Original Pancake House

After running the Army 10-miler, I treated myself to brunch at the Original Pancake House in Falls Church, Virginia. It's a chain that I'd return to. It has locations spread across the country. It wasn't out-of-this world, but there are so many creative pancake varieties on the menu, that I want to go back and try them. Most importantly, it has really decent coffee. Courtesy of my friends sharing, I tried three different types of pancakes. Gingerbread, pumpkin, and wheat germ with pecan. My friends preferred the wheat germ pancakes, which were packed with pecans. I thought that they were fine, but liked the gingerbread ones the most even if they were a bit tricky. How can a pancake be tricky, you ask? Well, I thought that a gingerbread pancake would be dark and molasses-y, but these pancakes were more just ginger-flavored pancakes. Really tasty, but not like any gingerbread I've ever had. The pumpkin pancakes were "fine." Other observations. The bacon is nice and thick and crispy, but the eggs were a bit weird. I ordered them fried over hard and they came in this unnatural looking omelet form; they reminded me of Waffle House eggs. Don't get me wrong; Waffle House has a special place in my heart, but there's something about the cooking spray it uses that makes the eggs taste a little off. I want to try the apple pancakes and the Dutch Baby pancakes and the crepes!

Viet-Thai Paradise: The Good and the Not So Good

My husband and I have been going to Viet-Thai Paradise on Riva Road in Annapolis ever since it opened. I've never gotten around to writing about it. For the Annapolis food scene, which is sorely lacking in good ethnic food, Viet-Thai is pretty good. It does some things really really well, and other things, not so well. Before delving into the good and the bad, I thought I should say that the restaurant is Vietnamese-owned. Thus, if the conventional wisdom is true, then the Vietnamese (rather than Thai) side of the menu is probably better. My experience with Viet-Thai's pad-thai did not disabuse me of that notion. The Good The pho is excellent. The broth is complex, and the different flavors and spices shine through. It comes in several different meat varieties along with fresh sprouts, basil, green onions, white onions, and a hearty amount of noodles. It's as good, if not better as any I've tasted anywhere else. Also try the springrolls. I don't know how to put it. They are supremely tasty, and again, as good, if not better as any I've tased anywhere else. The restaurant uses a wrapper more akin to a lumpia wrapper, rather than the bubbly, less delicate, and chewier eggroll skin. Service and atmosphere are also nice. The restaurant features modern decor, friendly and efficient service, and warm washcloths for the hands, and fresh post-meal orange slices. Other good things to try are lemongrass beef with noodles and the summer rolls. The Not So Good I like to try new things on menus, but most of my attempts to branch out from the pho have resulted in mediocre meals. As one of my Vietnamese friends said, Vietnames restaurants usually get a few dishes right; it is rare that they can hit all of the high notes. I think that this is probably the case with a lot of restaurants. I've had the bun (noodle salad), caramelized pork, and the Viet-Thai special fried rice. Not good and verging on the border of a little bad. There's just something a little off about the flavor of these dishes. However, I'll go back for pho and springrolls anytime!

