The Bitter Sweet Food Blog

Quick Review

2011-01-24T09:18:00.000-08:00

So it's been a REALLY long time since I've posted on this food blog, but some people this restaurant week continued to insist that I do a few again, so I'm going to see if I can come to some happy medium about the amount of time this takes. Since I've last posted, I've obviously been to MANY restaurants, including among them and I don't remember enough about the intricacies of each meal to really write about them, so I'm going to go down some of the Washingtonian list places I've been to in that time and just give a short recommendation:

Komi (Dupont): Worthy of the #1 ranking. The ambience, the service, the wine, the presentation are all amazing. You have to be willing to trust the Chef and taste a bunch of things you wouldn't otherwise be willing to taste. This place is SUPER expensive, but extremely good. Be adventurous and give it a try. I definitely didn't like everything on the tasting menu, but I liked enough that it was so worth my parents' money (part of my Dad's signing bonus for a friend I referred). The roasted pig main course was one of the best things I've ever had. I really promised myself I would write a full one on this one, and I may still try. Perhaps I should have to go back, is someone paying?

The Source (Capitol Hill): Avoid this place for anything but appetizers. It is far overrated at #3. I know it's Wolfgang Puck, but seriously...you pay for the name. The atmosphere is okay, the bathroom wasn't even that clean though. The appetizers were really good (the crispy pork appetizer was amazing, the pork belly dumpling is overrated). The entrees were not worth what we paid for them and neither were the desserts. It was a $70 lunch with no alcohol and worth $25 or $30.

Rasika (Penn Quarter): Another one I would have blogged if I were doing it. I cannot say enough about this place. It is a really cool atmosphere, convenient to the Verizon Center and really tough to get a reservation (restaurant week, forget about it). Indian food that made my Indian friends gush, a hefty portion of it and at prices that, while not cheap, will not break your bank account either. The best Indian place in town BY FAR. Worthy of it's #9 ranking.

Corduroy (Penn Quarter): I haven't been in years and haven't even been to Power's new(ish) facility. That said, I remember this place being excellent and one of my favorites. It's about time it made it to the top 20.

Sushi Taro (Dupont): Very good and basically next door to Komi. It would probably cost you more than Komi to eat enough food to actually make you full. We went there and had to go to the yogurt place next door to fill up. The food was delicious. Their Wagyu beef might have been some of the best sushi I've ever had. Their fatty tuna was incredible as well and the atmosphere was great. Possibly worth it's #24 ranking, but...after spending $70 without alcohol, I wouldn't expect to need frozen yogurt and still need to eat 2 hours later!

PassionFish (Reston): Worth the drive and the price and the #30 ranking. It is one of the better fish places in the DC area and in a part of the area that needs more good restaurants. If you're out in Reston, it's a good place to go. The decor is so-so and the clientelle can make a little bit of noise (hey, it's Reston), but it's a good place.

Tosca (Farragut): One of the best restaurant weeks out there. They offer full menu and they don't skimp on anything. The pasta is really good and the food there in general is quite good. If you've never been there, it is one of THE places to go for Restaurant Week.

Black Market Bistro (Garrett Park/North Bethesda): Great place, might be a little overpriced, but the atmosphere is one of the best in town. It seems very off the beaten path, but it's not that far away at all. It's in an old historic building and it's so quaint, quiet and private. The food was fantastic. I don't eat mussels, but they looked to be one of the best mussels dishes I've seen. It was very good and good desserts too. Also, try BlackSalt if I haven't written about it. It's a good place along MacArthur Blvd. that is definitely worth the price. I think it might be the freshest fish I've had in DC (which sadly doesn't say THAT much).

Cava (Gaithersburg/Eastern Market): This place is worth the price. It's not very expensive and in my opinion, the mezzes are better than you'll get at the consistently overrated, but super-trendy Zaytinya. The sandwiches for lunch, I can do with or without.

Eventide (Clarendon): Costs way more than it's worth. The atmosphere is cool and the location is convenient, but it's really hard to get a reservation and they don't seem to make all of their own desserts.

Kinkead's (Farragut): Good, but costs WAY more than it's worth and far too difficult to get a dinner table. They claim to be the best fish in town and they aren't bad, but they are definitely overrated. They do a decent restaurant week though. If you're going to check it out (and it's a power place, so you may want to go, just to say you did) go during restaurant week.

Liberty Tavern (Clarendon): If I haven't written about it before, it's worth it if you get the right things. The pizzas are totally worth the price of admission. Also, some of the most creative drinks you'll find in town.

Present (Falls Church): It isn't Four Sisters, which is nearby, but don't overlook it. There are some things that they do better and they are about equal in price and easier to get a table.

Spice Xing (Rockville): Yes! I like this place and it's the second best Indian place I've been to in the area (and I've been to many). It's pretty inexpensive for what it is and easy to just stumble upon when you're in Rockville.

Okay, that pretty much wraps up most of the places I haven't written about that are listed there (which makes it easier for me to remember them). I'll try to update a little bit more with some real ones.

Oval Room

2009-02-23T13:23:00.000-08:00

Oval Room
800 Connecticut Ave. NW
Type of Cuisine: Traditional Continental
Neighborhood: Midtown
Nearest Metro: Farragut West

Well, everyone knows it's Restaurant Week season again. I think after so much time in doing Restaurant Week so heavily, I've figured out what places do a good job for it and what places aren't quite as good. Having been no stranger to recommending restaurants that I enjoy for restaurant week or visiting them again myself, I think that restaurants should put their best foot(d) forward for Restaurant Week. Some of these places that I went this year put out many items from their normal menu and some did not quite go that route. That said, most of the places I went this year did post items that if not on the menu, were carefully planned by the executive chef to provide a good view of the actual menu.

This was the case with the Oval Room. Normally I would shy away from the DC power restaurants like Oval Room, Zola, Williard and Caucus Room, but I was intrigued by Washingtonian Magazine's ranking this restaurant at #9 on its list due to relatively new Chef Tony Conte's designs (he's been there like 2 years or something). If it's ranked that highly, it couldn't be a restaurant purely based on who eats there and not on what the food was like. So a friend of mine and I met there for a very nice, very crowded and little bit rushed lunch. I couldn't have made a better decision since they had the same menu available for lunch and dinner with only a few small adjustments (I can only assume the same portions too since they were HUGE). One thing to note was the "sweet" theme of everything. All of the items on their menu had a sweet flavoring to them which was quite good on some dishes.

Menu:

Appetizers: They put out a wonderful set of five available appetizers.

Me: Mozzerella with sweet chili dressing

Friend: Roasted Beets with fruit

Entree:

Me: Flat iron steak in a red wine sauce with Salsify (a root vegetable)

Friend: Salmon (not sure how it was cooked, but it was served in a bowl over what I think was grits)

Dessert:

Me: Peanut butter cheesecake and boisonberry parfait.

Friend: Dark chocolate brownie

Sweet:
Peanut Butter Cheesecake Parfait: Okay, this was the best part of the meal. It was such a unique combination. The "cheesecake" was extremely smooth and creamy while not super sweet. The peanut butter flavoring was definitely there so that you have to like peanut butter to like the dessert, but it was still relatively subtle and didn't overpower the dessert. The hint of chocolate crust was delightful. The strongest taste to the dessert was actually the boisonberry (sp?). There was a little too much berry in it, but the taste actually melded quite well with the peanut butter, a combination I wouldn't expect.

Roasted beets: Unfortunately I don't remember entirely what it was served with, but the roasted beets were fantastic. There were three different kinds of beets in different shades of red, yellow and orange. Each of them had a sweetness to them that mixed well with the tartness of the beet. It was a textural delight as well.

Mozzerella with Sweet Chili: This had another nice tang to it. The mozzerella was of fantastic quality. It was fresh and a little sweet itself. It was cut into bite sized pieces. I would have wished for a little bit more spice to the sauce, but otherwise, it was delicious.

Flat Iron Steak: Although I was eating at such a nice restaurant, I was still pleasantly surprised by the quality of the flat iron steak. It was much more tender than I am used to from a flat iron steak. I thought it was a bit pretentious that they didn't give me a steak knife to cut it, but I was wrong. The sauce, again had a little bit of sweetness to it, which was a bit overpowering, but the tenderness of the meat and the way it was cooked (perfectly rare) was incredible. Although, the salsify, which I had never heard of before, was the best thing on the plate, and may have challenged the dessert. It was a stalky root vegetable that had the look of asparagus and the consistency of a beet. It seemed to absorb the sauce better than the steak did.

Lunch Service: I found the server to be very in tune with the needs of the lunch crowd. A lot of this is probably due to the location and reputation of the restaurant. We got there a little bit before our reservation and had to wait a little, but we still sat down before our 1:30 time. The server, while a little bit businesslike was nonetheless very helpful and attentive. She did know to leave us alone when needed, but was very efficient and quick with the check. She managed to allow us a relatively quick meal (probably just over an hour) without ever feeling rushed. That is quite a talent which I will attribute largely to the restaurant and probably less to the server.

Bland:

Salmon: Didn't hear too much about it. I had a taste of it and the salmon was quite well prepared, but I think that the sauce was a little bit too sweet for the flavor of the salmon. I think it was better if you just had the salmon plain. Despite that, it was a very good piece of salmon cooked to the perfect temperature and texture. I think the lack of commentary could have hurt this piece a little bit.

Atmosphere: The atmosphere is probably something that most people love. I call it bland because, while I thought it was exactly what it should be and what was intended, I don't know if I love it. Make no mistakes, Oval Room is a DC power establishment. While your meal may not be rushed, the room is quite rushed. It is oval shaped, to make you think of the office a few blocks away. It is infused with busy, fast-moving Washington insiders and packed to the brim. Diners can relax in the plush red, leather chairs, probably like most of the clientele have in their office so they can feel like they haven't left. It had surprisingly good acoustics for how crowded it was. I was able to hear my friend across the table pretty well. I would say that if you like comfortable but crowded, busy and undoubtedly pretentious, you would enjoy Oval Room.

Dark Chocolate Brownie: This was definitely the loser among the food. It was good, but it was nothing special and definitely compared negatively to the peanut butter cheesecake parfait. It was still sweet, but seemed a lot like a Corner Bakery brownie only a little lighter (not that there is anything wrong with a Corner Bakery brownie). For some reason I'm not expecting light when I go for a chocolate brownie.

Bitter:

Menu Planning: The menu itself I enjoyed. It was not pretentious, everything made sense (if I had known what Salsify was, but it was no creative name, that's just the name of the vegetable). The planning of the restaurant week menu and likely the whole menu has a strong tendency towards the sweet. All six dishes on the table were sweet and I really wanted something more savory or spicy to go along with it. I thought that it was poorly planned. Other than that, there was nothing terribly bitter about the place. I suppose that consistency is what makes this a top 10 restaurant.

Ratings:

Quality: ***1/2 I thought that it was very consistent and bordering at some times on very good. There was nothing at Oval Room that truly wowed me with the potential exception of my dessert. It is definitely still a power restaurant, but likely the best of the power restaurants by leaps and bounds. The Chef does a wonderful job, I just wish he'd vary his menu a little bit more.

Value: $$ Okay so it's a place that is frequented by lobbyists, GS-15s, SESs and expense account lunches. It's not the most affordable place to go, but it's not as expensive as I thought it would be. Afterall, they did do restaurant week and not too many of the really expensive places do.

Vermillion

2009-01-26T13:48:00.001-08:00

I apologize, I have not been keeping up to date with my blogging. In the spirit of the new Restaurant Week season, I believe I need to put a placeholder in here for Vermillion in Alexandria. I went there last Restaurant Week (summer of 2008) and it was truly fantastic.

I remember that I ended up deviating from the Restaurant Week menu and was tempted by an heirloom tomato and goat cheese salad (which was spectacular even despite my dislike of goat cheese). I went for a chicken breast served in a mustard sauce with brussel sprouts and ham mixed in with it. Unfortunately, I don't remember my dessert or anything else that other people at the table got. Suffice it to say that almost all of the food was fantastic! Unfortunately, the summer menu is not online right now so I cannot refresh my memory. They did have an infusion of ham into many dishes on their summer menu if I recall, so it's not a very good place for those of you who keep kosher.

I do remember both the atmosphere (very pleasant, old fashioned, yet interesting looking, considerable space for seating and acoustics where you can hear those at your table and not too many others) as well as the service (which was some of the best service I've received in the Washington, DC area). I also noted that such service was the norm at Vermillion. I believe that my server may have been a particularly good one, but it was noticeably fantastic throughout the whole restaurant. Sometimes you can just tell.

This restaurant was good enough that I am putting in this place holder and recommendation until I am able to visit again and put out a real one. It makes my top 10 list for the Washington, DC area, although I am going off of memory at this point.

Quality: ****1/2
Value: $$$1/2

Il Mulino

2008-08-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

Il Mulino

1110 Vermont Ave., NW

Washington, DC

Nearest Metro: McPherson Square

Unfortunately my Wednesday restaurant week dinner got cancelled and my Thursday lunch was postponed. On top of that, the place I was going turned out not to have restaurant week. So we had to "settle" for a reservation at Il Mulino on Friday. I didn't try to get reservations at Il Mulino because we were eating at a normal time. When our lunch got pushed to 1:45, there it was with an open table, so I took it. Il Mulino understands restaurant week (in fact, they have the deals through the month of August). They put out a very good menu and they serve their guests to their standards. I went with one friend from work and we, surprisingly took the same menu items. For the record, their other appetizers were a mesclun salad, a soup and a calamari; and the other entrees were a grilled salmon, a spaghetti primavera (vegetarian dish which the waiter said was excellent) and another vegetarian pasta that was pretty much a marinara sauce.

Menus (same for both of us):

Appetizer: Proscuitto and melon - served with honey dew melon, blackberries and raspberries.

Entree: Sliced steak in a slight red wine reduction (London Broil) served with garlic potato cubes.

Dessert: A trio of flourless chocolate cake, tiramisu and "italian cheesecake."

