Taste of Morocco, Arlington, Va.

Earlier tonight Robert went to Clarendon with me to help move some furniture around in my office and take a bunch of books up to fill my bookcases. We decided to eat dinner there. The first couple of places we tried were closed, but we noticed that the dozen or so ethnic restaurants in the area were all open, so we headed to one Robert hadn't tried, Taste of Morocco, the Moroccan place I discovered a couple of weeks ago.

They were doing pretty good business for a Sunday night in a small, out of the way, restaurant location. People continued to come in the entire time we were there.

Robert, being unfamiliar with Moroccan foods, wanted to try one of the set dinners for two, so we picked the Walima dinner. As always, the meal starts with complimentary bread and some delicious, garlicky black olives. All together, they brought soup and salad. The harrira soup is an interesting blend of chickpeas, lentils, and rice served with a particularly unique traditional spoon, a hemisphere on a long handle. Salad was an assortment of cucumber salad, cooked carrot salad, and an eggplant salad.



Next, as a sort of hot appetizer, we got a chicken bastilla to share. The bastilla is a mixture of chicken, almonds, onion, and spices wrapped in layers of crispy phyllo dough, then flattened into a disk and baked; it is garnished with cinnamon and powdered sugar before being served, and that garnish gives the dish an unexpected sweetness.



Our main courses each arrived in traditional tagine cone-shaped pottery dishes. One was a chicken tagine with lemons and green olives and the other was a lamb tagine with raisins and almonds. A plate of saffron rice accompanied the meats.




After the meal, they brought us a plate with a banana, apple, and orange and a pot of hot, sweet, Moroccan mint tea. It was a sweet ending to a very enjoyable evening.

Slavic D.C.

Saturday afternoon there was a Slavic Festival on the square at George Washington University, across the street from me. Robert rang me and said he was there and they had free food, so I wandered over.

We found a Croatian booth that was giving away Croatian food. It was interesting, and I'm not sure how "authentic" some of it was, but it was definitely a taste experience. Starting from the six o'clock position, then going clockwise, was a stew of chicken, sausage, and red and yellow bell peppers; the black stuff was rice with cuttlefish called crni rižot made black from the cuttlefish ink; the light brown food was a rice with seafood dish; at the top was a pasta dish with penne and bowtie shapes with vegetables and a light sauce. They chopped off slices of French baguettes as bread for the meal.



Other booths had various types of cakes and desserts and I even later saw a booth with salads and pickled vegetables, but we didn't try it.

They set up a big stage on the far end of the square where various traditional dancers and musicians performed. While we were there, they had some folk dancers performing to recorded music, but they were blasting the music through massed speakers so loudly, not only could we not hear to talk, the sound was nearly painful. We ended up leaving just to escape the noise.

Redeux

What would a weekend be without Ian dragging me out to an IHOP?

This is the dessert Ian had—a fried cheesecake with bananas, ice cream, whipped cream, caramel sauce, and a cherry.

Silver Diner, Arlington, Va.

Even though I was well fed yesterday, Ian called and wanted to come down to Clarendon for dinner. So, I acquiesced; we went to Silver Diner.

Ian ordered their chicken tenders platter. It came with fries and a little bowl of cole slaw on the platter, preceded by a salad or soup (he chose a Caesar salad). I got the country fried steak with mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, and a drop biscuit, preceded by a mixed green salad. My steak was okay. They used two different kinds of gravy, a cream sausage gravy on the meat and some kind of beef vegetable sauce on the mashed potatoes (next time I'll ask for the cream gravy over all).

For dessert, Ian had an enormous piece of multi-layer, moist, dark, chocolate chip studded, chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. I didn't even get to sample a piece!

We had the same waiter who tended to Ryan, Brian, Riley, and me last week.

Ian took pictures with his cell phone. He still hasn't uploaded them. Wanna see the pictures? Call or write Ian and demand that he upload the pics *NOW*!!! :-)

Sushi Sushi, Washington, D.C.

After attending Sunday morning services at the National Cathedral, Brian, Riley, and I ventured into Cleveland Park for brunch, ultimately selecting Sushi Sushi for its outdoor patio seating. It was a beautiful warm and sunny day!

Brian had never had sushi before, and it took us some effort to coerce him into willingly trying the restaurant. I think he ended up enjoying it and having a good culinary experience.

