I know I know. Weird right? I can't stop thinking about BBQ chicken. But really, this isn't just your every day BBQ chicken-its the BBQ chicken skewers served with pide with a very spicy barbecue sauce harissa that is served at Bazaar a Mediterranean restuarant located in an old (retired) church/synagogue. The only problem? Its in Amsterdam!
Sigh. However shall I fulfill my BBQ chicken kebab cravings without flying to Amsterdam and gorging on this wonderful creating. I am really considering sending this restaurant an e-mail and begging for the recipe!
Oooh man. I believe it was our last night in Amsterdam when we went looking for Bazaar-a restaurant listed in the "Lets Go Amsterdam Guide"-the only travel guide I have ever found reliable when it comes to finding good, well priced, local food for wherever you travel (written and updated by college students who know their stuff-and most particularly their food and transportation costs since I don't really use the book for any other purpose).
It was really late by the time we got to the restaurant, everything on every other street seemed either closed or empty (unlike the rest of Europe, Amsterdamers actually eat at a decent time). When we stepped into Bazaar we knew it was the right place and the place to BE. Both floors in this high ceiling former place of worship were packed with the young and the hungry. Music was blasting, the lighting was fantastically right for a hip late night hang out and the place smelled divine.
That BBQ kebab sandwich had some of the best chicken I have ever had. Admittedly though, I did have to request some tzitziki (you know me and my sauce) which brought the sandwich to perfection.
What? You think I should have been eating dutch food because I was in Dutch-land? Pfft. Not even the Dutch eat dutch food. Finding a dutch restaurant in Amsterdam is almost like finding a needle in a haystack. Amsterdam was THE most diverse city I have ever been to when it comes to people/food/restaurants. Everyone pretty much speaks English because it seems like most of the people living in Dutch-land aren't Dutch!
Pictures coming soon-once my lazy ass boyfriend decides to load them. :P Perhaps more on Amsterdam later neh?
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Food TV
You know, I am amazed at how different cable tv vs public television tv is in terms of food shows. Honestly, I think that WETA CREATE on public television has a lot more quality food related shows than anything I have seen on the Food network. I didn't even know about most of the chefs that have shows on WETA until I watched Top Chef Masters on BRAVO. Once I 'lost' cable due to a move and got public tv I was like omg theres Eric Ripert, Todd English, Rick Bayless.
I particularly like the Americas Test Kitchen show but I don't like how they won't let people go on their website and look up the recipes that were on the show-they make you pay for it if you do!
Sigh. I really want to go to these chefs restaurants...maybe someday. Especially Rick Bayless <3 He is my hero with his love of good food and helping farmers. Oh Rick, if only you were younger and we both were single. Then you could cook for me every day.
I particularly like the Americas Test Kitchen show but I don't like how they won't let people go on their website and look up the recipes that were on the show-they make you pay for it if you do!
Sigh. I really want to go to these chefs restaurants...maybe someday. Especially Rick Bayless <3 He is my hero with his love of good food and helping farmers. Oh Rick, if only you were younger and we both were single. Then you could cook for me every day.
Bistro Blanc
I went to this place awhile ago but a certain unnamed boyfriend *cough-justin-cough* is lazy about uploading food pics so I have just given in and decided to write my review.
This was actually a pretty amusing restaurant outing. I wanted to meet up with my friend Joanna but she didn't want to really drive to me so I decided to go to her in Columbia MD. I did an extensive restaurant search on-line using my super-dooper grad research skills and came up with Bistro Blanc as my favorite (their menu looked tasty). I called Jo up and asked her if she was cool with it. Then I looked up the reviews (which I should have done before anyways-not such a great research huh) and saw that Tom Sietsiema (the washington post critic) was going to review it the next Sunday (they post the weekend reviews ahead of time on-line and you cant find it unless you know what your looking for). Sweet! This meant I was going to get in BEFORE all of DC came rushing in for a good meal.
The place was absolutely adorable. If I wanted a place to take a girl on a first date (or any date for that matter) I would take her to Bistro Blanc! The ambience was so comfortable and pretty. It was a Saturday afternoon though so, due to Tom's review, I wasn't expecting the 'best' of their food since their second-hand cook supposedly works the weekend lunch and brunch shift. Sigh.
