Saycheese

Actually, this is a disturbing trend at the Eden Center -- more and more chain restaurants are taking space there. ViVi Bubble Tea recently opened there, and Mango Mango and Little Sheep Hot Pot are also chains. I hope the mom and pop places that give the Eden Center its character don't get squeezed out.

I am looking for a nice bottle of rhum agricole for a friend's birthday. Can anyone recommend a store in the DC area where I might be able to find something special/unique? Failing that, i would also appreciate any on-line sources. Thanks very much.

Ate at Range on Friday night, and was pleasantly surprised to see Master Sommelier Kathy Morgan, working there. The wine list has a lot of reasonably priced selections. The fried brussel sprouts were fabulous, and the venison very tender and tasty. Can't wait to try the rabbit roulade next time. Had the banana bread pudding with chocolate stout ice cream -- it was okay, but one of the other desserts came with an intense dark chocolate sorbet that was over the top delicious. I agree with some of the comments that some of the dishes seem a little skimpy -- the crudo we ordered, for example, was only 4 very small, thin slices of fish -- very high quality but seemed a little skimpy.

Three of us had dinner at Tanpopo on Sunday evening (first time for all of us), and liked it very much. Note that during January, they are offering sake at 20% off. The sake we tried was called Drunken Whale, and it was delicious. For appetizers, we had edamame, shiu mai, and gyoza, to start, and they were all tasty. The gyoza were piping hot and not at all greasy. The shiu mai were fine but nothing special. Then we had the spicy beef ramen, pork belly ramen, and the third I think was vegetarian. All were delicious and very substantial. We were impressed by the differences in flavors among the three kinds of broth. The spicy beef ramen broth tasted really rich and meaty, whereas the vegetarian broth was very mild and subtle. The pork belly ramen broth was lighter than the spicy beef broth, but very satisfying. We got 1 portion of spicy sauce ($1 extra), which was plenty for the two of us who had the beef and pork ramen. The spicy beef ramen was not very spicy on its own. In fact, a Korean couple near us appeared to complain to the server that it wasn't spicy at all, so the server brought out some of the spicy sauce for them. We used a Living Social voucher, and I just saw that they are currently offering another one. We'll definitely go back again.

Does anyone have any recent comments? I am going to CityZen for the first time soon and looking forward to it. Thanks.

Lost Dog Cafe on Washington Blvd. is open until 11. Lyon Hall in Clarendon. XO Taste at Route 50 and Patrick Henry. Honey Pig in Annandale. Some other Korean restaurants in Annandale are open 24 hrs.

Coincidentally, Eggies were featured in the New York Times business section last Sunday as a rare example of an amateur invention that succeeds. The boiled eggs don't come out completely egg-shaped, however. They have a flat side, so it looks like 3/4 of an egg. It's a neat idea anyway.

Kushi serves until 1:00 am on Friday and Saturday. They are on K Street NW between 4th & 5th and near the Mt. Vernon Square metro (green) and Gallery Place metro (green, red, yellow). I'm not sure how late metro runs on weekends. Ardeo + Bardeo also serves late on Saturday nights, and it's right by the metro (Cleveland Park? Woodley Park?) -- on Connecticut Ave. across from the Uptown movie thater. 701 and Zaytinya also serve late. If you look on Open Table, there are a surprising number of places with tables available after 11 pm on a Saturday night.

I had a good meal at Merzi on Friday. I got the tandisserie chicken on rice, with medium-hot sauce, and chickpeas. I found the chicken (leg and thigh) to be very moist and tender, and the medium-hot sauce had plenty of zing. The chickpeas were also tasty, and I don't normally like chickpeas because they are too often mushy. I thought these had a nice firm texture and plenty of seasoning. I also thought the portion size was more than ample. I would definitely try it again -- this was the first time I had been there. My only complaint was the take-out container was flimsy, and the lid didn't stay on -- they had to tape it with scotch tape, and I wasn't sure it would make it back to my office without leaking. Also, the container is made out of cardboard, and it "sweated' all over my desk. I'm all in favor or recyclable containers, but in this case, it wasn't very useful. I'd rather get a reusable plastic take-out container.

A BJ's recently opened in Arlington on Wilson Boulevard near Seven Corners. They have huge packages of meat, like racks of spare ribs and baby back ribs, various cuts of beef, etc. and fruits and vegetables. Does anyone have any feedback on the quality of the meat and produce at BJs? The food section is pretty extensive, and they carry some well known brands of organic products. Just wondering if it's worth while to get a membership if you only rarely need to buy huge quantities of things.