Sweet:

Management: I have to put this in there because they did a fantastic job with Restaurant Week. They put out a good menu for a $20 restaurant week lunch. They didn't hold anything back and they even included three FULL dessert portions for two people. I was impressed and pleased with that. I like a restaurant that tries, especially after my last experience at Cafe Promenade.

Proscuitto and Melon: Wow! The prosciutto was very good. It was as good as anything I can get from Italian store. That said, it was no better (although it's difficult to imagine prosciutto much better than i get in the Italian store anywhere in DC). The melon, however, was nothing short of the best honeydew I've ever put into my mouth. As a disclaimer, I didn't start liking most melon until a couple of years ago (I still don't like watermelon too much), but this melon was perfectly sweet and moist and complemented the subtle saltiness of the thinly sliced prosciutto. The presentation of this dish was also very nice with the ham prominently displayed around the sides of a glass dish with the melon inside of it. As the piece d' resistance to this item, Il Mulino saw it fit to put blackberry and raspberry in with the melon. These fruits, two of my favorite are clearly more expensive than melon and showed a clear departure from Cafe Promenade in their desire to go the extra mile and put in a little more for their customers.

Dessert Platter: I think I need to laud this dessert platter as a whole even though I think it's only a restaurant week thing. The platter had a full serving of three desserts (for two people), the tiramisu, chocolate flourless cake and the Italian cheesecake. I will applaud Il Mulino on putting this sampler out and knowing what the customer really wants. The chocolate cake was so good that I decided to order another one to take home. I'm not sure what to say beyond watch out, it actually made my cheeks sweat. The Italian cheesecake was extremely unique. It was unlike other cheesecakes, it was much softer with somewhat of a flan consistency, but the taste of a good cheesecake. The crust was very soft and it wasn't what I was expecting. It was, however, really good when mixed with the amaretto cream that it came with. The tiramisu didn't impress me but a lot of that is because I'm not the hugest fan of it and it's very difficult to differentiate. It wasn't super soggy which I would consider a good thing, but the flavour didn't excite me that much.

Atmosphere: Il Mulino is a relatively crowded restaurant, but the set up is such that it is easy to hear in general. There was a large party next to us and I had no trouble hearing my fellow foodie. The decor is simple, yet elegant with a nice combination of dark reds and whites that you can find in a lot of Italian restaurants. There was some mystique about it. Maybe it comes from the restaurant's Long Island Italian roots.

Bland:
Sliced steak: I really enjoyed my steak, but my friend didn't seem to appreciate it as much. They were both cooked the same way, so it was just a matter of preference. I'm not used to a London Broil inside of a restaurant but I thought that it was very flavorful but perhaps a tad overcooked. The red wine sauce was very good though. I think that the marinade may have saved the meat a little bit. I think it may have been a little dry otherwise. I thought that the square potato fries were very good. They were lightly fried and had plenty of garlic.

Service: I think that the problem may have been our server. He didn't have any more tables than the other servers, but he seemed a bit overwhelmed. He was extremely friendly and managed to keep our drink glasses full with the help of others but he wasn't as attentive as I would have liked. It took us quite a while to pay our checks and he was often back in the kitchen. That said he didn't detract from the meal, he just didn't make it special. I saw other servers that seemed far more attentive walking around, so I think it was only him.

Bitter:
You know, I can't really say that I found anything particularly bitter about Il Mulino. The experience was quite good. We were even able to find parking without incident. The parking lot next door charged us too much though.

Recommendations:
Quality: ****. I think you are likely to get some of the best Italian appetizers and desserts in town. I would still recommend Filomena for pasta and perhaps a couple of places for meat as well, but I think that for those of you non-kosher diners, you'd probably enjoy the calimari or a number of other items on their appetizer menu and the chocolate flourless cake is to die for (or from).

Value: $$$. I think that Il Mulino is the type of restaurant that likes to treat their customers right. They are going to give you a lot for your money. That said, I can never fully justify spending THAT much on Italian food as it's all somewhat easy to make if you buy the right ingredients and there are a lot of similar places. That said, they know where to get those ingredients. Il Mulino is quite expensive though as you will not likely get out of dinner there paying less than $60 a person without wine.

Cafe Promenade

2008-08-13T13:15:00.000-07:00

Cafe Promenade
1127 Connecticut Ave, NW
Inside the Mayflower Hotel
Nearest Metro: Farragut North (across the street)

My first restaurant week endeavor this year was to Cafe Promenade. I was particularly excited about this trip. I've been trying to get R-week reservations there for three iterations and I finally got them. Boy was I disappointed. Some places realize that Restaurant Week is a time to show off their stuff for potential future customers during regular times. I have found several restaurants I have re-visited numerous times from Restaurant Week (Willow, Taberna, Oya to name a few, but certainly not all). Cafe Promenade seemed to be of the other school. Shepherd in as many guests as possible, serve them food that is not on your normal menu, but at least your chef approved the recipe and try to sell drinks and make money. Just try to get through it. I've heard good things, but I was pretty turned off, I will not go back any time soon.
Menus - Restaurant Week

Appetizer:
Me/Friend - Beat salad with argula and an olive oil dressing
Friend - Clam Chowder

Entree:
Me/Friend - Mahi Mahi with mango, spinach and fingerling potatoes
Friend - Petite Filet with red wine reduction

Dessert:
Me - White chocolate mousse in a chocolate shell with fresh seasonal berries
Friend - Fruit Tart
Friend - Creme Brulee

Sweet:
Atmosphere - The atmosphere in Cafe Promenade was very classy and nice. It was a very open restaurant which for those of us in the center of the place took away a lot of the mystique, but at the same time, you were able to feel like you were there in the middle of a big event like in Hello Dolly. You thought an elegant dance floor could just pop up from the ground. It was also pretty cool being in the Mayflower Hotel (the modern day Watergate with all the scandals). The atmosphere and location are fantastic. The room being so large with high ceilings made it very easy to hear those next to you and even though it was crowded, the tables were spread apart pretty well.

Beet Salad - The beet salad was actually delightful. It didn't start out that impressive, I would have called it pretty bland and boring. It was beets with pine nuts and argula in an olive oil. The strange thing was that the more I ate (and I ate the whole thing), the better it got with every bite. By the time I finished the last beet, it was all of a sudden quite delicious. I think I give a lot of credit to the consistent aftertaste.

Filet - In the one bite of the filet that I had, it was delicious. The sauce marinated the steak very well. I am really only a huge fan of two types of steaks. There's the steak that the meat speaks for itself (like at a steakhouse) and then there's the steak where the preparation transcends. The two don't usually mix. You get the solid "man's steak." where you take the steak rare (hurray for the Chicago Chophouse) or you get the medium rare steak with the really good sauce. This was the medium rare steak with the really good sauce. It kept the steak moist and the sauce mixed in with the steak where it just tasted good, not like good steak, just good. The chef did a good job with this one.

Fruit Tart: Well done by my friend who got the beet salad, filet and fruit tart for her meal. She definitely did the best of us. I didn't have any of the fruit tart, but the fruit was fresh and so was the tart. She described it to me as follows: "You know how you have a fruit tart and sometimes you choke on the crust because it's so dry. This one is really good, it's pretty moist and it tastes like it was made today." Fresh fruit, pretty good cream and a fresh tart makes me think it was good. It was gone too quickly to try or get another opinion on.

Bland:
Clam Chowder: The clam chowder received no rave reviews (as I obviously didn't touch it). My friend said it was okay but nothing special. It looked relatively thick but from appearance, it was inferior to Legal Seafood, but costs more. That's a little disappointing considering that Cafe Promenade advertises a Friday Night Seafood Buffet. The clam choweder is also the only item that we had that is actually on the Cafe Promenade normal menu for $7.50.

Mahi Mahi: Okay, this one goes here because of a weird story. I think that the Mahi would have been in the sweet section if the service was better. Because the service was bad, my friend got a bad Mahi and mine was very good. Mine was moist, cooked perfectly and very flaky. The potatoes were inconsistent as some were moist and some were dry. There was the right amount of olive oil and a good infusion of Mango. The spinach was wonderful with a slight hint of garlic. My friends was overcooked and the potatoes were dry (he ate all of the spinach). I had a bite of his and it tasted almost like canned tuna fish as overcooked as it was. He said that the Trader Joe's tuna he had for lunch was better than the Cafe Promenade Mahi. That said, he thought mine was excellent. It gets a bland for the inconsistency.

White Chocolate Mousse: The mousse was pretty subtle. It was good, but white chocolate (not really chocolate for those who don't know) is normally a stronger taste and mousse is supposed to be thicker. This was almost like eating whipped cream with fruit. It was very good whipped cream with fruit but there was basically no white chocolate flavor. It gets a bland because the fruit was fresh raspberries, blueberries and blackberries and it was good. The fruit was the flavor in the actual item, but I was really looking for more out of the mousse.

Creme Brulee - My friend said it was very good, but unless you're absolutely raving about a creme brulee, I'm not going to talk it up too much. Apparently it had a soft top instead of the traditional hard top, but otherwise, it looked pretty standard. Creme Brulee is easy and it's a bit of a cop out dessert for a pastry chef. I can make a creme brulee that's almost as good as most restaurants, so it takes a lot to move up.

Bitter
Service: You know that it's a problem when you don't see service until this point. The service was downright pitiful, especially for an expensive restaurant. The servers took a while to come to our table. They were relatively rude, especially when we ordered ginger ales and cokes and largely ignored us. You can tell a lot about a place if the server is nice when you don't order drinks. I suspect that my friend's food was overcooked because it sat under a heat lamp, they charged me $5.00 for a ginger ale that they never refilled despite it spending half the meal at the bottom of the glass (they filled the diet coke once because she pulled the server aside and asked). They tried to pull my friend's dessert away when he wasn't finished because he wasn't actively chewing when they were in front of him. They hovered over us while we were eating and while we were talking to make sure to clear our plates, however, they couldn't even walk over to the table to ask how our food was where they would have been informed that the one Mahi Mahi was overcooked. Finally, the part I found most appaling is that the servers at a fine dining establishment were going outside for a smoke break in their full uniform and not airing out before coming back and walking right up to tables. Two different staff that approached the table wreaked of cigarette smoke causing me to cough. The service was bad enough that I almost walked up to the manager to complain, but the manager wasn't in sight. He probably doesn't care about restaurant week patrons to bother to come in. I never leave less than 22% at a fine dining restaurant in DC. I was hesitant to leave 15.

Recommendations
Quality: ** The food was decent, but very inconsistent. I'm guessing that their regular menu is better. I would say that the chef has a good feel for designing items, but poor control over what actually leaves his kitchen. A chef without pride in his work doesn't get rave reviews.

Value: $ You can't get out of Cafe Promenade full for less $80 a person and that is without drinks. It is an expensive restaurant that doesn't give you enough food to make you full without costing a whole lot more and the experience just isn't worth it. For that much money, I'd expect to be treated like Elliot Spitzer with Kristin at the Mayflower Hotel (sorry, I had to try to make the joke). I wouldn't recommend the place to anyone.

Playing Catch Up - Good Bets

2008-08-06T15:54:00.001-07:00

Okay, now that I've gone through a few places that you want to avoid, let me touch on a couple of places that I happen to like. Some of these you've heard of before, some of them a bunch. Some of these you've probably never heard of before. Although since almost everyone who reads this blog tends to go to restaurants with me, you've probably heard of all of them.

Anyway, here go the good ones:

Del Merei Grill (Del Ray, Alexandria): I've wanted to write about this one, but I've never gotten around to it. Del Merei is a good steakhouse/variety restaurant in the Del Ray neighborhood. It's also near that wonderful custard place The Dairy Godmother, although not as close as the other Del Ray places. It's actually in this weird shopping center at the bottom of an apartment building along Mt. Vernon Rd. It's not terribly far from where Mt. Vernon changes from Arlington Ridge Rd. It is quite unassuming from the outside, but when you get inside, it is a series of well spread out tables with a certain elegance to them, dim lighting with some a gentle feel to it. You could hear very easily in the place despite the fact that it was pretty crowded. We had a reservation, but there was a decent wait if we didn't, which is surprising for the difficult location. I had a tenderloin steak and my friend had a small tenderloin/crab cake surf and turf. The steaks all come with your choice of sauce as well as your choice of sides (I know I had mashed potatoes). We also had some creative deviled eggs as an appetizer and a homemade cinnamon doughnut as a dessert. I remember all of this and it was quite a while ago when we went. The steak was phenomenal, I was told the crab cakes were good as well. The deviled eggs were pretty good, but i gave them points for being unique. I don't think they were that special, but they hit the spot. The doughnut was surprisingly good, especially since it was a toss up between the doughnut and the custard place. The doughnut was very fresh and definitely large enough to share and be quite satisfied. It turned out to be a little more expensive than I was going for, but to be honest, it was worth it. I'm pretty sure that we had wine though. All in all, it was a good experience and I'd recommend it. That said, you may still want the custard.

Taqueria Poblano (Del Ray, Lee Harrison Shopping Center): There are two locations of this taqueria and it's perhaps more unassuming than the last one. I've been to this one pretty recently a couple of times. My boss took me there the first time and I brought my roommate the second. The restaurant is pretty low rent and relatively authentic. They start you off, like any Mexican place, with chips and salsa, but the salsa manages to be very good without being super spicy. The chips are very good too. They have a full menu for a pretty good price in general ($3-$5 solo tacos and $12 combos). Both times, I chose to get a Mahi Mahi Taco and a duck carnita taco with a side of mexican rice. The people I was with also got tacos, usually a little more standard (beef, chicken, steak). They are all fantastic. They also have bean/veggie tacos and a large plate of other mexican favorites which I'd guess are also quite good. The service was nothing spectacular, but it served its purpose. The tacos are just really good and very worth the price, so is the rice.

