Mediocre food scene in DMV

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LOL, OP:

"All the restaurants in DC are awful! Oh, just to let you know: I only go to boring hyped up restaurants."



Why don't you go to a restaurant that's not aimed at old white male lobbyists sometime, OP? Or maybe you can move to the bustling metropolis of Asheville, which I'm sure has authentic Vietnamese, Thai, Korean, Ethiopian, Spanish, Japanese, Salvadorian, etc food in spades with their huge, cosmopolitan population of 90,000

Sounds like you want white people food where people kiss your ass. Sounds like you need to live somewhere with cheaper rent so your money goes farther and you seem like more of a big spender than you do here.

And what is wrong with "white people food?" That includes Italian and French food which is known as some of the best cuisine in the universe, you know. Last I looked, most of the best chefs in the world are "white people." Some of us like these cuisines, does that make us simpletons or even racists? Get off your high horse and get off the OPs back. He or she makes some valid points, as you can see by the numerous comments on this thread that agree with him or her. Why don't you just go and extoll the virtues of Ethiopian and Cambiodian food to all of your yuppie friends so that you can get your liberal bona fides for the day.

[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.

Don't know where you are, but Alamo on Kenilworth Ave in Riverdale MD is pretty good.

Where the heck is the good CHINESE?

Rockville, mainly. A&J in Annandale.
Almost all of the ethnic food is in the burbs.

If you're willing to go to Montgomery County, there are a number of good restaurants. For authentic good southern Chinese style, Tony Lin's (http://www.tonylinsrestaurant.com/) is quite good. I'm Chinese and we had a Chinese wedding banquet dinner as our rehearsal dinner there for our wedding. Even my Chinese-born mother and my parents' Chinese friends liked the food there. Years ago, my mother knew the then Chinese Consul at the Chinese Embassy in DC (she had gone to high school with him in Beijing). When she was visiting me, we were invited to dinner and he took us to Tony Lin's. That's how we found it and how we ended up with it for our rehearsal banquet. We don't live in Montgomery County, but we still travel there occasionally to eat at Tony Lin's.

For good Dim Sum, you can go up to Gaithersburg to New Fortune which is the best Hong Kong style (carts) Dim Sum. If you don't want to go that far, Hollywood East in the Wheaton Mall is a close second. I know a number of American friends like Oriental East in Silver Spring, but my Asian friends prefer Hollywood East in Wheaton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LOL, OP:

"All the restaurants in DC are awful! Oh, just to let you know: I only go to boring hyped up restaurants."



Why don't you go to a restaurant that's not aimed at old white male lobbyists sometime, OP? Or maybe you can move to the bustling metropolis of Asheville, which I'm sure has authentic Vietnamese, Thai, Korean, Ethiopian, Spanish, Japanese, Salvadorian, etc food in spades with their huge, cosmopolitan population of 90,000

Sounds like you want white people food where people kiss your ass. Sounds like you need to live somewhere with cheaper rent so your money goes farther and you seem like more of a big spender than you do here.

And what is wrong with "white people food?" That includes Italian and French food which is known as some of the best cuisine in the universe, you know. Last I looked, most of the best chefs in the world are "white people." Some of us like these cuisines, does that make us simpletons or even racists? Get off your high horse and get off the OPs back. He or she makes some valid points, as you can see by the numerous comments on this thread that agree with him or her. Why don't you just go and extoll the virtues of Ethiopian and Cambiodian food to all of your yuppie friends so that you can get your liberal bona fides for the day.

Hon, I'm a white person. But the restaurants OP mentioned are among the most boring, least challenging, and least authentic you can find in DC (with some exceptions). No wonder she's moaning about being bored. Food critics all over the U.S. basically tie a city's food scene quality with the influx of authentic ethnic cuisines. But I'm glad you were too huffy and offended on behalf of all white people to understand that and/or you just love boring food so much you're offended to think that maybe Cambodian food is delicious (it is).

As we used to say on DCUM: "Enjoy Applebee's!"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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).

+1 I just cook all my Italian food at home. What really sucks is the lack of good Italian salumi or bakeries in this area! I have to order online or go to Philly or Pittsburgh to get ingredients sometimes.

I am the PP. I cook mine at home too, but, as you say, it is hard to find quality ingredients. Where do you order from? I get some stuff when I go home, but not everything travels well.

I go to old neighborhood butchers and grocers in both cities, because I have relatives in both places and can go visit for Easter or Christmas and stock my freezer, especially with my beloved basket cheese for Easter pie! I sometimes order from http://www.varallobrothersbakery.com/ if I'm craving pastries and don't want to spend 6 days making sfogliatelle! I'll check if any of the little places I go for meat and cheese deliver and post if they do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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).

+1 I just cook all my Italian food at home. What really sucks is the lack of good Italian salumi or bakeries in this area! I have to order online or go to Philly or Pittsburgh to get ingredients sometimes.

I am the PP. I cook mine at home too, but, as you say, it is hard to find quality ingredients. Where do you order from? I get some stuff when I go home, but not everything travels well.

