IHOP, Arlington, Va.

One little entree I ordered tonight, and I got five sauces! I ordered a seafood sampler platter with baked fish, fried fish, fried shrimp, and French fries, for which I was provided hollandaise sauce, tartar sauce, cocktail sauce, and ketchup.....plus, there was a salad dressing/sauce for the included side salad.

Ian, of course, didn't have nearly the saucy adventure I had, since he ordered his standard IHOPian chicken fingers dinner with a honey mustard sauce he never uses and a Caesar salad with dressing on the side he never uses, so all he got to use was a little tomato ketchup for his fries. Oh, he had another one of those fried banana cheesecakes with ice cream, whipped cream, and caramel sauce, so I guess he got *two* sauces tonight.

Robert didn't get to join in on any of our fun. He ordered the Rooty Tooty Fast and Fruity breakfast, or whatever they call it. It was just a couple of pieces of bacon, a couple of sausages, a couple of fried eggs, and a couple of pancakes, and not a sauce in sight.

Nam-Viet Pho-79 Vietnamese Cuisine

Nam-Viet is a Vietnamese restaurant just around the corner from the office on one of the side streets. They have three restaurants in town; I was at the Clarendon location. It looks very modest from the outside, but inside it was a nice place with tablecloths and a full menu of Vietnamese items. I tried the pho, the traditional Vietnamese soup with noodles, beef, bean sprouts, and several different green vegetables. Unfortunately, I found it rather ordinary, with the beef tasting as though the flavor had been boiled out of it. Other dishes I saw on other tables looked and smelled quite good, though, so perhaps next time I'll have a regular entree.

Mexicali Blues, Arlington, Va.

Recently I was wandering around alone in Clarendon and happened upon Mexicali Blues, so I stopped in for lunch. Something simple sounded appropriate, so I got the nachos with beef. The nachos in and of themselves were pretty bland and unspectacular and even the jalapeños themselves were lacking zing. The beef, though, was very good—they'd stewed and shredded beef, and aside from making the nacho chips soggy, I thought the beef was quite tasty. I think my choice of Mexican food may have been wrong; I later noticed that the ladies in the kitchen were Salvadoran, and many of the decorations on the tables and walls were from El Salvador. On my next trip (if there is a next trip), I think I'll ask for Salvadoran food. The place stays open late, but I think the emphasis is more on the bar and the cerveza rather than the food.

Clarendon Grill, Arlington, Va.

We went to the Clarendon Grill for lunch earlier this week. I had a cowboy steak salad that was good, though I was expecting the steak to be sliced up instead of in one big piece on top, and Matt had the crab cake sandwich that he thought was good. The place is very casual. We were there for a late lunch a little after one and there were only two other tables; I've noticed the place is always packed in the evenings, though, and they often feature live bands and music.

Dish Caterers, Silver Spring, Md.

Thursday I hosted a luncheon meeting in our office conference room for the members of our community advisory board. I wanted something different, so we got from a Silver Springs caterer, Dish, a mango chutney salad, a niçoise salad (tuna, potatoes, green beans, black olives), a spinach salad with strawberries, diced red onion, and sliced almonds, and a very interesting red colulsari and bamboo rice salad (both grains) with dried cherries and a champagne vinaigrette. We also had some turkey and vegetarian wraps. We had lots of leftovers! I'd ordered for exactly the number who came, but people just took little tiny servings. After our meeting and a subsequent staff meeting, I let our office staff eat up the leftovers. I like this place....we'll use them again.

Faculty Club, Georgetown, D.C.

Yesterday, my assistant Matt and I were on the main campus so I took him to the Faculty Club for lunch. The club is okay. They only do breakfast and lunch, then brunch on weekends, and they do have a full bar, but the food is all buffet (yet well prepared), so it's not really my favorite place to go.

We both started with salads from the large salad bar selection that included a number of more costly items like artichokes, hearts of palm, feta cheese, and a big selection of fresh berries and fruit. The entree selections included a baked fish, a Mexican chicken (looked like baked quarters), some delicious pork tenderloin with a red onion compote that I had, and the pasta station (complete with cook to prepare pasta to order) was featuring linguine with a red clam sauce that Matt had (I think he had pork, too). There was a large selection of vegetables; I had the peas with pearl onions and the sauteed cubes of turnip. The dessert bar had cheesecake, carrot cake, coconut cream cake, lemon cake, chocolate cake, bread pudding, a light red whipped mousse-looking substance in oversized martini glasses, and that big selection of fresh fruit on the salad bar (I had raspberries).

Bistro Français, Georgetown, D.C.

When Ian got back to town Monday night, he insisted that we go to Bistro Français. I decided to try something different for a change, since the artichoke vinaigrette I'd planned on having was being substituted by asparagus vinaigrette that night, selecting the "Sylvester." This was a turkey, bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich with house-made mayonnaise on a chunk of French baguette, and somewhat understated. It came with an order of their very nice fries. I always find it hard to eat sandwiches in French restaurants with their tough, chewy bread, but that is the nature of the beast, since the French abhor American commercial sliced white bread.

Ian had (surprise LOL) the herb and Swiss cheese omelette, which also came with fries. I should do an omelette here sometime, since they always look plump and fluffy. After his omelette, he had chocolate cake—a multi-layer gateau—with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. He said the cake was a bit dry, but then again, it's a French restaurant and that is the nature of the beast....this is why the French slice their cakes into thinner layers, sprinkle the layers with alcohol, and then very often use fruit or cream fillings between the layers.