DCity Smokehouse - Bloomingdale

I haven't posted an entry in nearly three years, so I'm a little rusty. This is going to be more of  a turbo review.

This place is essentially a carryout that is more like a hallway than a room. It has one little countertop running along a wall across the way from the window where you pick up your food. There's a nice hip-hop soundtrack while you wait. I wouldn't recommend eating here. When it gets busy, it gets very cramped.

The food is quality. The brisket is smoky and a little too salty for my taste, but it is nonetheless tender and juicy. Similarly, the sliced pork rib was excellent as well. There's a nice smoke ring around the meat, and it has a little chew so it doesn't just dissolve into mush in your mouth. Admittedly, it is a touch dry, so using a little BBQ sauce helps. Both are good -- the hot sauce is savorier and tangier, while the sweet sauce is balanced and approachable. In isolation, I would have preferred the hot sauce, but my side dish had so much heat, I leaned on the sweet sauce during my meal.

To be honest, my favorite part of the meal were the jalapeno grits. Creamy, rich and spicy. I couldn't get enough of them, and are well worth a return visit alone.

A very good place. Not cheap, but definitely worth trying at least once.

Oval Room - Downtown - Restaurant Week

I always approach Restaurant Week with a certain amount of ambivalence. While $35 for a prix-fixe dinner may sound like a good deal, in reality, that is more or less the same price you would have paid during a regular weekend for the vast majority of restaurants that participate in this promotion. The added downside is that you usually get a limited menu of untested dishes designed specifically for RW and, because kitchens limit themselves to these dishes, they have a tendency to mail in their efforts during RW.

However, I do find that the $20 prix-fixe lunches can still be a relative bargain if you choose the right restaurant. The Oval Room is one of those restaurants.

Getting reservations for an RW lunch at the Oval Room was surprisingly easy. The one downside is that you have to give your credit card information to them just in case you are an unannounced no-show. This is obviously unnecessary and annoying, especially considering that when we arrived at the restaurant, numerous tables were empty.

Furthermore, the service at times was a bit supercilious. The maitre d' was unfortunately a bit too stiff and curt with my party, and not particularly welcoming. I get RW brings in the bridge and tunnel yahoos and hicks like me, but a paying customer is still a paying customer and deserves to be treated with utmost respect. For a formal restaurant like the Oval Room, you are not just paying for fine food, but for a fine dining experience. Anything that detracts from that experience, especially any hints of superiority or snobbishness on behalf of the staff at the expense of the diner, ruins the food and it needs to be mentioned. On the other hand, the waiter who served us was pleasant and affable and I quickly forgot my run in at the front of the house.

The food was consistently excellent. Generally speaking, I would characterize the style of Oval Room as New American with Asian and Latin twists thrown in. I ordered pappardelle with a smoked duck ragout for my appetizer and it was exceptional. The duck was perfectly braised and fall apart while the smokiness gave an interesting twist on the sauce. My entree was a salmon fillet with cabbage and a citrusy, Asian style dressing that imparted a nice brightness and lift to the unctuousness of the fish. They also prepared my fillet to a nice rare/medium-rare, retaining its moistness. My dining companions also ordered crispy chicken with mole that was huge, which my friend absolutely raved about. While not a traditional mole sauce as found in Mexico, my friend noted that it nonetheless worked seamlessly with the various other components of his dish. My other dining companion also enjoyed her steak with tamarind sauce, though it seemed a little more conservative than my salmon dish and the chicken dish.

Desserts were fine. My toffee cake seemed a little dry for me, but the accompanying ice cream was tasty. My friend's chocolate bomb was sufficiently chocolaty and quite good. Obviously, dessert is not really my wheelhouse, but I would have both again without hesitation.

In sum, for $20, this meal was a steal. When RW rolls around next August, I will be sure to try to get another lunch at the Oval Room.

Georgia Brown - MacPherson Square

Georgia Brown is a southern, "low-country," restaurant located in the heart of downtown DC. Luckily, they provide a relatively inexpensive pre-fixe lunch menu in which you can have a leisurely paced power lunch where one can cut complex, bet the firm deals or gossip about the lovelife of your cubicle mate.

