Stoney River: Not So Legendary Steaks

My husband and I went to Stoney River Legendary Steaks in Annapolis (http://www.bambuza.com/) for a special occasion. The food was fine, but I would definitely try other steakhouses before going back. I remember being more impressed with Ruth's Chris's than with Stoney River. I gave Stoney River a chance even though it's a chain. While I don't turn my nose up at the chains that bind me, I prefer local restaurants. I think that the Stoney River ownership turns its nose up at chains because its website says that the steakhouses, located in several states, are a "collection" and not a chain of restaurants. Stoney River should just own its chaininess like Mortons and Ruth's Chris's. Enough philosophizing. The highlight of the meal for me? The bread with honey butter. The bread is unique; our server (who was really nice) likened it to fried doughnut holes. A close second? The coffee? Perfect, except that it could have been hotter. Sadly, the rest of the food wasn't a highlight. Not that it was bad, it just wasn't that good, especially for a supposedly high-end steakhouse. The salad offerings weren't imaginative at all. Standard steakhouse options. We got a mixed green salad, which included bacon and good cheddar and some almonds. It was good and fresh, just a bit boring. For steak, we ordered a coffee-cured filet and New York strip. The coffee-cured filet was interesting. The texture was good and the coffee flavor was noticeable; I wasn't wowed, though. The New York strip was disappointing. Although we ordered it medium rare, it came out more medium. It was tougher than it should have been (especially for aged steak) and only somewhat flavorful. The sides were ok; we had greenbeans cooked nice and firm, un-noteworthy asparagus, and scallopped potatoes that hit a nice cheese note without being too rich, but could have used more salt or flavor. We ordered the ganache cake for dessert. It was HUGE! I loved that it came with chilled shotglasses of milk -- a perfect accompaniment. The cake was so-so, served chilled, and the chocolate flakes on the outside tasted a bit stale. The frosting was yummy, though. I give Stoney River kudos for serving real cake. I hate ordering cake that turns out to be flourless, or in other words, not real cake. The verdict? Not bad, but not great.

Other Seattle Notes

To conclude my culinary tour of Seattle and so as not to bore everyone to death, here are some quick thoughts on two more Seattle dining spots: Restaurant Zoe (http://www.restaurantzoe.com/index.html). Good, but but not as good as Palace Kitchen. Again, it had a casual vibe. Gourment food with jeans. Yay! Good coffee and cool non-alcoholic cocktails, like the very refreshing cranberry orange crush. Can't remember what type of salad I ordered, but I remember being underwhelmed. My entree, the Whole Hog, was creative, and consisted of pork mixed with various other things encased in a crust. Tasty and unique. I had the pumpkin pie sundae for dessert; excellent pumpkin ice cream with crust crumbles. Good coffee as well. Bambuza (http://www.bambuza.com/). The only truly disappointing dining experience I had while in Seattle. It may have been because we went too close to closing -- an hour close, not 5 minutes close. I ordered a shrimp and papaya salad. The shrimp was undercooked and bland to the point of yucky. The summer rolls were your standard Vitenamese summer rolls, and the recommended catfish hotpot, while somewhat tasty, was submerged in a half-inch of grease. Not appealing. The restaurant charged extra for rice, which I think is absurd for an Asian restaurant. I was told, however, that in Asia, rice doesn't necessarily come with dishes because it's viewed as poor man's dish, so maybe it's more authentic that way.... Pike's Place Market. I bought the best apples (honeycrisp) that I have ever eaten there. Definitely order a bun at the Chinese stand in the outer part of the market (can't remember the name), but stay away from the juice stand. I can't remember if it's the same stand as the Chinese stand, but I ordered fresh grapefruit juice and it tasted a bit rancid. I wish that I would have had more time because the food offerings were extensive and looked unique. I think that I need a good week to eat through the entire market....

I'm a Douglasite! Part II: Palace Kitchen...arguably the best meal of my life

So, Palace Kitchen (http://www.tomdouglas.com/palace/index.html). There's so much to say about it. Again, as noted in the title of this post, it may have given me the best dining experience of my life, which is saying a lot, because I have eaten out a lot and all over the place. What I love about Palace Kitchen is that it breaks the mold. It's known for having one of the best burgers in Seattle, but at the same time, features food that could be served in a fine dining establishment. You can go there in jeans and order gourmet food, like goat cheese and lavendar fondue and no one will look at you funny. It has a huge horseshoe-shaped bar, and offers some great cocktails. I highly recommend the French Kiss. I can't remember what was in it (maybe an elderflower liqueur and pear?), but it was nice and tasty. Also, the decor gives gives off a hip and relaxing vibe. The walls are dark and feature huge oil paintings but in a decidedly non-stuffy way. If you don't want to read any further, here's the brief synopsis. This is how good the food was. I ate this meal over a month ago and still remember most of the details as I ate there this morning. Everything we ordered was good. Definitely try the goat cheese fondue and anything from the applewood grill. To make things easier, I'll go in chronological order. The bread was fresh and crispy on the outside. It was served with olive oil. To spice it up a bit, we added salt, which we ground ourselves in the mill that was on the table. For appetizers, we ordered the dungeness crab and the goat cheese fondue. The crab was amazing. It came in an interesting thick-walled silver bowl and was accompanied by a caper butter sauce with lemon. The flavors complimented each other swimmingly. The goat cheese and lavendar fondue was to die for. The texture was perfect. It was light and foamy instead of thick and gelatinous, like a lot of cheese fondues can be. We only ordered one entree because our server advised us that we could split an entree and have more than enough to eat. She recommended the chicken. Usually, I'm anti-chicken, because I think that it's boring. This chicken was the least boring, or should I say most exciting, that I have ever tasted. It was cooked on an applewood grill. As a matter of fact, at the far end of the bar, you can actually see the big pile of applewood that the restaurant uses. Our server told us that the chicken is brined overnight. It was flavorful and had a wonderfully crispy skin and came with mashed potatoes and kale (which I could have done without). We ordered cocount cream pie for dessert. Even though I had eaten it at Etta's, I indulged my friend who wanted to try it. As much as I appreciate trying new things, I didn't mind ordering the coconut cream pie again. I can't wait to try the rest of the Tom Douglas restaurants! On a parting shot, the menus at both Etta's and Palace Kitchen change daily -- even the cocktails, to account for fresh and seasonal ingredients.

I'm a Douglasite! Part I: Meet the Chef and Etta's

What's a Douglasite, you ask? Well, it hearkens back to my trip to Seattle, where I had two of the coolest dining experiences EVER!!! I happened to be lucky enough to meet Eric Tanaka, the executive chef of Tom Douglas's Seattle restaurants. His girlfriend accompanied us to lunch at Etta's Seafood in Pike's Place Market (http://www.tomdouglas.com/ettas/index.html). For someone who appreciates food as much as I do, it was super exciting to meet an executive chef of any restaurant, let alone someone who has won a James Beard award and appeared on Iron Chef. Eric came and sat at our table for awhile and was kind enough to answer all of our random questions about food, like: What cookbooks do you use? Where do you find inspiration? How did you become executive chef of a restaurant even though you didn't go to culinary school? And so many more. So now, the food. Granted, it's been awhile, but the high points have been seared into my brain. As I mentioned before, we went to Etta's and a few nights later, I went to Palace Kitchen. Both were excellent, and I think that I might have had the best meal of my life at Palace Kitchen. (More on that in part II) At Etta's, we had a bunch of appetizers: spring rolls, dungeness crab cocktail, and a tuna salad. It's too bad that I can't remember more details (it's hard enough for me to remember what we ordered) but all were excellent with unique twists. I can't remember being disappointed by anything. I ordered the crab cakes, which were good, and other people in my party ordered wild salmon cakes and a seafood soup (can't remember if it was pho or curried). I sampled all and would have ordered any of them, even the salmon cakes, which is surprising for me because I generally don't like salmon at all. Apparently, wild salmon tastes a lot different from farm-raised. We had a caramel apple concoction and a cocount cream pie for dessert, both of which were amazing. I was told that the pie crust is a point of pride for the restaurant, and it didn't disappoint. And the cherry on top? The coffee was GREAT! Of course, we were in Seattle, but still... I would definitely go back and highly recommend Etta's to anyone who wants to go to Seattle and eat some good seafood.

