After work on friday, I wanted to just relax and was craving for something simple and der-ricious!
1) Pupatella
http://www.yelp.com/biz/pupatella-arlington-3
The friday night line was real long and we were told to order an appetizer since our pizza was going to be awhile!
I love that there's a bunch of fresh basil to decorate every table.
Behold PANZAROTTI: Potato croquettes stuffed with mozzarella and prosciutto. 2 for $4 dollas! A bit salty but cheesey fried things are always good in my book.
I ordered the "Real Deal Margherita DOC pizza." This pizza...the buffalo mozzarella cheese...something so simple..but so freaking goood!
Even more awesome, Pupatella's topping for their DOC pizzas MUST come from Italy in order to get the seal of DOC! It brought me back to my days living in Italy and eating Neapolitan pizza in Napoli (Naples)!!
Check out that thin brick oven crust..the dough was thin and crispy just the way I like my pizza and with the right amount of elasticity. Seriously..I loved this pizza...
Actually, I really love this place...everyone also ordered the arugula & prosciutto pizza and I MUST come back to try their white mushroom pizza!!
With barely room to spare, we walked by this new ice cream place that just moved to our neighborhood...
Larry's Homemade Icecream
Larry had some interesting flavors...lol Killer Chocolate! There was a "Cleopatra"--made with coconut and rose water..pretty good!
I decided on Pistachio and George got the strawberry--not very adventurous. This is 1 scoop---GIANT!
It wasn't very good. Damn you Larry for the empty calories!! Your strawberry and pistachio flavor tasted fake and there was a weird..alcohol aftertaste--despite the chunks of real fruit and nuts..odd..
I love the weekends! If you're working--and blessed with not having to bring work home--nothing's better than the weekends--made for sleeping in, relaxing and trying new places. Life can't get any better than this.
On Saturday morning--after waking up at 12 (we are pros are sleeping in!), George wanted to try this Japanese place. 4 Stars, tons of reviews and tucked away in a random ol' brick house..
2) Tachibana in McLean, VA
15 minutes by car from our place
http://www.yelp.com/biz/tachibana-japanese-restaurant-mclean
You would never guess from the outside that inside was a modern bustling Japanese restaurant..How do these people find out about these places..?!?
As for the food...? Um..I ordered something odd...I thought I was getting grilled marinated mackerel..instead I got this smelly mackerel thing..When I asked the server if I could order something else, she said "NO, you order it, you eat it."...=/ boo...
George ordered the sushi Combo A for lunch. Nothing to wow about..Not sure what the buzz or the crowd for this place was all about. Definitely not coming back here!. Although, note--eating lunch/lunch specials' a great way to try new places and pay a lot less!
One of my favorite things to do is cook. I'm not especially good at it but I love doing it and there are several dishes that I've made so many times that I'm finally happy with the way it tastes. And since we pay so damn much for this apartment, I also wanted to spend the weekend relaxing and cooking in it.
So we headed to Great Wall supermarket--an asian supermarket similar to Ranch 99 but about 50 cents more expensive in everything and instead of 6 limes for $1, you only get 5 =/.
Omgaahhh! and what's next to Great Wall? UNCLE LIU'S HOT POT serving up some sex-chuan cusine!!! Must try this place out one day..
Giant mutant avocados. Largest I've ever seen!
Grabbing the rest of the week's grocery at Traders...um WHAT'S UP Trader Joes! Why is your 2 buck chuck now $3.29?????!!!!!
Saturday night's meal: I wanted to make something homey so I decided on pork and shrimp dumplings with chives, green onions, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, fresh cracked pepper, and rice wine filling. I usually make a ginormo batch to eat all week but it's usually gone in 2 days. This was a huge staple during Bar studies since it's a quick meal!
1 egg for binding
Sometimes I get too excited and stuff my dumplings til they burst! This is not correct dumpling making etiquette.
One for frying and one for soup!
Comfort food...mmm...Usually we also add roasted duck and fried scallions.
or fry 'em and dip 'em in spicy soy sauce! The spicier the better!
Sunday morning is lazy strolling day so we headed over to our favorite place--Georgetown--tons of eateries and shops smooshed every which way, all on brick sidewalks. It was hot, I was dripping sweat down to my toes, but so worth it! I love this area--there's so much to see and eat!
Key bridge linking VA to D.C. Nice breeze and a nice view.
Crossing over the Potomac River
Off to Leopold's Kafe in Georgetown (D.C)
A German brunch, coffee & tea place tucked on a side street
http://www.yelp.com/biz/leopolds-kafe-washington
The macarons were just $0.85 here!!! We're coming back for you!
Their dessert menu...holy moly..so decadent and interesting!!!
I could die here...of a heart attack
Really nice atmosphere--which means this meal is gonna be expensive!!!
This place has some amazing cocktails as evidenced by everyone having one on their tables. When I don't have to walk home and know I can readily pass out after 1 drink, I shall order one of you! Especially the Jandal!
We finally got seated outside
Oogling at these girls' muffin basket with jam
I decided on Truffled Corn Grits, Confit Pork Belly and George got the Malted Waffle--everything looked so good on the menu...I really want to try the Housemade sweet Ricotta next time!
That malted butter spread was serious business!! It tasted like a mix of peanut butter, coffee malt all whipped up in butter goodness...The waffle was really light, crispy, airy and buttery too! Dammit, money does buy happiness sometimes..
.
Here comes my whopping plate!! I can smell the hint of truffle oil drizzle on the corn grits. Truffle oil used to make me want to gag..but I'm starting to really like a small drizzle of it here and there..
My portion was actually this small =((((...6 bites max..all gone. Good grits and really tender pork belly though and of course you gotta have a fried egg! Because it was $15 for alll of that, I even ate the whole chunk of fat on the pork belly and licked my knife, fork, and plate...
The 4 girls next to us left 4 very large half eaten omelet plates cause they were too full....WHO DOES THAT!...couldn't they just have..slid it over to our table?? GAH LEE!
Back on the street! This is why I love this area...so many things to see and tons of lively people! I love the brick buildings!
The long line outside of D.C cupcakes (as featured on food network)...We still haven't been able to try it..This is my 3rd time trying to get in..
Window shopping...them oysters look gooood!
Being ghetto and ducking into a furniture store to get some AC!!! It was so hot!!!
All while our handsome tabby Coach gets to stay home in our nice ac'd apartment..
Back home I decided to braise some short ribs for tomorrow's lunch/dinner--gotta start the week off right! I'll be excited for Monday cause I know beef is whats for lunch!! =D
Gotta brown these bad boys to get maximum flavaaa! I dusted them with a generous heap of paprika, cayenne, salt and fresh ground black peppa
Browning tomato paste and sun dried tomatoes--gives the stew a more savory and sweet flavor
Now to cook the crap out of these beef short ribs until things start to loosen and fall off the bones
Canned tomatoes, a lil' thyme, sage, oregano, bay leaves, dash of Worcestershire sauce
3 hrs later--add in the mushroom, carrots, onions medley and red potaters
Dinner and lunch for tomorrow =D
Have a great week everyone!
p.s. is anyone as excited as I am about HP7 Part 2?? =D =D
p.s. is anyone as excited as I am about HP7 Part 2?? =D =D
holy smokes...that's a lot of food!
ReplyDelete