We all shared a wonderful cheese plate which came with fresh fruit and tasty crackers. Justin particularly liked it because of their strong blue cheese but I really liked the bacony smoky tasting Gouda.
The best part of the meal though was the Pig and Fig (citrus braised pork shoulder + black mission fig + toasted brioche + vanilla muscato froth). It was so delicious and tender everyone whole heatedly agreed that it was amazing. Figs are one of my most favorite things in the world and we got a few fresh ones that I throughly enjoyed. Next time I am not sharing!
For my main dish I got the lamb burger. The burger was really well spiced but they put it on a brioche bun that was totally burnt! The kitchen should not be sending out a burger with a burnt bun-be it mcdonalds or the pig and fig that is bad business. I chalked it up to the weekend chef though and still took it upon myself to appreciate the fries that were liberally tossed with strong cloves of garlic and parmesan. Mmmm garlic.
Justin got the duck leg confit which we both thought was good and Jo got one of their 'flatbreads' which is basically a pizza with gourmet toppings. She couldn;t even eat all of it!
Bistro Blanc was definitely fun and though I am not a wine drinker it seemed like the place to go if you like wine. I hope to go back again sometimes :)
This was actually a pretty amusing restaurant outing. I wanted to meet up with my friend Joanna but she didn't want to really drive to me so I decided to go to her in Columbia MD. I did an extensive restaurant search on-line using my super-dooper grad research skills and came up with Bistro Blanc as my favorite (their menu looked tasty). I called Jo up and asked her if she was cool with it. Then I looked up the reviews (which I should have done before anyways-not such a great research huh) and saw that Tom Sietsiema (the washington post critic) was going to review it the next Sunday (they post the weekend reviews ahead of time on-line and you cant find it unless you know what your looking for). Sweet! This meant I was going to get in BEFORE all of DC came rushing in for a good meal.
The place was absolutely adorable. If I wanted a place to take a girl on a first date (or any date for that matter) I would take her to Bistro Blanc! The ambience was so comfortable and pretty. It was a Saturday afternoon though so, due to Tom's review, I wasn't expecting the 'best' of their food since their second-hand cook supposedly works the weekend lunch and brunch shift. Sigh.
We all shared a wonderful cheese plate which came with fresh fruit and tasty crackers. Justin particularly liked it because of their strong blue cheese but I really liked the bacony smoky tasting Gouda.
The best part of the meal though was the Pig and Fig (citrus braised pork shoulder + black mission fig + toasted brioche + vanilla muscato froth). It was so delicious and tender everyone whole heatedly agreed that it was amazing. Figs are one of my most favorite things in the world and we got a few fresh ones that I throughly enjoyed. Next time I am not sharing!
For my main dish I got the lamb burger. The burger was really well spiced but they put it on a brioche bun that was totally burnt! The kitchen should not be sending out a burger with a burnt bun-be it mcdonalds or the pig and fig that is bad business. I chalked it up to the weekend chef though and still took it upon myself to appreciate the fries that were liberally tossed with strong cloves of garlic and parmesan. Mmmm garlic.
Justin got the duck leg confit which we both thought was good and Jo got one of their 'flatbreads' which is basically a pizza with gourmet toppings. She couldn;t even eat all of it!
Bistro Blanc was definitely fun and though I am not a wine drinker it seemed like the place to go if you like wine. I hope to go back again sometimes :)
Monday, November 16, 2009
Zaytinya
With all the 'Zaytinya' rage via Top chef and various food blogs Justin and I decided that we absolutely MUST see what all the fuss is about.
Zaytinya is a Greek restaurant that serves 'mezze' meaning small plates (kind of like spanish tapas or chinese dim sum). I was really excited about this trip so I perused the menu before we went and picked out everything I wanted to get. Unfortuantely, as is the case with many restaurants, not everything that was on their on-line menu was actually being served the day we went.
It was terribly hard to get a reservation but we did using Open table and at least a week before (we tried last minute the weekend before that but they were booked solid!). This seemed a very good idea because though they accept walk-ins they will make you wait for awhile at the front door if you don't have a reservation, even if msot of the tables in the restaurant are empty (as we saw happened to other coupled when we walked in).