Guajillo (Courthouse/Rosslyn): Same shopping center as Ray's and Ray's Hell Burger (or so I'm told it's called). It's got a slightly low rent atmosphere. It's a very thin restaurant with the ducts showing and the chairs are rather inexpensive and a little uncomfortable, but they do decorate the walls with some authentic decorations and the food is worth it. The sangria is the second best in the city in my opinion (see Taberna Del Alabardero). They have fish tacos and lamb tacos that are amazing and I particularly enjoy their soft chicken tamale appetizer. Their salsa is a bit of a smokey tomato salsa with a little kick. Their specialty, however, is the chicken mole. It is a delightful cocoa sauce on a very moist chicken. If you like mole, you'll definitely enjoy it. Guajillo boasts a very large, authentic Mexico City Mexican menu. It has wonderful items from the tacos and mole to fish to great tamales and vegetarian items. It's a great place tucked into that unsuspecting shopping center and the prices are a lot less than you'll pay for food at a comparable place like L'Oreal Plaza.

Breadline (Metro Center): If you work in the city, you've probably already tried Breadline, but if you haven't, you should go there whenever you're around for lunch. Breadline is not exactly one of Washington, DC's best kept secrets, but it does make really good sandwiches from mediterranean style pitas, to deli meats, to an eggplant sandwich to chicken salad, they have it all. The name is correct though, it's not about what's inside the sandwich, but the bread that makes it good. When you go in this place, you'll see a lack of decoration, it's a very industrial design. They are extremely efficient and can get through a long line in no time flat. You will feel like you're at the "Soup Nazi" from Seinfeld. Make sure you know what you want before you get to the front of the line. They may not throw you out, but you'll feel pretty bad about it. It's also quite cheap, around what you'd expect for a sandwich. Try it for the bread and try it for the experience.

Tachibana (McLean): Tucked away on the corner of Old Dominion Rd. and a road I can't remember the name of is the best sushi restaurant on the East Coast (or so I've been told by several Japanese friends). While that would only qualify it as one of the top 5000 sushi restaurants on the West Coast, it's still a wonderful place to enjoy some sashimi prepared in very unique ways. The atmosphere is relatively close to any Asian food restaurant you ever go to. The tables are comfortably spread with larger tables in the middle of rooms and smaller tables along the sides. It's got a very calming feeling without any incredible designs and plain white table cloths on the tables. They let the food speak for itself. The sushi is pretty fresh and the menu is definitely more in depth than a lot of other places. Tachibana serves the traditional rolls, meals with a whole fish sashimi or the traditional nigiri sushi. They also have some interesting specials that include egg and vegetable sushis. There are more interesting vegetable sushis than I've ever seen anywhere before. If you're there, make sure to try the fatty tuna. It's not something that you can find everywhere, but it is excellent. Be sure you go at the right time though, Tachibana can have a long wait. Also, it's a bit more expensive than the average sushi place, so think of it as a $25-$30 sushi meal instead of the $18 you normally pay. It's worth the difference.

El Mariachi: Here is a place that I haven't been in maybe a year, but it pretty much defined the "fine dining" of my High School years. El Mariachi is a Peruvian/Salvadorian restaurant in Rockville in the Wintergreen shopping center. It used to be very small, but a few years ago, they had the occassion to expand and triple the size of their restaurant. They have opened up a second restaurant in Ashburn, VA (they seem to be following my parents). I went there for at least one homecoming and, I've been there much more recently and, as it turns out, it's not all that expensive. They have a very good ceviche (semi-raw sole cooked by the acid of lime juice) and a good selection of other appetizers. My favorite entree is the lomo saltado which is a Peruvian/Salvadorian tradition of beef with potatoes and other vegetables in a tomato sauce. I get this item at many different places (the aforementioned L'Oreal Plaza is one of them), and while they are generally good, none of them compare to El Mariachi. Machu Picchu in Bailey's Crossroads is a solid second place in this arena and you will get good Salvadorian food there, but El Mariachi in Rockville (and now apparently Ashburn) is definitely the best.

More Missed Places - The Disappointments

2008-08-04T13:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I've tried to catch up some in preparation for the new restaurant week. I know I've been to a whole bunch of places that would be wonderful to write up, but alas, I can only do what I remember well enough to write up. I'll need to go back through Open Table and try to get to what I've been to.

3 (Clarendon): This place was a bit of a disappointment. It is owned by the same people who own Whitlow's on Wilson, also in Clarendon. I saw it being built and got to speak with one of the owners before it was prepared. When it was finally opened, I was quite excited to try it. It has been quite a while since I was there, but I was very disappointed. I don't particularly remember what I had there, but I remember not liking the wine, the service was average, the food was average and overpriced, the dessert was pretty good, but I think I was just in the mood for sugar. I don't recall my friend being overly impressed either. The only thing that I remember being worth the price of admission was the atmosphere. It was pretty well decorated and you were able to hear pretty well.

600 Restaurant (Watergate): The only thing I can say is don't go here. This restaurant has actually made me second guess 1000 point reservations on Open Table. Yes, it got me 1000 points on Open Table, but it wasn't worth it. I wanted a random nice dinner on a Friday night and I went there. I had a strip steak and I think my friend had a surf and turf. I think disappointed is the wrong word for it. This place had bad service, average atmosphere (you could hear very well because the restaurant was EMPTY). The food wasn't very good, although they did give us a decent amount of it. Dinner was far more expensive than it should have been as we somehow ended up paying $45 a person or so at a place that pretends to be moderately priced. Just consider yourself warned about slightly below average food for a high price. On the good side, it's right next to the Kennedy Center?

Evening Star Cafe (Del Ray, Alexandria): Okay, so this is a pretty cool place to hang out. The bar was kind of nice and their drink selection wasn't terrible. The location was in the hipster Del Ray right down the street from the Dairy Godmother, a fantastic frozen custard store. Parking is available, so that's pretty good. They told us that we would have a 30 minute wait, so we went up to the bar to sit down and have a drink. 90 minutes later, they finally took us to our table, which included very hard wood benches and an inability to hear anything. The service was average at best, partly because the restaurant was packed too close and they didn't have enough servers to deal with it. The food was okay, but it was far more expensive than it was worth and the menu didn't describe items very well. I do recall them having some fairly good desserts as well and somewhat creative. I didn't love it, but it wasn't the worst place I've been to. Not worth the trip to Del Ray, but if you're already there, you want to sit down and listen to live music or you can't get into Del Merei Grill, it's alright.

Tomorrow if I have time, I'll try to put out a couple of good bets.

Missed Restaurants

2008-07-31T13:24:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I haven't been doing my duty in keeping up with this blogging about restaurants thing, but I'm sorry, it takes a really long time. Also, when it's not restaurant week, I haven't gotten to go to quite as many places. So in order to make that up to you, I'm going to do a short (for me) write up of a bunch of the places I've eaten and meant to write about but haven't gotten to. That's right, it's the instant gratification of a short, slightly informative recommendation of each of the places. I'll hopefully get to follow up with a little bit more commentary on a couple of places. Plus, with restaurant week coming up soon, I have to get back into it. Right now I have plans to visit Cafe Promenade, Sam & Harry's, BLT Grill (a hot new place from famous New York chef Laurent Toroundel) and another shot at the local Arlington place Willow. So I'm still open for one or two more places and I'm sure will hit up one as some of my best R-Week compatriots are not on those reservations.

So without further ado, here are the restaurants:

Taberna Del Alabadero (Farragut West Metro): This one deserves a full article. I really need to write it up and I will give it to you the next time I go there. This is a restaurant that I discovered at one R-Week a year and a half ago. I've been there a few times since and it's probably my favorite place in the city itself. Beware, it's not cheap, but you'll be rewarded for the price. Their appetizer menu is not largely my cup of tea, but the jamon is fantastic if you're willing to shell out the money for it. Most of their appetizers involve seafood, chorizo or mushrooms, none of which I eat, but trust me, at Taberna, I'm actually tempted to violate those rules. The entrees are all excellent. I believe I had an incredible venison last time I was there (I often go for venison). The two things that put Taberna over the edge, however, are the sangria, which is out of this world and many have told me reminded them of their time spent in Valencia (which makes sense since all of the owners are from Valencia) and the drunken banana, which is kind of like a banana flavored creme brulee served over a sponge cake topped with a subtle beer ice cream and a carmelized banana. This is quite possibly the best dessert I've had in the Washington, DC area. This is pretty amazing considering the lack of chocolate and the fact that it's creme brulee which is easy to make well, but impossible to make stupendous. Taberna does the impossible with the Banana Boracha. Also, the atmosphere is very romantic (red velvet all over the walls) and very authentic.

***** - It's REALLY good
$$$ - it's really expensive, but on weekdays during happy hour they have half priced tapas and September is Paella month, where there's a good deal on paellas of which they have several.

Boulevard Woodgrill (Clarendon): This staple of Clarendon deserves at least a mention. They have a well stocked bar with some decent vodkas and liquors. They also happen to have very good salads and food in general. I've been there many times and particularly love their Wild Salmon Salad and their Duck Salad. They also have Carribean Jerk wings which are pretty amazing. All of their fish entrees are pretty good and they're quite good with chicken. The problems are that I've never been super impressed with their desserts, they're not bad, but not great. The service is hit or miss and the atmosphere is nothing special. That said, I think it's one of the better deals out there. I can leave there feeling like I've gotten a $25 entree for $15 and all said and done paid $35 for a $50 meal. I compare it largely to Harry's Tap Room across the street which has a great brunch but the dinners aren't nearly as good. It's cheaper and better.

Quality ***
Value $$$$$ - I think it's a great value for what it is.

Hard Times Cafe (several places): Everyone probably knows about Hard Times, but it deserves a mention as one of my favorite places. Everyone knows they have fantastic chili (all of their kinds are good, but beware of Texas wet, you'll like it while you eat it, but not afterwards). Their beers are cheap and generally pretty good and the atmosphere is perfect for chili. What people don't know is that they have really good burgers and fries (especially with chili on them) and really good wings.

Quality - *** (damn good chili burgers, it is what it is)
Value - $$$$

Ray's Burger Butcher (Courthouse/Roslyn): Okay, this is a place that you MUST try. If you like hamburgers even only once a year, this is the burger you need to have. It's brand new (less than a month old still). It's in Court House/Roslyn in this weird, unsuspecting shopping center. It doesn't even have a sign up and it doesn't need it. They open at 5pm and close "when the last burger is served." I haven't gone at 5, but I'm convinced they have burgers on the grill from 5pm until 9:45 or 10:00 non-stop. I went once at 8:15 and waited until 9:15 for my burger and the second time, I went at 8:50 and got it in 20 minutes. It was worth the wait! They serve burgers three ways, cajun (I've tried), au poivre (I haven't tried) and Diablo (a chipotle I've tried). So far, they are wonderful both ways I've had. It's a ten ounce burger with the top sirloin from Ray's the Steaks three doors down and they chop it in front of you. You can put all sorts of toppings on it, from lettuce and beautiful red tomatoes to sherry and cognac braised mushrooms (all free). They have Dominion root beer on tap and serve it by the pitcher and they serve all of their burgers with a side of corn on the cob and watermelon. If you don't eat a lot, bring someone to split with. Alright, so it's more expensive than a normal burger at $7, but a lot cheaper than a 10 ounce sirloin steak and it comes with more toppings. I don't know if I can say enough about this deal. Michael Landrum is a genius, a great chef and a wonderful man (got to meet him when I went there during their first week). He brings good food at good prices to the world.

Quality - **** (yes, for a burger)
Value - $$$$$ (can I give 6 out of 5?)

Okay, that's all you get for today. Hopefully I can bring myself to do a few more tomorrow.

Ardeo

2008-06-12T20:33:00.000-07:00

Ardeo Restaurant
3311 Connecticut Avenue
Washington, DC

Neighborhood: Cleveland Park
Closest Metro: Cleveland Park, about 1 block from the metro
Valet Parking available $5 during the evenings

Type of Cuisine: Creative Continental

So I'm sorry that I haven't written in a while. I've had a few requests to start writing again, so hopefully I can get the readership beyond 7 readers. I was set to meet a friend of mine who lives in Silver Spring and figured that it was an excellent chance to spread my wings and try some of the places I never get to on the other side of the city. Bethesda is ever changing and I would like to become better acquainted with those restaurants, but at this time, I ventured as far as Cleveland Park; an area I haven't been around much in a while. My boss recommended Ardeo, although she couldn't remember the name, as a place that my company took our executives a few months ago, so I figured this was probably the place and decided to try it. The cuisine is best described as creative continental as most of the dishes are unique takes on some standard fare. For some background information, we had an 8:00 dinner reservation (hurray for Open Table) on a Tuesday evening, so it wasn't the overwhelmingly popular shift. It should also be noted that the weather forecast was calling for severe thunderstorms (and they came to some extent while we were in the restaurant). My friend and I were both dumb and didn't take advantage of the valet parking, although it didn't end up mattering. The bar next door is called Bardero, I thought that was cute.

Menu:
Appetizer:
Me: Hearts of Romaine Caesar Salad
CLASSIC DRESSING, PARMESAN AND BOUQUERONNES TOAST 7
Friend: ASPARAGUS AND GOAT CHEESE IN BRICK PAPERGRILLED ENDIVE, PISTACHIO, HONEY-GARLIC BALSAMIC 9

Entree:
Me: SEARED AHI TUNAMANGO, SPRING ONION PISTOU, MISO EMULSION 23
Friend: Alaskan Halibut with a chunky Mushroom coulis (not on the online menu) 24

Dessert:
PEAR UPSIDE-DOWN CAKECARAMEL SAUCE, BUTTER PECAN ICE CREAM 8

Sweet:

Service: It's rare that I start the sweet section with service, but I felt that it was worth mentioning. Good service at a restaurant is often a combination of several things: the restaurant and policies, the circumstances and the individual server. I think that this restaurant had an interesting combination of all of the above and I will try my best to break down those differences here. So I apologize in advance, because I can write a lot about service. The restaurant was not overwhelmingly crowded, largely due to the Tuesday, 8:00 time and the weather. I think they had two or three servers on duty, which was probably more than they needed at the time (restaurant policy) and I'm pretty sure that we were our server's last table of the night which also had a large bearing on the quality of the service.
Our waitress, Emily had only been at the restaurant for about a month, but, as always, I was apt to request her to utilize her knowledge of the menu. She was very friendly and honest in answering my questions about all courses of the meal and, perhaps most importantly, she was able to admit when she hadn't tried something, although the first time it took a little bit of prodding. She gave her opinion when I asked for it and told me what she saw ordered often and what she had tried. For someone who hadn't been there for very long, she had a lot of knowledge. Despite the fact that she only had two tables when we got there, she was able to observe our table from the confines of the wait station in a very thin restaurant. She was able to observe and watch us, without making us feel pressured. At the end of our meal, she tactfully suggested dessert without pressure and then she chatted with us while we waited out the rain, partly because it was her last table. Despite the speed of a lot of the service, neither of us really felt pressured to eat quickly, partly because of the server and partly because of the spacing between courses.
The one concern about the service was the speed with which the bussers pulled dishes off the table. They had my plate in their hands the second my fork hit the plate. It was a little bit unnerving, but I think the server's friendly nature and tactful wait before coming back to the table pushed it more into the realm of giving diners some elbow room.

