Eating Out

[Gravy Queen]

I know its hard to pick a favourite, but what are your top choices when eating out?

I'm lucky to live in a big city with lots of choices and good quality restaurants, but I also am happy too with a bit of pub grub locally. Our local pub does do good food, great steaks.

Going a bit more upmarket I tend to go for Japanese, Thai, Mexican, and Italian. I like the odd Chinese too. Not a huge fan of all you can eat buffets much because I just get stuffed (am a wimp). We also have some nice french restaurants which I tend to favour for girly lunches. (dishy waiters possibly have some influence on that one. Shallow. )

Where do you go when eating out?

 

[Aunt Bea]

I prefer old destination restaurants that were started by Mrs. Miniver type women, formal yet sort of shabby places that have served the same good food for many decades. I also like the old, out of the way, hot dog stand or fish shack type places that have become legends, by word of mouth. These kinds of places are sort of an adventure, to me!

 

[Bolas De Fraile]

Blimey Bea how come I never met a cheap date like you

 

[Aunt Bea]

Blimey Bea how come I never met a cheap date like you

You must have been looking in the wrong places!

 

[Andy M.]

I prefer small locally owned restaurants. We like to go out for breakfast. We are also fortunate to have good quality low budget restaurant across the street from our condo complex - walking distance. They provide pizza, subs, Greek and Italian foods.

We also have a variety of Chinese Indian and Thai restaurants in the vicinity. There are two outlets for top notch pizza nearby that don't deliver but are worth the trip. KFC provides the best fried chicken.

 

[Steve Kroll]

My wife and I are both adventurous eaters. When eating out, we tend to prefer authentic ethnic foods at places that are sometimes far off the beaten path. We're fortunate to live in an area where you can find almost any kind of food, provided you're willing to drive just a little. We also favor cuisines that I don't normally make at home, either because it's simply more convenient/cheaper to get it in a restaurant, or because the ingredients aren't readily available.

One of our favorite recent finds is a tiny little hole-in-the-wall Mexican joint that makes street tacos from things like tongue and ear - animal parts that most other restaurants would skip over. The food is delicious and very authentic. In fact, it's so authentic that the order takers barely speak English, and the people who call your number when the food is ready do so in Spanish. It's the sort of place where I imagine the staff and patrons get nervous whenever the immigration guy comes round.

Another place we like is called Blue Nile, which is an Ethiopian restaruant. They feature stews, served family style, with heaps of injeera flat bread. Oddly, they also have one of the best draft beer selections in the area.

Up until recently, we had a nice little family owned Russian restaurant in our town. The food was good, and unbelievably cheap. DW and I could go in and have a meal for under $15 total. They went out of business, though. Not enough customers and also, I believe, because they sold their food at too low of a cost.

Sushi, Middle Eastern, Indian, Vietnamese, Thai. It's all good to me.

 

[jabbur]

One of our favorites is Ruby Tuesdays. I know it's a chain but we like their salad bar and appetizers. Rarely get a full meal there. Usually get two appetizers and the salad bar. It's not too hard on the diet or the wallet. Another favorite is Cheeseburger in Paradise. Good burgers!

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Fiesta en Jalisco, a family run Mexican restaurant. Very good food, but I am more likely to get take out than eat in. Shrek does not like to eat out, anymore.

 

[kadesma]

I love the older places like one we use to go to when I was a kid. Family style Italian on sunday's, first came soup,then an antipasto plate with salami, peppers,stuffed zucchini, foccacia,olives,rolled anchoies,small bites of cheese, then a pasta platter with spaghetti and ravioli in meat sauce, a platter of roast beef and gravy,a big platter of fried chicken garlic bread and salad, next was just a small dish of ice cream neopolitan I also love places in San Francisco,Fior da Talia places on the wharf, Grotto 9, Scoma's I use to love the Steak Diane where my b-i-l liked to take us. I love good food but I can dig a biroldo feed with pesto,soup,salad and bread. Or a trip to Waterford for a walk through the sausage place the have there. What a wonderful choice of sausages. I also love a place we go to in my old home town, there they have a free salad bar and a free anti-pasto table that reminds me of my m-i-l's goodies. We love them all then we pick our choice of pastas and gravey's yum yum
I can't go on the kids are bugging me to start the sauces for tomorro
kades

 

[Addie]

You can't find bad seafood in Boston. We have several excellent restaruants owned by TV chefs. But if you want to go for ethnic foods, go across the river to Cambridge. Name a country. There is a restaurant there that serves their food.

I prefer seafood. The Union Oyster House is probably my favorite. Very historical. It is where JFK used to sit all day Sunday reading his newspapers. But more than that it is one of the oldest restaurants in the country. It started out as a stable with rooms upstairs for the workers. Some of the stalls are still there with booth type seating. They have an oyster bar and you can standoutside watching the man opening them with speed that blinds you. We do have an Italian restaurant here locally. It is the longest opened and operating restaurant in Eastie. Their food is good. I always order their Eggplant Parm. I never order pasta. I have found that I very rarely like their gravy. Too acidic and not cooked long enough before serving.