I love Mediterranean food and have done mezze before so I know whats worth the money and what isn't. Just remember, they always get you with the cheese and spreads that they offer. You can end up paying 7.00 for tzatziki when most of the other dishes that you order still come with a good few glops of tzatziki themselves. This also happens with the cheeses. Also, many mezze restaurants already give you dippers such as olive oil with balsamic (which was divine) or a roasted red pper spread (like at Cava). They also give you pita bread for free and keep refilling it-meaning that you dont have to spend 9.00 on flavored/seasoned/stuffed pita bread (pide).
Taking these things into account Justin and I started off with Kolokithokeftedes-zucchini and cheese patties with a caper yogurt sauce and one of their 'specials'-a play on spanokopita where it was phyllo dough stuffed with ground turkey meat, feta cheese and accompanied by some really bad mayonaises sauce (another version of tzatziki?). Anywho, the patties were soggy and not cheesy at all. The taste was bland and not something I would really want to eat again. The phyllo dough cigar tasted okay but it didn't seem at all greek and was nothing special (plus it had that gross sauce with it).
A little put out Justin and I moved onto the meats and ordered Kibbeh-beef and wheat fritters, almonds, pine nuts, currants, labneh, Shortrib Kapama-braised shortribs
spiced tomato stew, Hünkãr Begendi-traditional Turkish braised lamb shank eggplant kefalograviera purée.
We were being brave by ordering the fritter but it turned out to be my favorite dish of the night. They came out looking like little brown doughnuts, which were more crispy and bready, sweet and filled with pine nuts. They also came with a more tasty white tzaziki like sauce.
The shortrib kapama was tender but the 'spiced tomato stew' had no spices. it was like eating straight tomato sauce. Then the braised lamb shank, also tender, came with a sauce that could only be described as a creamy gravy (much too heavy)-Justin told me he thought it might do well on a thanksgiving turkey. I just kept asking myself if this place is really greek?
Feeling a bit putout and dissapointed Justin suggested we get another special-the fried potatoes stuffed with feta cheese on top of a cranberry sauce. I tried one and couldn't bring myself to eat a second but Justin seemed to enjoy them. They tasted bitter...
To end the night I was psyched to get the zaklava-which was on their website-crispy phyllo, hazelnut cream, chocolate ganache, honey-cardamom sause, labneh sorbet. However, it was NOT on the deset menu (I was crushed) so we got the Turkish Delight- walnut ice cream with Skotidakis Farm goat’s milk yogurt mousse, honey geleé, orange-caramel sauce, caramelized pine nuts. It was okay-the honey gelee was this weird chewy gelatin textured stuff. The icecream was good but it was icecream. Not worth $8.
Sigh. I dont know if maybe the cheeses and spreads are the only fantabulous things at Zaytinya so that I missed out on all the 'good' stuff. Next time I will just satisfy my Greek mezze craving with a trip to Cava in Rockville and thoroughly enjoy myself.
Zaytinya is a Greek restaurant that serves 'mezze' meaning small plates (kind of like spanish tapas or chinese dim sum). I was really excited about this trip so I perused the menu before we went and picked out everything I wanted to get. Unfortuantely, as is the case with many restaurants, not everything that was on their on-line menu was actually being served the day we went.
It was terribly hard to get a reservation but we did using Open table and at least a week before (we tried last minute the weekend before that but they were booked solid!). This seemed a very good idea because though they accept walk-ins they will make you wait for awhile at the front door if you don't have a reservation, even if msot of the tables in the restaurant are empty (as we saw happened to other coupled when we walked in).
I love Mediterranean food and have done mezze before so I know whats worth the money and what isn't. Just remember, they always get you with the cheese and spreads that they offer. You can end up paying 7.00 for tzatziki when most of the other dishes that you order still come with a good few glops of tzatziki themselves. This also happens with the cheeses. Also, many mezze restaurants already give you dippers such as olive oil with balsamic (which was divine) or a roasted red pper spread (like at Cava). They also give you pita bread for free and keep refilling it-meaning that you dont have to spend 9.00 on flavored/seasoned/stuffed pita bread (pide).
