Belga Cafe

- 514 8th Street, SE (Eastern Market)
- Belgian & Flemish
- mussels, pommes frites (fries) supposed to be good
- recommended by people
- around $20 per entree

This summary had been on my "places to try" post for a while. I went during what was deemed "mussels" week, during which Belga was claimed to have wider variety of mussels dishes available.

There was some kind of gathering or event going on in the front, which probably made it louder than usual, but I liked the decor and atmosphere nonetheless.

I ordered a Green Curry mussels dish, I think. My mussels were solid, but I certainly wouldn't include them in the top tier of mussels I have had in D.C. Certainly, the ones at Brasserie Beck, some bar on Wisconsin, or some other place that I ate outside of also on 8th street were better. Perhaps I went for an experimental dish that is not a good example of Belga's best, but I found the flavoring to be weak, pleasant, but weak, and certainly not delicious. My (white) wine was average and unmemorable. So, in my initial foray, Belga's disappointed. While I won't make an attempt to return there, not with so many other proven options, I wouldn't oppose going again if someone else really wanted to.

Note: Belga's is supposed to have a good Belgian beer selection, but I did not try any.

Vinoteca Update

Not much, but see original post here: NEW

Rustico Update

I will add this to the Rustico post HERE.

Full Kee (Chinese) & Trattoria

Full Kee - 509 H Street, N. W.

I went to a Chinese place next to New Century Bus. I had beef fried rice.  Ample dish for under $10 and pretty good (for fried rice).  My friend had some kind of fried pork - had a reddish appearance - and the bite I had of his was quite good. He says that they don't use a lot of oil which he likes.

http://www.fullkeedc.com/

Also, I went to a Trattoria (I believe) of some sort in Clarendon.  The wine was solid, but the one appetizer I tried was great.  Avocado something.  It was just a few blocks from the Clarendon metro and I think it was right by / across from La Tasca.  Anyway, find out what this was.

Harry's Tap Room

Located: 2800 Clarendon Blvd, just a few blocks from the Clarendon metro stop.  They also have locations in the Pentagon City Mall and in the Dulles Airport.

The decor & atmosphere of Harry's was quite nice.  A medium, open room in front with upscale settings and a small bar area in back.  Harry's appeared to have a larger upstairs area, but I did not expore.

I had only a wine and appetizers at Harry's.  The wine was reasonably good and priced in the $7-$13 range.  The complimentary bread was quite good, especially the little jalapeño muffiny things.  The two appetizers we tried were the Baked Bree Cheese and the Jumbo Lump Chesapeake Blue Crab Cake.  Appetizers were generally pricey at $9-$14.  The bree was pretty good.  It was melted with a touch of some kind of wine reduction and a few very thin pear slices.  It wasn't the best Bree or cheese appetizer that I've had, but it's hard to go wrong with bree, and it was pretty good sized.  I don't really remember the Crab Cake at this point (5 days later), so I suspect that it was fine, but unremarkable.  Based on the appetizers, it appears that you're paying for fancy, but only solid food, but mainly atmosphere and location.

The (dinner) menu lists the Entrees at $17-$30 with the sandwiches (burgers) being all over $10.  They also have mussels for $16.

Coco Sala Update

REMINDER
Update Coco Sala entry with Suzanne's birthday lunch. Tomato & Burrata was again very good. Portabella flatbread was quite good, but not as good as tiger shrimp and that tort. Dessert was a trio of Rasberry & Chocolate things, called "Ruby", that was very good.

Birch & Barley / Churchkey

14th Street around N 1337 14th St. if I remember correctly.

I went to try the beers and got a flatbread pizza as well.

The upstairs is a large bar, which was quite crowded despite just having opened. The draft list was extensive with several less common beers. The beers are broken down by style, which is nice. The prices are a tad high and the serving size is smaller than usual, so overall the beer is a bit pricey.

Downstairs is a restaurant, although with the same draft selection. I ordered a veal and mushroom flatbread pizza. It was pretty good, but not nearly as good as Rustico's (same ownership). It was a bit greasy and while not lacking in flavor, it's flavor didn't stand out. The crust was quite well done and suitable for the style of pizza, but not extraordinary.
The menu was fairly pricey and had many upscale items.
The decor downstairs was very nice, with a good ambiance and feel.

Overall, I will go back for the wide selection of beer not far from my place and I might try the food again, but I would not make this a destination restaurant based on one sampling.

