Monday, August 27, 2007

Back with Brunch

Yes, yes, we have been slacking big time – but that’s because we’ve been eating out to bring you only the very best recommendations for a lovely Sunday brunch!

Bistro Bis: Tucked into the Hotel George near Union Station, we jumped to get reservations for DC Restaurant Week. The pre-fixed menu didn’t give us too many options but what stands out in memory (since this was over a fortnight ago) was the salmon, a perfect accompaniment to the table conversation of a friend’s impending trip to Alaska. For dessert, we tried an assortment, and the dark chocolate cake and three-cheese tray were as yummy as the mimosas.
Ardeo: Cleveland Park definitely gets my vote for the most variety of good restaurants and bars within a one-mile strip (thrown in with the best theatre to watch such cinematic wonders such as Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter). But then I may be biased since I used to live there! On a Sunday morning when you’re in the mood for comfort food like sausage, eggs and home fries, this place is probably a few notches above your local diner. I made the mistake of ordering an omelet with trout, red peppers and cilantro. Let’s just say I kept fishing for the trout. Others had better luck: our guest of honor tried the “shirred eggs” – essentially eggs broiled until the white is set, but the yolk remains liquid – or “I’ll take 3 baked eggs sunny side up in a ramekin.” The French toast and mussels in a coconut sauce were also excellent choices.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Cooking in the Summer

Lately I had been uninspired to cook ( maybe something to do with the fact that I am lazy!) . But reading this post in the New York Times has inspired my cooking karma... beware friends and family - some dinner invitations are en route!
Summer Express: 101 Simple Meals Ready in 10 Minutes or Less
If you do end up trying any of these recipes, do tell me how they turned out.

Foodalicious

http://www.opensourcefood.com/

Monday, July 23, 2007

Ole! to Theater and Tapas

Jaleo
480 7th St. NW

With the Capital Fringe Festival on in full swing, a bunch of us headed to the theater district for a play and dinner soiree. After catching the one-woman show “Butter” (a musical satire on Food Network and Paula Deen, in particular), we settled on Jaleo to satiate our appetites.
Jaleo has been around long before Cafe Atlantico and Zaytinya came on the block. They are apparently part of the same creative team so it's hard to go wrong on the menu here. They have a nice wine selection but everyone loves a pitcher of sangria.
After a small wait, we got our table and and rattled off our tapas order in quick succession: Pollo al ajillo con salsa verde (Grilled chicken with green sauce); Costillitas de cordero con salsa de romero y allioli (Grilled lamb chops with rosemary sauce and allioli); Patatas bravas (Fried potatoes with spicy tomato sauce and alioli); Tortilla de patatas al momento (Classical Spanish potato & onion omelet); Calamares a la Romana (Fried squid with allioli); Pimientos del piquillo relleno de queso y setas (Sweet peppers stuffed with goat cheese and mushrooms); Cazón en adobo al estilo de Cádiz (Marinated fried shark like people do in Cádiz). Also a stuffed garlic mushroom in breaded balls, whose name escapes me now. But all the dishes, without doubt, were ummm-mazingly delish. Every time I come here, I try to have something new and this time it was the shark tapas which came out a surprising winner (kudos to whoever ordered).
The atmosphere is great and the downtown location makes it perfect for not only the theater crowd, but office-goers and tourists alike. Reservations are recommended for lunch and limited to dinner between 5-6:30 p.m. for pre-theater patrons. The service isn’t bad and although yours truly wasn’t carrying a valid ID, I sneaked generous sips of the sangria without being glared at. A glass-breaking incident was also handled by management with minimal fuss. Yup, the sangrias were doing a Flamenco in some of our heads.

Cost: Average. Depends on the order.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Never Lets Me Down

A friend was visiting from New York and wanted to meet for dinner. Hmm, where can I take some one who is visiting from the Mecca of food? A co-worker suggested Tabbard Inn. A good suggestion, since it fits right into my plan of frequenting places I can walk to.