Taking these things into account Justin and I started off with Kolokithokeftedes-zucchini and cheese patties with a caper yogurt sauce and one of their 'specials'-a play on spanokopita where it was phyllo dough stuffed with ground turkey meat, feta cheese and accompanied by some really bad mayonaises sauce (another version of tzatziki?). Anywho, the patties were soggy and not cheesy at all. The taste was bland and not something I would really want to eat again. The phyllo dough cigar tasted okay but it didn't seem at all greek and was nothing special (plus it had that gross sauce with it).
A little put out Justin and I moved onto the meats and ordered Kibbeh-beef and wheat fritters, almonds, pine nuts, currants, labneh, Shortrib Kapama-braised shortribs
spiced tomato stew, Hünkãr Begendi-traditional Turkish braised lamb shank eggplant kefalograviera purée.
We were being brave by ordering the fritter but it turned out to be my favorite dish of the night. They came out looking like little brown doughnuts, which were more crispy and bready, sweet and filled with pine nuts. They also came with a more tasty white tzaziki like sauce.
The shortrib kapama was tender but the 'spiced tomato stew' had no spices. it was like eating straight tomato sauce. Then the braised lamb shank, also tender, came with a sauce that could only be described as a creamy gravy (much too heavy)-Justin told me he thought it might do well on a thanksgiving turkey. I just kept asking myself if this place is really greek?
Feeling a bit putout and dissapointed Justin suggested we get another special-the fried potatoes stuffed with feta cheese on top of a cranberry sauce. I tried one and couldn't bring myself to eat a second but Justin seemed to enjoy them. They tasted bitter...
To end the night I was psyched to get the zaklava-which was on their website-crispy phyllo, hazelnut cream, chocolate ganache, honey-cardamom sause, labneh sorbet. However, it was NOT on the deset menu (I was crushed) so we got the Turkish Delight- walnut ice cream with Skotidakis Farm goat’s milk yogurt mousse, honey geleé, orange-caramel sauce, caramelized pine nuts. It was okay-the honey gelee was this weird chewy gelatin textured stuff. The icecream was good but it was icecream. Not worth $8.
Sigh. I dont know if maybe the cheeses and spreads are the only fantabulous things at Zaytinya so that I missed out on all the 'good' stuff. Next time I will just satisfy my Greek mezze craving with a trip to Cava in Rockville and thoroughly enjoy myself.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Potomac Pizza
If you want some advice about Potomac Pizza I have two words for you-DON'T GO! When I was younger I remember going there with a friend and thinking the pizza tasted ok but then gettign really sick after eating them. Since this happened a few times I ended my visits altogether until I decided to give it another shot tonight. Justin kept onn talking about how much he wanted to go and since all the other restaurants we had considered in the area were closed on a Sunday night we ended up at Potomac pizza wielding a $5 coupon and an appetite.
We were surrounded by a bunch of screaming crying out of control kids. Wow. Justin started to shrink in his seat and look around nervously, I might have actually detected some sweat if the place hadn't been freezing cold.
It took awhile to get the pizza and when it come out we noticed all the topppings we had asked for weren't there and we had to send it back. I got a side of tomato sauce to supplement my pizza, as i always to, and found it tasted like prego....The worst part of the meal, however, was the crust. I didn't know it was possible to create a tasteless crust, a crust that had no substance a crust that was compeltely and utterly boring. Wow. The cheese was similarly tasteless with a cheap stringy texture that did not please the senses.
We spent 25$ including tax and tip on a large pizza with a few toppings, drink and a $5 coupon. This was not a deal. This was paying too much for a pizza I would have passed up in favor of a domino's $5 medium or papa johns or even pizza hut pies. Sigh.
Just DON'T GO to Potomac Pizza.
We were surrounded by a bunch of screaming crying out of control kids. Wow. Justin started to shrink in his seat and look around nervously, I might have actually detected some sweat if the place hadn't been freezing cold.
It took awhile to get the pizza and when it come out we noticed all the topppings we had asked for weren't there and we had to send it back. I got a side of tomato sauce to supplement my pizza, as i always to, and found it tasted like prego....The worst part of the meal, however, was the crust. I didn't know it was possible to create a tasteless crust, a crust that had no substance a crust that was compeltely and utterly boring. Wow. The cheese was similarly tasteless with a cheap stringy texture that did not please the senses.
