The Spot: El Chalan, 1924 Eye St. NW, (202) 293-2765

The Cuisine: Peruvian

The Go-To Dishes: ceviche mixto, cabrito norteño

The Scoop: When it comes to Peruvian food in the metro area, we're often relegated to thinking that the El Pollo Rico locations are the alpha and the omega of this sadly under-appreciated cuisine. I'm not trying to diss El Pollo Rico because it is absolutely a quality establishment. I just want more. So how do I go about furthering my Peruvian palate? I have walked by both Inti Peruvian Restaurant off Dupont and El Chalan Restaurant downtown about a million times, but I figured a little expert advice couldn't hurt the process. Who better to call than the Peruvian Embassy, right?

Wrong. When I called and asked where I could find the best Peruvian food in D.C., an embassy man wondered if I was near a computer. Naturally I got excited, believing he was about to give me classified information on a top-secret Peruvian restaurant open only to diplomats and distinguished dignitaries. As I sat there salivating over the phone, ready to discover a Peruvian oasis, the man from the embassy instructed me to, "Go to Google and type in good Peruvian restaurant in Washington, D.C."

Wow, thanks.

I decided to take matters into my own hands and visit El Chalan on the outskirts of Foggy Bottom. As I walked down the stairs toward the front door, I was struck by the ambiance and quaintness of El Chalan. The restaurant was dimly lit and decorated with murals and religious paintings that give it a borderline romantic feel. I'd been told that the cramped restaurant fills up during the lunch hour, serving the hungry masses from the nearby World Bank and IMF, but there were only a handful of occupied tables for dinner. It made for a relaxing atmosphere.

I knew I wanted ceviche before I even walked in and was thrilled to see there was not one but two options on the menu. The ceviche pescado was a purely fish-based preparation, while the mixto had a combination of fish, mussels, squid, and conch, both of which were traditionally marinated with citrus juices and spiked with chili peppers and onions. I got one order of the ceviche mixto, and it was pleasingly fresh with a bracing citrus blast jam-packed with flavor. To complement the appetizer, a loaf of bread with a red pepper paste was brought to the table, and I washed it down with a Cristal, a smooth Peruvian cerveza.

Unfortunately, the ceviche was the highlight of my night. My dining companion and I ordered two traditional entrees: the lomo saltado and the cabrito norteño. The lomo saltado — a dish of beef strips sauteed with onions and tomatoes and served with fried potatoes — was not juicy and flavorful like others I've had. Its dry texture reduced it to a bland, Peruvian stir-fry. The cabrito norteño — a traditional goat stew cooked in beer, vinegar, onions, and spices and served with rice and beans — was definitely an upgrade. The spice combination was delicious, and the goat meat was cooked on the bone, providing a whole lot of flavor. It wasn't a dish that would bring me back over and over again, but I enjoyed it at the time.

The Verdict: I want to believe that El Chalan's kitchen was just having an off-night with the lomo saltado because everything else about the place is so right. The atmosphere is relaxed and inviting, and the waitstaff is courteous and attentive. The ceviche mixto is a must for anyone interested in this Peruvian staple. I just hope everything else on the menu can follow suit by the time you make it out to El Chalan.

R.J. Cooper's "24" tasting menu abruptly ended this month at Vidalia.

Putting together this year's Young & Hungry Dining Guide was an exercise in managing the chaos of the local dining scene. Several places that had all but secured a spot on my list of the 50 most fascinating restaurants — Inox, Teatro Goldoni, and Vidalia — suddenly found themselves on the outs. In Inox's case, it was unavoidable; the fine-dining operation closed after putting up a good fight in this poor excuse of an economy.

In Vidalia's case, R.J. Cooper's abrupt departure threw the kitchen into flux, lowering expectations enough to force me to give the downtown restaurant the boot. I say that even though Jeffrey "Mr. Obsessive" Buben continues to oversee Vidalia, no doubt applying the whip whenever his feverishly high standards are not maintained. But you cannot immediately replace one chef's vision, particularly Cooper's refined one, with another's and expect instant results.

The same holds true for Teatro Goldoni, whose owners gave chef Enzo Fargione his walking papers for doing nothing less than making that dated, commedia dell'arte restaurant relevant again. With Fargione out of the way, Goldoni installed a more casual, rustic Italian menu, which instantly put the K Street institution in the same league as about 1,000 other places.

After bumping these three destinations off the list, I ultimately selected only 10 fine-dining restaurants for this year's guide, which still represents 20 percent of my picks. The rest of the 40 slots have been taken up with casual or neighborhood or even fast-casual operations, which  makes sense. These kinds of eateries continue to multiply like bacteria on raw chicken.

