Tag: Food

Two Simple Rules for Controlling Hunger | June 09 2026, 21:33

Two rules were born that still work:

1. If you want to eat – try drinking some water. If you drink and still want to eat – see point 2.

2. Take soup or a half portion. If you ate and still want to eat – take another half portion.

P.S. Yuki said he doesn’t like the rules. He had a New York sous-vide steak with buckwheat from Cuckoo for lunch today, and in an hour, he will have cheese with wine while watching the series Succession (he always gives the wine to me). He still doesn’t understand why we sprinkle his New York steak with buckwheat with dry food.

Taste and Protest: Unveiling the Symbols at an Iranian Restaurant | May 03 2026, 19:40

A very tasty Iranian restaurant. Perhaps you didn’t know, but there are two flags of Iran. This one – the historical flag, used before the Islamic revolution of 1979, and today its use inside Iran itself is a political crime. The main difference from the official one is the emblem of the lion and the sun. Therefore, when Iranian protesters in Washington hold demonstrations, it’s interesting to see which flags they carry. If there’s four crescents and a sword in the middle, those are protesters from another camp 😉

Global Flavors Tour: Dining Around the World from A to Z | March 09 2026, 00:27

I’ve come up with an interesting project for 2026. Every time we go out to eat, we’ll choose a restaurant from some exotic country, preparing a bit to understand what you’re ordering. I live near Washington, DC, and here there are restaurants from almost all world cuisines (you can’t try Belarusian draniki and drochena, though). Let’s start with the letter A!

Afghan cuisine. Visited Mazako Afghan Eatery.

We had the Kabul pilaf (Qabuli Palau). The rice here is long-grain, very crumbly and sweetened with caramelized carrots and raisins. With sumac. Delicious! For $14. We took mantu. Relatives of our dumplings, but with an Afghan twist. The main difference is the sauces. They are topped with thick yogurt (chaka) with garlic and dried mint, as well as a meat sauce made from yellow peas. Very tasty chicken kebab (Chicken Kebob). Afghans are masters of marinade. They marinate the chicken in yogurt with lemon and saffron, making it very tender. We took Doogh – a refreshing drink based on yogurt, water, salt, and, theoretically, a large amount of dried mint (though we didn’t find the mint, it might just be hiding) and finely chopped cucumbers. It seems too salty at first, but it’s still okay.

Total pilaf+chicken kebab+doogh+mantu plus 20% tip = $54. And it’s very delicious (and filling).

Actually, yesterday we also visited some fancy Thai restaurant in our town, but it didn’t quite hit the spot, so let’s pretend it didn’t exist.

#ethnicdiningdcmetro

A Decade Later: Snow, Survival Shopping, and American Winter Woes | January 23 2026, 15:56

Exactly ten years ago, on this day, my family tried to enter the USA, but it started snowing. The day after a plus 12°C

snowfall came and blocked all the roads.

And now it’s all happening again. Waiting for snow. Nadia just sent a message that there are three times more people in the grocery store than usual. Americans, when a possible zombie apocalypse approaches, stock up on food and ammunition. Ten years ago, the roads were cleared the next day, but schools, universities, and almost all offices remained closed for another week. Grocery stores opened fairly quickly (but not immediately)

To me, it’s just a typical winter

Exploring the Delights of Origin Thai Spa: More Than Just Massage | January 08 2026, 23:48

We bought all this at our Thai massage salon Origin Thai Spa today for $20 — slices of matum tea, Bael Fruit Tea. To the left of it — pandan tea. Also, before buying we tried some hand-made cakes (delicious!).

The salon is staffed by Thai women, all of them elderly, many speak English poorly, but they all know their massage craft very well. We are regular customers there with a membership, and I highly recommend the salon to locals. Thai massage is not for everyone, though, because when done correctly, it is quite painful during the process (but beneficial, and feels like it recharges all your internal batteries).

Hidden Costs in Restaurant Menus: The Reality of Operational Charges | November 23 2025, 23:33

The restaurant is very tasty, but I increasingly notice that establishments include a certain percentage on top of the menu prices in the bill. In this menu, the cost of a dish is listed as $30 per plate, plus a note like this. In this case, it’s a 4% operational charge. Then there are taxes on top of that, plus another 20% for tips. As a result, $30 from the menu turns into at least $40.