The Komi Experience

It's been about eight months since I last posted. My lengthy silence did not result from a lack of eating out. I've just been in a funk. Over the past eight months, I would try new restaurants, and then quickly lose inspiration to write about my experience because the meals, even if tasty, were just forgettable. That all changed with Komi, which is now heralded by a fever-pitched hype since being rated el numero uno by the Washingtonian in its annual restaurant review. And let me tell you; the hype is worth it. Not necessarily because it's the best food that you will ever eat; in fact, some of the dishes, while extraordinarily fresh, were a trifle bland. However, Komi offers one of the most memorable dining experiences available in the DC area without being gimmicky. First impressions first. I loved the atmosphere. The restaurant is located in a DuPont rowhouse (conveniently adjacent to Mr. Yogato). The dining room is small, un-fussy, and almost doesn't seem like a restaurant at all. It has plain dark wood floors and yellow walls and a big decorative wooden table toward the front of the dining room. Patrons seated facing the back of the restaurant can see directly into the kitchen through an open doorway and watch as the chefs prepare the food. In keeping with the atmosphere, the service was unfussy but impeccable. Have you ever gone to a restaurant and felt like you were being judged because you didn't look as shi-shi as the rest of the clientele or maybe because you didn't know as much about food or wine and the ritual of fine dining as the other guests? (Maybe you haven't, and I just have a complex, which is not outside the realm of possibility). Happily, that vibe is non-existent at Komi. The staff was laid back and communicated a true appreciation for the food and wine being served, unlike any I have encountered before. Some things to know about ordering. You can either order Dinner, in which case you receive a sampling of Mezzethakia (small plates), a pasta dish, and a main course and dessert. You can also choose to go the more elaborate route and select the Degustazione (chef's tasting menu), and allow the kitchen to determine what you will eat. The Degustazione comes with more small plates than the dinner, a selection of pastas, a main course, a cheese course, palate cleanser, and a selection desserts. I, being who I am, went for the whole hog, and really enjoyed not having to decide what to order and not knowing what to expect. It exposed me to food that I would not have regularly ordered, but ended up loving. For instance, before eating at Komi, I wasn't a huge fan of fish roe, sea urchin, salmon, or octopus, having only eaten those ingredients in sushi. Komi changed that by creatively pairing these foods with other ingredients (i.e., fish roe and creme fraiche), using the freshest seafood available, and really understanding how to manipulate food texture to make it appealing. Small Plates. We had several rounds of small plates, including, but not limited to (if you're a lawyer, and really hurting for humor in your life, you might think that's funny): hamachi loin sashimi, hamachi belly sashimi, divers scallops prepared two ways -- pureed and in a thinly-sliced tartare, a mini BLT served with a strawberry gazpacho, roasted cheese (mascarpone?) stuffed dates topped with salt, Kumamoto oysters, salmon tartare, grilled octopus, roe served atop a creme fraiche-injected brioche puff, deep-fried cubes of caesar salad (a bit bland and weird), and other things that I am surely leaving out having stupidly neglected to write everything down. One of the funnest things about the small plate experience was the way the food was presented. For example, the scallops were served on scallop shells; the salmon tartare came in a martini glass, and the gazpacho came in a pretty shot glass. Such presentation led me to believe that the restaurant has an insane amount of small, knick-knacky serving ware. Also, it seemed that new silverware was provided after each small plate, which makes me cringe to think of how much dishwashing my meal alone necessitated. Pasta. The small plates were followed by two pasta dishes: A tomato-corn pasta (can't remember if there was meat involved), that was a bit bland, yet fresh, and a spaghetti with crabmeat and sea urchin packed with pungent, but non-fishy seafood flavor. Main Courses. We were served roasted goat and roasted suckling pig. The suckling pig was the piggiest tasting pig I have ever eaten, and this is a high compliment (much like Julia Child's description of French chicken as chickeny). It was tender, and the chef relied on the natural flavoring of the meat rather than mucking it up with a bunch of seasoning. The suckling pig not only included the meat, but squares of skin and fat, which while nice and crispy, did not hold a candle flavor-wise to the meat itself. The goat, like the pig, seemed to be only lightly seasoned, and was deliciously crispy on the outside parts. Accompanying the main dishes were five different condiments and gorgeous pita. The condiments included an avocado salt, a "spicey" red paste (the quotes mean, not really spicey for people who can handle the heat), an eggplant dip (think baba ganoush), lightly pickled cabbage, and a nice tzatziki containing nice chunks of cucumber. Cheese. The cheese course was delicious. It was a soft burrata mozzarella with pesto and a grilled peach. Palate Cleanser. I can't remember if this came before cheese or after cheese and before dessert. It was a lot of fun. Instead of boring sorbet, we got a sangria snow cone, which was really syrupy and tasty. Dessert. We received two selections: a peanutbutter/chocolate crunchy gooey thing and a mint ice cream bonbon covered in chocolate. The bonbon was my favorite and was accented with just the right amount of salt to bring out the flavors. And of course, we got homemade lollipops at the end (which I have yet to eat). Amazingly, at the end of this approximately three-hour gustatory experience, we still had room in our stomachs. I'm not sure if it was because we're chronic over-eaters with hugely expanded stomachs, or if it was because the restaurant does a good job of portion control so that people can actually get through the meal and try everything given to them. I'll assume that it was the latter. At any rate, when dinner was over, we headed to Mr. Yogato for some frozen yogurt, which was a nice cap to a truly distinctive meal.