I go to old neighborhood butchers and grocers in both cities, because I have relatives in both places and can go visit for Easter or Christmas and stock my freezer, especially with my beloved basket cheese for Easter pie! I sometimes order from http://www.varallobrothersbakery.com/ if I'm craving pastries and don't want to spend 6 days making sfogliatelle! I'll check if any of the little places I go for meat and cheese deliver and post if they do.

Oh, I should add that I have found some good stuff at Let's Meat on the Ave in Del Rey. But for actual Italian sausage? Nothing as good as what's in Philly, NYC, or Pittsburgh anywhere near DC, sadly.

[Anonymous]

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.

Don't know where you are, but Alamo on Kenilworth Ave in Riverdale MD is pretty good.

Where the heck is the good CHINESE?

Great Wall Szechuan and Panda Gourmet

[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)

PP, you're listing all the sceney restaurants, with the exception of Red Hen, which I think is really good. Who cares if it's simpleton food?

You won't find amazing food at sceney restaurants, especially for the price.

I disagree with you about Le Dip though - I think the food is really good. And the prices are Balthazar are crazy; and I don't think they're any better. I've been to France dozens of times and Le Dip reminds me of many neighborhood bistros. The food is comfort food, so I don't think you should expect anything outrageous.

Le me give you some suggestions:

Indian: try Kadhai Boutique Indian in Bethesda. I'm sure there are some good places in DC, but I've been hanging out in Bethesda a lot due to husband's family, and we often go there. I think Rasika is good, but I don't think it's the best.

Blue Duck is really good, and I agree it's expensive - but what do you expect? Itt's a fancy restaurant in the most expensive part of DC.

If you want adventurous go to Rose's Luxury or even Compass Rose. Compass Rose is a little restaurant doing amazing things on 14th st.

There's also the Dabney, which just opened. If you're a meat eater, go to Partisan.

I question the Sceney/non-scenery dichotomy! First, there is no reason why "Sceney" restaurants should be crap. That is kind of op's original frustration: overhyped restaurants. Second of all, there is also a tragic lack of non-Sceney good restaurants in DC proper. It's great that there is good Indian in Langley Park but those of us living in downtown DC would appreciate good local options too. Third, I am glad you think Le Diplomate is decent "comfort food" but again that is OP's point - the Sceney obsession with a restaurant that is ultimately just "good comfort food!"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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).

+1 I just cook all my Italian food at home. What really sucks is the lack of good Italian salumi or bakeries in this area! I have to order online or go to Philly or Pittsburgh to get ingredients sometimes.

I am the PP. I cook mine at home too, but, as you say, it is hard to find quality ingredients. Where do you order from? I get some stuff when I go home, but not everything travels well.

I go to old neighborhood butchers and grocers in both cities, because I have relatives in both places and can go visit for Easter or Christmas and stock my freezer, especially with my beloved basket cheese for Easter pie! I sometimes order from http://www.varallobrothersbakery.com/ if I'm craving pastries and don't want to spend 6 days making sfogliatelle! I'll check if any of the little places I go for meat and cheese deliver and post if they do.

Oh, I should add that I have found some good stuff at Let's Meat on the Ave in Del Rey. But for actual Italian sausage? Nothing as good as what's in Philly, NYC, or Pittsburgh anywhere near DC, sadly.

Preach sister. Been trying to figure out how to fly good Italian sausage, speidini and braciolone meat out of my hometown for years now.

[Anonymous]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/style/2015/12/21/the-10-best-food-cities-in-america-ranked/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LOL, OP:

"All the restaurants in DC are awful! Oh, just to let you know: I only go to boring hyped up restaurants."



Why don't you go to a restaurant that's not aimed at old white male lobbyists sometime, OP? Or maybe you can move to the bustling metropolis of Asheville, which I'm sure has authentic Vietnamese, Thai, Korean, Ethiopian, Spanish, Japanese, Salvadorian, etc food in spades with their huge, cosmopolitan population of 90,000

Sounds like you want white people food where people kiss your ass. Sounds like you need to live somewhere with cheaper rent so your money goes farther and you seem like more of a big spender than you do here.

And what is wrong with "white people food?" That includes Italian and French food which is known as some of the best cuisine in the universe, you know. Last I looked, most of the best chefs in the world are "white people." Some of us like these cuisines, does that make us simpletons or even racists? Get off your high horse and get off the OPs back. He or she makes some valid points, as you can see by the numerous comments on this thread that agree with him or her. Why don't you just go and extoll the virtues of Ethiopian and Cambiodian food to all of your yuppie friends so that you can get your liberal bona fides for the day.

Hon, I'm a white person. But the restaurants OP mentioned are among the most boring, least challenging, and least authentic you can find in DC (with some exceptions). No wonder she's moaning about being bored. Food critics all over the U.S. basically tie a city's food scene quality with the influx of authentic ethnic cuisines. But I'm glad you were too huffy and offended on behalf of all white people to understand that and/or you just love boring food so much you're offended to think that maybe Cambodian food is delicious (it is).

