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Washington DC

Value of critics is highly debated
laurensummerhill See my TER Reviews 1576 reads
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Whether it was local or imported, I've had Kobe (I was staying with a local family and they insisted) in Japan.  There wasn't enough of a difference between that and the one I had in the US to brag about. In fact, the best beef I've had came from Alberta free range cows.

Now the Tuna in Japan, versus the Tuna here... WOW is there a difference. Same with their fruit!  I've never had peaches so damn good.

I never saw "fatty duck" anywhere on a menu before. My reference was more to the thick delicious layer of fat on my duck breast :)

Not a personal dig, but I've never been interested in restaurant, art, book, theater or music critics.  There are no right or wrong answers, only the individual's experience. I have become much more a fan of everyday people writing up their experiences online.

Even awful isn't the same by all standards. Some of my favorites are small ethnic hole-in-the-wall places that get horrific reviews for the "atmosphere". While I happen to find the slightly disorderly and casual wait style charming and authentic. And the food fabulous, nothing better then family run restaurants where Mom's literally in the kitchen!

"In many ways the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those that offer up their work and their selves to our judgment.  We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful then our criticism designating it so."

I work in the artistic community, and the value of critics is highly debated.  I wouldn't say it's without value, but I'd say it's overrated ;)

laurensummerhill2022 reads

I highly recommend this place! It's tasteful, warm, the food is fantastic.

What struck me was the fantastic tea menu - not really a common obsession for most, but it can be as complex as wine drinking.

It's the only place I've seen with a $300 pot of tea!

Related Link: BlueDuckTavern.com

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mrpanda561064 reads

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ohen1899 reads

Yes, though not exactly a new "find" ever since Barack Obama took Michelle there for Valentine's day last year.

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OSP2041 reads

You really think there is a 'pot of tea' out there worth $300?? I just think of what else i could use that money for.

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laurensummerhill967 reads

I would drink a $300 bottle of wine, so why wouldn't a pot of tea?  

The only difference is that one will get you drunk.  I dont' need to pay $300 to get wasted.

I'm a foodie, if there's something amazingly good about it, and often with such things it's a matter of incredible talent, or rare and hard to cultivate ingredients. I've had meals that have gone over $500 (yes on my tab), and didn't regret a cent.  Food and drink is a sensual experience, just like sex. If your body is wired in such a way that taste, smell and texture make a huge impact on your sensory receptors, then it's always worth the experience.  Sex isn't the only feel good experience worth blowing money on.

The reason the pot of tea went up that high is because these came from Tea Master's long dead. It's an ancient art, and with each one, his secrets die with him. If you don't have a tea palate or education, then it probably is a waste of money. However, if like wine, it's something you understand, then you'll be able to appreciate why that tea cost so much and enjoy every drop.

So yes, for a rare and wonderful experience, $300 is worth it.   Not something I'd do all the time, but certainly to indulge in the fruits of incredible talent.

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quadseasonal1230 reads

If fine food is a sensory experience you most  desire, you will find  paradise at Citronelle in D.C... The best performance with fine food,that I have ever experienced..

http://www.citronelledc.com/cuisine/

If you know a tea merchant connoisseur try to obtain a sample of Da Hong Pao .. A friend of mine who is a Fine Tea merchant specializing in Chinese teas, gave me a small sample a couple years ago to try at home..When I told him how much I enjoyed it and asked if I could buy a small amount for special occasions, he said  "You can't afford to buy this tea and if you could,its not for sale "  



-- Modified on 3/29/2010 3:20:14 PM

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808transplant1680 reads

As a member of the International Sommelier's Guild I can tell you that the Blue duck Tavern, Citronelle, The Inn at Little Washington,  Taberna Del Alabardero are grossly overrated and overpriced. The wine lists are so overpriced that it ruins everything.

The hardest thing in the world to do is to find a bottle of wine that is complete and balanced  for around $20. This translates to $35-$50 for a winelist price at a 2+ star restaurant. The same goes for food. To go spend $100+ per person on food without wine amounts to scamming the client. The beef is not hand massaged, indoor kept Kobe and the Truffles are from Oregon not the foothills of the alps. People tend to think with wine as with food that since it is expensive it must be good. Nothing can be farther from the truth.

DC is not a hotbed for restaurants like NY, Vegas, LA or Southern Florida. However, there are exeptional places in DC/area that are a little under the radar. Nothing of decent quality is cheap these days but this is my list of DC area's under the radar restaurant gems. I have taken providers to every single one of these places.

My top 10 (No specific order)

1) Assagi (Italian) in Bethesda
2) Rasika (Indian) Penn Quarter
3) Lavandou (French) Cleveland Park
4) Peking Gourmet Inn (Chinese) Falls Church
5) 2 Amys (Pizza) Tenley
6) Makoto (Japanese) Palisades
7) Lewnes (Steakhouse) Annapolis
8) Kellari (Greek) Farragut North
9) Fogo de Chao (Brazilian) Federal Triangle
10) Addies (Rustic American) Rockville/Bethesda
** Kentmorr Restaurant (Crabs) Stevensville, Md

-- Modified on 3/30/2010 12:14:34 AM

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laurensummerhill3735 reads

Your two cents and restaurant list much appreciated.

Though I enjoy wine, I'm not a student of it. So I can't say the wine list really effected my evening.  Not being that interested in it, wine can't spoil my evening unless it tastes god awful. I believe we had a delicious red, but can't even remember what specifically.

