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Corkage
Grape Puncher
Posts:975
 | | 02/19/2004 6:52 PM |
| | Thanks for the notes DW, I want to hit both Johnnys and Jaleo. But Komi and Nectar are my next targets. | | | |
| Corkage
Grape Puncher
Posts:975
| | 02/19/2004 7:07 PM |
| Well, I left my menu so I'll spare the food notes. Mrs C and I met JohnnyB there a couple of weeks back (who I had blown off for several months prior after promising to got to the Lab).
I dunno, some 10 or so courses, most very good, some good, and a couple excellent. Mrs. C and I agreed that this was much better than Citronelle.
I refused to try the Bruss cheese (thanks to TJ), but Johnny and Mrs C said it wasn't sooo strong. Overall the experience was pretty good, excellent wait staff and food prep show. We ordered the wine pairing offered by the restaurant and it was OK, but that's it. We decided that it would be too difficult to try to bring wines that would pair, esp. not knowing in advance what the 10 or so courses would be.
I would recommend at least once for everyone. I would have to say I probably would not go back on my own accord (but might do so for an off-line or special occaison, or if somebody else was paying).
JohnnyB gets 20% off by flashing his card, which was serendipity for us that night ($100). And apparently the mid-range call girls hang out in the bar because we saw 3 of them who had arrived when we were seated still slushin when we left. | | | |
| Pool Boy
Laurl, MD (DC suburb)
Master of Wine
Posts:13711
| | 02/19/2004 7:23 PM |
| DW-- Mrs. TJ's been to Johnny's and thought it was slightly overpriced but darn good. Jaleo is quite good and tasty and they not only have standard tapas that they always have on the list but a good selection of seasonal tapas. We always pick a few standards and a few seasonal ones to mix it up. The bacon/date fritters are great.
Corkage-- Dude you are one tough critic. Makes me scared to send you to Palena. | |
www.roguefood.com -- www.cellartracker.com | |
| ChangeMe
Barrel Sampler
Posts:2098
| | 02/20/2004 4:12 PM |
| Does Jaleo still stay open late on weekend nights, clear the tables and have DJ-driven dancing?
I went there once with friends long ago and had a blast until they closed at 2am. The music was "world dance music" - a nice change from some of the other undanceable stuff you hear in DC clubs. | | | |
| Pool Boy
Laurl, MD (DC suburb)
Master of Wine
Posts:13711
| | 02/22/2004 5:10 PM |
| N o idea Lilac, I never knew they did that. Huh.
Anyway, here's a new link for the library!
Palena
 | |
www.roguefood.com -- www.cellartracker.com | |
| dinwiddie
Barrel Sampler
Posts:2177
| | 02/28/2004 10:59 PM |
| I had lunch as Sesto Senso for RW in January. It is a very nice restaurant, exposed brick, gilded mirrors, and excellent service. At night (after 11) it turns into a nightclub.
The RW lunch menu was small, three appitizers, three entrees, and two desserts, but all were tasty and the protion sizes, while not huge, were more than adequate for lunch. As there were three of us (two of my sisters went with me), we ordered everything and shared.
The Fennel, asparagas and orange salad was very good. Not vinegery, and quite fresh. The soup of the day was a squash/potato soup, with no cream at all. The third starter was a very good calamari fritti on skewers on a bed of greens.
Entrees were a very good potato gnoche with a light tomato sauce and asparagas, a very light Veal Scaloppine, and an excellent grilled salmon with ragu.
Desserts were lemon sorbet with fresh berrys or tiramisu, both were excellent.
Service was fast, efficient and friendly.