Brian stayed "safe" with his food choices, opting for vegetable tempura and chicken yakitori (those grilled strips of meat on skewers). He also sampled the miso soup and tried the salad (which had an interesting ginger vinaigrette instead of the usual sesame dressing).




Riley was considerably more adventurous, but he's an old fan of sushi. He's also quite a good Episcopalian, since he always orders a drink with every meal; this time it was a bottle of the higher-end Kirin Japanese beer. He selected three large sushi rolls. The ocean roll is a combination of salmon, yellowtail, red snapper, crab, and avocado that are flash-deep-fried just long enough to put a little crispiness on the outside of the foods before they are rolled up in the rice and nori. The sunny delight roll is basically a California roll (avocado and cooked crabmeat)with salmon on top and accompanied by a spicy-sweet sauce. The spider roll has softshell crab, avocado, scallions, and masago fish roe, also deep-fried to cook the crab and give the dish some crunch before it it all rolled up, and it same with its own mayonnaise-looking sauce.





I had been chatting too much to really make a selection and pay attention to the menu, so when the waitress came back again to take our orders, I just got the sushi combination platter. There were five pieces of assorted fish sushi and two rolls, a tuna roll and a California roll. It also came with a bowl of miso and a little lettuce salad. We enticed Brian to try the sushi rolls. He actually liked the California roll, but the tuna roll was a bit adventurous for him and he spit it out!



For dessert I got the mochi, green tea ice cream inside an odd, sticky sort of rice covering.



I think Sushi Sushi is very good. The food all had a fresh "sea" taste to it without being old and fishy and the service was solicitous. They might want to consider adding more awnings or umbrellas to their patio, since the sun quickly heats up the raw fish, but other than that, it was a very enjoyable experience.

Dakota Cowgirl, Washington, D.C.

Saturday, everyone ended up going their separate ways for last minute sightseeing and activities, and somehow I ended up spending the entire day with Brian. He actually got up "early" (the Gang of Three spent the week partying all night and sleeping all day), since there was a flea market he wanted to go to that started at noon. After the flea market, we grabbed a quick lunch at Dakota Cowgirl.

Dakota Cowgirl is located in the same spot as the former Hamburger Mary's. I understand it's basically the same owners and restaurant, but local ownership made the decision to separate from the national Hamburger Mary's franchise. The dining has been spruced up just a little bit and the menu changed to give things different names, but otherwise it's a very similar dining experience.

Brian ordered the chicken salad sandwich, with the addition of a slice of American cheese on top. It came with fries that Brian thought were particularly good.



I had the large size nachos appetizer. It came in a little cardboard basket and was somewhat smaller than I'd anticipated. The chips came in multi-colors and the chili they used for meat was a bit on the thin (and hence liquid) side; otherwise, they tasted like normal nachos with minimal hot spice.

Annie's Paramount Steakhouse, Washington, D.C.

Late, late Friday night, Brian, Jim (a friend of his who's a charming Southerner from South Carolina who was a Department of Justice retiree) and I went to Annie's Paramount Steakhouse for breakfast.

Jim ate lightly, getting just a bowl of the Maryland crab soup (regular Friday night soup of the day).



Brian got a grilled chicken sandwich with jack cheese on it, and I got a barbecued pork sandwich. Both of our sandwiches came with home fried potatoes.




That's the first time I've ever had anything at Annie's that wasn't beef, and I thought the pork sandwich was really good. I particularly liked the fact that the sauce wasn't soupy or too sweet.

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:

Kabob Bazaar, Arlington, Va.