Ahi Tuna: The tuna was perfectly done. Sashimi grade tuna done up with a slight sear on the sides and practically sashimi on the inside, but lightly sitting in the miso emulsion with the mango and spring onion combination. The sauce added a subtle, yet delightful kick to the tuna's natural flavor (a trait I commonly look for in a dish is to bring out the natural flavor of the ingredients). I suppose the main knock on the tuna would have been the portion size, which was a little bit small, and the lack of side dishes to go with it, but after the appetizer, it ended up being a good amount of food and didn't encourage overeating. This was a suggestion from the waitress that took a little bit of prodding to get to.

Asparagus in Goat Cheese: Now I'm not a goat cheese lover, but I happen to really like asparagus. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to try the asparagus with goat cheese, but it was classically wrapped in the endive with a very good use of the pistachio and was probably the best presentation of any item on the menu. My friend really enjoyed it (hence the reason that he finished it before I even had time to ask for a taste).

Pear Upside Down Cake: Another recommendation from the waitress with the simple question "what's the best dessert on the menu." I really liked the pear upside down cake, although I'll admit it was nothing like I expected. I thought I would get a little more pear, however, the focus of this dish was definitely on the pecans. It had a lot of pecan pie and carmel flavor, mixed with the butter pecan ice cream. The cake was relatively moist, but some bites seemed a little bit drier. The flavors mixed very well together, but I think I would have liked a little bit more pear in the dish, it would have added some moisture and tamed some of the carmel.

Bland:
Menu: This particular menu was quite interesting. I liked the variety on the menu a lot. The waitress acknowledged that the fish tends to be more popular, but it's quite adequate no matter what you choose. It had quite a variety from gnocci to tuna to veal meatloaf to hamburgers. The menu also had three or four desserts that seemed like they could be signature desserts. This is a nice touch, however it can also lead one to wonder if the chef does anything particularly well or just everything well. As you well know, I also have a problem with menus that I think are a little bit pretentious. The Ardeo menu uses the words "Emulsion," "Gelee," "Bouqeronnes" and "Pistou." Most patrons get nervous asking a server to define 5 or 6 words on a menu, they stick to one or two. No menu should have that many words requiring description.

Halibut: Again, I didn't get to try it partially because of my lack of mushrooms and partly because I was so engrossed in my tuna, but it didn't look particularly good and I didn't hear great comments from my friend. I didn't hear any complaints, but it didn't appear to be anything special. It looked a little bit grainy for halibut and the mushroom wasn't presented particularly well.

Atmosphere: The tables were well spread out and the acoustics of the restaurant were fantastic, although some of that could be due to the relative emptiness while we were there. The decor was very simplistic. There was nothing that caught your eye or would make you talk, but it didn't detract from the experience either. The restaurant was a little bit narrow, which could cause a slight claustrophobic feeling and the proximity of the wait station could make anyone feel like they were being watched even if they weren't.

Bitter:
Drinks: I kept wanting to push this over into the bland section but I couldn't bring myself to do it, I felt like the drinks are used as way too much of a money maker. I give them a lot of credit for a good variety of liquor (any place that serves Chopin and Hendricks is okay in my book), but my Hendricks and ginger was way too heavy on the ginger ale. I didn't get much reaction from my friend on his gin and tonic, but I'm guessing it was the same. I looked at their wine list (and remember, this is my first entry since going to Napa) and it didn't impress me. Their selection was as good as most smaller places around here although a little tilted towards European wines. Their selection of dessert wines was fantastic. The wines on the list were way overpriced, which would discourage me from going there on a night where I wanted wine or from getting the type of wine I really wanted.

Caesar Salad: I'll be honest, I was a bit disappointed by the caesar. I should have listened because I think the waitress tried to caution me against the salad. I didn't like it, although for a different reason than her caution. It was a natural caesar salad with an attempt homemade dressing. I have high standards for homemade caesar salad because my father makes a wonderful one himself. This one did not stand up to it. The overwhelming taste of the dressing was lemon. While I appreciate the attempt at letting the romaine and cheese stand up on its own, the cheese did not have enough flavor and the romaine, for some reason, just didn't taste as fresh as some of the romaine I've had in the past. I think that the power of the lemon flavor may have tainted it some. The salad had some roasted peppers on top of it. It was an interesting touch on a caesar salad, which I'm not sure if I liked it or not.

Summary:

***1/2
All in all I enjoyed my experience at Ardeo. When my main course, dessert and service are good, I'm happy with a restaurant. I think the service pushed it over some, but it was a nice place in Cleveland Park. If you're looking for a night where you don't want wine it's a good place to go. It also seems like a solid restaurant that you can get a reservation on the day of pretty easily.

$$
I wouldn't consider it a great deal in this area. The prices on the menu can be a little bit deceiving. Drinks are quite expensive in general. My Hendricks and ginger, as heavy as it was on the ginger was a $10 or $11 drink (should be $8 or $9) and as I stated, the wine list is a little bit overpriced. I don't recommend it if you're looking for a good deal, but as I've said, the restaurant is a great experience, so it may cover for the value question. You do get some really good food for your money if you get the right entrees, but the entrees and desserts are small. Strangely enough, the appetizers are pretty large.

That's Amore

2008-02-15T10:39:00.000-08:00

That's Amore Italian Restaurant

Multiple Locations: Vienna, VA; Sterling, VA; Columbia, MD; Rockville, MD.

Metros (short cab from either): Vienna/Fairfax - Vienna; Shady Grove - Rockville

Type of Cuisine: Italian (Family Style)

This will be an interesting one because it's the first time I am writing up a place that I have been to many times in my life. That's Amore is a family style Italian restaurant (in the vain of Maggiano's but better). It is a Washington, DC metropolitan area chain and I believe their original restaurant is the Shady Grove location, even though their corporate offices are in Vienna. They have not expanded beyond the Washington, DC area at this point and have probably been around for about 15 or 16 years. I grew up going to their Shady Grove location and enjoying their family style dishes many years before I started thinking about the food I'm eating, so it will be interesting to see how this comes out. I went the other night with my parents and brother (I think I've only been there once without my parents). Everything is served family style or "solo" but for the most part, you go to That's Amore to order family style.

Menu:

Appetizer: Insalata Amore (Famiglia)- Mixed greens with sliced Italian meats and cheeses. Solo – 7.29 Famiglia – 13.99

Entrees:

Brother - (solo) Baked Rigatoni AlfornoBaked in a casserole with meat sauce, ricotta, parmesan and mozzarella. Solo – 13.99 Famiglia – 24.99

Shared - Chicken Cacciatore (Famiglia) - Slow cooked bone in chicken classically prepared with peppers, tomatoes, olives and onions (worth the wait)Solo – 14.99 Famiglia – 26.99

Shared - (Special) Sauteed Fileted Rockfish served with scallops, asparagus, onions and peppers in a light butter sauce. (famiglia) - $34.99

Side: Vesuvio Potatoes

Dessert:

Me - Cannoli Di CioccolataChocolate dipped cannoli shell filled with a sweet ricotta filling and dipped in chocolate chips. 5.59

Father - Unnamed Chef's Creation - Puff pastry on top with a strawberry cream layer beneath and a white cake underneath that. Served over a vanilla cream. 6.99

Brother - Bread Pudding: Homemade with zabaglione and bourbon caramel sauces. 5.99

Sweet:
Vesuvio Potatoes - Ever since I was young, I have enjoyed the Vesuvio potatoes at That's Amore. They are a very basic roasted potato with tons and tons of garlic, I believe oregano and a few other spices. Since the very beginning, they have been one of the best things on the menu. They are available both with the chicken vesuvio (which always comes out a little dry) and on their own. They have a delicious sweet and garlicky taste that is definitely
strong and will instantly repel any kiss attempts (but are totally worth it). If there's ever a reason to go to That's Amore, it's to try the Vesuvio Potatoes.

Chocolate Cannoli - The cannolis at That's Amore have also long been among my favorites. They are hardly a New York or even a Baltimore's Little Italy cannoli, but they do come somewhat close to the latter. The cheese is sweet and the shell is hard, but a bit moist. It contains the right amount of sugar in the batter and coating it. The chocolate coating is also nice, but the chocolate chips that surround the ricotta may be a little bit overkill. They can mess up the texture somewhat. All in all, it's a very good cannoli and worth the price of admission.

Atmosphere - I've always liked the atmosphere at That's Amore. It's simple and elegant. The tables are relatively well spread out and there's plenty of room for the waiters or the patrons to move around. The bathrooms and everything are pretty clean and they always have some soft Italian music playing in the bathroom (which I think is a much better choice at an Italian restaurant than Sinatra). The music is soft enough that it won't bother any conversation and the only time you will really notice it is when you or your companion is going to the bathroom and you have no one talking around you. The acoustics are also very good so that conversation stays at your table, but you don't have much trouble hearing from those at your table.

Bland:
Chicken Caciattore: This has been one of the favorites of my family for many many years as well. It's always been a delightfully boiled/roasted chicken with plenty of who tomatoes with some tomatoey sauce, mushrooms, green, red and yellow peppers. It always took a little bit longer than the other items, but as the menu said, worth the wait. I've always liked, if not loved, the dish. It was always on that borderline between "sweet and bland" for me. Unfortunately, the quality of this dish went down a little bit. Possibly due to the service the dish, instead of taking about an extra ten minutes, probably took about an hour plus to come out. Once the wait becomes that long (I had to cancel everything else that night because dinner took about an hour and a half to an hour and 45 minutes longer than i thought it would) it's not worth it. The chicken came out a little crisper than it usually does, which I thought was a good thing because I don't usually like the goose bumps that come on the skin, but it led my Mom (who thinks about the dish in her sleep) to say it wasn't very good. I was disappointed that their sauce seems to have gotten less flavorful and there seems to be less of it (particularly in the form of tomatoes). All in all, it was a disappointment.

Rockfish: The rockfish was in a bit of a sweet sauce that definitely took more of the flavor of the scallops as well as the butter. The sauce was interesting, but it was a little bit too buttery. As always, I enjoyed the inclusion of asparagus in the item. The fish itself was largely moist, but was inconsistent throughout and definitely included a large number of dry patches. The outside of the fish was a bit crisp and was actually very pleasant in flavor and texture. The inconsistency of the inside drew away from it some. All in all, it was an interesting dish, but I will say that it's a good amount of decent rockfish, particularly for $34.99 for the family portion.

Bread Pudding: Now I never get bread pudding in any restaurant that i would consider close to fine dining. I also wouldn't get bread pudding in an Italian restaurant because it's not something that seems overly Italian. This bread pudding was pretty plain, bread pudding with caramel sauce. It was pretty good and very heavy and buttery, but it's the same bread pudding that you can get anywhere else. In fact, I don't think it seemed nearly as good as the bread pudding I had later in the week at a much less fine dining restaurant (although the dessert prices were the same). The bread pudding was good, but only if you're not really willing to try anything more Italian. I think that my brother just wanted to get something even more filling to add to his meal.

Bitter:

The Menu: The menu was very vague in general. It did not do a very good job of describing anything on the menu. It mentions "peppers," "greens," "vegetables" and "meats" in multiple places. It almost seems like it's going to be whatever they happen to have in the kitchen that day. A menu should tell you, in words that you understand, what is going to be in your item. This did not succeed there.

Wine List: I was back and forth on whether I wanted a glass of wine when I got there. I took one look at their wine list and was completely unimpressed. While they had an array of inexpensive to expensive wines, there was nothing thhat was particularly intriguing. It was almost all Italian and they didn't even have a good selection of Italian wines. Their reds were okay and their whites were actually downright pathetic. Definitely not a place I would recommend the wine list.

Insalata Amore: That salad was perhaps the biggest disappointment of the night (another item my mother dreams about). This salad was once a beacon of the That's Amore regime in moderately affordable, local, Italian cuisine. The greens were nice, the meat was well put together, the cheeses were multiple and plentiful and the dressing was perfectly tangy. Now, the dressing has gone down a bit (it is more oily and than tangy), they scrimped a little bit on the meat and seem to be using more salami and less mortadella and other hams. The "mixed greens" are actually a combination of ice berg and romaine. It's hardly the combination that you would look for when you're considering mixed greens, but there it is folks. The salad was very disappointing and definitely fell from the plateau it once held.

Chef's Creation: This dessert was a little bit disappointing as it was strange. As I said above, it was a puff pastry on top with a cake bottom and a strawberry cream inside. The taste was okay, but the textures were so many and it was so difficult to eat that I didn't really know how to apporach it. The dessert tray (which may have been the first dessert tray I remember being brought to my table when I was younger) made it seem like the cream was actual strawberries (which may have been better). I didn't really know how to characterize this so I couldn't really appreciate it at all. Fortunately, it was my father's dessert and he ate most of it.

Baked Rigatoni: I didn't have any of it, it was my brother's entree, but he didn't seem to like it and there wasn't much to it. There was very little meat in it and it seemed very "overbaked." It didn't look very impressive as it seemed like a mess of ricotta cheese and sauce pushed around. It didn't even look too appetizing. I think it was definitely a loser. My brother was lamenting that he should have tried the lasagna.

