My Week In Food

monday:  steak salad with guacamole, shredded carrot and black beans 

 tuesday: blueberry ted's tart, devil's food cake donut with toasted coconut and a yummy marshamallow fluff from ted's bulletin

wednesday:  the crispiest baked chicken with a delicious pesto sauced poured over

thursday: smoked salmon on flax toast with chia seed cream cheese and cucumbers

friday:  buffalo pork ribs with cucumber ribbons and bleu cheese sauce from the green pig bistro

DC Eats: Tea Cellar

On Sunday Rabia and I went to tea at Tea Cellar at Blue Duck Tavern.  Now, this sounds a lot more fancy than in reality it really is.  I mean don't get me wrong, the tea was amazing, but doesn't come with any kind of pretentiousness guys, in case you're thinking that!  I absolutely love tea time.  I think Rabia asked me because while I'm definitely obsessed with coffee, my love for tea knows no bounds.  I usually have a green and herbal in rotation at all times, and so does Rabia, so it only made sense we would go together. Let me just say the Tea Cellar does not disappoint.  For $45 you get two pots of tea (of your choosing) and an unlimited sweet and savory small bites buffet.  Delicious!

We started off with the Blossoming  Jasmine Tea.  So light and subtle, but absolutely perfect.  For our second pot we went with this tea that was described as "smoky," oh and that it was. It tasted a little too "liquid smokey" for mine and Rabia's taste.  Yeah, it tasted like liquid smoke.  I love that the waitress, when asked how it was, she said "it's smoky, you either like it or you don't"...super helpful, clearly.  

Since I have more of a savory tooth than sweet, I thought I'd save the best for last, but honestly after eating everything I couldn't definitively say which I liked better.  The sweet side of the tea included scones with raspberry jam and clotted cream (how British-y does that sound?!) - my first time having clotted cream, and it's like this amazingly thick delicious butter AND the raspberry jam was delicious, if it was in a jar I could sit down and eat straight out of the jar kind of like Joey in that episode of Friends where Monica made jars of homemade jam and Joey downed them like a jam crack fiend, yup that's what I'd do to this jam.  Ok, moving along...they had assorted macarons, lemon curd tart, chocolate mousse and a dark chocolate tart and mini pear cakes.  Everything was so unique and delicately prepared...really great!

The savory side of the tea held its own!  Raw oysters with a clean taste (no cream! I hate the creamy ones); deviled eggs; open faced lobster BLTs; pumpkin tartlets; and, cabbage rolls filled with chicken salad.  The cabbage rolls were mine and Rabia's favorite.  It sounds so simple, but it was really delicious.  I think I want to try my hand at making it, fingers crossed! 

Rating:  A

I'm definitely going back!

DC Eats: The Dabney

Does it feel like a long time since I posted an actual D.C. Eat?  Feels like it.  Well, this past weekend we had a girls night starting with dinner at a new restaurant, The Dabney.  Of course I perused the dinner menu a few days before (I like to plan - at least when it comes to food) and it looked like southern cuisine, but a little fancier.  I was hoping it wasn't going to be like Vidalia, ok, no offense to that restaurant, but, really? what's the big deal?  I guess I prefer my southern food not fancy? Anyway enough of the hate, Vidalia is unique and not bad, and so was The Dabney.  The cocktails were good, the food was good, but I think we all left deciding that we wouldn't come back except for a cocktail or two.  Just a heads up most of us decided this is NOT the place to take a guy, the food portions would not suffice a guy who is not a foodie, so beware!

My rating?  B-

We started off with drinks.  The drinks were great, but my favorite was the American Trilogy - a take on a Manhattan - apple brandy, bourbon and stone fruit bitters, the perfect cold winter weather drink.  This one will definitely warm you up. 

Then we shared a few appetizers:  sweet potato roll with fried whitestone oyster and pickled chili tartar sauce; crispy sweet potatoes with smoked trout roe and horseradish cream; and, crispy catfish with buttermilk dressing, pickled onion and cilantro.  The appetizers were hands down my favorite part of the dinner, each was absolutely delicious.  The sweet potato rolls were light and buttery, with the crunch of the fried oyster and then the creamy sour tang of the sauce perfectly complimenting the mini sliders - talk about layers of flavor!  