Kabob Bazaar is a Persian (Iranian) restaurant. Here, you go up to the counter in back to place your order and pay, then the food is brought to you either at a table inside or on their sidewalk cafe area outside. They also have a luncheon special that changes daily. When I was there, it was baghali polo, and it was absolutely delicious! It's not on their regular lunch menu, so you can only get it on Tuesdays. I had a big lamb shank with meat that was so tender and juicy it was just falling from the bone. The lamb rested on rice mixed with some fava beans and dillweed, giving it a green color, and some saffron rice had been scattered on top almost as a garnish. With the meal came a basket of excellent hot, fresh pita bread with a little plastic container of yogurt dipping sauce and a big handful of parsley, cilantro, watercress, and the tops of green onions. I ordered a doogh, a traditional yogurt and mint drink, for my beverage. The doogh made me a little nervous at first, since my first experience with Persian food was back when I was an undergraduate and tried a a version of lassi at a Georgetown Persian restaurant; it was awful; it reminded me of sour, peppered Alka-Seltzer! The doogh at Kabob Bazaar was good though, with my only criticism being that they used dried mint instead of fresh, and I had a couple of little dried stems floating around in my drink. One thing I noticed about this restaurant is that it was bustling and full of people, but, other than the employees, all of the guests were male! Just as I was getting ready to leave, though, a party of six came in that included one lady. Anyway, I'm very much looking forward to coming back here.

Taste of Morocco, Arlington, Va.

Today while headed elsewhere, I happened upon Taste of Morocco, and I found it a fortuitous discovery. It's been years since I've had Moroccan food, and the last time was back when I was in France in a tiny cafe upstairs over shops across the street from the old Paris Opera House. A very personable man who I presume must be the owner or at least the manager of the place seated me and told me about the menu. We chatted a little bit about the food and my previous experience with Moroccan cuisine. I ordered the prix fixe lunch, which included soup, salad, and either a tagine (stewed meat on rice) or the kefta (meatballs with eggs). While I waited for my food, he brought a basket of a flat loaf of leavened bread and a dish of delicious spicy black olives in oil. My first course was harrira, a soup of rice, lentils, and chickpeas in a tomato broth. The second course was half cucumber and half carrot salad placed distinctly apart on the salad plate. In both cases, the vegetables were in medium dice and tossed in a lightly spicy vinaigrette; the carrots had been cooked; the cucumber salad included a little bit of diced tomato. My main course was the chicken with lemon and green olives tagine. It was quite nice. The chicken breast was stewed and topped with cooked wedges of lemon and scattered with a lot of flavorful green olives, all atop rice. The dish was presented in a traditional Moroccan ceramic dish with a large heavy ceramic lid that looks much like a volcano (I forget the name of this dish). Along with my meal, I sipped hot Moroccan tea with mint and honey. Another excellent meal.

Rien Tong Thai Cuisine, Arlington, Va.

Rien Tong Thai Cuisine has an inexpensive lunch special that includes an entree and a choice of soup. I tried the tom yum soup, a typical Thai broth with mushrooms and chicken flavored with lemongrass, lime, and hot pepper spice. It was nice without setting my mouth on fire. My main course was "drunken noodles," a rice noodle and pork combination with an assortment of vegetables and things thrown in for good measure. Despite the name, there is no alcohol in the dish; at another Thai restaurant, I was told the anecdotal story that there once was a cook in Thailand who created the dish when he was drunk and just threw a little of everything into the pot.

Annie's Paramount Steakhouse, Washington, D.C.

Afterward a meeting Saturday, Robert, Mark, Kevin, Greg, Lance, and I went to Annie's Paramount Steak House for a cocktail and a bite to eat.

I made a definite ordering mistake. I asked the waiter which was better, the steak salad or the Greek salad supreme (with steak), and he said the main difference was that one had marinated meat. Well, I thought the Greek salad would have more interesting things in it than just a plain steak salad, and I was definitely right on that count! For a while, I thought I was tasting things, or maybe still had salmon smell on my hands (from the bagels, cream cheese, and lox at lodge). But then I discovered the culprit! There in my Greek salad were two great big nasty anchovy fillets!

Lance and I shared desserts, he ordering chocolate cake, and I got the cheesecake.

Hunan Palace, Washington, D.C.

After the St. Patrick's Day parade Sunday, Robert, Michael, and I wandered off through downtown D.C. in quest of food. This task turned out to be much harder than expected. Of course, most of the downtown eateries are intended for the office worker crowd, and, thus, are closed on Sunday, but the places we had in mind weren't suitable; we'd forgotten that Michael is vegetarian. Vegetarian in downtown D.C. is a lot more challenging. We got to McPherson Square and found even the Corner Bakery and Cosí closed, so he decided we should go to this cheap little hole-in-the-wall place called Hunan Palace just north of the square. It's definitely on the "budget" side.

