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Review of Kabob House, Food Court IV in Centreville, VA

I enthusiastically give Kabob House five out of five stars, and have since first discovering the Afghan restaurant in November 2010.

Kabob House, Food Court IV
14220-A-1 Centreville Sq
Centreville, VA 20121
(703) 543-7166

Astoundingly good; better even than the legendary Bamyan Afghan place of Herndon a decade ago. You must try the Mantoo or Aushak if you have a little more time (they take longer as they need to be baked to order). If you have less time, stick to the kabobs, gyros, or my favorite dishes at this amazing gem of a restaurant:

Quabili Palau (warning, it’s large)

Palau Kabob (lots of food)

In both cases, the “meat sauce” they casually mention on the menu is the best damned curried lamb I have ever had anywhere. It’s probably hardening my arteries as I eat it, because anything this good must be earning me time in hell… absolute heaven. I am afraid to try to order just the “meat sauce” as a main dish… that would probably upset the balance of the universe with too much delicious goodness on one plate.

The Mantoo are sublime and the Aushak delicious – though both take a little longer to prepare.

This is not a fancy place; you walk up to the counter and order, and they will call your number when it’s ready. No table service (though sometimes they come out and bring you your tray if they are not busy).

There is not much choice about what to drink, but the food is devine and the behind the counter staff are enthusiastic and friendly.

If you are anywhere near Centreville and hungry you must make this your first stop for food. Absolutely the best Centreville has to offer by far. This is perhaps THE place that finally puts food in Centreville on the map.

Quiet enough for real conversations. Clean. Well lit. Kid friendly. Spectacularly delicious.

If I had to be pressed, I think the kabobs themselves are better at Charcoal Kabob in Herndon; but everything else is better here at Food Corner Kabob House IV… Mantoo, Aushak, Gyros, Quabili Palau – amazing…

I have never been to the other locations mentioned on the menu.

Update: I have now found another Kabob House in the same micro-chain, the one in Tyson’s Corners which is also very, very good.

2014 09 10 snolan Fun
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Review of Tipicos Los Amigos in Sterling, VA

I gave Tipicos Los Amigos four out of five stars when I first reviewed the Papusaria in June of 2010, and again when I updated in November of 2010, and stand by that rating today.

Tipicos Los Amigos
46950 Community Plz
Sterling, VA 20164
(571) 434-0060

Excellent and very cheap papusas that are sometimes HUGE (Papusa Loca).

Best Bistec Encebollado (steak and onions) I have ever had anywhere!

Pretty large selection of Central American food with a focus on Nicaragua (I think). The wait staff can barely speak English, but they more than make up for it in friendly enthusiasm. I typically point to the menu.

I might not order complex drinks there again (depends on the bartender) – but bottled beers and classic cheap margaritas are always good.

Warning: portions can be huge very quickly… you will have leftovers, even if you are a BIG hungry eater.

Typically there is Latin music on (usually bachata and merengue) and a couple of big screens with football (the kind with goalies) running. There is a separate bar area.

Tables and decor are tacky and very low-brow, but the food and fun staff more than make up for it. They have some outside seats sheltered by the strip mall overhang, but I’ve never seen them serve anyone outside… must remember to ask on a nice day.

Has wife approval factor too… only problem, is she wants take out from this place every time I go there.

Oh, one negative… the bathroom is less than sparkling… might want to hold it and use the ones at work or a fast food place.

Update: The restrooms have been completely remodeled and are sparkling clean now!

Update (November 2010):
The lunch out crowd at work has really taken a liking to this place, we continue to go back and struggle with ordering in broken Spanglish from the staff.

The service times can be very slow if there is a crowd (and quick if you are lucky enough to be the only ones there).

The food continues to be spectacular for low-brow cheap eats… YUM!

Update (March 2012): The bathrooms have been renovated and are much nicer than they used to be. Also, the Salpicon (chopped steak, mixed with onions, cilantro, and radish, served cool) is spectacularly delicious and the perfect complement to a warm day. Service continues to be friendly though a little slow (not a quick lunch) and food is always delicious.

2014 09 10 snolan Fun
Local
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Review of Kora in Crystal City, Arlington, VA

I gave Kora two out of five stars when I reviewed it on November 26th, 2010. I have not been back.

Kora
2250-B Crystal Dr
Arlington, VA 22202
(571) 431-7090

Horribly disappointing is the summary. Wish there was a 1.5 stars you could click… We were sold a bill of goods, told it would be hip and trendy and have great food as well. We actually gave up a chance to visit Jaleo (next door) again… and I will not lightly forgive Kora for making us miss another Jaleo meal.

