Taco Bamba

Posted on 2013/08/11 by .

Taco Bamba, web site, 2190 Pimmit Drive, Falls Church, VA, 703-639-0505 (Metro Trip Planner – opens in new window) [FCNP | City Paper | Don Rockwell | Yelp]

Suddenly NoVa has a real tacqueria! It’s not up to par with the best of LA, Houston, or Chicago, or for that matter R&R Tacqueria, but it’s better than anything else around. It’s quite good. The tacos are good, the tamales are good, and the sauces and condiments are good, though the guacamole did not thrill me. Lots of take-out, countertop seating only, arrive early. Definitely worth having in the repertoire.

Note that it is owned by the same guy who created Del Campo, namely Victor Albisu. And they have Mexican Coca-Cola.

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Posted in Falls Church/Seven Corners, Mexican, Virginia | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Jakarta bleg

Posted on 2013/08/10 by .

What should I look at? Where should I eat? Your advice is very much welcome and I thank you in advance. And do any of you know where I can go to hear gamelan music?

Originally posted on Marginal Revolution – click to see comments and suggestions.

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Del Campo

Posted on 2013/08/09 by .

Del Campo, web site, 777 Eye Street NW, Washington, DC, 202-289-7377 (Metro Trip Planner – opens in new window) [Google | WaPo | Washingtonian | ModernLuxury DC | Don Rockwell | Yelp]

Update August 2019: CLOSED – see Poca Madre

This place is pretty awesome. Get the rib-eye (easily arranged for sharing, and one of the best in DC), the empanadas, the chorizo, the sides, and don’t forget the superb bread they start the meal with. Real gaucho food, and the restaurant has a nice ambience to boot. The sandwiches are supposed to be good, but I have not tried them.

Not cheap, but a winner all around and it fills a gap in the DC dining scene.

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Chicago food bleg

Posted on 2013/08/08 by .

From a loyal MR reader and diner, who has excellent taste in food by the way:

Might you be willing to post another bleg, this one about Chicago? The results from the Toronto one were fabulous (and it also seemed to generate a good conversation among your readers). We’re headed there Saturday, and I’m disappointed so far in my research efforts.

I don’t have a trip scheduled just yet, but I am sure I will benefit from your answers as well. We both thank you in advance.

Originally posted on Marginal Revolution – click to see comments and suggestions.

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Le Diplomate

Posted on 2013/08/07 by .

Le Diplomate, web site, 1601 14th Street NW, Washington, DC, 202-332-3333 (Metro Trip Planner – opens in new window) [WaPo | Washingtonian | City Paper | Don Rockwell | Yelp]

Washington finally has an excellent French restaurant. The menu here is almost a parody of what you would expect to find in a real Brasserie in France, but I kid you not this place is better than what you are likely to stumble upon in Paris.

The skate was one of the best fish entries I’ve had in this area in many years. Everything was remarkably consistent and high quality. I do wonder how they will keep up standards, given the size of the place. And, circa 2013, it is very difficult to get in the door. I recommend showing up at 5 pm and sitting at the bar, unless you are well-connected in this town. In a way it is pathetic that we should be so happy to have this place, but kudos to the people in charge, this is a real winner.

By the way, just in case you think I am crazy, everyone else loves it too.

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Posted in DC, French, Logan Circle, The Best | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Sisters Thai, The Living Room Café

Posted on 2013/08/06 by .

Sisters Thai, The Living Room Café, web site 1, web site 2, 4004 University Drive, Fairfax, VA, 703-267-9619 (Metro Trip Planner – opens in new window) [Google | NoVA Mag | Don Rockwell | Yelp]

It doesn’t even try to look like a Thai restaurant, but rather goes the cutesy, overtly decorated for educated people in cutesy ways route. It has an extensive selection of Western desserts and trendy drinks, often involving milk products. It has Thai food too. The latter is pretty good. Not comparable to my favorite Thai places, and not worth making a trip for, but pretty good if you are hanging around Fairfax anyway.

It is more expensive than most Thai restaurants. Furthermore the “in Thai only” menu is an affectation of sorts, and what you get from that menu is not noticeably more authentic than anything else hanging around the restaurant, the crème brulee excepted that is. Still, it tasted pretty good.

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Eating in Bangalore

Posted on 2013/07/25 by .

Many of the useful MR reader recommendations here. I’ll recommend the Muslim food stalls along Cockburn Road, especially during Ramadan. First-rate for haleem is Hotel Fanoos (the attached restaurant) in Richmondtown, near the Hosur Water Tank. The Chinese restaurant in the Oberoi is not to be missed. For South Indian food, try Athityam in Jayanagar 5th block, make sure you order some specials and go beyond the dosas, which are excellent but not the best item here. My favorite was the Pesarattu.

Originally posted on Marginal Revolution – click to see comments.

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Why does South Indian food taste better when you eat it with your fingers?

Posted on 2013/07/24 by .

I can think of three reasons.

First, there is a placebo effect. For the Westerner/outsider, eating with your fingers seems exotic. For (many, not all) South Asians, eating with your fingers brings back memories of family and comfort foods.

Second, your fingers are highly versatile and they are often the best implements for consuming these foods and blending together spices, condiments, and foodstuffs themselves. There is a reason why humans evolved fingers rather than forks.

Third, and how shall I put this? A lot of South Indian food is vegetarian and eating with your fingers adds flavors of…meat. The fleshy sort.

Eating a dosa with fork and knife is a very different experience, for Tamil food on the palm leaf all the more so.

Originally posted on Marginal Revolution – click to see comments and suggestions.

See also, “Eating Utensil Type Can Influence How Things Taste, Study Finds“

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How to frame your food decisions

Posted on 2013/07/20 by .

According to research published this spring, people make healthier menu choices when calories are listed beside each item – but they make even better choices when they’re told how far they’d have to walk to burn off the calories consumed. This makes sense: for most of us, a calorie is a nebulous, hard-to-visualise thing, while a listing such as “burger: 2.6 miles” brings things sharply into focus. Somebody, it occurs to me, ought to design an app along these lines, for eating out: it would ask me what kind of food I’d like, then direct me only to those restaurants sufficiently far away that I’d neutralise the effect of the meal by walking there. In the mood for salad? There’s a place on the corner. Hungry for sausages, cheesy chips and a large slice of cake? Time to dig out the hiking boots.

Here is more, by Oliver Burkeman, via Claire Morgan.

Originally posted on Marginal Revolution – click to see comments and suggestions.

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The Red Hen

Posted on 2013/07/07 by .

The Red Hen, web site, 1822 1st Street NW, Washington, DC, 202-525-3021, closed for lunch. (Metro Trip Planner – opens in new window) [Google | WaPo | Washingtonian | City Paper | Don Rockwell | Yelp]

Excellent food, sometimes called Italian but fundamentally American in my book, with some pasta courses to make it even more American. The menu seems to change, but my favorite dishes (upon sampling nine or so) were the black linguini and the cod spread on toast. Everything was good or very good, except the dessert disappointed.

The prices are reasonable for the quality and the level of noise is manageable and the décor is attractive, so pluses all around, an excellent addition to the DC repertoire.

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