Mitsitam, Washington, D.C.

I've mentioned Mitsitam, NMAI's American Indian foods cafeteria, a few times before. While I didn't eat there again this weekend, I did wander through the serving area and snap a few pictures.

Here are some foods from the Northwest Coast area of the United States. They have lots of seafood here, including oysters, salmon, and fish wrapped in leaves and steamed.

In the Great Plains area, they have a lot of things targeted more for the children, featuring bison (a/k/a buffalo) burgers and Indian fry bread. They also have several stews here.

One really tasty area is the South American station, where it's like eating what most Americans would probably call "Mexican" food. One of the things I like from here are the big, fat, tamale-like things they do with masa and stewed pork.

The Northeastern Woodlands station always has roast turkey and roast venison (though the venison was absent this week!), plus things like succotash, clam chowder, and "Indian pudding" made from corn meal and maple syrup. This week, they are having a strawberry festival in honor of the strawberry moon (which actually I think is already past).

Here's another shot of northeastern food, this one particularly showing the whitefish with green onions and corn.

Fogo de Chão, Washington, D.C.

Today I was supposed to meet Robert at the National Press Club for lunch, but he was feeling sick this morning and backed out. So, I cancelled my reservation and talked Ryan into going out for a late lunch (far be it for me to ask him to get up before noon!), since this is the last day of the "official" Restaurant Week (several others are extending another week, but that's not part of the official program). He looked at the available places and decided upon the Brazilian churrascaria Fogo de Chão on Pennsylvania Avenue in the Federal Triangle area.

For those of you who've never been to a churrascaria, it's a sort of Brazilian steakhouse, except instead of ordering a specific piece of meat, you select from various meats brought around the dining room by gaucho-trousered waiters bearing roasts skewered on swords. The waiters keep coming around feeding you until you are so full you are ready to pop. Fogo also has a fabulous salad bar with many delicious, high-end, gourmet selections.


So, we had all kinds of things from top sirloin to filet mignon to pork ribs to leg of lamb. Along with the meats, they bring sides, this time a garlic cheese mashed potato dish, some bread-like stuff that was a sort of cross between polenta and cornbread, and some sweet sautéed bananas.

After eating way, way too much meat, I made a little sojourn to the salad bar. Eschewing the traditional lettuces, greens, and salad materials, I filled up a plate with green and white asparagus spears, artichoke hearts, gigantic green olives, hand-carved broccoli spears, red and golden beets, Waldorf salad, parmesan cheese wedges, and some little balls of fresh mozzarella. I probably sampled only about a quarter of the offerings. They had a huge tray of smoked salmon and an assortment of thinly sliced charcuterie meats, but I passed, having already eaten enough animal flesh for the next week.

They had a lovely litany of dessert options. We both opted for the house special, a fruit cream, Ryan with the strawberry and me with the papaya. Think rich ice cream and fresh fruit whipped together until it was the consistency of a milk shake. The creams were presented in large bowled stemware on a large white plate heavily decorated with squirts of raspberry sauce and shakings of ground cinnamon.




One of the interesting things about the dessert service is the waiter came bearing a bottle of crème de cassis (blackberry liqueur), and on our request, poured a generous amount into the fruit creams. I thought the desserts were pretty fabulous.

The desserts, though, led us to a little bit of drama when it was time to pay the check. When we first sat down, we asked one of the waitresses how the pricing thing worked with Restaurant Week, and she said that "everything is included." Now, that's a pretty good deal, considering they usually charge about $30 for their all-you-can eat food at lunch, and R.W. is just $20.07. And, following the Restaurant Week pattern of appetizer, main course, dessert, we had salad bar, meat, and dessert. But, the desserts weren't included! What's more, those little fruit milk shakes were $8.50 each. That additional $17 was almost enough for us to have brought a third person! Ryan chatted with the waitress, though, and talked her in to taking the dessert charges off the check. So, all was well.

Now, it's dinner time, and I'm completely, totally not hungry.

Taberna del Alabardero, Washington, D.C.

It has been so busy this week, I've not had an opportunity to get out for Restaurant Week until today, and now that I've been out, I am so pleased with our choice! Ryan and I went to a late lunch at Taberna del Alabardero, an elegant Spanish restaurant just northwest of the White House.

