Simul Parikh
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Everything posted by Simul Parikh
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Interesting, never knew people would come down to Randy's or Southern Maryland, for that matter. This is the biggest food desert I've ever experienced, and when I work in St. Mary's county, I hardly ever eat, that's how I keep this girlish figure. I work at Waldorf and Charlotte Hall, so I pass by Randy's pretty much every day. It's not that great, chopped pork is okay, ribs are okay, sauces are middling. There is one over the bridge/Rt 231 in Calvert that isn't bad, can't come up with the name, we used to go there once in a while. There was another one in Charlotte Hall, Griffin's, it was so-so and closed down. Lefty's in Charles County is pretty good. Only thing around here that's good are the crab shacks (Captain Billy's, etc.), Stoney's, a French place in Leonardtown, and the deli at Nick's in Waldorf and Prince Frederick. It's always hell trying to pick a place for the clinic Christmas party, if we do Prime Street Grill again I'm going to shoot someone. Going to suffer with some terrible Chinese-American at Old Beijing today. Sigh... Glad I like taking care of the good people of the tri-county, b/c food is a fiasco here.
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Thanks for suggestions, guys! I hope when I have a kid he eats the stuffed pepper chicken at the age of 2.5. S
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Don't dine with kids much, especially at places like this, but anyone know if there is stuff 15 month old little boys could eat here? Their parents love them some Sichuan, and don't really get it unless they are visiting me. Thanks! S
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Thanks for the more detailed review. If they are a big enough restaurant (or care enough), they will read this and maybe respond. Nothing like sexism that makes you want to tip well... S
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Mama Reachers is very casual on their hours... They just might not be there at a given time. Like breakfast or other random times. Chicken is good, greasy/heavy though. Their greens are really good. Horace and Dickies is so cool. I don't think they have chicken routinely, do they? I know it's a chain and not the point of this conversation, but Popeye's is really good for soul-ish food. New Orleanians love it. Our tour guide in NOLA took us to Al Copeland's tomb. He was near tears talking about the story of what lead Al to create Popeye's. It's just not a great sell up here in DMV. The rest of the south, soul food abounds in urban and suburban areas, but I think DC people are much healthier than the rest of the country, so there isn't the proliferation of the chicken shacks and soul food diners you see in the Carolinas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Georgia, etc.
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Prequel - A Venture by DC-Based Startup EquityEats
Simul Parikh replied to Simul Parikh's topic in News and Media
You both seem right. Just seems fun to me. Yeah, I'm VA based: Not investing. Just paying a DC friend for the non-investing benefits of it (being the plus one, etc) -
Does any American state have better history + food?
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Great thread This was really helpful, I never really broke it down that way. In my head had broken it down as "New Orleans cuisine" and "Louisiana, but not NOLA, cuisine". Went to med school in New Orleans, and man I miss it. I had a few Cajun Thanksgivings in New Iberia with a classmate's family in New Iberia the two years I couldn't afford a plane ticket home (I wonder if the Viators are still kicking around?), and a fond memory is getting chased out of a Lafayette bar the Wednesday night before, after hitting on some coonass's girlfriend (I swear that's not a slur, the Cajuns I know called themselves that!) and slamming the car door before he could beat my like a rented mule. We woke up hungover as hell, and had to be at the table early for "dinner" cause Mama Viator had been cooking since 6AM and the family wouldn't be kept waiting on us two morons. Going back to NOLA next week for some "continuing education" (i.e. eat and drink and be merry). Have reservations with some NOLA virgins, and went with Commander's and August for two of the dinners, one casual dinner at either Liuzza's (not on the track) or Mandina's. Po' boys at Parkway and maybe Domelise's. Any other ideas? S
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Soft opened this weekend, hard open yesterday. Bustling! Very busy in there, the bar area was pretty packed at 630pm and they were a little under staffed at the bar, but hustling hard. 6 beers on tap (surprising in this new world of everyone having 10+ taps), but selections were well thought out: Port City Maniacal and Optimal Wit, 3 Stars Saison, New Holland's Kolsch, Mad Fox ESB, and a random Cleveland porter from Great Lakes (wonder what part of the group has Rust Belt ties?). The wine list was manageable, as well, and I'm not knowledgeable so I won't go into details, but glasses ranged from $6.50-12, with bottles going down to under $30 to maybe $50. "Mixology" behind the bar, so those were probably good, as well, they had something with egg whites. The inside of the bar is neat, pictures are online. Mason Jars hanging, good lighting, some tables up front. The dining area is very beautifully appointed, cozy and warm. We got the largest table in the back, my neighbors and their cutie pie one year old, the GOP operative (who's picked his candidate), another part of the physics team and his little brother, and the cardiologist in tow. We got a bunch of different things. The menu is sort of American fare with all the new common foodie things - pork belly, brussel sprouts, fancy meatballs, stuff with marrow on it, you know the drill. It isn't to say that it's original - it's just the new normal. Brussel sprouts are the new cheese sticks (or, something like that). We got 1. Lamb and Pork meatballs - infant went to town on these, I got one, good texture, marinara sauce was good 2. Pork belly - good skin of