Thursday, January 28, 2010

Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant

1961 Chain Bridge Rd
Mclean, VA 22102
(703) 388-5454
www.gordonbiersch.com

Visited:
January 2010




Everyone says I'm long winded (F U), so I'm gonna keep this review unusually short for blabber mouths like me.

Food is not good, go there only for the draaaaaaaanks (beer).

We had a coupon for a free entree, which was still not worth the money we spent for such bad food. Here's what we ordered:

Teriyaki Chicken & Tempura Shrimp Combo - The chicken of my main entree was burned on one side and just overly sweetened with some bad bad bad Teriyaki sauce. Best part of the dish was the rice...

Cedar Plank Pecan Crusted Salmon - The wife's salmon was dry and flavorless and tasted like it was caught two years ago. Urrrrk!

I'll never go back to eat, but will definitely as Apu says, "Thank you come again" for the tasty beers. With Coastal Flats (CF) directly across the way from Gordon Biersh (GB) and with the entree prices of GB being higher than CF's...why would I ever eat here?!?!

Beers and great "outdoor" tables for fun people watching are the only reasons to come to GB.

Is that short enough ya haters?!?!?

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Kohinoor Dhaba

2800 South Eads St
Arlington, VA 22202
(703) 778-5005

Visited: January 10, 2010


Ever since the India Curry House closed down (still bring a tear to my eye and a rumble in my stomach), I've been searching for a place serving some great All You Can Eat Indian food goodness. Well after seeing Donald P's UYE for Kohinoor Dhaba and reading his reviews, my interest was definitely piqued.

Seriously dude, you had me at Tikka...

So here's how the dream visit to Kohinoor Dhaba went down...drop some hints to the wife, tell her how Yelpers have raved about the joint and then once I've got her attention and she looks interested...hit her with the big one:

Chicken Tikka Masala or Butter Chicken

TKO, she's down the count and is seeing curry flavored stars...

Now work the description so much that a Sunday late lunch suggestion in the Crystal City area could easily have her want to hit Kohinoor Dhaba. Oh yes, the plan was in full effect and my advanced degree in Psychology was finally paying off as I had the wife CRAVING the thought of Kohinoor Dhaba as much as I was craving it.

The only solution; to head over to Kohinoor Dhaba and to stuff our faces silly....

The mini van was packed up, the monkeys were strapped in and we headed south down Eads Street with bellies roaring with hunger and churning in anticipation of Indian buffet Nirvana. The sight of the building perfectly matched those images on Yelp and we knew we were just a few second away from satisfying our cravings.

Walking inside, the scent of the food greeted us before the nice lady behind the counter. The nice lady smiled, welcomed us and shared with us the buffet dishes for today:

* Daal - Small lentils
* Saag - Spinach
* Chicken Curry
* Fluffy Basmati Rice
* Amazingly fresh and delicious Naan bread
* Veggies with Potatoes
* Butter Chicken

SIDE NOTE: As my wife just said reliving today's experience, the Butter Chicken was "the bomb". Damn straight ya silly broad, it was indeed the crown jewel of an amazing buffet selection.

Salivating like wild dogs, we took turns filling our plates and made our way upstairs to the seating area. Our monkeys dove into the plates before we did reaching for the fluffy rice and tasty Naan bread. One of the monkeys went so far as to dip his Naan in the butter chicken sauce and smiled happily as he tasted the sauce.

Yes my son, you are correct the Butter Chicken is delish. We all ate our fill cleaning our plates, scraping the bottom of the styro-foam dishes already thinking of our second attack. So here was the breakdown of today's buffet:

- The Daal: delicious
- The Saag: tasty
- The Rice: perfect
- Chicken Curry: awesome
- Butter Chicken: the BEST i've had in months

Yes, everything was amazing and fresh! The bread was a perfect vehicle for stuffing my face with chicken, Daal, Saag and my favorite Butter Chicken goodness. I really can't say enough about this place and really must give Donald P some major props.