The "Tavern of the Palace Guard" comes from an eponymous restaurant in Madrid, and has been in Washington for over fifteen years. The dining room is very attractive with a window wall to 18th Street allowing lots of sunlight into the room, where walls and ceiling are painted dark red with white ornamental architectural elements. Austrian shades in bold stripes cover the windows and also provide a presumptive room divider. Tables are covered with floor length golden yellow silk tablecloths topped with white cloths.

The Restaurant Week menu (for the uninitiated, during Restaurant Week, participating restaurants provide a three course meal for $20.07 at lunch and $30.07 at dinner) was rather limited, with only two choices per course, but we still were able to order different things and be happy.

Ryan opened with ensalada alabardero, the house salad with hard-boiled eggs, artistically carved tomatoes, and some delicious green olives (Ryan doesn't eat olives, so I took them).



I had the cold gazpacho soup. Their version is fully puréed, and the melange of vegetable flavors were nicely balanced.



For his main course, Ryan chose the trucha con arroz meloso de setas, judias verdes, y salsa Cantábrica, a grilled trout filet with a Cantabric sauce, accompanied by green beans and a risotto-like rice with mushrooms and cream. He said it was very good.



I had the pollo al ajillo con patatas al Romero, sautéed morsels of chicken cooked with garlic and presented topped with flash-fried rosemary-scented shreds of potatoes. While the potatoes, while good, weren't really that exciting, the chicken morsels were a pleasant surprise with their bold flavor and juiciness.



What excited me most about the restaurant is that after Ryan ordered his fish, an assistant came, removed his stock place fork and knife, and replaced them with a proper fish knife and fork! I loved it! (They were placed in the correct positions, but I moved them for the photograph.)



Dessert was a pair of very standard Spanish/Mexican desserts. Ryan had the flan tradicional, an egg custard flan with a dollop of crème chantilly and some strawberry sauce, and I got the arroz con leche, a rice pudding in a thick, rich, sweetened cream and garnished with aromatic cinnamon.




After dessert, I had a lovely little cup of espresso.

So, we had an excellent lunch in a lovely setting. I look forward to coming back again, though I will warn you that their prices are very definitely on the high side.....at their standard menu prices, this lunch would have cost twice the Restaurant Week rate. But, you know, it just may be worth it, and I'm very tempted to go back in September when they are having "Paella Month."

La Frontera Cantina Tex-Mex Restaurant, Washington, D.C.

Forgot to mention the other day our late night sojourn to East Dupont, where we dined al fresco at La Frontera Cantina Tex-Mex Restaurant. Their indoor dining room was closed, but they were still seating people on the patio, and we were seated immediately.

We started with drinks. Robert had a Mexican beer, and Ryan and I both ordered iced tea. The iced tea, though, was nasty—instant—so we exchanged them for Coke and Diet Coke. Our waiter—a tall, handsome, non-Mexican Hispanic—was very nice about it.

Robert had the beef quesadilla dinner. He said it was "good, but unremarkable." Ryan ordered the nachos. I had an appetizer called a pupusa, which can best be described as cornmeal pancakes pressed around a mixture of cheese and meat, served with a distinctive shredded pickled cabbage salad. I also ordered for all of us to share a fried plantain appetizer. Wedges of plantain were deep fried, then served with sour cream and refried beans (yes, beans) as dipping sauces. I found them a little dry and starchy, but I guess that's what plantains are. I think I was expecting the sweet version. Overall, the food was okay. I didn't think of anything I ordered as being "Tex-Mex," though. For dessert, I had a little cube of tres leches cake. It was pretty good, though I'd liked to have had maybe a piece twice as big.

Summer supper

Sometimes a simple summer supper can be just plain good.

We picked up some corn on the cob today, since Giant Foods had it on sale, twelve ears for $1.99. Great buy. So, I cleaned half of them so we could have corn for dinner.

After roasting some big sweet potatoes in a slow oven (to encourage caramelization of the natural sugars), I put a big, inch-thick pork steak in the broiler til it just got to "medium well." Then, while I let it sit to settle the juices, I popped the corn under the broiler, turning occasionally until they were hot and had a few little broiled brown patches here and there.

