Mediocre food scene in DMV

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Where the heck is the good CHINESE?

Rockville. Lots and lots of Chinese living there, so there are many "real" Chinese restaurants.

Can someone list a couple of the good places? I'm not familiar with Rockville at all but would be willing do venture up there for some good Chinese.

A&J is really good.

+100 to A&J. http://www.aj-restaurant.com/main.html

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I find the food options here to be pretty good, overall. You can get almost any ethnicity of food you could possibly want without having to drive very far, and there are plenty of solid American places for taking less adventurous diners.

I have heard from friends that we don't have good Chinese here. I couldn't care less because i don't find it Chinese food that appealing anyway. (I'm more into Thai and Indian.) Though I can say that Peter Chang's in Arlington is probably the best I've had, and friends agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What places have you tried that were not up to snuff?

OP here - I am an avid diner, but off the top of my head:

Blue Duck - Very mediocre (used to be better), but always extremely overpriced.

Red Hen - Fine but simpleton. I've been three times (in my neighborhood) and the menu always lacks a sense of adventure.

Rasika - here I will make a NYC comparison. In NYC I would go to Tabla (now closed) which made Rasika seem like a mall franchise.

Le Diplomate - I consider this the number 1 "hype" offender. These dishes wouldn't make it past the hostess stand at Balthazar (which Le Dip is trying way too hard to be).

Founding Farmers - Organic Applebee's.

Del Campo - mediocre from top to bottom.

My takeaways are this:

- Mid and high-end DC establishments are offensively overpriced. Is there a reason for this?
- many big production restaurants where food is second to ambience.
- DC is big on commoditization, as soon as a restaurant is popular, the immediate reaction is to build another. (Why? this does not happen anywhere else)

[Anonymous]

I completely agree OP. The restaurant scene here is so much of the same, bland, overhyped, overpriced. I often leave these places thinking "I just spent $70-$100 on THAT." Lots of corporate-type restaurants with the same menus and not enough local chefs with innovative ideas. Also, there is virtually no diversity in pricing. You can go out for two burgers and drinks and it still costs $60. In the city where I come from, you can get a four course dinner at a James Beard award winning restaurant for a little more than that. The restaurants here are not very good at hiding the fact that they want to get the most money out of you while giving you the least they can. And, don't get me started on the lack of good Italian, pizza, Mexican, delis, bakeries, sandwich shops, real bars with great bar food. I think that, in this area, too much emphasis is put on developing concepts that they think yuppies will like, rather than on what is actually good. And the yuppies have to pretend to like it or they will be dissing the places where they go and, in turn, dissing themselves. And the last thing a yuppy will ever do is piss in his or her own pool. So, if you look on Yelp, a lot of very mediocre or even bad restaurants in this area get 4 stars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I completely agree OP. The restaurant scene here is so much of the same, bland, overhyped, overpriced. I often leave these places thinking "I just spent $70-$100 on THAT." Lots of corporate-type restaurants with the same menus and not enough local chefs with innovative ideas. Also, there is virtually no diversity in pricing. You can go out for two burgers and drinks and it still costs $60. In the city where I come from, you can get a four course dinner at a James Beard award winning restaurant for a little more than that. The restaurants here are not very good at hiding the fact that they want to get the most money out of you while giving you the least they can. And, don't get me started on the lack of good Italian, pizza, Mexican, delis, bakeries, sandwich shops, real bars with great bar food. I think that, in this area, too much emphasis is put on developing concepts that they think yuppies will like, rather than on what is actually good. And the yuppies have to pretend to like it or they will be dissing the places where they go and, in turn, dissing themselves. And the last thing a yuppy will ever do is piss in his or her own pool. So, if you look on Yelp, a lot of very mediocre or even bad restaurants in this area get 4 stars.

YES. THIS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find the food options here to be pretty good, overall. You can get almost any ethnicity of food you could possibly want without having to drive very far, and there are plenty of solid American places for taking less adventurous diners.

