Sushi Damo: Part II
Last weekend, I sauntered in to the Rockville branch of Sushi Damo for lunch. (They also have a New York restaurant, apparently). I’ve blogged about this place before, but I thought I’d revisit it here because I tried a few things I don’t usually see on the menu of a Japanese restaurant.
I actually started with dessert. And why not?? A fresh, zingy little sorbet is great for refreshing the palate. In any case, I so rarely have dessert on an empty stomach, when I can appreciate the flavor of it best. This is the lychee sake sorbet, topped with what I believe is a jelly made from pomegranate. It was actually quite good indeed, and very refreshing. A bit reminiscent of a lychee martini.
Ginger & Hibiscus Cider
One of the best things about grocery shopping is of course, nibbling on free samples. XD A few weeks ago, on my almost-weekly trip out to the local Whole Foods, I happened upon a drink stand, where they were giving out cider. Five Star Foodies, as they call themselves, had two different ciders to sample that day: hibiscus and ginger.
The ginger is definitely not for the faint of heart, as it has a spicy flavor that might not be to everyone’ liking. I of course, love ginger, so this was my kind of drink! Though I think even I could only take a small portion at a time. Made from just the basic ingredients of apple, ginger and lime juice, it tastes simple and lovely.
Their hibiscus “cider with a twist” includes apples, hibiscus, water, herbs, and orange extract. It actually tasted like a mild non-alcoholic fruit punch, not too sweet.
Loved them both, but alas, I couldn’t find them again when I went back to the store the following week. (;___;)
Proof: Part III
Okay, this is the THIRD time I’ve blogged about this place, but I can’t help myself. It’s one of my favorite restaurants in D.C., AND it’s right down the street from my work, so with their lunch special deal, I naturally end up there on many an afternoon. The cool thing about this place is that their menu is always changing. So at least I can bring you something new each time. (^___^)v
Last week, I popped in there with a few folks from work and found myself ordering the gnocchi. There it is pictured above: “sauteed Yukon gold potato gnocchi [with] wild mushrooms, sweet corn, green beans, tomato, parmesan.” The wild mushrooms were particularly delicious! The sauce was a little heavy on the salt, but otherwise this dish was very tasty indeed!
Something else from the new menu:
Almond Pocky
Almond is one of my favorite flavorings in the dessert world, so imagine my surprise when I spotted this almond pocky at the shop this weekend! I’ve only seen almond encrusted Pocky before, never one where the icing itself was made from almond paste.
According to the box, almond Pocky was first introduced in 1971, the second flavor that came right after chocolate. How surprising! I had always figured that chocolate and strawberry were the two original flavors. It turns out that many fans of the original almond begged for them to make it once more, so they’ve revived it in this “limited edition” version. Ah…nostalgia in a box. ♥ (Er, not that I was around in ‘71 during the first wave of almond Pocky…)
McComick & Schmick's
There’s nothing particularly remarkable about McCormick & Schmick’s, the seafood/steakhouse chain with restaurants around the country. I don’t have anything against chains, and there are some I revisit regularly. It’s just that there’s never been a meal I’ve had at M&S that’s made me want to go out of my way to dine there.
They do, however, seem to have pretty good happy hour deals, if you can make it there in time after work. Their happy hour at the F Street location in D.C. begins at the astonishing hour of 3:30 and runs for 3 hours to 6:30. I popped in there a week ago, and it was a mad house!! The showy bartender was running back and forth mixing drinks with flourish, and it took quite a while to finally get his attention. I did manage to get a glass of champagne for the happy hour price ($6), and it was quite tasty.
The food however, was another deal altogether. Their food menu for HH ranges from $1.95 to $4.95, which is quite a steal for downtown D.C. But unfortunately, the kitchen never delivered my $1.95 hummus. (;____;) I waited and waited, and finally just ordered something else, this time from the regular menu, since happy hour was long over by then. Pictured above is what I finally got, after a loooong wait: the Kobe beef potstickers with chili sauce. It was a little on the oily side, but quite delicious and meaty. I also enjoyed the side of cucumber salad, a nice light contrast to the potstickers.
Milk Coffee Pocky
Like the “Milk” Pocky, this Milk Coffee Pocky also features the same anthropomorphic cartoon cow and similarly claims to have “calcium”! Might as well protect your bones while snacking on good eats, I guess?
I was a little wary to try coffee flavored sticks after my disastrous encounter with the cappuccino Lucky Stick, but I had great faith that Pocky could get it right.