Such was dinner. We're stuffed, but content.

Marshall's Bar and Grille, Washington, D.C.

After Mass today, my friend Doug (who was an altar boy this morning) and I walked over to Marshall's Bar and Grille for lunch. Doug had the roasted chicken with French fries and long green beans. It looked fine. I had a very tasty seafood salad with tender squid, shrimp, and scallops on mixed European-style greens dressed with a spicy vinaigrette and presented in a fried tortilla shell (like they use for taco salads). We passed on dessert.

Full Kee Restaurant, Washington, D.C.

After seeing The Simpsons Movie, we wandered down the street through a huge contingent of police cars and fire trucks, lights ablaze, all congregated under the Chinatown arch for no apparent reason to Full Kee Restaurant for a late night supper. Ryan had his usual sweet and sour chicken with what appeared to me to be commercial chicken patties. Robert had crab rangoon for an appetizer and the beef and scallops for his main course. I had the beef Peking style, consisting of strips of beef (that I thought were rather over-tenderized), mixed vegetables, and mushrooms, in a hot, spicy sauce. All of the main courses came with steamed white rice, and hot tea was complimentary. Full Kee is a "useful" restaurant, since it stays open until 2 a.m., though it has the disadvantage of being a cash-only place. I've not been there in a while, and it seems to me the prices have gone up a bit. That's unfortunate, since I thought the food quality to be rather unexpectedly mediocre Saturday night.

Ruby Tuesday, Woodbridge, Va.

Last night Ryan, Robert, and I rented a Zipcar and ventured down to Woodbridge, where we made an appearance at Potomac Mills Outlet Mall. About closing time, we wandered in to the Ruby Tuesday for dinner. I'd noticed it earlier when we'd walked by whilst shopping, and both times, the restaurant seemed nearly empty. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't have more people on the clock than they did patrons in the seats. Needless to say, we had no trouble whatsoever getting a table.

Ryan ordered the "Grand Sampler" appetizer assortment as his main course, plus a side of chili fries, and the all-you-can-eat salad bar. The sampler included both chicken fingers and chicken wings, plus fried mozzarella sticks and some southwestern spring rolls stuffed with chicken. Ryan thought the spring rolls were hot, but Robert liked them. Robert had the Ruby Minis, four little tiny hamburgers served with French fries. I had something similar, though the mini turkey burgers, and by only having two, I got the salad bar with them for the same price. The turkey burgers were good, though they had a rather oddly flavored mayonnaise on them. I was a little surprised, given the emptiness of the restaurant, how long it took to get the hot food out from the kitchen. Fortunately, we'd had the salad bar to occupy us whilst we waited.

Tastee Diner, Bethesda, Md.

It's a long Metro journey from Foggy Bottom to Bethesda, but Ryan and I chose to make it today when we went to brunch at Tastee Diner. We'd been there before, so we knew it would be worth the journey.

Sausage gravy. Fresh drop biscuits. More gravy. Three enormous blueberry pancakes stacked on a plate. Home-fried potatoes with onions. Big slices of ham. Fried eggs lacy from the grill. Draft root beer. Brewed iced tea.

We did breakfast food today, but it was a hard choice....the blue plate specials always sound so good, with classics like chicken-fried steak, turkey and dressing, meatloaf, and on and on.

We ate more than we should have. It's hard not to, though, since the food is all so good (at least from a home-style diner perspective). Have I mentioned their sausage gravy? It's worth a trip up just for biscuits and gravy. Ryan, once again, ordered too much food and had to bring a bunch of it home with him in a go-box.

If anybody has a favorite diner, take me with you! I'm always up for a good meal and classic Americana.

O'Sullivan's Irish Pub, Arlington, Va.

Where did all the Irish people in Arlington come from? Everywhere one turns, there is an Irish pub. Go two blocks on either side of my office and there's an Irish pub and restaurant. Go a subway stop either side of ours and there's at least one Irish place at each stop. They're everywhere!