Toscano Grill

Toscano Grill
Courthouse area, complex right at metro.
I ordered Shrimp n Scallops w/ White Wine sauce. Quite good. Zesty. Not especially filling, but okay portion.
Dessert: Peanut Mousse dessert. Solid, but unremarkable. Would
Also had wines, but I did not have. Around $5-6 per glass.
Friends ordered Chicken marasala, veggie pizza, soup. The soup was not good, but the others liked their meals.
Prices: $12 and up for pastas. If meat dish or with dish, $18-24.
Overall, solid, enjoyable, but not special.
- mobile update

Vinoteca

One of my new favorite places!

meal - Scallions in cuttle fish ink w/ lemon - quite good, ink okay

date had squash stew - didn't try

dessert - chocolate cake amazing - as good as food gets, rich, cherries very strong alcohol

date had figs - quite good for figs

To add to the above, the Scallions in cuttle fish ink w/lemon was very enjoyable, complex, and unique.  It is the kind of dish that restaurant explorers like me are delighted to find someplace.  Very well done.

It seems that my brief description of the chocolate cake is sufficient, although it was moist, with a very rich, chocolate sauce of some sort inside.  The figs were quite good as a dessert and I would recommend them as they beat the desserts at many restaurants, but they didn't compare to the cake.

Also, the atmosphere and decor and feel were great.  The staff was very polite, attentive, and helpful, although it was not busy when I was there.

UPDATE:

So I went to Vinoteca again on a Sunday evening.  The wines that were available for their happy hour for $5 were quite good and the serving size was not lacking.  I only had an appetizer that I cannot find on their menu, but it was basically some kind of bruscuttio or something like that with just some tomato stuff on it (my memory is not great).  It was quite good for what it was.

The happy hour atmosphere at the bar was again good.  Not empty, but not ridiculously packed for a Sunday evening (maybe the cold).  Also, they brought in some kind of Spanish band that started playing as we left, which seemed like great mood/atmosphere music.  The hostess at the door said that they do that on Sunday evenings, but apparently not other nights.

Russia House

REMINDER

Post about Russia house:

Notes:

beet boulash? (friend got & didn't like)

beer - Russians aren't known for beer, not bad, but fairly common American beers better

Cheesy mushroom bacon thing - amazing

Sausage platter in red cabbage (or something) with cherries - pretty good

Grill from Ipanema

I have visited the Grill from Ipanema again and provided a review in my Brazilian section.

Dogfishhead Ale House

6220 Leesburg Pike
Seven Corners Shopping Center

I haven't been here in a while, but I just remembered that I have been.

I should probably subsume this into a general overview of beer, pizza, and American food places, but I won't.

Anyway, the decor is very nice and the servers always attentive and helpful.  A lot of indoor brick give it a good rustic feel.  Of course, it is one of those places on the edges of a shopping center's parking lot which I tend to avoid, but there actually aren't that many of them, so they're not another Applebee's / Chi-chi's kind of chain.

The beer is quite good.  The selections are all Dogfishhead, so you have to like their stuff, but I think that brewery makes good stuff.

The food is high quality bar food.  The BBQ chicken pizza and the burgers have both been quite good when I've been there.

Cheesecake Factory - Friendship Heights

I went to the Cheesecake Factory for a birthday.  I've been to ones in Chicago and St. Louis before.  It's pretty well-known, so I won't go into much detail.

The pre-meal bread was very good.  I really enjoyed the dark one and ate too much.  I was also hungry and ordered a clam chowder, which was on special.  It was a solid clam chowder, but nothing special or worth having again.  For a meal I ordered the fish tacos, which were quite large and quite good.  Nothing too special, but definitely well-done higher end fish tacos.

Unfortunately, too much bread plus clam chowder was one of the more foolish things I have done, because combined with a late (3pm) lunch, I did not have any room for dessert.  Others did not even order cheesecake (?!!), but had a towering and very good looking strawberry shortcake.

Coco Sala

929 F St. NW

I returned to Coco Sala again, this time for a dinner.  It turns out to be quite expensive for dinner, although not as tasty as I remember lunch being.  Perhaps it was just the menu selections.  As for those, both of us had the Lobster Salad to start.  It was quite tiny, not really salad-like, but it was rather good.  Not $10 for a tiny pseudo salad good, but tasty nonetheless.

The next course, we shared our two orders, which were the Crabcake Lollipops and the Tuna Tartar.  The Crabcake Lollipops were excellent, albeit small.  The Tuna Tartar was fine, but nothing special.

For dessert we had the "xocolatyl Aztec Experience", which was comprised of "amuse" churros with cinnamon cream and dulce de leche dip, a "main dessert" of hot chocolate souffle with fiery chocolate center / espresso gelato / chipotle truffle / kalua soother and a "Petit Fours" of  chocolate infused horchata, mexican wedding cookie.  Well, first off, I remember mainly that the mexican wedding cookie sucked.  Blech.  Like one of those weird airplane cookies*, only not stale.  The other stuff was all pretty good, although not amazing.  Actually, the expresso gelato was a little too coffee flavored for me, but was probably good for those who like coffee, the kalua soother was good, but basically Kalua and Bailey's.  The rest was rather good though.