If you are just going for drinks, and to be seen by the trendy folks at the bar, you will probably be fine.

Do NOT stay to eat here.

Table service was horrible, we had to ask for utensils and napkins a dozen times; we never did get them.

The Insalata Caprese does not have any basil, and even after sending it back twice to get basil that is part of the definition for Caprese, we kept getting the plate returned with different greens on it that were no basil. The staff could not understand that we wanted basil even though they seemed to be native English speakers.

My entree was acceptable, but bland and unremarkable. I struggle to remember now what it was supposed to be.

Like many places, the noise level was high enough that it was difficult to have a decent conversation. To be fair, this is an annoying trend in most modern restaurants; but here – where nothing else seemed right, it was a killer because we could not even ignore the horrible service and mediocre food and just talk.

Overpriced, mediocre, glacial and uncaring service. Skip Kora, it sucks; except possibly for drinks only.

2014 09 10 snolan Local
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Review of Sahara Restaurant & Lounge, Sterling, VA

I gave Sahara Restaurant & Lounge four out of five stars when I first reviewed the restaurant on June 2nd, 2010; and I stand by that today.

Sahara Restaurant & Lounge
46950 Community Plz
Sterling, VA 20164
(703) 421-8252

Excellent Tabouleh that is very heavy on the parsley and tomatoes, and light on the onions (serves as a breath freshener). Very good Sujok and Hummus (though hummus comes with most platters, so you can probably avoid ordering it separately).

Pleasant outdoor seating sheltered by the strip mall overhang, and clean interior (though not at all fancy). The ubiquitous music video channel is on a few TV screens and Middle Eastern music is playing at lunch.

Prices are good, food is very good, service is excellent. It’s not as fabulous as Lebanese Taverna, but much closer to work and more convenient for lunch. Yum!

Minor detractor – it seems to be impossible to get a meal without side pickles (which are not my cup of tea)… oh that reminds me, DO try the tea… very good here.

Update: The Sujok is no longer on the menu, but sometimes you can get it if you ask nicely. The bread, when fresh, is amazing Рask for it when you get hummus garlic pur̩e. There is no longer a buffet, and the owners are focusing on the hookah lounge next door, so service can be a bit slow now.

2014 09 10 snolan Fun
Local
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Review of Blue Ridge Seafood Restaurant, Gainesville, VA

I gave Blue Ridge Seafood Restaurant four out of five stars when I reviewed them on January 13th, 2010; and I stand by that today.

Blue Ridge Seafood Restaurant
15704 Lee Hwy
Gainesville, VA 20155
(703) 754-9852

This dive is an essential addition to local food. Warm, friendly, run-down building with picnic tables, butcher block paper on the tables, pitchers of cheap beer, and wait staff in cut-offs and “crabby” t-shirts…

Crabs, crabcakes, snow crab legs, occasionally lobster, fries, potato salad, rice, catfish, and did I mention crabs?

It is perhaps sometimes difficult to avoid fried food here, but when you do it is reliably good. I am not interested in the sports on big screens indoors, so I prefer being outside with the tiki torches provided weather is nice.

Yum!

2014 09 10 snolan Fun
Local
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Review of Foster’s Grille in Haymarket, VA

I generously gave Foster’s Grille in Haymarket, VA four stars out of five on January 13th, 2010.

Foster’s Grille (hamburger establishment)
4432 Costello Way
Haymarket, VA 20169
(571) 261-5959

Foster’s usual excellent burgers at this location, but extra special is the local staff who will enthusiastically fry up onions and mushrooms for my wife who loves that non-standard addition.

Fun place for kids too with a few games and more charming interior than most Foster’s establishments.

It can be loud, but I normally go when it’s empty so that is not typically a problem.

One of the tips for new visitors to any Foster’s is to specify how you want your burger cooked. Foster’s does cook to order, but only if you say something about it… they typically don’t ask and assume medium-well.

2014 09 10 snolan Fun
Local
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Guessing what Apple will announce

It is sometimes fun to try to guess what Apple will announce before they announce it. Just for fun, I will try to guess what Apple will announce today…

Today I think Apple will announce two new iPhones, a completely redesigned iPod, and a new AppleTV.