The crispy sweet potatoes with roe and horseradish - another example of great flavor layering.  

I'm not even a huge fan of catfish, but the perfectly fried fish was dusted with some red chili powder which seriously gave it a slight hint of heat, delicious!

Seared trout with confit potatoes and a beurre blanc sauce.  The skin was crispy and layered on top of the perfectly cooked trout.  The beurre blanc sauce was creamy and delicious with the trout and the confit potatoes it sat upon.

The cornbread we shared at dinner.  It was ok, but would have been a lot better if it was sweet!!

For dessert we shared delicious cinnamon dusted donuts.  

VA Eats: Earls Kitchen + Bar

After a long Monday, Mirona met up with me for dinner in a new section of Tysons Corner Center.  For those of you not from the area, Tysons Corner is a pretty large mall that has been in the northern Virginia area for years.  It is home to a ton of great restaurants, and now has welcome in a few more.  So, we decided to check out Earls Kitchen & Bar.  Cute story, but it’s called ‘Earls’ without an apostrophe, because the two owners share the same name, Earl.  Funny, huh? 

In any case when we walked in the place was packed.  Surprising for a Monday night in McLean, Virginia.  While we waited for our table to be ready, we enjoyed a cocktail that literally tasted like a lemon meringue pie in a glass.  That would sound good, but this was completely frozen, and not exactly my cup of tea, but the meal more than made up for my feelings on this frozen beverage. 

Mirona ordered the Baby Back Ribs, which were falling off the bone and just melted in your mouth.  They were incredible, and I was truly surprised!  I’m  particular about my ribs, and generally only order them at southern/soul food restaurants or small hole-in-the-wall joints.  For me, I just imagine that they would have better ribs than a more “fancy” restaurant.  But, boy was I wrong.  These ribs were made by someone who definitely knows what they’re doing.  The barbeque sauce was sweet and smoky, without overpowering the natural smoky flavor of the pork ribs.  So delicious!

I ordered the Jerusalem Salad.  This arugula based salad, comes served with a preserved lemon dressing, assorted colorful tomatoes, cucumbers, Moroccan spiced chicken breast and a delicious sumac yogurt.  Oh, and the pita chips crumbled into the salad.  It was a great contrast of flavors, crunchy chips and cucumber with spicy chicken and creamy yogurt – fantastic!  I would highly recommend it!  I definitely want to check out Earls again. 

Rating:  B

VA Eats: The Wharf

About a month ago we were deciding on a restaurant to go to for my mom's birthday.  Now, in the past few years, my mom's diet has been more vegetarian and pescatarian, so I thought a good idea would be to try out a seafood restaurant.  In the D.C. area, besides The Wharf in D.C. a great option more seafood restaurants is Old Town Alexandria.  As an aside, our family use to go to The Wharf all the time growing up.  Being from Kerala (in India) we eat a ton of seafood, so my mom was always looking for markets selling the freshest fish, and when we discovered The Wharf it reminded us of the fish markets and quality of fish in Kerala.  

In any case, sometimes for a more convenient trip and a little fancier style of dining, Old Town Alexandria is a great option.  My parents favorite seafood place in that neighborhood is The Fish Market, but with a limited seating area, we decided to check out The Wharf.  Now, sorry to confuse you, but The Wharf is the name of a restaurant in Old Town, not just the name of the area in D.C.  My mom, dad and I went to The Wharf for lunch on a chilly Saturday afternoon. None of us had dined there before, so with low expectations going in, we were pleasantly surprised.  

My parents both ordered the She Crab Soup, a spicy crab soup with cream and sherry.  I definitely should have ordered one myself - this soup was absolutely delicious, even better than the more common Manhattan (or Maryland) styled chowders we usually order.   I also enjoyed the nice side salad which was dressed with a honey mustard vinaigrette - great flavor!

