Deborah "The Squab" H.'s Profile

Blue Smoke next door quoted us a crazy wait so we came over here instead.  The restaurant was pretty full, but there was no wait for our party of six on a weeknight around 8PM.  Service was wonderful!  Despite our ordering light (no apps or dessert, and only one bottle of wine), we were treated with respect and there was no pressure to order more, order more expensive, or leave early.  Since there were no other patrons waiting for our table, we lingered well after the bill was paid, and they were great about refilling our water glasses.

As for food, the free bread was fabulous, but I wasn't all that impressed with my dish.  I ordered the spaghetti special with tomatoes and sea urchin.  The dish overall was a little too acidic, and there was zero uni taste.  Sadness.  But the noodles were indeed yummy and al dente.  My friends all seemed to enjoy their meals, though there were no feeding noises made.  This place is a little on the pricey side (entree + wine = $45) but I'd be willing to return and try something on the normal menu.  Oh, and the wine list is ginormous.  Wonderful for Italian wine lovers.

I've been delaying this review for months because the pecan pie I bought is still sitting in my freezer, untouched.

But the items I did eat were pretty tasty.  I got a beautiful-looking chocolate cake, which was moist and not too sweet.  I bought a slice of the red velvet for my friend, and she LOOVEED the cake.  Or the icing.  Don't remember.  Either way, it's good.  The presentation is a little shoddy though.  The red velvet cake was stuck in a styrofoam platter (like the kind that raw meats are packed in) and wrapped with saran wrap and had a giant brightly-colored sticker that said "RED VELVET."  Thanks.

Will update once I give in and eat that pecan pie...  With ice cream.  Mmmm.

The only thing I tried here was the Vietnamese sandwich, but it was really quite delicious, despite the vegetarianness.  It was, however, rather expensive (I think over $5 or so), but hey, vegetarian meat ain't cheap.

To be updated when I return and try the other stuff!

This New Yorker was happy to find that seamless works in DC!  Woohoo!

Had the eel/cucumber roll and drunken noodles.  Not impressed with either.  Tried the Bali Tofu and Curry Laksa.  Both were much more delicious.  As long as you take this place for what it is (mediocre restaurant with great variety, but not so great quality), you won't be disappointed.

We stopped by here for a late night bite after a rowdy game of powderpuff football.  I think they have a special late-night menu that's somewhat limited, but it's not listed on their website.  I tried the pizza (good for sharing), vegetable soup (not so good), and the bratwurst (yum).  I vaguely remember the bratwurst being ridiculously cheap, something like $3.50 for the brat and fries.  That's definitely the way to go!

Yet another one of those restaurants that proves that a 3.5 on Yelp can be pretty damn good.  Yes, I judge.

Stopped by with a group of sixish in the late afternoon.  One of the menus they handed out focused on their Iberico pork specials.  As a pig lover, I was immediately enamored.  But then abruptly disappointed when the waitress swooped by and took the menu away, explaining the delicious acorn-fed pork was only for dinner.  Yes, I almost cried.

We ordered a bunch of tapas items, and all were pretty good.  I asked about the sea urchin, but no one (waitress, chef, etc) knew where it was from, which scared me away from it.  We also ordered the one Iberico pork dish available for lunch: the paella.  It was quite delicious, though I would warn anyone from ordering it unless you have a large party or wouldn't want to eat anything else.  It is quite enormous.

I especially liked the mushroom tapas, these tiny chorizos, boiled octopus, and the steak (on brunch menu).  One hiccup was the fried squid.  It was soggy and not fresh (I was eating with a few regulars, so knew how it should taste).  When we told the waitress, she took what we didn't eat and refried it.  Um, I would think that we would be entitled to a new dish, right?

Overall damage wasn't too bad: a little over $20 each for lots of food, and plenty of paella to take home!

This place was pretty good, and the price sure is right, but I wasn't blown away by the food.  It's a good possibility that no vegetarian Indian spot will ever live up to Udupi Palace in Berkeley (my first Indian love).  But yeah, $6.95, all you can eat, tiny spot so get there early.  Enjoy!

Overall great food and experience, but things were just a little off.

Exhibit A. The lobster carpaccio appetizer special had potential.  But the luscious, velvety pieces of raw lobster were ruined by the movie-theater-butter melted all over.  A sweeter, more flowery, milder butter would have done well.

Exhibit B. There was a piece of plastic in the (delicious) braised pork belly.  When we alerted our waitress, she behaved awkwardly, and ran away.  None of this "Oh, I am so sorry.  Excuse me while I get the manager."  No doubt she WAS sorry, and she DID get the manager (who comped our dessert and wine), but she should have said so.

Exhibit C. We seemed to have two waiters.  One experienced, friendly, and very comfortable.  He was great.  The waitress was rather odd (see Exhibit B) and acted a little snootier.  But besides her, the general attitude was wonderful.  I was a bit worried when I saw the "jacket preferred" dress code on the website, and even more worried when I saw the average age of the dining patrons was somewhere around 50, but we were treated graciously and politely, despite our jeans and age.

But our overall experience was positive.  I started with the warm tuna and heirloom tomato soup, which was the special of the day.  It was delicious.  The mild acidity of the tomato did very well to hide the mild metallic tuna taste.  For the entree I went with the game hen.  DELICIOUS.  Oh, my, my.  In standard fashion, the breast was roasted and leg/thigh braised.  Though I'm a dark meat lover at heart, the white meat sang the diva's aria in this dish.

We had the apple tatin and one of the chocolate desserts.  Both good but the tatin was by and far the better.

Wow, I have no idea how this place is as busy as it is.  I came by solely because I got a free lunch coupon at the NYC Marathon Expo (hollahhhhh).  After combing through disgruntled Yelp reviews, I settled on the Dionysus.  Whole grain pasta with tahini, grilled chicken, and veggies.  It was exactly as I expected: dry, tasteless, and uninspired.  Oh well.  It was big (and unappetizing) enough to feed me for two days.  I would never, ever in my right mind pay any amount of money for this.

I love this place so much.  I usually bring my lunch to work, but when I'm lazy or have no leftovers, I spend the morning thinking about what kind of delicious item I'm going to order from Gourmet 53.  Funny thing is that I used to work much closer, but never checked it out.  Doh.

The menu is all-encompassing: salads, sandwiches, wraps, burgers, daily specials, hot foods.  I've tried the blackened chicken sandwich (decent), vegetable lasagna (really tasty), chicken burger (pretty good), and Teriyaki chicken salad (so delicious, but I'm sad that I'll probably never try another salad here since I always need to order this one).  The non-salad entrees come with either a small salad, fries, or a hot side (steamed veggies, mashed potatoes, this changes daily).  All entrees come with a cookie (yum yum yum) and Jello or a fresh fruit cup.

I have to admit I'm a little confused about what comes with what...  Some Yelp reviewers have gotten pita chips along with fries, others say you need to substitute.  Whenever I've asked for bread, I've gotten it.  My goodness, the bread is GOOD.  Soft, doughy, warm, crusty, sesame-seeded goodness.  I strongly recommend it if you order something with juices that need to be sopped up.  I think all entrees come with a can of soda, but I'm not sure.  A small salad is $5.50, the sandwiches and specials are usually around $8.00.

The service is great, and super efficient.  Don't be too frightened by the long lines because they move fast.