Simon B.'s Profile

Finally a place that has real spicy wings. I've tried their arrogant, and it enough of a kick  to send you looking for a glass of milk.

I just wish the wings weren't so bony (not much meat on them) and that the cashier wasn't acting like he owns Georgetown.

Cool:
- **on the beach **
- cheap accomodation (paid $80/night for an oceanview 1 bedroom + living room condo. two TVs, two full baths)
- room was clean
- barbecue available outside
- small but fully functional kitchen
- free parking
- in between Fort Lauderdale and Miami (easy access through A1A)

Not so cool:
- super thin walls (fortunately for us, we didn't have people in the adjoining room most nights)
- smelly corridors
- makes my 1960 built house seem modern
- check-in was 4:30 not 3:00 (rooms not ready)
- very tight parking spots
- disgusting parking garage (foul smells, trash everywhere)

In short, it's a rundown place that's a perfect place if you need to crash on the beach and aren't too concerned with noise or for having a social scene. Plenty of nice low-key places to have a drink within a few blocks. We loved leaving the place and spending time on the boardwalk. Lower your expectations, appreciate the price you're paying, and move along.

Saying the pub is "Smoky" is the understatement of the year. I had a couple drinks over 1-2 hours, drove 1.5 miles home, and still two days later my car (let alone my clothes) reeked of smoke. I don't think there was a single person in the pub that wasn't chain smoking. Be seriously ready for it. It's just as present and offensive as the perfume odors when you walk into Abercrombie.

It's a shame that it's practically unberable for a non-smoker, really, because it's the only drinking place in McLean that isn't stuffed with 40-50yo divorces or rich men showing off. Lots and lots of regulars, and drunks, all of which are incredibly entertaining. From the drunk who comes to me so that I buy him a drink because the bartender cut him off, to a creepy mustache guy, to the very important website designer businessman trying hand over cards to everybody... no need for TVs.

There are TVs though, if that's your thing. There are also eggrolls from the (seriously terrible) Chinese restaurant downstairs, a cheap photo-hunt machine, darts, and comfortable booths and stools.

In sum: if you smoke and live near McLean, don't hesitate in trying The Pub out. If you don't smoke, please hesitate.

After owing a friend many years of free web services, I took him to the source for his first tasting menu.

We were seated in a booth in the far corner of the second floor dining room, which was perfect. We ordered the pear signature cocktails, a bottle of wine, and were ready to go. The whole progression was great, and some of the dishes were not on the menu. We started with the complimentary tuna tartare (neat presentation in the sesame-Miso cones), and moved to many other of the appetizers. The crispy suckling pig, the garlic chive dumplings (crab, and pork), tiny dumplings, and the scallop & shrimp sui mai particularly stood out. We then had 3 small (but right) portions of main courses: the hong kong style steamed salmon, the pan roasted rockfish, and the shanghai filet au poivre (but my favorite, but very well prepared). We finished with a sorbet cleanser, and three tiny deserts (key-lime pie, homemade vanilla icecream (my guest said it was the best he ever had, and a disappointing carrot cake).  

Final favorites:
- tuna tartar in sesame-miso cones
- dumpling (pork belly, garlic chive, and scallop & shrimp)
- pan roasted rockfish

We certainly enjoyed our meal. It took about 3.5 hours from start to finish, and the pace was mostly right (after than a mishap at the beginning, with about 15min between the first and second course). We were well served (by 7 or so members of the staff), although I wish that their waiters would speak up and pronounce more as we couldn't hear most of their dish descriptions. By 7:30 or so, the place became buzzing and very loud.

Minor annoyance: the valet was a steal at $8 given the location, but they didn't take cash and the closest ATM (1-2 blocks away) was closed, and the guys were the least friendly valet people I've ever seen. Not a nice first impression.

In hindsight, would I do it again? Certainly, we had a great meal. Would I go a second time? Probably not. It certainly wasn't the best fine dining experience I've had, both from meal or service (my gold standard for service is still Lautrec, in PA) and it's not the most elegant restaurant either. It was one of those nice "been there, done that" at Wolfgang Puck's restaurant.