The ambiance is sedate, if a little dated. The color palette of the dining room is priarily earth toned (think light browns, reds, yellows...the colors of autumn). However, there is this tangled skein of undulating bronze affixed to the ceiling, as if a spider had decided to weave a web of metal, which quite frankly just confuses me. However, while a little busy and distracting, it does not detract from the dining experience too much. The clientele, at least during lunch, was primarily professional.

The food is generally well prepared and the portions are ample (in my opinion, they are too big). The fried green tomatoes consisted of two slices of green tomato with a layer of goat cheese int he middle. They were crispy on the outside, but meaty in the inside, and the ooze of goat cheese was quite welcome.

The fried chicken I ordered was juicy, although I didn't care for the sweetness of the accompanying collard greens. While I appreciated the tartness of the greens, I wish they were a little more savory. The mashed potatoes were also quite good, if unexceptional. Luckily, even unexceptional mash potatoes are delicious.

I also sampled the Charleston Perlau, a rice dish with tomatoes. The dish comes with head on shrimp (one if you order off the pre-fixe menu, three if you order the full entree) and sucking the organ meat out of the heads were a delight. The rice was tasty enough, a little al dente which was nice, but it did not absolutely exude a kaleidoscope of flavors. But, I would eat it again without complaint.

The desserts were unfortunately absolutely forgettable. I remember dryish cake and sundries.

In sum, for the pre-fixe price, Georgia Brown's is an ideal spot for lunch. And, even though the pre-fixe portions are smaller than the regular entree portions, they are still so ample that I would encourage people to get the pre-fixe just so they don't leave the restaurant too overstuffed.

China Boy - Gallery Place

China Boy is a small storefront that primarily sells store made "chow foon," a broad, rice noodle, but also serves various soups, stir-fries, and crepe dishes, all of which feature their chow foon.

The store is primarily a carryout with only one table available to sit in. The interior is quite spartan and most of the people who came in while I was there had no interest in tarrying. I also noticed that the vast majority of people came in and ordered the chow foon plain, presumably to use in their own dishes at home.

I ordered a tripe noodle soup and a noodle crepe dish with dried shrimp. The tripe noodle soup was hearty, rich, and beefy. It was perfect for a cold winter's night. The tripe was tender and just chewy enough without being overwhelming offalish on the palate. The only drawback, to be honest, was the chow foon. Now, the chow foon itself was delicious, but I guess I don't much care for it in soup. I simply prefer thinner noodles with a little more bite to them. But, YMMV, as always.

The crepe dish, again featuring the chow foon, was more to my liking. The chow foon gently draped the dried, preserved shrimp, framing the briny, saltiness of shrimp in a billowing cushion of soft, chewy noodle. Some soy-based sauce and chili oil really made the dish sing. I would definitetly recommend this dish.

The woman at the counter was a little brusque, but I did get there near closing (they close around 5:00 pm). However, we conversed and she was surprised I was not Chinese since I ordered the tripe dish and visibly enjoyed it. And, I learned that, apparently, there are more than one type of tripe. The tripe she uses is only suitable for soups (and costs around $2.99/lb.) while a more expensive type of tripe can be deep fried and made crispy (something I had while eating at Ripple in Cleveland Park and costs about $5.99/lb.). You learn something new everyday!

So, if you want a crash course on offal with a side of chow foon, stop on by China Boy.

Oyamel - Gallery Place

Oyamel is Jose Andres's Mexican small plates outpost, serving consistently well-prepared, inventive, and accessibly priced dishes that your average, twenty-something, white-collared Washingtonian can afford as a splurge now and again.

The ambiance is upbeat, but not nearly as frenetic as Andres's Greek/Middle Eastern inspired restaurant Zaytinya. This place is a restaurant foremost, and it is possible to have conversation without having to scream in your companion's ear. Service, however, can be a little intrusive, as my waiter consistently interrupted conversation with my dining companion. I know he was just trying to be helpful and attentive, but part of the art of quality service is to ask patrons their status during lulls and to not interrupt when the guests are trying to have quiet conversation with each other.

The food was of fairly high quality that you won't find in many other restaurants in DC. The one exception to this was my lengua taco. While well made, I know of several tacquerias where I could have purchased one of the same quality. But, the Mexican squash salad was refreshing and moreish. The Papas al Mole were crispy and the sauce dark and flavorful. Although they were just fries, they were excellent fries. The plaintain fritters were sweet and tasty, though the sauce was fairly forgetabble. On the other hand, the tamal verde had a bright and zippy sauce, but the chicken breast was kind of bland. The guacamole was nice and well made.