One of the traps of putting together such a guide is to fall under the spell of the new. All the hype that surrounds freshly launched restaurants can distract a critic from the more mature restaurants that still deserve attention. I tried to be aware of that as I compiled this guide.  Seventeen restaurants from last year's list held their spots this time around. Of the 33 other spots, 15 are occupied by restaurants that have opened since the 2009 guide, which means 30 percent of the list features new eateries.

That's an uncomfortably high number for me. So I've decided to list the five veteran restaurants that just missed the cut.

• Corduroy: Chef Tom Power is a master at manipulating seasonal ingredients for maximum flavor.
• Blue Duck Tavern: The hotel restaurant still has one of the best brunches in the city.
• El Pollo Rico: The legion of Super Pollo fans is wrong. Those dry, lackluster birds don't begin to compare to EPR's.
• Poste Moderne Brasserie: Chef Rob Weland has turned his outdoor patio into a backyard farm for his kitchen — not to mention a backyard barbecue with his Poste Roasts.
• Joe's Noodle House: Still my favorite spot for authentic Szechuan cooking.

Y&H thought he would engage in a little warm-up battle before taking on the ultimate pollo a la brasa challenge later this winter. (Scroll to the comments section of that link to get an eye-ful.) So here are today's challengers: El Pollo Rico in Wheaton vs. Super Chicken in Falls Church.

I'll tell you one thing that I don't like about Super Chicken right away: its crowd flow. Take a look at the picture after the jump. There's only a narrow space between the ordering counter and beverage cooler through which customers must enter and exit. For those of us who like our personal space undisturbed, this choke zone seems like one potential groping area.

But you don't really give a damn about my personal space, do you? You want to know about the chicken.

I like Super Chicken's birds, but they're altogether different from those at El Pollo Rico. For starters, SC's birds are deeply charred — you could almost call them blackened — and they're saturated with moisture. Just look at your Styrofoam container when you're done eating. It runs heavy with juices.

These characteristics make me think that Super Chicken brines and charbroils its birds longer than they do at EPR. That may be SC's signature or it may be an anomaly. More tastings can only prove that theory. But SC's birds also are significantly more salty than those at El Pollo Rico, which also may be part of the restaurant's signature. Super Chicken's brine could, by design, include a ton more sodium.

Put this all together, and you have a fine example of pollo a la brasa. Super Chicken's birds are wonderfully moist and salty, with a pronounced herby flavor, perhaps thyme. They're also quite smoky from that thick coating of char. All of these characteristics make me a fan of Super Chicken. Hell, I'm a fan of just standing there in the restaurant and smelling the aroma of those smoked birds.

But do I think Super Chicken is better than El Pollo Rico? No. I think I still prefer El Pollo Rico's approach to rotisserie chicken. I taste more aromatics and more complexity in EPR's birds; I also don't feel so beat over the head with salt and brining solution.

Yet the bigger question for me is this: Can you even really compare the two and say one is better than the other? They're so different that it seems more a matter of taste than a matter of technical or flavor superiority. When two Peruvian chicken outlets reach this level of craft, it's like picking between LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. You're good either way.

Next up: El Pollo Rico vs. Super Pollo!

There's a real family vibe at Super Chicken

The potential grope zone

You're so close to the fire and smoke you could get high from it

The delightfully odd mural in the Super Chicken parking lot

So what if you launched a D.C. Dish Hall of Fame contest to suss out the metro area's best bites and it turned into a coronation of the region's cheap eats? It would make sense, right? After all, as I noted early in the voting, the odds are stacked decidedly against the high-end restaurants.

Arianne Bennett, co-owner of the namesake dish and Hall of Fame inductee at the Amsterdam Falafelshop, said much the same thing in an e-mail to me after I announced the contest results on Monday:

I think that some of the high-end restaurants missed out, and the lower-price-point places excelled in the voting because of two reasons:

1.  more bodies move through our restaurants daily, resulting in more bodies that have tried the food and can vote, and
2. higher end restaurants have more diverse menus – everyone who goes to Blue Duck has not had the incredible pleasure of the marrow bone appetizer... but everyone who goes to the Falafelshop pretty much gets a falafel (same with Pollo or Ben's).

Bennett suggests a dual platform contest next year: one for high-end dishes and one for fast-food or fast-casual dishes. It's a good idea.

