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Showing results for tags 'Catering'.
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If you are in need of a place to meet between DC and Baltimore- my favorite lately is House of India off Snowden River Pkwy in Columbia. I have only explored the veg side of the menu but it has all been really good. The palak paneer haunts my dreams with large pieces of paneer and creamy spinach. The channa masala and other veg entrees have been delicious as well. There is a menu for 2 that also includes naan, soup and pakora for $40 a really good deal considering entrees are about $15. The meat version is a little bit more. The staff are also very nice. -
On the advice of my Vietnamese barber, who knows a thing or two about Vietnamese food, I tried Pho 495 today for lunch. Emblazoned on the menu is "Best Vietnamese Noodle Soup in Northern Virginia' (or words to that effect) and I am inclined to accept that assertion. I had the No. 1 beef combo with added meatballs, and I was very impressed. This was a deeply rich and hearty broth, easily simmered for a very long time based on how much deep flavor and complexity it displayed. It was loaded with all the basic bits and pieces -- tripe, tendon, cartilage, beef pieces and the added meatballs. I can't say that I've had any better at all the various places I've tasted pho in northern Virginia, and I'm not stretching the truth. Too bad we're nearing the kind of weather where I tend to avoid hot soups, but I know I'll be back often in the autumn, or the next time we have a raw, rainy day. 7215 Commerce Street, Springfield www.pho495.com -
Thai Peppers Menu Hubby and I wanted to try out Thai Peppers as people had talked about it around the hood. I have to say as soon as I saw their menu- I knew it wasn't Thai Square (although they have taken a few of my favorite weird things off their menu), Bangkok 54 or even Thainida. The menu was fairly pedestrian, but I am sure most people think it is fine. That being said my veggie panang curry was serviceable, flavors I expected, nice brown rice, nice and warm, a little spice, but not over the top. The chicken satays were large pieces of meat, not bad in flavor, I just think could have been marinated a bit more. But again, nothing bad. They seem to be a pretty bang out carry out business and service was very responsive. We sat downstairs which has 0 ambiance, and no music, but as I we went out because I was trying to recover from the crud, we really weren't all that particular. Anyway, it's fine but there are a lot better options just a few miles further. -
Andy Hayler's Reviews -
Happy to report that Pho Binh's location in the Heights offers "The Original" banh mi (off menu, but advertised on signs around the restaurant & on the cash register), which is essentially a cold-cut and paté sandwich. Grabbed one the other day for lunch. You're going to have a hard time finding a better way of spending $5.50 for lunch elsewhere in the city. Fantastic on its own, the flavors popped that much more with an easy shake of fish sauce and a thin line of Sriracha. I can also vouch for the lemongrass beef banh mi and the pork/spring roll bun. I am slightly embarrassed that I have yet to try the pho, especially considering the possibility of the roasted bone marrow add-on. Soon...soon. -
No. 7 Sub is a relatively new sandwich shop just around the corner from the entrance to the Ace Hotel--a too-hip-for-you entry into the new New York hotel scene. No. 7 has some very nice sub sandwiches, and many vegetarian options that are likely worthwhile. I say likely only because we only tried one sub but were very impressed--the zucchini parm, a 9" sub roll filled with breaded zucchini, fontina cheese, pickled jalapenos, and barbecued potato chips, which was a very nice combination of flavors and textures. There isn't much sitting space, so this is primarily a grab-and-go affair. No. 7 sub is at 1188 Broadway, in the Ace Hotel building. -
Andy Hayler's Reviews
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On May 20, 2018, I enjoyed a very delectable lunch at Mikko's Café, which serves casual modern Nordic fare. See café menu. Seating is limited to 5 seats at the back counter and 4 at the front so take-away is a very quick and convenient option. Mikko plans to expand to al fresco dining with beverage service in the near future. I can't wait for the expanded café menu! I enjoyed the following: Pickled Herring Open-Face Sandwich with Egg, Greens, Mustard, Dill (Herring is pickled in-house. Mikko has a smoker for smoked fish. And for smoked mushrooms in a recipe for a catered soup, which I hope will make it on the expanded café menu!) Karelian Pastry (served reheated) Finnish-Style Fish Soup (this is a hearty dish and can be enjoyed on its own) Salmon Quiche (as take-away immediately enjoyed by reheating at home)
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- Dupont Circle
- East Dupont
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Samos is around the corner. I only went once a long time ago, but I believe it's also highly regarded. I need to get back there or try Ikaros! -
If you travel to Houston, please read this story about Laurenzo's.
