Simul Parikh

Cumin lamb here is different than HKP in Falls Church. The lamb itself is better, not "desiccated" as someone described HKP, but the flavor is different. The back end of the taste is almost sour. Not bad or good, just different, but certainly better lamb. I have very few experiences with XLB, but when I've had it in the past, the dough wasn't as thick. It was soft and thinner and it made the soup come out more ... explosively? Here, it was good but not amazing and that's the only reason I had come (on the way home from some mediocre PA skiing). The broth was very gingery. I still liked it. The spicy wontons were actually really good. Service is good in here. It was slammed, yet they were nicer than a slow night at HKP.

Can we second that description of the service - "new wave" - casual, but professional. Having a hard time identifying it, but it's exactly as above. The service is DC is getting really good, but they wear jeans and t-shirts. It wrinkles my brain, but I like it.

Any other suggestions for a non-beef eater? Going tonight. Gonna really get my eat on. S

Aficionado is very very good. Like Europe good. Swings is really good for NOVA, and almost as good as top DC places. Mishas .. Has good service and staff How come you go into a random bar in Spain and come out with an amazing latte (cafe con leche) for a 1.25 Euro, but you pay 3.50 here and don't know what you'll end up with?

This is a response from one of the owners I got 9 months ago: Reed L: Hi Simul, Thanks for coming to Mission and for posting the thoughtful review. You brought up a number of good points and issues, all of which I've either discussed with my partner or incorporated into our menu/service plan. First off, the service was clearly not at the level at which it needs to be on the night you visited. It has gotten markedly better over the past four weeks, but to be honest I expect it may be a couple more before it gets to the level where we want it to be. Getting the kitchen fully acclimated to the menu and weeding out the ineffective waitstaff takes a bit of time. The salsa is now complimentary. We made the wrong call on that and changed course. I share your affinity for R&R, and we've been editing the menu in a way that's focusing more on the R&R bread and butter items. To answer your question about the meaning of Executive Chef, Rodrigo (the proprietor of R&R) designed the menu, has made numerous edits over the past month, and is generally running the show in the kitchen 5-6 nights per week. He's very committed to Mission and shares our desire to improve. Thanks again for giving us a shot, and we hope you'll do it again soon. As a gesture of appreciation for sharing your feedback the next time you come in the first round of drinks for your table will be on the house. If you take us up on this, please email me (reed@missiondupont.com) so I can make sure you're accommodated. Best, Reed Landry co-owner

Why do Pho places identify by number? I've seen this nationally. Not like you see sushi or curry houses named liked this. Curious phenomenon... Is this how it's done in 'Nam? Since I don't eat beef, pho is lost on me. Chicken pho is not exciting at all (to me), I've tried 75, Pho-viet, and several other places. I'd rather have ramen.

A few years ago Goat curry was tasty. It's really out of the way Interesting clientale

It's the same feel as Columbia Pike, maybe space is a little nicer. High ceilings. Known for good service, and this place has it, too. Very kid friendly. I'm sure it will definitely do well. This is a class act organization..

Oh, despite my glowing review of the food... I agree with above - the service wasn't good. I failed to mention that. Stuff come out very badly paced and somewhat random intervals. One person's entree came at least 30 minutes after everyone else's. Guess that was important information I omitted

Right now, in DC and environs... We have some riches - some better than others and some slightly different than others - of very good southeast Asian food Soi 38 has hits Thip Khao hits on most dishes Little Serow is amazing but pricey (but maybe not, depending on how you order at other places) Thai X-ing still nails a lot, but it's not 2009 As you leave DC Ruan/Nava/whatever is still very good Bangkok Golden is the champion Duangrat very good We are very lucky. This area could become the non-SF center for good Lao/northern Thai/isaan food When I have guests from out of town, there are all happy and excited about the options, and the high quality of the food. My thoughts are if you are in DC, no car, trek to Thip Khao right now. If you have a car, get to Bangkok Golden. Otherwise, the above options are all excellent. The only thing you have to kaffir is kaffir itself

