Typhoons are almost 100% not awesome.  They usually come in dropping insane amounts of rain all over the place, create havoc with their high speed winds, and just generally leave a path of destruction in their wake.  The only thing typhoons do that is a check in the positive column is get work and school canceled.  But does all that really matter if your apartment gets flooded while you’re trying to enjoy your impromptu off day?

Thaiphoon, on the other hand, a cleverly named Thai restaurant in DC’s Dupont Circle neighborhood, is pretty awesome.  Like a typhoon, going there is always a memorable experience.  Whether you’re sitting in the window wrapped front dining room or one of the intimate booths in the back, you’ll always have a view of something interesting, like people walking on the street or customers sitting at the bar under the amber lights.  Unlike a typhoon, however, the only thing whirling around at high speeds are the wait staff, and there’s a torrential downpour of good food instead of rain, which seems like a fair enough trade to me.

Speaking of the food, most everything is like a flavor explosion in your mouth save for the noodle dishes (which, while decent, are kind of on the oily side).  Highlights include the pineapple fried rice, the crispy duck simmered in a somewhat spicy red curry and coconut milk, the airy, deep fried spring rolls, and vegetarian dumplings.  This coming from a person who can’t usually stand a ton of vegetables coalescing in my mouth together.  Best of all: Thaiphoon won’t leave a path of destruction in your wallet when it comes time to pay the bill.

Thaiphoon
2011 S St. NW
Washington, DC 20009

Layouts: Ashley

If you could bowl at the club, it'd probably look like this

There’s a handful of things that, despite gender, race, location, or economic standing, everyone seems to experience in their childhood.  Things like climbing trees, kicking rocks and/or cans, doing flips over handrails, roller skating and bowling.  Bowling especially was a big part of my childhood back in the 80s.  I fondly remember the dark, dingy bowling lanes we’d frequent that, in my memory, look like they could be home to any number of creepy truck drivers.  I definitely remember the smell of sweat and stale beer wafting in the air.  And who could ever forget the sound of pins clanging together, or the screams let out when yet another ball goes rolling  into the gutter. Read the full story

The Chi-Cha Lounge: where there are neither chia pets nor cha cha sliding

Chi-Cha Lounge was the place I spent my last night in DC before I hopped on a plane for Japan and never looked back.  While the name have always kind of given me a high class Latin strip club vibe,  it’s actually more of a huge, candle-lit room with random, red velvet couches jammed haphazardly together and all kinds of world music blaring loudly through the house speakers.  It’s great if you go to lounges to meet people or otherwise spend some quality time with your friends; terrible if you’re claustrophobic or want to hang by yourself in a dark corner somewhere.  Owner Mauricia Fraga-Rosenfeld designed the place to re-create the atmosphere of his grandparent’s hacienda in Ecuador, and with the way the furniture is arranged it does have the feeling of sitting around in some hipsters apartment sipping moderately expensive drinks while discussing Oscar Wylde.  Speaking of drinks, the titular chi-cha is actually a pretty good house drink that comes in either red or white flavors and is reminiscent of a light, spicy, South-American wine.   And if you happen to be in the mood for some food to soak up all that alcohol you’re bound to consume, there’s a menu full of South American tapas to choose from.

Chi-Cha Lounge
1624 U St NW,
Washington, DC 20037

I'll fitting bras got you down? You probably aren't alone.

Is your unmentionables drawer overflowing with undersized bras?  Don’t front.  You know you walked in and out of Victoria’s Secret the other day with some expensive, lace tinged bra that’s got your mammaries in a stranglehold.  Do yourself a favor and stop the madness already.  Just outside of DC in Chevy Chase, MD is Sylene, a women-owned lingerie boutique that’s been slinging the finest in sexay undergarments to DC area women for over 30 years.

Sisters Cyla Weiner and Helen Kestler grew up spending their weekends and summer vacations in New Jersey working in their parents lingerie shop, so if safe to say they’ve got an eye for undergarments.  They took care not to fill their store only with the finest lingerie, swimwear, and sleepwear from the best  domestic and international designers the world has to offer, but also with a knowledgeable squadron of fit experts known for their personal, individualized service.  And if you are thinking about getting rid of those uncomfortable bras of yours, Sylene takes gently used ones and donates them to women’s shelters around the area.

Sylene
4407 South Park Ave.
Chevy Chase, MD 20815

layouts: Ashley

The only sandwich shop whos name is also a childish insult

In a city where there’s no shortage of international culinary delights  (Ethiopian, Chinese, Latin American, Greek, Arabian, you name it), there’s still something to be said about a good, classic American sandwich.  And there’s no place in DC that puts a sandwich together better than Adam’s Morgan favorite, So’s Your Mom. Read the full story