We spent 25$ including tax and tip on a large pizza with a few toppings, drink and a $5 coupon. This was not a deal. This was paying too much for a pizza I would have passed up in favor of a domino's $5 medium or papa johns or even pizza hut pies. Sigh.
Just DON'T GO to Potomac Pizza.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Komi review
Ah Komi. One of the few restaurants in the Washington DC area to have the much coveted four star status-and I got to go there for my Birthday!
I am, of course, a devoted foodie and I kept on coming across tidbits about this restaurant (particularly from www.dcfoodies.com). I mean, the place has just as many stars as the world renowned Inn at Little Washington and is almost as pricey-so it must be good right?
Recently my boyfriend Justin and I went on a trip to France and at one of the little bistro's we met a couple that spoke french and offered to help translate the menu for us. Delighted, we struck up a conversation and it turned out they were from Dupont circle and were fellow food fanatics. Inevitably we got into a discussion about DC restaurants and I proudly announced that Justin was taking me to Komi for my Birthday when we returned from the trip. The woman gushed about how it was her favorite restaurant in DC-elevating my expectations to a dangerous level.
You know what happens when you have high expectations. Just like when you go to a movie that has had rave reviews and you have to steal yourself and repeat in your mind that it will be awful just so that you ensure your high expectations won't ruin the experience-so should you do with restaurants.
Komi takes a 'break' every year at the end of the summer and closes for about a month so Justin and I were only able to get reservations that were close to my brithday-since they would actually be closed ON my birthday. Komi also has only 2 seating times-5:30 and 8:30. We opted for the 5:30 one because we are early diners.
The atmosphere:
We didn't get to experience the atmosphere right away because when we arrived at 5:30 the door was still locked so we had to walk around the block in the blistering heat a few times before one of the waitresses spotted us and came to unlock the door. The room itself was quite small with a smattering of tables which could be seen from the kitchen. Though you couldn't see what they were cooking/chopping/baking or anything else of that sort in the kitchen you could see curious chefs peering out and laughing every now and then-particularly when the waiter went back. I always had the strangest feeling he would tell us about our questions or something we had said about the food that had sounded a bit silly. Overall it was a relaxed setting.
The Service:
The waiters and waitresses were impeccable. There were just so many of them for the few people that were there! They were always refilling our glasses and bustling by. The only problem I had was how fast they rattled off the descriptions about what we were going to eat. I really like to KNOW what this expensive food I am about to put in my mouth consists of so I can remember and judge and appreciate.
The Food:
Well, if your a seafood lover you'll love Komi. If not-I wouldn't really recommend the place. You have 2 options for dinner-either choosing a main course and getting little mezze (appetizers) before that and chose a pasta or else go with the tasting menu. To get the full experience we went with the tasting menu.
The majority of the 'little dishes' there were at least 14 were amuse bouche (ltitle bites) and were some variety of sea food. The first dish was a sashimi which was served in a chicken like broth and littered with small, powerful chives. There were oysters that were served with a yolky substance on top and if you like the sea had a pleasant taste. I recall a small brioche stuffed with a sour cream concoction and topped with caviar. The grilled octopus was quite nice and I thought was cooked quite perfectly. There was an heirloom tomato salad which was just that-a bunch of tomatoes. There was also a tasty but redundant tuna burger with a cold grapfruit tomato 'soup' served in a little grass.
A big disappointment was the date stuffed with marscapone. I had though Komi was all about 'freshness' and 'seasonality' but this date was dried and sweetened-a huge let down for someone who has experienced the heavenliness of a fresh date melting in your mouth. The biggest let down-however-was this scallop dish which had scallops that had the most awful consistency imaginable. I have had good scallops and these were most certainly not it.
One of my favorite 'tastes' was this little fried cube which the chef, the waiter informed me, thought of as his version of Caesar salad. When I bit into the cube there was a burst of ceasar dressing taste and cheesy loveliness. Quite nice.
