strawberry basil

Jackie’s

Woot, an update! I’ve decided to just start with a more recent meal, since slogging through the folders of old food pics is getting a little daunting… And by recent I mean last night’s dinner! This must be some kind of record for me. (^__~)v

I admit I haven’t really dined much in the Silver Spring area, which by my own cursory observation, is mostly filled with chain restaurants that don’t warrant a special visit or blog posting. I’m not so confident that this is actually the case. There are probably a number of nice little places in the city that I’ve never heard of, and I was recently introduced to two such places within the course of a few weeks. One was 8407 Kitchen Bar across the street from the Metro station. I unfortunately didn’t take any pictures of that meal so there won’t be a post about it, but it was very good (and I hope to make another visit soon). The other place was Jackie’s Restaurant, which is the one I went to last night.

I think Jackie’s has been around for a while, because I’ve been seeing it for a long time from my train window as it pulls into Silver Spring station. I’d never actually been inside it until yesterday though! The interior is pretty cute, and very pink, with kind of retro looking chairs and comfortable booths stuffed with throw pillows. The lighting was pink as well, which was an interesting contrast to the rustic stone walls and almost warehouse like windows. I liked the open kitchen, but hated the ceiling. It’s one of those ceilings that are open, so you can see all the wires and pipes that should normally be covered up. I know people leave it there as a design element but I have always despised this look, as it feels very unfinished and I frankly think it’s very ugly.

Moving on to the food! I was kind of intrigued by the menu, which offered things that aren’t all that commonly seen in area restaurants, like wild boar and pheasant. I was curious about the pheasant, so I was glad when my friend ordered it. Pictured above: Pheasant ragout with black trumpet mushrooms over trofie pasta and pecorino toscano. I had a bite of it, and it was as the waitress described – like a hardy stew. It’s definitely a gamey bird, probably a good choice for a stew to bring out its rich flavors. I thought the pasta was interesting, as it had a dense texture to it. There were actually a few bones it this dish though, which I’m guessing was a mistake.

The rest:

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Dirty Martini

Dirty Martini, located a few blocks up from Farragut North, describes itself as “a unique, upscale, sophisticated and casual place to enjoy great food and drinks, do business and more importantly have a good time!” I suppose a place can be “upscale” and “casual” too, but it does seem like they’re trying to be a whole bunch of things at once. On the day that I went, they were trying to be a night club in addition to restaurant. They had a live band playing near the back, which was anything but fun times. It was so loud I could barely hear a thing over the din, even though I was sitting in a nice rounded booth so it wasn’t as though I had to yell across the table or anything. The fact that the bar area was right next to the dining tables didn’t help the noise level either. Service was just okay, ranging from a little absent to overly eager. I guess this contrasting service is a reflection of their own confused identity. We would ask for extra plates for sharing, get them, and then some other waiter would walk by and sweep them away! (Perfectly clean plates, mind you. Why would they do that?? Clearly those plates were sitting there for a reason!) I was a bit flabbergasted after the second time that happened…

The food, however, was actually quite good. Pictured above is the chipotle honey glazed Cornish hen with grilled papaya salsa, sauteed vegetable medley and orange zest infused yellow rice. It was absolutely delicious. The glaze did amazing things for that Cornish hen, leaving the skin crispy and golden while keeping the meat tender on the inside.

The rest:

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Red Hook Lobster Pound

The Red Hook lobster truck has been around for a while by now, but I did have occasion to try them a few months back. I took an hour out of my lunch break to wait in line on a cold winter’s day in a queue that went down the length of a city block. What was I thinking? But I suppose that the blogger part of me felt somewhat obligated to give it a go! By the time I got to the front of the line, I ordered practically everything on the menu, just because I doubted I’d be back again very soon. I got one Maine style lobster roll ($15), New England clam chowder ($7), apple cider ($3) and a whoopie pie ($3.50). The service was really nice, and I think they appreciated that you’d waited in line for so long.