Other dishes I have enjoyed immensely in the past have been the scallops pasilla chile and pumpkin seed sauce, the short ribs, and the taco with confit of baby pig (which you cannot get at the other tacquerias in town).

I know this sounds like I am damning the food with faint praise, but the food really is generally well made. I have no qualms about coming back, especially because, generally speaking, you will not find food like this anywhere else in DC.

Bistro D'Oc - Downtown

Bistro D'Oc offers a fairly standard French bistro experience. The ambiance was a low murmur, mildly bustling, but not overly noisy. Conversation with my dining companion was easy and pleasant. The waiter also struck the perfect balance of being attentive yet simulteneously unobtrusive.

The food was solid, if unexceptional. My escargot was a sufficiently buttery and garlicky, but the texture was rubbery due to being overcooked. My dining companion's salad was far more successful: a pleasant medley of warm bucheron paired with beets and haricot vert.

The entrees were solid. My short ribs were properly braised and the pomme puree was sufficiently rib-sticking. It was a perfect meal for a fall evening. My dining companion's duck confit was crispy on the outside and juicy in the inside. The pommes frites were also tasty and plentiful. While the food was not innovative or creative, sometimes you want to eat classics, and these renditions were generally well-made and correct (with the exception of the escargot).

The wine list is inspired by the Languedoc, which, if you didn't know, is oftentimes referred to as a "wine lake." I have had successful wines from this region, but you have to know what to order, and I did not find anything on the list particularly inspiring, unfortunately.

It is a place suitable for a date night and is conveniently located around the corner from the E Street Cinema if you want to impress someone with middlebrow cinematic fare. This is a good place for a second date where you know her enough to want to impress, but are still not at the point with her where you want to break the bank (dinner for two was about $100).

Los Hermanos - Columbia Heights

Tucked away on a side street hidden underneath the shadow of the DCUSA Complex in Columbia Heights, Los Hermanos provides a wide array of authentic Dominican cuisine in a cafeteria style environment. When I walked in, I was greeted by one of the "hermanos," who was quite helpful in discussing the various braised meats, rice dishes, and sides that are displayed in chafing dishes on the countertop.

I ordered braised oxtail, a braised chicken dish, rice and beans, and "mangu," a mash of unripened plaintains. The mangu was a standout...a deeply savory dish that was rib-sticking and hearty. It was classic comfort food. The rice and beans were quite nice as well. The braised oxtail was delicious...the meat was falling off the bones and was slicked over with delicious bits of rendered fat. The chicken, on the other hand, while good, was less exciting. The sauce did not permeate the meat like it did with the oxtail, so the chicken, especially the bits of white breast meat I had, seemed under-seasoned. Other dishes my dining companions raved about were the yucca and the goat dish. The tripe stew looked quite appealing as well. On the other hand, one of my friends thought his pork was dry. My takeaway...go with the less traditional cuts of meat when you order your food. It stands to reason that you want a tougher cut of meat that has the inherent flavor to hold up under the long braising.

The atmosphere is friendly if spartan. As mentioned, service is cafeteria style and you bring your plate from the counter to your table. Unfortunately, the music is played a little too loudly for my taste, making conversation difficult at times (and there were not many people in the restaurant while I was there, so ambient conversation noise was not the issue). Also, the food gets a little cool sitting in the chafing dishes. But, all in all, this restaurant is worth a return trip.

Thanh Tong - Falls Church

Thanh Tong is located in the West Saigon wing of the Eden Center, one of several interior "malls" squirreled away in the recesses of this center of Vietnamese commerce. A small store front, Thanh Tong literally feels like a mom and pop hole in the wall minus the pop. The proprietor is a friendly, middle-aged Vietnamese woman who speaks halting English. She had two others helping her while I was there, one Vietnamese, the other Hispanic, both of whom spoke less English than the owner. Luckily, the language barrier only poses a small problem; all you need is a finger to point out the #9 Bun Bo Hue entree on the menu, and after that, pantomime and smiles can carry you for the rest of the day.