We ventured west for lunch today to O'Sullivan's Irish Pub. When we walked in, I wasn't sure if they were open for lunch or not, as the surprisingly small dining room was completely empty, and it was only about 1:30. People emerged from the back, though, and gave us our choice of tables.

They had a nice menu selection with bar/restaurant standards and a bunch of Irish dishes. Ryan got a chicken sandwich with Irish bacon and cheddar cheese on a Kaiser roll, accompanied by some cole slaw and a big plateful of nice looking "chips" or potato fries. I had the traditional shepherd's pie, sort of an Irish beef stew topped with mashed potatoes and then broiled until the potatoes were golden. It was fine, as far as shepherd's pies go.

For dessert, we split a Bailey's Irish chocolate cake. It was a three layer chocolate cake scented with Bailey's Irish cream and frosted in chocolate icing, then garnished with whipped cream. Ryan had them bring some vanilla ice cream, too. So much for his diet.

We enjoyed our waitress. She had an Irish accent. We seemed to get good menu advice from her, too. I imagine we'll be back to O'Sullivan's.

M Street Grill, Washington, D.C.

Reviewing my blog after making the last post, I noticed I didn't ever write about Sunday's dinner experience. It, too, was sorely lacking in accommodating service, a noticeable lapse in a usually better-run restaurant.

Ryan and I had been at our friend Max's place for cocktails and, on our walk home, stopped at the M Street Grill in the Hotel St. Gregory. Now, I've only been to the M Street Grill for brunches before, but the service then was always fine. I guess they had different waitstaff for dinner.

We weren't terribly hungry, so we just ordered entrees with no preliminaries. Ryan ordered the pan-roasted chicken with sweet potato pecan puree and broiled macaroni and cheese that looked quite delicious, and all of which got eaten. It also came with a green vegetable they called "broccolini" that I thought looked rather like broccoli rabe rather than normal broccoli. I got the steak and potatoes. Several tender steak medallions were on a bed of garlic mashed potatoes and topped with a brown gravy scented with sage. I was also supposed to have had "broccolini," but was served sauteed spinach instead. I thought the food was all pretty good.

For dessert, Ryan got an apple crisp with ice cream and I got the dulce de leche cheesecake. The delivering waiter brought two spoons and didn't pick up on my comment to Ryan about "Do you still have a fork leftover?" (we'd each been brought two napkin-packs of flatware).

The problem with the service? It was extremely slow and we seemed at various times to have three different waiters. At the end of the main courses, the waitress brought the check and didn't inquire about dessert, coffee, or anything else. At least at M Street Grill, we had the impression that everyone in restaurant was the victim of slowness.

Must be Sunday night malaise.

Whitlow's on Wilson, Arlington, Va.

Yesterday, Ryan and I walked down the street to lunch at Whitlow's on Wilson, a usually reliable diner-type place in Clarendon. The food was quite tolerable for what we ordered, but the service? Eh. Twas abominable. That was very disappointing, given the usual tolerable service of the place on previous visits.

Monday is half-price burger day, so that's what we ordered, Ryan a "Smokehouse Burger" with barbecue sauce, jack cheese, bacon, and added grilled onions, and I the standard cheeseburger with cheddar. He had a big bowl of cole slaw and I had their tasty battered fries. Ryan loved the cole slaw, reporting that it reminded him of the slaw at Kentucky Fried Chicken (which from Ryan is high praise).

But the problems? Well, first, it took a long time to get the waitress to come to the table to take our orders. When she finally arrived bearing glasses of water, she took our drink and food orders. The drinks—iced tea and a Diet Coke—never arrived. Ryan also ordered a cup of bacon and potato soup as an appetizer, and it, too, never arrived. Our burgers did come hot from the kitchen, but that's because Whitlow's uses expediters to deliver food and doesn't rely on waiters/waitresses to deliver things to their tables.

No one came back to the table to check on our food. The waitress, who'd been running back and forth past our table a lot had refilled our water glasses once before the food arrived, but otherwise ignored us. When we were both clearly done and our plates had been removed by the busboy, she finally came back to offer the check, but Ryan wanted dessert. He also asked her, "Are you our waitress?" Then he mentioned the lack of soup and drinks, so she apologized and brought us free drinks. He ordered the peach cobbler à la mode for us to split, and it came fairly promptly. If I'd been her, though, I'd have comped the cobbler, too.