Service: I don't know what to say here. At least the waiter was very clean. I was in the bathroom at the same time as he was washing his hands. He did a solid 30 second hand wash followed by very carefully opening the door with the paper towel. That's about the only good thing to say about our server. Needless to say, he didnt' want to be there (and I think he was out smoking so often that he was hardly there). He didn't do a very good job keeping our drinks full, he walked away when we were almost ready to order and came back 25 minutes later. Somehow the chicken cacciattore took an hour to make. He was rude about half of the time, didn't seem very knowledgeable of the menu and was extremely inefficient. He was extremely apologetic all the time and seemed to feel like that rescued him in our table's mind (and unfortunately my mother decided that it rescued his tip. She thought he was "just overwhelmed." I tried to inform her of my theory of the overwhelmed server: they have more tables, they get a lower tip per table, they still make more money than if they weren't overwhelmed). Service that bad can REALLY detract from the experience.

Recommendation:

Quality: **

Value: ***

The restaurant is a little bit disappointing in terms of quality. It used to be much better than it is now. I think you need to find the right items on the list and go for them though. The restaurant is generally relatively convenient to get to in the suburbs. It's a good last second type of place to go, somewhere in a pinch, but not if you're planning a big night out. I think then you'll be a little bit disappointed.

It's actually a pretty good value. The prices in general are less expensive than a lot of the other Italian places around (Italian tends to be way overpriced around DC). The family style menu increases the value if you can agree on entrees (as I said before $34.99 for that much rockfish is a good deal). If the quality of the food were as good as it once was, I would have called it one of the best bargains in the city.

Acadiana

2008-01-31T16:11:00.000-08:00

Acadiana

901 New York Avenue
Washington, DC
Metro: Either Metro Center or 7th St./Convention Center
Type of Cuisine: Cajun/Creole

So I woke up on one random Sunday morning and a friend of mine texted me saying "brunch?" (I might mention that she was the original impetus for the Bitter Sweet Blog idea and was going to write it with me until she got too busy at work). At that point, I figured it would be a low key brunch and said "okay." So she told me that she wanted to go to Acadiana. Since Acadiana was on my list of places I wanted to try anyway, I said "why not" and braved the auto show traffic (which was TERRIBLE) to get down to Acadiana. Apparently they started serving brunch in September with a three course prix fix for $32. I should mention that the fried who was with me here is far pickier than I am with food, hence the introduction of "bitter" to the Bitter-Sweet equation.

Menu:

Appetizer:
Me - “pain perdu” new orleans style french toast, bananas foster sauce
Friend - chopped “b.l.t.” salad maytag blue cheese dressing, benton bacon, cherry tomatoes

Entree:
Me - blackened tilapia sweet corn pudding, collard greens, crawfish lemon tabasco butter
Friend - chicken and smoked andouille sausage jambalaya

Dessert:
Me - pecan tart praline caramel, milk chocolate ice cream
Friend - warm raisin bread pudding butterscotch sauce, tahitian vanilla ice cream

Sweet:
Pain Perdu - I told my father last night that this way of preparing french toast may be the first time I've had one that truly tops his. He proceeded to tell me of a new way that he's concocted to make french toast. Dad, your french toast is good, but I still don't think it's going to top this. Who better to make french toast than the french or their American bretheren, the cajuns. I am a giant fan of both pecans and banana's foster and this dish did not disappoint. The bananas foster sauce trounced any maple syrup I've ever had. The sauce has a hint of pecans in it that perfectly accent the foster. It was a wonderful dish. If I had one thing wrong with it, it's a little bit sweet for an appetizer. In fact, I've seen pain perdu served as a dessert before. But it's brunch, so who cares really?!?!

Decor - I think that Acadiana's atmosphere won my praises because, unlike most other New Orleans style places around, it wasn't bordering on overly tacky. The decor was classy, but simple. There was a little bit of New Orleans flair in the place, but not overwhelming. The grand private room was just in front of us, and that room looked well decorated from my view. The restaurant is located on the bottom floor of an office building overlooking a large parking lot plaza near the Washington Convention Center. Despite that, I was quite happy with the large number of windows letting in a lot of natural light and the disguise they seem to have outside of the windows to accentuate the city streets while hiding the large parking lot (perhaps the fact that our table was around the corner from that view helped).

Set Up - The tables were spread pretty well and seemed large enough for their stated capacities, the acoustics were good and the windows were well utilized. The set up of the room didn't have very much wasted space, but had plenty of open space. It was a good atmosphere to have a conversation with your dinner companions and not with the next table at the same time.

Bread Pudding: Unfortunately, I didn't get to taste any of the bread pudding, but my friend seemed to enjoy it thoroughly (mostly from her facial expressions and lack of words while eating it). I can acknowledge that it looked very good with quite an appetizing white color to it.

Bland:
Tilapia - The tilapia was pretty basic. It was a tilapia (a relatively plain fish that takes on the characteristics of what it's prepared in) that was drenched in cajun seasoning (a good cajun seasoning). It was good, but nothing that really wowed me. The crawfish lemon tabasco butter was pretty good, but perhaps not my thing over the tilapia. I think that tilapia may be a bland order in a nice restaurant in any case. For brunch, however, it fit decently. The collared greens and the sweet corn pudding, however, were fantastic. Collared greens are actually the one thing that I developed an affinity for in the dining hall in college despite all of the other terrible food. These were definitely better than the ones in the dining hall (which is actually saying something).

Service: Our server was very pleasant, accomodating (a friend had allergies) and pretty efficient. She kept our glasses full enough even though we only had water. She got the check out on time and had no real faults with her service. She would have probably gotten a perfect score on any "secret diner" evaluation for service. That said, she just didn't wow me, and you have to wow me to get good ratings on service in a nice restaurant. Her recommendations in regards to food choices were largely unhelpful and non-committal and she didn't show an overwhelming amount of knowledge of the menu.

Pecan Tart- The pecan prailine was good, but too sweet. It was basically a standard pecan pie in a better presentation. For me, a better pecan pie is generally a little bit less on the sweet side allowing the taste of the nut to take over. This was far more into the molasses than the nut. The milk chocolate ice cream was pretty standard.

Jambalaya - I didn't hear very much about the dish from my friend aside from her disappointment when it came. It seemed alright, but looked and smelled pretty standard as far as jambalaya goes.

Bitter:
BLT Salad - It was essentially a wedge of lettuce put onto a plate with the other ingredients. It didn't look very appetizing and didn't seem to require much thought or preparation. There was pretty much nothing to it. I think my appetizer was the far out winner. Again, most of my opinion is from my friend's reaction.

Recommendation:
Quality:***
Value:$$

The food was pretty stable throughout. I think it's a good location (assuming you Metro or are already down there). It's convenient to a lot of offices, the Convention Center and Verizon. I like the atmosphere and I think it's generally a pleasant experience and among the better Creole cuisine you are going to get in this area. It's a bit of a unique place for you to try and for that reason, it's worth going. That said, most of the food is good, but it won't really wow you. You won't really remember what you had a week later unless you write a food blog where you started the posting two days after eating there. It's a good place, but you have to be in the mood for Creole and not just looking for "a good restaurant."

Value: It's not a great value for brunch. I paid $32 for a good french toast, tilapia and a pecan tart. To be completely honest I don't think it was really worth $32, especially if you get rid of the atomsphere. By far the best part of my meal was the french toast which was probably the least expensive part of the meal.

Me Jana

2008-01-29T14:18:00.000-08:00

Me Jana

2300 Wilson Blvd.

Arlington, VA 22201

Type of Cuisine: Lebanese, Mezzes

Metro: Court House

I moved to the Court House are about 5 months ago and have ultimately been very disappointed with the food options in the area. I both work and live in the area now and I hardly ever use my car, so I would naturally get tired of all of the local restaurants, but I think this neighborhood has a particular dearth of good places. The restaurants around here are mostly the quick lunch, chain type places, cheap Chinese restaurants and local bars with average bar fare. While there are a couple of culinary finds among them, most of them are not fantastic (the best of the bars for food, Dr. Dremo's is closing and I will do a posting about my pleasant discovery of Ragtime's appetizers in the future). So when a few friends wanted to go for a dinner before going out in Court House, there remains only one quality place to go for a Friday night dinner and that is Me Jana (Friday night is usually my nice night, although I may write up the chicken in white wine sauce I made at home on Saturday night). Me Jana is one of those restaurants (like Vidalia and Willow) that I went to upon the recommendation of my boss. Being right in my neighborhood, I have actually been there once for lunch and now three times for dinner.

There were four of us at dinner. They had restaurant week still going there, but we didn't partake in those festivities. One of us got a regular entree and three of us ended up splitting 9 mezzes (more than we needed). We also got a bottle of wine.

Menu:

Wine: We got a Lebanese red wine that I couldn't tell you the name of ($42).

CHICKEN SHAWARMA - 8.00
Marinated chicken in garlic, lemon juice, slowly roasted. Served with garlic whip and sumac onion.

FRIED KIBBE - 7.50
Beef and burghul dumplings, stuffed with onion, pine nuts, ground beef and lamb. Served with Labneh.

LAHEM BE AJEEN - 8.00
Baked pita dough topped with ground lamb, spices, and pomegranate molasses.

ABLAMA - 7.50
Zucchini stuffed with sautéed beef, spices, pine nuts, onion and cooked in a light tomato sauce. Served with Lebanese rice.

LAMB KEBOB (mezza) - 11.00
Cubed lamb marinated in olive oil and spices.

MOZZARELLA (salad) - 8.50
Fresh Mozzarella, tomato, figs, basil and balsamic vinegar.

FATTOUCH - 7.50
A salad of tomato, cucumber, onion, radish, bell peppers, parsley, mint, tossed with olive oil, lemon juice and sumac pita chips.

GRAPE LEAVES - 6.50
Poached tender grape leaves, stuffed with rice, tomato, onion, parsley and mint, in olive oil and lemon juice with a hint of pomegranate molasses.

HOMMUS WITH MEAT - 7.50
Hommus topped with sautéed beef and roasted pine nuts.

Friend's Entree - KAFTA KEBOB - 17.00
Ground lamb and beef, mixed with onion, parsley and spices. (served w/ Lebanese rice, grilled tomato and sumac onion)

Sweet:
Service - Yes, I know, I am complimenting the service as sweet. Mark this down in your calendars folks. This is also why I have chosen to put it as first. It is the only high quality restaurant in my neighborhood and it doubles its allure as a restaurant that provides neighborhood appeal in the middle of a bunch of chains. The two owners are greeting guests as the maitre d and walking around from table to table asking how everything is. Our server was very professional, yet extremely friendly. He was not afraid to express his opinion on the menu (telling us to get the chicken shawarma instead of the shish taouk) without being pushy about it. He also understood what is unique about his restaurant as opposed to others (encouraging us to try a Lebanese wine that we didn't even think about). He was very efficient in bringing our food and drink out, kept both our wine and water glasses full and took care of our check in an efficient and appropriate manner then allowed us to sit until we finished talking and drinking our wine without molestation. The service gave the restaurant a very homey, neighborhood, friendly feeling that made you feel welcome and happy to come back. The only problem with the service is that they always bring out all of the mezzes at the same time and do so significantly earlier than the entrees. When someone is ordering a large number of mezzes, they need to manage that better.

Chicken Shawarma - I think this may be one of the reasons that I liked the server so much. He insisted that we get the shawarma and even said "If you don't like it, I'll buy it." The shawarma actually came with everything the dish says, inside of a little pita bread puff. It had a wonderful tanginess to it and the small pita breads remained hot and kept the chicken hot inside of them. There was something about mixing the ingredients together that made this better than the Shawarma at Lebanese Taverna or Zaytiniya.

Lebanese Wine: Score another one for the server. This was among the more interesting wines I've ever tasted. It definitely had more than the usual flavors of wine (grapes, oak, etc.). It had a little bit of some Lebanese dessert spices in it (maybe lotus flower?) that gave it a very unique and pleasant aftertaste.

Lahem Be Ajeen: This item comes out looking almost like a pizza (but there isn't any cheese or tomato sauce. It maintains the consistency of a pizza though as it is extremely moist and a little bit floppy. It is a fantastically flavourful dish that I have had several times. It never disappoints. It is a unique creation that I have never seen on another menu.

Fattouch: Or as my friend insisted that I refer to it, the "fat touch." I say that, yet this is undoubtedly the healthiest item that we ordered. Usually I don't like meditteranean salads very much, particularly when they advertise the use of mint. To me, it's a breath freshener, not a food. That said, this salad was quite good. The vegetables maintained their moisture despite the spices used and the flavor was an excellent precursor and mid-meal contrast to many of the other meaty flavors.

Pita Bread: Similar to it's competitors, Me Jana supplies you with virtually unlimited fluffy pita bread. They are very thin balloon-like breads with hot air in the middle. Unlike the competitors though, they serve the bread with olives, olive oil, yogurt sauce and thyme. The server suggest that you dip the bread in a little bit of olive oil and then have the thyme stick to the bread with the olive oil. It's a very unique flavor. If you like thyme, it's great, if you don't, you don't have to do it and the bread stands well on its own. It's also great for dipping in or putting the mezzes on.

Bland:
Set up/Decor: The set up is decent. It's not overly packed together, but the acoustics are not fantastic throughout the place. It is not difficult to hear your dining companions, but I think if the place gets very crowded, it could be. There is not a lot of room for people to wait because the bar is rather small and I have seen it get crowded. This can cause some overflow into the dining room and make the restaurant rather loud. The tables are relatively well spaced out. The walls are relatively bare and the atmosphere tends to focus on low lighting and candle light. While I applaud this motif for not being distracting, there just isn't much there.

Mozzarella: It was alright but there was nothing terribly special to this dish. I feel that if you're looking for mozzarella, you're probably better off with an Italian restaurant. The mozzarella itself was good, but not incredible and served in small circles of the cheese. It wasn't a bad dish, but not the best thing on the table.