The #9 Bun Bo Hue is the specialty of this restaurant. What you get is a deeply flavored beef noodle soup filled with a texturally diverse array of Vietnamese sausage, beef, sliced pig's knuckles, and, if you're lucky, blood pudding (unfortunately, we came late and I believe they ran out of blood pudding for our bowls). Each bowl of Bun Bo Hue comes with a huge platter of bean sprouts and fresh herbs. It goes without saying that you should fill your bowls up with veggies because the crunch of vegetables and tang from the herbs provide an essential counterpoint to the chew of the meats and offal in your soup.

The noodles are of a thicker variety, quite dissimilar from the vermicelli you get in pho. These noodles had a pleasing bite and managed to soak up the beefy broth quite well. I would also recommend you take a spoonful of the fermented shrimp paste and stir it into the broth...it adds a certain indefinable something, part saline, part maritime, that enhances the overall dish. The hot sauce available on the table was also delicious, milder than Sriracha, but somehow gouleyant in quality, I was eating it by the spoonful unaccompanied by food, it was that good. I recommend taking a spoonful and stirring it into the peanut sauce if you order fresh summer rolls. It provides a nice lift and spice to the peanut sauce without overwhelming it with heat.

While the ambiance of Thanh Tong is starkly minimalist, the restaurant still has a charm that only an austerely functional ethnic restaurant can have: the promise of an exquisitely unique meal that comes at the expense of flashy decor and style. For a meal as comforting, homey, and delicious as the #9 Bun Bo Hue, that is an expense I would gladly pay.

Occidental - Downtown

Occidental is a power lunch spot located in the Willard Hotel just blocks away from the White House. Its wood paneled interior, waiters bedecked in waist aprons, and various tasteful brass knick knacks and photos of bygone silver age celebrities usually denote an old school American restaurant that aims primarily to provide a suitably formal ambiance for cutting a deal while leaving the food an afterthought. Fortunately, the food, while unimaginative, was generally well prepared. My nicoise salad had some spicy greens mixed in and the filet of yellowfin tuna on top was prepared properly (that is, rare). The fried calamari was crispy, salty, and generally tasty, though the accompanying aioli tasted like the dregs from a bag of Lay's BBQ potato chip. One of the individuals I was dining with allowed me to taste some of her lima beans, which were rich, buttery, and flavorful. The desserts that were ordered were generally quite tasty as well, including a fruit tart and a chocolate pyramid.

If you work in the area, it is a place worth trying. And the people watching alone can make the meal.

Hill Country - Penn Quarter

Hill Country serves a wide array of "authentic" Texas barbecue, ranging from sausages, to beef ribs, and, of course, brisket.

Table service is of the DIY variety (a la Nando's), where you go to a counter, order meat by weight, and then get your sides cafeteria style at another counter. Waiters buzz around the long picnic tables in the main dining room, re-filling your water and bringing your beers.

The barbecued meats appear to only have a dry rub on them, with barbecue and hot sauce available at the table. Generally speaking, I find the Kreuz sausages to be fairly good and flavorful. Where Hill Country shines (albeit dimly) is with their barbecued brisket, which is tender and smoky, but a little dry. The sauce helps here. However, their beef ribs are basically a mass of gristle and fat which requires a herculean effort to chew through.

The sides are decent. Corn bread was good and moist. I also ordered the corn pudding, which is pretty tasty (though a little redundant if you have corn bread). The mac and cheese is a little bland, however.

In sum, I would probably not go out of my way to eat here again, but, if you are really craving for smoked meats, this place is a viable option.

Mai Thai - Dupont Circle

Mai Thai is a competent Thai restaurant located near Dupont Circle. The beef salad dish with accompanying sauce had decent tang and the beef was well grilled properly. However, the drunken noodles were rather undistinguished, the basil duck slightly rubbery, the shrimp and minced chicken dish mildly over-salted, and the stir-fried watercress a little too chewy.

All in all, your typical Thai restaurant in DC.

Thai Square - Arlington 10/15/2011 Update

Having been here several more times, I would say that the most important thing to bring to Thai Square is a Thai friend. My first meal here was excellent, but having returned with non-Thai friends and ordering randomly, I must admit that there are a lot of subpar items on the menu.

Their curries tend to be sweetish, overly-unctuous, and bland. Essentially, they are no different than curries found in your local neighborhood Thai restaurant. Many of their noodle dishes seem quite Americanized to my palate as well. Also, after eating their crispy duck dish some more times, I can't get over the fact that all you taste is batter and honey and no duck. It was like eating dessert.

On the other hand, their papaya salad with pickled crab is one of the best dishes in Virginia, period. But, of course, it is off menu and I would never have ordered it if I wasn't with my Thai friend. I am beginning to think the popularity of Thai Square has caused it to dumb down its dishes for their increasingly non-Thai clientele and that they only really serve the authentic stuff for their Thai customers. It is a shame, but I guess that is what happens when you try to get Asian food on the East Coast (outside of New York, that is).

Surfside - Glover Park

Surfside specializes in Baja-style Mexican food, and does it fairly well. A two level restaurant with somewhat limited seating, it was hopping the Friday evening I went there with some friends. It only offers counter-service, but they seem fairly efficient and it did not take too long for our food to be prepared.

Unlike most Mexican places, the chips and salsa do not come gratis. Nonetheless, we ordered a basket of chips with salsa and guacamole. The salsa was not pico de gallo, but rather a salsa roja that had a little tang and some savory smokiness. The guacamole was more run-of-the-mill, but was sufficiently chunky and seasoned to be enjoyable.

I got the Maui Tacos, which were chunks of grilled tilapia wrapped in white corn tortillas with a lime and sour cream sauce. Although tilapia has to be one of the most insipid pieces of seafood available in the U.S., Surfside did a good job grilling it, imparting just enough char to coax what little flavor you can get out of the fish. While the sour cream and lime did not add enough punch to the dish, with some the Yucateca Green Habanero sauce, the tacos got sufficient peppery tanginess to be pretty delightful. The side of rice and beans were adequate...nothing to be excited about, but competently done. An after thought, like the rice and beans at most Tex-Mex and Baja Mexican places I have been to.

I was initially a little apprehensive about Surfside, but I am glad I went. Perhaps not worth going out of your way for, but, if you are Glover Park, it is definitely a place to check out and try.

XO Taste Restaurant - Falls Church

This is probably one of the most authentic Cantonese restaurants in Arlington. However, even though the dishes are all authentic, from their "barbecue" meats, to their noodle soups, right down to their casseroles, I came away slightly underwhelmed. Fundamentally, the problem with X.O. is one of execution: dishes came to us either under-seasoned, over-salted, or over-cooked.

The mixed barbecue platter of roast duck, BBQ pork, and soy sauce chicken was merely ok. While the BBQ pork was nicely prepared with a subtly sweet marinade, the soy sauce chicken was pretty ordinary while the roast duck was tasteless. Our steamed flounder with ginger-scallion sauce was overcooked, dry, chewy, and bland. Similarly, the seafood and eggplant casserole did not have a lot of flavor. On the flip side, the congee with preserved egg was way over-salted. It probably isn't a great sign when the best dish is comprised of stir-fried snow pea leaves with garlic (which were very good).

I heard that this place was owned by the same people as Full Kee in Chinatown, and the menus are very similar (X.O. eschews many of the Americanized dishes found in Full Kee). The eggplant casserole, for example, was almost identical to the casserole I got once at Full Kee (they even use the same casserole dishes), except the one at Full Kee had more flavor. It feels odd to recommend a DC Asian restaurant over a NoVa restaurant, but to be honest, the kitchen at Full Kee is probably a little bit more skilled than the one at X.O., and the dishes are pretty much the same. So, you might as well get the better prepared dishes at Full Kee and save yourself the trip to the burbs. I think this is a testament to the sad state of affairs of Cantonese cuisine in the greater Washington metropolitan area.

Duccini's Pizza - U Street Corridor

Duccini's, sitting at the intersection on 18th and U St., NW, is perfectly situated for the waves of late night drunks filtering out of Adams Morgan and the U Street bars on weekends. But, it also happens to be my local neighborhood pizza place, and all things considered, it does a decent job.

Unfortunately, they only sell jumbo-slices (this is still DC), but the crust is neither too doughy or too crunchy, and retains a decent bite. The sauce doesn't taste too tinny and the cheese, while pre-shredded and processed, is eminently serviceable. While jumbo-sliced, I never got a soggy pizza, which is the main issue I have with the other establishments located further up 18th.

I would (and do) come to this place sober, which, for a DC pizza restaurant, is just about the highest compliment I can bestow.