We were able to make a reservation for 730pm on Friday night. My favorite server from Bangkok Golden is now full time at the new restaurant in the front of the house, and I was so happy to see her. We had a group of 6, 3 adventurous eaters and 3 not so much. So, the 3 of us that were a little more at ease ordered mostly from the "jungle" menu. As said in another thread, this is pure Laotian, no Thai food, and it can certainly be daunting if you haven't had Laotian food before. It's in the heart of Columbia Heights, on 14th Street, so not by Meridian Pint or Kangaroo Boxing or Maple. Closer to Target. It was buzzing inside, almost every table full. They start you off with cucumber, sticky rice, and a sauce that comes complimentary. We started with Tam Muk Hoong Phet E'Loor - which is their famous and fiery papaya salad. It was great, just like BG, and they did not mess around with the chilis. Lots of fish sauce, limes, and heat. We got the Som Pla, which was sort of like Laotian ceviche. It was tilapia that was raw but cured. We also got the Poun Pla Heng, which was a snakehead fish larb. Snakehead is a little bland (to me), but this was pretty good. The pork necks were a given, and they were as good as ever. They use a different sauce here than BG. The Mee Kathi Luad came out, and it was the same as the mee kathi (rice noodle soup with a red curry base), but they added pork blood tofu. Sounds really strange, but other than the coloring of the tofu, it did not taste like anything different than tofu (said me and others at the table). Finally, we added on a pork orm and that came out last. It's their take on curry. It's thinner than a Thai green/red curry, almost broth like. I think at BG, I remember it being thicker. The food, when ordered spicy, it for real. I sweat through the top of my shirt. There is a nice cocktail menu (tropical-ish drinks) and some value wines (bottles in the $30 range mostly). 3 beers on draft, I think a Saison, an IPA, and Singha. I loved this place, and am excited that it seems to be doing quite well. The pacing of the service wasn't great, so they have some kinks to work out. The food is excellent. The menu doesn't seem to be making any concessions to people that aren't very adventurous, even though some of the menu items (wings, pork egg rolls) would be fine for people that aren't interested in the more exotic options. I think Chef Seng should modify the menu in one way - not just describe the food (although it is described well), but also have a simple English translation next to the Lao name next to it, so that people just casually looking at menu/website will not be warded off. I think people (on forums like this) forget that some people just aren't used to this type of a menu. Our 3 less adventurous friends ate well, but likely would not have come here just looking at the menu. Food was as good as BG or Little Serow, in my opinion, the decor is really cool (lots of SE Asia art/design). As of now, reservations/getting in are not hard, but I think it will become quite the hot spot. EDIT: just saw above about other people not saying it was spicy. I think because I knew some of the staff and encouraged it to be Lao Hot, it was as spicy as BG.

Pizza is personal. Nothing objective about it... I respect those that champion the pizza they love. I'll still take Jet's from Sterling Heights, MI over any of the fancy stuff from here or NY/NJ style pizza, but it's because of what pizza means. No apologies for liking pizza that other people don't!

Is there long waits or reservations needed? I'm headed tonight and group got bigger than expected

Thank you - those lists were helpful. I kept looking on Eater, but it wasn't there... Chinese for at least one of the meals!

I'm stuck here. Anyone know good places that are open on Christmas Day for dinner? Sis is coming. S

