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morela

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Posts posted by morela

    All You Can Eat Breakfast

    in D.C. & DelMarVa: Dining

    Posted

    The Ritz at Pentegon City has one of the best weekend brunches you will find.  All you can eat that includes caviar, sushi, omletes and many other offerings.  Is it cheap?  Nope.  Is it worth it?  Every penny.  I go once a month.

    For those curious about the cost, it is $58 per adult. Details are here.

    Is $58 dollars for breakfast, albeit, 67,089 calories, a good deal?

    It must be the champagne and raw bar that make sit so damn much.

    I'd skip dinner the night before and make the most of that meal!

    1789, Georgetown

    in D.C. & DelMarVa: Dining

    Posted · Edited by morela (log)

    Reservations are available at OpenTable.com.

    Are there any signature dishes for which 1789 is known?  Any "don't miss" items?

    Scallops are always good, and the champagne and oyster stew, I love. But I haven't been in a long time.

    People talk about the lamb as well.

    I need to climb those Excorcist stairs soon again.

    Hot Chocolates and Teas

    in D.C. & DelMarVa: Dining

    Posted

    Mmm. Hot Chocolate and teas.

    Well...

    I had another cup of yuck from Dingleberries Coffee next to Ray's today. And then I dropped about $13 on some lovely Pineapple Guava White Tea (Republic of Tea) from Whole Foods.

    I'd like to get to Oyamel really soon. Thanks for all the suggestions, honestly.

    The wagon is okay.

    Alero Restaurant

    in D.C. & DelMarVa: Dining

    Posted

    I was sorely disappointed with my first meal at the new Alero. Though the space is really attractive, everything we had was, well, awful.

    You could've thrown the crab cakes down on the ice and played hockey with them, and I'm not exaggerating (ok, maybe a little). They were dense with very little evidence or flavor of crab. I was close to marching in the kitchen and yelling, 'Come on! It's not that hard to make a decent crabcake!'

    chemical taste.

    What's with Mexican food and chemicals? I don't disagree, but this is one cuisine, where the adjective chemical is used over and over to describe food and drink. I'm afraid I might like chemicals or something.

    I think, maybe, Mexican food should try to be Mexican and not try to compete with lesser meat crab cakes...but then again, the mainstream folk don't care...

    Too bad there's no hockey team.

    Hot Chocolates and Teas

    in D.C. & DelMarVa: Dining

    Posted

    Minister of D®ink and I are thinking of venturing out in the real world after a few more inches fall. I've never not gone to a bar on a snow day since I've been of boozing age... :shock:

    Minister's still partially honoring the early stages of the South Beach Diet...and I'm pretending to follow in his foot steps. So, where can we go to get a hot drink that's cooler than our Tazo teas at home? Someone said Oyamel for hot chocolate? Why is this?

    Please help! Our wagon is out of fuel.

    The Melting Pot

    in D.C. & DelMarVa: Dining

    Posted

    Don't wear your favorite coat that night. From my experience, it's like being in a smoky bar, except instead of Marlboros you end up with essence feet-smelling cheese. Your coat will absorb the fumes like Bounty, which may render it unwearable for a period of time.

    BlackSalt Restaurant and Fishmarket

    in D.C. & DelMarVa: Dining

    Posted

    Without going too much off of topic:

    You know when a pizza place or a Thai place gets more stars than you thought it might? I feel like that's the star-divvying critics way of really getting your attention. It's actually in your favor that he does it; it makes you say, "hey, maybe I do need go a little out of my way and try this pizza place and not bother with that one across the street again..." (and hopefully this is really worth your while).

    In these cases, the review is much less about the simple yellow walls or the tile work in the bathroom. It might seem ignorant to the fake orchids on the table or the galvanized industrial pipes over head in the ceiling and less focused on the stemware. If it's accurate, though, it's commonly a review disproportionally about the food and talent in the kitchen.

    Stars can be a system of broken justice in this town. And of course I'm not comparing BlackSalt to any known pizza or Thai place.

    In my opinion, BlackSalt doesn't fit into any cookie-cutter, though. If I lived in Seattle, San Franciso, Maine, who knows...?

    It certainly stands alone in THIS area, and I have little doubt that the seafood being sourced, sold and prepared/served is among the best available in such plenitude. And the menu and what comes out of the kitchen is creative and evolving and should be merited.

    I'd have to visit this place many many times before settling on a number of stars. If I were, God, that is.

    BlackSalt Restaurant and Fishmarket

    in D.C. & DelMarVa: Dining

    Posted · Edited by morela (log)

    I finally made it to Black Salt sort of on a whim last night.

