Sundae in the Park

We went to India City Grill for lunch today and were quite impressed. A couple of the dishes were extraordinary, and the rest were quite good. The dal, which I often feel is a throw-away (particularly on a buffet), was second only to the smokey-buttery goodness served up by Heritage India. The Goa Fish Curry was wonderful, with pieces of tender salmon in a slightly-sweet, very complex curry, on par with Raaga at their peak. The Chicken Makhani was one of the best we've had, with dark meat chicken in a makhani sauce that was deeply layered, rich, with just enough sweetness. The offerings were generous for $10, including chat papri, three types of pakora (spinach, cauliflower and some type of squash), aloo matar, rogan josh, a mixed vegetable curry, galub jamon and carrot halwa (forgive my spelling), along with fresh nann served at the table. We'll definitely be back.

Sounds great! Can't wait to try it. Did you happen to get a sense of whether the weekend buffet is significantly different from the weekday buffet, a la Minerva?

We usually go to Jaipur on Lee Highway. In the past, we were fans of Minerva, but not since we've found Jaipur. Indian City Grill on Main Street was supposed to be started by Connaught Alumni - but we haven't visited yet.

Jaipur - 9401 Lee Hwy

Indian City Grill - in the old Brasa Roja spot on Main Street between Roberts and Burke Station Road

Minerva - Lee Hwy & University Dr

I like Jaipur for service and decor, but I like Minerva's food better. Jaipur always has coupons in the local Clipper magazine, though. Woodlands in FFX is also good, particularly if you want vegetarian food and dosas. Delhi Club is great rec for North Arlington and there is a coupon for DC from this year's Entertainment book (been meaning to get back over there...)

It isn't bad as a brunch place, either. With a big group, it really doesn't hurt to have 10 different variations of eggs benedict PLUS lunchtime options and lot of pie and cake. When we called to make reservations, they told us, "Sorry, we don't do a brunch." Which was met rather quizzically by our, "Isn't the whole menu available all day and night?" When answered, "of course!" we told them that we were coming in, then, for breakfastlunchdinnermidnightsnack at 11 AM.

Note 1: their drinks are very, very weak. Both in terms of alcoholic content (presumably, based on taste) and in terms of their mixology. Watery, weak juice will kill any breakfast aspirations of championhood.

Note 2: They are quite busy during brunch time. There was a small line continuously formed during our 11 AM-1 PM weekend window.

The dish that calls to me from across the river is the szechwan chili fish. It is similar to Peter Chang's bamboo basket preparation, fried mild white fish (tilapia?) is finished with scallions and what Fuchsia Dunlop calls a small rice bowl of dried chilies. The fish absorbs the flavor of the chili as well as the heat. I like to eat it with a chili in each bite, the combination of sweet and salty crispy fish, hot peppers and scallions is truly addictive. The ma po tofu is very good. Other dishes I have tried have not been as memorable.

We've been eating the chili fish a lot lately, in addition to our standby eggplant hot pot and diced fish with pine nuts. It makes for a flavor- and heat-packed meal. I was getting takeout quite regularly but recently, we dropped by for an in-person meal. Wow! Quite a difference in attention to spicing (the eggplant had been getting greasy and bland-ish [hot without depth of flavor]) and cooking times (no more overcooked fish). Now we are strict dine-in people.

I made the reservations just before I found out that the Post's (glowing, I was sure) review would come out a few days before my event. I worried that the restaurant wouldn't be able to handle the onslaught and thought about cancelling, but the developing menu had caught my imagination and we went ahead with the rehearsal dinner as planned. We spent more time with the manager talking over the menu than we did for our actual wedding!

I'd been a little concerned that the back tables wouldn't be private enough for a party, and there was an incident where some of our guests thought we were part of birthday party at the last big table (some interesting pictures were taken, as a result), but we mostly felt that we were in our own space and didn't bother (I think)/weren't bothered the other diners.

