benzipperer's Profile
breakfast suggestions in new haven, monday 8am
Any suggestions in New Haven for a breakfast spot open by 8am on Monday? It'd be wonderful if the food were delicious but I'm frankly just having trouble places that are open. Perhaps a coffee shop with excellent pastries?
Guanajuato to Zihuatanejo
Thanks, Cristina! I've only had Uchepos as in tamales. Does uchepo-stuffed mean a corn-stuffed chile relleno? Sounds great.
Do you or others have any other fare to recommend? I would love to some Michoacán foods but we might also try to avoid the hotel scene.
Are there any other restaurants or markets (street food recommendations especially welcome) in Morelia or elsewhere along our route that folks recommend? We will be traveling on a Sunday.
Guanajuato to Zihuatanejo
We are taking a day to drive the long drive from Guanajuato to Zihuatanejo. What chow-worthy spots along the way should we be sure not to miss?
It looks like the route goes through Morelia (lunch?), then onto 43D, 14D, 37D.
rye in the valley
I am now having trouble buying a bottle of tasty rye whiskey in the Pioneer Valley.
Liquors 44 used to sell Wild Turkey rye, but no longer. Table and Vine either sells nasty nasty (Jim Beam/Grandaddy) or super high end.
Any sources in the Valley for rye around $30? Sazerac, or something decent, please? I guess I'm willing to drive a good ways.
Had a taste from that new fancy Ri. It was fine, but not $50 fine.
southern new england spice company
Has anyone else been to this storefront on Rt. 47, about a mile or two south of Hadley?
Their small retail space has a wall of interesting dried spices and herbs in 8ox plastic jars. Nothing is extremely high quality and the prices are very fair. The dried anchos were particularly beautiful. They sell smoked paprika.
Other recommendations?
I Have Discovered the Universal Condiment
Sorry for the late reply, but thanks a lot for this insanely delicious condiment. Tonight I just tried a batch I made a couple weeks ago -- let them sit out in 70-80 degree heat in a sterilized jar before opening and refrigerating.
I mixed together a quarter-cup of salt and a pound of red serrano peppers. After half of an hour the chopped peppers and the liquid they shed fit into a pint-sized jar.
pioneer valley pick your own, rare fruits
Do you frequent any Pioneer Valley "pick your own" farms for interesting or odd fruits or vegetables? I'm interested in knowing about farms where you can pick unique fruits -- not just apples and raspberries, but rare heirloom varieties or simply farm produce that's hard to find elsewhere.
Here's my contribution. Birdhaven Blueberry Farm in Southampton lets you pick insanely inexpensive black currants and gooseberries. They're currently open on the weekends but will be open during the week in August: http://www.birdhavenblueberry.info/.
El Guanaco, South Hadley
Thanks to Bri and fame da lupo's recommendations I tried El Guanaco in South Hadley, satisfying my pupusa fix. They're $1.75 each. We arrived at 9pm on a Saturday night and they let us bring our own beer.
Bean and cheese, pork, and the pork beans and cheese pupusas were awesome. The zucchini was hands-down disgusting, filled with velveeta or something similarly nasty. Pupusas arrived cabbage-less.
My tamale had flavorful, soft masa but the chicken breast meat inside was dry. Plaintains were boring.
The menu
http://www.thevalleymenu.com/south_hadley/el_guanaco/index.htm
mentions pan con chumpe, but that was unfortunately not an option in person. And although they were sold out by the time we arrived, the actual restaurant menu listed some homemade chorizo.
Has anyone tried other options here? I'm curious about their tacos but also wary as they do sell burritos and quesadillas.
Ben
Serapes, Enfield CT--Smokin'!!!
The chili or other spices in the Michelada I had at Enfield location made my drink a bit gritty. I've never had this kind of cocktail before, so I don't know if that's typical.
Nevertheless they have very tasty pork stewed in pipian sauce, worth trying if you live anywhere nearby. Tamales are just OK. Beans and rice barely passable.
Best samosas?
I'm always on the lookout for items of dumpling form, so here's a relatively narrow question: where can the best samosas be had in the DC area?
My suggestion is Pakeeza Market, in Gaithersburg, a few doors down from La Flor de la Canela (incidentally also exciting). Pakeeza seems like a mediocre halal grocery, but the gem is the bin of divine, large, potato and pea samosas up front for $1 each. I suppose the gregarious owner would warm them up for you in the microwave, but I down them at room-temperature, straight out of the bag.
