Sietsema's Spring Dining Guide; Kliman Goes To Mala Tang

Tom Sietsema released his Spring 2011 Dining Guide this week, so instead of one new review, we got 15! We won't rehash them all, but here are the star ratings he gave based on his return visits to these local restaurants:

3 stars
Cashion's Eat Place

2.5 Stars
Foti's
La Chamiere
Ristorante Tosca
Sou'Wester
Villa Mozart

2 Stars
8407 Kitchen Bar
Bar Pilar
Black Olive
Kinkead's

1 Star
Meskerem Ethiopian Restaurant
Persimmon
Pizzeria Orso

1/2 Star
Old Ebbitt Grill
Peking Gourmet Inn

Some of these, like Cashion's Eat Place, went up in the critic's estimation, while others (sorry, Pizzeria Orso) plummeted. Check it out in full here. [WaPo]

Todd Kliman sampled the hot pot offerings at the newly opened Mala Tang this week. Despite receiving scoldings from his server, the critic had some high praise for the restaurant's attempt at Westernizing a very traditional Szechuan meal: "There are collaborations in business and art that sound fated but fail, and there are collaborations that scream of gimmickry or novelty that somehow succeed — each partner improbably bringing out the others' strengths and minimizing his weaknesses. The very early but very delicious evidence suggests that there is more seriousness than self-consciousness to the mash-up at Mala Tang." [Washingtonian]

THE BLOGS: New Columbia Heights recommends the cheap sandwiches at Paila Chilean Grill; Mango & Tomato braved a 50-minute wait at the Red Hook Lobster Truck and it was totally worth it; We Love DC was happy with pretty much everything at Watershed, especially the calamari.

Cashion's Eat Place [Photo: Facebook]