scj32

I wouldn't go to Little Gem Saloon for the food but certainly worth a night out if you can catch Kermit Ruffins playing there.

Does anyone know if Amoo's is hosting anything special for Nowruz (Persian New Year)?

I have used the private room at Luke and currently have the private space reserved at Domenica for a passover seder in April.  Both might be good options. 

They are open for lunch and in addition to the main menu. Have a $19 menu in the bar that includes a drink, entree, and dessert. Had an outstanding veal stew for lunch there two weeks ago.

I was just there a few weeks ago and had their usual great wings and a few beers. Although I did find it strange that they were our of Guinness, Boddingtons, and Smithwick's on draft that night. I will certainly miss that place.

I promised my wife and kids we could try this place. Friends of our recenly recommended it. Has anyone visited it in the past year? Has anything improved?

We have had delivery in Silver Spring from the one on Georgia Ave. Most recently tried the Italian Calzone. LIke many of the commenters, while it's nothing out of this world (and I probably would not eat or take out there), it is certainly a better delivery option than many of the alternatives in the Silver Spring area.

I have only been here a couple of times for lunch at this point, but it is already far and away the best lunch spot in this neighborhood. I've had the Italian Cold Cut and the Pork Shoulder and Broccoli Rabe sandwiches and both were fantastic and on excellent bread. The price is a little high for take-out sandwiches $9 (incl. chips), but well worth it and they don't skimp on the meat either. Lots more delicious sounding sandwiches to work my way through and the pizza (which I haven't tried yet) always looks tempting. Haven't tried the gelato, but I understand that it is homemade as well. For the poor souls that work in the Union Station area, this place has to succeed. Only complaint so far was they downgraded the chips from Route 11 Chips to Utz from my first visit to second. I hope they bring back quality potato chips.

I was at Good Stuff for the first time in a while and noticed that the burgers seemed smaller than I remember them. I usually get the burger formerly know as the 5 Napkin and now called Sunnyside Up (There must have been some trademark issue with 5 Napkin Burger in NYC here). I definitely did not feel like it was a $7 burger. Having been disappointed with the fries too many times, I ordered just burger and shake, so it came to about $13 for the burger and shake, but I definitely agree with the assessment of the shake.

Haven't been to Poste in awhile and we are heading there tomorrow with some friends visiting from out of town. Would appreciate thoughts on two questions:

1) Any standouts on the menu that cannot be missed (whether it be cocktails, apps, entrees, or dessert)?

2) Are nice jeans with a dressier shirt suitable for attire there?

Thanks.

Heading up to Olney Theatre on Sat night. I am taking my wife to the ballet up there for her birthday and am looking for the top 2 or 3 options for dining close to their or between Wheaton and Olney (if there is something better on the way). Thanks in advance.

Was there today for lunch for the first time. As many have observed, line snaked down Penn. Ave., while the line actually inside the restaurant was no more than 10 people long. Only burger place, I have ever been to with a bouncer at the door. Fortunately, it was the coolest day we have had in awhile.

After planning on ordering the generic "Lunch Bag" (Cheeseburger, Fries, and a Drink), my eyes caught one of the line cooks preparing the 5 Napkin Burger. As he put the top bun on, the yolk from the fried egg dripped down the side of the burger and I was sold.

I would say the burger was slighlty tastier and juicier than 5 guys, but the bun, cheese, bacon, sauce, and egg (which is not even an option at 5 guys) were much better. Haven't yet been to Ray's, but with Palena being in a league of it's own, I would like to compare this to Urban Burger (which I haven't been to in awhile). I think that would be a close call so I have to swing back by Urban this weekend.

Fries were way better than 5 Guys. I feel like 5 Guys fries taste like your ingesting peanut oil. These had a slight crisp to them with the perfect amount of oil and I loved the cracked pepper on them. That put them over the edge for me.

Not sure what happened with the fries, but I ordered a large fries. Got to my table and the bag seemed somewhat small and was pretty much the same as what my friends had who ordered smalls. I went down to Spike and told him I ordered a large. He said "no problem" and came back with the same size bag (could have even been the same bag but I could not see) this time filled to the top. I am guessing he just topped off my bag, but I still seriously doubt that it was large. Has anyone ordered the large fries that could confirm what I should have gotten.

No shake this time. Something to look forward to to next time.

I definitely will be back maybe on an every other week rotation as its a 15 minute walk from my office, but is clearly far better than anything else close to my office with the possible exception of Tacqueria Nacionale.

Poste has private rooms that can accomodate that group.

Went there this weekend. We were coming from Silver Spring and meeting friends from the District so it was great halfway point. I guess there is a free parking lot accross the street (they have signs on each side of the building), but the fact that the building is on a corner of three streets intersecting made it difficult to find. We ended up having two park about two blocks down Georgia. Oh well!

It's definitely one of those places you really want to like. It's very nice inside and it was good to see that they were pretty busy. There was plenty of diversity among the customers there which is also nice to see in a DC restaurant. When we checked in with the hostess, she asked if we would like to hang our coat. I said sure and she pointed to a coat rack by the restrooms. Not a big deal but I think it's always a nice gesture to take the customers coat.