I'm definitely coming back here again and again with the wife or with friends. To find an all you can eat place with high quality food at such a great price in this area is truly a find. The monkeys also enjoyed the food as we left Kohinoor Dhaba with two boys with faces and clothes painted in orange butter chicken sauce.

It was a great family experience and despite the stress of the monkeys flinging food all over the place, we had a great time during our maiden trip to Kohinoor Dhaba.

BTW, we're still stuffed and burping up some Kohinoor Dhaba goodness... Ummm...Indian Food...taste it again for a 2nd...3rd...4th time. :-)

Kohinoor Dhaba on Urbanspoon

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Maggiano's Little Italy

2001 International Dr
McLean, VA 22102
(703) 356-5810

http://www.maggianos.com

Visited: January 2, 2010



Let me get this outta the way and do it quickly and up front...

I HATE Maggiano's....I truly do.

But the kicker about Maggiano's is that somehow or other I always end up going there against mine and the wifey's wishes. Even so, you would think that these multiple visits would change our opinion about this mega-corporate food chain? Nope, not one bit.

They consistently let me down time and time again. Last night was our most recent visit which caused me to write up this review to warn anyone that even considers visiting this restaurants (although my experience with all Maggiano's has been exactly the same).

First off, the place on a Saturday is crowded like a mo-fo with people huddles around the bar and waiting areas like eager kids in a roller coaster ride. I have no problem with crowds or lines, provided the food is worth the wait.

Next, the people around the wife and our group of friends were less than civilized. As the wife reached over to greet our friend, her gorgeous hair slightly brushed against another patron waiting for her table which caused a bit of a scene. You would've thought my wife slapped the woman, called her a bitch and spit in her face from this overreaction.

Starting off with 5 possible stars:
-1 star - Lose one star for class-less patrons.

Next, we were seated at a booth in a nice quiet area where our group of 5 could enjoy some great conversation. I liked the location as we were right next to a family celebrating their matron's 60th birthday and I was joking around with one of the small toddlers who was making funny faces and laughing with me.

+1 star - Add one star for great table, intimate environment

The wife and I were S-T-A-R-V-I-N-G but decided to share one Caesar salad and an order or the Lobster fettuccine. In the meantime, the warm bread arrived and our group instantly destroyed it in just a few seconds. The salad was tasty, but had a bit too much dressing for my taste. BTW, the olive oil served with the bread...not too good and you could tell it wasn't of the highest class. But nonetheless add +1 star for warm tasty bread and an "okay" tasty salad.

Our entree arrived and it looked delicious. I was doing my best to give Maggiano's yet another chance and my eyes told me "this stuff looks delicious, aren't you glad we came?" Well, my eyes were fooled but as soon as I tasted the Lobster fettuccine, my mouth yelled, "Your eyes don't know sh*t my friend...this is crap".

The Lobster had an artificial taste and was rubbery, definitely not of the best quality and to make things even worse, was overcooked. I turned with a disappointed look to my wife who leaned towards me and said, "What the hell is wrong with this Lobster?"

After some whispering and quick conferring, we decided to eat around the lobster and finish off the pasta. As we continued eating, I leaned over to my wife and said, "You know, the dish would've been better without the rubbery lobster". Nodding her head she agreed and we slowly finished our pasta.

-3 stars for a very bad entree and for committing 2 of the worst sin of cooking lobster: (1) Using sub-par quality lobster and (2) OVERCOOKING lobster into a rubbery consistency that could bounce off the restaurant's walls!!

As our group finished our food, we continued chatting and the waitress brought over our bill. We paid the bill, but continued to talk. Soon the waitress kept coming over trying to drop hints for us to leave in what seemed like a passive aggressive manner. A few times she would come over, interrupt our conversation and loudly ask, "Can I get anything else for anyone?" After thanking her and telling her didn't need anything else, she'd go off.

A minute later the waitress would return and again in a loud voice to get everyone's attention would announce, "Can I please clear your plates?" and cleared our plates. Two minutes later she'd stop by and would announce, "I need to clear the glasses, can I please get everyone's glasses?" and she'd reach across and pick up all our glasses. Another minute would pass, there were no glasses on the table and she would ask, "Can I get anyone more water?"

