Strategic food attack at functions

Posted on 2010/10/01 by .

Here is more on the optimal use of buffets, especially for Indian food:

Day 28: Eff It, Let's Eat Indian Food
Creative Commons License photo credit: theogeo

At Sharadha’s wedding too I had managed to spot and exploit arbitrage opportunities. For example, I realized that people never stood in queues to get second helpings, and that I could peacefully get around the line by taking the plate from the hardly-crowded salad counter and then going to the main line looking like I was going for second helpings.

…And if you find yourself at a buffet which has lots of financial traders, I really pity you.

The previous link on the topic was here. For the pointer I thank Karthik Shashidar.

Originally posted on Marginal Revolution

Related Posts:

Posted in General Tips, Indian | Tagged | Comments Off on Strategic food attack at functions

Chez Manelle

Posted on 2010/09/26 by .

Chez Manelle, web site, 2313 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA, 703-522-2141, near Courthouse Metro. (Metro Trip Planner – opens in new window) [WaPo | Washingtonian | Examiner | Yelp]

Everything here tastes real at this Tunisian place, from the French fries to the eggplant to the sausage. It’s exactly the kind of place we need more of, namely a reasonably priced restaurant that makes its way through good ingredients. They don’t have many seats, so make sure you come at the right time or have a reservation. Definitely recommended, better than I thought it was going to be from the outside, the location, or the menu. Since it is very close to Me Jana, we can now consider that mini-region to be the area’s epicenter for MENA food.

Related Posts:

Posted in Arlington, Tunisian, Turkish, Virginia | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Enat Restaurant

Posted on 2010/09/16 by .

Enat Restaurant, 4709 N. Chambliss Street, Alexandria, VA, 703-642-3628, near 236 and Seminary on the west side of I-395 (Metro Trip Planner – opens in new window) [Yelp]

Excellent Ethiopian, they also have breakfast dishes such as Foul and egg delights, they open at 10 a.m. most days though call in advance. Very good shiro, meats, some fish dishes too. For my taste and moistest and best injera around – maybe not #1 but in the top five.

Related Posts:

Posted in Alexandria, Ethiopian, The Best, Virginia | Comments Off on Enat Restaurant

MeeGa Korean Barbecue

Posted on 2010/09/10 by .

MeeGa Korean Barbecue, web site, 4070 Jermantown Road, Fairfax, VA, 703-691-3606, near the K-Mart. (Metro Trip Planner – opens in new window) [Google | Korean Food Blogger | Yelp]

Very mixed in quality. The lunch box specials aren’t great. The stand-alone Bul-Gogi, cooked at the table, is quite good. The vegetables are above-average, if a bit on the sweet side. The seafood pancake was too thick in batter and utterly mediocre. This is a good place if you figure out what works for you, use it with care but it is worth a try if you live in the area.

Related Posts:

Posted in Fairfax, Korean, Virginia | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Ray’s: The Steaks at East River

Posted on 2010/08/22 by .

Ray’s: The Steaks at East River, web site, 3905 Dix Street NE, Washington, DC, 202-396-7297, Tue-Thu, Sun 12pm-9pm; Fri-Sat 12pm-9:30pm. (Metro Trip Planner – opens in new window) [Washingtonian | WaPo | Don Rockwell | Yelp]

Update January 2013: CLOSED

They do some of the Ray’s classic dishes, but the real treats here are the southern specials. They have excellent smoked chili, fried chicken, and I bet the links are pretty good too. This is right now the best “Southern” restaurant around, at least if you decide to treat it that way.

There is safe, guaranteed parking by the way and fear of danger is no reason not to come here.

Related Posts:

Posted in DC, Northeast, Southern (see also Barbecue), Steaks | Comments Off on Ray’s: The Steaks at East River

Eel Se Flounder Dong (Annandale Seafood Restaurant)

Posted on 2010/08/21 by .

Eel Se Flounder Dong (Annandale Seafood Restaurant), web site, 7123 Columbia Pike, Annandale, VA, 703-642-0628 (Metro Trip Planner – opens in new window) [Yelp]

Lots of sushi and sashimi, fresh fish, above average in those areas, plus they specialize in octopus and eel. Maybe this place is best for the eel dishes. Across the street from De Moim. Fun atmosphere and a good crowd, recommended.