Garlic Fest

There are two schools of thought on garlic. Some people view garlic as a crutch, while others think that you can never really over-garlic anything. Aside from eating garlic raw, I've never had anything that I thought was too garlicky. I love garlic. It's universal and appears in so many different types of cuisine. A week ago, I went to the H-Mart (Korean market) and bought already peeled whole cloves of garlic. It was awesome! Apparently, pressing garlic takes away from the flavor, so ideally, it should be minced. I used to buy the jars of minced garlic, but it just doesn't taste the same as the fresh stuff. I then moved on to pressing because it doesn't require that the cloves be peeled. The peeled whole cloves are great because I can just throw a whole bunch in the mini food processor and have a ton of minced garlic in seconds. A warning, though. The peeled cloves make the whole fridge smell like garlic, so I'm trying to work on a way to contain the smell...

Best Chinese in Gambrills/Crofton Area

So, that might not be saying much, as Anne Arundel County isn't exactly a mecca of ethnic cuisine. Nonetheless, you've gotta work with what you have. Here are my recommendations for the best Chinese in the Gambrills/Crofton area. If you want the "hole-in-the-wall" standard Chinese experience, I highly recommend Kwong's Hunan. It's located at 1659 Crofton Center in the shopping center with Shopper's Food Warehouse and the Kmart. The food is great. Unlike almost all of the other Chinese restaurants where I have eaten in the area, it uses white meat for its chicken dishes. One disclaimer. I ordered the yaki soba (a Japanese dish) and it was not good. It may be that Kwong's just isn't as good at Japanese. One other recommendation; try the spicy wontons. They are excellent meat dumplings flavored with ginger and soaked in a delicious sauce that, while not meeting my standard for spicey, are truly tasty. If you want a fine dining experience, go to Grace's Fortune (http://www.graces-fortune.com). The atmosphere is nice. There's a koi pond and piano. It's on the pricey side, but the food is fresh and prepared without additives. If you go, you can tell that the restaurant is run by people who clearly love and appreciate food. Grace's has a Sunday buffet that I am dying to try. Also, a neighbor highly recommended Hunan L'Rose in Odenton. Apparently, its owners formerly ran a Chinese restaurant in the small shopping center on Defense Highway where Lemongrass is now located. They sold that restaurant to other owners, who didn't keep the restaurant up to snuff, so it went out of business. My husband and I are planning to go to Hunan L'Rose on our next Chinese run, so stay tuned!

Better Than Bouillon

I highly recommend Better Than Bouillon. It's a concentrated base that can be substituted for bouillon. It's 95% organic and works like a charm. It has no artificial additivies like MSG, is fat free, and low in sodium. I've used the chicken version to make turkey noodle soup, and it turned out deliciously! Here's a very rough recipe: Ingredients Organic chicken stock Water Carrots Celery Cooked turkey Thin straight egg noodles Salt & Pepper Directions Combine chicken stock, water, carrots, celery, and cooked turkey. Heat on the stove. When liquid is hot, add better than bouillon, salt, and pepper to taste. When carrots have softened, add egg noodles.

Ledo Pizza

Ledo's Pizza (http://www.ledopizza.com), a chain restaurant, is good if you like sweet tomato sauce. It's pizza and spaghetti sauce is sweeter than other places I've tried. The pizza crust is thin and crunchy and the pizza comes out in squares. Don't order the garlic bread. It's a bit soggy and blah. The stromboli is ok, but it's made from the same crust as the pizza. I think that stromboli should have nice thick crust. It just doesn't work.

Sleepless in Seattle: Day 1

I went to dinner at Le Pichet (http://www.lepichetseattle.com). It was recommended by a foodie friend whose wine importer neighbors recommended it to her. Excellent and intimate, yet casual French bistro!!!!! The wine is cutely served in stone pitchers. I had an amazing salade au fromage (melted cheese on bread over greens and apples) and mussels with fries that came in an amazing curry cider sauce. My dining companions had the quail and black cod, both accompanied by amazing sauces. The cod was beautifully crispy on the outside. It was to die for, and it's no surprise that the place was packed when I walked by it on Friday night.

Sleepless In Seattle

Yeah. I wish I were. I just returned from Seattle from a conference. There's so much good food there that I wish that I could have used my sleeping time to eat. I'll detail in my next few short posts where I went. Seattle was one of the best food experiences I have ever had! I loved it because the restaurants (at least the ones that I went to) served high quality food but in a relaxed and casual setting. It was a nice contrast to the more corporate dining atmosphere in D.C. Oh, and I never had a bad cup of coffee when I was there. That's saying something.

Luna Blu makes me blue

So, if you haven't noticed, my reviews tend toward the melodramatic. I like to think that this is because I feel passionately about food. I went to Luna Blu in Annapolis (http://www.lunabluofannapolis.com) to celebrate a friend's birthday. The food actually did make me blue :( I don't think that I will give Luna Blu a second try. While it's not upscale fine dining, entrees go as high as the mid-twenties, and I really don't care to risk the money on going back to a place where the food was substandard. Things started off well, but then got progressively worse and worse. The bread, which I think was a ciabatta, was served warm with an oil/herb mixture, and was excellent. Sadly, it was the highlight of my meal. We ordered the four-course dinner special, which included an appetizer, salad, entree, and dessert. For appetizers, we ordered a baked brie and the eggplant napoleon. The baked brie was ok ('ve made better baked brie at home), and was garnished with mushy marinated strawberries. The napoleon was tasty and featured large slices of tomato, fresh mozzarella and grilled eggplant with a nice vinaigrette. We upgraded from the house salad, which sounded rather boring (standard greens in Italian dressing) to the Caesar. Sadly, it could have come from a bag. The romaine leaves were starting to brown, and the dressing tasted exactly like the bag dressing. Instead of nice shaved parmesan or romano, it was topped with dry grated parmesan (like in the bag). The croutons were stale. The main courses were the saddest of all. I ordered the rockfish, which came with pasta topped with crab meat. The crab/pasta was fine, but the rockfish was atrocious. I have never had worse rockfish. It was completely flavorless and ugly to look at. This is unexcusable for a restaurant in downtown Annapolis. Annapolis restaurants should be able to do rockfish! I ate barely any of my entree. My friend ordered the shrimp and asparagus risotto. While the shrimp was fresh and flavorful, the risotto, like the rockfish, was bland and flavorless. Desserts were so-so. I ordered an apple strudel that came in puff pastry. It tasted fine, but wasn't any better than a pepperidge farm oven strudel. All in all, one of my worst dining experiences in Annapolis.

Ice Cream Cake!!!!!

This is the inaugural picture for my blog! So, I usually don't write much about my own cooking, but I think that it's fun to mix things up occasionally. It was Eugene's birthday, so I made him his dream cake -- an ice cream cake with 3 layers of devil's food cake and chocolate mint chocolate ice cream. That's right, not mint chocolate chip ice cream, but chocolate ice cream flavored with mint with chocolate chips. I made the cake layers and the ice cream and frosting from scratch. I love making cakes and oftentimes consider quitting my day job to become a pastry chef. I hate mint chocolate chip ice cream or any kind of chocoalte chip ice cream that has hard chips. To solve the hard chip problem, I made a sturdy chocolate ganache and mixed little scoops of it in with the ice cream. It worked like a charm. The chocolate "chips" were nice and soft without being so soft as to be a fudge swirl. I also mixed in some York peppermint patties for good measure.

I used the devil's food cake recipe on the cake flour box, which I like a lot. I substituted some extra light olive oil for part of the butter for optimal moistness, and used Dutch process chocolate instead of the regular cocoa because I like dark chocolate better (and so does Eugene).