I didn't find the food overpriced or over rated.
For a 100+ meal I'm not expecting Kobe beef for Truffles from the alps.  I expect that at a 400+ meal.  Hell I remember having a 6oz Kobe and it cost me 150 for the one item alone!

What I did get was a beautiful fatty duck, that was wonderfully tender with a rich sauce. The veggies and appetizers were perfectly done - the atmosphere was perfect for the kind of evening we were sharing, the staff was friendly and  conscientious which even the finest establishments can fail on.

I'd gladly go again.





s a member of the International Sommelier's Guild I can tell you that the Blue duck Tavern, Citronelle, The Inn at Little Washington,  Taberna Del Alabardero are grossly overrated and overpriced. The wine lists are so overpriced that it ruins everything.

The hardest thing in the world to do is to find a bottle of wine that is complete and balanced  for around $20. This translates to $35-$50 for a winelist price at a 2+ star restaurant. The same goes for food. To go spend $100+ per person on food without wine amounts to scamming the client. The beef is not hand massaged, indoor kept Kobe and the Truffles are from Oregon not the foothills of the alps. People tend to think with wine as with food that since it is expensive it must be good. Nothing can be farther from the truth.

DC is not a hotbed for restaurants like NY, Vegas, LA or Southern Florida. However, there are exeptional places in DC/area that are a little under the radar. Nothing of decent quality is cheap these days but this is my list of DC area's under the radar restaurant gems. I have taken providers to every single one of these places.

My top 10 (No specific order)

1) Assagi (Italian) in Bethesda
2) Rasika (Indian) Penn Quarter
3) Lavandou (French) Cleveland Park
4) Peking Gourmet Inn (Chinese) Falls Church
5) 2 Amys (Pizza) Tenley
6) Makoto (Japanese) Palisades
7) Lewnes (Steakhouse) Annapolis
8) Kellari (Greek) Farragut North
9) Fogo de Chao (Brazilian) Federal Triangle
10) Addies (Rustic American) Rockville/Bethesda
** Kentmorr Restaurant (Crabs) Stevensville, Md

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808transplant1652 reads

Trust me here. When it says kobe beef on the menu (in the US) it is domestic Kobe that costs a fraction of what real kobe costs. Also the white truffles (the most expensive) are domestic. What places do is use the cheap truffles and saturate everything with truffle oil that makes the food so pungent that it is borderline inedible. I would be willing to bet Beefeater500's house (HAHA just kidding beef) that the $150 Kobe steak you had was Hareford or Short-horn sold as Kobe.

As for the service it better be friendly and positive. The best way to ruin an evening is with a server who has an attitude or screwed up the order.

As a professional restaurant critic myself I know when places are using Talapia in place of Flounder, Flounder in place of Dover Sole and Farm raised domestic sturgeon caviar instead of Persian Beluga. I especially love it when they use silly adjectives like "Fatty" Duck and "Angry" Trout to make things sound so much more exotic. When in reality it is a juvenile long Island duckling that they bought from Sysco foods and a Rainbow trout that was eating other trout's feces in an aquarium all its life.

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laurensummerhill1577 reads

Whether it was local or imported, I've had Kobe (I was staying with a local family and they insisted) in Japan.  There wasn't enough of a difference between that and the one I had in the US to brag about. In fact, the best beef I've had came from Alberta free range cows.

Now the Tuna in Japan, versus the Tuna here... WOW is there a difference. Same with their fruit!  I've never had peaches so damn good.

I never saw "fatty duck" anywhere on a menu before. My reference was more to the thick delicious layer of fat on my duck breast :)

Not a personal dig, but I've never been interested in restaurant, art, book, theater or music critics.  There are no right or wrong answers, only the individual's experience. I have become much more a fan of everyday people writing up their experiences online.

Even awful isn't the same by all standards. Some of my favorites are small ethnic hole-in-the-wall places that get horrific reviews for the "atmosphere". While I happen to find the slightly disorderly and casual wait style charming and authentic. And the food fabulous, nothing better then family run restaurants where Mom's literally in the kitchen!

"In many ways the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those that offer up their work and their selves to our judgment.  We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful then our criticism designating it so."

I work in the artistic community, and the value of critics is highly debated.  I wouldn't say it's without value, but I'd say it's overrated ;)

ReplyQuoteReport
808transplant2685 reads

In my case I do not get paid to criticize. I get paid to expose places that tae advantage of the client. Just as I stated about places that substitute Talapia in place of flounder. There are many places that do that and take advantage of the client. Where do we draw the line? If the FDA looked the other way when a pharmaceutical company was substituting Tylenol for Vicodin there would be lawsuits, fraud charges and the company's stock would tumble.

I am not saying that a critic is the good guy but the critic's role is somewhat necessary.

Here in TER we bring out into the open what girls are ripoffs and what girls are once in a lifetime to spend an hour with and everything inbetween. As a critic I have always given restaurants as well as the girls I have reviewed the benefit of the doubt (just check my reviews). So in a way we are all critics. Although I dont think there are schools that teach us the finer details of hobbying.

And I could not agree with you more about certain critics who go out of their way to destroy a place. I have worked with some of these people before and they love it when a restaurant closes because of a bad review. Their ego means more to them than 20-30 people losing their jobs. Not cool and Kharma is a bitch.

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PeteyJoe1320 reads

Very good list--I would add Et Viola in the Palisades area of DC,

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