The cobbler was okay. It had an oatmeal crumb topping that I wasn't expecting and wasn't my favorite, but it was very standard for things like apple crisp. It also had both ice cream and whipped cream, which I always think a bit of overkill.

Once dessert was finished, once again, we sat there a long time looking for our waitress just to get a check. I don't know why she was so inattentive, because she didn't appear to have that many tables, and other wait staff in other sections appeared to serve their tables much more efficiently. What's more, we had to spend an hour and a quarter just in the restaurant, which is quite unusual in this area of multiple big office buildings and a large clientele of workers wanting to get in and out and back to their offices in less than an hour.

Needless to say, the gratuity suffered. Ryan rounded up to the nearest dollar and left her a 28¢ tip.

Mister Day's Sports Rock Cafe, Arlington, Va.

Wednesday, Matt, Ryan, and I ventured a block from our office to lunch at Mister Day's Sports Rock Cafe. It was late when we went, so the place was practically empty.

Mister Day's has the typical "pubby" sports bar decor with lots of sports memorabilia on the walls, but not as many television screens as I'd expected. We had a fun and good waitress who kept our drinks filled without us having to ask.

Ryan got the pulled pork sandwich and made the waitress substitute onion rings for the seasoned French fries, since he was afraid the fries might have been spicy (they weren't). Ryan can be such a puss when it comes to picant food. Matt and I both ended up ordering their Black Russian sandwich, essentially a reuban. He was led astray by Ryan and also got onion rings, but I ate the standard fries and thought they were good. All of the sandwiches came with tiny cups of cole slaw.

Mister Day's is a place I wouldn't mind visiting again, though it would have to be during off hours once again, since after five, the place is packed with loud, "fraternity boy" types having their Happy Hour. The food was decent for a sports bar and the service friendly and attentive.

Cafe Luna, Washington, D.C.

Afterward doing some records searching at the lodge yesterday afternoon, a bunch of us went to a place called Cafe Luna for a late lunch. We all shared some calimari and then I had a big chicken salad with fruit followed by a big piece of carrot cake. I don't remember what everybody else had, cause I was too busy talking to notice. LOL I think Kevin had a pastrami sandwich, and I know he had carrot cake, Michael had a half-pound cheeseburger and key lime pie, Robert had shrimp potstickers and key lime pie, and Ryan had the Luna sliders (three small burgers) and the chocolate volcano cake. The key lime pie slices were tiny compared to the enormous pieces of carrot cake, so I think those guys felt a little cheated.

Bali Village Chinese Restaurant, Wyoming, R.I.

On our way back to Washington Monday, we stopped in Wyoming, Rhode Island, for lunch at Bali Village Chinese Restaurant. This little family-operated place was quite a pleasant surprise. The food, all freshly prepared to order, was quite tasty.

Ryan had the sweet and sour chicken with fried rice. The chicken arrived piled high on a pedestal dish, and was quite pretty with all the different, vibrant colors. I had the spicy chicken with mushrooms. It, also, was good, and there was a very ample quantity of chicken slices in the dish.




If you're ever driving on Interstate 95 through Rhode Island and find yourself around the town of Wyoming, stop in at Bali Village. You'll be surprised at the food.

Hanover Inn, Hanover, N.H.

Immediately after the commencement ceremony at Dartmouth Sunday, we headed across the street to the college-owned Hanover Inn for their graduation buffet, where we were lucky enough to have reservations, as the place is no where near large enough to accommodate everyone at the ceremonies. It was all buffet, with no menu service that day. While $45 per person for a buffet isn't all that unusual for special events in Washington, D.C., I thought it rather expensive for the tiny town of Hanover, and without denigrating the food, I didn't see anything all that special.

Here are a few pictures of their buffet offerings.

Murphy's on the Green, Hanover, N.H.

After picking up Ryan's mother from the airport in Manchester Saturday afternoon, once we got her checked in to the dormitory and everyone freshened up and changed clothes, we all (with Brian) went to a celebratory dinner at Murphy's on the Green in Hanover in the shop area just across the street from the Dartmouth campus.