Once, I tried to make an ice cream cake, which ended in disaster. Despite being cool, the cake layers melted the ice cream. This time, I froze the cake layers overnight (before sandwiching the ice cream in) and was able to avoid the melting problem.

The cake is frosted with a Cool Whip/chocolate pudding cocoa frosting, which had a great consistency for the "cloud" effect that I was going for. It almost reminds me of chocolate cake batter in flavor. Yummy! It's also surprisingly durable. It doesn't melt if it sits out too long, and it does beautifully in the freezer.

I topped it off with some crushed candy cane which added a perfect crunchy finish to the cake.

Proof: The Battle of Charcuterie

I went to lunch at Proof (http://www.proofdc.com/) where "food is the focus. wine is the passion." Unfortunately, I didn't get to partake in the passion because I went there during working hours. While some can handle drinking during the day, I'm not one of those people. I liked it. It offers cheese and charcuterie boards, which I love. I usually go to Sonoma (http://www.sonomadc.com/) on Capitol Hill (SE) for that sort of thing, but it's inconvenient from my office location. So, I was excited to find a restaurant that offered it that was closer by. The meat and cheese selection was good. We ordered speck (pork) and bresaola (beef), gruyere and pipe dreams (goat cheese). It was tasty and came with raw honey, apple puree, and wine-soaked raisins, all of which complemented the cheeses and meats well. I must say, though that I prefer the presentation at Sonoma. It comes out on a nice butcher block and is accompanied by a heartier amount of yummy grilled bread and more interesting accompaniments -- like red and white wine jellies, nuts, truffled baby peaches, and delicious mustard. I also like the atmosphere at Sonoma better. It's less corporate than Proof, although that's to be expected given its location. Enough about Sonoma... I chose the shrimp burger for my main course, and was not disappointed. It irks me when I go to a restaurant and order a chicken burger only to discover that it's not a burger at all, but a chicken breast on a roll. It was like a big burger-sized lump of shrimp toast (fried minced shrimp), which was pleasantly crispy on the outside. It was topped with jalapenos, cucumber, and cilantro -- remniscent of bahn mi, the Vietnamese sandwiches that I love so much. For dessert, I ordered the mini chocolate bundt cake. Not too adventurous, but nice nonetheless. I liked it because it was real cake. I hate ordering cake at shi-shi restaurants and getting a piece of cold, flourless crap. It was a real cake and was served warm with ice cream. Parting notes: (1) I liked the "bread" basket. The bread wasn't bread. It was more like long, crispy crackers served with a refreshing yogurt dip, which is probably a lot healthier than butter; and (2) The coffee was decent. French press and typical for an upscale restaurant. The verdict? I would go back for lunch during the workweek, but probably wouldn't go out of my way to go back for dinner. Sonoma on the other hand....

Woodberry Kitchen

Our friends came into town from NY a few weeks ago for the Marine Corps Marathon. Since we were picking them up at BWI, we decided to head into Baltimore for dinner, since we rarely ever venture out there. I picked Woodberry Kitchen (http://www.woodberrykitchen.com/), which is located in the Druid Hill area. The atmosphere was great. The two-level restaurant is housed in an old foundry space. The second level is open and overlooks the first, so the ceilings are high. The ambience are warm and woody in a hip way with a wall of windows and walls of brick accented by stacked logs and wine bottles. It reminded me of a toasty restaurant at a luxury ski resort. The menu, which has a wine bar aura, centers around organic and local meat and produce and is extensive. We had decided what we wanted only to later discover that we had overlooked an entire menu of specials. The menu is fun with a selection of appetizers and snacks, for as cheap as $1 (popcorn). There's just something special about being able to get anything at a restaurant that is not McDonald's for $1. We finally settled on the pear flatbread, which featured pears, of course, and blue cheese. While highly recommended, it was a bit oily and soggy for my liking and the pears seemed to be drowned out by the other flavors. The bread itself, however, was excellent. I ordered the hanger steak, which tasted like it had been infused with cinnamon or other fall spices. It was delicious and cooked exactly to my liking. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the chicken, which was highly recommended by the server. It came to the table undercooked, and when I say undercooked, I don't mean slightly pink. It was raw -- translucent raw. The the server was apologetic and offered to bring out a soup while the dish was re-cooked, but our friend who ordered it was full from the appetizer and his yummy side of cheesey crusty spaghetti squash, so decided to pass. Disappointingly, the server had to be asked to remove the chicken from the check. We splurged and ordered coffee and a slice of the pumpkin roll cake. It was like a pumpkin jelly roll cake filled with cream. Very tasty. The coffee, relatively decent, was the French press variety. It was presented in a unique way. The presses came to the table with a miniature hourglass to tell us when to push the press. I'd go back if I lived closer, but wasn't that blown away that I would make a special trip out there to go again.

Wow!

Why the wow? Well, two reasons. First, I am super behind in my reviews. I have reviews in the works for Woodberry Kitchen in Baltimore, Proof and Co Co. Sala in D.C., and Patsy's Pizzeria, Bubby's Pie Company, Andrew's Coffee Shop, Ollie's Noodle Shop, Red Mango, and Chat'n'Chew in NY. Second, wow, I eat out a lot. I seriously need to rein it in. Granted, though, all of the NY reviews are from our trip this weekend, and who cooks in on vacation (unless you rent a beach house with friends or something)? Another justification? Some of the other reviews are from a long time ago, although I still remember the high points. So, you can scratch the second "wow" reason and stay tuned for the reviews. I don't have the heart to start on them tonight....

P.F. Chang's Annapolis

Before I get to the food part, I would like to warn you that this location doesn't have real parking except for valet, which seems a bit weird for a P.F. Changs in the Annapolis suburbs. Since the rest of the new shopping center isn't open yet, I'm not sure if the parking situation is permanent or if a lot will open. If the restaurant isn't going to have a lot, that could create a problem because we parked further away and walked, and parking won't be anywhere near as available once everything else is open. Now for the food. There's a healthy debate about whether P.F. Chang's (http://www.pfchangs.com) is good food. I know people who scoff at it because it's not authentic Asian food. My take on it is that it's all about attitude. You don't go to Chipotle expecting authentic Mexican food, but it's still ok fast food. Likewise, if you wanted authetnic Asian food, you would go to an authentic Chinese (or whatever ethnicity) restaurant and not a pan-Asian national chain restaurant. Of course, P.F. Chang's isn't authentic Asian food. Once you get over that hurdle, you can appreciate the food, which belongs in the Americanized pan-Asian genre. For appetizers, we ordered the chicken lettuce wraps and the spring rolls. The lettuce of the lettuce wraps is iceberg lettuce, and the filling is minced and seasoned chicken mixed with mushrooms and other veggies. The lettuce wraps are good enough, but every time I've ordered them, they don't come with nearly enough lettuce. Even if you were to stuff the lettuce wraps as full of filling as possible, there would still be some left over. C'mon now restaurant management people! The spring rolls were too greasy and therefore mediocre. I ordered the spicy chicken, and my companions ordered the beef chow fun and the wok charred beef. The spicy chicken was fine and flavorful, but I can't say that I was impressed enough to order it again. The beef chow fun was good with nice pieces of charred beef. I didn't try the wok charred beef. For the sake of the blog, I ordered coffee with my meal and was pleasantly surprised. It's billed on the menu as organic French roast, had a nice flavor and strength, and was well brewed. My only complaint about it is that it wasn't hot. However, we went to the restaurant at about 10:30, so chances are, it had been sitting in a caraffe so as not to burn.