 

[Cerise]

I've eaten at so many restaurants over the years, maybe I've become a little jaded. I want to be "WOWED." Some of my favorites are gone. We counted about 20 w/i a few-mile radius of work. Recently, I read a good friend and coworker passed on. We were two of the great eater-outers - trying a new restaurant a few times a week after work. She was a wonderful lady, & will be sorely missed. I find myself missing some of the great nostalgic eateries of my past, like The Automat in New York City:

The Automat - the History, Recipes, and Allure of Horn & Hardart's Masterpiece.

You put a few coins in a window displaying your dish, turn the knob, & out it came. The cafeteria-style mac & cheese, homemade comfort food, a slice of pie & a cup of fresh-brewed coffee always hit the spot.

A few more I miss:

Burgers and hot dogs from Nathan's in Coney Island (Brooklyn, New York).

The $3.999 (hahaha) all-you-can-eat champagne brunches at Vegas' (Ratpack) Hotels that are gone.

A restaurant in Universal City called Victoria Station. The restaurant was fashioned after victoria station (I guess). You dined in a subway car.

Haven't gone to Tony Roma's in years, but loved the ribs & peeling onion rings off a block.

Chasen's in Beverly Hills. Spago above the Sunset strip.

Carney's in Holloywood - hot dogs on a train.

When we travelled, we used Frommer's guide, & found several off-the-beaten-path Mom & Pop restaurants, a restaurant called The Potsticker (in Chinatown), some restaurants on the wharf in San Fran. & Sausilito. Very romantic.

I'm sure I'm forgetting many more, but those are a few that stand out in my memory.

 

[TATTRAT]

I avoid chain places like the black death, but, the NOVA area is inundated with fantastic mom and pop type places, with enough variety to scratch any itch I may have(food wise).

Pan American Bakery for Bolivian

Ba Le for Viet food, and amazing Bhan mi

Tutto Benne for awesome traditional, like momma never made Italian

Hacienda El Paso for really good Mexican(not Americanized, but pretty authentic, real deal Mexican).

Pho sate for the best Pho, ever.

Too many amazing kebab places, ranging from traditional Persian, to Afghan

La Maza for traditional Turkish and Greek

Hard Times for traditional American fare, and GRRREAT wood fired burgers

Tsunami for Sushi/Yaki/Tempura

Honey Pig for Korean BBQ

Bon Chon for Korean Fried Chicken

a TON of Pollo A la Brassa places, my favorite is Super Pollo

Pollo Compero for Panamanian/Guatemala style fried chicken and yucca

El Beueno Gusto for Salvadorian food. . .puppasas, tacos, chicharon, pollo picante. . .

Yuen Chang for some good American Style Chinese food, but they also offer an "Authentic" Menu, with everything from Black eel, to fried pig ears, and all sorts of stuff in between.

Forget the name, but there is a great little spot in falls church for Ethiopian food, Bourdain even stopped in when he was filming in DC.

Sooooooooooooooooooo many places, and all so close, and 9 out of 10 times, SO much better than anything any fast food/chain type place offers, and the prices are better, food is better, AND you get to support a local.

 

[CWS4322]

The only time I eat out is when I'm traveling (on business or to visit my parents), when I'm visiting friends and we go out, or when I'm visiting my parents and I take my mom out for lunch or we go out the last night I'm in town because I've done all the cooking while I've been there. Eating out is, IMO, highly overrated.

 

[Claire]

I tend to like small, Mom & Pop ethnic places. I really miss city living for that feature. TATTRAT, I used to live in an apartment just off Columbia Pike in Arlington, and then, later, in an old town house in Old Town Alexandria. I miss the restaurants that were w/i walking distance in both places (only a couple you mentioned were familiar, so much has changed). In Hawaii you just couldn't beat the little places in strip malls where you brought your own bottle and sweated your way through a meal.

Unlike some who say they don't eat out if they can help it, I am usually happy to have someone take care of me. I, too, tend to avoid chains. But since I do annual road trips with a dog, do wind up on those occasions stopping at fast food, and in a pinch I like Applebees because I can have my wine and a half portion of their (in my experience) excellent salads.

I eat out at least once a week, on Fridays for dinner, and my favorite is our sushi place. But I get occasional yens for liver, and our local steak house does it great. I'd love to see a Korean family move into town and start a kal-bi and bulgogi place.

 

[Margi Cintrano]

Gravy Queen: Dining Out In Madrid Capital

Gravy Queen,

This is a phenomenal post ... my favorite topic ... Restaurants ... Trattorias, Tabernas, Cafés, Pubs, Bars & Ouzerias ...