Since we did not make reservations, we could not get seated outdoors, instead got a seat where I had to face a wall. The fun and cosy atmosphere made up for that as did the appetizer, scallop ceviche. Juicy tender scallops marinated in coconut milk with a mild hint of lemon grass. I ordered the duck cooked medium rare that came with a fruit sauce and was delectable. My friend ordered the crab cakes with bacon succotash, which was just as yummy if not better. Having stuffed ourselves with the food we had no room for dessert, though the home made ice creams certainly looked tempting.
Average entree $21 and up

Tabard Inn

1739 N Street, NW
DC 20036

Monday, July 16, 2007

Waste of a Friday

What ever you do on a Friday, don't end up wasting it at Axis on U street. I had a strange feeling about the place that has now been open for the last 6 months and yet at 9 pm on Friday it was mostly empty. My friend and I ordered the Calamari that was served with a strange pink sauce. The Calamari was chewy, the serving staff was unfriendly and I felt like I was not at Axis but Antarctic. Upon requesting the waitress to turn the Fans down , we were told , oh the regulator is broken if we switch one off, they all need to be turned of... well how about fixing that?
The chicken sandwich my friend ordered definitely made me think that subway was a better option!

Axis Bar & Grill
1340 U street, Washington DC 20009


Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Rainy Day, Greasy Grub

Bombay Cafe
11213 Lee Hwy # D, Fairfax, VA - 22030

Since I've converted most of my co-workers to spice addicts (in a highly slow but insidious fashion), the die hards know where to head when it's time for a good ol' desi buffet. Bombay Cafe (20 mins. outside of DC) sits in one of those corner malls with large boxes of mithai decorating the windows. More importantly, it's about a 7 min. drive from my office. Forget the cheap plastic chairs, run towards the chaat. Everyday there's a new menu to choose from - although the south indian choices leave much to be desired - and today we had things like chhole, mutton curry, aloo shimla mirch and urad daal to choose from. Then there's the gulab jamun, which may be from the packaged variety, but does the job for satisfying your sweet craving. Back to work, people? Zzzz... afternoon siesta methinks.

Cost: Lunch buffet $7.99 (weekdays)

Irish Nachos... huh?

A post work happy hour in Cleveland park had us reach for the closest watering hole by the Uptown theater ( where people were camping in a line for tickets for the new Harry Potter movie- who are these people?) . The menu had me bewildered. When did the Irish start to make Nachos? Was I reading a menu or "The Onion"? I was tempted to seek an explanation and then the chatter and music had me distracted, until our petite waitress came by to take our order. My co-worker was braver and decided to order Irish Nachos, which turned out to be waffle cut fires, with everything on top like regular nachos. I would say, definitely worth trying once. We also tried the smoked salmon with Irish soda bread, which was a little too salty for my taste.
As for the atmosphere is definitely authentic. The large display with sports and the quaint music throw you off.

Ireland's Four Green Field
3412 Connecticut Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20008

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Fast, Cheap and Yummy

The choice for dinner this evening was either McDonalds or... wait there has to be something else out there that was fast, cheap and yummy. And the answer is "Julias Empanada" :-)

Julia's empanadas are made by hand. Stuffings include turkey with spring onions, ground beef and chorizo. The spinach one can be given a miss! The ingredients change weekly in the other vegetarian empanadas. There are a few Soups and salads on the menu as well.Desserts on the menu include Rice pudding and scrumptious fruit empanadas, my personal favorite is the pineapple coconut.

The 18th street venue has some seating. Its minus any frills but great value for money.

2452 18th Street Northwest
Washington, DC 20009

MSN says 10 Restaurants in DC

MSN lists 10 best restaurants in DC
So far the only one I have been to is Zaitiniya. I would agree with the food review. But the waiting staff leaves something to be desired.