Fondue Monopoly

I went to the Annapolis Melting Pot (http://www.meltingpot.com/) because my friend AZ had a giftcard, which we happily discovered was worth $75. Fondue is fun, but I wish that I could try it somewhere other than the Melting Pot or at home. While the Melting Pot changes its menu up, and the food is fine, it would be interesting to see what a different and probably more authentic take on it would be. I've seen other fondue restaurants in Denver and Quebec, but unfortunately didn't get the chance to go. Here are my main gripes with the Annapolis Melting Pot. First, the ventilation is horrible. I wreak when I leave, and steam was constantly blowing in my face. The Melting Pot should seriously consider installing hoods at each table. Second, I think that it woud be nice if fondue restaurants provided timers if people want them so that they can more thoroughly monitor cooking times. We ordered the Wisconsin trio cheese fondue, Southwest Cobb Salad (a bit bland and too icebergy), the signature selection (two types of beef, shrimp, chicken, and salmon) cooked mojo style (think citrus), and the Oreo fondue. The mojo cooking style is my favorite to date, but costs an extra $5. As always, the chocolate was excellent! The Melting Pot shined in the beverage category. No, I'm not talking about anything as unimportant as cocktails. I'm referring to the coffee. I asked the server if it was good, and she gave it a ringing endorsement as a regular coffee drinker. She was pretty right on. It had that restauranty twinge, but otherwise was pretty good. It was nice and strong without tasting bitter or burnt, and tasted as if it had been brewed in a clean coffee maker. Here's to hoping that the Melting Pot gets a competitor!

Otani

We went to the recently-opened Otani (http://otanijapanesesushi.com/) in the Gambrills/Crofton area because of the deal of the day coupon in the Capital (local Annapolis newspaper more affectionately known as the Crapital) for either a free seaweed salad or California roll. We picked the California roll. There's not much to say about a California roll. I can't say that I've ever had a really good one or a really bad one. They taste pretty much the same to me. I ordered the chicken hibachi plate, and Eugene ordered the ribeye steak hibachi plate. It came first with some miso soup, which was standard except for the enokitaki mushrooms, which I absolutely love. They are wonderful in soup and taste almost as good as meat. The hibachi plates were just ok -- nothing out of the ordinary. The chicken was a tad dry, and the steak, while pretty good, didn't taste like any hibachi steak that I have ever had (and not in the best of ways). I might go back to sample some of the other dishes on the menu, but I might not. Edit: I did go back for the sushi. Read about it here.

Darlington House: A Restoration of Faith

A bit dramatic for a restaurant, yes? Not really. Here's some background. I was reviewing my previous restaurant postings and was beginning to think that I was becoming one of those food snobs who is never pleased with anything. I realized that a lot of what I had to say about restaurants was negative. Heck! The whole reason I started the blog was that I was ticked about bad food and thought, "Hey, I should write about it." The trend as of late in my take on different dining experiences was that the food I was eating was ok, but nothing outstanding. It made me wonder if I had unrealistic expectations for food and if I was taking good food for granted. Eating at Darlington House (http://www.darlingtonhousedc.com/) erased those concerns. It was one of the best meals that I have ever had in DC. I went to DH for the five-course Tasting Journal dinner, which was paired with wine. The first course was a tasty arugula salad with a lemon vinaigrette. The next course was a large pan-seared scallop that was expertly cooked. I bit into it and was wowed. The outside had the perfect level of peppery crustiness, and the scallop was a perfect, hot temperature. The accompanying sauce complimented it wonderfully. The main course was roasted Alaskan halibut. It was to die for. Like the scallop, it was cooked perfectly, and the flavor was wonderful. It was accompanied by cauliflower and fried shallots. I have never had cauliflower cooked so tastily. It was cooked, but still firm and lightly roasty (if that's a word). That, in combination with the breaded and fried shallots was amazing. My only gripes (which are small) are about the soup, dessert, and service. The soup course was a creamless butternut squash soup with amaretto cookie crumbles. The soup itself was yummy, but the cookie crumbles made it look a like barf. The amaretto was a bit too strong for the soup. For dessert, I ordered a banana whoopie pie (rum raisin ice cream sandwiched by banana cookies -- sounds weird, but believe me, the flavors compliment each other perfectly); it was so hard that I couldn't break it apart with silverware. It came with a shot glass of milk, and LP, my dining companion suggested that I pour the milk on the pie. It helped a lot, but I feel like it was counterintuitive and still am not sure if I should have poured the milk on. I feel like the server should explain... The service was very slow at times. It took the server forever to get to our table, and he didn't bring the wine pairing for the main course until we were halfway through it. A food runner from kitchen brought dessert, and our server never stopped by to ask if we wanted coffee. Alas. On a parting and out of order note, we each got a glass of prosecco (sparkling white), which was tasty, and the atmosphere was warm and laid back.

PS 7's

I went to PS 7's (http://www.ps7restaurant.com/, 777 I Street NW) for lunch the other day. I liked the sleek and modern atmosphere. I was also a big fan of the bathroom. Its walls are embedded with glass spheres containing live fish, and the sinks are made of a clear matte material and lit underneath so that they look like they are glowing. While the atmosphere was a little cooler than the food, in my opinion, lunch was a nice dining experience. It was priced very reasonably for a DC finer dining establishment. PS 7's offers a prix fixe menu (3 course) for a low $20. I selected the pumpkin soup, the hot brown, and mini doughnuts for dessert. The pumpkin soup was warm and comforting and garnished with pumpkin seeds. It was good, standard pumpkin soup. Nothing too inventive, but serviceable. The same goes for the hot brown -- turkey on bread with bacon, tomatoes, and mornay. It was tasty, but I would have liked the bread to be a bit thicker. It was about a quarter-inch thick and blended in with the turkey, especially soaked in the sauce. Dessert for me was disappointing. Since I've tasted the beignets from Cafe du Monde, I've had really high standards for doughnuts. They shouldn't be that hard to do. However, the doughnuts weren't really hot and were doughy and tough -- perhaps undercooked, in the middle. I only ate part of one. Let's not forget the coffee. PS 7's serves it in a French press, as a lot of restaurants are starting to do. I have some reservations about the French press. For one, when I make it at home, the coffee is never hot enough for my liking. PS 7's didn't have that problem. The coffee was scalding (in a good way). A tad bitter with some grounds that made it through, but otherwise ok. Would I go back? Probably yes for the prix fixe menu that doesn't depend on restaurant week.

Brief Beverage Review

Recommendation: Starbucks salted caramel hot chocolate. It's rich and thick, even with skim milk and has a wonderful just sweet enough taste. I highly recommend it. It's like drinking dessert. Warning: Stay away from Nantucket Nectars lemonade. A lot of companies have started making natural lemonade that tastes fresh despite being bottled. I had high expectations for NN lemonade since their other drinks, like their pomegranate cherry juice, are good. The lemonade, while not totally nasty, has an unnatural taste.

Jackie's Restaurant

We went to Jackie's Restaurant, 8081 Georgia AveSilver Spring, MD 20910, this past Friday for a friend's birthday dinner. Jackie's is a fun place. The decor and lighting are unique, and I loved that we were able to see right into the kitchen. The restaurant sported cool booths with some of the most interesting and funky upholstery that I have seen and nice seating areas for large groups. The bar looked like a lot of fun as well. Jackie herself approached our party and asked who the birthday celebrant was and personally said happy birthday to him. It was a nice touch. Unfortunately, I didn't try the coffee. Jackie's serves Mayorga, though, for anyone who wants to know. That's all I can say about the coffee, because I would have needed to taste it to see if the restaurant brews it properly. I didn't order coffee, even for the sake of the blog, because I've been sick and thought coffee might upset my stomach. I had a sip of a Jackie-tini (I think that's what it was called), and it was very sweet and fruity -- not that alcoholic tasting. As for food, we started off with the arugula salad. It was tasty. It was topped with goat cheese, roasted red peppers, and grilled (I think) pears. The dressing was excellent, although it may not be to everyone's liking. It was a spicy balsamic vinaigrette. While I like spicy food (especially if it makes me cry), a lot of people don't and could be thrown for a loop by the dressing. It wasn't exceptionally spicy, but would be to people who can't handle their spice. The table also got bread. Mind you, you have to ask for it, as the menu specifies that a basket of corn muffins and biscuits is available upon request. We requested it, and received baskets of corn muffins. They had a nice, sweet, buttery taste, but were a bit too dense or dry for my taste. They stuck to the roof of my mouth. It also took a long time for the server to get the bread to the table. For the main course, I ordered the pan-roasted cobia. Cobia is a flaky white fish. To be honest, I wasn't crazy about it. Having never before ordered cobia, I wasn't sure if I just don't like that type of fish, or if it could have been prepared better. It tasted a bit too fishy for my liking. However, it came with a delicious sauce, which I think was ginger and sesame based, bok choy, and an excellent mushroom and sweet potato tempura. My husband ordered the hanger steak, which was accompanied by fries and green beans. I had a bite of the steak, and it was excellent. I can't speak personally to the fries and the beans, but was told that both were good. Since I had been sick and my appetite was down, I didn't try dessert. Overall, it was a fun dining experience, and I would definitely return to taste the other menu offerings, and of course, the coffee and dessert.