Still, an overall disappointment considering the cost: $107 including 4 drinks.

*no, not at all like the delicious fresh baked cookies that Midwest Express serves.

----------

I returned to Coco Sala for the 3rd time, this time with my coworkers for lunch for restaurant week.  Coco Sala redeemed restaurant week for my coworkers, who will hopefully stick with my recommendations from now on.  (To be fair, I am the only one who has lived downtown for more than a couple months and I have the longest tenure at work.)

As I may have stated in my earlier mini-review, the ambiance at Coco Sala is very chic.  The wait service this time was excellent and my waiter had an European accent and trendy sideburns.

I ordered the tomato & burrata salad, the feta & spinach tart with tiger shrimp entree, and the peaches & cream dessert.

The tomato & burrata salad was essentially four tomato slices (two orange, two red) surrounding a portion of burrata cheese all drizzled with balsamic reduction and sprinkled with basil and oregano.  The combination was amazingly good.  In fact, if I were at a restaurant and it were a dessert option, I would probably order it for dessert.  I don't think anyone got the other salad.  If they did, I was too transfixed to notice.

The feta & spinach tart with tiger shrimp was also very good.  I started with the tiger shrimp, which were grilled and sitting in their shell in a dill sauce.  My first bite was so flavorful that I almost swore aloud.  The feta & spinach tart was also quite good.  My coworkers who got the same combination were also quite impressed, although they liked the spinach tart better.  I love dill and grilled shrimp quite a bit, so they're probably more typical.  One coworker got the mac & cheese tart (seafood issue) and said it was quite good, although the accompanying salad was less impressive.

Dessert was actually my least favorite course, although I was still quite happy with it.  It was just very good and not amazing.  Maybe my taste buds were worn out.  There were fresh peaches grilled into some kind of little tart thingy and a shot of dulche de leche gelato to pour onto it - or do as a shot.  Both were quite good.  The only eh, was a white chocolate peach bon-bon, which was just kind of an ordinary little bon-bon.  My coworkers got the chocolate tasting, which consisted of white chocolate, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate each in 3 forms: liquid, solid, and semi-solid.  They liked it quite a bit, although they were not fans of the dark chocolate.  I got to drink / eat their dark chocolate and I liked it.  The problem is that it wasn't sweet, so if you're not a fan of bitter dark chocolate (I love even 97% Lindt bars) it's a bit much.

Anyway, this experience qualifies as in the top echelon of meals I have had.  As a bonus, my coworkers calculated from the regular menu that what we had was ordinarily pretty close to the restaurant week $20 price anyway, so you can have the same experience for the same price.

Oh, and for being "frou-fou" or whatever (you know who you are), it was rich and filling and lasted me easily until dinner time.

Bobby Van's Grill - 12th & New York NW location

A contingent of coworkers of mine wanted to take advantage of restaurant week and after a co-worker of mine shot down Coco Sala as "too fro-fou", my coworkers chose a more "manly" steak place for lunch.  Unfortunately, Bobby Van's failed to qualify as taking advantage of restaurant week.

The decor was nice and the staff very refined and polite, unfortunately Bobby Van's is apparently one of those restaurants that really makes the most of restaurant week.

The restaurant week menu was 3 courses.  Mine were the Boston Bibb Salad, the Grilled Flank Steak, and the Dark Chocolate Mousse and Sweet Pineapple Chutney.

The salad was unremarkable with avocado, tomato, cucumber, some leaves, and a weak blue cheese buttermilk dressing.  I'll give them that the Boston bibb lettuce was nicer than iceberg lettuce and more unique than romaine, but it was still very ordinary and bland.  Two coworkers got the pea soup.  One said it was okay, but could have been better.  The other didn't really look happy, but didn't say anything.

The main course was disappointing as well.  Now, I was far more excited than my coworkers (who almost all got the same thing) because it came with broccoli and sweet potatoes and my serving size expectations weren't high, but it was really just a 3 ounce flank steak (nicely cut) with sweet potato puree and some tomato butter sauce.  The sauce was light and somewhat flavorful and the steak was very well cooked, but overall I'd say the dish was bland and not very filling.  The steak was fairly flavorless without the sauce, which didn't add much anyway.  The sweet potatoe puree was good, but you can get better results from a basic cookbook.  One coworker got the linguini and said it was solid, but not great.

