"Are you ready for this because I believe your life is going to change forever" That's on their menu. Big words for a Mediterranean/Lebanese place in NW DC. It's good -- really good -- but not quite life changing.
Work colleague of L recommended this place and the two of them go for lunch. This is L's write-up.
Decide to get the "restaurant week"-style course. However, this place is a tapas-style place so you have to get multiple dishes to make a meal anyway.
First course - BABA GHANNOUGE
Baba is growing on me, and this one likely made a big leap for me. So maybe this is the life changing event. Nice and evenly spiced. The piping hot bread puff made an excellent server. Very good. Maybe a little too much, portion wise, for an appetizer, but hey, rather too much than too little.
Second course - ARAYES
Ground lamb in a pita. Juicy. Tasty. Overall really good. Definitely worth trying a second time.
Third course - ADANA KEBAB
Okay, so I should have varied a little more than two lamb courses. Really, this was somewhat of a continuation of the second course. That's good in terms of food, but just poor selection on L's part. Compared to the first course, the portion size here was lacking, even for a tapa.
Fourth course - TURKISH DELIGHT
It's ice cream...but it's sooo good. I'd get it again if so inclined.
Cost
$$$ - I'm going to venture and say to expect to not get under $40 on a good day, but I think $50 for two minimum is to be expected.
Cleanliness
This is a finer dining place - it better be and it was
Service
Very good
Pluses
The bread if you get it piping hot is just awesome (go early)
Nicely seasoned food
Nice atmosphere
Minuses
None that I could tell in terms of surroundings, but conversation distracted me from paying as much notice
Portion size (yes, it's tapas but come on)
Overall value
I'd go again, that's for certain. Tasty food (despite portion size) and good atmosphere make this well worth going in once or twice a year.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Tommy Thai (Franconia-Springfield) [CLOSED]
Tucked away in an anonymous shopping center is Tommy Thai -- a place you pass by, say "Tippy Thai" or "Sada Te", laugh and roll on by. At least that's what we did dozens of times before M's friend said it's really good. So we go. Are we ever glad we did.
We go in, and it looks good enough. We're seated very quickly and look over the menu -- typical Thai restaurant menu end to end. That's not a bad thing, but something to note. We decide to go with 2 appetizers and 1 meal.
Appetizer 1 - Dumplings
These seafood balls tucked away in a rice-noodle pouch set a good tone for what was to come. They could be enjoyed with or without the simple, but tasty, sauce. Delicate fishy scent, but without an overpowering "fish" flavor. Yum!
Appetizer 2 - Satay
Fantastic. Simply awesome. The chicken was the juiciest pieces of chicken L thinks he ever had (and being from GA, that's really saying a lot). Well marinaded where you could taste the marinade and the chicken evenly. Nice! The side peanut sauce was very tasty, with a little bit of extra flavor. Get two orders and you could leave happy. There. Said, and believe it. Took M
Main course - Spicy Basil
In some ways, this was the perfect complement to appetizers. The two were so exciting, that a calmer, measured spicy basil pork with rice posed a nice change of pace. Simple and straight forward, the chef knew how to be sensitive to the spiciness. The waiter said 3.5 stars sounded right, and boy, was he on the money. "It tips on that edge between medium and hot. The spicing is perfectly done." While the pork itself did not have succulence or juiciness, in the context of the dish it still was fine. Better to be slightly overdone than under.
Portion size was just right. Otherwise, with two main courses, we should order one each. It's just enough. We should likely go during lunch when possible.
Cost
$$
Cleanliness
Very clean.
Service
Great service by Bill. He was a hoot and really seemed to engage with the customers (L listened out for it)
Pluses
Satay
Well-handled spices (big plus)
Good service (this cannot be underestimated)
Nicely lit (daytime)
Satay
Minuses
Portion could have been a little bigger on the entree
Would be nice if they offered beef, lamb or pork satay and not just chicken
Would have been nice with a cucumber sauce (ask M if uncertain what the heck this means)
No skinny noodles...prevalent issue in NoVA/DC area
Overall value
Better than average value because the food is really good. However, for Thai there are several "nice to haves" that would make this better. On the whole (and especially the DC metro area), there's few that are this good. Bonus points because they can make sweet tea using simple sugar.