Alberto's Pizza - Dupont Circle

Having just gotten off the Circulator starving, I went down into this basement level restaurant to get a slice. Of course, this being DC, it was "jumbo-sliced" (essentially serving a portion the size of 2 normal slices and charging you $5 for it). I vaguely remember enjoying the pizza before, even though the only other times I have been here have been past 2:00am on a weekend night with my taste buds blurred by PBR and bottom shelf rail drinks. But, what the hell, how bad could it be?

Of course, whenever someone ends a paragraph with a rhetorical question like that, you know it has got to be pretty friggin' bad. I basically spent a good 10 minutes trying to choke down a sheaf of dry, tasteless crust slightly reminiscent of pre-vamped Domino's (which is to say, corrugated cardboard). The sauce imparted texture, but no flavor, and the cheese was heartily preprocessed. Basically, I managed to salvage the meal by pouring on powdered "parmesan" cheese and red pepper flakes that helped cover up the taste.

But, I wouldn't necessarily mind returning, just so long as it is past 2:00am and my liver is on the brink of needing a transplant because of alcohol poisoning.

Shamshiry - Tyson's Corner

Shamshiry is a sit down Persian restaurant located in what appears to be a nondescript office park in the middle of Tyson's Corner. I ordered the salmon kebabs with scented rice. The salmon was well-seasoned, if a little well done and dry for my taste. The scented rice, on the other hand, was intriguing. It was perfumed with dill, which you could smell as you took a forkful of rice and put it in your mouth. It was actually fascinating because the aroma of the rice enhanced the flavor of the salmon as a whole (an interesting example of the olfactory sense affecting one's taste, much like a fine wine's flavor being enhanced when you inhale deeply from your glass while sipping the wine). Slivers of fava beans were also mixed into the rice, giving the dish some welcome heft and heartiness.

In sum, I am not sure this is worth a detour to go to, but the food was generally well done. The rice was the best part of the meal and I would be interested in coming back one day and trying out some of their other rice dishes.

Yechon - Annandale

Yechon is an Annandale institution. It is a consistent, reliable standby that serves a wide variety of Korean staples 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Most non-Koreans probably come for the BBQ (which I have yet to order), but there are plenty of items to choose from on the menu for bold epicurean or even the slightly less adventurous palate.

For those seeking to expand beyond Korean BBQ, try the dolsot bibimbop. It essentially is rice served in a hot, stone bowl with various vegetables, both pickled and fresh, tossed in with a portion of Korean BBQ beef (bulgogi). When mixed together with the hot pepper paste and a little sesame oil, you get a nice melange of earthy spiciness, piquant acidity from the vinegary vegetables, and the heartiness of toasted rice. I would also urge you spend the extra money on the hot, stone bowl: the slight crust it develops on the rice really elevates the dish. They also have bokumbap, which is a Korean fried rice dish, that is a little softer and less sauced than Chinese fried rice. The stir-fried noodle dish (japchae) is also well made and an utterly correct rendition.

For the more adventurous, I am a big fan of their oxtail soup (kkori gomtang) which is essentially just a milky beef broth made by slowly boiling beef bones and oxtails for several hours. It is a very refreshing dish, though many would probably characterize it as bland. But, throw in some diced scallions, salt, and red pepper, and it becomes a marvel of simplicity. On the other end of the spectrum you have the spicy buckwheat noodle dish (bibimnaengmyung) which is served cold. Traditionally a summer dish, I think it is still suitable for the fall.

The gratis banchan dishes are all solid if unspectacular. The radish kimchi (kaktugi) is good, though I find the cabbage kimchi (baechu kimchi) a little bland. The potato salad and bean sprouts are nice.

All in all, I ate with two other people and we got a huge spread for $40 plus tip. Service is efficient and polite and the ambiance is quiet and sedate (though I hear that it is quite hopping late night on weekends). It is a good place to go to try Korean food for the first and you really can't go too wrong with any of the Korean dishes they have to offer: probably one of the more consistent menus I have tried in Annandale.

N.B.: One amusing detail my sister noticed as we left: the staff were eating Domino Pasta Bread Bowls for dinner. I guess even they get tired of Korean food (though I suppose it shows that we generally can't really kick our love for carbs).

