Mediocre food scene in DMV

[Anonymous]

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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.

Is braciolone like braciole? If so, YUM. Seems like every Italian family has slightly different takes on traditional food based on when and where they came over.

One year I did an Easter pie potluck with a few Italian friends in DC and literally every pie was completely different (but insanely delicious).

Yes, braciolone is like braciole, maybe a touch smaller. It is a piece of thin beef rolled up with tomato paste, breadcrumbs, onion, Romano, salami, cheese, and hard-boiled eggs, like a larger version of the speidini. It is braised and then cooked in tomato sauce or baked. Mmm!

STAHP you're killing me here, PP!

I do my braciole similarly but with the addition of pine nuts and basil and without eggs or salami. Never tried the version with eggs in it, but hey, I'm game...I think I have to go buy a brisket and lots of ingredients for dinner tonight...

Mmm! Pine nuts and basil in it sound good. Have you ever tried the braciole concept as a smaller appetizer size (speidinis)? Just use smaller pieces of meat. So awesome! Best appetizer ever! I am of Sicilian heritage and speidinis are one of our specialties. Now I'm getting hungry, but where to find the meat?

That sounds crazy good. My grandparents are all from Caserta/Naples and I don't think I've ever had speidinis before, but obviously I'm going to have to try now! And yes, getting the right cuts for Italian food is about as hard as getting the right cuts for most Asian food (DH is Asian). We need more "ethnic" butchers, people!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Is braciolone like braciole? If so, YUM. Seems like every Italian family has slightly different takes on traditional food based on when and where they came over.

One year I did an Easter pie potluck with a few Italian friends in DC and literally every pie was completely different (but insanely delicious).

Yes, braciolone is like braciole, maybe a touch smaller. It is a piece of thin beef rolled up with tomato paste, breadcrumbs, onion, Romano, salami, cheese, and hard-boiled eggs, like a larger version of the speidini. It is braised and then cooked in tomato sauce or baked. Mmm!

STAHP you're killing me here, PP!

I do my braciole similarly but with the addition of pine nuts and basil and without eggs or salami. Never tried the version with eggs in it, but hey, I'm game...I think I have to go buy a brisket and lots of ingredients for dinner tonight...

Mmm! Pine nuts and basil in it sound good. Have you ever tried the braciole concept as a smaller appetizer size (speidinis)? Just use smaller pieces of meat. So awesome! Best appetizer ever! I am of Sicilian heritage and speidinis are one of our specialties. Now I'm getting hungry, but where to find the meat?

That sounds crazy good. My grandparents are all from Caserta/Naples and I don't think I've ever had speidinis before, but obviously I'm going to have to try now! And yes, getting the right cuts for Italian food is about as hard as getting the right cuts for most Asian food (DH is Asian). We need more "ethnic" butchers, people!

So true, paesana! Happy cooking!

[Anonymous]

Agree.

And there is not one Michelin-rated restaurant in this city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

There's no point in going to Baltimore when Philly is just an hour more away. The italian food in Philadelphia is a million times better.

[Anonymous]

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

And the best Mexican is Chipotle (sans e coli).

[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!"

OP here - I'm sorry I did not weigh in on all your favorite ethnic dives. As I said before, my beef is with the fact that our "best" restaurants, as defined by the critics and the masses, are generic corporate 'concept' restaurants. I also don't think "authenticity" is an issue for me. Yes, there are plenty of "authentic" restaurants in DC and the suburbs. Essentially I am frustrated because whenever I go out to what is supposed to be a nice meal in the area, I am disappointed.

[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.

Yes. But we have great Ethopian.

SF has great Ethopian, too. SF/LA has pretty much great every kind of food.

[Anonymous]

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)

OP, as other PPs have mentioned, the places you have listed are primarily places people go for expense account outings and not our "most acclaimed restaurants". You're also heavy on the Italian-French-American cuisines in your list. DC, like many other cities, excels in types of foods where it has a large immigrant population.

Have you ever tried Ethiopian food? When I lived in NYC for a decade, I would always try to eat it when I visited DC because it's so good here. How about Asian foods? Like the other Indian PP, I think Rasika is fine for some a night out, but there is much better Indian food in the burbs (ex: Woodlands, Mayuri). Thai X-ing or Little Serow are great for Thai. There's a Laotian restaurant called Thip Khao that was one of Bon Appetit's 50 best restaurants in America. As others have mentioned, there is excellent Chinese in the burbs (you complain it's mostly chain restaurants, but try closing your Fodor's guide and go somewhere recommended on the Washingtonian Cheap Eats list).

But if that's all too adventurous for your palate and you want to complain about how mediocre the food is here in DC, go ahead, but please retitle your post "Mediocre European cuisine at expense account restaurants in DMV "

[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.

Whenever I go back to Philly, I stop at Termini Brothers for pastries. I see they ship, but have never tried that. http://www.termini.com/Default.aspx

[Anonymous]

I agree that on the whole, the food scene in DC isn't that great. San Fran, Philadelphia, New York, Charleston and New Orleans have much better restaurants per capita, especially at all price points.

That said - there are some really good restaurants in DC, as well as the surrounding areas. You just need to find them.

[Anonymous]

OP, as other PPs have mentioned, the places you have listed are primarily places people go for expense account outings and not our "most acclaimed restaurants". You're also heavy on the Italian-French-American cuisines in your list. DC, like many other cities, excels in types of foods where it has a large immigrant population.