Dessert was where Bobby Van's almost redeemed itself.  My Dark Chocolate Mousse and Sweet Pineapple Chutney was quite good.  The chutney, in a little cone stuck in the mousee, being the surprise tastiness.  Mousse is pretty easy to do well, but the chutney was a nice touch.  Unfortunately, those who got the carrot cake with mango and cranberry sauce were disappointed.  They thought it looked like BVs had just cut a regular round carrot cake in half and they weren't blown away.

Rustico

827 Slater's Lane

This is one of my favorite places to eat out in D.C.  The main draw for me is the large beer selection and draft list which includes many difficult to find beers.  The atmosphere (and actual presence of beers on their list) tops Brickskellar.  I don't need a laundry list of bottles like Brickskellar has as much as I appreciate a rotating variety of quality beers.  They have a nice outdoor section in a fairly quiet corner of Alexandria.

I ate there again recently and got the grilled pork tenderloin with oyster sauce and almond crostini (small toasted bread slices) as well as the current sausage plate.  The sausage plate was forgettable as the sausage were very thin sliced and, although tasty, not flavorful enough to really justify such thin slices and small amount of food overall.  The grilled pork tenderloin, however, was amazingly good.  The waiter's unsolicited suggestion was medium (my intent anyway).  The tenderloin was soft, juicy and flavorful and the accompanying oyster/some starch mixture was quite good.  What really blew me away was the toast that my tenderloin had been sitting on.  Soaked with tenderloin and oyster juices, it was a soft, spongy bliss biscuit, except it wasn't really a biscuit.  Bliss bread just doesn't have the same alliterative ring to it.  Anyway, this bliss biscuit and its tasty meat topping are a prime example of why I consider so many restaurants to be overpriced.  When you can get meat in love-mollusk sauce atop a bliss-biscuit for $23, nothing costing much more seems worth it.  My date's roasted chicken breast with fried green tomatoes was pretty good too.  The total bill with a wine, a beer, sausage tray, and two entrees was right about $70.

Anyway, the other times I've eaten at Rustico, I've been very impressed by their mac n' cheese and their pizzas, but this is the first time I've had something that wasn't on the bar menu.  

Also, Rustico has beer glass nights where you get a free beer glass with your order of selected drafts.  I'm talking proper fancy-ass glasswear here.  So if you want a good quality beer drinking glass to emphasize your beer's flavor, it's a cheap way to do that.  Mine just get dusty, but getting them was cool.

UPDATE: Thanksgiving weekend I went to Rustico and got the Roasted Mushroom Pizza off of their late night/bar menu.  It had goat cheese and spinach in addition to mushroom.  It was quite good.  Certainly not my favorite Rustico pizza, but oh so good.

UPDATE: new location in Ballston that I have tried HERE

Up next

Bobby Van's Grill and a return to Coco Sala will be hit for restaurant week.

I am testing my mobile blogging via text message ability.

Sushi

Sei 444 7th St. NW
View the individual review here, but the summary is that it was quite good with original sushi creations and excellent, although pricey, drinks.

Asian Spice 717 H St. NW
The sushi here is quite good. The prices were about $6-$8 for basic rolls and $12-$16 for special rolls. We ordered the Chesapeake Roll ($16), Beach Boy Roll ($12), Eel & Avocado ($7.50), Salmon Roll ($5.50), California Roll ($5.50), and the Philly Roll ($7). The special rolls (Chesapeake & Beach Boy) were quite good, although the Chesapeake is probably not worth the extra $4.

I also ordered two beers off of what was a surprising good beer list. I ordered Paulaner Salvator and a Schlenkerla smoked beer - two of my favorites - both in bottles ($6.50 & $9 respectively).

The downstairs seemed busy and a bit noisy, but we ate upstairs, which was a smaller space with good decor suitable for a nice date.

Sushi Aoi - solid sushi, not great. 11th & New York NW

Mazu - right next door to Sushi Aoi, they have a good amount of outdoor seating and $5 sushi rolls during Happy Hour weekdays until 8pm (also drink specials). Solid sushi - better than Sushi Aoi.

Tokyo Sushi / Old Dominion / Mongolian Grill - pretty good sushi. I've never actually been here, but I order it frequently while watching sports at Old Dominion sports bar next door. Reasonable prices, solid portions.

European

Hey, it's a region and I haven't had enough of any type to give it their own space. Pizza, even if Italian, has its own post.

Cava Mezze - A very good Greek place on 8th Street in Eastern Market. I had a rushed meal so I only got four non-meat mezze, but everything was spectacular, as was my cherry mojito. See full review HERE.

Granville Moore's - good Belgian beer selection, good burgers, haven't tried other food. A bit pricey for what it is.

Brasserie Beck - good beer selection, quite good food. We had clams and something else. The cheese tray was pretty good too.