We ate the imperial rolls, fresh vegetarian rolls, the Thanksgiving duck, shaking beef, shrimp on pineapple, fried rockfish, spicy fried tofu, smoked eggplant in fish sauce, and finished up with fruit plates. Everything was carefully prepared (beautifully fried! deeply flavored! expertly seasoned! served hot! meat still tender and nary an overcooked bite!) and thoughtfully presented. Both tables were taken care of with attentive service. I can't say enough good things about the food, service, and atmosphere (we had many remarks on the shiny new, pretty interior). Our mostly out-of-town guests were delighted by the exotic banquet and we were allowed to play the carefree, beaming hosts for a perfect evening. The food was even better (more attention paid to the seasoning) than it had been in our last few sampling visits! I had been worried, but Present brought its A+ game and delivered fantastic results. Thanks to Austin, Kevin, and the whole team for taking such good care of us and making us all feel so welcome.

Well of course that's always an option. But when I go I was planning to order another entree, an appetizer and dessert. I just didn't want to end up with an obscene amount of leftovers...

Don't forget, I think you need to order that duck at least a day in advance.

Are you doing the same or similar banquet? If so, please report your thoughts!

PS The "Thanksgiving" duck!!!!!

It's a pretty big (and picky) group, so we're going to streamline from the banquet you did! Still, we are definitely going to ask for the duck and have the rockfish and flaming beef and at least one type of fried roll (loved the pineapple-as-a-delivery-mechanism presentation!). So I guess after adding shellfish (if you could only have one shellfish-featuring dish that must please a crowd, what would that be?), vegetable, rice, and noodle dishes and we're pretty much there!! I'll report back on the aftermath.

In today's Ask Tom chat Sietsema saids his review of "Present" will be published on May 24.

Oh crap! I decided to go with my event there (Thanks for the input, Joe!)...later that week. Hope it won't be too much of a madhouse.

Daniel, it was $70 prix fixe which I thought was an incredible bargain for an extraordinary dinner at this level.

Joe, your banquet sounds amazing! May I ask where you were sitting? Is the downstairs banquet space available yet or did you sit at the round tables in the back? If so, how was the atmosphere? I have some concerns about holding a formal meal at those tables due to server traffic.

Thanks.

I grew up eating the Worthington brand of mock meat products. While I don't care for any of the roast-type products, I adore the vegeburger for use in dishes. It makes a mean vegetarian wonton or potsticker filling, and is great in fried rice. I also like the vegechili. As a main dish, however, I don't really like any of the mock meats. If you like this brand, it's typically 30-40 percent cheaper at the Potomac ABC than it is at Safeway or Wal-Mart (the only places I remember seeing them outside of ABCs). If the brand of item you want is on sale (changes every month), buying by the case = quite a steal.

Prices have gone up a bit, so instead of a screaming bargain it's just a good value.

Since I'm always such a cheerleader on this thread, I will agree with this to bring some balance. Since I usually get the same dishes, it's very easy to see incremental prices changes. The chili cod, in particular, has gone up several dollars ($3, I believe) since I first started eating it a few years ago. I've noticed less creep ($1, I think) on the noodle dishes. Everthing is still well worth the price, though.

Caught the jazz brunch a few weeks ago for my first visit here. We got there at 11 am, but it was already packed! I like the dining room's warm, neutral colors and rounded inner walls, but it was weird to be walking back and forth from the buffet in a more upscale restaurant, especially once the waiting area started to fill up and we had to push past them to get back to our table (in the bar area).

Lots of decent steam-table brunch fare: crunchy french toast, potatoes, fruits, various salads and meat roasts (turkey, ham, and beef) with amazing cheezy grits (more cheese, butter, and salt than you'd ever allow at home, such that they could pretty much stand up on their own, and sheer heaven) and a to-order egg/omelet station. The middle "course", which is a served entree, is usually packed to go, so I took home the turkey meatloaf because I thought it would suffer least in being transported and eaten later. It was...ok. Kind of dry (could have been the transport factor) and not very flavorful (not the transport factor). I wanted to try meatloaf and I'm not sure this was a good introduction, but the collard greens were great!