However, in the meantime, whether fair or not, I have decided to weigh in on the winners of our inaugural Hall of Fame contest. Did they deserve the honor or not? You can read my thoughts here.

Earlier today on the blog, Y&H announced the inaugural class of the D.C. Dish Hall of Fame, which culiminated weeks of online balloting from more than 1,200 voters. But as we've known from Day 1, only five dishes could enter the hall, which leaves another 25 nominees out in the cold.

Perhaps you're interested in how the other 25 fared? Say no more. After the jump, you can view the dishes that didn't make the cut and find out how close they were to the five inductees.

But before you do that, ask yourself this question and then fire up a comment below: How many chances should a dish get to try to make the D.C. Dish Hall of Fame?

The inaugural class of the D.C. Dish Hall of Fame:

Half-smoke with chili at Ben's Chili Bowl, 502 votes

Falafel at Amsterdam Falafelshop, 395

Hamburger at Five Guys, 259

Peruvian chicken at El Pollo Rico, 193

Margherita pizza at 2Amys, 186

The rest of the field:

Burger from Ray's Hell Burger, 164

Salty oat cookie at Teaism, 150

Pho at Pho 75, 135

Palak chaat at Rasika, 130

Fried whiting at Horace & Dickie's, 124

Atomica pizza at Pizzeria Paradiso, 102

Boudin blanc at Marcel's, 99

Chicken croquetas at Jaleo, 89

Cowboy-cut bone-in ribeye at Ray's the Steaks, 83

Lobster burger at Central Michel Richard, 79

Shrimp and grits at Vidalia, 70

Spit-roasted goat at Komi, 70

Peking duck at Mark's Duck House, 63

Michel's chocolate bar (aka the Kit-Kat bar) at Citronelle, 62

Dry-aged sirloin steak at Buck's Fishing & Camping, 56

Smoked branzino carpaccio at Teatro Goldoni, 53

Italian sandwich at A. Litteri's, 52

Roast chicken at Palena Café, 49

Parker House rolls at CityZen, 48

Butter chicken at Heritage India, 36

Charcuterie plate at L'Auberge Chez Francois, 35

Fried Ipswich clams at Kinkead's, 34

Floating market noodle soup at Nava Thai, 33

Roasted bone marrow at Blue Duck Tavern, 30

Deep-fried flounder at Duangrat's, 27

Yesterday, readers of the Young & Hungry newsletter (hint, hint: sign up at right) got first word on who won the D.C. Dish Hall of Fame. Today, we tell everyone the results of our debut contest, which we launched back in October with the idea of sussing out the dishes that best define the D.C. metro area.

From the very beginning, voters were clear on their favorite. It's the same one that Bill Cosby loves. The same one that puzzled future president Barack Obama. The same one made in Baltimore but rich in D.C. history.

Yep, you know it as the chili half-smoke from Ben's Chili Bowl.

The famous link in the natural casing, topped with the joint's dark signature meat gravy, beat the nearest competitor, the falafel from Amsterdam Falafelshop, by more than 100 votes. In terms of this contest, that's a landslide.

It's a landslide particularly when you consider that Ben's, unlike Amsterdam, did not solicit customers to vote for its dish. Nizam Ali, the youngest son of founders Virginia and the late Ben Ali, says he didn't even know about the Hall of Fame voting until late last week. At that point, he told a handful of friends about it, and even voted himself, but didn't promote the contest at the Bowl.

Who did Nizam Ali vote for? "I voted for us, of course," says Ali, who now runs Ben's with older brother Kamal. "I voted for Horace & Dickie's fried fish and what was the other one? I can't remember now."

"Oh, I think it was 2Amys," he says about the pizzeria's Margherita pie.

Many of the 1,238 voters agreed with Ali's choices. More than 500 of them voted for the chili half-smoke, followed by the falafel at Amsterdam (395 votes), the hamburger at Five Guys (259), the Peruvian chicken at El Pollo Rico (193), and the Margherita pizza at 2Amys (186). These five dishes make up the inaugural class of the D.C. Dish Hall of Fame.

"It is only because of the loyal following of our customers that we could have achieved something like this, and we are honored beyond belief to be included with the likes of true landmarks like Ben's, and true culinary delights like 2Amys," writes Arianne Bennett, co-owner of Amsterdam Falafelshop with husband, Scott.

Bennett's not kidding about the loyal following. Their customers are so loyal, they take orders. Bennett admits that Amsterdam added a note to the bottom of the shop's receipts, urging customers to vote; she also alerted the vegetarian community in an effort to solicit more votes for the only veggie option in the competition. Maybe as a result, many of the comments we received about Amsterdam's falafel were nothing less than gushing.