Lamb Kabob: I think this one may have been the night I went there, because I have had this before and it was very good. This time, while cooked to a nice medium rare, the small pieces of lamb were a little bit dry and the flavor of the marinade hadn't taken them over as much as it has in the past. The marinade on the lamb is generally very tangy and it augments the flavor of the lamb. I suppose that you need to watch out for it being a little bit dry.

Grape Leaves: The grape leaves were good, but not great. I think this is a testament more to grape leaves than to the restaurant. It was no different than any other grape leaves and yet I always order grape leaves. They are never great, but they are generally consistent and they are a nice light alternative to the mostly heavy meals of mezzes.

Hommus with Meat: I've had the Hommus before and it is a really good hommus. It is very smooth and the taste is a little more subtle than some of the "in your face" ones that you can get at other places. It definitely has flavor to it, but not enough of a garlicky and sour sting that it gets you to make a weird face. If this were just the hommus, it would have been in the sweet column. The only problem is that the meat in this dish tended to dry it out, make it difficult to eat on the pita bread and was basically superfluous. I'd recommend the hommus, but not the hommus with meat.

Kafta Kebob: The kafta kebob is just okay. I've had it before for lunch. It has a decently spicy flavor to it, but like most kafta kebob is a little bit too salty. It is a little bit more dry than I would hope for. The rice and tomato side dishes are good, but again nothing that can pull this dish over the top.

Bitter:

Ablama: We got this dish because we wanted to try something a little bit different, but I think you're better served at this restaurant if you like eggplant (myself and one other person at my table were not). While we enjoyed the name of the dish and how it sounded similar to the last name of one of the Presidential candidates, the dish wasn't very good. I felt that the zucchini came apart too easily, particularly when it was cut, making it difficult to split. The tomato sauce was a little bit too light and for some reason, the meat got a little dry inside of the zucchini while the dish in general had a bit of a watery flavor and soggy feel.

Fried Kibbe: This dish wasn't bad, but it falls into the bitter category because of its comparison to most of the competitors. I have had fried kibbe at most of these places and this is the only thing Me Jana does where I feel that it is vastly topped by the others. It was surprisingly low on flavor and definitely a little bit dry. All in all, I would consider it disappointing.

Recommendation:
Quality: ***.5
Value: $$$$

I wouldn't necessarily consider it a night out for a very fancy meal, but it's a good meal that I think could qualify for a middle-range occassion. It's definitely not an average weekday dinner. I think it's a very good restaurant primarily if you go for the mezzes instead of the entrees (although they want to push you to the entrees). I've had both and I think the mezzes are more worth it. Also, the service is fantastic. It's just hard to get four stars from me (above that is virtually impossible).

I think it's a great value, particularly for the mezzes. You tend to get larger portions than at Lebanese Taverna or Zaytinya for the mezzes, so you need to plan accordingly. That said, the four of us could have easily gotten out with a hearty and delicious meal for around $20 apiece before tip. In my opinion that's a good price for a comfortable, weekend meal that you'll probably talk about afterwards.

Mio Restaurant

2008-01-28T13:36:00.000-08:00

Mio Restaurant
1110 Vermont Avenue, NW
Washington DC, 20005
Type of Cuisine: "New American"
McPherson Sq. Metro

A co-worker friend of mine convinced me to take one final (extended) restaurant week endeavor for a Friday lunch (I'm sure that was extremely difficult). Although she suggested going to Willow, I suggested a place we had never been before, Mio Restaurant in Midtown. Mio is a relatively new restaurant (according to our waitress, within the past 6 months). So we went for a restaurant week lunch there, enjoying another 3 course meal for $20.08. After trying my Washington, DC geography and remembering that coming from Virginia, Vermont Ave. is after you pass Connecticut Ave, we made it to the restaurant, only about 10 to 15 minutes late. Fortunately, no one else seemed to know that they continued restaurant week, and our 1:30 reservation was held without incident. While the were misleading about valet parking (only available at dinner), my co-worker had no trouble getting the full garage next door to take her car.

Menus: The restaurant week menu was a little bit disappointing because very little of their food was on their regular menu. This is a brand new restaurant so restaurant week should be a key advertising point to them.

Appetizers:
Me - Smoked duck breast prosciutto, persimmon balsamic reduction (not on regular menu)
Friend - House made cured salmon, endive, toasted almond (not on regular menu)

Entrees:
Me - Grilled skate (a white, mild fish), spinach, lemon brown butter (not on regular menu)
Friend - Braised beef cheeks, polenta, fennel salad ($15 on the regular menu)

Desserts:
Me - Chocolate-banana cake with vanilla ice cream
Friend - Key lime pie

Sweet:
Food Presentation - The food presentation here is worth mentioning separately from the food. The chef at Mio takes a lot of pride in the presentation. Each dish was very creatively presented and it shows that the chef took significant efforts to design them. The salmon appetizer was presented in a flowered pattern inside of aritchoke shells (?), my skate came layered in with the spinach in multiple layers of both, the duck was presented very uniquely in almost a modern art looking pattern (almost a controlled chaos appeal, obviously planned although you're not sure how). Even the desserts had a bit of an appeal in how they were designed. The key lime pie was remarkably circular and the ice cream for the chocolate banana cake was scooped on top of attractive mint leaves.

Duck - The smoked duck was a very interesting flavor. It was a little bit dried, but maintained some of the moisture that you would expect from duck. It's also very rare to find thinly sliced duck. The taste was a little bit salty, but ultimately slightly smokey. This was a wonderful contrast to the tangy sweetness of the balsamic reduction. Finally, the color and presentation was fantastic.

Set Up - Perhaps it's because we were in the restaurant at an empty time, but the tables seemed far apart, the restaurant was easy to navigate through and the acoustics were very good. It would be an easy restaurant to have a conversation in.

Key Lime Pie - I am not usually one to go for typical desserts, particularly at a place that is not specifically known for it. Creme Brule is always safe, but rarely spectacular, most mousse cakes are good, but not great, but this key lime pie was fantastic. As stated earlier, the presentation was fantastically round and it came with some good whipped cream on top of it in an attractive, if not artistic manner. The crust itself was good, but nothing special, but the key lime was refreshing. Most key lime pie that I have had is overly tart (not to say that I don't like key lime pie). It shoots onto your tongue and completely wipes out all other tastes you've had. The texture always seems a little bit glazed and fake. This key lime pie was very smooth and creamy. The key lime was tart, but not too tart. It did a good job of balancing sweet and tart.

Bland:
Service - This was the best service I've had at any restaurant that I've written a review for so far. This does, however, show that I am very picky when it comes to service. The hostess was extremely pleasant. I decided to give up my coat (although partly because it didn't seem like a real coat check) and she very pleasantly escorted us to our table despite our being 15 minutes late. The server was extremely pleasant, polite, friendly and efficient. She made sure our drinks were kept full and didn't seem the least bit disappointed when we only order water (a common problem in restaurants, although less so for lunch). She managed to engage us in conversation multiple times about the restaurant and a little bit about her life, which was quite interesting. The only fall backs of the service was the server's knowledge of the menu and command of the language. She was very pleasant, but she (and most of the servers I heard speaking) were difficult to understand. Our server had no problem understanding or finding the right word, but I did overhear another table where that was an issue. My knowledge problem was when I asked about skate. She informed me that it was a slightly strong, flaky, white fish. While I can excuse the characterization as slightly strong (which it is not), it is definitely not a flaky fish at all. So the service ends up in the bland section, but a pleasant experience nonetheless.

Salmon: The salmon was nothing special. My friend took a little more than half of it home so her mother could try it. She said she liked it, but I had as much of it as she did (which is to say a small portion). Perhaps it's my history of getting lox from Livingston Bagel in New Jersey at my grandparents' house when I was younger, but this smoked salmon was nothing too impressive. The salmon was alright, but a little dry and mild. The endives were a good touch and the presentation definitely saved the dish. The best part of the flavor actually came from the interesting dichotomy between the smoked salmon and the toasted almonds. That was a pleasant surprise.

Beef: I know, as blasphemous as it sounds for me to not like beef, particularly a good cut of it, this again did not impress me. It was a very good cut of beef, which was quite nice for the dish, but once again, it was very basically cooked and well presented. The basic cooking for a good piece of meat (even braised cheek) is fine. The problem is that I thought it was a little bit overcooked (once again, my friend took about half of it home and I had a decent taste of it). The overcooking made the meat a little bit on the dry side. The sauce that was with it had a bit of a strange aftertaste although a good first taste. It wasn't bad, but it was nothing to write home about (only to write on a blog about).

Chocolate Banana Cake: This ended up being an interesting brownie served with ice cream. The presentation on the brownie was the worst presentation of the meal, although the ice cream was appetizing. The brownie was relatively moist as far as brownies go and the slight hint of banana was wonderful. Unfortunately, the item didn't overwhelm me as it turned out to be mostly basic chocolate, a little mild on the sweetness. Good, but not great.

Bitter:

Skate - The skate was definitely not flaky and somewhat strong like I was expecting, it was actually quite a mild and stringy fish. It had more of the feel of tilapia. In fact, it definitely took the flavor of the sauce around it, similar to tilapia (although definitely a better fish with a stronger texture than tilapia. The spinach surronding the fish was a wonderfully fresh spinach, wilted on the stove. The problem was that, although the lemon butter was not overpoweringly buttery, there was so much of it put into everything. The spinach and the fish both had the distinct flavor of butter (a well prepared butter, but butter) about them and it didn't really impress me. Sometimes I enjoy the basic, but not really this time. The spinach was oversaturated with the lemon butter and was over-wilted. I like spinach to maintain a little bit more of the fresh spinach nature.

Decor - The decor was not very good at all. There wasn't much on the walls at all, but it wasn't a planned simplicity, it was just nothing to look at. It doesn't seem like, even in a full restaurant, it would have created a very good atmosphere for fine dining. The biggest problem was the tables. I think that the designer may have thought this was a creative idea or it was a calculated risk, but the tables are made of small square tiles and grout. I'll be honest here, while I appreciate uniqueness in design, I get a little bit nervous eating on tiles. While it's easy to clean off tiles, it isn't easy to clean off grout, no matter how good of stuff they have. Dirt gets into grout and builds up all sorts of messes. The restaurant has been open for 6 months and I could see a little buildup in the grout already. They should put a thin glass on top of it or something. I suppose another part of the problem is that aside from a slightly whiter shade of tile, the tables didn't look much different from the bathroom floor in my college apartment (how's that for a nice image).

Recommendation:
Quality: **.5
Value: $$$

The food is alright, but at the moment very basic. I was told that they originally had a chef who left after not too long. They just got a new executive chef about a month ago. That may have to do with the basicness of everything on their menu, but it didn't impress me too much. The presentation is fantastic however, and that will impress a lot of people (if they can get over the tile on the tables and unimpressive surroundings). The location is prime for lunch, but not particularly near any evening attractions (Verizon, Farragut bars, theatres or even metro). It would be a decent place to go if you're in the neighborhood, but nothing to base your night around.

Their regular menu tends to be priced reasonably. You can get a dinner portion of a rack of lamb or venison for $27 or $28. Unfortunately, the portions are a little bit small, particularly as you need to pay $5 for sides (which I think are individual sized). Because of the fine dining title and somewhat lower prices for higher ticket items, I'm okay with the value. But dont' expect amazing food, just good food.

Willow

2008-01-22T15:43:00.000-08:00

Willow Restaurant
4301 Fairfax Dr.
Arlington, VA 22201

Type of Cuisine: Modern Continental (French and Italian influence)
Neighboorhood: Ballston (across the street from the Ballston Metro), plenty of garage parking (validation).

One place I had heard a lot about was Willow in Ballston. Since I've lived in Northern Virginia since college (and in Virginia for summers in college), most of my foodie life has been spent in this area. So I've been quite pleased with the sudden push of new restaurants into Northern Virginia in both Clarendon/Ballston and Alexandria. Since I now live in the Court House area of Arlington, I'm particularly interested in restaurants that I can walk to or get to on the Orange line. I had heard great things about Willow, so I was very excited when my boss told me that our department lunch was going to be at Willow. So I went to Willow for lunch with my whole department. Unfortunately for my menu knowledge, my department at my office includes my boss and myself, but my boss happens to be a bit of a foodie herself.

Menus: (the entree menu at Willow is subject to relatively consistent change)

Appetizer (shared): Margarita Flatbread - Tomato, Basil, Scallions, Fontina and Parmesan ($16)

Entrees:

Me - Potato Wrapped Norwegian Salmon Filet - Ricotta Cheese Pancakes and a Ragu of Brussel Sprouts, Apple Wood Bacon and Oyster Mushrooms with Mustard Fumet ($26 dinner, $16 lunch)

Boss - Sauteed Flounder Filet stuffed with Lobster Moussse - Oranges, Broccolini and Parmesan Raviolini ($30 dinner, $18 lunch - not currently on the menu)

Desserts (split):
Apple Florentine Torte w/ Caramel Sauce ($8)
Sticky Toffee Pudding w/ Caramel Sauce and Danish Sweet Cream Ice Cream ($8)

Sweet:
Salmon - I don't usually order salmon in a nice restaurant. There are generally too many other items that are intriguing and salmon is very rarely different. I can make salmon at home decently and there isn't much you can do to dress salmon up. This salmon seemed different for some reason (I think it was the potato wrapping). I'm quite glad I did try the salmon as it was delicious. The mustard fumet was quite good and it complemented the salmon (I like salmon with mustard seed) and the potato wrapping was that unique touch that really separated this salmon from other salmon I've had. All in all, it was delightful. I give the chef a lot of credit because of the side items. I didn't particularly enjoy the ricotta pancakes, partly because of my dislike for melted (or heated) cheese and partly because they were definitely too sweet for me, with a bit of a strange texture. The chef also served brussel sprouts, which I haven't tried since I was a little kid and I didn't like them then. I had them now and, particularly with the mustard fumet, the sprouts were fantastic. I was thoroughly impressed and finally understand why my father likes them so much. The slightly sweet fumet complemented the bitter nature of the sprout perfectly.