Belga Cafe - I had mussels here during mussels week. It wasn't bad, but it was disappointing after the good things I had heard. See full review HERE

Pines of Florence - Old Town: a bit shabby inside, but food was good, cheap, and generous portions. Italian.

Old Europe - The food here didn't seem exciting or exotic, but it was very good. It really stuck to your ribs (filled you up without being huge). You can order liters of good German beer too, but it's not really a bar. The decor was tacky, but that's pretty much German as far as I can tell. German. Cathedral.

Yanni's Greek Taverna - It's been over two years since I ate here, but I clearly remember that I came away unimpressed. It was by no means bad, but it was unimpressive. Even my beloved Saganaki (flaming cheese) was unimpressive (other than the flaming spectacle part). Cleveland Park

Asian (non-sushi)

Penang - quite good, Malaysian?, DuPont

Chinatown chinese places - dang, I can't remember which was which or the difference, but some were definitely better than others.

Bangkok One - good, but not great Thai food downtown 14th & K.

Thaiphoon - Update: I went to Thaiphoon again.  My appetizer was the curry puffs, which were pretty good.  My entree was the duck curry (red curry with cherry tomatoes and pineapple) and it was very, very good, albeit a bit spicier than I needed.  I'm not a huge fan of duck, but the sweetness of the tomatoes and pineapple complemented the curry tremendously.  The beer list was uninspiring, but Spaten Optimator in bottles is a great option and enough to keep me happy (only $4.50).  All involved it would up being around $25 with tax and tip, which is a bit pricey for Thai food, even with a drink.  Most of the menu items were around $10.

Prior review: solid Thai food. I went with a large group and tried many dishes. I'm struggling to remember the exact level of quality, but I remember the decor was pretty cool. I'm still waiting for a D.C. spot to come close to Thai Pastry in Chicago. DuPont

Minh's Vietnamese - quite good, see individual review: http://tastydc.blogspot.com/2009/08/minhs-vietnamese.html

Brazilian

Again, I'm breaking my brief overview of places I've had into types.

Ipanema Grill - Pretty good both times. Nice decor, nice atmosphere. Good food and not too pricey ($15-$25 range). Adams Morgan.

Update 9/22/09 - I visited here again with several friends/coworkers. I ordered the Picanha Grelhada, which is basically a slice of grilled beef accompanied by a powdery dip and a vinaigrette sauce dipping sauce (adhesive?). The powder was "grounded yuca roasted with garlic and butter". I ordered the meat medium rare. I received the meat in a far more raw state. I was hungry so I just ate it that way. It wasn't a bad slice of meat, but I don't enjoy meat this undercooked. The only other person to order beef also found theirs to be undercooked: they had ordered medium and gotten at most medium rare. Anyway, the dipping sauce & powder were okay, but nothing worth having again. The vinaigrette portion of the dip was better as the powder was rather bland. The black beans accompanying the dish were ordinary, which is actually kind of poor considering how fond I am of black beans. Small and watery. Astoundingly, the collard greens accompanying my dish were relatively good. Usually I do not find collard greens palatable, but these were fresh, mild, and not at all overcooked. I had a Xingu dark beer with my dinner (bottle) and it was a rather good dark beer with a deep roasty flavor.

The other guy in my party me ordered the Medalhao de File, which is a medallion of beef tenderloin rolled in bacon with a wine mushroom sauce. He said it was quite good, which matches my memory of the dish. Three of the women in our party had salads. One chicken and one two shrimp I believe. The salads were quite large and they said that they were quite good, although one openly stated that she wished the components were much more chopped up and mixed. For instance, the avocado was just a chunk hidden at the bottom. One of the women had a chicken dish that involved garlic. I believe it was the Frango a Copacabana because I don't recall her having any collard greens. She said the chicken was quite good.

I was disappointed, but if you consider everyone's experience, the food was still good. The restaurant was quite empty for a Saturday evening, even at 8pm.

Update July 2010 - I went back here again and as my text message update below indicates, I tasted another good dish. I actually ordered the Medalhao de File for myself, which is a medallion of beef tenderloin rolled in bacon with a wine mushroom sauce. The Medalho de File was absolutely devine and better than I remembered. It is one of my favorite D.C. dishes. My date's Bobo de Camaro, which I ate a good amount of, was good as well. It is hard to compare to the Medalho de File, but the Bobo id a solid option if you're feeling like a seafood soup-like curry dish. Again, the drinks were good, but nothing to come back for on their own.

