mrsammich's Profile
If you were a foodie and could live anywhere in/near DC - where would it be?
My wife and I are pretty ardent pursuers of that which constitutes interesting eatin' in the area - not just the fancy places. We lived in Bethesda near River and Western - a great neighborhood called Brookdale - for about a decade. Every grocery store imaginable, various farmer's markets not far away, good coffee and bagels close by, all the Bethesda restaurants within minutes. Virginia is not a bad drive, nor is Silver Spring, Rockville, etc....
We've moved recently to Rock Creek Forest - on paper it's Chevy Chase, but geographically it's about centered between Bethesda and Silver Spring. We've been exploring Silver Spring and Wheaton restaurants more, but a trip to VA is only a few minutes longer, and the vibe is much less pretentious than Bethesda. I'll assume that Chow-friendliness is ~a~ consideration, not ~the~ consideration. I didn't see a key point in the original post which is 'buy or rent". If you're buying, obviously the lifestyle and house appropriateness factors trump all.
All of this said, I'm a DC area native of all of my 51 years. I grew up in Rockville, resided in Bethesda for many years, a short spell in Clarendon, and have been all over all of it. I'm loving the Rock Creek Park side of Chevy Chase for livin' and eatin'
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Rock Creek
4917 Elm Street, Bethesda, MD 20824
Chevy Chase
6200 Chevy Chase Dr, Laurel, MD 20707
Peruvian restaurant in the DC metro area?
The Nibbler in Gaithersburg close to Montgomery Airpark is super tasty, but quite casual.
Dim Sum fix in MD
Both A&J and Joe's Noodle House on Rockville Pike in Rockville are quite good, but are menu service, not carts. A&J has been amazingly consistent for years and is always delicious (and offer a wide range of options for non-meat eaters BTW) but is cash only.
Bagels in MD
The problem I've had (and I've been going since the opened in the early 80s) isn't rudeness - it's indifference and a pace of work akin to the movement of the continents on our planet.
Go in any bagel shop in NYC - I'll wager the counter help can get something else done while a bagel is toasting aside from watching the toaster.
Gourmet Mexican in/near Bethesda?
Skip Bethesda all together (I live there, it's a good idea) and go to Guajillo in Arlington just across Key Bridge. It's 15-20 minutes from Bethesda and completely worth the trip.
Just an aside - they have the best employee retention of anyplace I've ever seen. Same excellent, happy staff for years now. One of those places you keep going back to because the food, service, and feel are just right and it's a good deal.
http://www.waheeyo.com/
Cityzen menu questions
I was taken to Cityzen for a big, significant birthday this past August. I was a little worried that somehow it wouldn't meet the huge expectation I'd constructed in my mind from reading about the place for years...
We both ordered the tasting menu with wine pairings; mine regular, my wife the vegetarian.
I'm no food or drink snob. I've had $5 meals which are ranked in the very top of my memorable meals list and some of these were more memorable than dinner at Bouchon. I'm an equal opportunity foodie, I mean to say, and not one that that's easily sold on buzz or fashion. It's just got to be delicious.
Cityzen did not dissapoint. In fact, every aspect was as close to perfect as I can imagine a fine dining meal to be. The service, while flawless and polished is unfussy and not pretentious. The food is otherworldly. It just is. While the meal was hours long it didn't seem long. and I was a little sad when it was over. The wines, and suggested flight of beers with the cheese course, and birthday gratuity wines were all amazing.
I'd heartily recommend going for the full boat deal. Live a little. Life's potentially short.
And report back on how it was!
Linguica?
My Mom and Dad, New Bedford natives order regularly from Gaspars. Evidently in their day you declared loyalty to Gaspar's or Fragoza's, and they were legacy members of the Gaspar's camp, therefore I declare my loyalty thusly.
There's a Portuguese market on Bethesda Ave. in Bethesda which purportedly has the greasy orange stuff, but I've always got 5 pounds on hand, so I've never gone.
Okinamiyaki in DC?
Ok, this isn't in the DC area. In fact, it's on the other side of an ocean, but not the Pacific. Last trip to Europe we started in Amsterdam, went to Florence and Rapallo, and had a one night layover in Amsterdam before returning to DC.