Related Posts:

Posted in Annandale, Seafood, Virginia | Comments Off on Eel Se Flounder Dong (Annandale Seafood Restaurant)

Elephant Jumps, Thai food in Merrifield

Posted on 2010/08/02 by .

Elephant Jumps, web site, Thai food in Merrifield, 8110 A Arlington Blvd, Falls Church, VA, 22042, 703-942-6600, in the Yorktowne Center, more on Gallows than Route 50. (Metro Trip Planner – opens in new window) [Don Rockwell | Yelp]

Update June 30, 2013: This place is is getting better and better, new review here.

Home-style Thai food, with four levels of spicy, culminating in “Thai spicy.” It’s not as good as Thai X-ing, but it’s probably better than any other local Thai competitor. They will watch you sweat and they will giggle.

Here is one good review of the restaurant. Here is a short bit on how elephants were viewed in antiquity. Here is my favorite book on elephants.

After we exchanged impressions of the other local Thai restaurants, the proprietor said to me: “You know a lot about food and you get around — you should be a food critic. You could write up what you think about all these places!”

If we’re not going to have much more economic growth, we can at least have a few locales like this.

Can elephants jump?

Related Posts:

Posted in Falls Church/Seven Corners, Thai, The Best, Vienna/Tysons, Virginia | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Againn (British Gastropub)

Posted on 2010/07/29 by ,

Againn (British Gastropub), web site, 1099 New York Avenue NW, Washington, DC, located on 11th Street between K & New York Avenue NW, 202-639-9830 (Metro Trip Planner – opens in new window) [Google | Washingtonian | WaPo | OpenTable | Don Rockwell | Yelp | Gayot]

They have real smoked salmon, pork belly, corned beef, oysters, country ham, a charcuterie board, and bangers and mash, not to mention fish and chips for lunch. Could it be the most exotic place around? If you are compare it to the really good places in the UK, it falls short. But if you compare it to a lot of other DC restaurants, it’s good fun and there’s nothing else like it in town. Not cheap, but they do use decent-quality ingredients. I’ll go back.

Related Posts:

Posted in British, Convention Center / Shaw, DC, Other | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

TCEDG has switched to WordPress

Posted on 2010/07/25 by .

TCEDG.com recently moved to the WordPress platform. As part of that move, the URLs for posts and categories changed, and as result all of the internal links to posts and categories must be updated.

We are in the process of updating those links. In the meantime, if you can not find a particular place or if a link has not yet been updated in another post, please use the search feature (located in the upper right corner). You can also use the “Categories” and “Archives” drop down lists located at the bottom of the right-hand column.

We are also interested in reader recommendations, most especially from readers who are knowledgeable about WordPress, for WordPress plugins that can enhance TCEDG.com for readers.

  • Please send photos and WordPress plugin recommendations to:
    tcedgpics -at- gmail.com

  • Please continue to send comments and restaurant recommendations
    to: tcowen -at- gmu.edu

  • You are also welcome to post comments on entries, although
    comments are moderated to keep spam comments out.

Thank you for your ongoing support and suggestions.

Related Posts:

Posted in General remarks, Updates | Comments Off on TCEDG has switched to WordPress

Aroma

Posted on 2010/07/22 by ,

Aroma, Shirlington, on the main street there, 4052 28th St S.  and no, I won’t give you the phone number.

This has to be the worst ethnic meal I’ve had in the last five years (and yes because of a movie time I had to eat in Shirlington).  Everything was badly oversalted and virtually inedible.  Although no one else was in the restaurant, at first they insisted that we couldn’t switch tables.  Service was irregular.  It wasn’t even that cheap.

Most bad places I won’t even review, but I thought this worth a note, since if you are stuck in Shirlington you might be tempted as we were: “Indian food, how bad can it be?”  Maybe they just had a bad night, but this was a total fail.

Related Posts:

Posted in Alexandria, Arlington, Atrocious, Indian | Tagged , , | 1 Comment