dessert dinner restaurants: bistro d.c. restaurant week wine bar
by Lindsey
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Vinoteca
Restaurant Week stop #3 was dinner at Vinoteca, and it was by far the best of the four! This charming wine bar is located off of 11th Ave., just a short walk from the U Street Metro station. It’s got a warm woodsy interior that’s so inviting you’re tempted to stay all night sampling the wines and cheeses on their extensive menu.
Their RW menu was no where to be found online, so we went in there running kind of blind. This was somewhat new for me, since I like to study the menu ahead of time to go over my options. It turned out that there was no need to prepare in advance, since everything we ordered was absolutely fab!
They offered a 5 course dinner, beginning with an amuse bouche, first and second courses, chef’s cheese plate, followed by the final course of dessert. There were about 3 options for first course, ~5 for second and 2 for dessert. You can order the wine pairings for an additional $20, and they’ll give you perfectly matched wines to go with your first, second and dessert courses. A couple people from my group opted for it, but I just stuck with my one drink – a fine sparkling rose.
But before the 5 course tour de force, a few starters were ordered. I got a plate of prosciutto di parma, which was excellent. Pictured above is the grilled flatbread with duck confit, caramelized onions and gorgonzola cheese. I didn’t have any, but I’m assuming it was really good, as it was tackled with so much gusto by the others at my table that I barely had time to shoot this photo before it disappeared! XD
The five courses revealed, under the cut:
dessert lunch restaurants: asian fusion d.c. japanese restaurant week
by Lindsey
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SEI
Restaurant Week stop #2 was lunch at SEI, which is OYA’s far hipper and tastier younger sibling. This lunch was a bit impromptu, so we had to take a relatively late reservation (1:45). I was curious to see how this restaurant would do RW, since they mostly do ‘tapas’ style small plates. They call them “chichai sara,” which means “small plates” in Japanese. (When I saw that the first time I ate at SEI, I had a mind freeze and wondered whether it was a Spanish word!)
Their lunch prix fixe for $20.09 turned out to be pretty large dinner sized portions, and I came away from my lunch break with a food coma!
But first, to drink:
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Acadiana
After a somewhat eventful evening at Acadiana, I’m a bit uncertain as to whether I can do much of a post here, but I’ll give it a go anyway, hah! (^o^) Scrolling through the pictures this morning, I realized that I didn’t taste half of this stuff at all, so the commentary is going to be somewhat sparse.
It’s Restaurant Week in D.C., as most foodies well know, and Acadiana (a restaurant for southern Louisiana cuisine) was at the top of the list of places to try. I was surprised that I wanted to try this place actually, as I’m not generally a fan of Cajun food. My last (and only) trip to New Orleans is kind of a blur, but I do remember not liking the food very much, aside from the beignets and cafe au lait. (Mmmm….Cafe du Monde). HOWEVER, the menu here looked really exciting, and I’d heard many great things about the restaurant, so was very much looking forward to eating there.
The place was absolutely hoppin’ when we arrived at 8:30 for our trio of reservations. They didn’t have any big tables up for reservations, so we’d put in for two tables for 4 and one table for 2. They were nice enough to accommodate us outside, switching it up to two tables for 5 (placed on opposite ends of the patio, but at least the group wasn’t split up into three parts). This outdoor seating is probably what did me in , but more on that later..
Milk Pocky
I was pretty curious about this Milk Pocky when I saw it on the shelf. Milk flavor?? What IS that? Had to see for myself.
Tasting: It didn’t taste very vanilla or white chocolate, like I half expected. It’s actually kind of reminiscent of…milk. Sweetened milk, like condensed, but more subtle. What an odd flavor.
Verdict: Not sure I like it. But I’d get it again just for my own weird fascination. This must be a flavor geared for kids, judging from the anthropomorphic cow on the cover.
Close up photo:
Okonomiyaki
Wiki describes “okonomiyaki” as Japanese style savory pancake, and that’s pretty much what it is. Literally meaning “fry it as you like it,” it’s one of the signature dishes from the city of Osaka, my honorary hometown. They have something similar in Hiroshima, but it’s piled high with noodles, which scared me a little.
The ‘pancake’ batter is pretty simple. A standard okonomiyaki has a base of cabbage (thinly shredded), flour, egg, water. Some people season the batter with salt and aji no moto (MSG, the source of all ‘umami’). Where you take it from there is “as you like it!”
This variant pictured above is made with squid, so it’s an ‘ikadama’ (ika=squid; tama=egg). Squid is the best kind, in my opinion, though pork works just as well! The key to making a good okonomiyaki is to be gentle with the batter. You don’t want to push it around too much. And once it’s on the grill, don’t press down on it, or you’ll flatten out all the texture.