Update via text message: Bobo de camaro @ Ipanea Grill, good, like yellow curry, shrimp, quite large, drink batida de coco - solid, not spectular

Fogo de Chao - Pretty good churrascaria steakhouse with a good salad bar. Pricey, but all you can eat. Not as good as the Chicago location in terms of the salad bar, but it is pretty hard to knock a festival of fire roasted meats brought tableside until you're ready to burst. Oh, if only they had beautiful female Brazilian servers instead of all men. I guess supermodeling pays better. Pretty impressive decor and atmosphere. Downtown. (11th & Pennsylvania NW)

Pizza Places

I’ve decided to section by type the places I’ve tried and can only remember well enough to give a brief overview to. This is the pizza section.  I've had others, but this is what I can remember off the top of my head.


Ella's - I finally made it out here. I don't even remember what I had, but it was quite good. Not quite Rustico or Churchkey, but quite good. This place also had a few rare, interesting, and good beers available.

Churchkey - Okay, this is a bar and not a pizza place, but the Fig and Prosciutto flatbread pizza here is as good as any pizza I have ever eaten. Now, it is a different creature than a Chicago style pizza, so it is hard to compare to that, but for a thin pizza, this is a great option. Of course the wonderful beer selection is a big bonus.

Vace Italian Delicatessen - quite good subs, fresh mozzarella in cooler. Single slice pizza beats most, but tasted more like it was intended to be eaten fresh baked as part of a whole pizza and not jumbo slice style. Cleveland Park. Deli.

Pizza Paridisio - DuPont: good even with Anchovies, Georgetown: pizza okay, beer selection good & tasty. Update: I ate at the DuPont location again. My pizza was pretty good, with very fresh mozzarella and a unique and good beer selection, but I felt that both were on the expensive end for what they were.

Uno's Pizzeria - A D.C. location of the national Chicago style pizza chain. Maybe it's the Chicago influence on me, but this is pretty good stuff. (Not all locations nationally are.) Delicious frozen/fruity drinks too. Georgetown.

Rustico - a favorite for great beer, great pizza, great food. The pizza here is the trendy thin stuff ones, but they have very good fancy pizzas with the slightly upscale toppings.  Located a bit north of Old Town Alexandria.

Ledo Pizza – I had this a couple times after Frisbee up in Silver Spring. I think they’ve just opened one downtown on Massachusetts, which I have not been to. For being non-fancy, thin crust, chain-style pizza, this is pretty good stuff. It’s not up to Rustico or Uno’s standards, but good value.

DogfishHead Ale House - Pizza is just another thing on the menu here, but it is pretty good. Flatbread style like is popular in D.C., nothing special, but pretty good.

Places I have eaten that I should note on here

I might do individual reviews later, but I probably don't remember enough for most of these.

Old Dominion - pretty good for a sports bar, good beer selection, good quality bar food.  The burgers are solid, some served on long buns (not a plus), but the wraps are great and the appetizer sampler is big and good quality.  One big bonus is that you can order good (not great) sushi from the place next door.  Big screen TV's, good beer, and sushi all in one place!

Eastern Market / 8th Street - what was the name of that place where we got clams?

All those Penn Quarter places - solid, but mostly overrated

All of those places in Cleveland Park - Alero, Greek, fancy one, Cleveland Park Grill, Spices, other asian place.

Chinatown chinese places - dang, I can't remember which was which or the difference, but some were definitely better than others.

Vegetarian place on 9th.  Solid to pretty good.  Don't remember that well.

Dukem - quite good. Ethiopian. U Street

Etete - pretty good. Ethiopian.  Less selection than Dukem. U Street/Ethiopian stretch of 9th st.

Kabob place in Crystal City on 23rd.  Good, authentic, inexpensive, generous portions, quick.

Dairy Godmother - Del Ray neighborhood.  Solid custard, I must try the other desserts (sundaes & such).

CoCo Sala - a bit pricey and small in portions, but oh so tasty.  Lots of chocolate dishes and drinks, but even the non-chocolate dishes are quite good.  Downtown.

Kramerbooks & Lauriol - like I or anyone in DC needs a review of those - Good!

Vegetate - 1414 9th Street, NW - I was here once.  I remember the food being fine and liking the place enough to being open to going back.  It's vegetarian.

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All of the places below this point I ahve since reposted in ethnic category, style, or individual posts above.  I've pushed them down until I get them reposted in their own category someplace.

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Bangkok One - good, but not great Thai food downtown 14th & K.

Thaiphoon - solid Thai food.  I went with a large group and tried many dishes.  I'm struggling to remember the exact level of quality, but I remember the decor was pretty cool.  I'm still waiting for a D.C. spot to come close to Thai Pastry in Chicago.

I don't think lunch places count.

Grill from Ipanema - quite good

Penang - quite good, Malysian?, DuPont

Vace - quite good subs, fresh mozzarella in cooler.  Single slice pizza beats most, but tasted more like it was intended to be eaten fresh baked as part of a whole pizza and not jumbo slice style.