The sauteed grasshopper taco (delicious!) and the chips and salsa (best i've had in a while) were the only two good dishes we tried yesterday, out of 8.

The most mediocre easily being the wild mushroom taco, which looked like they slammed guacamole in a taco on top of portobellos and asked you for $5. The carnitas taco was quite nice.

Service sucked too. We came in at 5:30, with a reservation for two, and we were sat between two other couples right next to a giant window. Before we sat, I asked if we could have another table so that I'm not blinded by the light. The restaurant was half empty, with tons of empty 2 person tables available. She looked, saw all the empty tables, said no and that "the sun will settle". Yeah, it "settled" when I was paying for the check.

If you dine for two, please note that the two person tables are --extremely-- cramped, so the waiters constantly bump into you, your table and the people next to you. The booths seem a lot better, but you need to be four (it seems) even if nobody else is in the restaurant and you have a reservation.

I would never go there again, and it's putting serious doubts on my willingness to try out Jose Andre's famous minibar. If he can't get tapas right...

P.S. Like tacos? Try El Chillango...

Unfortunately, the burger was WAY too much bread. Their brioche bread is ridiculous. I know it looks good on the pictures, but you just can't taste much of anything else. I had ordered my burger were only grilled onions, mustard and ketchup, and I could taste the flavor. To taste the meat, I still had to actually cut off pieces of the buns. Thumbs up for the medium rare-ish meat, not too dense, that dripped a bit in my plate.

The onion rings were good, with thick slices and plenty of spices. The salad (she ordered that) was ok. Fresh vegetables and good dressing, and the mahi mahi seemed OK but not the freshest thing around. Hey, what did she expect? it's a burger place.

The service is pretty quick considering everything is made to order, and the staff is very friendly and patient given the number of options. One of the cooks brought us two samples of fries, and asked us to choose which one we prefered (regular juliennes or thicker with skin like the new wendy's fries). Free stuff is fun.

Overall, given that the prices are reasonable for the quality, Firebox would be a four star for me if it weren't for the ridiculously big buns that they use. Definitely a good alternative to Elevation Burger, Burger 7 or Five Guys, if you're variety seeking. Don't expect necessarily a full gourmet experience (it's no Joe's, Ray's Hell Burger, or Good Stuff Eatery), but it does the job.

** poutine only review **

Poutine is a dish of the people (Canadian people, that is). It is serious business. Fries, cheese, and gravy. Hot fries, salty cheese that all melting together and creating an explosion of salt and fat in your mouth. How hard is that to pull off? Apparently, quite hard.  

Many variations of poutines exist. General, it's a small variation on ingredients: italian poutine (swap in gravy for pasta sauce), bourguinion poutine (add beef), vegetarian poutine (pepper, onions), etc. Some fine dining restaurants have also done variations, including foie grois poutine, and now the crime that is Majestic's Black Truffle Poutine.

Black Truffle Poutine: Hand cut fries with black truffle cream sauce, cheese curds, and demi-glace.

We went to the Majestic to try their poutine. The fries were delicious, but that demi-glace + black truffle cream sauce didn't help. The truffle taste was overwhelming, and the sauce was so liquid it wouldn't stick to the cheese and make them melt. To make the cheese melt, the poutine was then baked making the fries kinda mushy. It did not work at all.

Don't take me wrong: I love poutine. I'll try all of them. The fancy ones, the seemingly gross ones. The ones with gross cheese. The ones with cold fries. I've tried them all across the continent. This was one of the sorriest excuse of a poutine ever (almost as bad as the garlic poutine/soup I once tried in Montreal) . I could not make myself eat more than 5 bites. It breaks my heart to say this, but PLEASE take it off the menu.

Lobster poutine, the reason for our trip. As a French-Canadian expat, it's my duty to search for the best variations of our wonderful dish as it spreads (and it does!) through the US. Poutine, traditionally and at its best, is a mind-blowing mix of crispy fries, homemade thick chicken gravy, and unpasteurized unrefrigerated cheddar cheese curds. The gravy is poured on the the fries sprinkled with the curds, which slowly melt and create an exploding mix of salty and fat.  