There’s a special sauce that goes with it (called – surprise surprise, okonomiyaki sauce) that you can get at the Asian grocer, though you can mix up your own sauces if you like. Sprinkle on some ao-nori (dried seaweed seasoning) and katsuo (shaved bonito flakes) just before serving.
So Yummi Cherry Pudding
I wasn’t even going to write about this product, but I thought I should pass on my experience to you, so you can benefit from my suffering. (X____o)
I came across this box of “So Yummi” cherry flavored whipped pudding at the Whole Foods a few days ago, and was totally drawn in by the cute exterior. Nevermind that it was described as “lactose/dairy free, gluten free, vegan, no trans fats, low in sodium, source of fiber, contains prebiotic, sweetened with beet syrup.” Obviously all these should’ve been indicators that this stuff was going to be horribly nasty. But the recent Top Chef Masters episode featuring vegan/gluten free cuisine had made me a tentative believer in this manufactured nonsense…so I gave this adorable package a go.
BIG MISTAKE.
“So Yummi”?? More like SO YUCKI. I should’ve read the ingredients more carefully, because there’s nothing cherry in this “cherry flavored” crap. I tasted a vague hint of cherry in the first spoonful, but that pleasant (if artificial) flavor was quickly replaced by an aftertaste of damp cardboard. It was so nasty I felt nauseated. I promptly tossed out the rest of the cup, and futilely tried to scrub the horrible memory of the flavor out of my mind. Seriously, this stuff robbed me of my appetite for the rest of my morning.
You have been warned.
BLT Steak
BLT Steak is an upscale-ish bistro/steakhouse with locations across the U.S. (Caution, danger danger: the website has music! (>__<)"" But happily also has mute button). The D.C. branch is located a block off of Farragut Square next to an office building that has a most impressive skylight atrium a mile high. After a rather amusing happy hour hosted by "Blacklisted DC" on the rooftop of this office building, a group of us headed down eagerly to BLT to partake in their high-end selection of meat and potatoes.
After studying the menu, I flipped it over and discovered a nifty map of the cow, describing each cut and where they come from.
Banh Mi DC Sandwich
Banh mi is a kind of Vietnamese/French fusion of a sandwich, deli meats served in a baguette with toppings like cilantro and pickled daikon. I’ve actually never had it before, so this was a first for me. X)
I got the “combination” sandwich, which I think was at least 3 different kinds of pork meat. Whatever it was, it tasted delicious. It went so well with the pickled daikon, slivers of cucumber and carrots, and that mayo that they slathered on. Mmm… Of course, cilantro added that extra burst of flavor that I always love.
This “DC Sandwich” place in Falls Church has a really wide selection. The deli also has a smallish kind of grocery, stocking snacks and interesting stuffed rice ball type things wrapped in banana leaves. The only downside is, they have no seating, so everything is take-out.
If you order more than one sandwich, they helpfully stamp them for you so you know what’s what:
Lubera Cookie
Here’s part the second of the Boubon cookie posts. The first one was the Lumond Cookie (my brother emailed me to say that it’s probably supposed to be spelled “Le Monde”). I struggled with how to spell the “Lubera,” as I’m sure it’s supposed to be some kind of real word in French that I don’t know. Since the R’s and L’s get mixed up in Japanese, I did consider for a moment whether it could be “rubella.” Hahaha…viral cookies!
Lubera (whatever) are cigar cookies packed with butter. The package says it’s 12% BUTTER so you know it’s just a butter explosion. In French, these butter cookies are called “langue de chat,” which I understand translates to “cat’s tongue.” (EW?) The taste is so smooth and lovely that you instantly forget the cookie’s odd name and just scarf them up, one after the other. Happily, they package two together so you can indulge a little.
A & J
This is a fitting header image because the food here is so damn good you just wanna say to hell with food blogging, I’m gonna dig in RIGHT NOW.
A&J in Rockville has some kickass dim sum of the Northern style, and I’m telling you this place is slammin’. This isn’t your cart style dumpling centric dim sum. Instead, you get a menu where you circle off the items you want. (Be sure to go early before they run out of their popular items). They have a separate “breakfast menu” aside from their regular menu, which offers some of my favorites: the tasty scallion pastry (see above), sticky rice stuffed with dried meat, etc.
Stella's Bakery
Yay~ lovely pastries from Stella’s! I’ve been going to this bakery for years, and I really love it. I usually go here for special occasions such as picking up a birthday cake (the Grand Mariner mousse being the go-to flavor).
