Tuesday, April 12 2011 at 11 AM

Hey, it's a good business idea. And not too difficult for the trucks to do, I'd think.

Makes me think of the NBA arenas that sneak a team logo in under the scoreboard — so that when the cameraman is low, getting an under-the-basket shot, the team gets free advertising.

Clever —  though the constant selling of everything in this country is just wearying. And dispiriting.

How about in and around K?

Greek Deli on 19th, near L, is one, for the enormous portions of Greek homecooking and the olive oil-baked bread.

The Best Sandwich Place, on L, right near the soon-to-be-defunct Borders, is another. Hot turkey sandwiches made from real, carved-right-there turkey — not thin slices of lunch meat; I like the version with cranberry sauce.

I'm not crazy about Mayur. It's cheap, certainly, but everything tastes thin to me. Thin and punchless.

I think that's a great idea.

That, or a contest — wherein you, the chatter, crafts a short review of a meal and I pick the winner to go out to eat. 

That's also a chatter suggestion — a number of you who sent me emails this past week had it, and I think it sounds terrific.

Any other ideas, anyone? I'd really like to do this — both to meet some of you, and also to say thank you for all your support of this forum every week …

First of all, thanks for the fantastic roundup.

Second: thanks for the great laughs on a rainy gray morning … Oop, look at that — just as I finished typing "rainy gray morning," the sun decided it should poke its shiny head out and say hello.

I don't know if I agree that we've reached saturation on the food trucks. It's like anything else. They can't all be gems. Some people are getting into this because they've got a skill, and a desire, and not a lot of options. And others are getting into this because it's the thing to get into.

Personally, I'd like to see many more trucks crisscrossing the area.

I haven't tried Taste yet, no. But it's on my (long) list.

Al Sospiro is a place I want to revisit, because I want to like it more than I do. My feeling was that it didn't quite know what it wanted to be. I think it'd be a better place if it were a simpler place.

Thanks for the reminder, and stay tuned the next couple of months …

Sir???

Have I really made that big a leap in your estimation these past couple of years, to the point that I now merit a "sir"? Wow.

Or is it that you're in need of real assistance? : )

It's funny you mentioned Winchester, because I was talking just yesterday with a friend who lives there and was telling me about a new or new-ish restaurant called Mimosa Asian Fusion. She prefaced her recommendation by saying that "there's nothing good out that way," but was pretty effusive in her praise nevertheless.

I can't vouch for it, so I'm not recommending it to you — merely passing on the information. I also tend to be skeptical of Asian fusion spots, if only because if it's not an ambitious sort of place I'd prefer that the restaurant focus on one cuisine and do it well rather than play mixmaster in the kitchen or strive to offer a buffet of tastes from a half-dozen cultures.

But consider it an option. With the stamp of approval of at least one Winchester resident.

The tweet, for those who didn't see it, was — "5th straight horrendous meal. Left most of it, still feel like I've absorbed a punch. The life of the critic is SO glamorous."

The strange thing is, these things tend to happen in runs like this. I'm on a bad run right now. 

I would say that most of the meals I eat out — and remember, I'm eating at every level of the scale, and in every corner and cranny of the area — fall into the not-great category. In that category we have: the awful, the disappointing, the mediocre, the decent but forgettable. That makes up the majority of what I find when I go out to eat — maybe 60 percent or so.

This isn't a complaint. It's just the truth. But I think it's an interesting truth, in light of what most people who don't review restaurants think of the life of a restaurant reviewer. 

I don't often write about my bad meals; I keep them to myself. (But Jesus, Saturday night's was abominable! Who wants the details? 😉

Sometimes I'll write about a really bad meal, as I did up above with Sawatdee. But I don't generally devote a lot of space on it. Sometimes a bad meal is really noteworthy — a bad meal, or bad meals, at a place that is a heavily funded, heavily publicized operation.

But a bad meal at a tiny independent or mom n pop that I don't plan on following, or writing about again? I tend to refrain from writing anything. 

Thanks for chiming in.