Comparison Shopping

So, I sang the praises of the Annie Chun's noodle bowl, which I usually supplement with protein of some sort. They're cheaper at Whole Foods than the supermarket when they're on sale ($2.19 on sale as opposed to $2.99 and up). Lately, though, they seem to be in scarce supply at the Annapolis Whole Foods. Someone from my office recommended Trader Joe's, where the udon and teriyaki (my favorites) are only $1.99.

Allison's Restaurant: So Close, Yet So Far Away

We had been to Allison's once before and were underwhelmed. We returned this time because there was a 2 for 1 coupon. We probably won't be going back again, but not because it was a horrible dining experience. It's simply ok, which to me, means not worth it. The post title has a double meaning. Take One. Allison's is just a few miles away from our house, but far away in that we probably won't go back. Take Two. Allison's could be a good restaurant; it's not horrible and with a little tweaking could be a lot better, but it's oh so far away from being my idea of a good restaurant. At some level, it seems like Allison's is struggling with its identity. It's not exactly Italian, but has a heavy concentration of Italian dishes (Americanized Italian) on the menu, although tonight's special was catfish with fries. Again, don't get me wrong. Allison's is not an unpleasant dining experience, it's just mediocre. Where to begin. I guess I'll start with the all-important coffee. The coffee, like the rest of the meal was okay. It was bland -- not weak, but bland, like it was brewed from Folger's. To its credit, the coffee was a good strength and tasted like it had been brewed fresh in a clean machine.

The bread came next. Normally, I wouldn't write that much about restaurant bread, but it was odd. The bread basket had a mix of cornbread and what appeared to be Italian bread. Usually, Italian bread comes in thick slices, but the slices of Italian bread were about a quarter-inch thick. The bread was extremely ordinary, and was like something that came from a supermarket. There were about 4 pieces of cornbread, and when I say pieces, I mean cubes of cornbread that were only slightly larger than large croutons. I'm not saying that we needed more bread, but it was a strange way to present it. It was served with a nice, sweet butter.

As an appetizer, we ordered the portabella/shitake mushroom ravioli ($8.95), which came in a lobster ginger sauce. This dish was the meal's fleeting flash of brilliance. I have to admit -- one of the reasons I ordered the mushroom ravioli was because I have recently been reading the Twilight series (those who have read it will understand). The filling had a nice texture and was complimented well by the sauce, which, while tasty, didn't have any visible lobster meat in it.

The main courses were so-so, and actually more like something you would get at an Italian deli rather than a sit-down restaurant. I ordered the lasagna ($12.95) and my husband ordered the spaghetti with meatballs. Actually, it should have been called spaghetti with meatball, as it only came with one meatball. While I'm all for portion control, I feel like there should have been at least two meatballs (even if they were smaller), just for appearance's sake. Sadly, the meatball had an overly mushy texture and was a bit short on flavor. On the brightside, the marinara was good. It tasted fresh, and the chef used the all-important fresh parsley. The lasagna was just okay. It was uninspired and overly cheesey (I rarely ever think that something can be over-cheesed). The cheese overpowered pretty much everything else. The lasagna was accompanied by a side of sauteed zucchini, mushrooms, and onions, seasoned with what tasted like dried oregano, rosemary and parsley. Dried herbs are out of place on sauteed veggies, especially at a purported fine dining establishment. The chef should would have been better off with simple salt and pepper. Despite being unimpressed with the main courses, we decided to get dessert so that I could write a complete blog entry :) We asked for the server's recommendation between the tiramisu and the triple chocolate cake. He recommended the cake ($6.95), which was disappointing to say the least. It tasted slightly stale or fridgy and was not worth the calories. It was boring, and again, akin to something at a grocery store bakery. The strawberry garnish was either marinated or an old strawberry. I couldn't tell. So, was this horrible? No. Would I tell people to avoid this restaurant? No. But would I call it good or tell people to try it out? Again, no.

Suprising Saigon Palace

So, sometimes it's hard to believe that there is good ethnic food outside of major metropolitan areas. Saigon Palace is one of those surprises. Not only is it not in a major metropolitan area, it's not even in Annapolis. It's actually out in Edgewater on Mayo Road. I've been there several times, and I'm always happy with it. Our last visit was this past Saturday. It appears that Saigon Palace rearranged its menu from the last time we were there. I can't swear to it, but I think that they did. The menu is extensive and provides good explanations of the dishes and their genres. I think that the prices may have increased slightly from the last time as well. I appreciate the menu because it is an all Vietnamese menu -- not a pan-Asian menu or one that offers dishes from other countries, and therefore seems more authentic (at least to me). We ordered beef pho (large) and a vermicelli noodle salad (#39), which had grilled chicken, beef, pork, and shrimp. It also came with a spring roll and fresh carrot, cucumber, and bean sprouts. It's absolutely delicious! The pho was ok, but not as flavorful as the pho at Viet Thai on Riva Road. The noodles were a bit clumpy. The service is good too. It includes a hot towel at the end of the meal, and some orange slices. I'd definitely go back!

Not Tom's Diner

So, I have been faithfully going to the Annapolis Double T Diner ever since it opened, and I must recommend it as a good cheap-eats restaurant staple. Open all night with freakishly fast service and great homemade soups. You get a ton of food, and while the coffee's not terrific, it's certainly palatable (which is a lot coming from me). You can get breakfast 24 hours as well. I never get the entrees because they're all expensive, and really, who wants to pay $15 for a diner entree? I always get a sandwich which generally comes with a cup of soup. Instant gratification if you're really hungry because it gets brought out right away. Also, the diner is owned by a Greek family and has some Greek items on its menu. The pita is to die for and is great with the tzatziki sauce.

Humane Chocolate

I recently made vegan chocolate chip cookies, and I used Guittard chocolate chips. They were awesome! As good, if not better than Nestle's, which I love (but aren't vegan).

Good-bye Cupcake

So, JV and I trekked out to Dupont to visit Hello Cupcake!, a cupcake joint that recently opened. We decided to buy 6 cupcakes and were shocked when it cost $18 and some change. We should have known better since cupcakes have become super trendy and all the rage. From what I have been told, that price isn't as outrageous as it could be. Even so, we were still a bit outraged (because we're cheap and not that rich) and determined that the cupcakes had better be like an orgasm for the tastebuds. Excuse the crass analogy, but it's just so apropos. We bought two chocolate cupcakes with peanutbutter frosting topped with hersheys kisses, a lemon cupcake with raspberry frosting, a dulce delece cupcake, a vegan cupcake, and I think a pumpkin one. They all failed to live up to our expectations with one major exception. The chocolate/peanutbutter cupcake was super tasty, and despite the initial outrage, I would pay $3 or more for that one. That's not to say that the cupcakes weren't good. They were. Just not that good (except the chocolate one).

No-gurt

So, as I mentioned before, I love Fage Greek yogurt. The 2% fruit flavors are wonderful. They're $1.69 at Whole Foods, which is a lot for one yogurt. There's a cheaper brand called Chobani. I thought I'd try it to save a few bucks. It was gross in comparison to Fage.

