Ben T.'s Profile

Love this place!  Fun location, wonderful mood lighting and ambience in the place (brick interior, dark lighting).

I followed the Yelp recommendations and got the mini burgers.  Loved 'em, along with the onion strings.  That alone made it worth it.

I got the pesto chicken pizza.  I would agree with Thuy L.'s review that panned the pizza (get it? ha) in DC.  It's REALLY hard to find good pizza.  My New Yorker friends of course thumb their noses down at the NY-style pizza, and I don't know where to get deepdish besides Pizzeria Uno (is yo smella broke?).  The best pizza I know of is at Italian Pizza Kitchen.

But I still had a great time at Matchbox and would go there any time I'm in the Chinatown area...  The waitstaff seems to usually be pretty overloaded but ours was friendly, if flighty.

Went to Marcel's with my parents when they came up for a brief visit.  Unfortunately, this was a long time ago so I don't remember all the different dishes that I had.  The menu has completely changed now from when I went, so I can't reconstruct my meal!

But that's a great thing, actually, that the menu changes frequently!  Marcel's feels like a place that prides itself in being professional, and I love that, even if it's not the sort of place I fit in while eating at.  I say that because Michael Chertoff and what seemed to be a bunch of high-powered lobbyists/lawyers seemed to be eating there that night.

You can construct your dinner however you like, taking as many dishes out of each course as you want.  Not a seafood person, I ate a lot of different meats:  rabbit, lamb, filet mignon.  Since it was winter, I had a delicious butternut squash soup, which is one of my favorites.

The waiters and maitre d' were attentive and gave plenty of advice on what to order.  We felt well taken care of and I enjoyed the meal.  I think my mom, a tough critic, enjoyed it but thought it could have been more exciting.

Sorry to be so non-specific.  The bottom line was that this food was delicious and contained a lot of flavors and ingredients you can't easily prepare at home -- the balance of sweets, sours, savories, and bitterness tended towards sours, if you're into defining your meals that way.  Loses a star for price.

I went here for graduation with my parents.  I'm not usually a fan of going to the most expensive restaurants in town, but they're definitely worth trying once to get an idea of what their cuisine is like.

Excellent Four Seasons service, dark and rich tables and menus with subtle lighting.

The three kinds of fries with three sauces as a complimentary appetizer were delicious.

Menu items were sumptuous...I would've enjoyed trying the wagyu or kobe but it's too expensive.  I had the suckling pig, which was presented amazingly but which I felt might have been a little bland.  My parents got New York strip which I would have enjoyed more.

Delicious meals, great combinations of flavors.  Perfectly cooked dishes.  I did have a problem with the portions being entirely too small for what you pay.  But maybe that's because we were Texans at a steakhouse...expecting a lot.

At the end, we got a taffy/caramel closer treat.  I thought it completely ruined the meal.  Too sweet, sticks in your teeth...unpleasant.

Overall the food was worth the reputation, and I had a good experience, but I probably wouldn't go here again unless some company was paying for it.  Doesn't feel like you're getting your money's worth.

Went here for a post-graduation happy hour with a couple friends.  It's easy to miss if you're walking along Wisconsin.  Sat upstairs by the window, had a very attentive and cool bartender.  Bourbon has great bar food -- I recommend getting a constant chain of tater tots.  Probably the best bar to go to in the Glover Park area, although they have full menus and many options too.  We had the burgers, and they were pretty decent!  What a treat to have this in the neighborhood.

Pizzeria Paradiso (PP) is best if you go there for happy hour downstairs and enjoy their deals.  A lot of people don't know about the downstairs area but that's the only reason to go here.  They have a superb beer selection (try the beer on cask, as well as the Dogfish Head IPA 120) and the bartenders and staff are all pretty cool.  Definitely go here instead of The Brickskeller.

There's no real bar food here unfortunately, or things to snack on.  The pizza I feel is kind of weak and bland.  Not really worth it.

What's characteristic about Mama Ayesha's is that from the outside it looks like nothing, but when you go inside, it has an amazing atmosphere and decor.

I love careful, dark, soft lighting in a place.  Mama Ayesha definitely has this.  The fountain by the seating podium falls into a sieve, giving the place a soothing background noise.

I had the sampler of many dishes.  To be honest I thought the food was somewhat bland.  But I think that's just my personal preference against this style of food, and not a statement on the quality of the restaurant's food.

