Last Wednesday was another long day so I decided to treat the boy to dinner for picking me up!
1) Old Ebbitt Grill
http://www.yelp.com/biz/old-ebbitt-grill-washington
4 Star, 800+ reviews
Visited and recommended by Rachel Ray on her D.C visit.
Located 2 blocks from the White House, this place usually has a line out the door during dinner. But even at 11 p.m, there were plenty of young to mid-aged hoochie mamas and gents all dressed to the nines who showed up for the late night happy hour. With 4 bars, mahogany wood pillars and ceilings, velvet booths and chandeliers, I was instantly transformed back to a classier time.
We're about to take this happy hour by storm!
Our order: The Orca Platter for 6, for 2 please!
With 50% off, this bad boy came out to only $50 bucks!
The group of 6 asians behind us ordered the same thing =) We're not easily scared by a 2 tiered mountain of seafood!
I hope heaven is like this...
Mmmm! Loved these raw clams--so fresh and sweet!
Save the best for last =)
2) Me Jana-Mediterranean/Lebanese Cuisine
http://www.yelp.com/biz/me-jana-arlington
Friday was an excellent day--short work day, pay day, start of weekend =). I wanted to start it off right by hitting up happy hour with some Mediterranean flavaaa. 1 Block away from our apartment felt like a million miles in the heat...I really tried walking s..l...o...w.....as to not sweat..but my god it was so hot...
Sangria and Mango Mojito to the rescue!
Happy hour is dangerous for us--we ordered pretty much everything on the food menu minus hummus, falafel (which I always felt smelled like stinky armpits..?!#$!$) and grape leaves.
George's most least favorite--Tabouleh. It was so fresh and delicious--definitely was a nice side to all the meats and fried stuff we were ordering.
Not very authentic of me..but this is fried lamb and beef balls!? It needed a bit of salt..not much flavor.
Chicken grilled pita --doesn't look like much..but these little bites were crispy, flaky, buttery..D-LISH!
I wanted to smear this tangy garlic yogurt sauce all over my face, fingers and hands and lick it forever...that's how good this smear was.
I've been craving for this Greek fried cheese dish I had when I visited Greece in college, so I called this place to make sure they had Saganaki! Not on the happy hour menu but such a must great addition!
Seriously the perfect bite-saltiness from the fried cheese, a bit of fruitiness from the pear, sweetness from the prunes, tartness from the tomatoes..god...this was amazing.
Greedy!
*note: 2nd night this week that I came home after ONE drink and passed out on the couch til sun down. Weak sauce.
THE WEEKEND'S HERE!
I'm a member of APABA-DC chapter and this past Saturday was their annual picnic and games held at Quincy Park near our apartment in VA. George was my +1 and came for the free food. It's not hard to spot the giant cluster of asian lawyers bbq-ing. And you know you're at an asian bbq when there's a cooler filled with Chrysanthemum tea juice boxes and people are grilling hot dogs, burgers, and then some guy breaks out King Oyster Mushrooms and fried tofu balls on a stick to grill...=D
Great group of folks who also love to eat! They were all amazed that George and I already hitted up all the places they mentioned. We all made korean bbq and Viet food dates =)
Typical of us, the picnic was our first lunch. We were also craving dim sum and heard that Mark's Duck House--rival to Peking Duck Inn--served great dim sum. Since we don't have much patience to eat this another day, this was our 2nd lunch.
I liked all the foods we ordered--especially the pork ribs which was really good! But we came around 2 after all the rush and hot food was slowing down..Next time we'll come back with George's parents!
LUNCH #3. Literally one after the other--we were on a lunch roll. Still a bit hungry, we wanted some sezchuan =D Whatever we couldn't finish became an amazing dinner! And boy was it great!!!
Hong Kong Palace--the 3rd restaurant owned by a chinese man named "Uncle Liu" of Uncle Liu's Sezchuan Hot Pot and Malatang!!!
Had to try their spicy won tons in Sex-Chuan sauce--it's just so good!
My 2nd favorite! Crispy chicken with Sex-chuan peppers! All popcorn chicken should be made this way!
My ultimate favorite goes to this beef that's been stewed in spicy sexchuan sauce and napa cabbage. I want this on my birthday, at my wedding, my baby shower, my first child's graduation...It's such a comforting and homy dish--that napa cabbage, all drenched in this sauce..'scuse me as I wipe my drool.
After our 3rd lunch--(hheehehehe) I wanted something sweet and we've been wanting to go get Beignets from this coffee place 2 blocks from our apartment. This place is closed every Sunday so Saturday was our only chance!
Simple but perfectly made with no frills--just a great fried french doughnut topped with tons of confection sugar. A simply delicious beignet.
(George and I also kept choking and coughing because we were inhaling all the sugar--so worth it!)
Great Saturday afternoons are made of multiple delicious lunches and dessert with a refreshing hibiscus honey ginger tea....at least, for us anyways =)
sigh..life really is this simple and good sometimes..
Sunday's grocery shopping day but still enough time to squeeze in one more restaurant!
Bangkok 54
http://www.yelp.com/biz/bangkok-54-arlington-2
Nice atmosphere--EXPENSIVE food!
I always have to see whether a place makes good thai ice tea. This one was good!
Chicken wings appetizer--uh..JUST 4 wings for $7 dollars? WUT DA HEO!?! These were so damn good in that sauce though! Dammit!
Drunken noodles---meh nothing spectacular--not bad..not WOW either..
Their most popular dish--crispy pork belly in spicy thai garlic sauce. I can't pass down pork belly..but this was extra fried crispy..which meant some parts were extra dryyyy...=/ And the sauce was salty..
Overall it was overpriced thai food and not anything memorable. No more Bangkok 54 for me!
OH! Just thought this was so cute! The Kimchi Chronicles will be airing on PBS =D
Thanks for reading!
Hope to see you all out here soon so we can spread the fattiness around!
damnnnnn this makes me wanna come visit!! nice food shots! that beef sexchuan is AMAZEBALLS.
ReplyDeleteCHUBBY! I am jealous.
ReplyDelete