A sample: "Amsterdam has the Best Falefel ever, I adore them and wish there was one right next to my house!"

Then again, Ben's earned its praise without any prodding from the restaurant. Consider this reader comment: "As much as I enjoy a nice dinner at Central or Cafe Atlantico, nothing beats a half-smoke. And no half-smoke beats one from Ben's. I just moved away from DC after 22 years this fall, and the idea that I won't ever be able to eat a half-smoke unless I'm visiting my parents kills me."

Or consider what chefs think about Ben's half-smoke, despite the fact that it's a commercial sausage produced by Manger Packing Corp. in Baltimore. "I have had the half smoke with chili. I have had the half smoke with a fried egg. I think it's good," says chef R.J. Cooper of Vidalia, where he's been known to make his own sausages. "Is it the quintessential Washington, D.C. food? If anything is it, that would have to be it."

The interesting thing is that both Ben's and Amsterdam — one an institution, the other a budding one — are still formulating or thinking about franchising plans. Could either one (or both) become the next Five Guys, a once (and always) beloved local institution that has spread its seed all over the country?

The question is rather loaded, especially for Nizam Ali and family. Ali said he had read Y&H's recent blog item, in which I wondered whether Five Guys' burger was still Hall of Fame worthy given that the chain's aggressive franchising has (sometimes) hurt the quality of its product (not to mention managers' ability to make sure cooks know how to griddle those patties properly).

"I thought to myself, Hey, if and when or somewhere down the line if the Chili Bowl franchises, would that knock the half-smoke or Ben's out of the running[for a place among D.C.'s iconic dishes]?" Nizam Ali says. "It's an interesting question."

It's an interesting question for the Alis because, for 51 years now, they have prided themselves on their personal touch at Ben's. They've prided themselves on the history that the U Street institution oozes. They've prided themselves, in short, on being a family-run business.

"Because of the history and legacy of the family, we really want to do it our way and kind of want to keep control of it," Nizam Ali says. "The Chili Bowl has been all about family, and we want to keep our family intact. So if I'm running around selling franchises and my brother's running and going to the openings and checking the quality, then we're both divorced...You know what I mean? So what's more important? The running around and opening thousands of stores or making sure that your home life is happy and all that stuff. That's kind of more important to us."

At the same time, the Alis have not ruled out franchising altogether. It's probably impossible to rule out franchising when the family constantly receives calls about it. But here's hoping that Ben's never becomes another Five Guys, no matter how much money they could make from it.

As a final note, I want to thank all of you who participated in our very first D.C. Dish Hall of Fame contest. If you have some thoughts about the results, please e-mail them to me, and I'll publish the best on the blog.

In the meantime, go out and congratulate the winners by visiting their restaurants.

The inaugural class of the D.C. Dish Hall of Fame:

Half-smoke with chili at Ben's Chili Bowl, 502 votes

Falafel at Amsterdam Falafelshop, 395

Hamburger at Five Guys, 259

Peruvian chicken at El Pollo Rico, 193

Margherita pizza at 2Amys, 186

The table to my right was filled with three loud diners speaking in that unique strain of Southern dialect called "Redneck." A young African-American couple behind me was cooing at each other, a shared Styrofoam container between them. A lonely Latino was huddled at a table in front of me, silently devouring his chicken.  It was snowing outside. Rap music was playing over the sound system.

It was one of those nights in which all the disparate cultures and people seemed as if they could finally agree on one thing: El Pollo Rico is the shit. And on this night, EPR really was. 

The skin on our chicken was crisp, and the flesh was so succulent and just short of too salty, which is the way I like it. And most important, the herbs and spices were in balance; the cumin had not attempted a hostile takeover of our bird.

There is a reason this charcoal chicken is among the leaders in the D.C. Dish Hall of Fame voting, which ends today. At this point the chicken looks like a shoo-in for the hall's inaugural class, but who knows. Ray's Hell Burger sits down there in sixth place, just itching to move up with a late, 11th-hour surge. Remember, only the top 5 get inducted.

Don't see your favorite dish among the leaders? Better get voting. The contest ends at midnight.

The Five Guys burger in all its unfiltered glory

We're down to the wire on the D.C. Dish Hall of Fame contest. You have only until Friday to cast your vote.

As you likely know by now, the top five dishes will be part of the hall's inaugural class, with more plates to be inducted in the years to come. As it stands, the leaderboard remains virtually the same from last week's, although the falafel from Amsterdam is quietly challenging the half-smoke from Ben's for the top spot. The Falafelshop is probably gaming the system, but, hell, that's the problem with public online contests.