this, fatty cuts; the slaw on the side was jicama but tasted like apple to me, I liked that 3. Beer mussels - didn't try, got eaten, so probably good 4. Mac and Cheese - I like gruyere, so I liked this version 5. Pork and Slaw sandwich - their version of pulled pork, tender meat, good sauce. I really like the jalapeno bun, I never eat a full bun but I did this time. 6. Marrow burger - don't eat beef, was housed 7. BBQ fries - paprika and something else on them. Tasty 8. Dessert - nutella brownie. Weakest link. Brownie not great. Nutella, as always, fantastic. This place is super cool. First night, service was on point. Lots of random managers and supervisors checking in, the waiter shook every single one of our hands (that was sort of unexpected). There is energy and vibe and cool, here. I liked the environment, Parker Grey is starting to happen. I imagine this will do for this area what Evening Star did for Del Ray in the mid 1990s. I'm very happy this place opened up. I liked the food, but didn't absolutely love it, but hopefully that gets better with time, and I'll become Norm here. Welcome to the neighborhood, Mason Social! S
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Great question! I think Indian buffet at Kohinoor Dhaba or Kabob Palace lamb skewers and rice. Shake Shack. Most of the taco shacks. Especially El Charrito Caminante. And of course Harold and Kumar's favorite, White Castle. Interesting. Just looked it up. You have to actually be licensed in the District to prescribe Medical MJ. Many patients in DC see doctors in VA in MD for their chronic (pun intended) conditions. Since I'm in the cancer business, I've been very interested in managing pain, nausea, depression, appetite with MJ, but the state doesn't allow the medical community to use it's own judgment regarding this. So, a whispered 'well, if you can get your hands on some marijuana, it might help you' is all I have at my disposal.
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I love how much joy this place is bringing to people that live work play in DC. Every review is awesome. We have a winner. Everyone should go here before it goes Dave Matthews ("i went here before everybody else did") Aaron is the man. There isnt a better non divey, non ethnic place In the area - it's the best restaurant in DC and at that, the best higher end place for the value. They take care of you. You will eat amazing delights. You won't be rushed out of here. You will have weird english desserts. You'll feel like someone Get here before it's Dave Matthews...
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Though I'm solidly comfortable with GMO foods, there is a distinct difference between dog breeding and selecting crops for positive traits vs injecting the nuclei of organisms with spliced genomes. It is like breeding dogs, but injecting some sort of gene that keeps it from getting sarcoma at an early age. Maybe good, maybe bad, but certainly different. It's why cloning and gene therapy are still ethical morasses, but marrying a prettier girl than me so our kids look cute is totally fine. I think that the key is that we get to see what's out there, taste what we like, and make choices that make us feel comfortable. If non-GMO food tastes better to you, than it does, and you're welcome to purchase it. Countries like India deal with famine and pestilence and the ravages of climate change; to feed their people, they made need Round Up resistant crops. I'd rather my countrymen not starve than eat organic/non-GMO food, but again, I hope they get to make that choice.
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Fascinating conversation. There is a difference between selecting traits for dogs and inserting another species DNA/RNA into a plant or animal. But, the science is pretty strong. It's at least as strong as environmental science/climate change, so they debate could be had, but I think the preponderance of the science indicates there aren't safety issues. But, yeah, we are allowed to make choices on what we eat. I think Europe has taken away choice, probably hurt a lot of poor countries that can't afford to grow non GMO crops, without strong evidence of safety issues with GMOs. Here, we will have a choice, and the affluent can buy non GMO foods if they want to, or decide to buy GMO food if they want to. Labeling probably makes sense, but then again, if there is not difference in safety, I'm not sure it should be forced by the government. I've found it fascinating that people that are on the pro-environment side claim that the opposite side is anti-science, while these same people are willing to ignore the data on the safety of GMO foods. If you're gonna be pro-science, you ought to be pro-science. And, just prior to this, a man was finishing his cancer treatment and asking me what he should do about nutrition. Funny, after 4 years of medical school, 5 years of residency, board certification, we get about 5 total hours education about nutrition.... S
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You're right, it's fun to discuss... But the presumption that the modern day restauranteur paying $50/Sq ft rent, doing 500k buildouts, hiring celebrity chefs are going to skimp on eggs to save a few bucks, and ruining their fresh pasta seems a little pre-decent restaurant era DC (or choose your own urban area). I would be very surprised if the reason Fiola doesn't hold a candle to any random diner in Italy is because they chose factory farmed eggs. But, as a science based person, I'd be very interested in randomized controlled trials on a lot of this stuff. Curious to know what people would be able to ascertain if both the cooks and customers were blinded to ingredient quality, and the ambience remained the same. I wonder if 5% of people would be able to tell the difference, if completely otherwise blinded. Preparation, environment, temperatures, plating effect taste so drastically. There is a randomized trial on wine - where experts are placed in a dark room, the temps of the wines are brought to the same degree, and experts cannot even tell white vs red, much less vintages and grapes. The combination of senses and the neuroscience behind it is totally fascinating ...
