this place? 4.5 stars on Yelp at 70 reviews... Grand Trunk "Grand Trunk Opens In Penn Quarter - Breakfast Foods, Curries, Naan, Burgers, Salads, Tea, Smoothies, All In A Night-Club Atmosphere With Techno Music, Chandeliers, Flat-Screens ...." on popville.com Something looks fishy about the Yelp reviews. Many have similar format and comments.