This is the thread where we post our restaurant reviews

Now I understand that in Bmore or the surrounding area it's quite difficult to find a clams casino that is anything short of excellent - that said, Phillip's offers the finest I've ever had. They don't cheat, they understand that their reputation requires upkeep, and they do everything necessary to make sure that no one can beat them at their chosen game, which is fresh shellfish prepared in the most exacting fashion on the east coast.

Last year a freind of mine came up from Hawaii(!!) to visit and we took advantage of the Clam Bake for Two on the dinner menu. I don't think you've ever seen a more satisified pair of enlisted men in America barring a few instances of Reno whoring (ha ha I'm clever). For the next two days everything we consumed tasted of lobster in melted butter - which is a good thing, BTW - and neither of us could shut up abt the service. We wound up comped for one of our appetizers bcz we ate so much I think we [scared/impressed] the waitress, saving us about thirty dollars in the long run. She earned it.

Phillip's is a truly fine establishment and it's one of the only reasons I consider this particular part of the east coast worth living in. The other two reasons follow.

Service is iffy, and the bar has that broken peanut-shell + triviagame atmo that might turn off quite a few, but I find it highly worthwhile. If I could eat a Oui Oui Burger every night I would, fuck the superficial sports bar aesthetic.

Right down from the Rocky Run, you run into a giant mall, the largest in Maryland, colossal, simply absurd - 24-screen theater, Medieval Times, huge DVD/CD shop where you can sample everything, several outlet shops, it goes on and on. Right by the Chevy's Tex-Mex is a localish brewpub which serves, among other fine items, the finest selection of micros in the suburban Maryland area. Admittedly they give all of their brews stupid names like "Bare Ass Blonde" and "Venom" but shit, the stuff is GOOD. Somebody knows what they're doing, even if the marketing director is living ten years in the past.

On top of that they have a tenderloid open face, a blackened chicken sandwich, a cheese bread appetizer, and any number of other fantastic entrees to go along with your choice of booze. Any item you choose off the menu will probably feed at least two people, regardless of side dish, and other than a single mediocre experience with a vegetarian pasta dish I've yet to find anything that wasn't tremendously satisfying.

1. Ben's Chili Bowl. Holy shit. Have the Chili Smoke and an order of the Chili Fries. Your life can end immediately afterwards, you won't mind.

2. The Brickskeller. The beer menu has over 1000 entries. Fucking excelsior.

Oh and if you want to vote for this restaurant in a variety of categories in the Dallas Observer Best Of, email me and I'll send you a ballot. It is my part-time employer after all. Loyalty and all

I wasn't impresssed by their popular Border Grill in Santa Monica when I had gone there a couple of years back, so I thought I'd give the new place a chance. I work in the neighborhood, and have noticed that it's always packed, so I decided to go for lunch.

The staff seemed to be struggling to keep up with the crowd, and the large table next to me complained of missing appetizers. A silver oval dish arrived with two small tins. The dish held two crispy cracker/bread sheets covered with what looked to be chili powder,and which made your fingers, the table, your teeth, and the universe red like chili powder, but had no real taste. I felt cheated, like a kid expecting a colored Easter egg to be special inside, finding instead only the usual white and yolk.

To be fair, perhaps that's what the little tins were for. One held a hummos mixture, serviceable, not spectacular, and the other held an olive tapenade which was very good if you like the taste of olives.

The tapas on the menu, which I didn't try, knowing that I would be disappointed, having had a tapas from real tapas restaurants, were 16.50. I knew that a restuarant that was not concentrating on tapas would be unlikely to excel at them, so I passed.

The menu had tortilla soup (the cheapest thing, at 6.50) and seemed to specialize in shrimp, scallops, and other seafood done spicy southwestern style. Salads and burgers were also avaiable. The menu ran from $15-23 and don't even THINK about this as a place for wine and tapas--wine is $8 by the glass and God knows what by the bottle.

I perused the menu and settled on a Peruvian sea bass ceviche ($16.50 on the menu, it magically became $10.50 on the check). It arrived, but it was a paradox. It was as if sea bass had been introduced to a spicy chopped salad of peppers, lettuce, lime, chili, a lone avocado slice for contrast and four banana chips, and a very tasty tomato-- but the sea bass was so overpowered by the meeting that it wilted into the background.

Sea bass is a buttery luxury on the palate, and in this ceviche it could have been halibut. All of the distinctive flavor of the ingredient disappeared behind the spicy lime and chili treatment. Keep in mind, I love spicy food, but this was spicy done wrong, spicy trying too hard.

I can't really recommend Ciudad based on this lunch, but I have yet to work my way through the menu. If I have anything good, I'll post it. At least this is a corrective to the LA Weekly piece this week, which didn't really review it, but mentioned it as a place to go.

4903 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90029-3731

Is ultra fantastic. There's nothing more to say. Best Colombian in Los Angeles. $10-15 / person. It's easiest if you can speak Spanish. Staff are accomodating if you can't. Morcilla, sancocho, arepas, sobrebarriga, enyucado, and chicharrones are top-notch. Rest of the menu looks to be. Attractive clientele. Colombianas by the overflowing handful. Maybe I'll write a review when I'm sobererer.

In other news: I mentioned once before about this chicken chain joint that just opened a franchise location locally. It was called Golden Chick, and I had some very good things to say about it. Well, I still do, but before I do that, I'll state that anyone in TX can try out a Golden Chick as they're all over the state. Now that I've got that out of the way -- their food is really, really good. Amazingly good. Even if it were a stand-alone dedicated to fried chicken, it would be mind-blowing. The chicken always tastes fresh, the crust is perfectly crunchy and not too oily, everything is perfectly spiced, nothing is too salty or too bland. The cole slaw actually reminds the consumer that slaw is supposed to be a cabbage-based dish; it is crunchy, thickly-sliced cabbage and carrot TOSSED (vs. DRENCHED) in a slightly sweet mayonnaise sauce. The mashed potatoes taste like potato, and the gravy tastes like gravy, though it is a bit on the bland side. (Which is why God invented peppercorns and a pepper grinder. *laugh*) The meals come with a surprising YEAST roll, and if you opt to dine in, you can pour some honey on top of your roll. Also if you dine in, you get to have free soft-serve vanilla ice cream; the machine is set up next to a cone dispenser so you can have a soft-serve cone for dessert. The only bad thing I'd have to say about it is that the fries are pretty horrid, but as they're only one of several side options, you can get around that.

Golden Chick gets 4 1/2 clucks out of 5 in my book.

Stalls//Newton Circus
Newton Circus Singapore
Foot long live tiger prawns barbecued before your eyes; there is no place on earth that has better oyster omelettes.

Pepper Lunch
Various Locations Japan
Relatively cheap... buy your ticket from the ticket machine, throw it on the table and hope you get what you wanted... if it were me it is usually the steak pepper rice... a large mound of rice with raw beef and veggies served on a sizzling hot plate... move the grub around to cook it... make sure you don't get grease splattered in your face... wash it down with a beer or cola... save the tickets they give you.. one can be used for a soda the next time you go... if you use two you get a beer!