Last night, while toiling away in my office at 9:15 pm, I took a break and saw a posting on-line (at another local foodie website) noting that in honor of International Champagne Day, Proof was offering half-price glasses of Dom Perignon, Cristal, and Krug for lunch and dinner on Oct. 28. Not having eaten dinner yet and feeling deprived and beleaguered, I quickly finished what i was doing and raced over to 8th & G. Unfortunately, they were not offering Krug, but did indeed have Dom Perignon and Cristal by the glass for $25 and $30, respectively. The plate of house made terrines and pates that I ordered went very well with the Dom Perignon, and was an ample and satisfying meal. My only criticism was that they did not pour the champagne at the table (I was at one of the small bar tables, so I could see it being poured at the bar). Note to self -- mark October 28 on calendar for next year. Kudos to Proof for honoring International Champagne Day -- I hope others follow suit.

I was at Kushi on Saturday night, and saw a permit application in the window of an undeveloped space next door for Mandu. Is Mandu moving or expanding?

I agree with the last most recent post from May -- this restaurant deserves more attention. I enjoyed a dinner with Mr. Saycheese last night at the bar, where we tried four of the appetizers -- peeky toe crab salad, jerk marinated foie gras, roasted baby beets and madai with aged soy sauce. Everything was beautifully presented, prepared spectacularly well, and delicious, with very complex and creative mixtures of flavors, and amazingly sophisticated sauces. For dessert, we had a deconstructed blueberry pie, with blueberry gelee and sour cream ice cream. I can't wait to return.

I had lunch recently at Founding Farmers, mainly to give them another chance after a previous dinner that was horrendously bad. As an example, the meat loaf was so dried out and stiff that it was unrecognizable and had to be sent back. I simply do not understand why this place is always packed -- maybe it's the huge portions that draws the crowds. The deviled egg platter that my companion and I split was mostly bland. The crab topping on two of the eggs seemed watery. The smoked salmon topping was the best because it had some flavor. I ordered the straw and hay pasta dish simmered in a "light, creamy broth with asparagus, bacon, mushrooms and peas," but what I got was a huge bowl of wide flat noodles that were stuck together in a doughy lump in a gluey cream sauce. After a few bites, I left it there on the table -- I did not have the time in the middle of a work day to send it back and try something else. Nor did the server ask if there was anything wrong with it. Oh, and we did get the whole LEED certified, sustainable, owned by Nebraska farmers speech, and a further speech about how Thomas Jefferson invented pasta, or a pasta maker, or something like that. It's all well and good for the Nebraska farmers to create a restaurant to promote sustainability and all that, but the food should be good and well prepared. They will not be getting any more of my money.

I recall that a place in Thurmont was known for serving "broasted" chicken -- remember Whitey's in Arlington (now Tallulah)? Google revealed that the Thurmont Kountry Kitchen received the Broaster Company's Golden Chicken Award in 2005. I'm not sure if the Kountry Kitchen is still in business and I've never been there to vouch for it, but it might be worth investigating.

Harumph. I'm glad you enjoyed your XO Taste dinner, Don. Last night I planned to get my usual take out fave from XO Taste -- the Good Deal Chow Foon. But when I arrived around 8:45, they said their power had just gone out and no further cooking was being done until the power was restored. So no good luck with the good deal chow foon. Fortunately, Hong Kong Palace is nearby, and provided a pleasing substitute -- dan dan noodles, spicy Zhong's spring dumplings, and sichuan ribs.

Metro Center covers a broad area. The restaurant choices are better going towards Gallery Place/Penn Quarter. A lot of places in that direction have good lunch specials -- Proof , 701, Oya come to mind. Jaleo and Zaytinya are good for lunch. The Spy Cafe is actually pretty good and cheap, but full of tourists. Central is at 11th & Pennsylvania, Ten Penh is at 10th & Pennsylvania -- unless you have a reservation, it is best to avoid the noon to 1:00 hour. The bar at Tosca (F between 11th & 12th) is nice. Chinatown is close -- Nando's Peri Peri on 7th is inexpensive. Cowgirl Creamery on F Street between 9th & 10th has ready-made sandwiches, or you can buy a baguette and some cheese and charcuterie for a do it yourself sandwich or picnic. FroZenYo on F between 10th & 11th is good for a snack or dessert. They have about a dozen flavors of self serve frozen yogurt, plus fresh fruit and other toppings also self serve and you pay by the ounce. Around Metro Center near 14th Street, there are more chain restaurants -- Mix't Greens, Devon & Blakely, Chop'd, Potbelly, etc. Chef Geoff's is on 13th -- it's okay, but nothing special. Oceanaire (very expensive) is across from the Shops at National Place.

Liberty Tavern has an awesome Sunday brunch buffet for $18 ($8 for kids). The variety and quality of the food is amazing -- several different salads, smoked salmon, a number of pork products including think cut bacon, sausage, and ham, plus roast pork loin or pork loin stuffed with dried fruit, vegetables, baked goods, desserts, and they bring you pancakes after you are seated. Usually brunch buffets are overpriced and/or the food tastes mass produced , but this was really outstanding. I highly recommend it for the next edition (NoVa) of the brunch guide. Reservations are recommended.