    We arrived around 8:30 or so (without a reservation) and ended up waiting about twenty minutes for a nice airy deuce in the back part of the dinning room. The bar seems like a nice place to hang while waiting for a table, but the low light at the booths and the privacy of the corner tables in the back is a much more inviting place to eat.

    The food was wonderful and absolutely exceeded my expectations, and the place was packed until the very end of the meal. The menu is much more extensive than I imagined; creative and more Asian-influenced in a lot of saucing, etc.

    Anyway, service was friendly and young, and several of the server's suggestions that we took, were spot-on.

    To drink, we stuck with the '03 Etude Pinot Noir (I believe the 7oz. pour is $16), which made nice sipping with

    most of what I ate.

    Here is what was sampled:

    Small Plates

    (prices ranging from $3-6.)

    Certified Organic Salmon Paillard

    Hazelnut Emulsion, Herb Oil

    $5.

    This was a very clean and delicate piece of salmon, perfectly cooked. The emulsion was thick, but not over-seasoned, just complimenting such a soft piece of fish. I really like this and highly recommend it at $5.

    Wood Roasted Shiitake Mushrooms

    Red Wine Vinegar, Imperial Republic

    Extra Virgin Tea Oil

    $4.

    These have to be some of the best lonesome shiitakes I've had in a long time. There are only four of them on the plate, so they go fast, and be sure have enough of that Marvelous Market baguette to dip into the sauce before you let go of that plate.

    Serrano Ham Wrapped White Shrimp

    Ajo Blanco

    $3. each

    This was my favorite small plate of the three, mostly because I could taste exactly how fresh that shrimp was. It was so nice and velvety, and each piece was immense ...and what's not to like about Serrano ham?

    Likewise, the ajo blanco (a white gazpacho of sorts made with almonds and garlic, I think) was legit.

    Appetizers

    ($6-14)

    Yellowfin Tuna Tian Japanese Cucumber, Papaya

    Asian Pear, Mirin-Yuzu Migonette

    $13.

    This was quite good. I could taste the care that had gone into every step of getting that tuna on the plate; it was fresh and very high quality. The preparation itself was what it sounds like; clean, refreshing, pretty traditional. And the portion was ample for $13.

    Wild Rockfish Cheek, Foie Gras, Yukon Gold Potato Gaufrette

    Ver Jus Butter Sauce

    $14

    If you eat meat, you'll like this. A generous portion of seared foie gras, pillowed between two pieces of fluffy rockfish perched on a nice gaufrette of potatoes. Fish was just right, foie gras made the dish rich and hearty. It reminded me of something I might get at Pesce.

    Additional Appetizers from Market Specials portion of menu, which changes daily:

    Grilled Blue Nose

    Peruvian Purple Potato Puree, Green Chile-Citrus Salsa

    $11.

    I loved the Peruvian purple potato puree. Do purple potatoes have a unique flavor? They were nice and buttery with a more gritty texture, and they totally livened up the fish. Altogether a very tasty combination.

    Foie Gras au Torchon

    Pear Conserve, White Balsamic Gastrique

    (might have been $14)

    This, though not at all bad, was my least favorite. The pear was a little too conserve-y for my taste; just a tad less savory than I might have liked. My friend liked this dish a lot, though, so it's matter of preference in this case.

    Desserts

    Trio of Creme Brulee

    Pistachio, Citrus and Cinnamon Chocolate

    with a house made biscotti

    I'm usually not too critical of creme brulee, tasty, but maybe we should have split a main instead of dessert. All the desserts are plated really thoughtfully, by the way. Lots of styling and garnishing; it's hard not to be curious and order it anyway.

    Apple Cranberry Bread Pudding

    This was lovely, all of it's anti-South Beach ingredients did their job and made me very happy.

    I'm looking forward to returning and trying some of the stews, mussels, and the scallops that looked tremendous. The nice thing for regulars is that they have about seven Market Specials each day (soups, appetizers and mains), so even if you get to know the whole menu, there's always something new.

    One thing I do have to say: the sinks in the bathroom are minuscule. Someone please back me up on this...

    Tom Sietsema's 2003 Dining Guide

    in D.C. & DelMarVa: Dining

    Posted

    I'm having trouble reconciling the following:

    In Tom's Dining Guide book (from 2003), his review of Addie's says, and I quote, "Even striptease joints serve calamari these days...."

    My question is, how does he know this?

    Furthermore, the letters in "Tom Sietsema" can be rearranged to read "It's some meat!"

    This is troubling,

    Rocks.

    I think Tom might be short for Thomas. Rearrange again.

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