I don't have a detailed food review, but I did go once. We didn't order much, just a taster, including one of the "casseroles" which seems like some version of a hot pot. It was tasty, not spicy, but honestly I don't have a handle of this place. it's pricey, we weren't super hungry, lady friend and I were on the way home from Staunton and I had wanted to check it out. So, this is more of a "structural" review. I want to say that I found the Chinese menu very intimidating. There are so many items, a lot of offal/blood/weird stuff, and though it is well translated, there are no descriptions. I'm not meaning to say I wouldn't go back and be adventurous, just saying that even though I feel like I've made some breakthroughs at HKP and Joe's and a few other Chinese places, this place seems much more difficult. The service was much, much, much better than either of the 4 places that I've gone to in the DC area (HKP, Jin River, Joe's, Panda Gourmet), and much more similar to a Thai or Indian place. Very friendly, courteous, able to explain some stuff. Not typical for these types of restaurants (at least, locally). The ambiance is also much nicer. However, with this comes a cost - you can be in and out of HKP for $80 for 4 people and have leftovers. Here, this is unlikely - probably closer to $120. Maybe they are using better ingredients. Maybe it's technically more difficult to make the dishes. Maybe the rent is higher. I don't know. My physicist frequents the one in Catonsville and likes it, but he said that he tended to go to a different restaurant in HoCo, b/c of the price difference. I think I'll wait for reviews to pile up and so I can figure out what to order next time, with a bigger group. Oh, and no beer/wine. S

Interesting is so subjective. If it's the most interesting to him, it is the most interesting to him! That, by definition, is how a subjective opinion regarding one's interest in something works. Gosh...

Went this weekend to Staunton. Cute town. Before going to eat, we stopped at Redbeard Brewery. Awesome place, deserves it's own review. Then we walked to The Shack. This is a neat restaurant. As above, tiny space, communal. The decorating is odd, in the dining area there are 3 different lighting fixtures, and it's kind of distracting (that has a negative connotation, but actually I don't mind being distracted!) how mismatched they are, certainly a quirk of the space or of the owner, I guess. The lighting itself is uneven, and our table in the back by the kitchen to the left didn't really have good lighting, but the darkness suited the evening. We got the peanut soup and the lamb bolognese as our starters. The soup was good, creamy, subtly seasoned. I've never had VA peanut soup, so no real reference. It's a small portion. I love lamb pasta sauces, and this was great, a touch salty, but I tend to under salt when I eat/cook. We got another appetizer to share, the pea and popcorn dish - peas, hominy, country ham, and pop corn on top. It was neat to look at, good textures, tasty. For our appetizers, we got the salmon and the pork loin. Pork loin was tender and tasty. Salmon was salmon, not my thing, but tasted pretty good. We got a chocolate mousse for dessert. Decadent. Kind of interesting - everything came at a good pace, but there was a several minute gap before the dessert came out. All the servers were sort of looking at us when we made eye contact, like "what are you guys waiting for?" but it eventually came out. $150 with tax and tip, 2 glasses of wine (a pinot noir and a syrah), 1 beer (Bell's Double Cream Stout). It's a nicely paced meal, a neat space, everything is plated really beautifully. Visually, the food is fantastic. Would have been nice to talk to the chef/owner, he stopped by at one table for several minutes, but we didn't get to chat with him. The server was fine, he was able to tell us his favorites with some enthusiasm, but seemed sort of shy and reserved. What can I say? Good contemporary American/wine country cuisine, probably farm to table, but they didn't discuss the origins of the meat/produce. I think it's comparable to Ripple's food/beautiful plating, but a much smaller menu. The wine options are all in the 30s per bottle, I'm not a wine guy, but I presume they are pretty good. They have about 7-8 beers by the bottle. It's probably very good for the area (I don't know Staunton, perhaps this is something new and unusual for them, I haven't tried any of the other places) but it happens to be a really good place in a region with very few nice restaurants. It's not a knock. It's like a mini-Ripple, and that's one of my favorite restaurants. In general, there should be more places like this everywhere - rural areas, suburbs, urban areas. The style is to my liking - I love the casualness of the space and communal dining and waiters in t-shirts hustling. The chef is clearly talented and this restaurant would also do well in DC or Northern Virginia, but I think a lot of the hype is that it is in a cute rural town and there aren't very many options. But ... As for the comparison to Rose's ... No, I don't think so. Different type of meal altogether. Rose's is almost like American tapas style, it's a really fun experience, the waiters were so excited about their restaurant, and there is a buzz in the air, they do little tastes and freebies. Also, the pricing is different. For 3 courses, it's $45 at The Shack. At Rose's, just for example, if you got the popcorn soup, the beef crudo, pork sausage salad, the cacio e pepe, and a dessert, you are still coming in at less than $45. And that's just for one person. If you spent $90, you could also get two more small plates or one of the bigs, another dessert, and still be under $90. Granted, at RL, none of those are a "main" and more like tapas style, but at The Shack the pork loin I got was around 6 oz. Another small thing that I liked was how you pay. I hate waiting for the bill, and waiters are busy and I'm sure it slows them down, the whole pomp and circumstance of it. They use Square, and you just go up to the counter and they ring you up on the iPad and you go on your way. Finally, there is something amiss with the Yelp reservation system. 2 people on Yelp gave 1 start reviews because of this, and it's bringing the average down (huge pet peeve of mine when these a-holes do that). I also had trouble with it, one time it was my mistake, the other time it was theirs', but Ian got back to me and resolved everything. So, be careful with that. I'd come back likely if I was in Staunton, but there are a couple of other places that I'd want to check out, too, like Zynodoa, southern cuisine utilizing the nearby Polyface farms meat and poultry.