We were seated at a great table and our server was extremely attentive throughout the meal. They brought a bread basket that included a biscuit (with bacon and cheese), a muffin, and one other bread that I can't recall. They had two butters that unfortunatley were not described to us (one was on the garlicky side and the other was nice and spicy).

The beer list was woefully disppointing. All macrobrews and the only imports were Stella and Red Stripe. I settled on a Bud.

On to the food, I started with a spinach salad served with bacon and chile spiced pecans. The pecans were great but there were only about 5 of them in the salad. The dressing was bland (so bland that I can't remember what it was). The bacon was practically non-existent. My wife had the garden salad to start and she had the same complaints about her salad dressing and also felt that the quality of the tomatoes and cucumbers was pretty bad.

Things did get better with the entrees. I got the African Grilled Prawns over tasso ham cheese grits with andouille sausage. The Prawns were cooked perfectly and huge. The grits were creamier than most grits I had but the flavor was delicious nonetheless and the sausage had the perfect bite. My wife had the gumbo (chicken, crab, and andouille sausage). I loved the gumbo. I having spent four years in New Orleans and I can rarely find gumbo to match what they have down there. It was hearty, spicy, and had the perfect amount of delicious rice served with it.

For dessert, we shared the pecan bourbon tart, which had nice crunchy texture from the pecans and a delicious crust.

Price. Very reasonable. Can't remember exactly, but I think it came in around $70 pre-tax (I had two beers and my wife had a glass of wine) that I didn't mention.

All in all, I look forward to seeing it improve with experience and hope to try it again soon.

While I don't have much to say about the food, Eggspectation makes a pretty decent bloody mary served in an Old Bay rimmed glass. My only complaint is the use of celery stalk as opposed to a pickled green bean.

In the city, Tabard Inn usually has a pretty solid bloody mary as well.

Tried to get a seat at Royal Mile last night for their sea chanty singing. After waiting in the bar area drinking beers and eating scotch eggs (delicious) for an hour, we gave up and decided to walk over to Nava Thai.

We arrived at 9:15 not realizing that they close at 9 pm. They told us they had closed but as we talked towards the door dejected, they offered to serve us. This was our second visit here and both times the dining room only had one other table taken. We used to be regulars at Ruan Thai, but we have now defected. Hopefully, it's only a matter of time before this place gets discovered.

Anyway, on our last visit we ordered the curry puffs, Pad See Ew, and penang curry all of which were delicious. They even prepared some steamed vegetables on the side that we specially requested for our toddler who was dining with us.

Last night, I started with the curry puffs again and then decided to try the Floating Market Noodle Soup filled with Noodles, Pork, Meatballs, and the Thai version of Cracklin. When asked how spicy I wanted it, I foolishly responded very spicy. It was probably one of the spiciest things I eated, but it was amazing and ate every drop (my face sweating the whole time). The broth had a sweet and spicy taste unlike anything I had ever had. My wife had the penangy curry again and loved it. A friend of ours had one of their clay pot dishes and said she hadn't eaten anything like it since their trip to Thailand this past summer and our other friend had a crispy pork dish, which was bursting with a sweet and spicy flavor (not as spicy as the soup) and fried texture.

At the end of the meal, not only were we so grateful that they decided to stay open longer just for us, but even more grateful for the delicious meal we had eaten.

Has anyone had brunch at the Royal Mile? We love the place, but haven't been for brunch and they don't have a brunch menu on their website. Also, does anyone know if brunch is as busy there as dinner. I'm trying to find somewhere in Silver Spring/Wheaton for a Saturday brunch this weekend for a large group. Thanks in advance.

My wife and I have been wanting to get to Kotobuki for ever. We were thinking of doing an early dinner there with the baby. Anyone know if they have high chairs?

You are certainly able to get tah digue at Moby Dick's. You just need to ask them. I do agree with Daniel K. though about Yekta's kabobs and mast-o-musir (yogurt with shallots). Just wish they could improve their bread to that of Moby Dick.

If you don't mind mail order, these are the best king cakes...

www.gambinos.com/

You can probably get next day delivery if necessary.

On your next visit, be sure to try the falafel. It is by far the best falafel I have eaten. Nice and crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. I almost always opt for the falafel sandwich with an assortment of toppings from the bar.

Also, we have brought home some of their frozen soups on occasion to keep for a quick meal. I think we have done split pea, chicken noodle, and minestrone. All of them taste almost as good as the ones my Jewish grandmother makes.

A good friend of mine tried to make a reservation for a party of 8 for Sat. and was told that they don't take reservations for parties larger than 6. Can anyone confirm this new policy? I am assuming it's new since I dined there with a party of 8 a couple of months ago.

My wife and I have been loyal to this place for awhile and have been surprised that it does not get more attention. On our last visit, I also had the Pork Lechon. My wife loves the same snapper dish and Fricasse de Pollo. The Bistec Palmilla and Bistec Empanizada (kind of like a cuban chicken fried steak) are always delicious. There is not much to boast about on the appetizers other than the plantain chips with mojo sauce.

I was there today eating the same thing. I had a similar feeling, but a little tabasco definitely adds something to the sandwich. And I love that they serve them with Zapp's as they are nearly impossible to find around here. If only they had the Spicy Crawtators flavor. I look forward to returning to try the Brisket Po' Boy.

Johnny's Half Shell opened today. That's a solid option.