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It's DR.com hyperbole and outlandish statements! It's part of the fun.
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Wow- that response from a chef makes me happy to live in a place that's possible. You are respectful to those around you, but have an understanding about what people may or may not like. That's what makes people love restaurants. This place was not on my list, until I read that, and now that I did, I am dying to come. I'll be nice to everyone - give me the good non-beef stuff- I promise I'll come!
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Interesting. Crowd sourcing of pop up restaurants. Prequel - a new venture by DC-based startup EquityEats I'm not affiliated. Or, I should say I wasn't affiliated, I did join. Seems kind of fun. Even if you lose your shirt (no distributions), you get the tickets to the party, some discounts, some drinks, etc. S
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Wow, totally agree with HKP fried chicken and potato dish. Went on V-Day, my friends made me go instead of continuing to mope the whole weekend. That dish is fantastic, and used to be a substitute when they didn't have the fried chicken with sesame stuffed chili peppers, but now it's a premier dish. So full of flavor, spicy but not overpowering, and just looks really lovely on the plate. I also had Linda get us something new. She gave us a different lamb dish, it was stir fry with vegetables (onions, hot peppers, red peppers) and it was delicious. She didn't give a way to order it, just said "Just tell me you want that lamb dish you got last time, and I make." The other thing we have been getting is the garlicky cucumber salad. Just freaking fantastic, we got two of those for the 4 of us. Mama Reacher's fried chicken in Del Ray is pretty good, but pricey for what it is.
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Feb 25, next Wednesday, according to the host that answered the phone. Menu looks good and reasonable for what they are serving. Walked by it inside, bar looks super cool. I'm excited!
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Anyone go recently and see if they tightened up service? They have some interesting new stuff on jungle menu. Sounds offal! LAAB MOO KUANG NAI (G) Chopped pork, pork skin and liver, chili lime sauce, toasted rice powder, scallion, mint. 12 OOB BAE (G) Goat stew, Lao herbs. 15 CHUENH SAI (G)Crispy fried intestine with Sriracha sauce. 13 YUM HOO MOO (G) Steamed pig's ear, cellophane noodle, spicy tamarind sauce, cashew nut. 13 PING HUA JAI KAI (G) Grilled chicken heart, sweet Sriracha sauce. 13 LAAB KAI TOK (G) Minced skin of Guinea fowl, chicken liver & heart, banana blossom, toasted rice powder, chili lime sauce, mint, cilantro, scallion. 18
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Exciting! I walked by it today, seemed busy. I don't eat beef, but love steakhouses because they sometimes do lamb or pork well, and honestly, steakhouse Mac and cheese or creamed spinach can be so good (I'm talking to you Ray's, Hyde Park, Ruth's, Monty's, Morton's - you make a part Hindu non beef eater love steakhouses!) Anyway, point is, they had duck, chicken, and I think lamb on the menu. I'm going to go soon... Even you non-beef eaters, give steakhouses a chance!
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She is more dominant at her sport than Wayne Gretzky from 1981-1986. Unbelievable.
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Never even thought of bringing Bon Chon to a Super Bowl Party. What a great idea. I go to the Arlington one occasionally. I don't notice any difference between that and the Annandale one or the Fairfax one. I think they seem to have a pretty standardized process, so I found it to be quite consistent. The one thing that I have found is that as a frequent solo diner here, sometimes I'm not in a rush and I wouldn't mind waiting 35 minutes, but because my order is so small it comes within minutes after ordering because they just finished big orders for other people and the left over makes up my meal. I went in at 700pm and out by 730pm last week, barely finished my beer by the time dinner was polished off. Yeah, I ate a whole order of fried chicken and the sides by myself in 20 minutes. Whatever. Don't judge me. I did a boot camp that night and was starving.
