Wow! I haven't updated my Top 5 in a long time and it's about time I updated this since there are a couple places I haven't been to in a while. Here are my top 5 restaurants for April 2006.

1) Komi - Come on, did you really expect anything else?!
2) Corduroy - Foie gras and whole crispy fried fish, and probably the best steaks in town. Plus their web site is really kick ass.
3) Ray's the Steaks - Excellent fresh steaks and the best crab bisque in DC. Who could ask for more?
4) 2 Amys - This is the best pizza in DC, plain and simple, but the secret is to order off the bar menu once you go every week, twice a week and are bored with the pizza.
5) Circle Bistro - If you're seeing a show at The Kennedy Center, there's no other choice for dinner.

Honorable Mentions:
Dino -  This is slowly becoming my favorite place to eat Italian food in the district. Try the lasagnette or cinghiale. Also the wine, cheese and cured meats can't be beat.

Okay. I know I haven't updated my top 5 restaurant list since May, but quite honestly, I haven't felt the need to change it. So here I am, reaffirming my top 5 list. I know it's kind of lame, but these are really the restaurants that I feel are the best in the city when you consider quality of food, service, and value.

1) Komi - Where else in DC can you get meals as adventurous and pleasing as you do at Komi. I really don't think I've ever had a meal at Komi that I was disappointed with. Sebastian, the wine and service director left recently, so hopefully this doesn't affect the overall atmosphere of the restaurant.
2) Corduroy - Two words - Duck Confit. Go there. Try it. NOW.
3) 2 Amys -  Yeah, I don't need to say anything else about 2 Amys.
4) Heritage India - Definitely the best Indian restaurant in the city.
5) Samantha's - If you go to Samantha's, make sure you order off the Salvadoran and Mexican specialties. This isn't the place to get a standard enchilada. While it will be good, this isn't what their specialty is.

If there's a restaurant that I'd want to put on this list if possible, it'd be Circle Bistro. I love the soups and Chef Brendan Cox continues to serve up consistantly perfect food at his restaurant. Maybe someday I'll drop one of the restaurants about off the list and replace it with Circle Bistro, but not today.

After skipping last month, I thought I would update my top 5 because I've had some really good meals lately that have made me rethink what my favorites are.

1) Komi - I continue to have excellent meals at Komi. Johnny and Sebastian are doing a great job with their place and every trip there for me is an absolute pleasure.
2) Corduroy - What's in a name? Well in Tom Power's case it's simple, fresh, seasonal ingredients that make my mouth water just thinking about them. I've wanted to put Corduroy on my Top 5 list for a while, but until this month, I'd only eaten there once.
3) 2 Amys - Uh yeah. I think you guys all know I love this place.
4) Heritage India - I've been ordering delivery from Heritage so much lately that I just had to put it on my Top 5 list.  There Indian cuisine is tops in the area in my opinion. Despite the sometimes sketchy service, I still love going to both locations.
5) Samantha's - I'm in love with the pupusas (not papusas) at this place, but a lot of places have good pupusas. It's the authentic Mexican and Salvadoran dishes at Samatha's that set it apart from other restaurants.

This month, I'm on a mission to find a good Asian restaurant (other than Indian) to put on next month's Top 5. I've been so disappointed with the Asian cuisine I've eaten lately -- I know it's because I just haven't been going to the right places. If any of you know some good suggestions, let me know PLEASE!!!

OK. This month, I am back to having an overall top 5 restaurants because quite honestly, I just don't have 5 great meals to put in a Top 5 Meals post. So here they are, my top 5 favorite restaurants to eat at in Washington, DC.

1) Komi - I've said it before and I'll say it again - Best Restaurant in DC. I'd eat here every night if I could afford it.
2) 2 Amys - It's not just for pie eaters anymore. venture out a bit and order off the bar menu and you won't regret it.
3) Passage To India - Chef Sudhir's recent revamp of his restaurants menu makes Passage to India the top choice for Indian food.
4) Spezie - For the money, I'd say that Spezie your best bet for  Italian in the DC.
5) Samantha's - I'm eating at Samantha's pretty much every weekend now.

This month was tough again. Some of the restaurants that I expected to make the list, turned out not to be so great, and others were better than I expected.

1) Komi - As a commenter said -- KOMI ROCKS!! I couldn't have said it any better. Our recent meal there was one of the best we've eaten in a long time.
2) Heritage India (Dupont) - A meal composed entirely of appetizers shouldn't be so good.
3) Ceiba - Ceiba continued so satisfy us this month at Amy's birthday dinner.
4) Tallula - My trip to this promising new restaurant with Jen and Mike was a really fun night.
5) 2 Amys - It's hard for me not to put this place on my top 5 list. Make sure you order the Rabbit or mozzarella from the Bar Menu. Scott, at the bar,  will thank you.

This is going to be a tough post to write, because I ate a lot of great meals in November, but it's gotta be done so here goes.