Get Your Chill On

Raku - Dupont Circle

Yesterday was a hot, sultry evening and when I met up with an old high school friend the first thing we said to each other after the whole “hey, long time, you look great” crap was “let’s get a chilled beer.” We were also feeling slightly peckish and Raku turned out to suit our needs. It’s an Asian diner which rolls out the sushi in assembly-line precision. So don’t have too many expectations there. I ended up ordering an Asian grilled flank salad from the specials. Normally I hate doing salad entrees, but a cruel summer can do wonders to change your mind. As it turned out, the salad was a perfect accompaniment to my Singha. The flank was tossed over lettuce, spinach leaves, cilantro, basil and a dash of balsamic vinaigrette with a nice mix of crispy onions. A nice change from the usual pad thai, drunken noodles and green curry.
Service: I understand the concept of Raku is like a fast food joint, but the service was too overbearing. We were practically forced to order our entrees and I had to gulp down my beer as the waiter hovered around to take away the bottle.
Décor: Cramped spaces inside with tables bunched up together so warn your friends from Cheney’s office (you may not know who they are even) not to disclose state secrets. Outdoor seating is great depending on the weather but as cramped.
Cost: Appetizers: $3-$8 Entrees: $8-$15 but look for specials!

Bird's Eye View

An interesting way to look at restaurants at night time in Washington DC

Mom made coffee

Azi's Cafe:
1336 9th St NW
Washington, DC 20001

On our very early ride to work in the faraway land of Tysons ( yes I am not a morning person) a good latte can definitely change the mood. Instead of the usual caffeine kick from Starbucks, today we stopped at Azi's cafe located on 9th street by the Convention Center. The owner makes the coffee personally, with a smile. The serving sizes don't follow industry (aka Starbucks) standards! There is a medium and a large.

The cafe seems to attract a lot of regulars who know the owner and come back with their cups!
I must admit the baked goods looked tempting and the lady behind me ordered 6 scones and a danish, so I am going to assume the cafe is doing some thing right :-)

Azi's Cafe in Washington

Monday, July 9, 2007

These are a few of my favorite things...

Ceiba:
701 14th Street NW
Washington, DC 20005

Latin inspired menu. Fun to hang out at the Bar and order appetizers and desert.The ceviche sampler is outstanding. Excellent mojitos. The main courses are not as exciting. Desserts are decent. Fun lively atmosphere. Staff is always courteous and accommodating.
http://www.ceibarestaurant.com/

St -Ex
1847 14th Street NW
Washington, DC 20009

It hard to imagine any one living in DC would not have visited this landmark. I never come back disappointed. When you add a brownie with spices to menu its hard to keep me away. The goat cheese- cheesecake is unusual in its presentation and scrumptious in taste. Well worth a visit just for that. The bartenders are always friendly.
http://www.saint-ex.com/home.html

Cupcakes

My love for sugar is going to kill me. If I see it , I eat it. If there was a sugar patch I would be the perfect candidate! Cupcakes, yummm...

Upon my move to DC I was pointed to the much talked about Warren Brown's Cake Love. Needless to say over a period of time I have tried almost every kind of cupcake that exsists. No surprises that it has been voted as the number one bakery . Though just the other day I bought cupcakes from Pastries By Randolph and was pleasantly surprised. My favorite was the vanilla with vanilla icing. Sorry you chocolate lovers out there.

Washington DC restaurant week

Washington, DC Restaurant Week

Duration: August 6 – 12, 2007
Pricing: $20.07 lunches and $30.07 dinners; prices are per person and do not include beverage, tax or gratuity

Of Eating Out and Such...

So the D of C is not a city like New York and not a town like Walla Walla (that’s in Washington state, in case you’re wondering). But whatever it is, this place offers a wide range of cuisines to suit the international crowd and the local palate. If you know your butter chicken from your Malabar chicken or your stuffed burrito from your stuffed eggplant with tofu and green peppers, then this is the place for you.
We’re going to review the old haunts, the new digs and anything else in between. But if you checked out a new place recently and found the steak too well done or the service too-eager-to-please to the point of overbearing, let’s hear about it. And if you find a hole-in-the-wall that has a brunch menu or a chocolate pastry to die for, let’s absolutely hear about that, too. Bon chance and bon appetit!