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QotD: I Give It 5 Stars

Oct 3, 2006
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What's your favorite restaurant?

Sushi Mike strikes again

I of course have two.

One is Tanoshii, home of the amazing Sushi Mike, whose handiwork you see to the right. Some of the best sushi I've ever had, and I've had a good amount of sushi. He's very creative and experimental, and most of his rolls require (and in fact he specifically requests) no soy sauce.

Sushi Mike is the kind of chef who inspires a cult following. He's had some disagreements with his silent partner (the guy with the money) and has talked about closing Tanoshii and opening his own place; if he does, you can bet a huge portion of his dining audience will follow him.

onion paratha at Bhabi's Kitchen

The other is Bhabi's Kitchen, a block over and a block up from our house. When we had no kitchen for six months last year (due to a kitchen renovation gone terribly over deadline), Bhabi's was our surrogate kitchen -- we ate there at least three times a week. Mr. Syed and his wife know us by name now, and we've grown accustomed to his stories of his many jobs prior to the restaurant, each more surprising than the next (gold trader and beauty pageant dress designer among them). The food is delicious, made fresh when you order it.

Their specialty is breads: they make more than a dozen types of naan, paratha and chapati, some with fillings like potato or beef, others made out of grains such as millet. I usually order an aloo (potato) paratha with my meal. Among my favorite dishes -- I've yet to have a bad one -- is the butter chicken, chunks of chicken simmered in a tomato-based sauce with just a hint of spiciness. Other faves include the haleem, the chicken briyani and the fish pakoda. Bhabi's will be featured on the new season of "Check Please!" so hurry in before the crowds get awful.