Punk's: Good Food and Weird Aspirations

How do I characterize Punk's Backyard Grill? Is it a chain restaurant? A fast food restaurant? Does it have good food? The first three questions don't have clear answers, but the last one does. For the first question, Annapolis has the distinction of being home to the first-ever Punk's, which pleases me, because all of the other new restaurants at the mall and the Annapolis Towne Center are chains. However, according to its website, the founders of Punk's want to take the concept of backyard grilled food nationwide. I can understand the founders' desire to have their concept take off nationwide, but even so, it's funny in a roundabout way to aspire to become a chain restaurant. For the second question, I wouldn't call Punk's a fast food restaurant because there is a wait of around 10 or so minutes between the time that food is ordered at the counter and the time that it comes to the table. The answer to the third question, whether the food is good, is a resounding yes. The Punk's concept is fresh and natural food, and it tasted like it! I ordered a burger with pepperjack cheese and bacon. The roll was nice and fluffy -- not the standard spongy roll that one would buy factory-made and pre-packaged at the grocery store. The burger had a wonderful, savory flavor, and the applewood-smoked bacon had a little something extra. It came with a few leaves of arugula and two cherry tomatoes. Eugene ordered a grilled sausage, which was also tasty. Since we were trying the restaurant out for the first time, we decided to go all out, so we ordered two sides -- macaroni & cheese and potato salad, both of which were excellent. Even though mac and cheese and potato salad are rather standard fare, it takes effort to make them really really good. The mac & cheese had a great consistency and flavor and the potato salad avoided being overly mayonnaise-y and was nicely seasoned with pepper. We also ordered two desserts -- a key lime pie and a cookie ice cream sandwich. I am super picky when it comes to desserts, and I had no complaints. The key lime pie tasted like I made it at home, in a good way; perfectly tart and tangy with a nice graham cracker crust. The cookies for the ice cream sandwich were outstanding. They were nice and chewy with a good chocolate flavor and dusted with sugar. Other things I liked... the natural sodas! Instead of the standard Coke or Pepsi products, Punk's offers Boylan's sodas, and I had the sugar-cane cola, which was really nice. Also, the kids menu is healthy. For example, instead of chicken nuggets, it offers grilled chicken bites, and all kids meals come with milk and veggie sticks. At first, I was annoyed by the lack of fries, but then realized that fries don't really mesh with the concept of backyard grill cooking. The only drawback? The prices. They aren't exorbitant or unreasonable, but this isn't a place where you would go to get a lot of food cheap. The burger was a perfect portion for me (a 5'1" woman), but a really really hungry person might find it a bit lacking; some people may balk at paying $6.95 for a burger of that size, especially since cheese and bacon are extra and the sides are a la carte. It was about $30 for both of us to eat, which is a bit much for backyard fare. But, the food is good and imaginative, so I would go back once in awhile, just not all the time.