Murphy's is one of those typical, upscale bars and restaurants that are so frequently seen these days near college campuses, and, as expected, included a lot of Dartmouth memorabilia in their decor. Our booth happened to be located on the narrow passageway alongside the bar and between the front dining room and the kitchen, so there was a lot of traffic back and forth. We also got a good view of the goings-on in the bar through the half-window wall that divided us.

While Ryan's mother and I drank iced tea, Ryan got a glass of Blue Fish Riesling white wine and Brian got the first of his two gin and tonics. Brian made quite a hobby of drinking gin and tonics everywhere we went all weekend long, so he insisted that I take a photograph of his G & T at Murphy's. Amusingly, I don't think he really liked it that much. He's very particular about the proportions of gin and tonic water; when we were packing up Ryan's apartment, Brian was having a fit because he couldn't find a jigger with which to measure whilst he was preparing himself a cocktail.

Anyway, on to the food.....Ryan's mother started with a house salad and Brian started with a Caesar salad.




I had a cup of a nice New England style clam chowder, and Ryan got a big basket of sweet potato fries that he shared with the table.




For our main courses, Ryan picked the shrimp fettucine. It looked okay, but it was definitely the American restaurant version of the dish, not an authentic alfredo sauce.



Ryan's mother had the Angus sirloin steak with a baked potato. It looked good and I could have eaten one myself.



Brian had a very lovely grilled rainbow trout resting on a bed of garlic mashed potatoes that he just raved about. We also had a prolonged argument about his vegetable, him saying they were scallions and me saying they were long green beans. I, of course, was right, and he eventually had to admit that scallions don't split in half and have little bean-shaped seeds inside.



I had the meatloaf and mashed potatoes with the same "scallion-y" green beans. The meatloaf was a nice touch of comfort food.



We opted not to do dessert, as we were headed directly to the Graduation Gala, where there were to be plenty of desserts and other goodies.

The Hop at Dartmouth, Hanover, N.H.

Saturday we had our adventures with campus food. We can't really call it "dorm" food, since, like many schools these days, there is no cafeteria in a dormitory building but rather the students all go to a central eating area or food court. Ryan still had about $150 left on his meal plan for the term, so we decided to try to use it all up before the end of the weekend. We essentially accomplished the task.....he left with a balance of fourteen cents.

After inspecting the menu choices and opportunities, I can see why Ryan, Brian, Riley, and all the others at Dartmouth have slowly been gaining weight. It's a dietician's nightmare. I think everything was either deep fried or covered in cheese or was either beef or pork. Or all of the above. Vegetables and salads were scarce. It's worse than back in Oklahoma!

For breakfast Saturday, Ryan had a wrap with what looked like eggs and the insides of a Philly cheesesteak. The portion size was definitely two or three servings. I had an omelette stuffed with cheese, onions, green peppers, mushrooms, and bacon, and then a pistachio muffin that had a raw sugar topping.




At lunch, Brian had a tuna salad sandwich on a sub roll that he didn't really like and Ryan had an enormous sub laden with sliced luncheon meats and cheeses.




I had one of the worst taco salads I think I've ever had (and I've seen more lettuce on a sandwich) served on a greasy (see the shine in the picture below?), over-cooked tortilla shell. This was not one of the more auspicious dining experiences I've ever endured.



Yesterday just before abandoning town, we popped in for more food, though it was much of the same. I had a turkey club that wasn't too bad (if you don't count calories and fat grams) and a little containerful of tuna, pea, and pasta salad. Once everyone had eaten their fill, Ryan filled up bag after bag with chips and junk food to use up the balance of his food account. I just hope he doesn't eat all that junk food this week!

Three Tomatoes Trattoria, Lebanon, N.H.

Friday night, while I was up at Dartmouth College for my nephew's graduation, Brian took Ryan, Riley, Riley's friend Ray, and me to dinner in the nearby town of Lebanon to Three Tomatoes Trattoria. Lebanon, Hanover, and nearby Norwich, Vt., form the cultural oasis in this part of the world, so Three Tomatoes is one of several charming and busy restaurants in the area.