I have heard from friends that we don't have good Chinese here. I couldn't care less because i don't find it Chinese food that appealing anyway. (I'm more into Thai and Indian.) Though I can say that Peter Chang's in Arlington is probably the best I've had, and friends agree.

Sorry, there is no good Italian (and I know because I am Italian).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No you are not alone! Although it is getting somewhat better, DC pales in comparison to Philly and NYC. I think it is because rents are higher here and people are just less demanding. Maybe the best restaurants here are as good as other cities, but on the middle and lower end (i.e. Where most of us go most often) it really lacks. For example everyone crows about Maketto and it is really just meh.

OP here - In addition to being less demanding, I find that, at least in my social circle, people are very eager to hop aboard the hype train.

You mean like standing in line your whole lunch break for a food truck ... Or 3 hrs for roses luxury??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No you are not alone! Although it is getting somewhat better, DC pales in comparison to Philly and NYC. I think it is because rents are higher here and people are just less demanding. Maybe the best restaurants here are as good as other cities, but on the middle and lower end (i.e. Where most of us go most often) it really lacks. For example everyone crows about Maketto and it is really just meh.

OP here - In addition to being less demanding, I find that, at least in my social circle, people are very eager to hop aboard the hype train.

You mean like standing in line your whole lunch break for a food truck ... Or 3 hrs for roses luxury??

Ha ha! Yes!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We definitely have crap Chinese, but very good Thai and Vietnamese. Good everyday Italian is non-existent.

I am laughing at the person who said that our restaurants are bad here compared to New York because of the high rents.

What kind of food do you like, OP?

Retail rent in DC is very frequently cited as a block to independent restaurants by industry observers. It's not just the rent amount but also the revenue for the location. So a $200 sq foot rental say on the UWS for a tiny high volume takeout Chinese place might be doable, but a $50 sq foot sit down restaurant on h st that only sees many diners on the weekends may not be doable from a business standpoint. NYC may very well be headed in this same direction too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are you from that you expect much better food/service? I'm from CA, and I find that there isn't as much diverse ethnic foods here, especially really good Mexican. I miss good Mexican food.

OP here - NYC. That said, I am not basing my comparison on NY. I'm thinking of Charleston, New Orleans, Philly, Richmond, Asheville, etc. In all seriousness, I think a lot of residents here lack culinary awareness.

Okay, now we know for sure you're a troll. DC is one of the most diverse cities in the country and the well-traveled people here have tried cuisine from just about everywhere in the world. And I lived in charleston for 6 years and didn't find it to be that good. Some nice southern food, sure, but DC is much much better. The only thing we lack here are good cheap eats.

And OP, seriously, if you're going to make this unpopular assertion, you at least have to back it up with examples...

But good cheap eats is the whole point! As well as the preponderance of mediocre expensive eats in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What places have you tried that were not up to snuff?

OP here - I am an avid diner, but off the top of my head:

Blue Duck - Very mediocre (used to be better), but always extremely overpriced.

Red Hen - Fine but simpleton. I've been three times (in my neighborhood) and the menu always lacks a sense of adventure.

Rasika - here I will make a NYC comparison. In NYC I would go to Tabla (now closed) which made Rasika seem like a mall franchise.

Le Diplomate - I consider this the number 1 "hype" offender. These dishes wouldn't make it past the hostess stand at Balthazar (which Le Dip is trying way too hard to be).

Founding Farmers - Organic Applebee's.

Del Campo - mediocre from top to bottom.

My takeaways are this:

- Mid and high-end DC establishments are offensively overpriced. Is there a reason for this?
- many big production restaurants where food is second to ambience.
- DC is big on commoditization, as soon as a restaurant is popular, the immediate reaction is to build another. (Why? this does not happen anywhere else)

For Indian, have you tried Woodlands in Langley Park, MD? Not fancy, and much more traditional than Rasika, but as an Indian myself, that's the only place I go for Indian food in this area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No you are not alone! Although it is getting somewhat better, DC pales in comparison to Philly and NYC. I think it is because rents are higher here and people are just less demanding. Maybe the best restaurants here are as good as other cities, but on the middle and lower end (i.e. Where most of us go most often) it really lacks. For example everyone crows about Maketto and it is really just meh.

