Sounds like you went on a weekend. Weekdays are much more civilized.

Are you referring to the truly fabulous house special version of the Chongqing dish, which comes in a wire rack lined with foil so the oil can drip out, or a more conventional version? (Is there a more conventional version? the reason I ask is because I thought their special dish had a different name.)

I'm assuming this dish is his interpretation of Chongqing style chicken. It's apparently also sometimes called "hunting and pecking" because you have to look for edible morsels in a sea of dried chills. Steve says he's had it bone-in before. If I've ever had it bone-in I can't remember. In any case, aside from the chunks of chicken being a bit large IMO, it was an outstanding rendition.

A couple of us are talking about going back on Wed or Thu for a reprise of a couple of the new dishes as well as the fish with rice powder, if we can get at least 5 people. Since a number of you guys couldn't make it on Saturday, email me if you want to try for a weeknight trip.

Apparently the missing ingredient for the tofu pie is some kind of dried soybean paste lump, the size of a tennis ball. I've never encountered that before.

The bamboo tray was a steamer tray--I think the duck was steamed after being roasted. It was good, but it didn't knock my socks off like Pacifica Cafe's sticky rice duck.

The dry crispy chicken was an excellent rendition of one of my favorite dishes. The only improvement I would suggest is smaller chunks of chicken so you get more cruncy outside goodness. If I've had better, I can't actually remember where it was.

The pork and squid stir-fry was easily my favorite, and got its richness from dried shrimp and dried fish. I'm not generally a fan of bell peppers, but Chef Li uses them very well in both this dish and the stir-fried pork belly.

A couple of us are thinking of a return trip on Wed or Thu. If anyone is interested in joining up, email me. If we get enough people we can order the fish with rice powder and crispy bones.

I've eaten bear there before, but I don't think I've seen it on the menu the past few years. This year they had kangaroo, as well as antelope which I think they've had in the past. AFAIK, all their game, including the bear, is farm raised in Ohio.

Apparently several other restaurants have decided to serve game, including bear.

http://www.munichhaus.com/gamefeast2013.html

http://www.masslive.com/entertainment...

I think there are a number of places in VA I'd hit before A&J, including Bangkok Golden for the Lao menu, "Honk Kong Palace" which has new owners and is now a Sichuan restaurant, and Myanmar, a low-profile but totally excellent Burmese restaurant.

BJs is *at least* $1 more expensive per item than Costco. (I believe Sam's is generally a few cents less per item.)

Costco has an open-ended return policy on everything but computers, cameras, and TVs, so if something breaks or is unsatisfactory, you can just take it back.

The quality of merchandise is much better at Costco than at BJs (Costco is probably comparable to Sam's but I haven't shopped there much since I left DC a decade ago.)

BJs has much wider grocery options as well as smaller sizes. If you're primarily buying food, BJs is worth considering, but overall Costco will save you a lot more money if you shop more widely.

I find I need to go to BJs occasionally for food, and I go with a friend or use a one-day pass and pay 15% extra.

Okay, Sam, when I get back from DC we should arrange a late night trip to PF and work on translating their menu! If we have dinner at 8, and stay till 3, we should be able to get it all done. :D

TC had an eel preparation I really liked: shredded in a sweetish sauce with yellow chives and ginger. AFAIK, it's not on the menu after their renovation, but if enough people ask, they might resurrect it. Nobody I took there ever liked that dish, but *I* thought it was really good.

PF also claimed that they might have turtle or snake at CNY, but I've never followed up on that. :-(

I really like deep fried pork intestine when it's done well. I've never been brave enough to try the stewed kind, but it'll happen eventually.

That reminds me of something else I really enjoyed a few years ago, at New Golden Gate. It was called "fried milk" or "great crispy tasty," some kind of congealed pudding, a bit thicker than Greek yogurt, prepared in the form of a mozzarella stick. I don't know if they still have it, but it's worth checking.

And someone go find out if this place is still around! Take some pictures of the menu and post them so people can translate them!

Well, *I* would plan to do both! But a number of people from last month's GG meet couldn't make it on Saturday. :-(

Since a huge number of people can't make it to GG on Saturday, maybe we should meet up at Hunan Taste in Catonsville early in the week.

And, read this, it's excellent. Time for a roadtrip to St Louis!

http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2007-0...

Since a huge number of people can't make it to GG on Saturday, maybe we should meet up at Hunan Taste in Catonsville early in the week...

And, read this, it's excellent. Time for a roadtrip to St Louis!

http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2007-0...

That's an amazingly well-done article which sheds a lot of light on what actual Chinese food is really about. Meng Lei's place reminds me of Grace Garden, a restaurant I frequent in Odenton (MD) which produces some of the best cooking on the east coast. If it's still around, I'll be making a trip to St Louis in the fall to check this out.

Peach Farm has those things?

I *really* need to get around to translating their menu.... :-/

And we should have, past tense, also pre-ordered the tofu pie and the fish stuffed with pork. Did this not actually happen?

I didn't know that! You should update the Wikipedia article.

Wikipedia's article was recently amended to claim (probably correctly) that in this context 肺 (fei) shouldn't be translated as "lung" but as generic offal.

GG does get more love, but HT has an equally good, though less creative, kitchen, and produces enough great dishes that you can eat there five nights in a week without getting bored. Or at least I could, and did.

Now you all know how I feel when you schedule a GG party while I'm in Boston! :-/

Please do post it. I'm thinking 3PM, since I won't have much of an appetite earlier than that, and any later means we conflict with the dinner rush. Steve and I discussed it, and he's going to call them about the special dishes (stuffed fish, tofu pie, and taro duck) tomorrow.

I have to head north by the end of next week, but if anyone wants to hit them in the middle of the week, I'm up for it. My email address is in my profile.

I think "Husband and Wife's [or 'married couple's] offal slices" is a perfectly sensible translation.

I really like the head-to-head comparisons... though I have to say since I love huajiao I'll pick the restaurant that uses more of it every time... :-/

Interesting translation of 夫妻肺片 as "Lover's Quarrel". I wonder if there's any evidence that the couple who invented the dish were unhappy. There are a few things on the menu I haven't seen before.

http://www.janegsrestaurant.com/pdf/D...

When I lived in DC in the 90s, my local DC supermarket was already bad. That doesn't mean it couldn't get worse, of course! I missed Kroger, and would always stop there when I was in Charlottesville. But now we have Harris Teeter and Wegmans, as well as many more Trader Joe's locations, so things are looking up a bit.

It's been a whole month since y'all did this... how about doing it again on Saturday? The fish stuffed with pork, cloud tofu, eight treasure duck, taro duck are all calling my name...

I guess I'm glad you didn't invite me!

That's a very nice essay. Glad you revived this thread!

It's already changed again. Now they list beef stroganoff and salmon en croute.

Hmm, I'm used to seeing them the other way 'round: the flat ones with noodles and the round ones with taro. Interesting.