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PatDC

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  1. I think that may have been it. It had curried spinach with it. That's the thing I remember most vividly. I'm looking forward to your account. Let's see if I can quote correctly this time. Last time, I quoted the wrong message
  2. I had a wonderful Indian dish there, sometime back. Alas, I'm too late and too vague . They were slow and we had to wait a long time for a reserved table, but everything foodwise was great.
  3. Maybe it's getting a little off-topic, but I enjoy spending time in Austin (a town I love) and most places there don't seem to take reservations, as a matter of course. I'm used to making reservations (from living in DC) and it tends to throw me. The only place I know of that absolutely demands reservations there is Fonda San Miguel for Sunday brunch (been there for dinner--no res--still haven't done brunch, unfortunately). I'm okay with waiting for a table, so long as it's not a really long time [>20-30 minutes]. I like being able to make reservations and would be willing to give a cc number at most places I go to in DC--I usually pay with a credit card anyway. I hope the empty tables we saw at Corduroy on NYE were not no-shows. I might not have even noticed them if it hadn't been for this episode .
  4. We had a wonderful meal last night. My husband had the Caesar salad and lamb sirloin with mini goat cheese ravioli. The ravioli is a great combination with the lamb. (I took a little bit. I love lamb but have been on a pretty strict diet for about a year and half, so I hardly ever have it anymore. Ditto for cheese ) I had oysters on the half shell with apple mignonette and the fish special. When the waiter described the preparation of the special (which was cod), I asked if that was the same as the way the chef used to prepare tuna. I had loved the tuna when I had it before (seared and served with sushi rice and seaweed). That was no longer on the menu, but the description of the cod special sounded the same to me. Our waiter (who was very helpful throughout the evening) confirmed that it was like the way the tuna had been prepared. I was interested in ordering it and seeing how the cod worked in the dish and was happy to be getting a version of a dish I had liked so much in the past. The waiter came back a couple of minutes later and said that the chef would substitute tuna for the cod if I liked. While I was interested in trying out the cod, I wasn't going to turn down the tuna . It was just as wonderful as I remember it being before. Special indeed To drink, we had a bottle of Pinot Noir, a Sancerre (Chavignol). I had never had a red Sancerre before and figured it would be somewhat light. The color was beautiful. We enjoyed it quite a bit. I'm not expert at pairing wines and usually ask for advice, but I just went on my own there. Normally I don't order dessert but my husband does. Last night I wanted a little bit of dessert and he didn't. We ended up splitting the fresh fruit sorbet, which had 3 flavors: pineapple, banana, and (I think) pear. I also ordered a Grand Marnier, something I drink about once a year. I don't much care for sweet things, nor for oranges, and I don't generally like brandy. For some reason, I like Grand Marnier. Go figure. Anyway, it was a fabulous meal to end the year, and I'm glad we went. It was a fine night.
  5. I'm not a connoisseur, but, if you haven't, as part of your quest you might want to try Mangialardo's on Capitol Hill (1317 PA Ave., SE) http://www.subshop.net/pages/1/index.htm and Litteri's at the Farmer's Market http://www.litteris.com/GreatPublic.html I've liked the subs I've had at both places, but they're not hoagies
  6. Thanks for the explanation, Tom. I appreciate it. As I said, I don't understand the mindset of the no-shows and multiple-bookers, but it's got to be quite a headache for you. I didn't mean to be an additional headache. That's quite all right. I figured I was calling very early. Since I don't usually dine out on NYE, I didn't know how early I had to call. I guess it's possible to be too early . Thank you again, and I'm looking forward to a wonderful meal at Corduroy tomorrow night.
