Fojol Bros of Merlindia
I’ve wanted to try Fojol Brothers of Merlindia ever since I read about them in The Washington Post a few months ago. Fun! Music! Street food! It sounded like a quirky bunch of everything, and having to track their whereabouts via Twitter made it all the more fun.
Today they hunkered down on a corner of Farragut Square at 17th and K, and I was there right as they were opening up for business for the lunch crowd. They had to prep a little before service, including a quick dash to a nearby bank to make some change. (I’m sure the guy didn’t look at all suspicious walking into a bank in his fabulous getup, curly mustache and all).
I got a ginger lassi pop while we waited for change, and it was amazing! Just the icy refreshment I needed to brave the suffocating D.C. humidity. The guy told me they were experimenting with different flavors, so was eager to hear some feedback. Obviously, I love ginger and I love sweet, so uh…this is a no brainer. LOVED it! Can I buy a lifetime supply please? Much appreciated. I won’t mind at all if they come wrapped in ghetto sandwich bags like they were today. X)
On to the food! Pictured above is the pick-2 size, which comes with rice doused in delicious sauce. Today their selection included two chicken dishes (chicken masala and chicken curry) and two vegetarian options (spinach & cheese or cauliflower & potato). I got the chicken masala + cauli/potato twosome. Very good indeed, especially for street food!
Yaki Udon
Yup, you heard me, fried udon. (^O^)v As a non-cooking type person, I just love pan fried anything. How else can you make a quick and easy meal with very little culinary skillz?
Yakisoba is one my favorites, a pretty standard fried noodle dish that can be whipped up in 5 minutes. I’d never even heard of fried udon before, so when I spotted a package of it at the Japanese grocery, I had to give it a try. I tossed it together with shredded green onions and fresh shitake, then topped it off with beni-shoga (red pickled ginger). This was not bad at all! The noodles weren’t stiff and nasty like I half expected them to be. Impressive, for an instant variety.
Temari
I actually had lunch at Rockville’s Temari last weekend, but have been too lazy to post about it until now. (What it is about first thing in the morning before work that gets me blogging?) Anyway, it’s a nice little casual Japanese style cafe, conveniently situated near the Japanese grocery that I frequent in the area. It’s a pleasant place to sit down for a quick lunch, and I’d definitely recommend getting one of the specials, because you get the best bang for your buck. The specials are listed on a board at the bar, not on the menu you get in your hand.
I got the sashimi and fried oyster set. The set came with rice and miso soup, and two appetizer courses! Very nice.
More pics (+ my dessert) under the cut.
Tiramisu Pocky
Tiramisu is one of my favorite desserts, so obviously I was destined to love tiramisu Pocky. Such a combination of win had to be good! Even better, it’s a flavor in their line of “dessert” Pocky, where the icing is piled on extra thick for maximum impact.
Unagi Don
It is midsummer, which can only mean one thing: Eel Eating Day!! \(^O^)/ Also known as “doyo no ushi hi,” it’s a day set aside for the consumption of eel. Apparently eel gives you the energy to withstand the heat of summer. To me though, it’s just GOOD EATS.
Eel is surprisingly easy to prepare, because…you barely have to prepare anything at all! Just pick up an eel at your Asian market (freezer section), as it comes pre-marinated and pre-cooked. Throw the thing in the microwave to warm up. Slice and serve, done!
Or you can make a donburi by throwing it over rice and tossing in a few other ingredients, such as: tare (sauce), kaiware daikon (Japanese radish sprouts), a dash of sansho pepper.
Side of chu-toro sashimi optional, but most desirable. XD
Citronelle
I think it’s rare when a restaurant lives up to its hype, but I must say that Michel Richard’s Citronelle delivers, and then some! I’d wanted to try this restaurant for a long while, but it’s not the sort of place you can just pop into casually – the price tag can be kind of daunting for even the most ambitious foodie.
So last Friday, I finally had the fortune of dining there on the small occasion of celebrating my friends’ marriage. XD Such a fun foodie pair they make, it was only fitting to try out one of the best restaurants in town! We did the dinner “a la carte” menu, which is a three course meal where you get a choice of appetizer, entree, and dessert for a set price. (Some items are extra, like caviar. Or an optional cheese course for $18).
Aside from OMGWTFAMAZING, I’ll try to recall the other words that we came up with to describe our dining experience there. I do remember that a lot of “ooing” and “aahing” took place, along with a healthy smattering of flash photography.
I had to use this picture of the “mosaic” surf and turn as the header image because wow…what a work of art! And trust me, it tasted as amazing as it looks. In the tradition of surf and turf, the best of land and sea was represented on this plate, sliced in the most impossibly thin manner imaginable and arranged beautifully across the plate. The steak tartare was Chateaubriand, meltingly delicate. Then there was salmon, tuna, eel and scallop, mixed in with cucumber, radish and peppers. Scattered on top were black beans and rice krispies for an interesting variation of texture. Loved it! I’d say this was my favorite dish of the evening.
I know you wanna click the link for MOAR! >>
Proof
Prooooooooof!! I love this place! One of the first times I went was for dinner, where I had the best chilled asparagus soup of my life! Everything here is so well thought out and presented that you can’t help but enjoy every last bite. Of course, their $12 lunch + wine special only sweetens the deal, and I’ve been back there quite often to take a long and delicious break from the work day.
