Hassouni

OK, so I went to Rice Paper last night, and having to wait for a table sucked (never have to wait at Hai Duong despite it always being full!), but the food was quite good. Had cha gio and goi cuon, which were on par with my standard places, but also bo la lot, ground seasoned beef wrapped in wild betel leaves and grilled - those were DIVINE. I had some kind of bun soup, bun mam something something, I guess - fish, pork, squid, and I can't remember what else. It was very good, and reasonably placed I guess the fancy places can do a good job. I think either that or Vy Bistro will be my go-to places for taking Vietnoobs (ha!), unless it's pleasant outside, in which case I do still like the patio of Viet Bistro

Inspired by what I DIDN'T order at dinner at the Eden Center last night, I made Bún Tôm Heo Nướng, one of those Vietnamese bún dishes, the sort of cold rice noodle salads, this one with shrimp:

It's fuckin hot in DC. Mojito hot.

Anyone going to be in Leb this summer? I'll be there June 11-20 and then from July 1-3

Vietnamese or Lao food...the lightest cheap food options round these parts...

Odd mix here: 2 days ago: Murgat bamya (Iraqi okra stew, possibly the "national dish"), made with lamb leg: The rice with lovely hakkaka (tadig), if I say so myself: And tonight: Leftover brown Japanese rice, fried with onion, long hot green pepper, scallion, and kimchi, sprinkled with some soy sauce, sesame oil, and sesame seeds:

Possibly invented something tonight: 1.5 oz Smith & Cross 1 oz homemade pimento dram .5 oz lime 2-3 dashes Angostura Shaken and served up Very nice. Smooth, dry, warm, somewhat spicy, and tart at the same time

Yeah I've been to Viet Taste. The only new one I have yet to go to is Rice Paper, I think. What I like about the "non-classy" places is it sort of lends a "table on the streetside of Saigon" feel

Oh yeah, MM is fun, with pretty good if not earth-shattering pizza. They JUST opened up one in DC, I have yet to go (I've been to the one right next to UVA in Charlottesville, VA, a couple times)

Jimbo's own site does a pretty good job of it: http://rumproject.com/menuitem2.html

Bertucci's is pretty damn good for a national chain....

Does fining lighten it up, or just make it less cloudy?

What do those two terms mean?

I'm curious how the Taylor's stuff is almost clear, whereas mine is a very rich brownish-green

Yeah, I meant flavor, and I did mean viscous with an S

Yeah and no more than 1/4 of orgeat, say

The longer-aged El Dorados are pretty freakin awesome...

Tonight: Japanese (using homemade orgeat and Landy VS at a 1:5 ratio...still too sweet) Corn n Oil, with 2:3 Cruzan Blackstrap to homemade falernum: Whoa lord, it's a falernum bomb! This is going to be a slow sipper for sure (just started on it as I type this)

Niiiiice! Two of the best in the world and personal favorites of mine.

That's actually a new bottle Plymouth seems to have recently rolled out for (at least) the 1 liter size. The old bottles look like the one on the right in this picture. Actually it would seem this is the new design for all their bottlings: http://bpando.org/2012/02/13/packaging-plymouth-gin/ Gotta say, I like it

Inaugurating my new bottle of Campari, a Negroni Oz Campari Oz Cinzano Rosso Oz Beefeater. Blow me down, this is a strong, viscous drink!

Today's haul: Discovered a huge stash of old-bottle Plymouth, AND that the Chevy Chase Montgomery County Liquor Store has Myer's Legend!!

Does he even cook? Ostensibly, I mean.

Is making the lime supremes as much of a pain in the ass as I'm imagining?

I had a variation on this today - Gary Regan's Moonlight, same ingredients, (sans twist), but in a 3:1:1:1 ratio. Very nice drink! (also had a couple Aviations testing out different gins...Beefeater definitely works better than Sapphire)