Ummm...no, you took our glasses.

-1 star for pushy servers.

Total, 1 star (yet again) for Maggiano's.

After last night's service, I resolve NEVER to visit Maggiano's again. I'd rather spend my money at any of the hundreds of other restaurants where the food, service and environment warrant the money we pay.

I've used this term many times in other reviews...but yes, the "Buyer's Remorse" feeling came out after paying last night's bill. The product was definitely NOT worth the price, and never seems to be for Maggiano's.

Maggiano's Little Italy on Urbanspoon

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Waterman's Beach Lobster Shack

343 Waterman Beach Road
South Thomaston, ME 04858
(207) 596-7819

Visited: July 2009



Rather than go into one of my loooooooooooooooooooooong rants about how good this place is, let me just tell you this:

Back in July 2009 I embarked on my first Lobster Crusade. I drove to Watermans Beach Lobster shack in South Thomaston, ME all the way from the Nation's Capital. That in itself should be an impressive feat, but combine that with a wife and two 15 month old twin boys...a simple foodie trip becomes a bit more of an adventure...a Lobster Crusade!!

On our way to Waterman's beach we passed many signs and restaurants displaying their daily lobster specials at incredible prices. As tempted as we were to stop and abandon our mission, we soldiered on to our original destination. Finally around lunchtime we headed down a dirt road and thankfully were able to see the small sign pointing us in the direction of Waterman's beach. We veered the mighty minivan to the left and saw another sign for Waterman's Beach Lobster shack. We entered the gravel parking lot, unpacked the monkey, a bottle of wine and make our way to the little shack.

Watermans Beach Lobster is a little shack situated on a stone covered beach with one of the most picturesque backdrops you can imagine. The weather was gorgeous and after a loooooong drive from Boston, we were ready for some lobster goodness. We quickly ordered two 2 lb lobsters and 2 lobster rolls. We also ordered some corn-on-the-cob for the two monkeys and planned on giving them some bites of our lobster or lobster rolls.

Fat Daddy Enjoying his Lobsters

Two Fresh 2 lb lobsters cooked to perfection

The food arrived and we were in heaven. I managed to snap up a few pictures of the lobster, my wife and the monkeys before diving into the lobster goodness. A few minutes later the lobster rolls arrived but lobster and butter soaked fingers prevented me from taking any pictures.

Before I forget, a few IMPORTANT tips:
--------------------------------------------------------

1) Cash Only! Bring cash as they do NOT accept credit cards at this fine establishment. When you see the place, I'm amazed they have any modern convinces as it's a cute little shack in the middle of the ME coastline.

2) Bring your vino! You're allowed to bring your own wine or beer provided you transport it unopened in your car. We chilled a bottle of white wine in our cooler to enjoy with our lobster. When you get there, ask for some cups for your wine or whatever poison you bring.

3) Ask ask ask!! If you want a big lobster, don't order off the menu. I made the mistake of thinking (based on the menu) that the largest lobster was 2 lbs, no so. After taking a quick tour of the lobster tanks I was saddened to see 4 to 5 lbs lobster swimming around in the tanks. Had I known, I would've ordered a 5 lb lobster and passed on the lobster roll....naw, I still would've eaten the lobster roll. :-)

You'll also notice as you order you lobster that there is a small award hanging to the side of the order-window. This little lobster shack, hidden away in this beautiful little ME coast has won a James Beard award! Although I was amazed, after woofing down the tasty lobster and lobster rolls I knew why.

The fine folks at Waterman's Beach Lobster shack are doing it right and do it with a smile. The staff are all friendly and loved showing us and the twin monkeys around their little shack. The friendly nature, delicious food and incredible backdrop combine to make this one of the precious treasures for seafoodie lovers everywhere.

I've already told the wife that this summer we'll have to plan a return trip where I'll take on a 4 or 5 lb lobster, and will win. Until then I can only dream of the deliciously fresh lobster and count down the days until we return to that hidden ME beach with the amazing lobster shack.