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Chinatown DC -- Cool / inexpensive Restruants?

df2009, talked to MY GURL from cirque for a bit yesterday. i told her how you preach the gospel of cirque lunch, and apparently they are killing it now and have to buy a new walk-in to keep up with demand. AND they are thinking of starting a second truck. the new truck would be quiches and salads and healthy shiz. she said she'd work on the cirque truck, and let someone else handle taht one as it would be less strenuous. i asked her about an actual restaurant and she said not yet.

i saw her when i was walking to the farmer's market late, so i stopped back by where she preps and met my dog walker (who happens to also be a prep cook for her). hilarious. i love our 'hood.

she's doing a hanger steak with chimichurri this week that sounded awesome.

NICE.

Unless they're changing things up, I should be able to nab this steak tomorrow. I did peep their menu.... it's a steak SALAD, which is kinda weak, but I'm sure they'll find a way to pull it off.
 
Speaking of good hangar steak, hit up Boqueria last weekend. Their Carne la Plancha is hangar steak with a verde sauce that is ridiculous and a bunch of charred shishito peppers. Holy shit it was good.
 
I LOVE MENOMALE! It is about 2 blocks from my house, so we've been probably 6-8 times now? We went on opening night, have done carry out twice, and have taken both sets of parents and some friends. Everyone is a fan.

It is tiny though, so be prepared. There are literally about 14-16 table seats and then about 6 seats at the bar, so there can be a wait. We've had the most success early in the evening (between 5-6pm) or at lunch time on Saturday or Sunday.

If you like beer, Menomale us definitely a must-visit. The co-owners are a couple of young guys (mid-20s I think). One is Italian and is the pizziolo who studied pizza-making in Naples (the oven goes up to some crazy temperature and cooks the pizzas in like 60 seconds). The other owners is a self-proclaimed "beer nerd" and is obsessed with the drink service. They usually have 20 beers on tap (for a max 20 seat restaurant!) and he will happily explain the beers and help you pick one. He usually also offers a small taste of it before pouring a whole glass.

The pizzas are obvi awesome (our favorite so far is the Bianca) and the calzone we tried once was good. We also really really liked the panuozzo, which are basically giant sandwiches served on pizza dough. The pollo verde is our favorite of those. And you MUST get la bomba for dessert. Pizza dough stuffed with Nutella. Nom nom nom. :drool:

I suppose I am not really an impartial judge since I'm just excited to have a "gourmet" type restaurant walkable in my hood, but it's also getting great reviews on Yelp and DR.com (and I think Don Rockwell called it one of the best pizza places in the area).

We've got some friends (a couple) in Brookland who took us to this place a few weeks ago. Really, really good authentic pizza napoletana. One of our friends is actually from Naples and this place gets her stamp of approval, so just think about that.
 
thinking of going there tonight. ladydeac, if youre around, if we showed up at 8ish would we be able to get a table? would it be a 30 minute wait at the bar situaish?
 
thinking of going there tonight. ladydeac, if youre around, if we showed up at 8ish would we be able to get a table? would it be a 30 minute wait at the bar situaish?

Wish I could answer that for you, but we haven't been by at night in a while. I *think* it's busier on the early side, but I'm not 100% sure.
 
went last night. good 'za. good beer list. no draft beers. awful acoustics. it got better once this big group left, but i have trouble hearing with background noise and the first half of the meal i was struggling.

took the g8 there. interesting bus ride. the area between bloomingdale and brookland is a little sketchy.
 
also, almost no wait when we got there at 830ish for future reference ladydeac or anyone else interested in going. i'm assuming we'll go again. transportation is teh only issue as the lady didnt really want to walk back down edgewood after dinner at 10 oclock, so we ubered home.
 
Did they give a reason for no draft beers? Odd since they usually have 15-20. Glad you liked the pizza though!
 
she said something but it wasnt intelligible since i couldnt hear for shit at that point. the beers were still good. they had an aged pale ale that was almost like a farmhouse ale. really good. also the le freak ipa was delish.
 
sooooo anyone have any good recs for a cleaning person in dc?
 
I've used it to find a handyman and plumber before, and that worked out ok. For a maid, I think I'd rather have a personal reference.
 
I've used it a few times now. A personal reference can be fine, but in many cases a company might not send the same crew your friend got or maybe they simply got lucky.

My best find was the guy who built my deck - did an incredible job and saved me huge $$$. I even had a personal reference for that job and it would have been double from them. Also found a great dog walker and got a really good deal on a move-out cleaning.

The reviews tend to be very good.
 
it seemed like it costs money when i went.

a friend of mine hooked me with a cleaning lady. i much prefer the one-person business because they tend to take their time because every client matters to them. we'll see how it goes.
 
Went toThai Crossing tonight. If this is not your next reservation then you are a retard. This place is legit. And it's byob, which is awesome.
 
Went toThai Crossing tonight. If this is not your next reservation then you are a retard. This place is legit. And it's byob, which is awesome.

Just looked this up. Definitely need to do it soon. I think we've walked past this place 50+ times and wondered what the hell it was (a secret restaurant?). There isn't really a sign outside, right? It just looks like someone's basement with an ivy-laden trellis outside.
 
Just looked this up. Definitely need to do it soon. I think we've walked past this place 50+ times and wondered what the hell it was (a secret restaurant?). There isn't really a sign outside, right? It just looks like someone's basement with an ivy-laden trellis outside.

Yep, that's it. It's weird, and the owner is clearly living there. But the food is incredible.
 
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