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Chinatown DC -- Cool / inexpensive Restruants?

wfudkn said:
Finally checked out Mintwood Place last night. Place is very good, and I really liked the lively (loud) atmosphere. We will absolutely be going back.
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Sweet. Going there for our anniversary in a couple weeks. Any particular suggestions?
 
LadyDeac03 said:
Sweet. Going there for our anniversary in a couple weeks. Any particular suggestions?
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I would absolutely recommend everything we had: escargot hush puppies to share, wife had a burrata appetizer and I had a grilled beef heart salad (which was truely awesome), and wife had the roast chicken entree and I had the cassoulet. The chicken was one of the better roast chickens I can remember.
 
Anyone else doing restaurant week? Started with Rasika last night. It was certainly good but I'm not sure it was the amazing experience I've heard it described as. Rest of this week goes Jaleo, Zaytinya and Vidalia. First time eating at all of them.
 
timdunkandthefunk said:
Anyone else doing restaurant week? Started with Rasika last night. It was certainly good but I'm not sure it was the amazing experience I've heard it described as. Rest of this week goes Jaleo, Zaytinya and Vidalia. First time eating at all of them.
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Please don't judge Jaleo by their restaurant week meals. They really seem to half ass it.
 
DistrictDeacon said:
Please don't judge Jaleo by their restaurant week meals. They really seem to half ass it.
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Yeah, it really varies by restaurant. Some places will give you a good sampling of their meal, others will focus on turnover, others dumb down their menu to get to that price point.
 
I'm doing Sushi Taro lunch since they're across the street from my office...usually it's pretty good. I'm going to a birthday brunch on Saturday at Urbana, which I assume will be doing a RW. It's gotten to the point where I agree dinner isn't worth it unless it's one of the top places in town (I've done Oval Room before which is a good deal). Lunch is where it's at, but just doing the one right now.
 
Rasika had all the dishes I saw recommended on Yelp. Jaleo looks like a really basic menu, I'm a little worried about the value.
 
JDawg said:
Yeah, it really varies by restaurant. Some places will give you a good sampling of their meal, others will focus on turnover, others dumb down their menu to get to that price point.
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Picking restaurant week spots is critical to the experience.

Is the restaurant always packed like Rasika? Probably not a good RW choice. Is a main course typically more expensive than the entire cost of the RW menu? Then you're getting off-menu junk they wouldn't serve normally.

My best experiences have been at middle-tier places who really want to drive up business or old faithfuls that just extend the hours on the pre-theater menu or have a price point where they can pretty much just open up the entire menu.

Of course, the problem there is after you add up the cost you're basically dealing with crowds and rushed service just to get a free dessert.
 
DCDeac said:
Picking restaurant week spots is critical to the experience.

Is the restaurant always packed like Rasika? Probably not a good RW choice. Is a main course typically more expensive than the entire cost of the RW menu? Then you're getting off-menu junk they wouldn't serve normally.

My best experiences have been at middle-tier places who really want to drive up business or old faithfuls that just extend the hours on the pre-theater menu or have a price point where they can pretty much just open up the entire menu.

Of course, the problem there is after you add up the cost you're basically dealing with crowds and rushed service just to get a free dessert.
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which is why lunch is often the much better deal since many places just have the same offering for both lunch and dinner
 
Restaurant week mostly sucks now. It used to be that places would take a little loss to showcase to new potential customers. Now it's largely a money grab. Even at places that do it well, you basically get the equivalent of free dessert, and you inevitably get shittier service because places are packed with noob diners. Avoid.
 
Toogs said:
Restaurant week mostly sucks now. It used to be that places would take a little loss to showcase to new potential customers. Now it's largely a money grab. Even at places that do it well, you basically get the equivalent of free dessert, and you inevitably get shittier service because places are packed with noob diners. Avoid.
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This is kind of how I feel. We don't do restaurant week anymore because it seems like most places half-ass it. The servers and cooks all hate it and it shows. I actively avoid restaurants that participate during restaurant week because even if you order off of the actual menu you still get shit service because everyone is so unhappy.
 
I'm starting to get a little worried that I booked my Sushi Taro Omakase Counter seat at the wrong time: coming off RW and just before their Valentine's Day menu (which they're extending through the weekend). Hopefully they're still sourcing some esoteric stuff for my meal. it's a week from today.
 
ToughLoveDeac said:
Haven't check the menu, but hopefully they included their bacon-wrapped dates. Delicious.

Jaleo also has one of the most bizarre bathroom setups I've ever seen. You'll see what I mean.
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Bacon wrapped dates are on there.

At Rasika we got paak chalat/scallops with chili powder - black cod/lamb curry - two random desserts. Everything was very good. Curry wasn't the best I've ever had.
 
Went to a Chinese New Year celebration at the Source last night. It was cray cray. Hung out with Wolfgang for a bit, which was pretty cool; and Wolf Blitzer, which was way less cool. But the food was awesome as always, but the spectacle of it all was ridiculous. For about 20 minutes during the dinner a person in a dragon costume sauntered through the restaurant dancing to Chinese dudes on drums and biting people on the head. And everyone there was obliterated. I think I personally went through a bottle and a half of champagne before even being seated (it was free so I wasn't saying no), and then had the wine pairing that amounted to maybe another bottle (probs closer to a bottle and a half since they kept refilling).

For anyone who hasn't gone to the Source, the food is redonkulously good, and my man makes some of the best dumplings EVAR.
 
did anyone see Bizarre Foods DC last night?

he went to Jaleo and America Eats, ate at some food trucks, went to FL Ave Grill (never been there), went to Common Good Farm, had some Salvadorean food, ate snakehead at The Source, and went fishing for snakehead. gotta say, I really wanna try that fish. I've heard nothing but great things. they caught one and cooked it up as a simple fish sandwich and it looked awesome.
 
Snakehead was on the menu last night. It was actually really fucking good. And it's locally sourced and abundant (since it's basically a plague on the Potomac).
 
There was some on the menu at Little Serow a few weeks ago.
 
yeah I need to go back to LS. I went on Valentine's Day last year alone...and had a great time. The lady would def not be down with LS.

Sushi Taro asked me to move my omakase reservation to tomorrow night bc apparently they got some huge order from the Press Bldg for the SOTU tonight, so they thought they kitchen would be rushed and it wouldn't be as good of an experience
 
From what someone said last night, we're going to be seeing a lot of it around here. It's good, it's abundant, and it's harmful to the environment (so no one is going to miss it if it all goes away).
 
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