1) 2 Amys - Remember my post about the fried dough?? Well...you can't beat that!
2) Samantha's - I had an awesome dish there last Saturday. It was a Cuban-style pork with a bitter-orange and mustard sauce that was out of this world.
3) Spezie - Our return to Spezie with my parents reminded us that we don't get back to Spezie nearly enough. we'll be going back again soon. Hi Enzo!
4) My Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner - Nothing beats my challah stuffing. (OK, the recipe is really my grandmother's. So sue me.)
5) Mandalay - Despite having no liquor license, we still really enjoyed the Burmese cuisine of this bargain Silver Spring eatery.

Ok, I have a new Top 5 for all of you. It's not the same type of Top 5 as before and I'll explain why.

It's nearly impossible for me to cover all the restaurants in the city. I wish I could, but I just don't have the time or the money to do it. I found that the last couple months I wasn't able to go to all of the restaurants I have in my Top 5. Particularly Spezie and Palena, which makes me sad, but I have been busy trying new places like Osteria del Galileo, Samantha's, and Sette Osteria. Of course, I do make it back to my favorites like 2 Amys, Indique, and Heritage India, but that's because they're right around the corner from me. So, since I am unable to verify that the restaurants on my Top 5 are still worthy of that status, I am posting a Top 5 Meals this month. So here they are, the Top 5 Meals of October.

1) Osteria del Galileo
2) 2 Amys
3) Samatha's
4) Olazzo
5) Heritage India

Another side note:
I understand that I'm missing from my Top 5 lists what most people consider to be "the best" restaurants in DC like Citronelle, Galileo (the "real" Galileo), Minibar, etc, but you're guaranteed to drop at least $300 on a meal for two at those places and quite honestly -- that's ridiculous. I eat a meal like that maybe once a year. You'll start seeing reviews of places like that when my traffic quadruples and more people start clicking on my Google ads. :)

I thought I would start a series of my top 5 favorite places to eat in each category. Of course I don't put any place on these Top 5 Lists that I have not eaten at, so if you think you know a place that is better, post a comment.

My Top 5 places to eat pizza:

1) Vace
2) 2 Amys
3) Pizzeria Paradiso
4) Jumbo Slice
5) Cafe Villa

For those of you who are not familiar with the last 2...

There are a bunch of Jumbo Slice places in Adams Morgan. I think the most famous one is the one near Madams Organ. Cafe Villa is a small pizza place out by where I work. They have great NY style pizza, Italian Subs and calzones.

Last month, I had a chance to try a bunch of great, new places. Thanks to Restaurant Week, the decisions I make here have become all the more harder. Dropping off the top 5 this month are Heritage India and Café Olé. Why? I think that Café Olé got on the list last month on an oversight by me. Not that it isn't good - It's a wonderful place to get a meal. I just wonder sometimes if it wasn't around the corner from me, that I would go there nearly as much. Also, when I was putting the list together for August, I literally jumped out of my skin when I realized that I had left Two Amy's off the list last month. Heritage India is great, but I already have an Indian restaurant on the list and right now I would definitely say that Indique is better than Heritage India.

Joining the list this month are 2 Amys (already explained that one) and Pesce. Now I hesitated to add Pesce to the list because I've still only had a chance to eat there once. However, after the emails I have received thanking me for writing my review of Pesce and how wonderful they think that place is, I couldn't help but give it the #5 spot.

1) Indique
2) 2 Amys
3) Spezie
4) Palena
5) Pesce

In September, look for Ceiba to join the Top 5. I'm just clueless what will drop off. Maybe I will have to make this a Top 10.

I am publishing a new top 5 list because my last one is horribly out of date. I mean, I don't know what I was thinking when I said Chipotle was in the top 5 restaurants. I must have been on a burrito kick at the time. Anyway, here is my new revised top 5 list of restaurants in the DC area.

1) Indique
Due to Indique's recent improvement in the area of service, I think this is my favorite restaurant. Plus: the Sunday brunch is, hands down, the best in the city.

2) Spezie
Enzo Livia continues to wow me with the ravioli in pistachio cream sauce. I could eat this dish alone every night. Read my review.

3) Palena
Even though our last trip to Palena left us wondering what happened our previous trip was one of the best dinners we've ever had. It definitely deserves a spot in my top 5. If it weren't for our last trip, I would have ranked Palena #1.

4) Heritage India
I know, I know. ANOTHER INDIAN RESTAURANT IN THE TOP 5? Well, Heritage India continues to create excellent food. If it weren't for the fact that I don't care much for their saag, I would say it is neck-and-neck with Indique.

5) Café Olé
Due to recent upgrade in Café Olé's service department, I am giving it the last spot in my top 5 list.

I love all of these restaurants. On any given day each of them could interchange positions depending on my mood. It's July 5th and I would have given my soul to eat at any of these places today. Sadly, none of them were open.