Horn Chocolate
Underneath the flap of this box is a quirky little command (in English): “Enjoy milk-flavored chocolate & cookies.” I wonder what “milk-flavored” chocolate is supposed to taste like. It’s not something I can discover in this box, despite these puzzling words, because obviously they meant to say milk chocolate, not milk-flavored. X)
This chocolate flavored “langue de chat” cookie is wrapped around a whipped white chocolate filling, creating an interesting shaped thing that resembles a slim lighter. The box describes this cookie as combining both bitter and sweet for a very “mature” flavor. It’s a strange idea that milk chocolate can be bitter, as I’ve never really heard it described as such. However, it did have a much more subtle sweetness compared to American chocolate, which contrasted nicely with the sweeter white chocolate.
Upclose:
Green Tea Marshmallows
This cute little package is actually called “Ocha Hime”, which translates to “Princess Tea.” Lol. These are green tea flavored marshmallows filled with sweet bean paste. Matcha green tea and sweet bean is of course, the classic ‘wagashi‘ combination (usually done with rice cake), but I’ve never seen it come together like this before. Genius! It’s like East meets West in the confectionery world. The package claims that they use green tea from Kyoto and red beans from Hokkaido for a lovely harmony of flavor.
A close up view:
Chocoliere
Mmm…more Bourbon cookies. I’ve already covered my top two favorites from this brand, and here is the third. There’s actually nothing particularly remarkable about these “Chocoliere” cookies, aside from their fun dippable shape (though I’ve never actually dunked it in coffee before). I find the cookie part a bit dry, and I’m always hoping that the chocolate part would be a little creamier. The flavor is pretty good though, not too sweet and not too bland.
I’d post a close-up picture of the cookie, but it came out a little fuzzy… m(_ _)m
The Next Iron Chef
Yikes, my last post was in September, and here we are almost mid-way through October! Sorry for the lack of updates! Looks like I hit a bit of a dry spell. Hopefully things will pick up a little bit as the days get cooler. Not that that has anything in particular to do with food, but it does give one the feeling of the holidays, and as we all well know, holidays and food go hand-in-hand.
Meanwhile, I’ve been spending this chilly weekend indoors, and I actually caught a few episodes of the new Food Network show, The Next Iron Chef. It’s another Top Chef knockoff, but unlike Chopped, I’m actually interested this time. The set-up is quite similar to Top Chef, with two rounds in each show and one person being eliminated at the end of the second. What’s interesting about this competition is that they don’t show you footage of the cheftestants outside of the kitchen. No shots of them living together or interacting in any way outside of the cooking arena. In some ways, that makes it more intriguing because you don’t get any unnecessary drama. (That’s not to say that there isn’t any scheming and strategizing in the kitchen! There’s plenty of shenanigans going on in that front).
I like that they show a lot more of the cooking, which I have to say is not Top Chef’s forte.
The judging is pretty intense, and they take the time to critique each dish and talk to every contestant about them, so it gives the viewer a good idea of how the food is really like.
In the end though, I’m not quite sure if anyone is really up to Iron Chef level cooking. All of them seem to struggle quite a bit to finish just one plate within an hour (or 45 minutes). How are they going to conceptualize and execute FIVE dishes that would be required of them in the hour allotted for each Iron Chef episode? Though I do wonder how much of that process really is done within an hour. The chefs always start right away on the dishes without even consulting with their sous chefs. (Do they really only find out the secret ingredient moments before the cooking begins? How much are they allowed to prep beforehand?) I definitely think the final challenge should be a test run of a “real” Iron Chef battle.
…I’m also hoping Iron Chef Morimoto will make a guest appearance somewhere along the way. ♥
Alton’s doing a pretty decent job as the commentator, though I think he’s a little out of his element. His commentating on Iron Chef America is much more robust and engaged, I think. The Chairman is over the top and hilarious, as expected. XD
Bibiana Osteria Enoteca
Bibiana Osteria Enoteca is a new Italian restaurant in downtown D.C., owned by Ashok Bajaj of Rasika, Bombay Club, Ardeo and others. I’m always on the lookout for fabulous Italian food, so I was pretty excited to give this place a try. Happily, my friends were equally enthused, and so we breezed in for dinner on the Friday before last, eager and hungry.
I linked the website above, but don’t even bother clicking – they’re so new that there’s nothing on the site as yet. Of course, this meant going in blind, with only a few hints from early bloggers to guide us on what to expect from the menu. But maybe a little spontaneity is a good thing. (^__^)
The restaurant itself is divided up into essentially three sections. There’s a bar/lounge area that greets you immediately from the door. Then there are two dining areas, one on each side of the bar. The dining rooms are pretty isolated from one another, so I didn’t even know there was another area until the end of the night, as I was leaving. This actually makes the restaurant feel very smallish and cozy, which I liked.