A friend of my mom's recently introduced her to raw oysters, and she is now obsessed.  She's reeled my dad onto the raw oysters team too.  So, we had to place an order.  These were a little more briny than I care for, but my mom seemed to enjoy that flavor.  That's the case with oysters though, it really depends on what you like - clean + fresh, briny, creamy (I hate creamy!). 

My mom and I both ordered one of the specials of the day, the salmon stuffed with crab and crawfish, with a lemony cream sauce poured over.  This dish was mediocre, nothing spectacular, but just ok.  

On the other hand, my dad's order should probably get a little more attention and praise. He ordered a classic, fish and chips. Huge pieces of fish, huh?  They were fried to perfection, and the chips...well they were perfectly crispy on the outside and creamy soft on the inside.   I know this review is supposed to be about The Wharf, and while the chips were amazing (think crunchy outside, basically like mashed potatoes on the inside), I have to say Eammon's in Old Town Alexandria is even better, sorry The Wharf! 

All in all, while the soup was great, I'm not sure anything else I had at this restaurant merits a return visit.  

Rating:  C 

My Week In Food

Thursday, September 24:  On the way to San Francisco I enjoyed a little Texas chopped brisket, fried okra and baked potato casserole, at Dickey's in the Dallas Airport (lovingly called 'Love Field,' the airport I mean).

On arriving, N, like any good big sister, took me to get food.  We went to Madras Cafe, a South Indian vegetarian restaurant in Sunnyvale.  While we did enjoy the kothu porotta, the dosa was not as tempting.  Later that night we went to Bi-Rite Creamery in San Francisco, and enjoyed some brown sugar ice cream with a caramel ginger swirl.  

Friday, September 25:  Today was a little crazy with food.  We had pork adobo and lumpianitas at Patio Filipino Cuisine.  

But, before that I had two tacos at El Farolito (my favorite taco spot in SF), and a delicious sandwich at Ike's (my favorite sandwich shop, EVER), which I enjoyed at the beach.

Saturday, September 26:  Lunch at The Plant Cafe in San Francisco.  Had basil pesto tofu scramble, but the highlight of the meal was the grapefruit and avacado salad with a macadamia nut dressing.  

For dinner we enjoyed the most delicious small plates at Atlas Social.  We shared cauliflower steaks with bearnaise sauce, pesto tomato and burratta bruschetta, truffle macarroni and cheese, roasted potatoes and octopus, curry chicken skewers, spinach salad with bacon vinaigrette -- yeah we ordered quite a few plates, but they were all fantastic.

Sunday, September 27:  Went to three different wineries today, but before heading out, we went by Oxbow Public Market and shared some delicious white bean tacos, avocado tacos, and BLTs.  

We headed out to the wineries, and of course started with champagne at Mumm (we were celebrating my best friend's 30th, it's only appropriate).  My favorite of the wineries we went to was Rutherford Hill.  The wine there was just fabulous and the people working there were so helpful and nice.  Here's a video clip of the champagne pouring at Mumm.

Monday, September 28:  Enjoyed my meatless Monday with my first taste of vegan sushi and vegan ramen.  Absolutely delicious! I will definitely be going back to Shizen.

Tuesday, September 29:  Almond lemon poppy seed tea cake at Tartine.  Yum!! 

Wednesday, September 30:  Saganaki from a Mediterranean tapas place we stopped by in downtown Napa.  Cheese on fireee! 

Thursday, October 1:  Before hopping on the plane to head back home, I had a quick Mexican omelette at Andale Mexican Restaurant in Terminal 2 at SFO.  Not too shabby, especially with the avocado in there!

Friday, October 2:  My friend, Sonia, and I went to our first Washington Capitals game.  I had never been to a hockey game before, and had no idea how violent ice hokey can be!  There were a total of 4 fights!  In any case, before dinner we had margaritas, tacos, empanadas, and a quesadilla at Rosa Mexicano, right next to the Verizon Center in Chinatown.

DC Eats: Agora Brunch

A few weeks back Supreet, Shelly and I went to brunch at Agora, a Turkish restaurant in D.C.  I have not been to too many Turkish restaurants, but I once went to a smaller deli-style Turkish spot in northern Virginia, and it had the most lovely, soft pitas I've ever had.  Supreet has been to Turkey and while she thoroughly enjoyed the food at Agora, she recommended that I check out  Yayla Bistro, which she says has quite a few dishes that she remembers from Turkey and they serve you a nice shot of Raki, a licorice flavored Turkish drink. 