These are truly the best take-out style samosas I've ever eaten. Has anyone else tried them? Anyone else had better?
Saravana Palace, Fairfax
Saturday night four friends and I had a great meal at Saravana Palace in Fairfax. We arrived late, almost at closing, so some disappointments may reflect the retiring kitchen rather than the restaurant during prime hours.
With the exception of the vegetable cutlet, the assorted combo appetizer was a medley of fried disappointment: samosa was boring, mysore bonda was tough, etc. Mini idlis sambar were about as tender as room-temperature grits (where can I get meltingly-soft idlis around DC?). These comments actually may overstate our appetizer quality, as I happened to be close to starving before we sat down. Mango lassis were pleasant and tangy.
On the other hand, most of our entrees were top-notch. Was pretty impressed by avial, which I'd never had before, a coconut curry of okra, carrots, and other vegetables I couldn't identify. Special spring dosa was a bit bland, stuffed with potato and too much cabbage. I look forward to trying another dosa, possibly empty, next time.
One couldn't help taste the tremendous amount of ghee in the channa palak, and I could't stop eating it over poori. The aloo paratha, and the poori, were dry and old-tasting but solid vehicles for spinach simmered in fat. Everyone else seemed underwhelmed by the tadka dal, but I thought these nutty lentils contrasted well with the more explosive flavors on the table.
Highlight of the meal was Gutti Vankaya: deep-fried, whole baby eggplant simmered in a pungent, startlingly-red curry. The mix of bright mustard flavors and smoky fried eggplant blew me away. I want a double order of this for my birthday.
There are undoubtedly more gems on the menu. What do you folks recommend?
Quest for Mac n cheese
I've held true to this resolution and have tried many mac and cheese dishes. Sorry dinwiddle Urban BBQ was really bad. Glory Days Grill was quite good. It tasted as if it had Old Bay in it. I had one at Iggy's Pizza in Baltimore that was also nice. Mild cheeses with Herb de provence. So many more to try and we are only in February!
La Union's Veggie Enchilada
I finally tried the excellent veggie http://www.chowhound.com/enchilada at La Union on 4308 Lee Hwy in Arlington, recommended many times by Steve, and just wanted to emphasize that this is one of the best takeout items in the DC area. And it costs $2.50. You basically need a car to get to La Union, as well as another location to eat (there are no accommodations inside).
For some reason I was expecting a typical Mexican enchilada, but this was much more southern, maybe Guatemalan or Salvadoran: basically a thick, deeply fried tortilla, topped with a salad of shredded cabbage, batons of cheese, an egg, and slices of avocado. A bit too much of that powdered cheese for my taste, but overall one of the better salads I've had in a while. I also loved the plain tamale with crema.
Had some sort of fried beef empanada like object (can't remember the name - started with a "p") that was mediocre - not so flavorful, dry meat. Some of the other items looked like they might be sub-par, but I'm wondering if others have found other treasures at this joint?
While La Union has prepared takeout, it's largely a grocery, full of interesting Latin American goodness. What do people do with the bags of dried, roasted corn kernels? Add them to soup? Or are they for tamales?
Search function needs improvement
The search function for chowhound boards is now extremely deficient:
(1) It cannot match exact phrases. For example, it is impossible to search for the exact phrase "Great Wall". Instead, hits are those posts which contain the words "great" and "wall", strewn variously throughout each post.
(2) It cannot filter by authors. Often it is interesting to see what Jim Leff or someone else has written about a particular topic. The search function does not allow this.
(3) It cannot sort by relevance. The search function only sorts by date, which is useful, but not always preferable.
It is currently easier to use google to search chowhound.com than use the the chowhound search tool.
Decanting CDPs
Thanks for all the excellent suggestions! We ended up drinking these young CDPs after a couple hours of decanting, with good results.
For what it's worth, the 2003 Domaine Grand Veneur Les Origines was outstanding. Smoky nose, full of dark berries and cocoa, with a long, slightly sweet but also minerally finish. Other people picked up on some raspberry and plum.
Next time I aim to arrange for trying the wines at multiple stages of decanting.
Best Trader Joes in the DC area
THe one in Rockville is quite large and has pretty good selection of products
Decanting CDPs
Sorry if I wasn't clear: I am looking for suggestions on the specific length of decanting. For how long should I decant these wines?
I don't understand enough about wine or about these young CDPs to know whether this question has a sensible, general answer, but would appreciate any suggestions.