Oya Oya Oya

Oya (777 9th Street NW in DC) reminds me of the word "oyez," of the well-known phrase "oyez, oyez, oyez," which means "hear ye, hear ye, hear ye." I have fond memories from my days as a law clerk when the clerk of the court would proclaim, "oyez, oyez, oyez," when the judges took the bench. It's apropos for a discussion of Oya because it's a phrase designed to grab attention, similar to Oya's decor. It's definitely flashy a la the red alligator bar, super-modern fireplace, wall of chains, and cascading water. It's almost as if the atmosphere is designed to compensate for the food, which is by no means bad, but not special either. This wasn't my first visit to Oya. I've been there a few times. I went there for sushi a few years ago. Before Jack Abramoff got shipped off to jail for his various mideeds, he owned a restaurant called Signatures, which was somewhat involved in the political scandal surrounding him. Signatures had fun sushi -- not what you would call authentic , but fun, yuppie sushi. After Signatures got shut down, I believe that its sushi chef moved to Oya. Just an interesting bit of background if you were curious. So, why did I go back? My fellow food-loving friend, Laura, had a gift certificate that was about to expire. While I wouldn't have otherwise planned to return, I thought that given the gift certificate, it would be fine value, which it was. We both ordered from the prix-fixe menu -- $20 for three courses, and with the gift certificate, we only ended up paying $14 each. The portions were generous. We shared everything because we like to maximize our dining experiences. For first courses, we ordered a shrimp tempura roll and a curried sea bass eggroll. The shrimp tempura roll was a standard shrimp tempura roll that one could get at any sushi establishment, which I should have expected. (I was going to order the shrimp and crab cupcake, but the server kept subtly telling us not to order it). The eggroll was a bit underwhelming. I liked the uniqueness of the concept of a fish egroll, but sadly, the curry was barely detectable. It was again, just your standard eggroll, but with fish. For main courses, I ordered scallops with pad thai noodles and my friend selected steak (can't remember which kind). The scallops were delicious, but the pad thai noodles and sauce left a bit to be desired. They were just "there" and didn't really add anything to the meal. The steak was again, not bad, but nothing to write home about, and something that could probably be achieved at home. The star of the meal was dessert. Being chocolate lovers, we both ordered the molten chocolate cake. Despite the large portions and that I already had eaten two courses, I continued to shovel it into my mouth because it was that good!

Great Groceries!

So, grocery store free samples work! I was taking a gander through Giant the other day. Unwisely, I always go to the grocery when I'm hungry. So, when I saw the free salsa samples with multigrain chips, I decided to try it out. The salsa was not the jarred variety, but fresh! It was excellent, and it goes really nicely in salad. It has enough spice that the salad can be lightly dressed. My second is example is a bit attenuated. I was at Whole Foods the other day and was looking for good snacks. Sometimes my parents come over to help with our house renovations, and they always complain that I have no snacks. Whole Foods was giving out samples of kettle corn. I couldn't find the brand that was being given away as samples, so bought the store brand instead. It was delicious! Sweet and salty and lowfat. Finally, on a random parting note, Welch's has a new juice 100% juice out. It's Black Cherry Concord Grape. Totally yummy!

Spezie

I went to Spezie (1736 L Street NW) the other night for some light fare. Spezie has a cool menu of small plates with wine pairings. I opted to forego the wine since I was feeling sleepy and had to commute home. I ordered the salted cod and potatoes. It disappointed me. The dish almost had a crab cake consistency and was mixed in with potatoes. It was bland and a bit on the dry side. The aroncini, which are fried balls of rice, was excellent! This is a short review, but hey, the meal was short, too. I'll go back to get a better feel for the food since I only ate from the small plate menu. I ate there once before, but it was so long ago, I can't remember the meal.

Where's the Pizza?

Anne Arundel County and Bowie are desperately in need of some good pizza. Last night, at around 9, I decided that I wanted to go out for pizza. The options were slim. The only games in town were chain restaurants. Sure, there are some places like 3 Brothers and Italian Market or Squisito that are open during the day, but Anne Arundel County is seriously lacking in good, local pizza places. We ended up at Bertucci's, which was fine, but the lack of options was just sad. If I'm missing anything, please tell me!!!