One more for you, Clifton …

Forget Bombay Gaylord. It's pretty lousy.

I would give Bombay, in White Oak, a shot. The service is surly and strange, which is why take-out is such a good option there. The food, when it's good, can be superb — I've had terrific dishes there over the years, as good as those I've found anywhere in the region and sometimes better. But it's only intermittently superb, is the problem.

Still, on its most ordinary day it's still a much, much better bet than Bombay Gaylord.

Ghar-E-Kabab, the Indian/Nepalese restaurant on Wayne Ave., is a popular takeout spot these days, but the cooking has declined since it opened and I can't recommend it even tepidly anymore.

The aforementioned Best Sandwich Place, at 18th and L Sts., is the place you want to hit. It's a hard place to find, though — best way to access it is to go in the door adjacent to the Borders and walk on back. It's not visible from the street, unfortunately.

It's a really good turkey sandwich, and at a good price, too.

As for a comparison of Bubby's and Uptown — I haven't lined up sandwiches from both and done an assessment, no, but I have eaten at both.

I prefer Bubby's as a total experience — the vibe, the servers, the portions, all of it together. A deli should be a zesty place to be, and though Bubby's isn't Katz's in NYC, it's plenty decent in this regard.

Neither spot is deli valhalla. Bubby's has its weaknesses, and so does Uptown. But I like Bubby's hot pastrami, its matzo ball soup, its brisket with gravy over challah, and its cakes from Junior's in Brooklyn. 

I do want to get back to Uptown soon, because one of the weaknesses was its bread, which some readers who've emailed me in the past few weeks are insisting has changed. Good for Uptown, if it's true.

I can understand having a policy; policies are necessary things for businesses to have, they keep things clear and organized.

But I also think that sometimes policies are excuses not to have to think.

The place wasn't crowded, it was the afternoon and not evening, and you ended up ordering a lot of food and drink. What would have been the harm in accommodating you?

I find it interesting, also, that the place that treated you best was the chain. Three independent restaurants, three disappointments.

Interesting.

But I think your experience underscores my point, that local meats are seen as having cache, while local wines are not. To be up on Bev Eggleston, and to know the brands on offer at the local farmers' markets, is to be a proper foodie. To be in the now, the Michael Pollan-shaped now. To drink local wine, is to be an outsider. No cache.

A Bev Eggleston chop is, for the proper foodie, on a par more or less with a good 2005 Bordeaux. Both speak to certain values. A good Virginia wine, on the other hand, is still a curiosity and lacking in the prestige that comes with national recognition.

One Block West is a good reco.

L'Auberge Provencale? Too dressy — they're going to be more casual. Hunter's Head, sure, but further afield.

Boy, there's tons of good stuff in those towns.

In Chantilly, you've got the chain-looking-but-not Don Churros for pan-Latin and Rangoli and Minerva for Indian; the latter, especially, for buffet — all good.

In Reston, PassionFish is excellent for fish and seafood, Vinifera is a good wine bar, Jackson's Might Fine Foods is a solidly run and tasty place for good times, and Ariake is an above-average sushi bar.

Go to Windy City Red Hots in Ashburn if you want an authentic Chicago style hot dog. Also in Ashburn: a very good Chinese restaurant, called Yen's Cafe.

Centreville has a branch of Vit Goel ToFu, which I love for the soondubu, a peppery red stew full of jigglingly soft custard that's brought to the table in a sputtering black cauldron. 

Phillips? Really?

I think Central Michel Richard could be fun, and not TOO expensive given the number of people you'd be paying for, and your son would get a kick out of seeing some familiar-looking dishes (burgers, fried chicken) interpreted and rendered by a fine dining-style kitchen.

Zaytinya's another possibility. And small plates are good with a big group.

Most of the other places that come to mind are probably too adult, too serious, for a group like this. Or too expensive.

I'll be curious to hear where you end up. Drop me a line and let me know, okay?

Gotta run. Coffee and lunch with a new friend …

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

[missing you, TEK … ]