Their “lunch crush” menu changes up a little, but their usual staples include the duck confit, shrimp burger and steak salad. There’s usually a sandwich (panini of some kind) and a pasta dish as well. My favorite pasta dish with homemade sausage hasn’t been on the menu for a while, which is a shame. Each of these comes with either the house white or red. Mm…
Here’s the excellent ahi tuna tartare that my friends ordered, and it comes with crispy (flash fried?) seaweed and avocado. The sesame inspired sauce is described as a “wasabi soy emulsion.” Definitely one of the best tuna tartars ever!
This week I ordered off-menu (outside the lunch special) and got the lamb burger:
Mizu Yokan
Yokan is a very traditional Japanese confection made from red bean paste and agar. You usually buy it by the block: narrow, rectangular bricks o’ sweet. They’re heavy like bricks, too! Here’s an interesting tidbit from Wiki:
Due to its relative heaviness and unfamiliarity with this dessert, it has been mistaken as C-4 or similar plastic explosives during baggage checks.
Haha! XD
A little lighter than your usual C4esque yokan is the “mizu” yokan (literally, water yokan), which is best served chilled. It’s not watery like Jello, but it’s definitely not as dense as standard yokan.
Here’s a box of the stuff that arrived from Japan a few days ago, complete with four flavors: ogura (sweet bean paste), matcha (green tea), brown sugar (actually called black sugar in Japanese), and wasanbon sugar (a Japanese-made sugar that’s less sweet than refined sugar). These are made by Toraya, a very famous and excellent yokan maker.
I’ve tasted 3 out of the four – all but the brown sugar. They’re all quite subtle in flavor, and have a nice smooth texture. My favorite is the green tea:
The General Store
Recently mentioned in the Washington City Paper, The General Store is a quaint and adorable place off Post Office Road near Forest Glen Metro, and it serves up some tasty down-home comfort food.
Here’s the highlight (which unfortunately I did not get, so I could only watch enviously as it was devoured with much flourish by my friend): the fish tacos topped with guacamole and sliced radish. I did take a bite of it, and they were amazing!
Actually though, everything was really good, including my own dish, the kids’ sized fried chicken meal:
Sushi Damo
Went to Sushi Damo in Rockville this weekend for lunch. I’m almost always in the mood for sushi, and this is a pretty good place to have some! (^O^)/ Although…I think it’s a little on the pricey side. It’s located across the street from the Rockville courthouse in a newish row of shops and restaurants. It’s pretty cute, the whole area there.
Here’s the sushi entree, which also came with a choice of tuna or California roll, for $23. Pretty good overall, aside from the mackerel, which I don’t eat.
Flanagan's Harp & Fiddle
Ah…an Irish pub. I love these places. So woodsy and comfortable, they make me wanna order a Guinness. Nevermind that I hate beer. XD;;
Flanagan’s Harp & Fiddle is in Bethesda, MD, and we popped over there on Thursday night for dinner upon the particular recommendation of one of our party.
Naturally, I had to get the shepherd’s pie, my “go-to” dish for joints like this. (Actually, I was told by a friend that shepherd’s pie is made with lamb, and that the beef version is cottage pie. Most places call it shepherd’s pie anyway though). The pie came piping hot, savory insides overflowing from the bowl in a very mouthwatering manner. The mashed potato was buttery and gorgeous! However…I am sorry to say that the inside was a slight disappointment. Not only was it a bit on the watery side, it was also surprisingly tart, as though it’d been doused in vinegar. =U
Far superior to the shepherd’s pie was actually the appetizer of baked brie:
S'mores Cupcake
Anthony Bourdain once famously said that vegans were the “Hezbollah-like splinter faction” of vegetarians. And…I have to admit, that made me chuckle a lot. While I have respect for people who can keep up such a diet, it is just way too extreme for me! What kind of foodie life will it be without real butter, dairy, and all the fatty accoutrements of good eats??
However…
ZOMG there it is, the vegan s’mores cupcake. And it is delicious, WTF. So moist! So creamy! And totally dairy free! HOW DO THEY DO IT?? I really don’t know, but I have to say I’ve found one of my favorite cupcake makers in the city, and it is Sticky Fingers Bakery in Columbia Heights. Mmmm….
Need to try their other flavors too. ♥
Choco Banana Pocky
Who says you can’t have Pocky for breakfast? Actually I might have mentioned before that I’m not really a breakfast person, so I just needed something small to nibble on, and this box of limited edition Pocky was just sitting there waiting to consumed.
I suppose I could argue that it’s fruit, a more typical breakfast item.. (^__^)v
Summer BBQ
Yaaay~ barbecue! Had a fabulous time at my friends’ BBQ partay this afternoon! o(^___^)o The highlight – aside from the charming company, of course – was definitely this turkey burger. It was juicy, flavorful and utterly flawless. I jotted down the ingredients in it for future reference: panko, egg, onion, tomato, beer, Worcestershire sauce and cayenne. Yum!
I was informed that there was already going to be pasta salad, so I had to rethink my plan this morning on what to bring. I used my handy new Whole Foods iPhone app to look up a recipe for corn salad. I found a pretty simple one with tomatoes, green bell pepper and red onion, mixed in with a dressing made from extra virgin olive oil, lemon and lime juice and cilantro. Easy, colorful, and tasty!
Lumond Cookie
OMG Bourbon. (*____*) They make some kick-ass sweets, and their “Lumond” cookie is my all time favorite. As their description in the back of the package states, this tube-shaped wonder cookie is made from layer upon layer of thin crepes, rolled up and “gently” coated in a lightly sweetened cocoa cream. It’s got a very subtle, melt-in-your-mouth flavor with just the right amount of crispy texture. Heaven!
They suggest chilling in the fridge for an hour or two before eating, but I think it’s just as good at room temperature. ♥