Cupcakes Again

I've previously discussed how the cupcake rage annoys me. It's crazy that people can charge over $3 for a cupcake. Nonetheless, I love cupcakes, so I've become part of the problem -- one of those people who on occasion, will pay that much for a cupcake. I ventured out to the newly opened Red Velvet Cupcakery in Penn Quarter (7th & E) on Thursday because it was giving out free cupcakes to the first 500 customers. I stood in line in the freezing cold with crazy windchill (at least for the DC area) to get a free cupcake. By the time I got out of the freezing cold and into the store, I was thinking, as were several other people in line, that the cupcakes had better be damn good. Were they? Yes and no. I wanted to try a bunch of different flavors, of course for the sake of the blog :) I picked the Morning Call -- chocolate/coffee cake with a mocha frosting, the Southern Belle -- red velvet with cream cheese frosting, and the Peanut Butter Cup -- chocolate chip cake with peanutbutter frosting. Here are my rankings: 1) Southern Belle; 2) Peanut Butter Cup; and 3) Morning Call. Put another way, it's a good thing that Red Velvet named itself Red Velvet instead of Morning Call. Morning Call was my least favorite because I didn't like the frosting. It was almost like eating whipped butter in texture and was lacking in flavor. Also, the coffee/chocolate cake didn't taste that different from the chocolate chip cake. The frosting on the Peanut Butter Cup was better, but it was a bit too much like eating straight peanutbutter; the peanut butter frosting at Hello Cupcake definitely wins that battle. The Southern had a nice, light, and tangy cream cheese frosting, and the cake flavor was just what red velvet should taste like. As for the cake itself, it was fine, but the texture was subtly gummy and had too many air bubbles for my liking. But maybe I'm being hypercritical because of my long wait in the cold, or maybe because I still feel like cupcakes are generally overpriced. If someone would have baked these cupcakes at home and brought them to a party, I would have thought that they were better. On the plus side, the owner was enthusiastic and friendly and was giving the cold people standing in line little cups of cocoa. I appreciated the giveaway. It was a great marketing technique! The verdict? I'd rank it the same as Hello Cupcake. Both had one cupcake that I thought was great. Next, on to Georgetown Cupcake.

Otani: Round Two

So, Eugene and I returned to Otani Sushi. The first time we went, we didn't have sushi, because I thought that seeing as how the sushi won't be as good as Joss, what's the point? Eugene persuaded me to go back because Otani is primarily a sushi restaurant and it wouldn't be fair to write it off without trying the sushi. The brief synopsis? Would I go back? Maybe if Joss weren't in the picture. The sushi is fresh enough and creative, but a bit on the non-traditional side with a tad too much going on at times. The most important thing is that the sushi was fresh, though. One cool thing is that our server remembered us from the last time we were in even though it was a really long time ago. We started out with a seaweed salad and fried calamari. The seaweed salad was good, but a bit on the tiny side, especially since it came in a really large bowl. There were good things and bad things about the calamari. On the up side, it was surprisingly tender and non-rubbery. On the downside, it was really bland. Luckily, it came with a spicy sauce that gave it some flavor. Portions were really small. First, a note on the sushi menu. I love tuna, but it's good to have variety. I wanted to check out the spicy tuna, but order another non-tuna non-shellfish roll. Most of the special rolls contain tuna. It was hard to find something without it. We ended up ordering yellowtail, spicy tuna, and a special twister roll. The yellowtail was fine; fresh enough. The spicy tuna was a bit weird. Instead of tuna seasoned with spicy oil, it was tuna that had been ground up and mixed with a spicy mayonnaise or something similar. I didn't care for it. It's never good to get ground up mushy stuff when you're not expecting it. The twister roll was good. It had lobster tempura and a bunch of other stuff, including yes, tuna. A lot going on! It was tasty, but I just got the feeling like less would have been more. On a parting note, the waitstaff are really friendly and the presentation of food is artful. The restaurant has a nice atmosphere. Don't be deterred by the darkened, unwelcoming windows, which make the restaurant look closed or sketchy. It's not!

Am I a food snob?

If you've been following my blog (which chances are, you haven't), you will notice that I am rather critical. I asked my husband if I were too critical, and he said that I am. It reminded me of the movie Ratatouille, where the mean critic guy notes that it's so easy for food critics to tear down the food that they eat, while the restaurants do all of the hard work of trying to make good food. I think that's true to a certain degree, but I think that critical reviews are helpful to people who want to maximize their dining experiences and potentially helpful to restaurants that seriously want to know how to do better. So, am I a food snob? I don't think so. I eat at McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's, Five Guys, Chipotle (pretty much all fast food restaurants) and like it. I think that I'm so critical of "fine dining" establishments and pricier places because if they're going to charge higher prices for their food, it should be good!