But, I digress, so, on this particular Saturday we went to Agora and unanimously decided to go with the bottomless brunch, because we wanted to try out all the different spreads, and hot and cold mezzes that they had to offer on the brunch menu.  

My absolute favorite was the Baba Ghanouj, probably the best eggplant spread I've had.  It was perfectly seasoned and had this wonderful garlic flavor - and we all know I love garlic, I put in two orders and sure enough they came served with this wonderfully soft, fresh out of the oven bread.  Delicious!  Here are a few of the other highlights from our Turkish brunch.  

Beet and Orange Salad - I almost want to try making this at home.  Red beets, oranges, fresh thyme, and onions, tossed in an orange blossom vinaigrette.

 In the middle of the table we had one cheese and one spread.  Goat Cheese mixed with black caraway seeds and served with honey.  This was ok.  The spread was Labneh, strained yogurt with garlic confit and zaatar (a Middle Eastern spice mix of dried herbs, sumac and sesame seeds). But, my absolute favorite was still the baba ghanouj. 

At the bottom of the picture is the Imam Bayildi - baby eggplant stuffed with onions, tomatoes, fresh oregano, pine nuts, and garlic.  I really enjoyed this hot mezze.  The eggplant was so soft it was easy to cut through and the filling was so full of flavor. 

While most of the menu was vegetarian, we did order the Turkish Pastirma - imported cured loin of beef with olive oil drizzed over the top.  The cured meat had such a unique flavor.  The three of us sat around trying to figure out exactly what it was, the best we could come up with is that it had this pickled flavor that is common in Indian aachaar, which is so strange, because that's like saying the cured meat tasted like pickled vegetables.  I think it may have been the particular spices used in the curing process.  The meat is so thin that the spices permeate the entire meat. 

In all I would rate the brunch a B.  No complaints, but not completely wowed. 

DC Eats: SER

Rating: A+ One gorgeous Friday summer night, Mirona and I decided to catch-up over dinner at SER.  We have both been dying to check out this Spanish restaurant.   Since the night was so nice we decided to enjoy our meal outside over glasses of delicious Spanish white wine. We ordered a number of dishes to share, and they were all absolutely delicious.  My favorite was the grilled vegetables - it had such a unique citrus vinagrette and goat cheese on top, the shrimp and the pan catalana.  I'll describe these all below. 

Mirona started off with a delicious cocktail before joining me with the wine.  But, we both absolutely loved starting off with this Pan Catalana, a garlic bread topped with olive oil and tomatoes, so simple and so delicious.  I could've have multiple orders of these!  We enjoyed them with Puntillitas, crispy mini squid with jalapeno and lemon aioli; a great dish with such a unique and complimentary blend of flavors.   Loved them both!

Parrillada de Verduras, assorted grilled vegetables with caramelized goat cheese and citrus vinaigrette.  My favorite dish!

Steak tartare toast topped with an organic quail egg.  Mixing the egg into the ground beef made for a creamy topping on small pieces of toast.  I like topping my toast with the mixed frisee on the side to lighten up the flavor of each bite. 

Gambas al ajillo, shrimp with olive oil, garlic and cayenne pepper.  This dish was full of flavor and the shrimp were perfectly plump and cooked deliciously.

By the time dessert rolled around we were so stuffed, but absolutely couldn't walk away from trying out the Arroz con leche Asturiano.  This caramelized rice pudding was so amazing!  The caramel sugar bowl was completely edible, and with the fruits and the milky, cinnamon flavor of the rice pudding was fantastic.  

The best way to end the meal!  I can't wait to go back to SER.  This is one of the best restaurant's I have gone to in the northern Virginia area in a very long time. 

DC Eats: Central Michel Richard

Sorry guys the past week has been crazy with moving, and I hadn't planned out too many blog posts and didn't want to just throw something up here without good content.  In any case, things should be a bit more routine now.  