For the pasta course we got two different pastas each, which was nice. One was the ravioli stuffed with corn and in another broth. This I compared to the Medicino grill's corn stuffed ravioli and thought that Medicino came out on top. The other dish was a cheesy form of gnocchi which also let down a bit.
Before the main course the waiter came out and displayed the huge leg of a pig (not the most appetizing site) to us at the request of the chef and asked for our approval. The pork was quite amazingly good-I have never had such good pork. the chunks which were very tender and not overly fatty were infused with the taste of bacon. They gave us a HUGE amount of the pork and it was served with 'home made pita' (which was overly greasy and not so great) and a variety of sauces-a tzatziki sauce, a spicy red sauce, and the grilled eggplant sauce I can't recall the name at the moment) which had way too much of some indian spice in it as well as some salt with oregano. Justin managed to stuff all of it down his gullet, making little pork sandwiches with the pita and the sauces. I was impressed. Notably there was a nice dish that has fresh mozzarella with a pesto sauce that followed.
Perhaps trying to make amends for the date disaster we were presented with a fresh fig which appeased me greatly (who doesn't love fresh figs-and they are so hard to find).There was a snowball sangria which I let Justin eat since I am not fond of alcoholic dished. The other desserts were...interesting. Justin got a ball that had a dark chocolate shell filled with mint ice cream with a salty chocolate biscuit at the bottom. I had a bar that had two different layers of chocolate, a layer of peanut brittle and this gel like substance on the top which was like pho-caramel but not as good as caramel (and I'm not even a big caramel fan).
I believe that was the majority of the meal. It was incredibly expensive but quite the experience for a foodie like me who had a) never experienced a tasting menu and b) never been to a 4 star restaurant (I think). Perhaps Justin will remind me of some dishes which I will add later. The chef does need to have less of a heavy hand with a salt and I felt like the creativity was lacking a bit-where were the incredible sauces? The 'inventive' dishes?
We left after paying a hefty check and tasting some of their 'home made' root bear lollipops. I hope the Inn at Little Washington-which Justin had promised to take me on our 4 year anniversary-tops this experience.
I am, of course, a devoted foodie and I kept on coming across tidbits about this restaurant (particularly from www.dcfoodies.com). I mean, the place has just as many stars as the world renowned Inn at Little Washington and is almost as pricey-so it must be good right?
Recently my boyfriend Justin and I went on a trip to France and at one of the little bistro's we met a couple that spoke french and offered to help translate the menu for us. Delighted, we struck up a conversation and it turned out they were from Dupont circle and were fellow food fanatics. Inevitably we got into a discussion about DC restaurants and I proudly announced that Justin was taking me to Komi for my Birthday when we returned from the trip. The woman gushed about how it was her favorite restaurant in DC-elevating my expectations to a dangerous level.
You know what happens when you have high expectations. Just like when you go to a movie that has had rave reviews and you have to steal yourself and repeat in your mind that it will be awful just so that you ensure your high expectations won't ruin the experience-so should you do with restaurants.
Komi takes a 'break' every year at the end of the summer and closes for about a month so Justin and I were only able to get reservations that were close to my brithday-since they would actually be closed ON my birthday. Komi also has only 2 seating times-5:30 and 8:30. We opted for the 5:30 one because we are early diners.
The atmosphere:
We didn't get to experience the atmosphere right away because when we arrived at 5:30 the door was still locked so we had to walk around the block in the blistering heat a few times before one of the waitresses spotted us and came to unlock the door. The room itself was quite small with a smattering of tables which could be seen from the kitchen. Though you couldn't see what they were cooking/chopping/baking or anything else of that sort in the kitchen you could see curious chefs peering out and laughing every now and then-particularly when the waiter went back. I always had the strangest feeling he would tell us about our questions or something we had said about the food that had sounded a bit silly. Overall it was a relaxed setting.
The Service:
The waiters and waitresses were impeccable. There were just so many of them for the few people that were there! They were always refilling our glasses and bustling by. The only problem I had was how fast they rattled off the descriptions about what we were going to eat. I really like to KNOW what this expensive food I am about to put in my mouth consists of so I can remember and judge and appreciate.