Enough with the decor. On to the food!
There were four of us, and we all got two appetizers, one main course (or pasta) and a dessert, so it kept me quite busy snapping away at the food. Pictured above is an appetizer from the “piatti piccoli” course, the “fichi”: black figs, ricotta salata and almond silvers. Actually, this dish unites the two ingredients that kept popping up in many of the dishes: figs and almonds. I don’t even like figs that much, but these were delicious! (*___*) I would even order them for myself.
The food festa continues below!:
dinner happy hour restaurants: asian fusion d.c. latin fusion
by Lindsey
2 comments
Zengo
I wasn’t sure what sort of food to expect from a place called “Zengo” located in Chinatown. Is it Japanese? Japanese/Chinese fusion?
I had a chance to find out a few weeks ago when I popped in there for happy hour. The cuisine turned out to be an intriguing Latin-Asian fusion, which I enjoyed quite a bit (with a couple exceptions).
They’ve got a pretty decent happy hour menu, and our waiter that day was feeling quite generous, so we lucked out on a few extra drinks past the usual 7pm deadline. (Actually, I should correct that and say that my *friends* lucked out. I, not surprisingly, nursed one glass of wine all evening).
I really like the interior, which houses a large lounge area downstairs with comfortable chairs and couches by the bar. The dining room is upstairs, where their restrooms are also located. (Instead of doors, the restrooms are separated by a long beaded curtain…interesting).
So, on to the food! Pictured above is my friend’s “crunchy calamari,” served with lemongrass, garlic, mixed greens, and orange-coriander sauce. I had a bite, and it was delicious! I do love coriander anything. ♥
Indique
I’ve wanted to try Indique in Cleveland Park for a while, so was quite happy to finally get a chance to have dinner there a few weeks ago for my birthday. (^__^)v ♥
It feels a little more down-home and cozy in comparison to Rasika, and although the tables are a little cramped together, the noise level wasn’t too bad. (Whereas with Rasika, you have to yell at one another across your table to have a conversation during peak dinner hours!)
Pictured above is the vegetable samosa chaat, looking a bit deconstructed. I thought it looked a little messy, but it tasted great (from the one bite I took of it; it wasn’t my appetizer).
The rest:
Red Velvet Cupcakery
For my birthday earlier this month, my dear friend bought be a dozen cupcakes from Red Velvet Cupcakery! \(^O^)/ Red Velvet is a cupcake shop located dangerously close to my office in downtown D.C. Actually, it’s not exactly an easy distance for a quick break, so I don’t find myself in there too often. This is a good thing, because it’s much too tempting, otherwise!
Their Penn Quarter shop has been open for a while now, and they recently opened a new one in Dupont Circle as well. (Whoa, rivalry with the other Dupont cupcakery, Hello Cupcake!) These cupcake shops seem to be springing up everywhere. Is there room enough in this town for them all!? Georgetown Cupcake may have the best in the city, but Red Velvet has an edge over Hello for the Dupont shops in my opinion. Hello may have better flavor selections and slightly cheaper prices, but I think Red Velvet cupcakes have better icing, and moister cakes that stay fresh longer.
But here’s something rather vexing about them: I can’t look up the exact cupcake flavors because Red Velvet has mysteriously changed their website! It’s now a very ugly and unhelpful single page (no links to flavors or anything), which looks neither appetizing nor inviting. They used to have such a pretty website. What happened?
Anyway, enough with the rant and on to the cupcakes:
Pho 75
Pho can be had in a lot of places around here, including my local shopping center that also houses a Panera and Five Guys. Out of all of these, however, the best of them is located in Rockville, just a little north of the court house and Metro station. I’ve been going there for years, and it’s still my favorite. ♥
However…
A friend of mine insisted that there’s a place in Virginia – Pho 75 – that’s THE best, and so, after much talk and anticipation, she took me out there last weekend to give it a try. It turns out that Pho 75 is the pho restaurant that I remember seeing next door to D.C. Sandwich, the banh mi shop in Falls Church I visited a while back. (^___^)
Pho (pronounced “faaah??”) is rice noodle in broth, topped with your choice of beef or chicken, thinly sliced. I usually get the regular sized bowl of beef brisket, which is almost always “number 15″ on the menu, regardless of which pho restaurant I go to. XD
