Nosh notes: Eating Out
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Belgian brasseries - 26 May 2008
You don't have to fly out to the tiny cobbled streets behind Brussels' Grand Place to find Belgian brasserie food. There are a number of restaurants that have opened just to serve moules frites, Trappist beers, and other Belgian specialties. read more...
Bye bye and thank you, Mr Doner - 28 Jan 2009
Mahmut Aygűn died in January 2009. Who he? The savior of Saturday night drinkers across the Western world. This snack-food visionary invented the Doner Kebab. And you thought it was a traditional Middle Eastern staple. read more...
Cuban sandwiches - where to find them - 8 Oct 2008
Genuine Cuban sandwich is sliced across the vertical with a filling of roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, dill pickles, mustard and majo, a garlicky vinegar sauce. You don't have to travel to Miami to find the nearest. read more...
Falafel - DC's best - 11 Feb 2009
Ground and fried chickpeas molded with spices into a mini Zeppelin and fried may not sound like much to celebrate. But pushed into a warmed pitta along with shredded lettuce, fine slices of tomato, onion and maybe some turnip pickle then drizzled with tahini or a garlic-yogurt sauce, it becomes heaven. DC boasts a number of good places to find it. read more...
Home-cooking Restaurants - 16 Nov 2007
Nostalgic for restaurants of the 50s? That time before fusion when food was simple but wholesome and plentiful? There are still some diners, restaurants and lunch counters around, cooking food as mother made it. read more...
Latino menus - what's is that stuff? - 28 Jul 2010
Que? Some of the terms on Latin American menus may be confusing enough to discouraging ordering. And you'd miss a treat. read more...
New Zealand eatery - 20 May 2008
EatWashington doesn't cover many restaurants. (I haven't got the money to review them properly...) And I haven't actually eaten at this one. But there are few enough sources for anything New Zealand in the capital I couldn't ignore Cassatt's. You'll have to review it for me. It calls itself a Kiwi Cafe - and a Gourmet Bistro and its card reads "Where restaurant meets coffee shop". read more...
Nosh Notes - Bob's Noodle House - 6 May 2009
One of the most delicious dishes at Bob's Noodle House looks like an early generation breast implant. It's an upturned teacup of gray-toned rice surrounding a stuffing of chopped meats.
You'll find it in the appetizer section of this Taiwanese restaurant whose clientele is almost entirely Asian. read more...
Nosh notes - Brasserie Beck - 22 Apr 2009
The joy of being able to eat a Belgian meal without having to be in Belgium is hard to describe. No, it's not. I spent two years in Brussels and it was one of the most beastly periods of my life. And I speak as someone who was in Moscow for four years as a foreign correspondent during Soviet days. That was a piece of cake by comparison.
So a meal at Brasserie Beck is a real treat. read more...
Nosh notes - Central - 29 Apr 2009
Japanese chefs in Washington, like Kaz Okoshi of Kaz Sushi Bistro and Hisao Abe of Kotobuki will tell you that when they first arrived in the capital in the 1980s there were no decent places to eat sushi. Now sushi outlets proliferate almost as widely as do Starbucks outlets. How did we ever manage without them?
These days you might begin to ask the same of brasseries. read more...
Nosh Notes - Gastropubs: eating cheap in Britain - 8 May 2008
Britain's pubs are famous. But they haven't always been particularly pleasant places to have a bite to eat. Nor did they offer good beer to drink, until the Campaign for Real Ale in the early 1970s fought to oust big brewery manufactured beers and bring back real ales. Now Britain's chefs are returning well-cooked, seasonal traditional British food to the menus of what have consequently become named Gastropubs. If you're traveling to London and want to stretch that food dollar, here's a list of some to eat at. read more...
Nosh Notes - Hollywood East Cafe - 2 Jun 2010
Mother's Day was not the best for dim sum without a reservation at Hollywood East Cafe. The lobby outside in the mall was mobbed. But here's the trick for any date's that going to be packed: ask to eat at the bar. Or make a reservation. Or bring a book and stand in long line. The food is worth the wait. read more...
Nosh Notes - M Café & Bar - 24 Jun 2009
Ladies who like to lunch in style like to lunch at M Café & Bar in Chevy Chase where one side of Wisconsin Avenue is still rooted in medical centers, gloomy estate jewelers and the Gap while the other glistens with outposts of Jimmy Choo, Tiffany, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Bulgari, Dior, Ralph Lauren and other brave adventurers from New York.
M Café & Bar is a rare, in Washington, taste of Manhattan glamour. Somehow you imagine the conversation is more likely to cover the kind of behavior that Mother wouldn't approve of than the lastest news from the PTA. read more...
Nosh Notes - Mandalay - 24 Nov 2009
You certainly don't go to Mandalay for the interior design and the intimate atmosphere. It's the kind of restaurant you might stumble into after hours of desperate driving across the mid-west, only to find yourself in a beige meeting-hall kind of space, surrounded by wrinkles and disapproval.
You go to Mandalay for the food. It's good, interesting and reasonably priced. read more...
Nosh Notes - My backyard pig roast - 20 May 2009
Thank you for a wonderful feast, Harvey the Pig. Harvey is how Pam Ginsberg, the super-enthusiastic butcher at Wagshals introduced my roast to me when she hauled his carcass out from the back. Getting to know your food takes on a whole new meaning. read more...
Nosh Notes - Present Restaurant - 3 Dec 2009
The differences between eating in a restaurant serving a Western cuisine and one representing the cooking of an Asian region begin with the length of the menu. Once I've turned a couple of the - usually - laminated pages, I'm in a dither of indecision and a quiver of vacillation.
This is not a problem you'll have at Present, a Vietnamese restaurant. read more...
Nosh notes - The Tasting Room - 17 Apr 2009
I'll be upfront about this: I love Robert Weidmaier's Tasting Room. It's the kind of place that litters the streets of European capitals - a relaxed environment with style where you can eat simple but well-sourced ingredients cooked without complication. While Ladies Who Lunch in America toy with a Caesar Salad ("Dressing on the side and hold the croutons"), this is where you'd find the French. It's the kind of place women will dress up for, pretending they haven't, yet men can feel comfortable in. read more...
Nosh Notes: Crabs & clams - 5 Aug 2009
Crabs and clams are a local treat worthy of serious foodie consideration. Where to observe - and experience the treat. read more...
Nosh Notes: Cuban sandwiches - 10 Jun 2009
Until we're allowed to fly into Havana, we're being deprived of a true Cuban sandwich. There are sandwich bars that trumpet their Cuban sandwiches. But it's hard to find one made with the right bread. But even the not-quite-real-McKoy is a great summer chew for picnics in the park. Here's where to find the close-to-genuine article. read more...
Nosh Notes: Domku Bar and Cafe - 8 Jan 2010
Fed up with diners serving burgers and steaks and hot dawgs? Looking for a change? (This recommendation is not strictly a market - though if you got your food to go it would qualify - but a suggestion for winter warming food.) Visit Kera Carpenter and she'll introduce you to a neighborhood not known for restaurants as well as an unfamiliar cuisine: Eastern European food, in...Petworth! She's the owner chef of Domku Bar and Cafe. read more...