Our waiter was probably the highlight of the place -- he noted to my girlfriend that she obviously cares very much about savoring her food because she was so attentive to each last bite.  We had a cool conversation about that and that made the place far more personal to us.

I've only been here for dinner.  I imagine lunch is a lot different in terms of the crowd.

First time I went to Nooshi, we had a party of about twelve which had been cobbled together from a joint Georgetown MSFS/Johns Hopkins SAIS German event.  So it was funny when we walked in and got a table immediately because another big party was JUST getting up.  What luck!

The place seems to have tons of undergrads in it for dinner -- I assume they're GW students.  The students are there because there's many different bowls of noodles for everyone, and the food is quite cheap!

The place is cozy and accessible which would explain why it's so popular.  Service is prompt -- they move a lot of customers.  I strongly recommend the curry laksa.  The broth is delicious.

Also cool are the sinks in the bathroom.  Instead of a drain hole, there's two ledges at different angles, so the water disappears into a crevasse.  So if crevassing is important to you in a restaurant, look no further.

I've been to Zola twice, once for food and once for drinks.

The atmosphere is great -- the design plays off the Spy Museum downstairs, so the fogged glass walls have words relating to security and intelligence written in many different languages.  The interior is chic, with what I consider to be soft, seductive lighting.

The first time, I came for food.  I got the lamb meatball sliders for my appetizer, which were deliciously seasoned and perfectly sized.

For my main course, I had "Smokey Yogurt Glazed Lamb Loin", described as braised lamb shank, currant and marcona almond stuffed crepe.  Also perfect.

Definitely wanted to try the Zola aka: The White Knight, "dedicated to the man who stood up in defense of an accused spy.  We bring Van Gogh Vodka, Cointreau, White Cranberries and crushed Limes together to form a more perfect union."

The next time, I came for drinks.  Apparently there's always old dudes at the bar hitting on the young women who come, so there's that to look out for.

Zola has a blueberry mango mojito which I must say is crazy good -- the blueberries in it add to an already yummy mojito.

Definitely get a good feeling about the place -- it's not that expensive and is great for dates (not that those two should go together =) ).

I went to this place because I found it on Yelp!  So kudos to the reviewers who pointed out that it's great food at a good price.

We got the table elevated on the platform by the front window, so that was nice!  The hostess and waitresses there were extremely nice and talkative about the food and how it related to the cooking they had as children; we quickly got our drinks and a small bowl of toasted corn with a little salt.  Great pseudo amuse bouche.  Didn't get to try the pisco sour unfortunately.

Both of us got a delicious steak dish (marinated in flavorful seasoning) with baked beans, a plantain, a mesa-shaped dollop of rice, and a fried egg, along with two types of sauce (a pesto-cilantro one and a spicier cream one).  Absolutely fantastic mix of very different flavors and textures, all bold and tasty.  We also got a side of yucca strips to try out the taste and texture.

There were large groups eating and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves so it was a good atmosphere.  And I had no idea it was right next to Lauriol Plaza!

Highly recommended, especially if you're tired of eating other types of food one night.  This will taste a lot different (earthy) than what you usually eat, but still hearty.

The other reviews for Good Stuff Eatery are very instructive.  My sense from the comments is that Chef Spike's food would probably blow you away if home-cooked with love, but as a semi-fast food joint, the food doesn't hold up.

My own impression?  Went with a couple old Army buddies, saw Dennis Kucinich getting dinner a couple doors down.  Chef Spike signage when you go in.  Cute branding.

Enticing, overly descriptive menu with unique ingredients including cilantro, different cheeses on the burgers, toasted marshmallow shakes, freaking awesome Village Fries smothered with rosemary and thyme and pepper.  I got the Colletti's Smokehouse burger with an onion ring on it, along with the fries and a root beer float, which got more delicious the more I finished it.

Only a few tables outside.  Nice mirrored seating area upstairs with flat screen TVs.  Saw a few confused people looking for the drink menu, which is separate from the food menu and behind the customers as they order.

You can tell Spike was successful in turning his idea for a good ol' burger joint with good food into a reality -- it bears his personality even if he's long-gone from representing the joint.  But this is a nice break from your normal haunts, and you can go to bars right next door afterwards and soak up the silliness of Capitol Hill.