  7. I was thinking out loud to myself in annoyance when I made the comment that sounded like I was saying I wouldn't go. I wasn't as indecisive as it may have sounded, just irked and getting more irked as I thought about it. That's why I turned the computer off shortly after that and didn't post any further last night. Writing that certainly did undercut my case, I'm sure. FWIW, I show up on time to restaurants. I very rarely cancel reservations, and I actually cancel them. I don't just not show. I have trouble understanding the mindset of people who make reservations and don't follow through or who make multiple reservations for the same night, but I know that people in the restaurant business have to deal with that. My hunch when I posted the thread was that people would tell me it was perfectly reasonable for a restaurant to want a credit card. I had been making that point to my husband, who was the one who answered the phone and was more bothered by it than I was. I was looking to bolster that position, I suppose, by asking opinions, and I appreciate people's responses. I'm usually the one who makes the reservations and have been asked for credit card number a few times before. He was unfamiliar with the practice. I was defending the restaurant to him on that point. My major peeve was the timing, and that was when he made the comment that the restaurant hadn't seemed to plan very well. I almost didn't post the thread at all because I didn't want to create an uncomfortable situation since Tom and other people from Corduroy post here. (For all I know, the woman who called might even post here. I'm terrible with names or I'd remember who she was. She was quite courteous on the phone and was fine with my calling back and not giving the number on the spot. I didn't envy her the job of cold calling people for credit card numbers. It did seem like the problem must have been that I made my reservation before they adopted the policy and they were just realizing they had some names with no credit card numbers.) I also considered raising the issue without naming the restaurant, but then I figured that people would want to know what restaurant it was, and there was no point in being coy. It really could have been pretty much any restaurant, though, on the general points. What I didn't intend was to create drama or to have anyone call the restaurant and ask about it . I was just going to call the restaurant back today and give them the card number to confirm. Otherwise, I would have been calling today anyway to confirm the reservation, since I made it so long ago. I've been looking forward to going, my little fit of pique notwithstanding .
  8. Thank you. That was my point (or my peeve).
  9. It's only a problem because I made the reservation a month ago. No one asked for a credit card number then. It was the same date then as it is now. December 31st has not changed on the calendar.
  10. It made sense to me that they wanted a credit card number, but it seemed kind of late for that. Why didn't they ask when I reserved? Why didn't they ask 2 weeks ago? Since they're not doing a prix fixe, I was wondering what they would charge (and was going to ask that when I called back. When I tried to confirm the time, she didn't even have that information, so I figured I couldn't go much further on the phone.) The oddest thing was that I assured her that I really did intend to go and had no other reservations, but she seemed to think I wasn't going to show. It was an odd conversation. Maybe I'm the only person who's made a reservation there who really plans to show, but geez...I Like the restaurant! Maybe we should just stay home like we usually do, and I'll make a great meal here. Maybe that's what I should do. I usually hate going out NYE. I'm not sure why I even planned this.
  11. I really like dining at Corduroy, as does my husband. We've had some fine meals there. I made a reservation there for NYE about a month ago (at the time it wasn't clear whether it was prix fixe or a la carte). The gentleman I spoke to at the time agreed that I should call back a couple of days before to confirm everything. I planned to do that tomorrow. We got a call a little while ago asking us to confirm our reservation with a credit card. That made my husband rather unhappy. I was a little more sympathetic, knowing that restaurants end up with no-shows on major days. It did seem (as my husband said) ill-planned. Waiting until two days before on a long-standing reservation seemed a bit off to me. I said I would call back tomorrow (didn't have the credit card at hand when they called, anyway). Okay, I'm sure people here have abundant opinions on requiring credit cards to hold reservations. Go! pat edit. hope I caught all the typos...
  12. I understand that the new menu starts next week. (I think the brunch menu has already been inaugurated). Sometimes the food is fabulous there and I have hope. Given the location, I think it's really hard for them to get a market nailed down. Potential, definitely.
  13. I don't know about sweetbreads. I think the mussels I got were $16.95. I'm not sure if they were all the same price. I got the ones cooked in wine. I figured that based on the ala carte menu, the fries should be $5 of that. My husband is not that fond of seafood (he tried a couple), but that's really more than a one-person mussel basket to me. Our total bill, including beer, tax, tip, starters, and desserts for both, was $101.