Firstly, I shall just speak about Madrid Capital ...

We enjoy dining out at the weekends, Friday and Saturday evenings.

Our fave choices include:

Inazio Deias, a Sardinian Entreprennurer, Restaurateur and Exporter, Importer´s establishments are where we go for Italian Regional and Sardinian specialties. His two latest on the scene are: Caffé dei Poetti and Scatto Matto ( Check Mate ).

For Indian monthly, we go to Swagat where the Expat scene is bountiful. The Vindaloo King & Queen and the Fish, Shrimp & Seafood Tandoori are our passions.

Mexican is another ritual and we enjoy three distinctly different establishments; one called Todo A Mexico, and the other, Taquería Alamillo. The 3rd is located close to the magazine office and is called Delhi. They have a Vindaloo Chicken right one Piquant.

For special occasion, both of adore Sashimi and once a month we go to Kabuki, which is one of the best in the Mediterranean. We always share a Sashimi Boat, and each of us, have our own Wasabi.

On the Mediterranean side of the globe, we have a great passion for Delfo´s, a popular Greek Taverna that we frequent.

Neither of us eat fast food nor junk food. We do not have a penchant for these type of comestibles. We do not eat Thai on the Iberian Peninsula nor any other type of Asian ever; except Japanese or Indian.

Pinxto Bars or Tapas Bars: Now, this is the best type of regional Spanish.
We truly enjoy making our rounds, and thus go to: Estado Puro owned by Paco Roncero, the hole in the wall in front of our Loft apartment, The Glass Bar in The Derby Hotel, Schotis on Cava Baja 11 ( which is a street similar to Manhattan´s Restaurant Row ) and numerous others depending on which neigborhood we are visiting.

There are a few other goodies in the Capital of Madrid´s neighborhoods:

Celebrity Chefs:
a) Casa José - Aranjuez - Michelin Star
b) Coque - Chef Mario Sandoval
c) Europa Dëco - Hotel Derby
d) Gastro Bar - Sergi Arola

Trattorias:
e) Ciao Madrid
f) Da Nicola Trattoria - Madrid
g) Piu di Prima - Madrid
h) Il Gusto

Japanese Sashimi Bars:
i) Sushiwakka
j) Sushi 99
k) Tokoyo Ayala

Peruvian:
l) Virú
m) Astrid & Gastón

Have a lovely weekend.
Kindest,
Margi Cintrano.

 

[Margi Cintrano]

Good Evening Addie,

I had some fabulous shellfish over in Boston, Provincetown and The Islands of Nantucket & Martha´s Vineyard many years ago.

Question 1: Boston: Is it Steve´s Pier 1 or Anthony´s Pier 1 and is it still open and doing business ? *** Their Giant Lobster was unforgettable.

Question 2: Provincetown: The Moors ... is it still open and doing business ?
** I recall their stunner cape location and ocean views, and the huge fireplace ... and gorgeous enormous shrimps ...

Thanks.
Ciao.
Margi.

 

[CharlieD]

I love Chinese food. If we go out we go for Chinese, otherwise i am rarely happy in other places. I can eat bad Chinese food and will not complain, but if we go to a bad restaurant I'll drive my wife and wait stuff crazy. So my wife knows better than take me anywhere else. If it is not Chinese I'm happy to grab a slice of Mushroom Pizza.

 

[Addie]

Good Evening Addie,

I had some fabulous shellfish over in Boston, Provincetown and The Islands of Nantucket & Martha´s Vineyard many years ago.

Question 1: Boston: Is it Steve´s Pier 1 or Anthony´s Pier 1 and is it still open and doing business ? *** Their Giant Lobster was unforgettable.

Question 2: Provincetown: The Moors ... is it still open and doing business ?
** I recall their stunner cape location and ocean views, and the huge fireplace ... and gorgeous enormous shrimps ...

Thanks.
Ciao.
Margi.

Yes, Anthony's Pier 1 is still open. The old man died and now the sons have it. They did have a fire many years ago and there was some question as to whether they would rebuild.

I haven't been to Provincetown in more than 35 years. I lived in Brewster when I was in the 3rd and 4th grades. Now that town is so crowded that it is almost a city instead of the little lazy town I knew. A lot of the seashore has been designated as a National Seashore. So building there is prohibited. That is the only thing protecting it. It must have something drawing folks there. Friday the traffic to the Cape is horrendous. And coming home on Sunday night is even worse. You can take the ferry from Boston to Provincetown. It is actually quicker than driving there. At the right time of year, you can see the whales when you take the ferry.

 

[Andy M.]

Yes, Anthony's Pier 1 is still open....

But they still call it Anthony's Pier 4.

 

[Addie]

But they still call it Anthony's Pier 4.

Sorry about that. You are right. 4 not 1. My bad. Thanks for the correction. It is not as popular as it once was.