Riley and Ray started with Caesar salads and Brian and I chose the zuppa del giorno, a tomato-bread soup. I thought it nicely flavorful without being too sweet. It didn't have that much bread in it, though, so I ended up "accidentally" dropping little pieces of the crusty bread basket bread in the soup. Meanwhile, Brian drank a couple of gin and tonics, and Ryan drank root beer.




Brian got the chicken parmeggiano on linguine for his dinner and Ray had the chicken saltimbocca. They are both actually similar dishes, though the saltimbocca is topped with sauteed spinach and has a whole bunch more vegetables instead of pasta.




Riley had penne al fruiti di mare, with no shrimp (his request) and more squid, mussels, and clams. It really looked good, and I noticed a lot of baby squid in the dish. Ryan got meatballs on penne.




I made an interesting combination of smaller dishes for my main course. First, I had the beet and arugula salad, with quarters of roasted beets, toasted pecans, and crumbles of feta cheese on a bed of bitter arugula dressed in a lightly sweet balsamic vinaigrette. I thought this was a lovely salad, with a nice balance of flavors and all of the "taste" groups. Next I had their appetizer serving of Prince Edward Island mussels baked with bread crumbs and Italian herbs.




Desserts were fun. Riley and I both had cannoli. Ryan had coconut cake, and Ray had a hazelnut espresso cake.





Brian did a cappuccino (his very first, he said) and a neat little stir-rod with crystalized sugar candy on it.



We really enjoyed Three Tomatoes. It was a busy place, but we had excellent service and the food was quite tasty. If anyone ever makes it to that part of the country, it's well worth a try.

Here's Ray with his Kody Pose™ (Kody's famous, even in New Hampshire!):

White Tiger Restaurant, Washington, D.C.

After attending the fund raising reception for presidential candidate Mike Huckabee last night, Robert and I stayed on Capitol Hill long enough to have dinner in that fun area just northwest of the Capitol. After walking around the neighborhood and looking at our options, we picked a place where neither of us had ever dined before, White Tiger Restaurant.

White Tiger has a great location on the corner of a busy intersection with enough space for a large, L-shaped patio outside. Inside, the dining room (and especially the upstairs dining room reached by a wooden, spiral staircase) is paneled in medium-hued woods and has a slightly British feel to it, the Indian bric-a-brac everywhere notwithstanding.

Robert started with the keema samosa, a pair of pastries encased a lamb and vegetable mix. I had the murg dhingri shorba, a hot and peppery cream of mushroom soup heavily scented with chicken stock and with little cubes of chicken in addition to tiny pieces of mushroom. It wasn't what I expected, but it turned out to be really tasty.




For our main course, Robert chose a dish called dalcha, that appeared to be a mild curry of lamb, lentils, and onions, served with rice and raita yogurt sauce. He said it was good, but once he'd fished all the "good stuff" out of the bowl, there was half a bowl of sauce left, and he would have liked a little more lamb in his dish.



I had the kitchen take the patiala saag on the menu and substitute lamb for the original chicken (making saag gosht?), creating a thick, rich, spinach curry with lamb. We had a plain naan from the tandoor for our bread.



One of the things that caught both of our attention was the silver being used for serving pieces. The flatware, the bowls, and the serving plates were all surprisingly substantial pieces, and gave a nice luxe feel to the evening.

We'd planned on dessert, but the waiter brought our check without asking if we wanted any. The service, otherwise, was typically Indian and attentive, though they did do that unfortunate thing of asking Robert to keep his knife and fork from his appetitzer course to recycle for the entree.

The White Tiger was a surprisingly good place, though, and I'm sure we'll be happy to come back when we're again in the neighborhood.

Here's Robert's Kody Pose™ with a bottle of Taj Mahal beer:

Chevy's Fresh Mex, Arlington (Ballston), Va.

Last week after work one night, Matt and I went to Chevy's Fresh Mex in Ballston for dinner. I had a nice, simple iced tea and a Santa Fe chopped salad. Matt, however, had a great big frozen strawberry daquiri and the grilled steak fajitas.

It was big enough to feed three.

Look at all the food he got and ate (the tortillas aren't pictured)!