Of course, they’ve got plenty of other things besides cakes, from breads to flaky savory turnovers. I like their mini pastries because you can taste a bunch of different things without over-indulging. XD These are a few of them: mini eclair, mini cream puff swan, and mini napoleon.
They’ve also got cute fruit tart minis as well:
Spy Diner
A few days ago, I found a tip from the Washington City Paper’s food blog on where to find some great lamb sliders for lunch. Naturally, I had to check it out. X)
The Spy Diner is actually a street cart, located across from the Spy Museum at 9th and F. They mainly serve a variety of sliders, but also have pastries and so on. There weren’t too many people ahead of me in line, but it nevertheless took quite a while until I finally got my food. It was well worth it, though! The lamb meatball sliders are served with romaine red pepper slaw and goat cheese aioli. At $6 for 2, they’re the priciest thing on the menu.
The sliders are really cute and small. I loved how dainty they were! I did have to stop in to Cowgirl Creamery to get a side of pasta salad to round out my lunch.
The other sliders they offer are as follows:
- Roast beef melt: Emmenthaler sauce, carmelized onions, horseradish bun / $4
- BBQ pork: Cole slaw, salt and pepper bun / $4
- All American burger: romaine pickle slaw / $4
- Tomato & brie / $4
Something Sweet
Whee~ new bakery in town! \(^O^)/ And it’s down by 2 Amys Pizza in Woodley Park on Macomb Street, so I imagine they get a lot of the post-lunch/dinner crowd hankering for a little …well, Something Sweet.
Confession: I haven’t actually been there. Still, I am blatantly blogging about it anyway because I can! Fellow foodie Nevin stopped in there last Friday and picked up a few cupcakes, of which I got to sample two. ♥ Actually, these cupcakes were scarfed down in the car on the way to The Counter (see previous post). Me + eating + vehicle = not a good idea. I got icing and crumbs all over myself, but most of the tasty made its way into my mouth. o(^__^)o
Here’s the orange cupcake with chocolate ganache. The icing was not too sweet, in a good way. The cake had a hint of citrus, and reminded me of madeleines. Very good for a cupcake that was being consumed 2 days later, after some refrigeration. I’m sure it was excellent at its freshest peak.
Btw, the pirate thing is a plastic ring, which you can have stuck onto your cupcake. I think this is for the benefit of delighting little kids, and uh, Nevin.
The Counter
I would give you a link to The Counter – a burger chain – but their website pissed me off, so I won’t. (I have a peeve about sites that automatically play music, and this one didn’t even have a mute option, guh!)
Their infuriating website aside, their food is quite excellent and every bit worth the drive out to Reston. Or more accurately, worth the ride out there as I wasn’t actually doing the driving. XD;
The Counter in Reston is relatively new to the area, and they specialize in customizable burgers. The menu offers so many different toppings, cheeses and sauces that it’s quite daunting at first. I had to study it for a while before I could decide on the best combination. As a foodie, I should be able to handle these do-it-yourselfers!
I finally checked off the following: gruyere, roasted corn and black bean salsa, roasted red peppers, lettuce blend, grilled onions, and sun-dried tomato vinaigrette. 1/3 lb, medium, hamburger bun. I did feel quite empowered after ordering my food with so much specificity. I’d do it more often if it weren’t so exhausting.
So here it is, pictured above, my Power Burger. The sauce was served on the side, and I have to say it was the highlight of the burger. As for the meat…the waiter made it sound like their “medium” was more a “medium rare,” but actually…it was medium. Next time, I’ll be sure to order it medium rare.
Btw, I Twittered my meal to Washingtonian’s Best Bites Blog, and I was published! See here.
The rest of the pics under the cut:
Central
Central is Citronelle’s more affordable younger sibling, a Michel Richard bistro in the Penn Quarter (right around the corner from E Street Cinema). I’m always quite amused by the large portrait of Michel plastered on the back wall. I dunno if that’s there in case you forget that it’s one of His restaurants. XD;
This was my third time eating here, and I’m always impressed! Although from what I’ve seen, the menu hasn’t really changed much in between. It seems not too many restaurants I go to have a very dynamic menu that way…
Actually, they did have an appetizer special, which we ended up ordering – the brandade with whipped potatoes. Brandade was first introduced to my vocabulary on a recent Top Chef Masters episode (where they were universally praised), so I was most looking forward to sinking my teeth into them. X) They’re basically salt cod fish balls, breaded and deep fried to a crisp. A great contrast to the creamy whipped potato with some incorporated tomato bits. Skipped the sauce, though – much too fishy.