Slow day at the clinic, so I took my physicist to lunch and made him translate the menu on the wall at Hong Kong Palace. Been wanting this done for years and Ye has in one day done more for me than he has in 4.5 years as my medical physicist. Just kidding. So, I'm starting at top left and going to the right Row 1: Sour/hot rice noodles (might be wide noodles, not like mien) Fresh hot pepper ____ (fish or meet, not the dried red peppers) Pickled vegetables and intestines Garlic and cucumber Seared fish (unclear if this is whole or filet) Pan fried beef tendon Fatty intestines Fresh bamboo sprouts Row 2 Pork strips and rice cake (unsure if it is pork belly or what) Lamb hot pot (didn't know they had!) Spicy chicken and potato Spicy blood chunks Green onion and beef tendon Spicy fish Pickled hot pepper fish soup (he seemed particularly excited about this) Pickled hot pepper and needle mushroom with chicken strips Row 3 Vegetable sprouts and chicken (this would be the yellow menu item - bottom left) Fried chicken strips (????) - he couldn't come up with anything for this Three brothers spicy chicken (I'm doing to figure out what this is) Spicy intestine strips Beans and dried meat Salty and sweet pork chop Bean sprouts and fatty intestine

This place is fantastic. Love that we swiped right and went here on Friday night. It's international street food and they do their takes on various types of world foods. Interesting drinks, too. The decor is really cool, funky. Bartenders are pure hipster and tremendous mustaches abound. The service at the bar is attentive and they don't seem rushed, even though it's a busy place. I had a hot spiced cider at the bar, needing a warmer upper after walking from the metro. I met the public health friend here, and we were waiting for the lawyer and the cardiologist to arrive. She had this chocolate milk like drink that was phenomenal and could have drunk like 6 of them, but they were strong.They got there ten minutes after and we went to a table in the front of the joint. Before I had arrived, I'd planned on ordering the entire menu. I'd always wanted to do that, "We will have one of everything!" and dismissively wave them away. But, my dining partners didn't think that every thing needed to be ordered. Like Taylor has artfully noted, "haters gonna hate hate hate". So, we were slightly more selective. Here is what I remember. Pescadito Fritos - tiny little fried fish. Salty and delicious. Nice white sauce with it, aioli or something. Just like Spain. Brussel Sprouts - a great version of them. Three Drips and Fry Bread - not quite fry bread. Just nice crispy thick chips. Hummus and two other dips that were tasty and I couldn't tell what they were, and we were having too much fun to ask. Balik Ekmak - Mackeral sandwich. Really delicious. I never liked mackeral at sushi places, so wasn't expecting to like this, but it was tasty. Shrimp - garlic sauce. What can I say? It was good Bhel Puri Chaat - this was a controversial dish. My mom's bhel puri is really good. Their version was modified, and much more like a salad, and there were concerns. Heated debate ensued, harsh words were uttered, but actual physical violence did not occur. It's not really bhel puri, but it's a good twist on it. Khachapuri - this is what everyone talks about here. It's a flat bread with cheese and butter, then they break the egg on top of it at the table and it sort of cooks on the bread. Very unique, perhaps probably not for a Georgian. Lamb Kefta - ground spiced lamb. Obviously, it was great. Because how the F could it be bad? It's ground spiced lamb. Chicken skewers - I was getting full, and it was on the other side of the table, so I didn't get to it. The reports for that it was good Lomitos - Pork roast sandwich. With an avocado. Like the ones at Italian delis, but a little twist on it. We killed it. Sorry this isn't super descriptive. It's just that this place is so fun and neat and interesting. Even if you didn't love the food, you'd probably like the unique experience. It's like tapas, but not boring like how tapas has become in DC. It makes me want to chase down an actual Lomitos or try Khachapuri at a Georgian restaurant. I'm happy we have this place. I think I'll probably come a lot.