We go in, and it looks good enough. We're seated very quickly and look over the menu -- typical Thai restaurant menu end to end. That's not a bad thing, but something to note. We decide to go with 2 appetizers and 1 meal.
Appetizer 1 - Dumplings
These seafood balls tucked away in a rice-noodle pouch set a good tone for what was to come. They could be enjoyed with or without the simple, but tasty, sauce. Delicate fishy scent, but without an overpowering "fish" flavor. Yum!
Appetizer 2 - Satay
Fantastic. Simply awesome. The chicken was the juiciest pieces of chicken L thinks he ever had (and being from GA, that's really saying a lot). Well marinaded where you could taste the marinade and the chicken evenly. Nice! The side peanut sauce was very tasty, with a little bit of extra flavor. Get two orders and you could leave happy. There. Said, and believe it. Took M
Main course - Spicy Basil
In some ways, this was the perfect complement to appetizers. The two were so exciting, that a calmer, measured spicy basil pork with rice posed a nice change of pace. Simple and straight forward, the chef knew how to be sensitive to the spiciness. The waiter said 3.5 stars sounded right, and boy, was he on the money. "It tips on that edge between medium and hot. The spicing is perfectly done." While the pork itself did not have succulence or juiciness, in the context of the dish it still was fine. Better to be slightly overdone than under.
Portion size was just right. Otherwise, with two main courses, we should order one each. It's just enough. We should likely go during lunch when possible.
Cost
$$
Cleanliness
Very clean.
Service
Great service by Bill. He was a hoot and really seemed to engage with the customers (L listened out for it)
Pluses
Satay
Well-handled spices (big plus)
Good service (this cannot be underestimated)
Nicely lit (daytime)
Satay
Minuses
Portion could have been a little bigger on the entree
Would be nice if they offered beef, lamb or pork satay and not just chicken
Would have been nice with a cucumber sauce (ask M if uncertain what the heck this means)
No skinny noodles...prevalent issue in NoVA/DC area
Overall value
Better than average value because the food is really good. However, for Thai there are several "nice to haves" that would make this better. On the whole (and especially the DC metro area), there's few that are this good. Bonus points because they can make sweet tea using simple sugar.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Bacchus (Buffalo, NY)
Fantastic. A go-to place in Buffalo. A little foo-foo upscale so put on your sweater vest, but relaxing.
Fabulous food (we had a three-course restaurant week special and loved it):
M - Steak and eggs, cheesecake
L - Butternut Squash Risotto, chocolate cake
Both absolutely awesome. M has a nice fitting wine (and given the slip (we'll know what that means)). If you are there during restaurant week, please treat yourself! If you have the time and money, it's a very nice place to eat without having to suit up.
Price - $$$ (Maybe on restaurant week you can get it below $50 for two, but really, don't short yourselves)
Value - Above par. Definitely worthwhile.
Fabulous food (we had a three-course restaurant week special and loved it):
M - Steak and eggs, cheesecake
L - Butternut Squash Risotto, chocolate cake
Both absolutely awesome. M has a nice fitting wine (and given the slip (we'll know what that means)). If you are there during restaurant week, please treat yourself! If you have the time and money, it's a very nice place to eat without having to suit up.
Price - $$$ (Maybe on restaurant week you can get it below $50 for two, but really, don't short yourselves)
Value - Above par. Definitely worthwhile.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Rice & Spice Thai (Ft. Belvoir)
After eating noodles at ChinaTown Express, the noodle craving got bigger. We (M and L) remembered that there was a Thai place near Olympians. After seeing good enough ratings on Yelp, we thought, "why not" and went to check it out.