I'm guessing the owners watched Chuck Hugues win Iron Chef with Lobster poutine (Yeah!) and tried to give it a shot. Freddy's picked waffle fries, a thick white sauce, tiny lobster strips, and fontina cheese.

Sorry guys, but Freddy isn't Chuck Hugues. This isn't a winner.

The fontina is a decent cheese choice if you don't have the curds, as its high fat content and it's softness allows it to melt easily. That said it's not like I was expecting big lobster chunks, but it's still $14 for a poutine. You wouldn't even taste the lobster as it was overpowered by the gravy/sauce which wasn't hot enough to make the cheese melt. The size was good (enough for 2) and it was an interesting taste, but once was enough. Definitely not worth the special trip from McLean.  

Add to this the first impression given by the hostess (clearly bored out of her mind), and the slowest waiter ever (brings the fried calamari, waits ten minutes, comes back with marinara sauce), I won't be back.

May your potatoes always be crisp and may the cheese "sing" in its freshness. For, what is a poutine but a glorious ode to the perfect melange of spuds, curd and brown roux!
-LouLou, Laval Ouest, Québec

I relocated from Quebec to the US in 2006, and since then I've been looking for poutine. After a little googling, I made Pommes Frites my first stop.  Took a picture, posted it on Flickr with title "Good poutine in NYC?" and thousands of views and years later, here I am. A Quebec transplant with roughly 40 poutine reviews across the continent, writing a review of his first US poutine.

At its best, it's a stunning mix of salty, fat and hotness that is to French-Canadians what the hamburger is to Americans. It's what Canadians have labelled has their #10 best invention, ahead of the snowmobile and the Blackberry (yes I'm serious). That's when it's good.

If you don't know what poutine is, well, at the minimum it is crispy fries, thick chicken gravy, and unpasteurized cheddar cheese curds. The saltiness of the gravy and the crispness of the fries is important, otherwise it ends up being a being disgusting mess. Ideally, the cheese is unpasteurized for way more flavor, and never refrigerated (non-pasteurized dairies -- I'll freak some people out). Best scenario, the cheese squeeks/sings in your mouth.

I was really excited to try Pomme Frites poutine, and it was OK in 2006 but it was nearly inedible when I returned a couple months ago. This poutine had thick but undercooked fries and curds that had been frozen/thawed too many times (no flavor -- I couldn't even tell if it was cheddar curds or not). The gravy was OK. In fact, it's the exact same I use to make poutine at home in Virginia (loney's, see picture -- I saw it in their backroom). Better would have been to make it from chicken fat, just like a turkey gravy. Maybe I am a poutine snob, but in the end did not really enjoy the final product. I wouldn't eat it again.

Disappointed too? Cook a better one yourself. Buy a deep frier (ideally filled with peanut oil), potatoes, a container of Loney's poutine mix (easily found on google) and have some cheddar curds sent to you by mail (I recommend http://cubacheese.com 's curds -- they arrived fresh).

Maybe I would have been more satisfied if I hadn't driven 40 minutes to get to Dixie, only to have to wait 45 minutes (standing for most of it, from 7:30PM) on a Saturday night.

Eventually we got to sit down, and we ordered right away the ribs, the chicken, the collard greens, the cornbread, and the muddy spuds.

The ribs were average at best. The meat was of low quality (large amount of surface fat; poorly trimmed). I can be ok with ribs cooked dry (very efficient for them in terms of production), but they need to have a very smokey flavor and theirs didn't. The chicken was dry, their collared greens were too sweet, and their cornbread was tasteless (I wasn't expecting sweet, but nonetheless). The muddy spuds were excellent, the highlight of our meal.

The sauces were very disappointing. Extremely watered down -- so liquid I had to tip my ribs into a puddle of sauce before every bite as the sauce wouldn't stay on the meat. The yellow topped one tasted just like vinegar, but the white one (Georgia chicken sauce I believe) was quite good on chicken.

Portion sizes were quite big. We shared the 3 meats/2 sides combo and it was plenty for two of us. Beer selection was limited, but $4.50 for a corona was okay I guess.

I am not a BBQ expert, but I was expecting way more given the hype about this place. Please do not make a special trip to this place unless it's close to you. You'll be disappointed.  Or maybe just lower your expectations.