The new iPod be so small as to be wrist wearable, which confuses people into thinking it is a watch, but although it can show the time, it will not simply be a watch. It will be a Bluetooth hub for health monitors, head phones, and remote control of an iOS device (iPhone/iPod Touch/iPas/AppleTV). The iPod classic will finally be discontinued, replaced with an accessory for this wrist mounted new iPod; the accessory will store many GB of music in a pocket size device we no longer have to look at… CarPlay will also be able to remotely control the same accessory. Speaking of which, the new wrist device will work with CarPlay as well, so the vehicle can identify which driver is present and load the appropriate preferences into the menus and playlists as they sit in the driver’s seat.

It’s probably all wrong – but that is my guess.

2014 09 09 snolan Fun Comments (1) Permalink

L2TP VPN working on Mavericks finally!

I finally had a few minutes free to explore Jon Stacey’s excellent blog about getting L2TP working on Mavericks…

His documentation is excellent, and can be found here:
How to Setup a L2TP VPN Server on OS X

Repeated here in case his blog goes away – but all credit to him…

Go into Keychain Access and delete the old com.apple.net.raccoon password/shared secret if you have one.

Get a new SHARED-SECRET-PHRASE, Steve Gibson Research has an excellent random string generator at: Perfect Passwords

Insert your 64 byte random hex string into Keepass or some other password authentication vault.

Create a new Shared Secret keychain:

sudo security add-generic-password -a com.apple.ppp.l2tp -s com.apple.net.racoon -T /usr/sbin/racoon -p "SHARED-SECRET-PHRASE" /Library/Keychains/System.keychain
sudo launchctl unload -w /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.ppp.l2tp.plist

Expand the Zip file from Jon’s site.

vi com.apple.RemoteAccessServers.plist com.apple.ppp.l2tp.plist
sudo cp ./com.apple.RemoteAccessServers.plist /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.RemoteAccessServers.plist
sudo cp ./com.apple.ppp.l2tp.plist /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.ppp.l2tp.plist
sudo chown root:wheel /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.RemoteAccessServers.plist /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.ppp.l2tp.plist
sudo chmod 644 /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.RemoteAccessServers.plist /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.ppp.l2tp.plist
sudo launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.ppp.l2tp.plist

Put the new shared secret into your iPhone, iPad, and Laptops – and make sure your router forwards VPN traffic to the new server.

I am embarrassed to admit I had this working fine on both Leopard and Snow Leopard, but could not upgrade to Lion, Mountain Lion nor Mavericks the host serving L2TP VPN until now… so I had a Snow Leopard Mac Mini just for this… now it can be Mavericks (or Lion or whatever). Happy dance.

2014 08 19 snolan Computer Security Comments (0) Permalink

Computer Literacy Bookstore turned Indian Restaurant

I attended Sun Microsystem’s DC area reveal of the brand new Java and dancing Duke mascot at a Computer Literacy bookstore in the late 1990s… I just had lunch in the same spot which is now an Indian restaurant called Bombay Tandoor. Memories are funny things, I could actually still see (in my imagination) the book shelves and tech geeks listening as Sun’s representatives tried to answer security questions about the alleged sandbox around Java executed in a browser, these memory images were superimposed over the modern space with tables, and diners, and Indian buffet.

2014 07 11 snolan Computer Security
Economics
Environment
Local
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Hacking AppleTV for easier text entry

I just updated all my 2nd generation AppleTV’s and to save the current firmware blobs and then re-applied the Seas0nPass jail-break for v5.3 to install XBMC again. Each time I do this (roughly each time Apple offers new AppleTV software) I have to re-enter my AppleID and password through the painfully cumbersome TV remote and on-screen keyboard. Once I have iTunes Home sharing enabled (which requires that first AppleID login) I can used the Remote app on my iPad or iPhone to do text entry much faster, so Yahoo, Netflix, HBOGO, and Hulu passwords are much easier to type in, but that first one is a real pain.

Has anyone figured out how to set the iTunes/AppleID account from the command line on a freshly jail-broken AppleTV? I’d love to set that first account, heck all of them, from the command line or even file transfers… If I could back the key files up before the whole iTunes update/restore, then Seas0nPass jail-break process and simply restore after… that would save the painful on screen keyboard text entry portion.

The specific goal: configure Settings/iTunes Store account and password via ssh command line prompt on an AppleTV, or backup them up and restore them via scp commands.

Bonus: configure Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, and HBOGO accounts via ssh or scp…

2014 07 07 snolan Computers
House
Movies
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