Silver Diner, Bethesda, Md.

Robert had a 40% off coupon to use at Old Navy this week, so he wanted to go to White Flint Mall and environs tonight to shop. So, off we went, way up to the Maryland suburbs in the five o'clock rush hour subway traffic. It was dinner time, so we opted to stop in at the Bethesda store of the national "classic American food" chain Silver Diner.

This being Friday and all (it's a Catholic thing) and since our mission was Old Navy, we opted for seafood. Robert started with a basket of fried clam strips, the had a bacon cheeseburger with hickory sauce and cheddar cheese.


Meanwhile, I just had the Friday night blue plate special, the "crispy fried shrimp platter." The shrimp was tasty. It came with a bowl of nondescript cole slaw and a tiny, tiny serving of French fries.


I ended up ordering dessert, a slice of their "Five Pound Apple Pie," with ice cream, of course. The pie is good, being particularly stuffed full of apple slices, though my criticism is always the same: they need to bake the pie longer so the apples are softer.


Robert had never before had an egg cream, so that's what he got for his dessert. I think he was a bit disappointed with it. I've never been impressed with them, and I don't understand why they are so "popular" (or at least allegedly popular) in New Jersey and New York City. For those of you who've never had one, they are just a mixture of chocolate milk and either club soda or seltzer water, and there isn't any egg in them at all.

Chinatown Express, Washington, D.C.

Well, I still haven't found my digital camera, so you're going to have to make do with pictures taken by my Blackberry. Some of them are okay, some of them are strangely blurry, but it's better than nothing.

Anyway, last night, we made a quick late trip to Chinatown to see what we could find open to eat. We found one place open that had dinner hanging in the window: barbecued ribs, chickens, octopi, and duck all were displayed and taken down and chopped up as they were ordered. I suppose that's their way of showing that things are fresh. For seafood, there're a couple of big aquaria by the front door with big fish, lobsters, and other wet things swimming around.


I had some of their fresh noodle soup with chicken and several kinds of Chinese vegetables like the Asian versions of broccoli and watercress. I thought it was quite tasty, and at $5 for a big bowl, it was a nice bargain. My dining companion had half of a Peking duck, and pronounced it delicious. It came with a plate of shredded green onions, some little pancakes, and a bowl of duck sauce, and lightly steamed florets of broccoli and some cilantro garnished the plate of duck. Peking duck is always expensive, but I thought $14.95 for a half duck was very reasonable what with Washington prices.


After dinner, we stopped by the Verizon Center McDonald's just as they were closing for ice cream. I understand from the Olympic athletes that there were McDonald's in Beijing, so that made our dessert an "authentic" Chinese choice.

La Fourchette, Washington, D.C.

Peter dragged me out last night for a late supper at La Fourchette. I'd already dined, so all I did was have a glass of white wine from his carafe and a "floating island" for dessert. Peter got a large avocado stuffed with crab meat as his appetzer and a delicious looking plate of duck breast with fried potatoes (the menu said it would be couscous, but it clearly wasn't! LOL) and their usual bundle of haricots verts and a broiled tomato stuffed with duxelles. It looked and smelled wonderful, and Peter thought it was fabulous.

Hooters, Washington, D.C.

Robert made me go to Hooter's in Chinatown, where he had a plate of drippy, messy chicken wings that got orange tabasco sauce stains all over his face and a bacon blue cheese burger. I got a bowl of New England style clam chowder and a fried chicken, bacon, and cheddar cheese salad they called a "Cobb salad." Robert, of course, loved his food—he always gushes about the chicken wings and burgers—but I'm always impressed with the mediocrity of the food. We had a nice, efficient waitress, though, which isn't the usual case at Hooter's.

El Sol de America, Washington, D.C.

Joel took me to El Sol de America, the fun little Salvadoran place in the midst of "Little Ethiopia" on Ninth Street near U that I've liked a lot before. We started by splitting a guacamole dip (I always like guacamole, especially when it's fresh and chunky like this was) in addition to the unusual bean-tasting salsa they serve. For his dinner, Joel had the appetizer sampler plate and a margarita so stiff that just one got him buzzed. It was half-price burrito night, so I got the "El Gordo," a big, fat burrito stuffed with rice, black beans, grilled chicken, and grill steak strips. We wanted a piece of tres leches cake for dessert, but, alas, they were out!