I might have to go back for dinner someday. I asked and the corkage fee is $15, thought they have a very nice wine list too. | | | |
| Fred
Wine Thief
Posts:2673
| | 02/29/2004 10:39 PM |
| | If your in Bethesda and have a hankering for a burrito the size of a new born baby go to California Tortilla. They have all of the favorites, typical Burritos, fajita's, soft taco's etc. but there is also an interesting specialty burrito menu with choices like the blackend chicken ceasar burrito or the crunchy bbq chicken burrito. They have very good chips, nice & salty with an decent guacamole. If you are a hot sauce junky (I AM) this place is a definite must, there must be 30 or so insane hot sauces to try. Prices are good based on the size of these burritos. TJ and I dug into a few today as I needed to get my Kistler before it aged beyond it's prime. Thanks TJ! | |
"It's better to have your enemies inside the tent pissing out, then outside the tent pissing in." -- Lyndon Johnson | |
| Pool Boy
Laurl, MD (DC suburb)
Master of Wine
Posts:13711
| | 02/29/2004 10:52 PM |
| Yep, California Tortilla is good eats. But you won't feel like eating for a good long while after. Here's aLINK to their website. They have 5 locations (all in MD) and one new one coming soon to downtown DC right near MCI Center. >URP< 
It was good to catch up with another DC Crüdite that I hadn't seen in a bit. Besides, I needed to hand off his Two Buck Chuck, er, his Kistlers to him. heh heh heh   | |
www.roguefood.com -- www.cellartracker.com | |
| jaimetown
DC area
Wine Labeler
Posts:3503
| | 03/09/2004 4:18 PM |
| Indique
If you ever have a hankering for good Indian food, go to Indique - it's located in the Woodley Park area (1 block north of the Uptown theatre). The restaurant has a "trendy" feel to it, but the food is original and very satisfying. We've been there twice and both times have been very happy with the food and service. The tandoori is very good as are several curries we've had (Chicken Masala and Lamb Vindaloo). But I think they really shine in making appetizers - the mussels in a curry broth was fantastic, as was a potato, onion and "cracker" concoction in a yogurt sauce.
It can get crowded so make sure to get reservations. So far I prefer Indique to Haandi (Falls Church)and Bombay Bistro (Vienna) - my other favorite Indian joints. | | | |
| Fred
Wine Thief
Posts:2673
| | 03/09/2004 6:18 PM |
| Georgia Brown's: Brunch
WOW what an amazing brunch. $25.00 includes an all you can eat buffett that is seriously good but will give you an instant heart attack. Every kind of smoked pig you can think of, grits, awesome french toast, biscuits and gravey, omletes mmmm. That's not the best part though. For the $25 you also get to choose a take home meal for later. You can have fried chicken, gumbo, shrimp & grits etc etc. So for 25 bucks and an angioplasty you get two meals! | |
"It's better to have your enemies inside the tent pissing out, then outside the tent pissing in." -- Lyndon Johnson | |
| whiner
Second star to the right, and straight on till morning
Wine Thief
Posts:2875
| | 03/09/2004 10:16 PM |
| I posted at WS, but thought I'd post here as well....
I went to Vidalia with my girlfriend/finacee, her brother, cousin, and a few others...
The subterrenean dining room is beautiful and conducive to larger get togethers (the better tables are the ones for 4, 6, or 8, while the 2-seaters looked more cramped). The bar looked lovely. I would say the decor/atmosphere is comperable to Butterfield 9, though the restaurant is not nearly as large.
The menu is typical DC prices for a very nice meal -- $10-$13 for appetizers, $25-$30 for main courses -- but you have to order sides seperately, which makes it a couple of dollars more/person than most of its competition. I brought my own wine, and they charge only $15 for cork fee, but they claim to have a 2 bottle/table max for corkage, after that you're supposed to order off the wine list. I bet if you called ahead of time to negotiate, this could be augmented to fit your needs.
The wine list is well thought out and very long, BUT...WOW! Is it expensive. $145/bottle for a Martinelli G&L Zin which I pay $36/bottle for. I believe it was $115 for a '99 Flowers Camp Meeting Ridge Pinot. On average the list was a full %100 over retail on wines over $70 on the list and an even higher markup on the less expensive wines. The only good value I saw was 1999 Shafer HSS for $230. (In hindsight, we should have not parked in a no parking spot, not been towed for $185 that night, and purchased a bottle of Shafer with dinner, but what can you do?)
My meal was good, but by no means extrodinary, and not what it should have been for the price. I ordered the 5 Onion soup with duck confit and the strip steak (I know DJ H!, I know!) both at the waiter's suggestion. While interesting, the soup was not as good as a good Alcasian onion soup. And the crabcakes that I tasted (someone else ordered them -- I had been considering it) were good but no better than other crabcakes I've had at nice restaurants. I ordered the steak (which was served with blue cheese, onion crisps, and some shallot and pepper thing all on top of it) medium rare but the steak that came out was quite rare. I considered sending the steak back, but decided I wasn't afraid of any bacteria and the steak tasted quite good the way it was cooked, so I ate it. Beyond being undercooked, the steak was not as tender as I think it should have been for $30. I was surprised that the waiter had told me to order this because it is their signiture dish. I would imagine (1) Their signiture dish would taste a little better and (2) they would know how to cook it to medium-rare. We ordered the truffled shell pasta in goat cheese side dish ($5, good for 2 people) and it was a very nice side, though my girlfriend liked it more than I did.
