Ryan P.'s Profile

I ordered the #1 (the works, essentially), and the broth and meat were quite tasty.  As others have noted, the noodles were lacking - basically just a big clump sitting at the bottom of the bowl.  Also, they botched my order and brought me a regular instead of a large, but that ended up being okay since regular was pretty big.

Back in 2006, my friends had a happy hour every Tuesday night at BWU.  The wings were tasty and cheap as was the beer.  The clientele was what you would expect from a college bar, but nothing too sketchy.  At that point, I would probably have given BWU three stars.  Fast forward to last night (4/2/2009), and it's definitely getting one star.  

I was out with some pals at Hard Times and we got a hankering for some wings, so we decided to reconvene at BWU.  I arrive first and wait by the door for the rest of the peons.  After a couple of minutes, I see a guy staggering up to the front with blood streaming down his head.  Apparently somebody whacked him with a bottle.  He gets cleaned up and then rushes outside to participate in some kind of royal rumble in the parking lot.  By this time, the rest of my party had arrived and we decide to hightail it out of there.  Unfortunately, the cops arrive at this point (with guns drawn), and block my car in.  We're still hungry, so we head to Hooters and come back later for my car.  Needless to say, BWU is banned!

I was at Charlie Palmer's in June of 2008 for a bachelor party.  The service was good.  The sides were good.  The steak, however, was just 'OK.'  I got the filet medium rare and it was on par with what you would get from a random restaurant that does not specialize in steak.  Mine was a bit chewy and not particularly flavorful.

So, Urn and I went to Zaytinya for restaurant week back in August of 2008 and then we took my sister the following December.  On both occasions, our overall impressions of the food, drinks and service were quite positive.  In particular, we loved the Kolokithokeftedes and the Kotopoulo Youvetsi.  Also, on our most recent visit, we tried the Fried Squid (Calamari) and we all agreed that it's the best we've ever had - just the right amount of breading and fried to the perfect crispness.  It seems like Calamari would be a fairly easy dish to get right, but so many places manage to botch it.

My sister ordered mehsi basal off the 'specials' section of the menu that consisted of caramelized onions stuffed with goat cheese.  This was also a favorite of the table.

On both visits we ordered the Spanakopita (referred to by us as 'Spank-o-pita'), and were disappointed by the dryness and quality of the Phyllo dough.  Urn considers Spanakopita to be the quintessential dish of the Mediterranean region and was surprised that a restaurant that does such a good job with other dishes from that area would have a lackluster Spank-o-pita.

As with Jaleo, I find the chicken dishes to be 'meh.'  The lone exception being the aforementioned Kotopoulo Youvets.

I've been here multiple times, but I have only tried the chicken kabobs (thigh and breast).  Both have been tasty, but not quite as spicy as other Afghan-style Kabob places that I have been to.  The chicken breast can be a bit dry, but that's mostly understandable.  As the first reviewer noted, the spinach and eggplant appetizers are quite tasty.

After Pollo Inka turned into some kind of French Bistro, I was forced to look elsewhere for my lunchtime chicken fix.  Guapos has a ton of menu options, but I always zero in on the rotisserie chicken and yuca.  Like a few other places, they throw in a salad as well.  I'm not a huge fan of their mayonnaise-based dipping sauce, but I normally don't remember that I have sauce until i'm nearly done with the meal.  At some point, I'll try some of the other items on the menu and update my review.

I've had random long waits for my food at Guapos (there was no one else in line).  I'm not sure if they were out of chicken or what, but it's moderately irritating.

Oddly, when I ate here, I found the chicken to be neither crisp nor juicy.  My friend assured me that it was easily the best chicken that she has had, but I think she was baked when she tried it.  I was excited too, because I worked at Tysons at the time and Crisp and Juicy is much closer than El Pollo Rico.  It was a real chore getting through the chicken - kind of like when you have some fried chicken in the fridge overnight and you eat it the next day and it's all rubbery.

For many years I was told that Edy's surpassed crax (El Pollo Rico) as the best Peruvian chicken in the DC area.  Alas, when I finally tried it, I was disappointed.  I found the chicken to be not very flavorful and a bit on the dry side.

Update 8/28/08:
I re-visited Edy's yesterday, and my initial findings were confirmed.  The chicken is dry and does not have much seasoning on it.  The skin is nice and crispy, but that does not make up for the other shortcomings.  Despite the lackluster chicken, the sides are quite good.  Urn and I agreed that the yuca is some of the best we've had recently.  The fried plantain was also quite tasty.

WC is a good substitute when I'm jonesing for some chicken but can't make it out to Arlington for some crax (El Pollo Rico).  They offer Yuca and throw in a salad.  I just wish there was a chicken place closer to Fair Lakes.  I wonder how much their business suffers from being in the back of a strip mall.  Most times when I go in there for dinner, it is fairly empty.  Perhaps their primary business is take out...

I've eaten at quite a few Kabob places in the area (Shamshiray, Moby Dick, Friends, Kabob Palace, Charcoal Kabob, etc), and this place is one of my favorites.  I normally order the chicken thighs which are tender and spicy.  The chicken breast is also good, but a bit dryer.  If you don't see the thighs on the menu, ask the cashier and he'll 'special order' it.

I've also had the Kubideh here, and it's no worse than Moby Dick in my opinion.  I always hear people raving about Moby Dick, but I find their food to be on the bland side.  That may be a Persian vs Afghan style issue.  Also, even though the prices are cheaper at Friends, the quality of food is definitely better at Kabob House.