The Food:
Well, if your a seafood lover you'll love Komi. If not-I wouldn't really recommend the place. You have 2 options for dinner-either choosing a main course and getting little mezze (appetizers) before that and chose a pasta or else go with the tasting menu. To get the full experience we went with the tasting menu.
The majority of the 'little dishes' there were at least 14 were amuse bouche (ltitle bites) and were some variety of sea food. The first dish was a sashimi which was served in a chicken like broth and littered with small, powerful chives. There were oysters that were served with a yolky substance on top and if you like the sea had a pleasant taste. I recall a small brioche stuffed with a sour cream concoction and topped with caviar. The grilled octopus was quite nice and I thought was cooked quite perfectly. There was an heirloom tomato salad which was just that-a bunch of tomatoes. There was also a tasty but redundant tuna burger with a cold grapfruit tomato 'soup' served in a little grass.
A big disappointment was the date stuffed with marscapone. I had though Komi was all about 'freshness' and 'seasonality' but this date was dried and sweetened-a huge let down for someone who has experienced the heavenliness of a fresh date melting in your mouth. The biggest let down-however-was this scallop dish which had scallops that had the most awful consistency imaginable. I have had good scallops and these were most certainly not it.
One of my favorite 'tastes' was this little fried cube which the chef, the waiter informed me, thought of as his version of Caesar salad. When I bit into the cube there was a burst of ceasar dressing taste and cheesy loveliness. Quite nice.
For the pasta course we got two different pastas each, which was nice. One was the ravioli stuffed with corn and in another broth. This I compared to the Medicino grill's corn stuffed ravioli and thought that Medicino came out on top. The other dish was a cheesy form of gnocchi which also let down a bit.
Before the main course the waiter came out and displayed the huge leg of a pig (not the most appetizing site) to us at the request of the chef and asked for our approval. The pork was quite amazingly good-I have never had such good pork. the chunks which were very tender and not overly fatty were infused with the taste of bacon. They gave us a HUGE amount of the pork and it was served with 'home made pita' (which was overly greasy and not so great) and a variety of sauces-a tzatziki sauce, a spicy red sauce, and the grilled eggplant sauce I can't recall the name at the moment) which had way too much of some indian spice in it as well as some salt with oregano. Justin managed to stuff all of it down his gullet, making little pork sandwiches with the pita and the sauces. I was impressed. Notably there was a nice dish that has fresh mozzarella with a pesto sauce that followed.
Perhaps trying to make amends for the date disaster we were presented with a fresh fig which appeased me greatly (who doesn't love fresh figs-and they are so hard to find).There was a snowball sangria which I let Justin eat since I am not fond of alcoholic dished. The other desserts were...interesting. Justin got a ball that had a dark chocolate shell filled with mint ice cream with a salty chocolate biscuit at the bottom. I had a bar that had two different layers of chocolate, a layer of peanut brittle and this gel like substance on the top which was like pho-caramel but not as good as caramel (and I'm not even a big caramel fan).
I believe that was the majority of the meal. It was incredibly expensive but quite the experience for a foodie like me who had a) never experienced a tasting menu and b) never been to a 4 star restaurant (I think). Perhaps Justin will remind me of some dishes which I will add later. The chef does need to have less of a heavy hand with a salt and I felt like the creativity was lacking a bit-where were the incredible sauces? The 'inventive' dishes?
We left after paying a hefty check and tasting some of their 'home made' root bear lollipops. I hope the Inn at Little Washington-which Justin had promised to take me on our 4 year anniversary-tops this experience.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Filomena
I haven't written awhile, I know but I have so many new things to write about.
Recently I went to Filomena, an Italian restaurant in DC's Georgetown area. I had been there twice before-once for my birthday during lunch where I opted for the $10.00 lunch buffet which was tasty but not fabulous or noteworthy.
Then I went with Justin for DC restaurant week and everything was GREAT. This was quite a few years ago but I believe we got the stuffed mushrooms, chickens tuffed with cheese and breadcrumbs and covered in a cheese sauce and then some pasta shells and lasagna. Then we had the triple chocolate mousse cake-which was a bit too chocolatey for my tastes.
You see, the real attraction of Filomena is the 'housemade' aspect. From the upper window you can see them rolling out their own pasta and they have their own bakery (mmm the best part!!!)