Flounder: I had a small taste of the flounder, but as I don't really enjoy lobster, it wasn't really for me. The flounder had a very subtle taste to it beyond the flounder, which was good. I tend to believe that a good flounder has a wonderful flavor by itself. My boss, who loves this place and lives right near it, very much enjoyed her entree. Judging by her impeccable taste (she's an extremely good cook as well), I tend to believe her impression. She said that the lobster mousse was very flavorful, perceivably from the lobster itself.

Apple Florentine Torte: The dessert was again, quite creative an interesting. The tortes are very high and the pastry shell is quite substantial. It's not overly buttery but very flavorful. The apple is not terribly sweet, but a nice ending to the somewhat heavy meal. It's a lot of flavor put together in one dish, which usually scares me away, but this time, it happens to work quite well.

Decor/Atmosphere: Willow is a neighborhood fancy restaurant. It's decor is friendly, but elegant. The set up is pretty good with tables spread enough to allow for friendly conversation. It's a pretty white and brown colored place that is not at all disturbing. The chef and chief of operations (husband and wife) both come out of the back regularly to meet with their clientele. I'm not sure how pleasant she was, but it's definitely a nice touch that I'm assured happens regularly. It adds to the "neighborhood restaurant" feeling.

Bland:
Flatbread - Apparently the flatbreads are a staple on their menu. They are one of the few things on Willow's menu that never changes. They are one of those items that are in between appetizers and entrees, but we chose to split one as an appetizer. They are almost like a VERY thin pizza with no outer crust. They are definitely a little more tomatoey than a normal pizza (although less saucy) and light on the cheese as well. It was a well prepared appetizer that really accentuated the flavor of the tomatoes while using the cheese very lightly. The crust was almost cracker like, but with a slightly sweet accent. All in all, it was a good appetizer, but I would not suggest the flatbread as an entree. I think that the flatbread would get a little old if you ate the whole thing and you'd be a little disappointed that you went to a nice restaurant and ate only flatbread. It was a little wet and difficult to eat.

Service - I know you didn't expect a "sweet" service from me and this is no exception. The service was good, but forgettable. The waiter wasn't overwhelmingly friendly and was a little too pressuring. They did a pretty good job keeping sodas filled, but seemed annoyed that we wouldn't order alcohol for a work lunch. He didn't do the greatest job processing the check which I believe is the only time a waiter should act quickly.

Bitter:
Toffee Pudding: It was nothing special. I was expecting a lot more with a unique dish. It didn't wow me and it's not overly memorable. I think it was a little sweeter than I wanted from it. So all in all, I would leave it.

Recommendation:
Quality: ***.5
Value: $$$.5

I'd give it three and a half stars. It was a very good restaurant with a nice homey feel. I give the chef a lot of credit for a creative menu and it seems like a gem in the middle of a very "chainy" area of restaurants, so it's a good one to know. It's a good restaurant nearby with easy parking, which is hard to find. That said, I think that the creative menu can sometimes lead to some mistakes and I think that they will ultimately come with any dish. I also think that the constantly changing, creative menu gives you little to rely on. Also, they claim that their specialty is probably fish, but you usually want to know what you go to a restaurant for (fish, meat, vegetables and appetizers, etc.). This place doesn't really have a calling card, it's general creativity, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, just a choice. It's also a very vegetarian and vegan friendly place (particularly vegetarian as there is a lot of dairy in things.

It gets a 3.5 value rating as well. I think it's a good value if you're going to like creative food. It's still an oasis in the middle of chain restaurant hell. The prices are not overly expensive for the food you're getting, so I think that you're still getting a very good value. I'd avoid the wines as the wine list, while creative and unique, isn't overly impressive or well priced. I really love the homey feel, so I would definitely eat there again.

Vidalia

2008-01-17T17:51:00.000-08:00

Vidalia
1990 M St., NW
About .4 miles from Dupont Circle Metro
About a half mile walk from Farragut West Metro

Cuisine: Southern Influence

My final restaurant week endeavor was for a lunch at Vidalia. The only better time to get a good deal on a meal than a restaurant week dinner is a restaurant week lunch. A three course meal (not usually the same menu) for $20.08 is a fantastic way to try a new place. On top of that, it lets you cook for dinner, and save even more money! Vidalia came as a recommendation and it was quite good. I met one friend for a nice late lunch. The place was still pretty crowded, even at 1:30 and people were still coming in at 3. Vidalia put out a lot of their full menu for restaurant week, but half of the menu had relatively hefty surcharges. In looking at Vidalia's lunch menu, they normally do a $28.00 prix fix tasting menu, which could be a decent deal, especially if you can use the whole menu with no upcharges. The friend I went with keeps kosher so that basically means no meat or seafood but fish at a restaurant, particularly no pig products.

Menu:
Appetizers:
Me - Vidalia's seasonal lettuce blend - with roulade of hazelnuts, brad’s goat cheese, dried apricots, fines herbes and champagne vinaigrette ($10.50)
Friend - wild mushroom soupcreamy purée with red wine-truffle emulsion and house cured shoat pancetta (not on regular menu)

Entrees:
Me - roasted briar hollow farm rabbit legwith ginger-carrot purée, heirloom onions, herbedspaetzle and amish mustard-rabbit emulsion (not on regular menu)
Friend - roasted chatham bay codwith whipped brandade, smoked vegetable gelée and meyer lemon-soft clam vinaigrette

Dessert:
Split - vidalia’s lemon chess pie: buttery crust filled with rich lemon custard garnished with berry compote and chantilly cream ($10.25)
georgia pecan tart: served warm with butterscotch sauce, cocoa nib ice cream, praline and chocolate tuile ($10.75)

Sweet:
The Cornbread! - The cornbread is worth the price of admission. You should totally go to Vidalia and get cornbread and soda. It would be pretty cheap because the soda was only $2.95 (average in DC) and the cornbread was free. The cornbread was among the top two cornbreads I've ever had (the other is my mother's). It is perfectly granular and has a nice sweetness to it. You'll notice a trend, but it has a slight hint of onion in it and a lot of butter (the only downfall of the cornbread). At the same time, I think that's how cornbread is supposed to be. It's not a healthy place folks. It's southern cuisine. The cornbread is served with a delightful sweet onion marmelade.

The Set Up - The tables were well spread out with plenty of space. Conversation was very easy because there was very little background noise. Added onto that, the waiters (I didn't see any female servers) put the trays down at the entrance to the room and just carry plates into the room and to the table. It's a nice touch that helps the set up and increases space while reducing noise. The little things do count.

My Salad - My salad was delicious and it wasn't for the normal reason. Normally I like a salad because it's well put together, there's the right amount of dressing and the dressing is good. I can also like a salad because they do a very good job with the tomatoes and other vegetables, but this salad was good because the lettuce was fantastically fresh (that's right, alliteration folks). There was, of course, a hint of onion in the salad greens, a springy mesclun mix of sorts. The flavor of the lettuce and oniony aftertaste actually took over the salad. The vinaigrette was a subtle complement.

Cod - I only had a small bite of the cod, but it was a very flavorful fish. There was a hint of onion and a little too much butter in the flavor, but that was a very small problem when compared to the use of the flavor of the fish. The chef didn't try to mask the flavor of the fish, instead, it also chose to complement it (I'm big on bringing out the natural flavor of foods). It had a slightly crispy outside, and a very southern flavor.

Bland:
Rabbit - The rabbit was pretty good, but it didn't have the same appeal as the rest of the meal. It was a pretty small amount of rabit (much different than the rest of the meal) and the rabbit didn't really augment the flavor of the rabbit. Once again, there was a clear taste of onion in the entree (mixed in with the heirloom onions). This time, however, the onion was a complement to the mustard seed, not to the rabbit which is a shame because it was a good cut of rabbit. Rabbit has such a distinct flavor that it wasn't great to lose. The mustard sauce was good, but not as good as it could have been. There was also a good amount of butter in it.

Desserts - I think the desserts would probably be stellar if you just went to the restaurant for dessert, but they were a little too much after that meal. The first bite was better than the last for the lemon chess. The lemon chess part was delicious, but the crust was far too much butter in flavor and feel. It was a very substantial pie, so if you're hungry after your meal, you won't be after the pie. The pecan tart was a very good item with a definite southern feel to it, but it was also very heavy, sweet and butter was the overpowering flavor. The ice cream, however, was a fantastic complement to the pecan flavor. Don't go in expecting a good pecan pie, because this tart is a little more chocolatey than tradition would dictate. The main problem with both desserts is that they are VERY heavy.

Decor - The decor was very minimalist. It tried to be creative, but it pretty much comes down as simple. I don't think the decor particularly matched the cuisine. It was very square (plates and light fixtures). The tables were large and round, which was kind of a nice contrast. There were very few wall decorations and it was kind of an off white look. All in all, it was a very simple look, which is definitely better than distraction, but it certainly didn't wow me.

Service - The service was very varied. I think my description would be professional, but a little standoffish. As I stated earlier, they carry plates in from the edge of the room, which I really liked. The waiter was knowledgeable, but not particularly willing to share that knowledge when he knew it was necessary. My friend told the waiter he couldn't eat meat and ordered the soup. The server recommended the cod, but didn't mention that there was ham in the soup. He did, however, take the soup back and bring my friend a new soup with no ham in it. I was impressed by that, but it shouldn't have happened in the first place. He kept the drinks filled pretty well (although we had water) and was very efficient. He left us plenty of time to eat, which was good, even though it was lunch and I would have liked to eat a little faster. He wouldn't have known that though. His demeanor was very professional the whole time.

Bitter:
Mushroom Soup - Aside from the obvious problem of not telling my friend that there was ham in it...who puts ham in a wild mushroom soup? Then it would be ham soup with wild mushrooms! I never heard anything good about the soup, I heard it was again, oniony and buttery, which doesn't seem to get along well with mushrooms. I heard the soup was pretty heavy, which is also a problem with an appetizer course. So the soup gets a bad rating.

Menu - The menu is exhorbitantly too confusing. They put a lot of words in four or five different languages on the menu, and with the standoffish nature of the staff, they are not particularly the type of place to explain a lot of the menu to you. I feel that when you put together a menu, you need to make sure that you pick a language or two.

Feeling Afterwards - The food is very heavy, it definitely weighed me down when I was done.

Recommendations:
Quality: ***.5
Value: $$

Three and a half stars. The Cornbread really may be that good. If you like onions and you're in the mood for a HEAVY meal, Vidalia is a good place to go. If you're looking to impress someone, you can pretend that you understand the menu and it's a good place to acknowledge knowing about. Watch out for that after feeling because it's a heavy meal.

I give it a 2 $ value rating. It's not an amazing value, but the food is pretty good. It is relatively highly priced for southern cuisine, particularly the desserts. You won't get out of there for less than $60 a person for a three course dinner. It's worth trying once, but I don't see southern cuisine as the ideal special occassion meal, but it is a special occassion price.

Smith & Wollensky

2008-01-17T15:46:00.000-08:00

Smith & Wollensky
1112 19th Street, NW
Washington, DC

Type of Cuisine: Steakhouse
Price: Expensive

My next adventure was a guys' night at a real New York steakhouse. I always like to try a steakhouse during restaurant week because I feel that I get my money's worth. It's located right in the middle of the steakhouse district (two doors down from the Palm and Sam & Harry's), but really near a lot of the mid-town bars and Farragut North/West metros. I'm noticing a common theme that a lot of the good DC restaurants seem to be located there. I guess it's good to know where you want to be when you want good food in the city. For the record, we sat down with one particular rule: If you got your steak cooked any more than medium, you would be throttled and then kicked out of the table (I assumed that the chef would probably do the throttling). The restaurant week menu wasn't very exhaustive, but it was a pretty good example of their cuisine (one filet mignon, one shrimp and one chicken dish). There wasn't much of a choice in the group of guys.

Menu:
Appetizers: Me - Baby Argula Salad, tear drop tomatoes with raspberry vinaigrette and manchego cheese (not on the regular menu)
One Friend: Wollensky Salad - romaine lettuce, honey dijon dressing, mushroom caps, fresh smoked bacon, potato crutons and teardrop tomatoes ($9)
Two other friends: The soup of the day - Seafood gumbo (shrimp, crab? scallop?) ($8)

Entrees: All four of us had the filet mignon - served in a cabernet demiglaze, mine and one friend's were rare (the true steak lover's way to get a steak), the other two friends had medium rare ($42)

We also got a side of "steak" fries, which was not included in the restaurant week menu ($10)

Drinks: I had a ginger ale ($4), but my friend had their recommended wine pairing, a Pico Cabernet from California.

Desserts: All four of us had the New York style cheesecake, shunning the fresh fruit and apple streudel ($8.50)

Sweet:
Filet Mignon - The filet mignon was what you would expect from a top notch steak house. It was moist, perfectly tender, cooked to a perfect rare with a slight char on the edges. The first bite absolutely melted in my mouth (friends said that about the medium rare too, but I don't believe them). The cabernet sauce was a little bit sweeter than I would have liked, but it worked pretty well with the steak.

Cheesecake - The cheesecake was a true NY Cheesecake in the mold of Lindy's of Times Square and Junior's. It had a slightly grainy texture that is often absent in a lot of cheesecakes that pretend to be good. It showed that there was something added to a more ricotta style of cheese. The crust was moist and fit well with the grain of the cheesecake. It was pretty sweet, but not overly so, and surprisingly light for how heavy it was (I know that doesn't make much sense, but you have to try it to know what I mean). It's almost worth going to S&W just for the cheesecake and avoid dinner if you can't afford it.

Argula salad - I really liked the argula salad with the raspberry vinaigrette. The teardrop tomato was a little disappointing as it wasn't quite ripe, but they put the right amount of vinaigrette (more tangy than sweet) and shaved cheese onto the salad. The lettuce was also very fresh with the perfect slight shades of red and green.