Brunch at Chef Geoff's

So, it's been a long, long while. So much eating out, so little posting. I went to brunch with a group after the Army 10 Miler. No, I didn't run. I was just there for the food! We went to Chef Geoff's downtown. It's a good choice if you forgot to make a reservation. When we got there at 11 on Sunday, the restaurant was only one-third full, if that. There was a jazz band playing. I've been to CGs for lunch a bunch of times, and it's usually decent. Brunch costs $25. It includes coffee, tea, juice, mimosas, and/or bloody Mary's. The first course is fruit and "sweetbreads." For a moment, the horrible thought crossed our minds that sweetbreads could mean things like unsavory animal parts. Sweetbreads, according to Wikipedia (so it must be true) are defined as thymus glands of lamb, beef, or pork. I won't lie to you; I've never had real sweetbreads. They might be really tasty.... At any rate, we were relieved to discover that the sweetbread was a piece of coffe cake, which was actually quite tasty. The fruit was a mix of berries and melon. It was ok. I'm not really a fan of honeydew or canteloupe, especially as flavorless as the stuff that we were served. The second course was a choice of a bunch of different things. Half of us ordered steak and eggs and the other half of us ordered this crab/egg benedict dish. They were fine, but nothing great. The steak was ok, but honestly, something I could have made at home. The crab was like a smooshed up crab cake that wasn't very fresh. Again, the food was decent, but nothing to get excited about. However, the potatoes that came with the main courses were awesome! They were thick, yet crunchy. Wow, that sounds cheesey. The best part of the meal, though? The coffee! It was strong and well-brewed. I heartily approve! Not sure I'd go back again for brunch. In total, with gratuity and tax, it cost us about $70 for brunch (for two of us). Yeah, the food was decent, but is it really worth it to pay $70 for only decent brunch?

Big Fish Grille: C'mon Now

Disappointing, disappointing, disappointing, is all I have to say. My husband and I went for my birthday. I figured that it was a safe bet since I had been there two times before and enjoyed it both times. We went on a Thursday night, and the restaurant was relatively empty. Nonetheless, we had to wait about 20 minutes for a table even though there was only a party of two ahead of us. Now I remind all of you who think that I am one of those unreasonable "now now now" types of people (I seem to be thinking in 3s today) who don't understand how restaurants work, that I used to wait tables. I know that just because there are tables open doesn't mean that the restaurant is fully staffed to seat those tables. My gripe was because we went during peak dinner hours and several people left while we were waiting, waiting, and waiting. I was really hungry too, which did a number on my patience. We finally got seated, and I was going to order the prime rib/crab cake combo (a birthday splurge). I was told that prime rib was available only on the weekends, which annoyed me because the menu only said "limited availability." I feel like they should tell you if it's not available ahead of time. It's even more annoying to me because once I think that I'm going to get something, I become set on it. My second choice was the ahi tuna, which is usually good. My husband ordered the garlic parmesan tilapia. We started out with the warm brie appetizer. it was pretty good and came out drenched in honey and sprinkled with almonds with a generous portion of grapes and oranges and a few strawerries. It was good, but then again, it's hard to mess up brie. I was so sad about the tuna. I became suspicious about it when I was ordering. Mind you, the Big Fish Grille holds itself out at a seafood restaurant and is pretty pricey for the Crofton area. So I was shocked when the server did not ask me how I wanhted my tuna cooked. I asked him after he failed to ask me, first inquiring whether the kitchen normally cooks tuna a certain way (some places cook it medium rare as a matter of course). He responded that "it's probably sauteed or something." I thought "Geez. What kind of answer is that at a seafood restaurant? Are my expectations too high? No! It's not like I'm at Applebees or something." I then explained that I meant temperature, and asked that the tuna be blackened and cooked medium rare. I should have realized that no good could come from that exchange, but I plunged ahead with it anyways. The tuna came out way overcooked. It was nicely blackened, but dreadully overcooked -- mildly pink (like traces of pink) in the center (think steak cooked medium well). As one of my good friends has said, overcooked tuna is worthlessl; it's almost the equivalent of eating it from the can. To be fair, my husband's garlic paremsan tilapia was pretty good, but the fresh garlic in the coating had an odd texture. The fish was nice and flaky and perfectly cooked over linguine. Because it was my birthday, he insisted on trading with me and ate the bad tuna. Way to take one for the team :) I decided to go to Friendly's for dessert (yay peanut butter sundae) because I felt betrayed by the Big Fish. Definitely not going back. To encapsulate this overly verbose post, C'mon now. What kinds of seafood restaurant doesn't train its servers to ask how tuna should be cooked?

Cafe Pronto: The Molestation of the American Palate (A Delayed Reaction)

So, the title. First, is it even right to use the word "molest" in conjunction with the palate of all things? People are molested, not palates (even if it is a gramatically correct usage of the word). Second, is the American palate monolithic? Finally, it's a delayed reaction because the incident occurred back in May. I had written a post about this before but never finished it. However, the incident has become so seared into my brain, that I don't have much trouble recalling it. So, here's what happened. Back in May, my sister-in-law and I decided to stop at Cafe Pronto at Riva Festival for some coffee after making a run to Michael's for cake decorating supplies. I ordered the French roast (as is my custom) at Cafe Pronto, because I really like it there. I was warned that the French roast had been sitting around awhile, but the warning was followed by an offhanded "It is French roast. It's not like it matters if it's been sitting awhile." All of a sudden, I was embroiled in a discussion of the horribles of French roast. Both baristas were very anti-French roast. And yes, one of them said that Starbucks, by burning its coffee has contributed to the "molestation of the American palate," making people think that burnt coffee is good coffee. One of them told me that it smells horrible at the roasting plant when French roast is being roasted, and the other barista showed me French roast beans, which looked oily on the outside. Apparently, the oil on the outside should be on the inside of the bean, but somehow transfers to the outside after extreme roasting. So I asked why the store even sells French roast if it's awful. The answer? French roast "pays the bills" because millions of Americans support bad coffee. If so many people like it, is it really bad? Or just different? Who knows? At any rate, this is exactly the type of food snobbery that I despise. The type of food snobbery that stops people from asking questions at restaurants. I don't understand why people can't be a bit more openminded. It just so happens that I have an appreciation for all types of coffee, burnt or lightly roasted. The reason why I never select the light or mild roast is that I am usually disappointed, yes, even at Starbucks. However, when I visited Hawaii last summer, I never had a bad cup of coffee. The mild roasts were as excellent (perhaps even better) than the bold roasts. So, I know that good mild blends are out there, I just don't trust a lot of coffee shops to get it right or not make it too weak. In spite of this, I still go back to Cafe Pronto. I like that they're passionate about their coffee there (even if a bit too extreme). They have a killer carrot muffin, and this special machine that custom brews coffee. The custom brews are pretty good, but nothing to jump up and down about, in my opinion.

Plain Vanilla?

When I started blogging a little over a month ago, I thought, "You know what? I'm not going to be snotty about food. I'm going to write about everything." Only kinda true now, I guess. For instance, I went to Noodles & Co. (you know, the fastish food noodle chain) for dinner, and I don't really feel inspired to write about it. I had been there before and thought it was so so. I went again tonight because it was nearby, open, and fit within our $15 per meal budget. At any rate, it was boring and mediocre, yet not expensive enough that I could become outraged that I ate there. Just a word to the wise, though, the pasta rosa (of the Mediterranean genre on the menu) tastes like warm vinegary pasta salad. On to more exciting things like plain vanilla. Except vanilla is not so plain. My theory on vanilla and baking is that there's always room for more than a recipe calls for. I always add extra, and I add it even if a recipe doesn't call for it. I put it in whipped cream etc. etc. It always makes things taste nicer. Is that the end of the story? Of course not! The type of vanilla you use can make a difference. Here is a WARNING for you unwary vanilla buyers out there. My friend took a trip to Mexico and bought me this wonderful bottle of Mexican vanilla that tasted and smelled like any other vanilla I had bought here in the states. It almost had a coconut scent to it. I thought, gee, I will go to Williams Sonoma and buy some expensive vanilla because it has a higher chance of tasting like the Mexican vanilla. WRONG!!! I bought Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon vanilla. Okay, so I probably couldn't have expected it to taste like the Mexican vanilla, because after all, Madagascar and Mexico are thousands of miles away from each other. I thought that the Madagascar vanilla might be exotic or different. Instead, it tasted just like the standard grocery store vanilla. It cost $8.50, which is probably not that bad for an 8 oz. bottle, but don't buy it thinking that it will taste special.