  14. My husband and I had a wonderful meal at Belga last night. He got poached asparagus in lemon-butter-parsley sauce as a starter and then steak and fries. I had a couple of bites of the steak, and it was delicious. It had a compound butter on top that I was having trouble identifying. At first I thought it was basil, then I thought it was parsley. Whatever it was, it completed the steak beautifully. I got Belgian endive salad with oranges and blue cheese to start, and the presentation was impressive. There was just enough blue cheese but not an overwhelming amount. It was a fabulous salad. (I'm not a huge fan of Belgian endive, but it seemed like the thing to order.) I followed this with Mussels Mariniere with fries and mayonnaise. There were a lot of mussels, and I almost didn't finish them. They were so good, though, that I didn't want to leave any behind. And the fries and mayonnaise were great. I like fries crispy, and these were perfect. The bread was pretty good -- seemed to be sourdough rye. When we asked the waiter about it, he said that it was the only thing not made on the premises. To drink, my husband had a Duvel and I had a Chimay Grand Reserve. Both were excellent (well, of course ). For dessert, my husband got 3 kinds of chocolate mousse (dark, milk, and white) and I got raspberry sorbet. He really likes dark chocolate but thought the milk chocolate was the best. I had a few samples and would have to agree, but I like milk chocolate. They came with paper thin (almond?) cookies. Before we ordered, I had asked the waiter about the asparagus ice cream on the dessert menu. I asked him what it tasted like (I had seen someone here post about getting it but was still skeptical), and he said he would bring a sample so I could try it. I suppose it would be hard for anything with that much butterfat actually to taste bad, but I have decided that asparagus really does not work as an ice cream flavor. I did finish the little sample, though The service was good. Our waiter was helpful and attentive. The only down side was that we were in the path of the cold air blast that occurred every time the front door of the restaurant opened. It's just a single door. I almost asked to be moved to another table early on and, by the time our meal was over, I wished I had done that. Our waiter said that they are getting a new door on Monday, so there won't be a single door with that Arctic effect any more. All in all, that was a minor point. They haven't been open that long. There are still a few issues left to address, I'm sure. We can't wait to go back.
  15. He's married to Norah O'Donnell. The Hill just ran this fawning review, which is fixated on the political-celebrity angle. If you read closely, though, you'll see some less than flattering comments in there. http://www.thehill.com/restaurants/chefgeoff.aspx
  16. My husband and I had dinner there a few months ago and weren't very impressed. We, too, encountered a hostess who seemed puzzled that we wanted a table. (Hmm. Is that maybe a warning sign that you don't want to eat in a restaurant?) We were there at maybe 7 PM or so on a Friday, before a movie, so there was a substanial happy hour crowd at the bar. The music was really loud, so we asked for an outside table. I don't remember what we ordered at this point, but it was unexceptional, especially for the price. The service was okay but not great. Our experience wasn't as bad as yours, but I don't expect to be going back there any time soon.
  17. I have not eaten at Park Cafe since they changed the menu away from the Latin American theme. I've eaten there maybe a dozen or so times in the past dozen years, and the food quality has always been erratic, in my experience. I've also found it to be a bit expensive for the meal you get. I've had a few meals there where the food was really quite good, as well as some pretty disappointing meals. (I think the last meal I had there was the one where the seafood dish I ordered tasted so bad that the waitress took the charge off our bill.) It's the inconsistency that keeps me from eating there more, even though the location is convenient. When I have a good meal there, it gets me to thinking things have improved, and then the next time... When I saw the new menu posted outside a while back, I was thinking of trying it again. Now I don't know if I will or not. (I haven't posted here in a really long time. The old name, under which I had only posted a few times, got de-activated since I wasn't posting, so I re-registered.)
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