Things did not begin auspiciously. Robert and I both ordered iced tea. It wasn't brewed. It turned out to be one of those iced tea drinks that come from a soda fountain. Now, that stuff is typically "instant" and spiked with "lemon" flavor in the form of citric acid as a preservative, and has a bit of a tang to it, but this was particularly tangy.....I suspect it was old. I sent mine back in favor of hot tea; Robert sent his back in favor of Coca-Cola; we both got Coca-Cola.

Our next adventure was the appetizer course. Michael had an egg drop soup that was bright, bright yellow. Robert had some fried won-tons that were stuffed with meat; he had expected something more like crab rangoon with the cream cheese filling. I had a simple, greasy spring roll.

As is typical in Chinese restaurants, the entrees came out as they were finished by the kitchen, rather than all together. First to come out was my salt and pepper squid. Pieces of squid were scored, battered, seasoned, and deep-fried, then tossed with salt and pepper, chopped onion, and chopped jalapeño peppers and served with lightly stir-fried broccoli. It was okay; I've had worse before.



Next came Michael's vegetable fried rice. I guess it was okay....he didn't make any comments.



Last to arrive was Robert's crispy beef. He was still nibbling on his fried won-ton, so he wasn't starving while Michael and I ate. Robert said the beef was good, but he didn't even eat half of it, and he didn't take any of it home with him, either. It was a very large serving, though. I tasted a little piece and I thought it was really, really sweet, so I didn't like it.

Circle Bistro, Washington, D.C.

Last Friday evening after the all-Finnish concert with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center previously mentioned, Robert, Kevin, and I walked up to Washington Circle to have a post-concert supper at the French-themed Circle Bistro at the One Washington Circle Hotel.

This place has always been somewhat of an enigma to me. I've popped in several times over the years for a quick brunch or a quick meal, and it's never been much more than a bland hotel restaurant to me—never bad food, just not anything exciting (their $13 hamburger is always dry and mediocre, though). What confounds me, however, is the fact that Circle Bistro is often listed as one of the top restaurants in the District. In fact, just this past January, Washingtonian magazine placed Circle Bistro on its list of the 100 Best Restaurants in metropolitan area....and not at 98 or 99, but all the way up at number 31! What are they eating that I'm not? What am I missing? The only thing I can figure is that it gets its lofty rating because of the political and marketing power of the hotel's owner, the George Washington University. Yet, even that is a mystery, because GWU also owns the nearby GWU Inn and the River Inn, where in-house restaurants Notti Bianche (a much, much better place with Italian food) is only rated number 86, and Dish (a much better place with "creative" American food) isn't rated at all.

Robert and Kevin were needing to catch the Metro home, so we chose Circle Bistro because of its proximity to a Metro stop. I had no objection, since I'm still trying to figure out why it's number 31. I still don't know.

The main dining room was full, so we were seated at a long, narrow table in the bar with tall stools. Kevin had cranberry juice, Robert a huge bottle of sparkling water, and I tried the house cabernet sauvignon.



For dinner, Kevin selected the brook trout meunière with dauphine potatoes and green beans almondine. He said it was good, though nothing "memorable." I thought the head-on, gutted trout looked rather too "anatomical" to be appetizing.



Robert had the roast breast of Long Island duckling with a sweet potato-apple mousseline and chopped Brussels sprouts. It was rare and the bloody juices rather stained the plate, I thought, but the duck itself looked and smelled very good; Robert liked it.



I chose the route of two appetizers for my dinner, starting with goat cheese fritters on beet salad that was actually quite good with a nice mix of flavors and textures, and then having a duck confit on cassoulet that was a bit disappointing, but still edible and flavorful; I thought the confit a little limp and the beans in the cassoulet were undercooked.




For dessert, Kevin abstained, Robert had a deck-of-cards sized piece of pear tart with vanilla ice cream and I had a tiny "artistic" presentation of mediocre carrot cake and ice cream with an unpalatable smear of apple-cinnamon mixture. Now, I don't mind tiny little morsels of food (instead of, for example, the enormous slice of ten layer carrot cake large enough to feed four), but I'm looking for exquisite bites that leave me wishing for more; this particular dessert left me feeling, "Okay, I've tried it, what else do they have?"




Thus was our supper: filling, but still somewhat shy of the stellar #31 rating the bistro somehow gets.