Chinatown Express, Washington, D.C.

While Riley was off with friends in Georgetown and Ryan and Andy were off somewhere in Dupont, Brian and I decided to go to dinner and then to a watch party for last night's Georgetown basketball game (which we won, of course. After wandering around Chinatown a little bit, we stopped in to the always-dependable Chinatown Express. We ordered fried dumplings stuffed with minced pork and leek and some steamed pork buns to start, then a duck noodle soup (with those fresh noodles they make in the window) for Brian and a half roast duck (that must have been the size of a turkey!) for me, all of which got shared.





Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of the delicious duck!

Kabob Bazaar, Arlington, Va.

Thursday, Riley and I made plans for lunch, and he showed up with Ryan (distressingly attired in a t-shirt and old blue jeans) in tow. We finally went to the Persian place, Kabob Bazaar, and tried their lunch specials. Riley and Ryan both had the chicken thigh kabob and I had the lamb soltani. They were similar dishes, both with small pieces of skewered meat grilled and then served alongside a bed of white rice garnished with some saffron rice on top and grilled tomato quarters on the sides. I was particularly struck at how both of the meats were very juicy, tender, and flavorful. Naturally, we had a couple of baskets of their very good fresh, hot pita bread.

Silver Diner, Arlington, Va.

The other night before going skating in Ballston, the Dartmouth Gang of Three was supposed to show up at my office between 5:00 and 5:30 so we could walk down the street to the Persian restaurant, where they were celebrating the Persian New Year with a nice and inexpensive buffet. Would it surprise anyone to announce that they were late?

Finally, they showed up: after seven. We left to go to the Persian restaurant, but it was packed, there were no tables, and we knew we wouldn't be able to get in and out of there before 8:00. So, we walked down the block to the Silver Diner. Silver Diner is a local chain of '50s style diners with about twenty stores.

We ordered quickly. Ryan got the pancakes and eggs breakfast, I had the liver and onions, Brian had a chicken sandwich, and Riley had a beer and I forgot what for food. The waiter, of course, got the order wrong, but rather than correct it, we just dealt with things so we could get in and out as quickly as possible. We didn't get to the ice arena until just a touch after eight.

You know, last month when Ryan was here and we trying to go ice skating, we were half an hour late to that session because Ryan insisted (demanded!) on eating at IHOP before we went to skate.

Bailey's Pub and Grille, Arlington, Va.

Here's a photo from the skating after party last night at Bailey's Pub and Grille in Ballston Common Mall. The Bailey's people were great, and they even gave the group free chicken wings (pretty good ones, too, as far as pub food goes) and chips and salsa. They've lots of domestic and imported beers on tap.

Thaiphoon, Arlington, Va.

Here is Riley's Kody Pose at Thaiphoon at Pentagon Row in Arlington. That orange substance he's imbibing is a Thai iced tea.

While at Thaiphoon, we shared some fried calimari and an order of steamed dumplings. Then, Riley had pad thai, Michael had pad thai tofu, Brian had fried rice, I had green curry chicken (which was pretty good), Edward got there too late to eat with us (I think he'd already eaten), and Ryan refused to eat because he was pouting since he doesn't like Asian and we all didn't want to go to the Noodles and Company where he wanted to eat.

Zed's Ethiopean Cuisine, Georgetown, D.C.

Neither Brian nor Riley had ever eaten previously Ethiopean food, so after my convocation at GU, their shopping excursion, and their "pre-gaming" at Johnny Rocket's with double cheeseburgers and fries, they, Ryan and I wandered over to Zed's Ethiopean Cuisine for a little session of eating with our fingers.

Zed's is always consistent and I think one of the better places for newbies to experience their first taste of foods from Ethiopia.

We started with a shared appetizer of shrimp tibbs, a slightly spicy sauteed dish of shrimp served, of course, with injera bread as an eating utensil. Then we ordered a combination meat sampler platter and a combination vegetable sampler platter for everyone to share. These have been previously photographed and posted, so I won't repeat here.

For dessert, Ryan and Riley each had an order of profiteroles coated in chocolate. Brian had the coffee ice cream tartufo.




Good thing we only ordered enough food for two, since the four of us didn't even finish what was on the platter!

Thai Kingdom, Washington, D.C.

Sunday night, Leo and I went to Thai Kingdom downtown in the West End for dinner. I've not been there for nearly two years, and it's still a nice Thai restaurant.

Leo started with the shrimp cakes, three slices of a firm shrimp terrine breaded and deep fried and served with a spicy sweet and sour sauce. I thought they looked rather like hash browned potato cakes!



I had plumming duck, a soup with duck and snow peas in a clear broth with a touch of plum flavor.



Kaeng phed ped yang supparot was Leo's main course, a red curry with duck and pineapple.



I had the goong mor din, a tasty soup with shrimp, chilis, minced chicken, and vermicelli in a "hot pot." I think I was expecting more of a casserole hot pot than a soup, or I'd have chosen a different appetizer.



For dessert, we both had mango sticky rice.

Hawk and Dove, Washington, D.C.

Last weekend, Ryan, Brian, Riley, and I lunched at the Hawk and Dove, an Irish pub on Capitol Hill that is greatly popular with Congressional staffers. Most people go there for beer and bar snacks, but they also have a full menu with interesting things, including, that day, a special Irish menu in honor of St. Patrick's Day weekend.

Ryan started off with the artichoke dip. I tasted a bit...it wasn't really the best I'd ever had. It was rather hard to eat, since the dip kept slipping off the chips, but then as we got into it, I realized that they had whole, small artichoke hearts in there instead of having chopped them up. They get points for not skimping on the artichoke.



Brian and Riley had the clam chowder, an interesting experience, since Brian's from Maine and Riley's from New Hampshire, and both are quite familiar with a variety of clam chowder styles. I think the verdict was "okay."



For our main courses, Ryan and I chose crab sandwiches on the regular menu, he the crab melt and me the crab reuben. I wasn't quite sure about the crab reuben, since I was trying to imagine crab and sauerkraut, but this version came with a side of cole slaw instead of sauerkraut. The sandwich was okay, though nothing to rave about....I think Ryan felt the same about his crab melt. Both sandwiches were accompanied by French fries.




Brian ordered the fish and chips. Now, in England, the fish fried for fish and chip is usually cod. That's not the case at the Hawk and Dove: they used catfish! I thought it looked a touch overly brown, but Brian said it was very good.



Riley was the only one to select from the Irish menu, getting the lamb stew. In Ireland on St. Patrick's Day, instead of the corned beef and cabbage we Americans seem to favor, the Irish generally eat lamb stew. Riley reported that he had no complaints with his stew. It did come with some nice looking soda bread.



Now, the Hawk and Dove is a bar, not a fancy restaurant, so I thought the food was pretty good judging on a bar standard. It was fun, too, and we had a great waitress who seemed to have worked there for years. We were there just after the lunch rush, so we didn't get to see any important staffers lunching...maybe on our next trip.

Here's Riley and his Guinness Stout with a little Kody Pose: