August 2012 Washington DC/Baltimore Dish of the Month: Voting Thread

[Dave MP]

Here are the nominations for the first Washington DC/Baltimore Dish of the Month. Here are the choices in alphabetical order:

CRAB CAKE

CRAB (GENERAL) - could include both blue and soft-shell

CUMIN LAMB

SWEET CORN

The voting thread will be open until 9 AM PST on July 31st, and each user can only vote once. To vote, write your favorite in ALL CAPS as a reply to this thread - votes that are non in caps won't be counted. The voting is open to everyone, regardless of whether you participated in the nomination thread.

On July 31st we'll create the main Dish of the Month thread and get started!

Dave MP

Link to the nomination thread: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/859595

[Dave MP]

The winner this month was Cumin Lamb! Here's a link to the post...now the eating can begin!

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/861105

[Marty L.]

A warning in advance: I haven't been to either lately, but if reports are accurate, two of the old stand-bys for this dish are under possible clouds: By all accounts there's been a huge kitchen changeover at China Star, and it's no longer the Peter Chang-inspired destination it once was. And (unless I'm dreaming) a couple of days ago Don Rockwell posted a startling downhill alert for Hong Kong Palace, although it appears to now be deleted from his site (so perhaps he reconsidered). Perhaps some of the chefs have moved over to Mala Tang, which now has a much more extensive, HKP-like menu (including cumin lamb).

For what it's worth, the best version I've had this year was at 100 Degrees Chinese Cuisine, but that was a few months ago, and that place is notorious for its inconsistency from night to night.

[Steve]

I was at Hong Kong Palace a couple of times recently. I did not have the cumin lamb.

One of their great dishes is not on the menu: the '100 flavor chicken' which is cold, sliced chicken on the bone. One of those Chinese dishes that don't make any sense until you have it here. It was as glorous as ever. Also great was the golden corn and egg. They don't make the best ma po tofu (that honor belongs to The Great Wall), but it too was the same as ever. If someone had a bad experience, then I would chalk it up to the normal vagaries of what a restaurant produces.

[Marty L.]

That new MT menu with cumin lamb and a gazillion other sichuan dishes (http://www.mala-tang.com/#!__menu) is apparently brand new, based on the owners' recent eating tour of the province: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/bl...

[mdpilam]

I think it would be helpful if people posted places to get this dish in the DMV.

[Dave MP]

Definitely a good idea. Might be better to move this over to the reporting thread, which can be found here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/861105

[Marty L.]

respectfully disagree: Anything in the "Sticky topics" category above the "fold" will be seen and read by *many* fewer CH regulars. Best to keep it going as a working topic.

[Dave MP]

Things that are sticky are still working topics....if you've participated, it will show up on your "My Activity" page. And the new flag will appear when there are new posts you haven't read yet. We've found that sticky topics keeps them visible for more users, since people who log in less frequently (say, twice per week) might completely miss a thread if it hasn't been updated recently, since it will be so far down the page.

Maybe it's just a matter of getting in the habit of checking above the fold? But it seems that regular users on Home Cooking and SF Bay Area are doing okay with this for DOTM and COTM posts there.

That all said, I do hear what you're saying....the sticky topics maybe don't call out enough to people, and regular users who log in frequently might go straight to the most recent posts under the fold. I sometimes do this myself, so I do get what you mean. We're constantly thinking of ways to make this better, so feedback like this is helpful. Since neither way is perfect, I think we are going to keep the reporting thread sticky for now. Hopefully you (and other CH regulars) will remember to check it too!

[drewpbalzac]

I know that we live in a democracy (not too sure that CHOW lives up to these ideals but hey we contract our right away by agree to their terms and conditions), but shouldn't a regional board’s recipe of the month be a regional/seasonal specialty?

[woodleyparkhound]

That's what I was thinking. (???)

[Dave MP]

It's up to everyone who votes, and I don't know how I'd be able to make it any more democratic. I'm just the vote counter!

Also, perhaps Baltimore/Washington has particularly great cumin lamb! I guess we're about to find out!

[drewpbalzac]

Silly

[Dennis S]

CUMIN LAMB

[mdpilam]

CUMIN L AMB

[PollyG]

CUMIN LAMB. Call me crazy, but I never find enough crab flavor in crabcakes, even the really good ones.

[dining with doc]

Try the crab cake at Samos restaurant in the Greektown section of Baltimore and you will see what a crab cake is supposed to be and not the crap all these other places are putting out. By the way, get it fried...How it was supposed to be

[flavrmeistr]

CRAB

[drewpbalzac]

CRAB CAKE

[VaPaula]

CRAB (GENERAL)

[mdpilam]

Cumin Lamb

[Dave MP]

Keep in mind that your vote must be in ALL CAPS to be counted. Thanks,
Dave MP

[mdpilam]

Kept wondering why everyone was yelling.

[Marty L.]

CUMIN LAMB

[dining with doc]

CRAB CAKE