grover

Finally Escoffier and I had a chance to eat at this place. Sul Leung Tang for him and Ox Tail Soup for me. They listed 5 different Sul Leung Tangs (combination, meat, intestine, knee cartilage and Ox Tail) like Pho. Their version of Ox Tail Soup is a just a bowl of Sul Leung Tang with 3 tail pieces, which is very different than I experienced in Seoul a long time ago: marinate tail pieces and boil them in beef broth. I wouldn't say Gom Tang E's Ox Tail Soup is bad but not as interesting as I thought. The Sul Leung Tang was very good. It was almost as good as Gamasot. Their Kimchi was good but no Bahn Chan (except Kimchi - radish and cabbage - and raw cabbage leaves in a basket)!

So far I think that this place is similar to Gamasot and Gom Ba Woo, however, I need to try them a couple of more times before I give a final verdict.

Oyster and pork? Sounds like Bossam (Steamed pork belly with raw oyster and kimchi stuffing) to me.

Matt, is this only one weekend event?

The cabbage crisis is happening in Japan now. Chinese cabbages will be imported to Japan to control the cabbage price so it will be over soon.

Escoffier and I came here again last night to celebrate our 10th anniversary with friends. The service was impeccable and the dishes were excellent.

We did our usual "Feed us" order that we don't know what is coming for us. Jameson, who joined us first time, was willing to follow our way and enjoyed a lot. We all had Prosecco provided by Nancy and the same amuse bouche (Carne Cruda). The four courses and a dessert after that, wow, I couldn't eat all of them. Chef Donna, please pardon me that I couldn't finish your dishes because of my small-sized stomach. I had a greatest agony between my tongue and stomach last night. Antonio served me Tuna Tartar, Chestnut soup, Branzino, Filetto Di Vitello and gelato(not semi freddo) with paired wines. All of them were excellent.

I loved the blood orange flavour from the Tuna tartar. The earthy flavour from the Chestnut Soup soothed me at the first taste. Branzino was melting in my mouth. Filetto Di Vitelo was very impressive because it is not just a simple steak. It was sauteed so there was no burned mark and the meat with veal jus was melting.

Nancy is the most wonderful and sweetest hostess I've ever seen. I think Chef Donna is a lucky man because he is a one of a most talented chef and has a devoted wife. I truly wish his business flourish.

You can rent a kitchen from Sur La Table and have your own party. Click here.

Another one, you can find out from the recreation centers in Alexandria City.

The lobster dish I had is Aragosta e Calamari (stuffed squid and butter poached lobster tail). I realized that the stuffed squid was shown in Chef Donna's return match on Iron Chef America.

It should be called as a Cabbage Crisis, however, the price of the cabbages have a severe impact on the price of Kimchi because cabbage is the major ingredient. Normally restaurants don't charge for unlimited refills of Kimchi but the current situation has made the people pay $2.00 per small plate of Kimchi in many restaurants in Seoul. Actually it is not Kimchi making season yet. It is too warm to make Kimchi for the Winter time. The ideal Winter Kimchi timing would be between mid November and mid December. According to the article from a Korean Newspaper, the cabbage price will go down to $2.00 by the end of this month.

Ming Tsai is on the current season as a contestant. I don't know his actual Chinese name but he pronounces Tsai like "sigh." I always thought his English name meant "famous dish" in Chinese.

It could be 蔡 明.

My parents always send a box from their trees in Florida - they have the big squishy kind and the firm Fuyu kind. I've frozen the pulp for later use in persimmon quickbread. For the really ripe ones, this isn't really a recipe, but you can put them in the freezer until they are slushy, cut off the top, then spoon out the "sorbet." Delicious. The firm, squat-shaped ones are nice additions to salads with vinaigrettes.

You know how to eat it. However, do not eat a lot at a time. It will cause constipation.

The Taste of Bethesda was held today between 11:00 - 4:00. I arrived there a bit early so I went to Georgetown Cupcakes and bought some cupcakes. I tried the mint-cookie cupcake and it is very tasty. I ate the spicy tuna rolls from Matuba Sushi, Gumbo from Louisiana Kitchen and Bayou Bar, Paella from Jaleo, a Chicken Satay skewer from Penang Malaysian Cuisine, and Vanilla ice cream from Hagen Daaz. All of them were very good. Was anybody else there today?

I finally got a chance to eat here after I had a good time at the Taste of Bethesda this afternoon. I ordered the short rib meal (Galbi + cold noodle) and my friend ordered spicy tofu stew. I can't say the short rib was superior to Yechon or Woo Lae Oak but it was very tasty. The tofu stew was very delicious. I think it is more flavorful than Lighthouse's stew. Another thing, quality of the ban chan was way more than average. Thank you Dean for writing about this place. Without your recommendation I wouldn't have found out how good this place is.

Have anybody experienced wines from Prejean winery? I think it is better than Fox Run.

I have very old series cookbooks from Time Life magazine. I use The Cooking of French Provence among them a lot.

I like The Kitchen Diaries: A Year in the Kitchen with Nigel Slater, too. It is his diary combined with recipes, which is not only a good cookbook but also a good reading material.

I made dinenr for Full moon harvest day: (The photos I used are the samples)

Goo-Jul Pan

Taro and beef soup

Short rib stew

Shrimp and crab meat pancake

Stir-fried Chive, beef and veggies (Jap-chae without cellophane noodle)

Soo-Jung-Gwa (cinnamon and ginger drink)

Yak-Sik

Kimchi, definately.