District of Pi - Penn Quarter

I must confess: perhaps I just don't get deep dish pizza. I remember vaguely being thrilled with Uno's when I was ten, but I must concede the possibility that my tastes have evolved since then. Nonetheless, even if I am somewhat biased against pizza casseroles in general, I can't help but feel that my ambivalence towards District of Pi is justified.

First, the positives. The ambiance of the restaurant itself is great. Lots of brick walls, cozy tables, and comfortable seats...a wonderfully convivial atmosphere. The staff, generally, were friendly and welcoming. However, the food just was not up to snuff for me.

The appetizers we ordered were fine. The meatballs were solid, the genoa salami was nice enough, and the pickled thai cucumbers actually quite pleasant. But, the pizzas...

One side of our table ordered a Southside Classico (Sausage, Mushrooms, Green Peppers, Onions, Mozzarella) while my side ordered a Western Addition (Ricotta, Mozzarella, Spinach, Mushrooms, Onions, Garlic). I took a slice of what I thought was the Western Addition and tasted a pile of blandish, chunky tomato sauce on crust. No cheese, no spinach, no nothing. Then, we discovered, that the waitress had actually misidentified the pizzas, and I had been eating the Southside Classico. Well, I tasted no sausage, no green peppers, no onions, no mushrooms, and maybe the occasional wad of mozzarella. When I finally got to taste the Western Addition, it was an improvement. At least there was a discernible amount of cheese and spinach underneath the pile of sauce, but tasting any of the other "toppings"? Fuggedaboutit.

I don't know. Maybe it is just me, but I kind of like Italian food that isn't swimming in a pool of sauce, drowning all the other ingredients in a deluge of tinny tomato. Unfortunately, that is exactly what I got at District of Pi.

Shophouse - Dupont Circle

Shophouse is essentially Asian Chipotle, and I mean that literally (it is owned by the same company). It follows the same assembly line process as Chipotle, primarily slinging rice bowls, but also serving "banh mi" sandwiches as well. You can pick one out of four different proteins (chicken "satay," pork and chicken meatballs, grilled steak, and tofu); one out of four different carbs (jasmine rice, brown rice, rice noodles, or the banh mi); one veggie; one sauce; one garnish; and one topping (the banh mi restricts to you to only the green papaya slaw garnish and the crushed peanuts topping). While I normally avoid "Asian" restaurants that serve food that require me to make copious use of scare quotes in order to describe them (like just now in this paragraph), I suppose I can cautiously recommend Shophouse.

Now, my primary concern with this concept is whether all these different ingredients will taste good regardless of the combination chosen by the customer. Otherwise, you are going to end up with a "Slophouse" of discordant flavors swimming in your paper bowl. Luckily, at least, my selection of brown rice, meatballs, red curry, long beans, pickled vegetables (almost a kimchi like concoction), and crispy garlic worked reasonably well together. The red curry was just beneath the threshold of my heat tolerance and the pickled vegetables added quite a bit of kick as well. The long beans were also crisp and flavorful. Surprisingly, the meatballs were the least exciting part of the bowl, though they were still good. My friend ordered green curry with chicken and long beans and also enjoyed it (the green curry sauce, while milder, is still hot---my friend couldn't even finish his bowl).

But, on the other hand, there were some things I noticed that gave me pause. For example, the rice noodles were pre-boiled. I wouldn't claim to be an expert on "Asian" food, but I would assume that it is just about axiomatic among all cuisines, both oriental and occidental, that noodles and pasta should be prepared a la minute; otherwise they become a gummy, unappetizing mess. For some reason, I would assume that Shophouse has yet to discover a way to overcome the primordial laws of physics, so I would avoid the noodles. And, while I enjoy spice, I think it is inevitable that they will tone down the sauce eventually. While, with respect to a Thai palate, the spice is probably normal and authentic (I've had curries and papaya salads that were as spicy as this), there is no way that a mass-market chain restaurant will be able to get most middle class Americans to eat this regularly for lunch. It is just too spicy for the American palate. But, I can also see Shophouse retreating too far the other way and serving the same creamily confected unctuous sludge that one can find at any strip mall Thai restaurant in the lower 48. I truly hope that they try to make the sauces more approachable, but still retain significant heat.

For $7.50, I suppose you could do worse. And how many times can you eat Chipotle anyway?