Blah blah...no one in the restaurant...blah blah...not great seats...blah blah...average menu. The point is the food was pretty dang good.
M has the Lard Da w/chicken (
L has the Rice & Spice Noodles, which we both agree looked and tasted like Pad Thai over lettuce(?!?). Really good, though. Not spicy, though I'm sure they'd be happy to oblige.
Anyways, the wide noodles. If you've had Thai wide noodles, you think you know what you're in for. But these wide noodles are best described like this: lasagna sized noodles bathed in a tasty broth. They are relatively uncut, so you get this super-large "noodles" mixed with yumminess. The wide noodles are fantastic, and we both know we don't generally prefer/like wide noodles.
Cost
$$
Cleanliness
Clean.
Service
Good, but we were the only ones...
Pluses
Good noodles, esp. for wide noodles
Large portions (we could split a plate)
Minuses
No music or anything in the restaurant
Little atmosphere
Overall value
Worthwhile.
Blah blah...no one in the restaurant...blah blah...not great seats...blah blah...average menu. The point is the food was pretty dang good.
M has the Lard Da w/chicken (
L has the Rice & Spice Noodles, which we both agree looked and tasted like Pad Thai over lettuce(?!?). Really good, though. Not spicy, though I'm sure they'd be happy to oblige.
Anyways, the wide noodles. If you've had Thai wide noodles, you think you know what you're in for. But these wide noodles are best described like this: lasagna sized noodles bathed in a tasty broth. They are relatively uncut, so you get this super-large "noodles" mixed with yumminess. The wide noodles are fantastic, and we both know we don't generally prefer/like wide noodles.
Cost
$$
Cleanliness
Clean.
Service
Good, but we were the only ones...
Pluses
Good noodles, esp. for wide noodles
Large portions (we could split a plate)
Minuses
No music or anything in the restaurant
Little atmosphere
Overall value
Worthwhile.
ChinaTown Express (DC Chinatown)
Fresh noodles. So I'm a sucker for any place that is making something on site like noodles, pasta or even dough fresh/handmade. A colleague suggested this place, as I was craving noodles. The DC area seriously lacks for a good noodle place. This may not be the place, but it wasn't bad.
We ordered noodles (L = noodle soup; friend = fried noodles). Also, we got the steamed pork buns, which were okay. I prefer fried dumplings but whatever. I wouldn't order them but I wouldn't not eat them either.
The noodle soup: Noodles were thick, which was a little surprising. They were slight overdone, too, but I prefer overdoneness on thicker noodles, so this wasn't an issue. What was an issue was the bland flavor of the soup. This isn't anything to write home about, but at the same time, the noodles themselves were good enough that I'd come back if I had a craving or someone wanted to come here.
The fried noodles: He said, "The noodles were good; not great."
Cost
$-$$
Cleanliness
Didn't really pay attention and not sure I want to.
Service
Servicable.
Pluses
Price
Fresh noodles
Minuses
It's overall just an average experience
Overall value
Not bad. Again, would come back in a pinch or if someone else wanted to go. It's not terrible, though.
We ordered noodles (L = noodle soup; friend = fried noodles). Also, we got the steamed pork buns, which were okay. I prefer fried dumplings but whatever. I wouldn't order them but I wouldn't not eat them either.
The noodle soup: Noodles were thick, which was a little surprising. They were slight overdone, too, but I prefer overdoneness on thicker noodles, so this wasn't an issue. What was an issue was the bland flavor of the soup. This isn't anything to write home about, but at the same time, the noodles themselves were good enough that I'd come back if I had a craving or someone wanted to come here.
The fried noodles: He said, "The noodles were good; not great."
Cost
$-$$
Cleanliness
Didn't really pay attention and not sure I want to.
Service
Servicable.
Pluses
Price
Fresh noodles
Minuses
It's overall just an average experience
Overall value
Not bad. Again, would come back in a pinch or if someone else wanted to go. It's not terrible, though.
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