My girlfriend/finacee orders vegitarian at restaurants, usually, and was underwhelmed by the veggie option at Vidalia.
Ultimately, this wasn't a bad experience, the waiter was very good, ther food was good, the atmosphere was nice, and so were the people I was with. But, for the same price or less, I would go to Taberna del Alabardaro, Kinkead's, Tosca, Butterfield 9, or New Heights over Vidalia.
a | |
I can't listen to that much Wagner. I start getting the urge to conquer Poland.
-- Woody Allen | |
| Pool Boy
Laurl, MD (DC suburb)
Master of Wine
Posts:13711
| | 03/10/2004 6:02 PM |
| Fred, yeah the Georgia Brown's brunch is indeed dee-lish!
Whiner, hell yes you should post your review here. Grazie! | |
www.roguefood.com -- www.cellartracker.com | |
| Pool Boy
Laurl, MD (DC suburb)
Master of Wine
Posts:13711
| | 03/10/2004 6:02 PM |
| Quote:
Indique
If you ever have a hankering for good Indian food, go to Indique - it's located in the Woodley Park area (1 block north of the Uptown theatre). The restaurant has a "trendy" feel to it, but the food is original and very satisfying. We've been there twice and both times have been very happy with the food and service. The tandoori is very good as are several curries we've had (Chicken Masala and Lamb Vindaloo). But I think they really shine in making appetizers - the mussels in a curry broth was fantastic, as was a potato, onion and "cracker" concoction in a yogurt sauce.
It can get crowded so make sure to get reservations. So far I prefer Indique to Haandi (Falls Church)and Bombay Bistro (Vienna) - my other favorite Indian joints.
JT-- Been meaning to try there for some time. Thanks for the mini-review. It's on the list! | |
www.roguefood.com -- www.cellartracker.com | |
| Fred
Wine Thief
Posts:2673
| | 03/11/2004 1:26 PM |
| Palena: The Bar
A group of friends gathered at the bar at Palena last night to catch up and eat a $9.00 hot dog. The bar is a very comfortable and well appointed setting. The "Cafe" menu as they call it has everything priced at between 9 - 12 dollars. The fries and onion rings were some of the best I've had and my friend said the cheeseburger was literaly one of the best ever. I had a very nice duck pate en crout with a good grainy mustard, and then a veal ravolini with cock combs in an awesome velute (sp). They have a small "Cafe" wine list but very good QPR's. I had a quite good 2001 Jessie's Grove Zin which by the glass was 9.00 and the bottle was 35.00 so I just got the bottle after one glass. Good times, and corkage is allowed up front which I'll have to remember for next time. | |
"It's better to have your enemies inside the tent pissing out, then outside the tent pissing in." -- Lyndon Johnson | |
| Pool Boy
Laurl, MD (DC suburb)
Master of Wine
Posts:13711
| | 03/12/2004 6:03 PM |
| | Kewl, Fred. I have been meaning to try the front bar section of Palena for some time. BTW, you can order off of the 'main dinner' menu up there as well. I think it is an unwritten super-secret menu. | |
www.roguefood.com -- www.cellartracker.com | |
| Fred
Wine Thief
Posts:2673
| | 03/12/2004 7:40 PM |
| | Your right. Brother Fred ordered the Diver Scallops off the main menu. | |
"It's better to have your enemies inside the tent pissing out, then outside the tent pissing in." -- Lyndon Johnson | |
| travelrep
Northern Virginia
Barrel Filler
Posts:1105
| | 03/12/2004 10:08 PM |
| Hey Fred...
This has nothing to do with Palena....I've been trying to figure out which Mel Brooks movie your avatar is from and have consistently drawn a blank. Can you advise??
T-Rep | | | |
| Fred
Wine Thief
Posts:2673
| | 03/12/2004 10:13 PM |
| History of the World
It's good to be the king! | |
"It's better to have your enemies inside the tent pissing out, then outside the tent pissing in." -- Lyndon Johnson | |
| Pool Boy
Laurl, MD (DC suburb)
Master of Wine
Posts:13711
| | 03/14/2004 3:31 AM |
| | Oh piss boy! | |
www.roguefood.com -- www.cellartracker.com | |
| Budman
Master of Wine
Posts:11877
| | 03/14/2004 3:38 AM |
| Sire, the peasants are revolting!  | | | |
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