Decanting CDPs
Am having some friends over for a tasting. We know little about wine, but are interested, and will be drinking some Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and possibly others from Rhône. For instance, we'll have
2003 Domaine Grand Veneur CDP
2004 Château de la Grande Gardiole CDP
If we're mainly drinking these and other southern Rhône wine from 2003/2004, are there any best guesses about how long they should be decanted?
Recommendations from reviews on the Grand Veneur vary from 20 minutes to three hours. Ideally I imagine one would pour enough tastes over the evening so that folks can try the wine at multiple stages of decanting. But, in the case where there aren't sufficiently many pours, are there any best practices for decanting for these wine types? Or is this question nonsensical?
Also, has anyone tried the Grande Gardiole?
Ba Le, Rockville
Unless you're not a meat eater, I'd encourage you to go back to Ba Le and try the combination bahn mi. Mine was bursting with pork and vegetables. I liked how the carrots tasted more fresh than the old, too-heavily marinated nuoc-cham flavored veggies sometimes symptomatic of inferior sandwiches. I look forward to trying the lemongrass pork bahn mi that others recommend.
Just curious, was the vegetarian sandwich actually vegetarian (no fish sauce)?
nonspicy Thai food
Ruan Thai in Wheaton is perhaps the best Thai in the area, and I feel like I have to plead and beg when I visit to ensure spiciness. So you might find -- especially if you tell the servers, "very mild" -- many of their dishes both unique and acceptable to your heat level.
Order everything mild, and try the yum watercress special salad or the pad watercress. Also the pad kha na (greens with oyster sauce).
Thai Market in Silver Spring
Finally went to the Thai Market near Negril's on Thayer Ave in Silver Spring. Unfortunately my meal -- grilled marinated pork on a stick, fried tofu w/ some sort of sweet sauce, and noodle soup with duck -- was uniformly unremarkable. Which dishes do people recommend here?
On the other hand, the market itself is absolutely fantastic. This store is chock full of excitement, brimming with snacks, dried and frozen staples, pastes, and fresh ingredients like cilantro, basil, and little globe eggplants.
There were even these frozen insects sold in packs of four that, to the untrained eye, looked like water bugs, or maybe roaches -- labeled mangda or something. How do you eat these? Fry them?
They also sell my favorite Thai instant noodles, packaged in shiny blue, with the side and sometimes back proclaiming in small print, "Minced Pork Tom Yum Flavour Instant Noodles." So good.
Also sampled some Thai iced tea ice cream, made by Gifford's, which didn't quite do it for me.
Gamasot Report - Korean in Springfield
Thanks, Steve, this is very helpful. Look forward to trying the Ju Gu Mi Bokeum. Cool that you got sausage with your panchan.
Speaking of which, where are you favorite spots for panchan?
Ba Le, Rockville
Had my first visit to Ba Le on Rockville Pike last Saturday night, and I plan on going back.
I ate inside, and within about two minutes of ordering, tossed onto my table was a plastic-wrapped, styrofoam container of garden rolls and nuoc leo. About 32 seconds later, my bahn mi and soup arrived.
The rolls were cute: each studded underneath the transparent bean wrap with three shrimp. But the shrimp were tough, and in addition to the cucumber and other vegetables, the roll contained some sort of lunch meat, which may have been turkey, or pork, I don't know. Dipping sauce was goopy, and blah, though not unpleasant. This may be an unfair characterization, as I don't know if I've ever had dissimilar Vietnamese peanut sauce.
The combo bahn mi was top notch. While far from rivaling Brooklyn's Sunset Park establishments, this sandwich was damn good - filled with head cheese, ham, pate, veggies, and fish sauce. It begs for peppers, which are readily available in the form of red rooster sauce. Bread was the expected second-rate "French" white bread, but was warm and crusty.
Also had a nourishing, although boring spicy lemongrass beef soup, hiding a mass of rice noodles, and supplemented on the side with fresh bean sprouts, lime, and thai basil.
I remain perplexed by why bahn mi are so insanely cheap. $2.50 seems standard, yet this is an utter steal. Ba Le also advertises that if you buy five, they'll throw in a sixth for free.
I need to try the beef jerky. Will someone explain to me the drinks or desserts or whatever those things are in the clear plastic cups in the display case up front? What are they? Which are tasty?
York Castle Patties
This afternoon I renewed my crush on York Castle Tropical Ice Cream in Silver Spring. I eschewed the rum raisin, the soursop, the grapenut, and all the frozen goodness for the patties, which turn out to be quite tasty.
Spicy beef was my favorite, and the runner up was the veggie, filled with carrots, chinese cabbage, and other unidentifiable tasty mush.