August came and went (sad), and with it came two of my dearest friends' birthdays.  Both Rabia and Mirona decided to have a birthday brunch at Central Michel Richard - not jointly but about two weeks apart.  I had been before when the restaurant first opened its doors, and I must admit the brunch isn't quite as delicious as it was then.  But, all in all, an enjoyable brunch. 

This review is from Rabia's birthday brunch.  They have a $27 Fixed Price menu with three courses.  For the first course I ordered the Chopped Salad, which came served with chopped salami, cube mozzarella and chickpeas. It was mediocre at best.  Last time I was there I ordered the Blueberry Pancrepes, which were better, but still nothing that impressive. 

For the second course I stuck with my favorite choice!  The Fried Chicken and Waffles.  The waffles are a bit dry, but the cinnamon butter they are served with does sort of help that problem.  The fried chicken isn't your typical southern fried chicken, but a delicious chicken breast coated in panko crumbs that leaves the fried chicken so perfectly crunchy and ridiculously juicy inside.  Absolutely delicious!

The final course is the dessert course - yes, you heard me right, it's dessert at brunch.  No one is complaining over here!  Don't order the French Toast; I had a bite of a friend's dessert and it was just not good.  I wish they would bring back the Creme Brulee French Toast that they use to offer on the menu; that was usually the highlight of the meal.  

In any case I ordered the Chocolate Mousse, which has a surprise raspberry filling when you get to the middle.  It's a dark, rich and smooth mousse.  

The birthday girl ordered herself the Lemon Eggceptional and a cappuccino.  I think she was more impressed with the cappuccino than the actual dessert.  The dessert is a lemon tart served in a hazelnut shell.  I had a bite; also wasn't impressed. 

In any case...Rating: B-

Me with the birthday girl (on the right) post-brunch :)  Side note: they do have bottomless mimosas, bloody marys and bellinis for $10!

DC Eats: Il Fornaio and Ted's Bulletin

Last month when N was visiting from San Francisco, we decided to have a happy hour + dinner at Reston Town Center. Sachin works nearby and I'm not too far off, so that location worked perfectly. Plus, it gave us all an opportunity to go back to Il Fornaio (a staple!) and check out Ted's Bulletin (finally!).

Il Fornaio  is hands down our mom's favorite Italian restaurant, at least locally.  She loves that they make handmade pasta and we've gone there for quite a few birthday dinners. But, this time since we went for happy hour, we didn't quite take on any large pasta dishes, but instead shared this delicious thin crust pizza.  The Fradiavola Pizza is topped with sausage, onion, bell peppers, mushrooms and mozzarella, with peperoncino oil drizzled over the top.  The dish is the perfect amount of spicy and full of flavor.  And, of course, since it was a hot night out, we washed it down with a few glasses of a sweet Italian white wine. 

Rating: A The only reason it doesn't get an A+ is because that honor goes to the best local Italian restaurant, Filomena Ristorante (forever in our hearts!).  

Once we were done with happy hour, we figured lets keep the food tour rolling.  None of us had been to Ted's Bulletin before, and while I was more intrigued by their breakfast menu, I figured checking out their dinner couldn't hurt.  On arrival though I was happy to find that you had access to breakfast, lunch and supper all day long.  Unfortunately we were all disappointed by our entrees.  N and I shared the Meatloaf with Mingo County Ketchup Glaze - not good.  Honestly, I didn't even bother to take a picture of it, it was that disappointing.  I think I'll stick to my mom's meatloaf!

Sachin ordered the Popeye Chicken Burger, which is topped with spinach, mushrooms, caramelized onions, and a Boursin cheese spread.  It tasted better than the meatloaf, but I wasn't exactly impressed.  

A bit of a disappointment as far as their Lunch + Supper menus go, but I think I would still go back to try their Breakfast dishes - I mean they had biscuits and gravy, I'm sold.  We didn't leave too upset though, because the highlight of the meal was definitely the Homemade Pop Tarts (we got Strawberry - classic!) and the Adult Milkshakes (the coconut one is fabulous).  

Rating: C for Lunch + Dinner / B for Pop Tarts + Milkshakes