(If you're new to Korean food, you should probably ask Grover for a recommendation and plan on going to Annandale, the home of everything Korean in Northern VA).

Or Dean Gold.

Mandu is probably the only Korean restaurant owned by the chef. I admire Chef Lee's elaboration and passion for cooking. Only one thing I would like to suggest her is to make seafood pancake chunky because I would like to chew something.

I tried Le Creuset store at Leesburg Premium Outlet 2 years ago but its discount rate didn't beat the TJ Maxx's or HomeGood's rates. I finally got the Le Creuset red color wide Dutch oven (I have 3.5 QT and 5 QT) at HomeGoods Kingstowne location so my Dutch Oven hunting is over. Not only Le Creuset items but also Rosenthal china or Mauviel copper pots are shown sometimes so I usually go there for bargain hunting.

Escoffier and I became almost regulars for this store. We don't buy a lot here but always stop by and say hello to the manager Salena Zellers whenever we eat at Brabo restaurant or the tasting room. It is close to my house and has friendly service as well as quality products. I purchased cured meats, cheeses and wines and all of them were wonderful. I used to go to Balducci's to get slices of serrano ham but not any more.

I finally found a good bing-su (red bean paste on top of shaved ice) place after Yo Fruit has gone away. According to my Korean connections, it is affilated with Yechon. I think it is very good idea that people eat dinner at Yechon and have a dessert the next door. We stopped by there and ordered bing-su. Service was very good and the bing-su was tasty. A bowl of bing-su is enough for two. They have 4 different kinds of bing-su; red bean, fruit, yogurt and gelato. I will try yogurt bing-su next time.

It's the same location that used to have a giant golden cow on the sign. It is accessible from the Giant parking lot, and has its back to Columbia Pike---sort of across the street from Honey Pig, but facing away from it. We had lunch there today and enjoyed the black pork belly (#3) and a ojingu dosolt bibimbap, (#15). Both dishes were particularly nice. They don't seem to do table grilling at lunch time, but we can't complain because the pork belly slices made in the kitchen were so good. Some of them were so crispy you could have passed them off as deep fried. The dosolt dish came out with a nice crust of crisped rice already formed on the bottom. The well-oiled stone pot was so hot that it was able to crisp a second layer of rice. This was served with a soy/scallion sauce rather than the usual hot bean paste. We applied it judiciously; the entire dish of the sauce would have made the rice too salty for my taste. Banchan were decent, not outstanding, but considerably better than the sad offering at Honey Pig. (I love Honey Pig, but the banchan are weak.)

Grover's $4.99 lunch special didn't seem to exist on our menu, but the dishes were $7.99 and $9.99, very reasonable for what they were.

Grover, thanks for providing the address. We would never have found it with just the name--the sign is not transliterated yet.

PollyG, sorry about the incorrect information. I copied the price from a Korean Restaurant guide website but guessed it is outdated. It is interesting to hear that you've got soy/scallion sauce other than hot bean paste. Not sure why but you could have asked hot bean paste if you preferred.

I also use short grain steamed rice (currently koshihikari from California), still warm from the cooker. I use the technique one of my Japanese friends taught me: have dishes of water and salt set nearby, wet and salt your hands, dig out a wodge of rice the size you want your rice ball, shape it into a loose ball, make a pocket in the middle and put in whatever filling you want, form the rice around the center. Wrap in seaweed if you want, or just in plastic and keep the seaweed separate until it's time to eat if you prefer crisp seaweed. I use pickled plums, tuna salad, or flaked cooked salmon (canned in a pinch) for fillings.

You make onigiris, right?

Honey Pig in Ellicott City?

(In Annandale, I'd vote Honey Pig or Annangol for adventurous diners (Yechon slightly less so, but it's a nice atmosphere; the relatively expensive Han Gang also has Korean BBQ, but I've never had it there), and don't forget Il Mee for a more timorous crowd. For a first-timer, I'd think about Woo Lae Oak in Tysons Corner (and also about stopping by the ATM beforehand.))

What is Chung Gai-Dam?! I thought I knew 'em all.

Cheers,

Rocks

We don't go to MD often so I don't have much idea about Korean restaurants there... My best experience was Da Rae Won in Beltsville serving Korean-Chinese cuisine. However, I read the some posts regarding Honey Pig Ellicott city. It sounds very good.

Chung Dai-Gam (means Sir Chung) is a charcoal BBQ place with formal atmosphere. I saw a lot of American family coming there. Lunch special is $4.99.

I think you have the right idea. Korean BBQ always appeals to the beginners. I would recommend Chung Dai-Gam (7215 Columbia Pike Annandale, VA 22003 703-894-0431) for BBQ because it is the only charcoal BBQ place in Annandale, VA. The taste is very good and the price is good, too. It has more formal atmosphere than Honey Pig. Yechon is also a good place to go because it provides very good bahn-chans. For an all-you can-eat place, I would recommend Hee-Been. You might have read the posts raving about the restaurant.

Actually Han-Sung Oak has an unique style of Korean BBQ, their seafood pancake is tasty and service is quite excellent. Did I give you enough choices?

Skipper10,

I never got your emails. I will PM you later.

I would like to introduce "The Art of Eating" magazine by Edward Behr. It is published 4 times a year. It is a bit pricy ($48 per year) so I purchase back-issues some times. This magazine is about the best food and wine in the world. I would like to share the thoughts if anybody already experienced this magazine.