Noodles, dressing, and revisiting

Ta da! More grocery reviews of good healthy groceries. Please don't think that I'm a lowfat healthfood nut, because I'm not. I only highlight healthier foods because to me, it's much easier for full-fat products to taste good than lowfat foods. I'll only eat healthy stuff (or any food for that matter) if I think that it tastes good. Why the disclaimer? Because I really don't trust a person's food judgment if they actually prefer the healthy stuff because they think it tastes better. C'mon. We all know that we would rather have bacon and fries and chocolate and donuts if we wouldn't gain weight and clog our arteries. On the noodles front (note how I am adhering to the organizational structure flowing from my title), I tried Annie Chun's Teriyaki Noodle Bowl (recommended by my husband). So many good things about it. Where do I begin? First, for all of you veggies out there, it's vegan. For all of you non-vegans and carnivores such as myself, don't let the absence of meat turn you off. It's tasty and relatively filling all the same, but I'll get to that later. Second, it's pretty lowfat and low cal. 400 calories and 5 grams of fat. Not bad for a lunch entree. Third, it is all natural and does not contain any MSG or preservatices. Finally, and most important, it tastes great! Unlike the standard cup of noodles, the noodles are fresh (not dried) and vaccuum sealed. The teriyaki sauce is flavorful. The only improvement I can suggest is better veggies. They're dried out like the veggies in the standard cup of noodles. There's supposed to be tofu, but I didn't really notice it. On balance, it's pretty good. It's a bit pricey ($3 a crack), but if you order it online, you can get a bulk discount and free shipping. http://www.worldpantry.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce/ExecMacro/anniechun/home.d2w/report. Also, good ole Annie puts out a whole bunch of other dishes, which I have yet to try. I'll let you know when I do! Okay, on to dressing. I really like a good honey mustard. For a relatively healthy one that won't reverse the good diet effects of a salad, try Newman's Own Light Honey Mustard. You'll only intake 4 grams of fat and 70 calories for a two tablespoon serving size. It has a nice horse-radishy (my husband points out that horse-radishy is not really a word) kick even though it really doesn't contain and is nice and creamy with those pretty ground mustard seeds in it. I honestly would eat this instead of the full fat version because I think it tastes as good. Oh, the best of both worlds. Finally, revisiting. If you had nothing better to do than read my thoughts on Greek yogurt, you may recall that I reviewed Fage 2% Greek yogurt with peaches. I tried the honey 2% variety. Nice and sweet, but not nearly as good as the peach, in my opinion. See for yourself. Maybe when I start running more and don't feel like a total porker, I will try the full-fat version. Until then, I will indulge in only really unhealthy stuff -- like cake, ice cream, cookies, candy, and pie. Why waste the quota of fat on yogurt? Why, indeed?

Overwood Wood Fired American Kitchen

So, my husband and I took a trip out to Northern Virginia today, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to try a new restaurant. We are trying to cut down on our dining expenses, so we chose to go to Overwood Wood Fired American Kitchen (220 North Lee Street, Alexandria, VA 22314), which from the outside, looked like it wouldn't be too expensive. The ambience was a nice hodgepodge. There were flat panel TVs for the sports lover against the backdrop of a warm interior to save the restaurant from having a sports bar atmosphere. It looked kid- friendly as well. Also, if you sit in the back of the restaurant, you have a view of the open kitchen and some nice wooden wine cases. The food was pretty good overall, but as discussed below, it was not the place to go if you are looking to eat on a budget. That's the last time I'll ever take TVs showing sports to mean cheaper food. On a scale of 1 to 5, I would give it a 3.75. I know that I'm splitting hairs here, and most reviewers give half-points and don't go as far as quarter-points, but I was conflicted. Maybe I'd give it a 4 if it were food alone and I wasn't considering bang for the buck. Oh screw it. Just read. You can make your own assessment based on the lengthy detailed explanation. We skipped appetizers (again trying to save $$). There were some that looked interesting. I would have liked to have tried the fried green tomatoes, for one. We only ordered entrees. When ordering, I realized that we should not have judged the restaurant by its outside appearance. We thought it would be a bit cheaper, but most of the entrees aside from the burger option were $14 or over. I think that there was meatloaf for cheaper, but it had veal in it, and even I, the carnivore that I am, will not eat veal because I think that it's mean. I ordered the steak salad, which was $14.95, and my husband ordered cavatelli with sausage for $17.95 (a special and not on the regular menu). My steak salad was good. The steak was yummy with a nice texture and tasted like it had been lightly marinated. The salad contained crispy potato strings, standard field greends, grape tomatoes, a bleu cheese, and a decent ranch dressing. Nothing out of the ordinary, but still tasty. My husband's pasta dish was good as well. The pasta was perfectly cooked with a slightly spicy sausage and nice tomato-based sauce. It was accompanied by a large piece of crispy bread -- almost the consistency of a crouton. Pricewise, the salad was probably about right because of the quality of the meat. $17.95 for the pasta was a bit much. The portion was not especially large, and I don't think that it's justified to charge that much for sausage and pasta in a tomato sauce. We ordered dessert because we were slightly hungry after entrees. There were a lot of interesting options -- a double chocolate cheesecake, Elvis Pie (oreo crust, bananas, peanutbutter -- obviously in homage to Elvis's love of peanutbutter and banana sandwiches), and a few others. We selected the brownie sundae, which was pretty good. The brownie was served warm and had the perfect amount of moistness. For an interesting twist, the brownie was topped with two scoops of ice cream -- one chocolate and one vanilla, topped again with caramel sauce. The ice cream was high-quality, and the sundae was good overall. I decided to do the coffee test here. THE COFFEE WAS EXCELLENT!!!!! The restaurant uses coffee from local company M.E. Swing, which I frequented when I worked near the D.C. location. It was the perfect strength and not just good for restaurant coffee. On a scale of 1 to 4 mugs, I give it 4 full mugs! So, the upshot is that I would go back, but probably not that often because the price. Other good things were the interesting-shaped glasses, the pretty white coffee mugs, and the conveniently-placed coathooks on the booths.

Mi Casita

I highly recommend Mi Casita (1334 Defense Hwy Gambrills, MD 21054). I have been there twice. The first time, I went on a whim because I like to try new restaurants. I'm not sure how long it's been around, but I'm sure that it will stay around for quite awhile given the excellent food. Granted, I'm no connoisseur of Mexican food, but I know what tastes good and what's boring. The first time that I actually had decent tacos was at Tacqueria Nacionale in D.C. I didn't expect anything nearly as good at Mi Casita. It's in Gambrills for heavens' sake -- not in podunk, but not really known for its stellar food. During my first visit, I tried the marinated pork tacos. Excellent is all I can say. The stringy pork was tender and flavorful, and the tortilla tasted like a real, fresh corn tortilla. It's amazing how many Mexican restaurants on the mid-Atlantic coast are incapable of serving good corn tortillas. The first time that you have good tacos is an earth-shattering experience. We ordered sopapillas with ice cream for dessert. Again, fantastic. The sopapillas had the perfect texture and flavor, were drizzled with honey, and came with dense and rich vanilla ice cream. The second visit was just as good. I branched out from the tacos that I love and tried the marinated beef flautas. They were crispy on the outside, and the beef, like the pork the previous time, was perfectly marinated. They were topped with fresh Mexican cheese, and believe me, you can taste the difference. My husband ordered beef enchilladas poblano, which were topped with a chocolate-infused sauce. The chocolate flavor came out nicely and paired well with the beef. We ordered the fried ice cream for dessert. I wanted to order the sopapillas again, but my husband prevailed upon me. I'm usually not a big fan of fried ice cream, but it was excellent. The ice cream was coated with cookie crumbs and came in a fried cinnamon tortilla bowl. There was a choice of honey, strawberry, or chocolate topping, and we picked honey. It was absolutely delicious. Let's see. Other good things... The servers on both occasions immediately brought chips and fresh-tasting salsa to the table. Because I live in a perpetual state of hunger, I really appreciated it. The only downside was the rice and beans, which are never really that exciting. I thought that given how wonderful the rest of the food was, there might be something special about them. A minor complaint, though. Pricewise, it's more expensive than a lot of other Mexican food, but not by much. The quality of the food makes it well worth it.