This time, when we went out (Justin and I) we met up with two of our friends. We got the fried rice balls as an appetizer-an italian dish I have been dying to try. It consists of these balls that are stuffed with meat, cheese, bread crumbs and tomato sauce and surrounded with rice and fried. DELICIOUS. We has to play rock paper scizzors over who would get to split the 5th rice ball.
Between the four of us we split three main dishes. The two pasta dishes were so big we could have split that between the four of us and been fine. We got gnocchi with a bolognese sauce-the sauce was to die for (just like I and when I was italy) but the gnocchi (potato dumpling like pasta) were a bit too heavy for me-it is very hard to find perfect gnocchi. There were two kinds of stuffed chicken and we got the one that was had the ham in it. The chicken was a bit overcooked but the sauce wasn't too bad and pretty good overall but not great. The penne with sausage wa sour other dish and was very...italian. The fresh, warm bread was a nice side to it all and I was so full by the end of the meal I wouldn't have had dessert if it wasn't soooo good there.
Ah dessert. The best part. The hazelnut genoise went away with the prise with its layers of chocolate mousse, hazelnut mousse, and a delicious biscuit/cake like hazelnutty layer. I could eat it all day mmm. The chocolate raspberry cake was also delish and I would get both again next time I go.
We picked up a piece of strawberry shortcake for my mom on the way home but since it kinda melted I cant really give an honest opinion on it.
If I were ever to go back I would have to get the rice balls, some lasagna (the bolognese sauce was so good-it must be amazing) and some hazelnut genoise cake. So good. Not too expensive either. I believe it was like 25 a person at the end of the meal?
I must say, if I was somehow interviewed for the Metrocurean one of the 'five bites' I would chose would include Filomenas risotto balls.
Recently I went to Filomena, an Italian restaurant in DC's Georgetown area. I had been there twice before-once for my birthday during lunch where I opted for the $10.00 lunch buffet which was tasty but not fabulous or noteworthy.
Then I went with Justin for DC restaurant week and everything was GREAT. This was quite a few years ago but I believe we got the stuffed mushrooms, chickens tuffed with cheese and breadcrumbs and covered in a cheese sauce and then some pasta shells and lasagna. Then we had the triple chocolate mousse cake-which was a bit too chocolatey for my tastes.
You see, the real attraction of Filomena is the 'housemade' aspect. From the upper window you can see them rolling out their own pasta and they have their own bakery (mmm the best part!!!)
This time, when we went out (Justin and I) we met up with two of our friends. We got the fried rice balls as an appetizer-an italian dish I have been dying to try. It consists of these balls that are stuffed with meat, cheese, bread crumbs and tomato sauce and surrounded with rice and fried. DELICIOUS. We has to play rock paper scizzors over who would get to split the 5th rice ball.
Between the four of us we split three main dishes. The two pasta dishes were so big we could have split that between the four of us and been fine. We got gnocchi with a bolognese sauce-the sauce was to die for (just like I and when I was italy) but the gnocchi (potato dumpling like pasta) were a bit too heavy for me-it is very hard to find perfect gnocchi. There were two kinds of stuffed chicken and we got the one that was had the ham in it. The chicken was a bit overcooked but the sauce wasn't too bad and pretty good overall but not great. The penne with sausage wa sour other dish and was very...italian. The fresh, warm bread was a nice side to it all and I was so full by the end of the meal I wouldn't have had dessert if it wasn't soooo good there.
Ah dessert. The best part. The hazelnut genoise went away with the prise with its layers of chocolate mousse, hazelnut mousse, and a delicious biscuit/cake like hazelnutty layer. I could eat it all day mmm. The chocolate raspberry cake was also delish and I would get both again next time I go.
We picked up a piece of strawberry shortcake for my mom on the way home but since it kinda melted I cant really give an honest opinion on it.
If I were ever to go back I would have to get the rice balls, some lasagna (the bolognese sauce was so good-it must be amazing) and some hazelnut genoise cake. So good. Not too expensive either. I believe it was like 25 a person at the end of the meal?
I must say, if I was somehow interviewed for the Metrocurean one of the 'five bites' I would chose would include Filomenas risotto balls.
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