The dessert table was mostly cakey things, cookies, and bits you could dip in the chocolate fountain. I liked the fountain items for their novelty (chocolate dipped rice krispie treat!!!), but the desserts I tried - a brownie? thing and a lemon tart-like square - were pretty dry and very sweet.

It's a LOT of food and the atmosphere is buzzing. An interesting experience.

It's still as good as ever. Chili cod, pad se ew, and fried catfish; yum, yum, and mildly spicy yum. If you're bypassing Thai Square for now, go here!!!

Plus the servers got snazzy, new, gold-accented outfits. Shiny!

I like this place. The kubideh has a real distinct taste compared to Moby Dick's (which has really slipped in the last 3 or 4 years IMO). if only they had better bread.

I agree, they serve an excellent, fluffy, LARGE mound of rice with your kabobs, and the kubideh is tender, juicy and not overcooked. The chicken kabobs are also flavorful and juicy. I'm not a fan of the pile of raw onions, but that's just me, and I really like the grilled tomato, but wish there were more of it. I also like that they take everything off the stick for you, which is not always the case at other places.

The flat, thin bread is a disappointment if you're expecting a fresh piece of naan- or pita-like bread, but they give you quite a lot of it!

Apparently service can be quite slow (they don't seem to have many people working at lunch, anyway), so it might be smart to call ahead for carry out, as we saw quite a few people picking their food up.

We went to see the space and try the food last night, and came away very pleased. We tried three of the four kinds of rolls (the fried ones, naturally). The summer roll is nice, very porky, reminding me strongly of lumpia, but eclipsed by the autumn roll, which is also full of of pork with a smidge of shrimp? It has that beautiful latticework roll that feels greaseless but is very crunchy. We also tried the dessert roll - the winter roll, which is an assortment of chopped fruits in vanilla icream, wrapped like a spring roll, and fried. Strange, but good in an interesting way. Sort of Asian meets Eamonn's.

We had the shaking beef, grilled eggplant with fish sauce, and tuna something something swimming with the mangoes? (the names are fanciful and funny, but kind of hard to remember). The beef was flavorful and NOT OVERCOOKED (still reddish inside), served with onions on a bed of cress. I really liked the big plate of smoky eggplant with lots of mild, pleasant fish sauce, but my companion kept remarking "how smoky" it was. Or course, he kept eating it, so make of that what you will. This dish would have been slightly boring on its own, as the waitress warned me, but with the beef over some rice it made a fantastic combination. The tuna was a steak, pan-fried, served over shredded GREEN mango (a surprise, but fine) and covered with more fish sauce. The fry job was great - crispy edges without totally overcooking the fish and the mango provided a slightly tart accompaniment. All presentations were colorful (vegetable rosettes), clean (not overly fussy, but lots of carrot pickle!), and pretty.

The service cracked me up - the waitresses were exceedingly attentive and volunteered suggestions to the point of pushiness. Still, everyone was extremely welcoming and spoke decent to excellent English, which is a nice change for an Asian restaurant. We spoke to a manager and they are working on building a banquet space downstairs, with completion expected in the next couple of months and plans to seat up to 100 guests.

Hi All,

Does anybody know of lower key restaurants with private rooms or areas that can be cordoned off for dinner for 10-15 people? We're looking for Asian (Thai or Vietnamese), Italian, or nicer American food to accomodate picky eaters. It would be nice if there wasn't an extra fee to use the room, but we understand if that's not realistic. Looking for a moderate price point, to top out at ~$50/person/all inclusive. Fairfax/Vienna area would be ideal, but we're willing to branch out for great food. Does Ray's the Classics have a small private room? We were also considering taking a side area at Mihn's...Now I'm wondering about the new 4 Sisters and Present...

Thanks!!!

There is no bar (but I wish there was), and from my understanding you have to sit in a seat, any seat, to get the Bistro special. But I can not speak for management, only flip the occasion verbal bird at them . My future father in law loves Ray's, his recent visit promted the following comment "And the Steak place was just what a steak place

should be. Noisy and lots of food. Your guidance helped us enjoy that Blue Crab dish".