In fact, that might be my only complaint - that the fillings are largely mushy. But this texture seems to be kind of typical of patties, so perhaps I'm unfairly biased. Most problematic for the chicken, my least favorite of the trio. They also have a non-spicy beef.
Vegetarians should rejoice: the pastry is made from vegetable oil. I miss the taste of pig, but the flakiness to gooey ratio is very good for oil.
The patties are made on the premises, and I ate them at about noon on a Saturday afternoon. They tasted relatively fresh then.
capital region liquor for cheap
Thanks, gkrousseau - some of the Montgomery DLC sale prices are superb!
capital region liquor for cheap
Other than the Post, which DC papers do you recommend checking?
I moved from NYC: Warehouse Wines in Astor Place has relatively good deals on certain liquors (and wine).
capital region liquor for cheap
I've been in DC about a year, but I still haven't found a solid place for very inexpensive hard liquor. Anyone have suggestions for reliable liquor retail in the DC/NOVA/MD areas?
Looking for some place that has (relatively) bargain prices for standard alcohols like Tanqueray, Maker's Mark, or Martini & Rosso vermouths. Or even a place that has great prices on gin, and another place for bourbon, and so on.
I've found that Pearson's and Calvert Woodley are reliable (sometimes the latter has good discounted prices in their bargain bin) but I'm looking for more inexpensive options -- not that either of these places is ridiculously overpriced.
Jamaican at Junction Market
Has anyone been to Junction Market in Hyattsville, at Riggs and Chillum Rds.? It might instead be called Junction International Market or something. It's across the street from the Ruff n' Ready seafood place. I just grabbed their snapper & bammy, red bean & rice soup, pies, and sweet potato cake.
The broiled/quick-fried snapper was fresh and flavorful, rubbed with fruity, jerk-like spices. Came with some not-so-well-pickled vegetables, an awful roll, and two half-moon pieces of bammy.
Soup's tasty broth loaded with plenty of fatty beef, squash, carrots, a few beans, and what looked like bits of pasta, but perhaps rice. Also contained these strange, pig-tail shaped dumplings, which I couldn't decide if I liked. The bammy tasted excellent saturated with the soup.
The chicken and beef pies were the same as served at Tropicana on Florida Ave. The pastry wasn't awful, but wasn't great (a little too much lard flavor for the dearth of flakiness). I'd avoid the beef filling. Might try the chicken again.
Disliked the disturbingly dense and spongy sweet potato cake. But I've never had a Jamaican cake before; maybe others would find it excellent. Was studded with a few raisins.
Overall this wasn't a knee-weakening experience, but I'm going back soon, especially to try some of the fish and callaloo and okra dishes on steam trays behind the counter. I'm awfully unfamiliar with Jamaican food in general, in particular in DC, and would love to hear if anyone else has had success at Junction Market or could compare it with other Jamaican places around the area.
vegetarian options at joe's noodle house
thanks for all of these suggestions! Wasn't able to get them all, but a vegetarian friend and I went last week and ate
A01, shredded radish
A05, spicy pickled vegetable
A07, thin bean curd roll with shitake filling
A30, Chinese mustard green, bean curd, & edamame beans
V04, sauteed shredded potato
V19, bean curd szechuan style vegetarian (ma po tofu)
except for A07 (bland, too soggy for me), the appetizers were excellent. Especially the radish and A30, about which I was initially skeptical, but the tiny diced tofu and balance of greens and beans made A30 an excellent accompaniment throughout our entire meal.
Unfortunately the entrees were very underwhelming. The sauteed potato was sloppy: too greasy, and heavy on the vinegar. I've had this dish elsewhere and have loved it, so maybe I was unlucky; will have to try again. The ma-po tofu was also bland, almost as if the sauce was made from a dehydrated spice mix.
All and all I'm happy Joe's is around (as well as the mediterranean/middle eastern market next door). I look forward to going back and trying your other recommendations (and the meat dishes).
Thai food too sweet, and I'm worried about Chinese
I'd like to second Great Wall Szechuan House on 14th and Church in DC.
They have a "ma-la menu". Try the ma-po tofu with pork, and the eggplant with garlic sauce. Insist on spiciness. Also the ma-la chicken: ask for it with skin and bone; it takes an hour for them to prepare (call ahead: 202-797-8888).
Avoid the noodles and wontons, and most of the non-ma-la options.
The manager mentioned to me that they'd do hot pot for 6+ people if you gave 24 hour notice.
