Tuesday, May 26 at 11 AM

Nice. You made it back.

And so timely, too!

Funky and rich iced tea, huh? Wonder what that would taste like.

Sorry, I don't have one. It hasn't opened yet.

Be kind of silly of me to spout off earnestly and passionately and misinformedly about something I've never tried. I guess I'm kinda old-fashioned that way.

I know. It's a real shame.

Bigger, I have no doubt. Better, is the question.

Anyway, it's going to be a long, long wait for all of us dim sum obsessives. 

Christina,

I haven't yet. Looking forward to it, though.

I'm missing the really terrific broth I used to get at Pho 88 in Beltsville, which I think had some of the richest, most flavorful around — I loved the teeny tiny beads of fat floating on the surface.

The broth is the thing. And too often, lately — like the place I hit last weekend — the kitchen uses too much star anise to make up for the lack of depth in the soup itself.

Why, a mix of secret spices that has been in the family since time immemorial. ; )

We've tried many times since I came aboard to find out the details of the marinade they use at the daddy of them all, El Pollo Rico. No dice. Sometimes, they've simply laughed at us.

I don't know all the ingredients, and I don't know the proportions, but I would hazard a guess that there's sour orange juice, garlic, lime, lots and lots of salt, maybe a bay leaf, maybe some sugar.

The exterior is unmistakably swabbed with ground cumin. What all else, besides, again, salt, is a mystery.

It's an interesting idea. Consider it taken under advisement.

It's tricky, though, because in most cases, it's not that the places aren't as good. You could put together a good list of 150 Cheap Eats a lot more easily than you could a list of 150 Top Restaurants.

(Memo to Jack L: Please don't get any bright ideas for next year …)

In most cases this year, i would say it had to do with the competition. Other places simply appealed to us more, excited us more.

As editor, I don't put a lot of store by past performance. If a place is a fixture, a legend, it still has to earn our affection each time out, every year.

Boy, a very, very tough call. I like them both an awful lot. 

I think Four Sisters is a little more consistent, and a little more beautiful. But that wouldn't necessarily vault the place above Present for me.

What would I order? I like the clam and pork hash with sesame cakes at both places — the one at Four Sisters a little bit more. And both do very good renditions of bun.

At Four Sisters: the shrimp toast, the roast quail with blood oranges, the mushroom-filled rice noodle crepes, the beef-stuffed grape leaves.

Present: the crispy whole fish, any of the masterly soups (but particularly one made with a pork broth sweetened with rock sugar, and festooned with chives, minced pork and silken tofu), the Autumn rolls. 

You think it's too dark?

I agree with you, it's darker than a lot of places. But I like that degree of darkness. To me, it's perfect for what they're trying to do over there — create an atmosphere that matches the cuisine, which is to say: Mediterranean and moody and sensual.

I think places can do so much with light to create mood, and yet they all seem to forget this and go spending fortunes on other, more expensive elements of decor.

I admit it, though: I'm a light junkie. At home, I like about four of five different kinds of light in each room.

Good question.

In the case of Granville Moore's, it had everything to do with the parameters of the budget. This year, especially, with so many money fears all around, I thought that we needed to be strict constitutionalists when it came to obeying the rules we'd set ourselves.

It's true — you can eat relatively cheaply there, but it's not easy, and there are so many temptations — the beer — that would simply blow the budget.

As for Deli City, all I can say is that the two meals I had there in a period of months earlier this year were abominably bad. I was sick one of those times. The other time I was merely full of heartburn for the rest of the day and night.

And Thai Square, we felt, was simply too uneven this past year to earn a place back on.

There you go.

Thanks for the edit. ; ) 

It's the ugly that worries me. ; )

Just to clarify: Not ugly places. Ugly experiences.

In fact, one of the most unprepossessing spots is also one of the most interesting — Bottom of the Bay, in Laurel. Very divey, a bunch of motorcycles lined up in the parking lot. But (And?) the crabs are on the money — well-spiced, steamed right, and de-lish. 

Get yourself over to Shagga, on Rte. 1 in Hyattsville.