Pizza Paridisio - DuPont: good even with Anchovies, Georgetown: pizza okay, beer selection good & tasty

Uno's Pizzeria - A D.C. location of the national Chicago style pizza chain.  Maybe it's the Chicago influence on me, but this is pretty good stuff.  (Not all locations nationally are.)  Delicious frozen/fruity drinks too.  Georgetown.

Rustico - a favorite for great beer, great pizza, great food

Fogo de Chao - good, but not as good as Chicago location - all you can eat Churrascaria (Brazilian)

Pines of Florence - Old Town: a bit shabby inside, but food was good, cheap, and generous portions.  Italian.

Sushi place in Adams Morgan - solid right?

Sushi places on New York & 11th.  Aoi & good happy hour one.  Both solid, not great.  Happy hour pretty good deal.

Granville Moore's - good Belgian beer selection, good burgers, haven't tried other food.  A bit pricey for what it is.

Brasserie Beck - good beer selection, quite good food.  We had clams and something else.  The cheese tray was pretty good too.

Lebanese Taverna

Woodley Park location
2641 Connecticut Avenue N.W., Washington, DC, 20008 (202) 265-8681

Full review of more recent visit HERE.

Overall, the experience was superb. On my first trip I sampled many dishes with several friends and almost everything was amazing. Later, I had catered food for a work lunch which was very, very tasty as well. Very cool decor inside. Spacious. Very convenient being right outside the Woodley Park metro stop.

Bethesda location
7141 Arlington Road, Bethesda, MD 20814 (301) 951-8681

I dined here more recently and have a full post up HERE, but the food was quite good and the decor nice as well. Easily walkable from Bethesda metro stop. I would rate it as commensurate with the Woodley Park location.

Pentagon City location
1101 South Joyce Street, Pentagon Row, Arlington, VA, 22202 (703) 415-8681

Overall, the food was solid. I went as a party of 6 and not all of the dishes were good, but those I chose were quite good, as were a few others. Easily walkable from Pentagon City metro stop. The decor was not as impressive as the Woodley Park location or Bethesda location, both of which I prefer.

Other locations
Although I have not visited them, the website lists additional locations at:

Baltimore - 719 S. President Street, Baltimore, MD 21202 (410) 244-5533
Located on the corner of S. President and Lancaster Streets in the newly developed Harbor East!

Arlington - 5900 Washington Boulevard, Arlington, VA, 22205 (703) 241-8681
The original Lebanese Taverna restaurant serving the Westover Community of Arlington.

Tyson's Galleria - 1840 G International Drive, McLean, VA 22102 (703) 847-5244
Located on the ground level of Tysons Galleria, this restaurant features a large outdoor cafe, captain's table in the lounge and plenty of free parking.

Minh's Vietnamese

I'll start with this to get it off the places to try list.

What I knew coming in:

Minh's
- Vietnamese at 2500 Wilson Blvd.
- 2009 100 best Washingtonian
- supposed to have a really good appetizer that involves deep fried sweet potatoes & shrimp

Results:

I ate there too long ago to remember enough to give a thorough review, but...

I went with a date.  She had some kind of carmelized pork dish.  It was very tasty and pretty spicy.  I had some meat and leaves thing common to Vietnamese places.  It was pretty good, especially for "some meat and leaves thing common to Vietnamese places".   The sweet potato appetizer was solid (and very plentiful in amount), but not spectacular in taste.

The decor and atmosphere was quite nice.  Not super fancy or pretentious, but fairly classy and not tacky.  It was fairly busy on a weeknight, but not packed.

The menu was quite lengthy.  I think it may have contained Chinese dishes as well.

I don't remember the price, but I think it was the typical not too pricey Asian restaurant.

Overall, I'd definitely go again.  Minh's has plenty of dishes to try, our choices and appetizer were quite good, and it is coveniently located (about 1/2 between Courthouse & Clarendon stops on the Orange line - slightly closer to Courthouse).

NPR Best Burger list

1st - Ray's Butcher Burgers ("Hellburgers") (Arlington) - uses steakhouse trims
2nd (tie) - Good Stuff Eatery (Capitol Hill) - uses short rib meat
2nd (tie) - BGR (Bethesda) - uses steak quality meat
 -- a dropoff then...--
4th - Big Buns (Arlington)
5th - Urban Burger (Rockville)
6th - Elevation Burger
7th - Five Guys
8th - CBurgers (SeaBurgers?) (Tenleytown)

Notes:

Good Stuff - burgers good, but not amazing.  Shakes very good, especially Toasted Marshmallow & Milky Way

Big Buns - make your own burger to order with a lot of potential ingredients - pretty dang good although I overdid it.  Shakes also quite good.  Peanut butter cup one (or whatever) pretty good.

