Lei Garden, Washington, D.C.

Yesterday, Ryan, Edward, and I went off for a day's activity, starting in Chinatown, where we met for lunch. Neither of them had had dim sum before, so we opted to go to Lei Gardens, which is always a dependable place for good dim sum in D.C.'s Chinatown. Lei Garden has a "normal" Chinese restaurant on the ground level, but upstairs they serve dim sum—sort of the Chinese version of tapas—every day during lunchtime.

As with most dim sum restaurants, a couple of carts circulate around the dining room with stacks of little round, covered, aluminum dishes filled with every imaginable type of dumpling or appetizer.

Neither Ryan nor Edward use chopsticks and didn't seem particularly interested in learning to use them, so I didn't push the issue.....it was nice just getting them both to try something different!

They wouldn't let me get chicken feet, so I kept things tame. We had mostly dumplings—round balls of meat wrapped in an outer casing of pasta or won ton wrapper type stuff. Some were beef, some were seafood, some were pork, and Edward's favorite kosher dumpling was a mix of pork and shrimp. He also had the special round dumplings filled with frog eyes. We all tried some kind of beef thing that was flat, square, and between two big sheets of pasta like stuff. In addition, we had fried and baked taro root, sesame balls, and little custard pies.

We were all shocked and appalled at Edward's table manners. You'd think his mother never taught him how to use a fork and a napkin! Since he couldn't do chopsticks, he just ate with his fingers, cramming that food in as fast as he could eat it!

Bistrot du Coin, Washington, D.C.

As we were walking around the Dupont Circle area last Friday evening, we went by Bistrot du Coin and decided that would be a nice place for a light supper. It was crowded and noisy, but they quickly found us a table and brought us half a liter of white wine.

Ryan had the confit de canard avec pommes sallardaises. It's a lovely duck confit with potatoes fried in duck fat and served with a big pile of frisée. He thought the duck was good and the potatoes were really good. I've had it many times before, and it's exquisite.



I opted for the blanquette de veau, a rich, creamy, veal stew with carrots, onions, and mushrooms served in a hot, cast iron casserole and accompanied by a dish of white rice. The stew is rich and velvety—you know, one of those dishes where you use your rice and bread to sop up every last drop of the stew.



Ryan decided he wanted his picture taken in a Kody Pose, so here it is:

Halo, Washington, D.C.

After wandering around D.C. on a photography walking tour after work Friday night, then a quick look-around at Whole Foods, Ryan and I ended up at a bar Halo, where they were having their famous buy-one-get-one-free happy hour. I just had a couple of Heineken beers.

Ryan, though, had to be more creative and flashy. He started with a flirtini, one of those faux-martini things with raspberry vodka, pineapple juice, and champagne. For his second cocktail, he switched to a "pomegranate truffle," made from Pearl Persephone (Pearl's pomegranate-flavored vodka), a splash of grenadine, and Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur. It was actually a tasty thing, and since it was so thick from the Godiva, it was almost like an alcoholic milk shake.

Noodles & Company, Arlington VA

While at the mall in Arlington the other night, we popped in to Noodles & Company for a cheap dinner, and that's exactly what we got. Ryan wanted potstickers, so we started with them for an appetizer. There were six, and they had potential, but they were over-cooked, cold, and greasy. I could only eat one. Ick.



For our main courses, Ryan had the Wisconsin macaroni and cheese, which was simple elbow macaroni with a bechamel sauce and two or three different types of cheese. He liked it.

I had the pad thai with beef, which was okay for an Americanized version.