It's some of the best Ethiopian cooking around, and it's currently my favorite place in the area to go for a cup of coffee. They're using the same beans for their brew that Komi uses, Caffe Pronto, and the company makes a special roast just for the restaurant.

Honestly? To be perfectly honest? (Yawn.)

One, it's a beauty contest kind of thing, and B, regardless of his age and experience, he has spent many years in the shadow of someone much more famous and has only recently come front and center.

I've been to Song Phat. Tasty. A small, tidy menu, and very reasonably priced.

The thing to get there is not the pho, but the roast quail with lime-black pepper dip. It's not at the level of some others I've eaten in the area, particularly at the new Four Sisters, but it's good.

You talk about Nava. I think it's clear to me from the times I've been in, that they're still going through growing pains. I hope they smooth things over. It's a very, very big adjustment, to go from a jewel box to a big, sprawling space with multiple rooms — and with more diners than ever, and more expectations than ever.

And yes, Ruan is what Ruan has always been. A very good, very consistent, very accommodating place. 

Very, very heavily penetrated — which is what you get with a long, long brine.

Peruvian black mint, huh? Interesting. Is it easily available here? Any idea who might carry it?

You know what? I've got an idea. We've been trying to get to the bottom of this thing for the longest time, and many of you have written in over the last couple of years wondering how you can replicate it — well, here's what we're gonna do.

We're gonna have a contest.

Whoever comes closest to recreating the EPR marinade and the EPR rub, wins dinner for two at a restaurant in town.

Experiment at home, write your recipe, and then send it in to me at tkliman@washingtonian.com. We'll test them all, and then declare a winner.

Deadline: July 1st. 

Oh, Minh's does fabulous grilled pork. I have cravings for that grilled pork.

With all the talk of Four Sisters and Present, both new, it's easy to forget the fact that there are a lot of other very good spots for Vietnamese cooking, including Minh's, but also Viet Bistro, Huong Viet and Hai Duong, the latter three all in the Eden Center.

As for Present … the absolute worst time to go to a restaurant is after a major review has come out. And especially on a weekend night.

Go at lunch, if you can't help yourself, or wait the two, three months for things to calm down.

Wow. That's not exactly a power lunch, is it, at $25 a person?

If it keeps up, you'll be going out in your pinstriped suits for a hot dog and a Coke at one of the vendor carts. 

Oh, for the days of the two martini lunch, with three-inch thick steaks and thick clouds of cigar smoke …

Can you wait until the next issue of the magazine is out for my advice? We have a piece on great lunch deals at some of the area's top restaurants.

I like it. It's one of the Top 100 in the area. Grand and elegant — dining in the old manner, with formal and very proper service. The cooking is good, a nice mix or rusticky and refined, and I really like the wines.

And if you can snag a seat at the tapas bar in the early evening — not always easy, because there are so few seats — you can snack on excellent, shaved-thin ham and other small plates while you work your way through some of the wines on the list.

Thanks for writing in. You make an interesting observation.

I'll have to go back and look to see if there's a preponderance of fry, as you say. But if we make those recommendations, it's because that's what those places do best.

We're not presenting an exhaustive list of good dishes at a given place, only those we think really shine. And we're also not going to shy away from listing a really good dish, simply because we've listed so many others like it at other places.

And no, we're not at all adverse to pointing out the not-so-good. I think you'll notice that we often give what I think of as navigational advice (what to avoid, etc.) in the Insider Tip sections. 

Yep. Went back several months ago — wasn't nearly as blown away as you were.

Hey, it happens.

I'm eager to go back, though. There's a lot there to explore, and I want to venture deeper into the menu.

Thanks for writing in. 

You're very, very sweet.

No, I'm not going anywhere. I love it here, I love the city, I love the scene, I love my job. My mom's here, and I want to raise my little boy here. 

And I don't relish the idea of selling my car and moving into a three-room hovel that costs $3,000 a month. 

Zorba's Cafe?

The revamped and very expensive but also very worth it Sushi Taro? 

Lunch calls …

Be well, everyone, eat well, and let's do it again next week at 11 …

Didn't get your question answered in this chat? Submit it to Todd's chat next week, Tuesday, June 2 at 11 AM. 

(thinking of you, TEK … )