Good Groceries

As I mentioned in the inaugural post, I am doing grocery reviews and recommendations as well as restaurant reviews. Here is my inaugural posting about groceries..... Loving food is a struggle when you are trying to eat healthy. I'm always looking for low fat or low calorie food that actually tastes good. My theory is that eating low calorie food is not worth it if you can't enjoy it. Why put the fat and calories in your body from health food if it tastes nasty? The foods described below are not only okay diet-wise, but are worth eating. I've found a great product -- Fage Greek yogurt with fruit. One of my co-workers was eating it, and I was intrigued and wanted to try it. Fage offers regular and 2% versions. While the carton has 12 grams of fat per pack, the 2% has only 2.5 grams of fat. I have only tried the peach variety and it is very peachy. The yogurt is packaged so that the fruit has to be mixed in at the time of consumption. I also like the texture of the yogurt -- not gloppy, but smoothe and creamy. Very yummy and a great breakfast if you are eating on the run. It keeps me relatively full until lunch, which is saying something because I get hungry a lot.

Another yummy snack is lowfat Boursin on top of Mr. Krispers Sea Salt & Pepper Baked Rice Crisps. Yes, I know that the full-fat version is tastier, but it's hard to come by a good cheesespread that won't clog your arteries. Unfortunately, I can't tell you the exact nutritional value on the Boursin, but I think that you could eat an entire tub and only consumer 20 grams of fat (which is an estimate on the high-end). You could consume 37 rice chips and only intake 3 grams of fat and 120 calories. Not bad, eh? The rice chips are made from brown rice, so it's a nice source of whole grains.

And for the last good low cal food in this posting: Kudos 100 calorie granola bars. I was actually trolling Sam's Club looking for the full-fat unhealthy version, but all I could find were the 100 calorie bars. I bought them anyways, because I am a candy bar fanatic and needed a good chocolate fix to prevent the 4 o'clock trip to the vending machine. I was pleasantly surprised. For 100 calories, I can eat a granola bar (even if it is a bit small) with the bottom coated in chocolate and either peanutbutter, m&ms or snickers mixed throughout. It is almost as good as a candy bar and way healthier.

Go enjoy!

The Inspiration of Agraria

Agraria (3000 K Street NW, Washington DC 20007 on the Georgetown waterfront) is the inspiration for this blog but not because of its fantastic food. I visited Agraria during restaurant week and I was thoroughly underwhelmed. Granted, $30 is a good deal for a three-course dinner, but as I'm not exactly rollng in dough, I wanted good food and service for my money. Other preemptive responses to people who think that I'm too harsh . . . yes, it was restaurant week and you never get the best of the best during restaurant week. Maybe you can't get the most expensive thing on the menu, but the food should still be decent. Restaurant week can't be an invitation to pay $30 for a subpar dinner. At any rate, I was so unimpressed by my dining experience that I decided to start this blog to warn others off of food that is simply not worth the money. Thus the inspiration of Agraria. The food wasn't actually that bad. However, things got off on the wrong foot. Despite having a reservation, we had to wait awhile for a table. I'm patient and a former waitress, so I don't usually get annoyed at substandard service. I ordered the charcuterie plate as my appetizer. Unfortunately, I can't tell you the exact meats I was eating because it wasn't on the menu, and a bartender who knew nothing about the food waited on us. The presentation was lacking to say the least. The meat was pressed onto a plate. It didn't come with bread or any exciting accents. It was honestly like eating a plate of lunchmeat. My husband ordered the chicken soup. Good, but nothing to write home about. My friend ordered a spinach salad, which was okay, but again, nothing exciting. Luckily, the main course redeemed things a bit. I ordered fried chicken, which came with mashed potatoes and a vegetable that I can't remember because it was so long ago. It was excellent. My friend ordered the steak, which was cooked to order with a great flavor. I really wanted to take my leftover chicken home, but unfortunately, it was thrown away in the kitchen. I got an extra dessert to take home, which was a nice gesture, but based on how dessert was, I would have rather taken the chicken home. I ordered chocolate cake for dessert and the others ordered the pumpkin cheesecake. The pumpkin cheesecake was good, but not better than other renditions that I've had. The chocolate cake had fantastic frosting. It was deliciously fudgy. Too bad the cake was dry. We also ordered coffee, which ended up being pretty decent. There were good points to the meal, but I don't think that I would go back again.

Inaugural Stream of Consciousness . . . the Coffee Part of the Equation

Some people eat to live. I live to eat; thus the title of the blog. But this post is about the coffee part of the life equation. By way of background, I'm a coffee fiend, not only for the caffeine (decaf, even at night, is for wusses), but for the incredible flavor and smell. On a tangent, I suffer from major caffeine addiction. Don't worry, though. I can make the headaches go away in a snap. Two caffeine-filled Excedrin, and I'm as good as new. But back to the coffee. I'm super picky and would rather have no coffee at all than bad coffee. However, I'm not so picky that I won't drink Starbucks. Despite its chain-i-ness, I know that I can get a cup of strong, palatable coffee. (I can't say the same for cafes that serve Seattle's Best, which is why I like Barnes & Noble better than Borders). Ideally, I would prefer to go to cute and cozy local haunts, but I (or the coffee) have been burnt one too many times. It is shocking that there are so many coffee shops with wretched coffee. To name a local one, Baltimore Coffee & Tea. I bought a cup, and it was so terrible that I couldn't bear to finish it. Even my husband, who thinks that bad coffee is better than no coffee at all, had a hard time finishing his cup. The coffee was only slightly, and I mean very slightly, better than gas station quality. In a way, it was worse because my expectations were high since BCT holds itself out as a "coffee" shop. I haven't had the yuppie coffee drinks there. I will wait to totally pass judgment until I try one of those. That statement also reveals a bit about my coffee aura. I generally prefer regular coffee with a moderate amount of cream and a little bit of sugar, but on occasion, I like to indulge in yuppie coffee drinks. Anyways, here is my segue from coffee to food. Restaurant coffee. So many times, I go to restaurants with decent food, but the coffee is wretched. Honestly, how hard is it to brew a decent cup of coffee? You don't need super-expensive beans or a French press. The right amount of coffee in a lime-free coffee maker that hasn't been sitting on a burner for hours will almost always produce passable coffee. Since this seems to have escaped most restaurants, if I want something hot and caffeinated while I'm eating, I order tea for fear that I will have wasted my drink on a cup of dishwater. I've now started asking servers how the coffee is, and I must say that they have always been honest. No one has ever told me that the coffee is good when it really isn't. I get lots of "ers" and "I don't drink coffees." Back when I was brave and just ordered the coffee, I was often disappointed. I almost started thinking that it was a law of nature that restaurants (aside from the ultra-gourmet shi-shi ones) can't brew good coffee. However, my travels in Europe and Hawai'i restored my faith in common restaurant coffee and made me think . . . good restaurant coffee on a widespread basis could really happen on the mainland. Too bad it hasn't happened yet. Maybe if restaurant reviewers made coffee a big part of the review. Oh well. As a parting shot, by way of specifics, Les Folies on Riva Road in Annapolis has fabulous coffee! Onward, to food and beyond.