Wine List - S&W has a very patriotic wine list. I really I wasn't sick so I could have tried some of it. All of their wines are American wines, nothing from anywhere else. They had a decent number of varietals from several regions in the country (focused mostly on California), and a good price range. The problem with the wine list is that the mark up was significantly more than a lot of other restaurants for similar wines (generally marked up an extra 20% beyond normal). That said, I still wanted to take on some of their California Red Zinfandels (i've been told by a friend in Sacramento that I really need to try them). I'm not a true wine connosieur by the way, I'd consider myself no more than average on knowledge of wine; but I feel the need to comment on the wine list anyway.

Bland (Yes I changed the word):
Gumbo Soup: I didn't hear much about the gumbo good or bad. They mentioned it was a good first bite and then pretty much ceased speaking about it. No one was quite able to figure out everything that was in it, and pretty much only spoke about shrimp. The reactions were not that it was bad, but they didn't have much to say.

"Steak" Fries: I think the steak fries were more disappointing than not good. They were julienne fries, not steak fries and I was hoping for steak fries. They give you a good amount of the fries for $10, but it's still probably not as many fries as I would want for that price (family style). They were a nice golden brown and not very greasy, but there was nothing special about them, particularly because the waitress recommended them. I would say that while they are good, they are not better than the fries at Five Guys, and the ones at Five Guys are much cheaper.

Service: The service moved itself up from the "bitter" section to the bland section with a late run of personality from our server. Our server started off pretty rocky. She forgot to bring out my friend's wine up front (but as she brought it out she asked "Do you still want the wine? It's on us). So that saved her a bit. She didn't have much of a personality up front and she wasn't overly attentive in the beginning of the meal. I was at a steakhouse and I really wanted the traditional old man in a tux. I think she was overwhelmed (which is a problem b/c that means they didn't staff well). She did, however, give us plenty of time to eat and didn't pressure us at all. Once she was not overwhelmed, she showed a bit of personality, although still a little bit guarded. I was a server for several years, so I'm quite particular about service.

Decor: It was a standard steakhouse decor, nothing overly pleasing, surprising or intriguing. It had the look of the local elk's club or something like that. Wood panelling, a couple of animal heads mounted. The bathroom was nice with some marble. The restaurant was crowded and our table was a little cramped, but I think that was because the table next to us was accidentally pushed a little too far towards us and farther from the other table. The seats weren't overwhelmingly comfortable.

Friend's Wine: My friend seemed to like it alright so I put it on the bland list. I tasted a small bit of it and I thought that it was far too sweet for my liking and it didn't complement the steak very well. It was definitely worth the price because it was free.

Bitter:
Ginger Ale: It kind of fit the prices of some of the stuff there. I don't like when my ginger ale comes in a 10 ounce bottle. I particularly dislike when my 10 ounce bottle of ginger ale is $4 and they don't even tell me that it's going to be a 10 ounce bottle ahead of time.

Wollensky Salad: It has their name on it, so you'd expect it to be good. According to my friend, the only thing that redeemed it was the bacon (which I don't eat). The honey dijon dressing was a bit plain, but a little better than normal, but not what you'd expect at S&W.

Recommendation:
Quality: ****
Value: $$

Four stars. It was a very good meal and I suppose, as far as steakhouses go, good for the price. I recommend that everyone try one of the elite steakhouses on restaurant week (Bobby Van's, Sam & Harry's, The Palm, Charlie Palmer's, J. Gilbert's, Shula's, S&W, ). It's the definite time that you'll get your money's worth at a steak house because they'll always do a 9 or 10 ounce filet. Everyone has their own ranking for these places (note I don't include Morton's or Ruth's in that list. I put them a step below because of the large chain status. I also don't like Ruth's garlic butter frying method of cooking steak). I haven't been to all of those, but I want to try J. Gilbert's really badly.

The differentiator at S&W is the cheesecake if you're in the mood for an expensive steak (particularly business outing). Most places do a similar steak and it's a slight matter of taste. Once in a while, you have to treat yourself.

I gave it a two $ value rating. As for value, you're not going to get value at a steakhouse unless you go to Ray's the Steaks (good value, I'll write it up later). I didn't like their value for drinks (wines, sodas or sides), but the food was good. Definitely go for R-week, otherwise, it's a business lunch or real steak lovers' night.

Oya

2008-01-16T11:50:00.000-08:00

Oya Restaurant & Lounge
777 9th Street, NWWashington, DC 20001
Cuisine: Asian Fusion

My second restaurant week event this season was Oya Restaurant near the Verizon Center (Gallery Place Metro). I had heard good things about Oya before, but I wasn't particularly expecting very much. I went with three friends and all four of us took advantage of the Restaurant Week menu. We had four different appetizers, but ended up being tempted by the same entree and two of the dessert options.

Menu:
Appetizers:
Me: Grilled Sirloin w/ celeriac puree (normal price $10)
Friends: Coconut Shrimp mango beignett (normal price $9)
Cream of Crab Soup (normal price $8)
Spicy Crunchy Salmon (not on normal menu)

Entrees: Chilean Sea Bass w/ miso, edmame, beurre monte and stuffed peppers (normal price $29)

Desserts: Me and One Friend: Chocolate, Chocolate & Chocolate - frozen chocolate mousse in a chocolate shell.
Other Friends: Banana Bread Pudding w/ rum raisin ice cream. (normal prices $8.50)

Sweet:
Decor: Oya had among the most interesting decorum I've seen in DC restaurants. The restaurant was decorated largely in whites, tans and other lighter colors with a bit of a neuvo zen/ying yang feel to it. The walls included one of those glass enclosed water falls and there were numerous half walls throughout the rather open set up. It gave the restaurant a unique feel upon entering.

Entree: We all had the same entree and I feel like each of us made the right decision. It's rare that you can find Chilean Sea Bass at Restaurant Week prices
and we each took advantage of it. The fish was very moist and it cut very easily with a fork (which is good b/c I didn't have a knife for a while). The fish had a slightly sweet flavor that fit very well with the texture of the fish and very much accented the fish's natural flavor. The reviews were favorable for the sea bass across the table. The stuffed peppers were a subtle addition to the meal. The peppers did not have overpowering flavor, but again a very good rice and chicken(?) stuffing with a bit of a creamy (but not cheesy) feel. It was a soft compliment to the sweeter fish.

Salmon Appetizer: I didn't get to taste it, but the friend who ordered it loved it and the friend who tasted it claimed "appetizer envy" (he had the soup).

Drinks: Because of a slight cold that I had, I wasn't able to partake in the drinks or the wine list, but both are quite impressive. The drinks are expensive, but very creative, unique and they use good ingredients (very important). I wish I could have tried them. The wine list was also quite impressive. They have a good variety of regions, types of wine and prices. They also sell wine by the bottle, glass and "tease" which is a 2 ounce glass. It's an interesting idea that would allow someone to taste a good variety of wines without getting too drunk.

Ambivalent:
Sirloin Appetizer: It was a pretty basic smaller cut of the sirloin that I'd assume they serve as the main course. The meat seemed to be a good cut, although cooked a little more than I would have liked. It had a slightly charred texture to the outsides of the meat and was in a very mild sauce that was similar to a hollandaise (thick, starchy, white). It had some good flavor, but not an overwhelminly flavorful dish. Compared to the entree, it was pedestrian.

Soup: Again, I didn't have it, but I didn't hear positive or negative reviews of the soup.

Desserts: I had a chance to try both desserts. My dessert was very good on the first bite, but by the last bite, left me a little unsatisfied. I think the frozen nature of the mousse was a little disappointing and as the bites went by, the taste got a little more watery. Perhaps it was a little too subtle for a chocolate dessert for my tastes, but it was definitely still good. The texture was quite smooth. My friend had a similar opinion of it.
While the carmelized banana was a nice addition, I didn't particularly find the banana bread pudding to be anything special either. I didn't like the rum raisin ice cream very much, but the carmel sauce saved that dish for me.

Bitter:
Shrimp Appetizer: I don't eat shrimp, but my friend said it was a little too greasy and bready for an appetizer.

Service: Perhaps it was because of restaurant week, but we didn't feel like we were being served. Our order was taken very quickly and we were ushered in and out of the place. Our entire dinner (which ended with a fairly large tab) took about an hour. Our server was not very friendly and barely said a word beyond "What would you like to drink?" and "Are you ready to order?" The only thing that took a long time was to process the payment of our check (the only thing that should go quickly in a fine dining establishment).

Set Up: While it wasn't the worst set up I've seen (see Michel Richard's Central), the tables were placed a bit too close together. There was very little space between us and the table behind us on one side, and it happened to be a corridor frequented by the servers. I could hear most of what the other table was saying (which is difficult because my cold was making it difficult to hear other people).

Recommendation:
Quality: ***
Value: $$$

Three to Three and a half stars. The entree, drink list and decor are THAT good! By the way, this is out of five folks. The question between the two numbers is whether the service is bad, or just our server.

Three $ value rating. It is a decent bargain if you're in the area. While our entree was $29 (a little pricey), it wasn't super expensive compared to some of the other possibilities and it was much better than some other $29 entrees out there. I wouldn't travel particularly long distances to try Oya, but if you're looking for something before an event at Verizon Center, it's a good bet for a decent price.

Spezie

2008-01-15T11:12:00.000-08:00

Spezie - 1736 L Street, Washington, DC
Metro: One Block from Farragut North

My first Restaurant Week foray was to Spezie in the "midtown" area of DC. We looked at the R-Week menu as well as the regular menu. Their R-Week menu was pretty exhaustive and gave a pretty good sampling of their regular menu. My friend and I ended up ordering one R-Week meal and one off the regular menu.

Menu:
Appetizer - Roasted peppers with buffalo mozzerella and anchovy parsley sauce (normal price $14)

Meals:
Mine - Herb crusted lamb chops with white wine braised artichokes and black olive sauce (normal price $34)
Friend - Handmade fresh ricotta gnocchi with fresh tomato sauce (normal price $19)

Dessert - Double chocolate and hazelnut mousse cake
With seasonal berries and vanilla sauce (sort of)

Sweet:
Decor/Set Up: The restaurant was beautifully decorated. We had a pretty early reservation (6:00) so the place was not very crowded when we got there and it wasn't overly crowded when we left. The seats were comfortable and the tables were spread out far enough that we could enjoy a pleasant conversation without too much distraction from other tables.

Appetizer: The appetizer was absolutely delicious. The buffalo mozzerella was among the better ones I've had recently and the roasted pepper and anchovy sauce was surprisingly subtle, but pleasant. It came served over some light greens which took in the flavor of the sauce nicely.

Ambivalent:
My Meal - My meal was nothing special. The lamb seemed to be a good cut of lamb, but it was a little bit overcooked (I asked for rare to medium rare, they gave me medium rare to medium). With an olive/white wine sauce, I was expecting something a little bit saltier, but the sauce was actually a bit too sweet from the white wine. It had a bit of an odd aftertaste that pretty well overpowered the artichokes (which I don't love in the first place). The sauce did go pretty well with the lamb though and complimented the rosemary that is an imperative for every lamb dish. The roasted potatoes, while small, were quite good.

Service - We were served primarily by one waitress. She was a very polite Italian immigrant. She was pretty attentive when we were among the only people in the restaurant at 6:00. She kept an eye on drinks and they were full throughout our meal. The food runners and bussers did a pretty good job getting us our food, however, there were a couple of screw ups with dessert. We were offered tiramisu and ice cream before we were brought the dessert we actually ordered. There were some issues when we were trying to get our check while the restaurant was a little bit more crowded and I felt that the bussers were trying to rush us just a little bit.

Bitter:
Friend's Meal - My friend did not particularly like the gnocci. In fact, at one point, she went as far to call it "bad gnocci." She soon relented, but said that it definitely did not cure her gnocci craving. It is not a traditional potato gnocci, it is a ricotta gnocci which is not overly satisfying texturally and the sauce was apparently lacking in flavor. While I didn't taste it, the tomatoes did not smell like the type of sweet tomatoes one would expect in such a dish.

Dessert - The dessert was average at best. I'm not entirely sure that it was even what we ordered. It had an orange gelatin of sorts on top of it and it didn't taste overwhelmingly like chocolate or really even hazelnut. The overpowering taste was actually the berries and the berry sauce that was surrounding it (not vanilla sauce). We weren't sure that it was what we ordered, but after they brought us the wrong thing twice, we relented. After checking the dessert menu again, we decided that it had to be what we ordered, but it wasn't well labelled. It was relatively moist, but nothing special.

Recommendations:
Quality: **.5
Value: $

Two and half stars. There are many better Italian restaurants in the DC area for the same price or cheaper (see Filomena, Luigino, Bebo Trattoria, et. al).

Value - Normally - poor, restaurant week - decent. Spezie is a nice, classy place that you ought to try, if for nothing else than the decor and location, but try it when you can get most of their menu for $30.08.

Welcome to Bitter Sweet DC

2008-01-15T10:58:00.001-08:00

So I've been wanting to put this thing together for quite some time and just never gotten around to it. So I figured, "What better time than Restaurant Week - Winter 2008 to start it?"

Here's the deal, I'm not a food critic, I'm not a very good writer; I'm just a food snob. Many people have told me that there just aren't very good restaurants in Washington, DC and I think that, to some extent, they're wrong. Since I go out to dinner a lot and like to try some of the new and nice places in DC, I wanted to share my opinions of some of the better places in town.

I'm just a guy with no special budget to go to dinner and write about things, so I go back and forth and will write new ones when I get the chance. I am also less likely to try the REALLY expensive places and I am all about getting a good value. Also, because I'm on a small budget and I've already been to many of the places I want to write about, when I feel like writing something and I haven't been anywhere overly recently, I'm going to try to remember what the place I went to was like and write about it.

Also, I'm a very picky eater and I very rarely depart from my preferences. I will try to bring you my opinions and the opinions of the people I'm there with and hopefully give you a sense of the things I don't eat. I tend to eat fish and meat dishes. I don't eat other seafood (scallops, shrimp, lobster, crab, oysters) and I tend away from cheesy dishes and soups.

So I'm going to put my opinions in here and I'd love to see your opinions as well. Although judging by my current readership (none) and how long this intro is (long!), no one is still reading. So without further ado...