My husband and I ate at Kushi last night for the first time, thanks to a living social coupon. We arrived without a reservation at around 9:00 and were promptly seated at the grill bar. We focused solely on the grilled items, since this type of cuisine is relatively new in DC. Unlike others who have commented here, we had a really good experience -- I agree with Dean that the chicken with mentaiko was nothing special -- 3 large chunks of white meat with a tiny smudge of mentaiko on top. But the chicken was moist and cooked perfectly, and the mentaiko, what little there was, had good flavor. The stars of the evening were the fiddlehead ferns with sesame dressing, duck leg, quail stuffed with duck sausage, the grilled eggplant, pork belly with salt and with tare, and chicken meatballs -- very moist and well seasoned. The shishito pepper stuffed with pork was the last item we ordered, and it was the perfect ending -- two small peppers with a small ball of pork in the middle -- just a bite each, but perfect to end the savory part of the meal. The ice creams for dessert were amazing -- valrhona dark chocolate for $5, and ginger for $2.50. We wanted to try the sea salt ice cream as well, but there were out of it. We were quite full and very satisfied. We had the ice dome sake -- very nice refreshing cold sake from Hokkaido. We look forward to going back.

They were a special on the menu at Kushi last night.

Does anyone know of a restaurant or cooking school in Northern Virginia that offers cooking classes over the summer that a high school student might enjoy? Obviously, not L'Academie de Cuisine, given the N. VA limitation. Hands on or demonstration. Thanks very much.

Coincidentally, we spent the weekend in LA for a graduation, and had brunch at Campanile [Closed Nov 30, 2012], which has become our traditional LA brunch spot. Their eggs benedict are really good -- the eggs taste really fresh and flavorful all by themselves. They use really good applewood smoked bacon instead of ham, and very thick english muffins. All of the baked items are delicious, since I believe they come from the original La Brea Bakery [Chain sold to Aryzta in 2001] next door. The space is lovely during the day, because the restaurant is set in the glass-covered courtyard of what was once Charlie Chaplin's home. We had dinner at Matsuhisa for the first time in over 10 years, and it did not disappoint. Service at the counter was terrific, and they had many fresh fish choices flown in from Japan, including iwashi (sardines), live shrimp, and 2 kinds of scallops. We tried the uni shooter, tuna tartare with caviar, uni wrapped in whitefish with jalapeno sauce, the live shrimp, iwashi, kohada, scallops, soft shell crab with cactus salsa, bonito with cilantro dressing, and several other items. The only dish I would not order again is the uni shooter -- it consists of quite a lot of uni, with a quail egg, and some kind of sauce -- I think ponzu and a little sake. The sauce overwhelmed the flavor of the uni. The other uni dish we had was outstandingly beautiful and delicious. For dessert, the green tea tiramisu was very good. We probably over-ordered because so many things sounded good and are not available here, but overall, the price was very fair and in fact quite reasonable for the quality of the food and service. One dinner was at Wurstkuche -- an exotic sausage place downtown on East 3rd Street, near Little Tokyo. They have all kinds of grilled sausages, great french fries with about a dozen different dipping sauces, and about a dozen imported beers on tap, and more in bottles. You line up and place your order at a counter in the front -- you can order a beer while you are waiting in line. There are seats in the back, and a server brings your order. There is another bar in the back where you can sample the beers on tap before making a selection. We tried a rabbit, veal and pork sausage, and a duck, bacon, and jalapeno pepper sausage, fries with chipotle ketchup, sun dried tomato mayo, and blue cheese and bacon sauces. The duck, bacon and jalapeno sausage was much better than the rabbit -- not spicy, despite the jalapenos, but more moist and flavorful. You can choose 2 toppings, including grilled onions, sauerkraut, roasted peppers and something else. The sauerkraut was neither sauer nor krauty enough for my taste. The lines can get very long, so it's better to come early. Very fun and casual, in a very youthful way, but in a somewhat sketchy neighborhood, so go early or go in a group.

Wow, 5 years! Thank you Don, and members of the DR.com community for keeping us well-informed, well-fed, and um well-wined (?). Keep up the good work!

Reynold's has stopped selling the Handi-Vac! Apparently you can still buy the bags on-line through Home Shopping Network, but they are more expensive than when you could buy them in a grocery store. 30 Gallon size bags for $14.90 -- that's nearly .50 per bag, plus shipping. So sad.

This is probably way too early, but I'm posting this for a friend who wants to organize world cup viewing parties at a bar/restaurant that will be showing the world cup on 3D TVs-- any suggestions? Thanks.