Maybe you two should go not alone together??

Looking forward to the report!

Did you try his new place in alexandria ?

That's too bad, though just one opinion. Haven't been in a while, but last outing was also mediocre for me, as well. Seems to be the DC life cycle for good ethnic dining (thai xing, many indian places come to mind)- place opens up, meteoric rise, chef gets hands into other stuff, and place falls...

I love this place, and I'm surprised to see the variety of opinions. I kind of figured everybody thought the place was wonderful. The environment, like mentioned above, is minimalist and uncluttered. No knick knacks and boardgames and chotchkies about. There is a small shelf of coffee/brewing related items in the back, not obstrusively in your face everywhere. The natural light is vast, because of the firehouse style door, which is open when the weather is nice. There is the lab/cupping/seminar area on the side, and behind the counter, you can see the coffee in bags, where the roasting takes place. Visually, it is exactly what I want to see in decor. Very Scandinavian. Not only is the decor minimalist, but so is the menu and options. They do very few things here, but they aim to do them right. I believe the options are coffee (drip and pour over), ice coffee, 2 shots of espresso, macchiato, cappucino, latte, hot chocolate, and maybe some tea? They have that awesome creamer mentioned above from a local farm, brown sugar, white sugar, cane syrup, and that's about it. Their baked goods are from Alexandria Pastry Shop (Bradlee Center), and they make me very happy. I think the coffee is the best in Alexandria, but I'm no expert. Service is not fast here. And that isn't to say not good. It's just not fast. It is not in and out, there isn't one or two people extra chirping "What can we get started for you?" If there are 4 people ahead of you, you might wait 10 minutes for your latte. They aren't going to rush orders, and if you don't have time, you may need to hit another cafe. But, on the other hand, the service is friendly, they are knowledgeable about coffee, and I like seeing the staff, they seem to remember me. They are local, and you'll see them at the yoga studios in Old Town or Del Ray and at concerts and what not. I usually get a latte or a regular coffee, and always wish a Flat White was on the menu. I asked this morning about that, and they said, "Of course we can make you one of those". So, that's what I'm going to order now, because it's my favorite. Another thing I liked - I bring my amazing staff at the clinic breakfast every morning, and sometimes I use Swing's. When if I asked if they had those cardboard boxes like Dunkin' Donuts to take a bunch of coffee to my staff, they said they didn't, but they let me borrow the large plastic/metal containers that keep it hot, and just said to drop it off the next day. It's a $100 item, and they didn't have to do that, but they did. And I love that kind of service. I like it a lot. It's different than St. Elmo's which is cozy and cluttered and looks like a lived in house, which I like if I want to read a book. Mischa's is busy and Old Towny and I like it on cold weekend mornings, because it's bustling and close to all the Old Town action. But, Swing's ... That's my favorite. I think we are lucky in Del Ray to have them.