Despite our unwritten rule forbidding multiple trips to one place within a single trip, we had such a fantastic experience at Japanese Pancake World when we were in AMS the first part of the trip, we went back for our last dinner in AMS.
http://www.japanesepancakeworld.com/
And:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvAsbZ6yER4&feature=PlayList&p=E4E44219511D3291&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=4
It's 2 Dutch guys who are huge fans of the dish, and they've created a lovely, tiny restaurant in which they lavish their hospitality, culinary expertise, and passion for okinamiyaki on all who enter. If you find yourself in AMS, by all means go, and I recommend you go upstairs and sit at one of the handful of stools at the counter in front of the grill.
Everyday Eating: Restaurants you frequent
Quick near home (River@Western):
Moby Dick, Booeymonger, Hungry Tiger, City Lights of China, Meiwah, Vace, Haandi (buffet only)
Nicer near home: Mia's Pizza, Jaleo Bethesda (Penn Quarter one is better) Levante's, Olazzo.
Silver Spring: Mandalay, Addis Ababa, Quarry House.
Arlington: Guajillo, Ray's, Faccia Luna, Bebo, Minerva (again, buffet) Dairy Godmother for frozen custard, Taqueria Poblano.
Special occasions: Zaytinya, Zola, Komi, Farah Olivia.
What's the 2nd best sandwich place in DC?
I have a few suggestions:
For an Italian coldcut sub, O.G. Italian style: Vace in Cleveland Park or Bethesda.
For an Italian coldcut sub Maryland style: Ollie's Deli in Twinbrook on Viers Mill Rd near Twinbrook Pkwy.
For Vietnamese Banh Mi someplace that's not in Annandale: Ba Le' on Rockville pike. Have a pate' chaude (chicken puff) while you're waiting.
Nearest duplicate of the Best. Sammich. Ever: The pork shoulder sandwich w/ broccoli rabe and green sauce at Bebo in Crystal City. The ones they had at the "Grill at Galileo" during Galileos waning days were unbelievable. Transcendent sandwiches assembled by Chef Donna who'd pick on the crowd and generally have a good time feeding you.
Wildcard recent find I can't wait to have again: The Sucuk + Kaser cheese sandwich at Attillas in Arlington on Columbia Pike, a few doors from the Cinema and Draft House. Perfect, balanced, simple, delicious street food. Awesome.
Another source of very good deli sandwiches is The Parkway Deli on Grubb Rd. in Silver Spring. They've got a reuben that's a full day meal, and both the corned beef and pastrami are excellent. The pickle bar kills it too.
Lunch in Beltsville
Powder Mill to Rte 1 isn't far. There's Pho Vn 1, Pho 88, a decent little Mexican joint called La Fuente, another called El Mexicano, and a Korean Noodle place, Myung Dong. There's a couple Carribean places too.
Workin' in Beltsville is preferable to K St. I find. More interesting lunch options, and the people are more real.
2 Amys - WOW
I love 2Amys. A Norcia add arugula (a "Norciarugula") is a beautiful thing. The "suppli a telefono" are wonderful, and on a sweltering DC summer day, a slightly chilled bottle of Gragnano is perfect. All that said, however, the lines are preposterous. Paradiso P St. only seats 1/8 the people, and he pizza is 100% as good. Hell, I proposed to my wife there. Ultimately, on the basis of quality of pizza, wine list and value, general dining experience, and the very possibility of being able to enact dinner without a theme-park ride quality line, we end up going to Mia's in Bethesda all the time. Melissa is a Paradiso alum, and the passion for pizza and management ability really show.
Intimidated by crab!
The engineer in me says that for the proper application of force to induce fracture-failure mode on the shell of a crab claw, compression rather impact is more controllable. In short, the nutcracker wins the day.
As for where to procure and devour the tasty crustanceans, I give major props to Jimmy Cantlers Riverside Inn. Not anywhere near Bawl'mer, but the crabs come off the boat and directly into the tanks, and while on a pleasant summer evening it can be a bit hectic, once you've got some acreage of brown paper in front of you, all strewn with shattered bits of crab-carcass and a few beers down, all's right with the world...
Bagels in MD
Another big thumbs up for Georgetown Bagel on River Rd near Little Falls in Bethesda. Really good bagels, spectacular bialys. Mediocre coffee.
I loved Bethesda Bagel for ages, and sadly, Steve, the owner, tolerates a miserable level of customer service from his staff. If there wasn't a steaming hot cup of delicious Quartermaines coffee right next door, I'd NEVER wait the 10 minutes that it takes for the idly-chit-chatting-amongst-themselves staff to serve the 3 people in front of me in line.
Does watching a bagel counterperson intently watch a toaster infuriate anyone else?