OP here - In addition to being less demanding, I find that, at least in my social circle, people are very eager to hop aboard the hype train.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What places have you tried that were not up to snuff?

OP here - I am an avid diner, but off the top of my head:

Blue Duck - Very mediocre (used to be better), but always extremely overpriced.

Red Hen - Fine but simpleton. I've been three times (in my neighborhood) and the menu always lacks a sense of adventure.

Rasika - here I will make a NYC comparison. In NYC I would go to Tabla (now closed) which made Rasika seem like a mall franchise.

Le Diplomate - I consider this the number 1 "hype" offender. These dishes wouldn't make it past the hostess stand at Balthazar (which Le Dip is trying way too hard to be).

Founding Farmers - Organic Applebee's.

Del Campo - mediocre from top to bottom.

My takeaways are this:

- Mid and high-end DC establishments are offensively overpriced. Is there a reason for this?
- many big production restaurants where food is second to ambience.
- DC is big on commoditization, as soon as a restaurant is popular, the immediate reaction is to build another. (Why? this does not happen anywhere else)

For Indian, have you tried Woodlands in Langley Park, MD? Not fancy, and much more traditional than Rasika, but as an Indian myself, that's the only place I go for Indian food in this area.

PP who mentioned places in Baltimore. I love Woodlands, but I haven't been there in years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What places have you tried that were not up to snuff?

OP here - I am an avid diner, but off the top of my head:

Blue Duck - Very mediocre (used to be better), but always extremely overpriced.

Red Hen - Fine but simpleton. I've been three times (in my neighborhood) and the menu always lacks a sense of adventure.

Rasika - here I will make a NYC comparison. In NYC I would go to Tabla (now closed) which made Rasika seem like a mall franchise.

Le Diplomate - I consider this the number 1 "hype" offender. These dishes wouldn't make it past the hostess stand at Balthazar (which Le Dip is trying way too hard to be).

Founding Farmers - Organic Applebee's.

Del Campo - mediocre from top to bottom.

My takeaways are this:

- Mid and high-end DC establishments are offensively overpriced. Is there a reason for this?
- many big production restaurants where food is second to ambience.
- DC is big on commoditization, as soon as a restaurant is popular, the immediate reaction is to build another. (Why? this does not happen anywhere else)

I'm from Philly, and I think what makes Philly good is that there are plenty of BYOB places. Without liquor, these restaurants have to compete on food. Therefore the quality of the food goes up while the prices stay down, because they can't charge the way they could if they were also serving $15 cocktails and expensive bottles of wine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What places have you tried that were not up to snuff?

OP here - I am an avid diner, but off the top of my head:

Blue Duck - Very mediocre (used to be better), but always extremely overpriced.

Red Hen - Fine but simpleton. I've been three times (in my neighborhood) and the menu always lacks a sense of adventure.

Rasika - here I will make a NYC comparison. In NYC I would go to Tabla (now closed) which made Rasika seem like a mall franchise.

Le Diplomate - I consider this the number 1 "hype" offender. These dishes wouldn't make it past the hostess stand at Balthazar (which Le Dip is trying way too hard to be).

Founding Farmers - Organic Applebee's.

Del Campo - mediocre from top to bottom.

My takeaways are this:

- Mid and high-end DC establishments are offensively overpriced. Is there a reason for this?
- many big production restaurants where food is second to ambience.
- DC is big on commoditization, as soon as a restaurant is popular, the immediate reaction is to build another. (Why? this does not happen anywhere else)

Have you tried Ripple? I haven't been there since the new chef took over, but it was one place in DC that I really liked. Great service, thoughtful, tasty food, reasonable price. If we lived in NW we would probably go often. There was something about the service & ambience in particular that reminded me a lot of Philly.