Have you ever tried Ethiopian food? When I lived in NYC for a decade, I would always try to eat it when I visited DC because it's so good here. How about Asian foods? Like the other Indian PP, I think Rasika is fine for some a night out, but there is much better Indian food in the burbs (ex: Woodlands, Mayuri). Thai X-ing or Little Serow are great for Thai. There's a Laotian restaurant called Thip Khao that was one of Bon Appetit's 50 best restaurants in America. As others have mentioned, there is excellent Chinese in the burbs (you complain it's mostly chain restaurants, but try closing your Fodor's guide and go somewhere recommended on the Washingtonian Cheap Eats list).

But if that's all too adventurous for your palate and you want to complain about how mediocre the food is here in DC, go ahead, but please retitle your post "Mediocre European cuisine at expense account restaurants in DMV "

+1 And if you are interested in Asian cuisines, don't forget Momofuku just opened.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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)

OP, as other PPs have mentioned, the places you have listed are primarily places people go for expense account outings and not our "most acclaimed restaurants". You're also heavy on the Italian-French-American cuisines in your list. DC, like many other cities, excels in types of foods where it has a large immigrant population.

Have you ever tried Ethiopian food? When I lived in NYC for a decade, I would always try to eat it when I visited DC because it's so good here. How about Asian foods? Like the other Indian PP, I think Rasika is fine for some a night out, but there is much better Indian food in the burbs (ex: Woodlands, Mayuri). Thai X-ing or Little Serow are great for Thai. There's a Laotian restaurant called Thip Khao that was one of Bon Appetit's 50 best restaurants in America. As others have mentioned, there is excellent Chinese in the burbs (you complain it's mostly chain restaurants, but try closing your Fodor's guide and go somewhere recommended on the Washingtonian Cheap Eats list).

But if that's all too adventurous for your palate and you want to complain about how mediocre the food is here in DC, go ahead, but please retitle your post "Mediocre European cuisine at expense account restaurants in DMV "

OP here - I get it but I don't see why "expense account" should have anything to do with it. There are "expense account" restaurants in NYC too, but they are kick ass (Perry St., Ai Fiori). These are truly exceptional restaurants and provide for top dining experiences. In my opinion, the restaurants that garner similar notoriety here simply do not live up to many peoples expectations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OP, as other PPs have mentioned, the places you have listed are primarily places people go for expense account outings and not our "most acclaimed restaurants". You're also heavy on the Italian-French-American cuisines in your list. DC, like many other cities, excels in types of foods where it has a large immigrant population.

Have you ever tried Ethiopian food? When I lived in NYC for a decade, I would always try to eat it when I visited DC because it's so good here. How about Asian foods? Like the other Indian PP, I think Rasika is fine for some a night out, but there is much better Indian food in the burbs (ex: Woodlands, Mayuri). Thai X-ing or Little Serow are great for Thai. There's a Laotian restaurant called Thip Khao that was one of Bon Appetit's 50 best restaurants in America. As others have mentioned, there is excellent Chinese in the burbs (you complain it's mostly chain restaurants, but try closing your Fodor's guide and go somewhere recommended on the Washingtonian Cheap Eats list).

But if that's all too adventurous for your palate and you want to complain about how mediocre the food is here in DC, go ahead, but please retitle your post "Mediocre European cuisine at expense account restaurants in DMV "

+1 And if you are interested in Asian cuisines, don't forget Momofuku just opened.

Argh. op's POINT is that it is annoying that our "acclaimed" downtown DC restaurants are so disappointing. Not that there is no good food in the suburbs.

[Anonymous]

OP here - I get it but I don't see why "expense account" should have anything to do with it. There are "expense account" restaurants in NYC too, but they are kick ass (Perry St., Ai Fiori). These are truly exceptional restaurants and provide for top dining experiences. In my opinion, the restaurants that garner similar notoriety here simply do not live up to many peoples expectations.

Good, then retitle your post to be more precise. You're complaining about a small subset of restaurants in DC, when actuality restaurants like Etete or Dukem (Ethiopian), Thip Khao (Laotian) and Little Serow (Thai) are far more acclaimed by foodie magazines than most of the ones you mentioned.

[Anonymous]

OP, as other PPs have mentioned, the places you have listed are primarily places people go for expense account outings and not our "most acclaimed restaurants". You're also heavy on the Italian-French-American cuisines in your list. DC, like many other cities, excels in types of foods where it has a large immigrant population.

Have you ever tried Ethiopian food? When I lived in NYC for a decade, I would always try to eat it when I visited DC because it's so good here. How about Asian foods? Like the other Indian PP, I think Rasika is fine for some a night out, but there is much better Indian food in the burbs (ex: Woodlands, Mayuri). Thai X-ing or Little Serow are great for Thai. There's a Laotian restaurant called Thip Khao that was one of Bon Appetit's 50 best restaurants in America. As others have mentioned, there is excellent Chinese in the burbs (you complain it's mostly chain restaurants, but try closing your Fodor's guide and go somewhere recommended on the Washingtonian Cheap Eats list).

But if that's all too adventurous for your palate and you want to complain about how mediocre the food is here in DC, go ahead, but please retitle your post "Mediocre European cuisine at expense account restaurants in DMV "

+1 And if you are interested in Asian cuisines, don't forget Momofuku just opened.

Argh. op's POINT is that it is annoying that our "acclaimed" downtown DC restaurants are so disappointing. Not that there is no good food in the suburbs.

What are you talking about? OP post is titled "Mediocre food scene in DMV" (which means DC, Maryland and Virginia) not "Mediocre Food in downtown DC", which presumably includes suburbs. And a lot of the restaurants PP just mentioned (Momofuku, Little Serow, Thai X-ing and Thip Khao) are all in or close to downtown DC.