I think I made a mistake when I ordered the Maine style. Actually, I didn’t even know there were two different kinds of lobster rolls, which was an oversight on my part. I don’t remember if they asked me what kind I wanted, because I would’ve asked them what the difference was and would probably have ordered the other kind had I known. Anyway, the Maine style is served cold, with mayo. The Connecticut style is warm, with butter. Clearly the Connecticut style sounds superior! I was expecting it to be warm, so was very disappointed when I bit into the cold lobster meat. I think the flavors are more robust when they’re warmed up. The bread was nice and buttery though, so that was good.

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Hiroshi

All right, I’m finally at my penultimate Hawaii post! I can’t believe it’s taken me 6 MONTHS to get through these posts. I’m ashamed to say I still have DC posts from November that I haven’t blogged yet. I’m a failure! (;___;) Will have to console self by remembering the fabulous meal that was my last dinner in Honolulu.

My friend has fabulous taste in food, so I was expecting nothing less than spectacular when she took me to Hiroshi, one of her favorite restaurants in Hawaii. Hiroshi serves Eurasion [sic] tapas, which I guess is Euro/Asian fusion food? Whatever it was, it was delicious. The fish was fresh and perfectly prepared, and everything that came out was beautiful to look at and bursting with flavor. I would definitely go back there again the next time I’m in Honolulu!

I couldn’t get a nice shot of my drink (lychee soda), but it was absolutely amazing – refreshing and sweet, but not too much so.

Pictured above is the Crispy Skin Thai snapper (they weren’t serving moi that night). It was served with “Mrs Cheng’s tofu,” edamame, Kahuku corn and Hau’ula dried tomato-hijiki broth. An amazing dish altogether. Loved the crispy fish that paired wonderfully with the smooth tofu. The broth had a lot of flavor and I just wanted to drink it all up!

The rest:

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Hanalei Dolphin

A foodie friend of mine highly recommended the Hanalei Dolphin restaurant on the north shore of Kaua’i, so of course I had to go check them out! The drive up was scenic and lovely, though riddled with quite a few narrow roads and some one-way bridges that made me a little nervous at first. We spent most of the morning driving and stopping at various lookouts, and then stopped at the Hanalei for lunch. …And not a moment too soon! Half-way through the meal, it began pouring outside! Rain was coming down in sheets. Apparently this is pretty typical Kaua’i. (So, apparently, are the roosters that kept me up the night before with their infuriating cockadoodle doos!) The drive back to the airport after our lunch was pretty harrowing, but we made it back in one piece. Thankfully, we were able to make it back before some of those aforementioned one-way bridges were closed off from the flooding.

Pictured above is the poke – ahi with sesame. This was just okay. I don’t know, maybe I had heard too much hype about the poke, but it wasn’t as memorable as I expected.

The rest:

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Caffe Coco

After our day-long boat ride to the Na Pali Coast, we headed to the hotel to get washed up and ready for dinner. (Actually, we had gone on the “sunset dinner” cruise, which sounds much more luxurious than it was. The “cruise” aspect of it was quite bumpy going and it took a long time to get to the coastline. The views were fabulous though, and on the way back we were joined by a pod of playful bottle nose dolphins! But I don’t have much in terms of “sea legs” and ended up feeling quite queasy near the end. Couldn’t even look at the food they prepared, which I think was kind of typical buffet style fare).

I felt so rejuvenated after washing up, but by then it was getting pretty late in the evening – by Kaua’i standards, anyway. All the restaurants close up around 9pm there, even on the weekends! The nice restaurant we’d made reservations at was a 40 minute drive away, and it was already well past 8. In the end, we decided to check out a quaint local restaurant (Caffe Coco) about 5 minutes up the street from the hotel.

Caffe Coco is one of those authentically Kauaiian local joints, kind of hippy and rustic, and run by the kind of proprietor who makes her liliquoi sauce from the trees she has on the premises. The dining area was outside under a tent, and there was a stage area where they had a live band and hula dancers. We ordered our food at the counter near the back, then found an open table where we sat down to enjoy the music and dancing. I loved the laid back atmosphere and outdoorsy feeling of the place!

Pictured above is the tofu potstickers, with gauva grilling sauce. I was surprised by how flavorful they were, considering they had no meat in them!

