Anonymous wrote:

I can't believe you don't understand that there is a lot of middle ground between not thinking that the DC restaurant scene is God's Gift and liking Applebee's.


I know ... It is inexplicable, like they have never been anywhere else.

I can't believe you don't understand there is a lot of middle ground between not thinking the food scene in all of DC, Maryland and Virginia is "mediocre" and recognizing that there are restaurant gems all over the area. But yes PP, it clearly must be that everyone posting on this thread that OP should recognize the ethnic gems of DC has never been anywhere else but DC

I can't believe you don't understand that there is a lot of middle ground between not thinking that the DC restaurant scene is God's Gift and liking Applebee's.


I know ... It is inexplicable, like they have never been anywhere else.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OP, seriously, Enjoy Applebee's! You don't sound like the type of person who has much of a palate, and therefore you will of course be disappointed by the mac-n-cheese or whatever you call food at whatever you call restaurants.

In fact, this response just makes me think you are an awful troll. Etete is a gem, and you're a boring turd.

+1000

I can't believe you don't understand that there is a lot of middle ground between not thinking that the DC restaurant scene is God's Gift and liking Applebee's.

Anonymous wrote:

OP, seriously, Enjoy Applebee's! You don't sound like the type of person who has much of a palate, and therefore you will of course be disappointed by the mac-n-cheese or whatever you call food at whatever you call restaurants.

In fact, this response just makes me think you are an awful troll. Etete is a gem, and you're a boring turd.

+1000

OP, seriously, Enjoy Applebee's! You don't sound like the type of person who has much of a palate, and therefore you will of course be disappointed by the mac-n-cheese or whatever you call food at whatever you call restaurants.

In fact, this response just makes me think you are an awful troll. Etete is a gem, and you're a boring turd.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Op here - LOL to reading about Dukem or Etete in a "foodie magazine". Please spare us. I will also concede that you can find some tasty indian lunch buffets in Arlington strip malls.

Here's an article about Etete in Bon Appetit. But no worries--we understand OP's taste runs more towards the Olive Garden.
http://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/ingredients/article/unexpected-ethnic-eats-in-the-united-states

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)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Op here - LOL to reading about Dukem or Etete in a "foodie magazine". Please spare us. I will also concede that you can find some tasty indian lunch buffets in Arlington strip malls.

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.

Op here - LOL to reading about Dukem or Etete in a "foodie magazine". Please spare us. I will also concede that you can find some tasty indian lunch buffets in Arlington strip malls.

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)

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.

Anonymous wrote:

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.