As we used to say on DCUM: "Enjoy Applebee's!"

np. As we also used to say, "breathe." If you can take a break between bites of your exciting grub.

[Anonymous]

The best Chinese food in the area is Panda Express. Really.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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).

+1 I just cook all my Italian food at home. What really sucks is the lack of good Italian salumi or bakeries in this area! I have to order online or go to Philly or Pittsburgh to get ingredients sometimes.

I am the PP. I cook mine at home too, but, as you say, it is hard to find quality ingredients. Where do you order from? I get some stuff when I go home, but not everything travels well.

I go to old neighborhood butchers and grocers in both cities, because I have relatives in both places and can go visit for Easter or Christmas and stock my freezer, especially with my beloved basket cheese for Easter pie! I sometimes order from http://www.varallobrothersbakery.com/ if I'm craving pastries and don't want to spend 6 days making sfogliatelle! I'll check if any of the little places I go for meat and cheese deliver and post if they do.

Oh, I should add that I have found some good stuff at Let's Meat on the Ave in Del Rey. But for actual Italian sausage? Nothing as good as what's in Philly, NYC, or Pittsburgh anywhere near DC, sadly.

Preach sister. Been trying to figure out how to fly good Italian sausage, speidini and braciolone meat out of my hometown for years now.

I'm not a big sausage eater myself, but have any of you tried Baltimore? There are a number of family-owned Italian delicatessens in Baltimore that have been around for a long time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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)

PP, you're listing all the sceney restaurants, with the exception of Red Hen, which I think is really good. Who cares if it's simpleton food?

You won't find amazing food at sceney restaurants, especially for the price.

I disagree with you about Le Dip though - I think the food is really good. And the prices are Balthazar are crazy; and I don't think they're any better. I've been to France dozens of times and Le Dip reminds me of many neighborhood bistros. The food is comfort food, so I don't think you should expect anything outrageous.

Le me give you some suggestions:

Indian: try Kadhai Boutique Indian in Bethesda. I'm sure there are some good places in DC, but I've been hanging out in Bethesda a lot due to husband's family, and we often go there. I think Rasika is good, but I don't think it's the best.

Blue Duck is really good, and I agree it's expensive - but what do you expect? Itt's a fancy restaurant in the most expensive part of DC.

If you want adventurous go to Rose's Luxury or even Compass Rose. Compass Rose is a little restaurant doing amazing things on 14th st.

There's also the Dabney, which just opened. If you're a meat eater, go to Partisan.

I question the Sceney/non-scenery dichotomy! First, there is no reason why "Sceney" restaurants should be crap. That is kind of op's original frustration: overhyped restaurants. Second of all, there is also a tragic lack of non-Sceney good restaurants in DC proper. It's great that there is good Indian in Langley Park but those of us living in downtown DC would appreciate good local options too. Third, I am glad you think Le Diplomate is decent "comfort food" but again that is OP's point - the Sceney obsession with a restaurant that is ultimately just "good comfort food!"

The rent in downtown DC is too high for most quality ethnic restaurants (i.e., the ones where people of that ethnicity will go because the food is as good or better than what they can make at home) because there's a price beyond which people won't pay unless they're there for the booze and the scene. That's why comfort food is usually found in the lesser cost areas, like the burbs.

[Anonymous]

Forget the Chinese, why can no Jewish deli survive here? Why should I have to go to Baltimore for decent corned beef and pastrami?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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).

+1 I just cook all my Italian food at home. What really sucks is the lack of good Italian salumi or bakeries in this area! I have to order online or go to Philly or Pittsburgh to get ingredients sometimes.

I am the PP. I cook mine at home too, but, as you say, it is hard to find quality ingredients. Where do you order from? I get some stuff when I go home, but not everything travels well.

I go to old neighborhood butchers and grocers in both cities, because I have relatives in both places and can go visit for Easter or Christmas and stock my freezer, especially with my beloved basket cheese for Easter pie! I sometimes order from http://www.varallobrothersbakery.com/ if I'm craving pastries and don't want to spend 6 days making sfogliatelle! I'll check if any of the little places I go for meat and cheese deliver and post if they do.

Oh, I should add that I have found some good stuff at Let's Meat on the Ave in Del Rey. But for actual Italian sausage? Nothing as good as what's in Philly, NYC, or Pittsburgh anywhere near DC, sadly.

Preach sister. Been trying to figure out how to fly good Italian sausage, speidini and braciolone meat out of my hometown for years now.

I'm not a big sausage eater myself, but have any of you tried Baltimore? There are a number of family-owned Italian delicatessens in Baltimore that have been around for a long time.

Yes, tried it right away on moving to the area a decade ago and go every so often with high hopes. Unfortunately I don't get the hype (ha, the word of the thread) about Baltimore Italian. It's not good at all, and I've been to a number of places at this point. I think it's just good in comparison to DC, which is a low bar.