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Crouching Lion Inn

Continuing along with day 1…

We drove from Honolulu, heading east along the shores of Oahu, stopping at various lookout points to admire the view. Around lunch time, we took a lunch break at the Crouching Lion Inn Bar & Grill, so named after a rock formation located behind it. (I don’t think they’re actually an inn where you can stay…?) It’s located right by the water, which you can view from the restaurant’s patio seats. They also had an indoor seating area, and in retrospect, we probably should have sat there. The view was just as pretty from the inside if you got a window-side seat, and more importantly – there would’ve been no mosquitoes. It turned out that the day before I arrived, it had rained a lot on the island. It had cleared up in time for my round the island drive, but it also called out all the mosquitoes in the area, and they just had a holiday under the patio table. I took the brunt of it, as I was wearing a dress. I was probably bitten dozens of times. (;____o) (I also had an allergic reaction, which wasn’t very fun). The people at the restaurant were really nice and let us borrow some OFF spray, but it was too late by then.

Mosquito Hell put a damper on the meal, but the food was still pretty good. Nothing out of this world or anything, but I liked it! (^__^)

Pictured above are the drinks we got – a mango smoothie and the virgin “lava flow” with pineapple, coconut and strawberry. I thought the mango smoothie could’ve had more mango flavor. The lava flow was extremely sweet, which I suppose is good if you want dessert in a drink?

For the food, the three of us decided to get three pupus (appetizers) to share:

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Napoleon Bistro

I don’t think I dine in Adams Morgan half as much as I should. A little while ago, my friends and I dined at a charming little bistro there called Napoleon, sister establishment to Cafe Bonaparte in Georgetown. And although they didn’t have a few items we wanted to order from the menu (namely the squab), what we did end up getting was full of fabulous.

The decor was dark and cozy, and didn’t feel too closed up because of the tall windows throughout the room. We got a great table near the back by the window.

Pictured above is one of the entrees we got: the John Dory, the special of the day. It was served with lump crab meat, corn, potatoes and fava beans. (Does anyone else think of Hannibal Lecter when they hear “fava bean”?) The fish was wonderfully seared and cooked to a buttery perfection! I really loved this dish.

More after the jump:

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CityZen

CityZen at the Mandarin Oriental has always been on my “must try” lists, and several weeks ago I finally went! Their menu is seasonal and ever-changing, so my friend and I definitely wanted to check them out when the selection looked especially appealing.

We tried their three course option ($80), and though their actual menu differed a little bit from the one they had online, we found plenty to keep us happy.

Pictured above is from the entree course: Atlantic halibut with tarragon panade, served with applewood smoked bacon risotto, fava beans, beer battered spring onion and spring onion coulis. The fish was perfectly cooked and buttery. Loved the risotto with it, and the coulis added a wonderful light layer of flavor to the dish. Definitely one of my favorites of the night.

The rest:
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Marvin

I had actually never heard of Marvin when my friend suggested we go there for dinner a few weeks ago. I discovered that it’s a nice little Belgian bistro on U Street “featuring home-cooked classics that combine the tastes of Belgium with the American south.” The staff was really friendly and helpful in their suggestions, and each dish was really thoughtful and well balanced.

We started off with a selection from the Moules Frites – mussels and fries. I thought the coconut curry sounded interesting, but we ended up going with the white wine with garlic. Although I’m not a big fan of large slices of garlic in sauces (or any dish, really), they were easy enough to avoid. I thought the flavors were pretty good in this, though the garlic might have been on the strong side.

The rest after the jump:

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Captain White’s Seafood

Captain White’s Seafood City is located on the Southwest Waterfront, right on the water. It’s pretty chaotic getting in there, and trying to find parking is pretty tricky business. However, it’s worth the effort if you’re a seafood lover! My friends and I checked it out last Saturday afternoon, and the place was swamped with people. We waited for seemed like forever to get our food. (O____o);;

I got the clams and fries box, pictured above. It’s a lot of food for a good price! I should have gotten some packets of cocktail sauce, but I was too lazy to walk back there from the seating area to fetch any. XD;;

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