Rosa Mexicano: Eh....

You know, it might be better if people told you that a restaurant sucked before you went there, because if it were only halfway decent, you'd probably be okay with your experience there. Of course, the problem with that is that you might never go if you heard that it sucked. How does this relate to Rosa Mexicano (http://www.rosamexicano.info/ -- D.C. location at 575 7th Street)? Well, I had been wanting to try it for the longest time, because I had heard great things about it. As a result, my expectations were rather high. RM was fine, but I don't think that it lived up to the hype. I was with a big group and we first ordered the guacamole, which was made tableside, always a fun touch. It was of course nice and fresh, but a bit on the bland side; maybe it could have used some salt or something... I ordered the chicken tortilla pie. I once had a discussion with a fellow cheese-loving friend about whether something could be over-cheesed, and we concluded that it could be. I think that the tortilla pie was a tad overcheesed, which detracted from the overall presentation of the dish. We ordered churros, which were okay and could have tasted a little less greasy and a little fresher. The coffee was fine. Nothing to write home about, but not bad at all. Would I go back? Sure, if other people were going, I wouldn't pitch a fit, but I wouldn't go out of my way. If I went back, I would order the mole because it looked really really good. Oh, and the black beans served with the entrees are to die for. Hands down the best part of the meal.

Hunan L'Rose

Before eating at Hunan L'Rose (http://www.goldenfork.com/hunanl), located at 1131 Annapolis Road, I had already discussed what I thought were the best Chinese restaurants in the area. For the sake of my rankings, I dragged Eugene out there this past Monday night. We went around 8 pm, and found the restaurant to be rather full for a rainy Monday night, which I thought boded well for the food. Nonetheless, the rankings don't change after going to Hunan L'Rose. There wasn't anything really wrong with the food; it was just underwhelming. It could be that we didn't order the best dishes. Who knows? We started out with the steamed dumplings -- meat-filled with a nice ginger accent. They were tasty enough. Just a warning, though. Apparently, they take a really really long time to cook, as our server told us when she brought them to the table after quite awhile. This may be true, so if you're starved and looking for a fast appetizer, the dumplings are not the answer. Eugene ordered the beef chow fun, and I ordered the sesame chicken. The beef chow fun was good with nice pieces of quality, charred beef. The sesame chicken was not as good. While the sauce was tangy and flavorful, the quality of the meat was only so-so; it was mainly dark meat, and I found that the taste of the dark meat detracted from the sauce. The meal ended with a nice hot towel and a mini cup of orange sherbet. Overall, the food was okay, but with Kwong's right down the street from where we live, I see no reason to make a special trip out there. And the weird thing? No chopsticks! It's hard to call yourself a serious Asian restaurant if you don't at least put chopsticks on the table.

So So Saigon Noodle House

Unsurprisingly, I enjoy cooking a lot. For some reason, I haven't felt inspired to cook lately. As a result, we've been going out to eat too much for our own good. It was one of those uninspired nights when we decided to venture out to Saigon Noodle House at 2171 Defense Highway in Crofton (in the shopping center behind Rita's). I always tell Eugene that we should go try it out instead of venturing down to Viet-Thai Paradise in Annapolis. He finally gave in, especially since I like to try new places so that I can write about them, and because we read some good reviews online. Would I go back? In a pinch maybe, but I would rather take the hike to Viet-Thai. Things started out well. We ordered the combination roll because of the reviews we read online. It was very tasty. It came wrapped like a summer roll, but was crunchy on the inside -- a cross between a spring and summer roll. Sadly, the entrees were disappointing. Eugene ordered pho, and the broth lacked the subtle flavors of the other pho that we've tried. I ordered a crepe, which turned out to be filled mostly with beansprouts and a few shrimp. The beansprouts had a weird flavor when combined with the crepe itself, and by virtue of being almost steamed when cooked in the crepe. The crepe itself had a weird flavor that I didn't care for. Maybe the other dishes are good.....

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!