Five Guys - no comment needed

Quick list of places I'd like to try

Break this down later by part of town or food type or something

If someone reads this and wants to comment on one of these places, that would be great.

Sundevich
1314 Ninth St NW 202-319-1086 (converted garage space is located in the historic Naylor Court alley on 9th Street between N and O Streets)
Monday–Saturday, 12–9pm

- in Washingtonian's 2011 Cheap Eats
-- Washingtonian likes the KINGSTON among many others
- http://www.sundevich.com/menu_print.html

Locolat
- Adams Morgan - 1781 Florida, by U Street & 18th
- Basically a small plates chocolate place with Belgian theme
- said is like a less daring Coco Sala
- supposedly overpriced, but not expensive because dishes are small
- Best Dishes: Savory waffles topped with smoked salmon or grilled vegetables; goat-cheese-and-leek quiche; ficelles filled with Chimay and Passendale cheeses; dark and milk hot chocolates; almond truffle; feuilletine candy bar; banana-ganache-filled white-chocolate candy bar; chocolate-mousse torte; chocolate mojito torte.
- Washingtonian Review

Luigi's Pizza - see comment in pizza section above, but on 19th by DuPont

Zorba's Cafe
- Greek in DuPont.
- In City Paper's "Best of D.C." edition as best Greek

Taverna Cretekou
- recommended by Peter King
----great Greek in Old Town Alexandria)
----Mousaka? is really good
- Washington Post was so-so
- has really nice outdoor (garden) eating area

Faryab
- Afghan in Bethesda
- near Metro, just off Wisconsin
- Washingtonian's top 100 (2008) "http://www.washingtonian.com/restaurantreviews/1461.html

- In Washingtonian's September 2011 "Best of Bethesda" they listed "the stars of the menu" as...

• kadu - pumpkin with a dab of yogurt;
• sabsi - spinach with onion and garlic; and *buranee badenjan - sweet savory eggplant
  

but also mentioned...

• Qabili pallow - a heap of fragrant basmati rice studded with lamb, raisins, and shredded carrot;
• mantu and aushak - meat or scallion filled ravioli-like squares (as being "addictive")

Bamian
- Afghan
- 5634 Leesburg Pike (near Carlin Springs Road), Falls Church. 703-820-7880 www.bamianrestaurant.com

- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/19/AR2006071901379.html
- http://www.washingtonian.com/restaurantreviews/1761.html

Four Sisters
- Supposedly best Vietnamese in town
- 8190 Strawberry Ln. Falls Church, VA T: 703-539-8566
- Washingtonian's #26 in top 100
- City Paper's 50 best in D.C.
- Inexpensive


Marvin
- 2007 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20007
- 2009 100 best Washingtonian (#100)
- Belgian & southern. Good beer place, roof deck.

Sushi-Ko
- 2309 Wisconsin Avenue NW , Washington, DC 20016 Phone: 202-333-4187
- 2009 100 Best (#29)
- Sushi Bar
- moderately priced

Kushi
- 465 K St. NW (very nearby)
- according to word of mouth and Washingtonian, very good sushi
- supposedly trendy and hip
http://eatkushi.tumblr.com/

Locanda
- 633 Pennsylvania SE 202-547-0002
- moderately priced
- modern Italian - greek/mediterranean influence
- modest pasta portions

Kopitan -
- Dupont / Farragut area
- Malaysian
- former coworker TR said was really good
- near Penang

Great-Wall Szechuan House
- 1527 14th St. NW 202-797-8888
- 2008 City Paper Best of DC Best Chinese
- ma-la dishes, double-cooked pork in black bean sauce

Bastille
- 1201 N. Royal St. (Old Town) 703-519-3776
- #76 on Washingtonian 100 best
- moderate $18-25 entree, with prix fixe $35 T-Sat
- French fusion

Nirvana
- 1810 K St. NW (just west of Farragut North)
- Indian vegetarian
- City Paper & Washingtonian indicate is best Indian vegetarian

Vaccaro's Italian Pastries
- was ridiculously good at Baltimore location
- location in Union Station in D.C.
- location at 2000 Pennsylvania NW in D.C.
- the Pennsylvania location looks much more significant

Medium Rare
- in June 2011 Washingtonian
- Cleveland Park, 3500 Connecticut
- $19.50 fixed price, $8 dessert, plus wines
- one of the founders is a founder of BGR burger joint

Hmm...

It's late, I've been looking at restaurants in D.C., and my little notepad file of restaurants has become cumbersome.  As a result, I've finally taken one step on my idea to start a blog just to keep track of my D.C. food experiences and places I'd like to go.  We'll see if I stick with this / devote any time to it.  It's probably going to be more of a notepad for me than useful for readers.