BTW Specials this week included Lamb Chops, Crab Royal, the Bistro steal special, and a few others, ask your wait staff they are very helpful

Excellent information, thanks! Can't wait to get over there...

Great meal at the new space last night. Wonderful service. despite running 2-3xs as many covers per night as the old place. Steaks were top notch, the bistro special was soup or salad, hanger or scallops and dessert for 24 bucks, GREAT DEAL. Parking was validated and there were many new wait staff. All the wine is back in stock.

Do you have to sit somewhere specific to get the bistro special (e.g., the bar area - is there one?)? Thanks.

Chalk our household on the "heartily approve" side of the dark chocolate sea salt caramels. The salt crunch makes the treat and we love...er, loved them. Next year we'll have to buy more so they last (slightly) longer!!!

They had a lot up here. I'll tell them to send them south to you! Generally, I like salty stuff but this was just too much.

When I asked the cashier his opinion of the sea salt caramels, he warned me specifically that they were very salty. And that they usually sold out very quickly.

A rant on a different item - they are always out of the plain naan! Which means we can't eat curry! (I'm completely serious.)

I've gotten the pork and it's pretty good. For some reason it tastes not quite as good as the same product sold sliced to order at Arrowine.

Good to know (both about the pork pate and the reminder about Arrowine - I haven't been there in ages)! I ended up grabbing a tub of the non-pork, with mushrooms. I don't really care for the aspic layer, but the pate itself was quite nice, very smooth, and went well on the mini toasts.

I don't know off the top-of-my-head, but I'm replying to say that I'll report back after this week's shopping at the local Asian markets. I did see somewhere once about steaming them, but was not sure if that referred to steaming frozen chow foon, or something else. How are you thawing and cooking them? What brand & what ingredients or preservatives used? That can play a part in the gumminess, as well as the heat on the stove, when you're putting them in, and so on and so forth.

I think I've just left them out to defrost on the counter, and I believe my mom would soak them in warm water. Then stir or pan fry with veg and meat over high heat. Neither technique works particularly well, texturewise. I would welcome cooking suggestions!!! Surely the restaurants don't always stock or make fresh noodles, so there must be a way to revive them!

I don't recall any specific brand or logo - we would just get whatever was available, and there usually wasn't a selection.

Does anyone know where to get chow foon/fun (or any other thick rice noodles) fresh around here? Bonus if in the Fairfax/Vienna area. If they're available at Super H, I can't find them. Frozen just doesn't cut it. Alternately, if you know how to revive the frozen noodles so they don't taste gummy and break apart, that would be great!!

'Tis the season of oily comfort goodness!

Tonight, I roasted cauliflower in garam masala for about 20 min at 475 degrees, turning once. I usually roast it with different spices, but I really liked the way it absorbs the cumin/turmeric flavors.

I love the egullet roasted cauliflower preperation (thinly sliced roasting) with assorted curry spices. Last time, I roasted extra, then added it to a pot with stock, milk, more florets, and a potato, with a liberal addition of more curry spices, a ton of pepper, and a touch of sugar. Puree and voila! A wonderful winter soup.

Or, perhaps, they are founded on the principle of "utility maximization" which may include not only cash profits, but the various satisfactions that may come with self-ownership, "artistic freedom," trail-blazing and social change and other miscellaneous contributors to personal satisfaction.

One assumes that all business owners expect to earn return on their investment, but I would suggest that opening a restaurant -- indeed any effort to expand the commercial base beyond check-cashing shops and liquor stores -- is indeed a social service and contributes to the desireability and vitality of a neighborhood, bringing with it a variety of social benefits.

Right, somewhat along the lines of "green" investment. The profits now may not the same as investing in blue chips, but the investment model is forward-looking and the investor presumably derives some of the other benefits mentioned above in the meantime. So....go Michael! He is a far better man than most for putting his $, time, pride, etc. where his mouth is.