Super Tacos & Bakery

Posted on 2008/09/24 by .

Super Tacos & Bakery (same place, used to be called Tacos Pepitos Bakery 2), 1762 Columbia Road NW, Washington, DC, 202-232-7121 (Metro Trip Planner – opens in new window) [WaPo | Yelp]
Maybe the most authentic Mexican place in DC right now. They are really trying. Tacos and classic Mexican dishes of all sorts. It is a bakery and sandwich place as well; they have all the classic sandwiches you can get in Mexico City. They have huaraches too. Not perfect but pretty good. Excellent for snacking. Opens at 8 in the morning. A sign of progress. Lots of take out and some stools.

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Posted in Bakery, Cleveland Park/National Zoo, DC, Mexican | 1 Comment

Angeethi Indian Cuisine

Posted on 2008/09/20 by .

Angeethi Indian Cuisine, web site, 645 Elden Street, Herndon, VA, 703-796-1527 (Metro Trip Planner – opens in new window) [Washingtonian | openlist | Yelp | Herndon Cuisine | Gayot]

Excellent all around, this is currently one of the two or three best Indian places in the area. (Bombay Indian in Silver Spring is probably the current leader). The chat station, offered at lunch, is first-rate. Everything else is quite consistent and just generally tasty. I even enjoyed the Butter Chicken. Good breads. Good vindaloo and spinach and black lentils. What kind of Indian food is it? Most of all I would say it is like the Balti food you get in the UK and indeed they have a whole section of the menu devoted to Balti dishes. Definitely recommended.

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Posted in Current Favorites, Herndon/Reston/Ashburn/Chantilly / Dulles Airport, Indian, The Best, Virginia | 5 Comments

Ray’s the Classics

Posted on 2008/09/12 by .

Ray’s the Classics, 8606 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD, right across from AFI, 301-588-7297 (Metro Trip Planner – opens in new window) [WaPo | Don Rockwell | openlist | Yelp]
Retro dining, chops, big plates of big stuff, like they used to serve in 1976. It’s pretty good for a change of pace. For me, this is what now counts as “exotic.” I like the spinach too.

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Posted in American, Maryland, Silver Spring | Comments Off on Ray’s the Classics

Present Restaurant

Posted on 2008/09/07 by .

Present Restaurant, web site, 6678 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church, VA, 703-531-1881 (Metro Trip Planner – opens in new window) [Yelp]

This is in the mall with J.V.’s Restaurant (described by the Washington Post as “One of the last Virginia honky-tonks“) and Merchants’ Tire, west of Seven Corners/Eden Center. This used to be the Beewon.

The restaurant is finer in décor than most Vietnamese places and you could even take a business client here. The menu has vague, flowery descriptions of the dishes, so if you know real Vietnamese food you may at first be a bit confused. Don’t be.

Right now this is one of the best Vietnamese restaurants around. The dishes are done in very classic style, with French influence. The menu is pretty short so they may not have your favorite Vietnamese dish. And I think the place can still get better. Recommended.

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Posted in Falls Church/Seven Corners, The Best, Vietnamese, Virginia | 5 Comments

Nava Thai

Posted on 2008/09/04 by .

Nava Thai, web site, 11301 Fern Street, Wheaton, MD, 240-430-0495 (Metro Trip Planner – opens in new window) [Washingtonian | WaPo | City Paper | Don Rockwell | Yelp]

At any point in time there are four or five ethnic places which are way better than the rest. Nava Thai joins that select group. Everything tastes so real and it is the closest thing to Thai street food that I’ve had in the U.S. The Floating Market Soup is excellent, although too spicy for many. The Penang Curry – usually a boring dish – is a revelation. The tamarind sauce on the roast chicken is very good. The curry puffs are recommended as well. The service can be a little slow and not every dish is great (though all are at least good if you are confused just mimic the Thai customers with your order), but right now this is one of the places to visit. It also attracts more Thai customers than any other place with the possible exception of Thai Square.

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Posted in Current Favorites, Maryland, Thai, The Best, Top Five, Wheaton/Kensington | 7 Comments

Rules for eating in Chilean restaurants

Posted on 2008/08/24 by .

1. Order the avocado (“palta,” not “aguacate“) whenever you can.
2. Order crab, in any manifestation possible, whenever you can. There is nothing you should prefer over the crab.
3. Scallops are next in the hierarchy. The sea urchin is quite good if you like it.
4. The fish is of excellent quality but the preparations are usually boring. The greater the number of sauces you are offered, the less likely you should take any of them.
5. Fear not the mayonnaise. It is good. Really.
6. Parmesan cheese on either clams or scallops is excellent.
7. If you can, try a ham and cheese sandwich, roast beef, figs, mashed potatoes, vanilla ice cream, honey, butter, and the juices.
8. Provided you obey these rules, do not be put off by simple-sounding menus.
9. The overall quality of the food is very high, but the very best restaurants are not much better than the good restaurants. This is often the case in areas with excellent natural ingredients, as human labor becomes a less important input.
10. A subtle blending of Chilean and Peruvian food is occurring in Santiago; the Peruvian restaurants by the way are first-rate.
First posted on Marginal Revolution.

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Posted in Chile, Chilean | 2 Comments

El Tutumaso

Posted on 2008/07/19 by .

El Tutumaso, 3018 Annandale Road, Falls Church, VA, 703-531-1081
A very authentic Bolivian restaurant with a more extensive menu than most. Excellent soups and consistent all around, although I never like the dishes that use hot dog slices. One of the two or three best Bolivian places for people watching and definitely worth a visit.
“Bolivian cuisine” on wikipedia

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

La Caraquena

Posted on 2008/07/14 by .

La Caraqueña, web site, 300 W. Broad Street, Falls Church, VA, 703-533-0076, where Café Rose used to be in Falls Church City (Metro Trip Planner – opens in new window) [Yelp]
They serve Venezuelan, Bolivian, and Chilean dishes; the proprietors are Bolivians who lived for quite a while in Venezuela. Definitely above average. I loved the peanut soup (Sopa de Mani). Chilean sandwiches are hard to mimic in this country, so I didn’t order one, but I saw two go past and they looked delicious. Even their Bolivian dishes are not exactly the standard. An original place, worth having in the repertoire and a nice homey atmosphere.

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Posted in Bolivian, Chilean, Falls Church/Seven Corners, Venezuelan, Virginia | 1 Comment

Tabard Inn

Posted on 2008/07/09 by .

Tabard Inn, web site, 1739 N Street NW, Washington, DC, 202-785-1277 (Metro Trip Planner – opens in new window) [Washingtonian | WaPo | MenuPages | City Paper | DC Foodies | openlist | Yelp | InTowner | Gayot]
It is romantic but the food is dull, I can’t bring myself to go again…many DCers consider it a standby…

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Posted in American, DC, Dupont Circle | 1 Comment

Franny’s in Brooklyn and Gala Manor in Flushing, NY

Posted on 2008/07/06 by .

Franny’s on Flatbush Avenue was possibly the best pizza I’ve had in the U.S., Gala Manor in Flushing was definitely the best dim sum I’ve eaten in this country.

Franny’s, web site, 295 Flatbush Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY, 718-230-0221 [NY Mag | MenuPages | insiderpages | Yelp | Slice | NYT]

Gala Manor, 37-02 Main Street, Flushing, NY, 718-888-9232 [Yelp | Eating in Translation | Dudes on Foods]

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Posted in Dim Sum, New York, Pizza, The Best | 2 Comments