Just as troubling: As the contest winds down, Y&H has been revisiting some of the leading dishes (see, ahem, the above photo) in preparation for writing a recap about this madness. During my visits, I've found myself confronted by some tough questions, such as:

Do we really want the current iteration of the Five Guys burger to serve as D.C.'s calling card? Does a restaurant's longevity automatically make its food worthy of Hall of Fame status?

It's not like we can go back on our promise to induct the winners, although one Y&H reader, Rob, suggested that very idea to me:

I would vote to remove 5 Guys from the list. The chain is not local anymore, even though they started out that way. Should we have McDonalds on the list then?

To be fair, the site of the original McDonald'sin San Bernardino, Calif., has been turned into a museum, which goes way beyond a simple online Hall of Fame vote, but I get your point, Rob. I'd be curious on what the rest of you think. Chime in via e-mail and let me know your thoughts.

Meanwhile, here's the leaderboard:

1. Half-smoke with chili at Ben's Chili Bowl, 399 votes
2. Falafel at Amsterdam Falafelshop, 349
3. Hamburger at Five Guys, 223
4. Peruvian chicken at El Pollo Rico, 161
5. Margherita pizza at 2Amys, 148
6. Burger from Ray's Hell Burger, 125
7. Salty oat cookie at Teaism, 124
8. Pho at Pho 75, 115
9. Palak chaat at Rasika, 112
10. Fried whiting at Horace & Dickie's, 104
11. Atomica pizza at Pizzeria Paradiso, 87
12. Chicken croquetas at Jaleo, 83
13. Cowboy-cut bone-in ribeye at Ray's the Steaks, 71
14. Spit-roasted goat at Komi, 65
15. Lobster burger at Central Michel Richard, 60

Only four more days to go, so get votingif you want to see that leaderboard flip.

The big news this week concerns Amsterdam Falafelshop's dramatic rise to second place on the D.C. Dish Hall of Fame leaderboard.  The falafel's surge was no doubt assisted by promotions like this one on VegDC.com's Facebook page, which of course points out the whole problem with online public surveys: Folks can stuff the ballot box.

And leave comments like this:

"There should be more vegan options on this list!"

Ahem, Y&H desperately needs an international election monitoring group. Or at least experts to supplement the public vote, which is the direction that Y&H's heading.

Here's the current leaderboard:

1. Half-smoke with chili at Ben's Chili Bowl, 363
2. Falafel at Amsterdam Falafelshop, 259
3. Hamburger at Five Guys, 206
4. Peruvian chicken at El Pollo Rico, 142
5. Margherita pizza at 2Amys, 134
6. Burger from Ray's Hell Burger, 111
7. Salty oat cookie at Teaism, 109
8. Pho at Pho 75, 99
9. Palak chaat at Rasika, 99
10. Fried whiting at Horace & Dickie's, 90

There are still two weeks left to vote for the inaugural class in the D.C. Dish Hall of Fame. So get voting!

With only three weeks of voting left in the D.C. Dish Hall of Fame, the leaderboard remains virtually unchanged from last week's, save for a little jockeying at the bottom and 2Amys' suddenly move into a fourth-place tie with the falafel sandwich at Amsterdam.

Remember, only the top five dishes will be part of the Hall's inaugural class. So if you don't like the looks of the list below, get voting.

1. Half-smoke with chili at Ben's Chili Bowl, 334 votes
2. Hamburger at Five Guys, 157
3. Peruvian chicken at El Pollo Rico, 128
4. Margherita pizza at 2Amys, 115
5. Falafel at Amsterdam Falafelshop, 115
6. Burger from Ray's Hell Burger, 99
7. Salty oat cookie at Teaism, 98
8. Palak chaat at Rasika, 89
9. Pho at Pho 75, 88
10. Fried whiting at Horace & Dickie's, 83

The interesting thing is, several high-end dishes are holding their breath just below the surface of the Top 10 list. Check it out:

11. Atomica pizza at Pizzeria Paradiso, 58

12. Lobster burger at Central Michel Richard, 46

13. Cowboy-cut bone-in ribeye at Ray's the Steaks, 45

14. Shrimp and grits at Vidalia, 41

15. Spit-roasted goat at Komi, 41

With a coordinated campaign, any one of these dishes could easily sneak into the rarefied air of the Top 5. So what are you waiting for? Start canvassing for votes!

Photo by Darrow Montgomery