EllenH

My husband & I read this review of Bombay Masala in this week's City Paper restaurant roundup (Indian/Pakistani) and thought the idea of indian-chinese food sounded yummy and intriguing. So without bothering to write down the name of the restaurant or the address, we headed out to Greenbelt Road to track it down. After circling a couple PG County strip-malls, we found a place with "Bombay" in the name and went inside. The room was small, and the decor was a strange combination of basement rumpus room (linoleum floor and faux wood paneled walls) and classic Indian (framed Hindu prints). We didn't see any of the dishes mentioned in the review, in fact nothing seemed to indicate a chinese influence. Since we were already seated, we decided to eat anyway (after all, it had to be better than the Ruby Tuesday's in the same shopping center) and worked our way through a perfectly serviceable but not the slightest bit memorable meal. Samosas, tandourri lamb, cauliflower curry, naan. Convinced that we had ended up in the wrong "Bombay" restaurant, we looked up the review when we got home -- nope! We'd been in the right place! (but it musta been the wrong time... - sorry) I guess we should've given the waiter the secret handshake and whispered to him about the special menu for those in the know Given that the review is almost a year old though, I'm wondering. If we decide to go back, we'll call beforehand to see if that chinese-indian menu actually exists.

Oh fun! Hmmm, for all things literary: Dorothy Dunnett Iris Murdoch A.S. Byatt I think the meal here would clearly be high tea! To talk about music & play a few tunes with: Dolly Parton Eck Robertson (texas fiddler) Sting Buddy Bolden (I'd be sure to make a recording!) This would be a creole/southern/soul food feast, although not sure Sting would eat that, isn't he vegan or something?

I have a very fuzzy memory of seeing somewhere (in one of my mom's old cookbooks?) that there are actually two similar cakes, one is called Lord Baltimore and the other is Lady Baltimore. Anyone else ever heard of this?

I was just in Elkins last weekend, and had a really nice lunch at the Appalachian Grill downtown (can't remember the exact address but it's right in town). The chef used to work at the Greenbrier and the cooking showed it - yum! I had a smoked chicken and blue cheese bisque that was really good, other people at my table liked it so much they ordered two cups! They are currently only open for lunch, so the menu is heavy on sandwiches & salads. I got a cornmeal-breaded trout po'boy that was very tasty and fresh. Another highlight was their italian sausage sandwich - the sausage is made in-house.

Well I'm sitting here in my bathrobe, drinking a big mug of coffee, trying to recover from a REALLY fun evening at Firefly! (Okay, going across the Circle for pints at Biddy Mulligans afterwards was probably what did me in ) Anyhow, it was grand. We were celebrating Mr. EllenH's birthday and had convinced a few friends to join us. Everyone cleaned their plates, but there wasn't much sharing so I'll just tell you what I had: Cornmeal Dumplings [thank you, bookluvingbabe!!] These almost chewy dumplings with the hefty chunks of flavorful mushrooms on top are genius. Crab-Stuffed Trout I'm a sucker for just about any combination of fish and crab. This one is a winner. Bittersweet Panna Cotta [again props to blb] Decadently chocolatey without being at all cloying. And plenty of it, too This was all complimented by a bottle of California Syrah that Derek recommended -- I don't remember the make & model, but it's the only one on the menu. I'm a wine beginner, but I was impressed that this was a red with a lot of flavor that didn't swamp the fish. (He recommended it based on my question about his 2 australian shirazes, at that point we hadn't even decided on food yet) The food was great, the service was just right, and they even brought my husband a birthday slice of espresso poundcake with ice cream with one discreet candle on the corner of the plate. I also got to meet egullet favorite Derek so that was fun! Thanks Firefly, what a perfect place to celebrate

Okay, dinner at Firefly in exactly.....5 hours 23 minutes!! having trouble focussing on work on my desk. what is the best thing on the menu right now??

I'm pretty sure the Daily Grill on Wisconsin serves breakfast (they are in a hotel). Also, if you're not looking for atmosphere, the Georgetown Bagelry on M st does a mean toasted bagel with egg & cheese! Along with a variety of other bagel sandwiches. yum. Finally, if you don't mind the student-diner feeling of Booeymonger, they also serve breakfast. Bagels, various egg things, etc.

Hmmm....I'm remembering a very recent article on the front page of the Sun about rising housing prices in Baltimore & surrounding area driven by people living in Balmer and commuting to DC. There was a line in the article, something like "Baltimore, welcome to the DC suburbs". While I'm definitely not saying I think of Baltimore as a suburb, it is unquestionably part of the greater DC area. Heck, I live in Takoma and my husband is interviewing for a job in downtown Charm City as I type -- and we're not planning on moving. Going up to Baltimore to eat, or catch an O's game, or visit the Aquarium, is not "travel" -- it's just taking advantage of all our area has to offer.

From Tom's chat on 4/6/05: "If they are allergic to playtex gloves, they should have other type gloves for them to use" Playtex gloves???

With all due respect...I wouldn't recommend the Brick for a meal to anyone! It has its own thread on this board, read through it for more info.

Zaytinya - I wouldn't be surprised at an hour or more. Sunday - how about Palena Cafe? (if they're open sunday) That is a bit north of Dupont on Connecticut but it's in the right direction to keep heading north & catch the Beltway.

How about pasta with a colorful (ie tomato) sauce? I tried "plating" my standard spaghetti with italian sausages by putting the pasta & sauce on separately (deconstructed? ) and then arranging the sausages, but it ended up just looking silly. Big gloppy pile spaghetti, pile red sauce, line o' sausages. I didn't even take a picture 'cause it looked so dorky.

Slightly off-topic, but....for anyone interested in learning more about the original Chat Noir, located in the Montmartre district of Paris at the turn of the (19th/20th) century, check out the Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit at the National Gallery of Art. One of TL's contemporaries, Theophile Alexandre Steinlen, painted the famous poster.

I'll be in NOLA in August for the Society of American Archivists conference...I know a lot of the archivists are interested in the museum's "library of classic cocktail books" -- now there's some fun scholarly research

Man, that DC zone map is a piece of work, huh? Anyway, I will take a stab & say zone 3C.