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I recently had a chance to visit Bottega Louie, a bright, cavernous space in The Brockman Building on South Grand that is both a gourmet market and restaurant. The large open floor and high ceilings plan gives the place a certain vibrancy, with an accompanying noise level that you might expect from such a large room. I took a seat at the 10 stool bar in the front closer to the market and quite enjoyed the Cioppino, which also cost $30. It was a full bowl of succulent seafood, that contained perhaps the most plump mussels I have ever been served. Truly satisfying. -
I was surprised there wasn't a thread on Sweet Fire Donna's. Website: www.sweetfiredonnas.com/ Hours: Walk-up Counter: Sunday - Saturday 11am - 10pm Bar: Sunday - Thursday 11am - 12am Friday & Saturday 11:00am - 1:00am Late Night Bar Menu: Sunday - Saturday 10:00pm - close Online Ordering Available. This place was humming for lunch with lots of take-out and eat in orders, luckily tables opened up quickly as it isn't huge inside. I had the Carolina chopped pork sandwich with coleslaw. I thought it was pretty good for NC pulled pork. Vinegar sauce was good, pork was chopped, but still had some texture. Hubby might even find it acceptable, it was good enough I would take him to try it. I also had a free side (note the word of the day on FB or Twitter) of skin on potato salad that I thought was good, it had a little pepper in it and wasn't too heavily dressed, although definitely there. Anyway, parking over in that area isn't the easiest, but I got a street space not too far away during lunch hour, so I was happy with myself.
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- Alexandria
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Reaching into the past here, but there's a Maiwand Grill with locations in Baltimore and Burtonsville, which seems to be unaffiliated with Maiwand Kabob (5 area locations) as far as I can tell. That said, the Maiwand Grill in Baltimore City is a fantastic restaurant. The hummus and pumpkin with ground beef were on point, and the kabob entrees are amazing deals for the amount and quality of food (~$10 with bread, rice, salad, and spicy green chutney). The kofta kabob and chicken malai (marinated in sour cream and butter with ginger, garlic and fresh coriander leaves) kabobs I tried are incredibly tender and flavorful. The chicken malai, in particular, is dry grilled but still juicy, with a nice mild herby flavor that pairs great with the chutney. Definitely will be my go to whenever I'm in the Hippodrome/Royal Farms Arena area. -
Website They are on Amazon delivery, so I am a bit surprised the only mention is on a thread for another restaurant. We ordered one of the spiciest chicken vindaloos I have ever eaten from here. I like spicy food, normally food has to be pretty spicy for me to even register it- this was spicy. Not bad at all. We also got chicken kadai - which I really liked, it had a nice mix of chicken and veggies. We got a side of spinach- fine not special, but I like a little more veg- and some veggie samosas, which were very large, and had a nice filling. We also got some naan and kulcha- to be honest, I couldn't tell a difference and I think maybe we just got 3 naan, they weren't super light, more dense, but not bad. They delivered via Amazon very quickly inside Arlington. I would order from them again.
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Enjoyed a good meal at this new fast casual place in Mosaic a few weeks ago. The three of us each got different meats with sides (lentils, etc). The Naan was well made and buttery. I don't recall all the details, but it was hearty and reasonable. Sauces were not too spicy but flavorful and unboring. I do recall this weird automatic hand wash contraption thing in the dining room. It was awesome. -
Had dinner last night at Samurai teppanyaki grill in the GMU shopping center. I had the chicken and shrimp combo, dining companion had the lobster-filet-shrimp, plus the typical miso soup, salad, fried rice, grilled veggies and noodles. It was clean, everything was cooked properly, not the best show by the chef but certainly adequate, and thankfully not oversalted (which is something that I find happens at a teppanyaki with chefs using the salt shakers in their show). A lot of food -- I took fully half of mine home even after eating until I was stuffed, so I think a fair value for the price, which I believe was about $24 for my choice, maybe about $31-$32 for my companion? Plus a sake appletini for me that balanced on the line between sweet and sour. I would have been happy with a tad more sour but was relieved that it wasn't too sweet. Not fine dining by any stretch, but I think a better choice than Kilroy's (which was the other option I was offered). -
Met up with some friends on Friday night to try Smokehouse Live in Leesburg. No better way I can think of to describe this place than suburban Hill Country - same system, same basic theme, very similar menus. The good - The bar area here is bright and very open with friendly service, a limited bar menu and good happy hour prices. Nice selection of bourbons, some cocktails during happy hour for $5 and a tap selection that goes beyond the Shiner limitations of HC downtown. But then... The rest - Hill Country (normally I would say so many comparisons to HC would be unfair, but they don't seem to even be trying to hide the imitation, so...) somehow manages to pull off sticking a room full of bench tables together and have it not seem totally cold and impersonal. Smokehouse Live can't say the same - plywood walls, disjointed floor plan and an oddly cramped 'market' ordering area made me miss some cheap and tacky kitsch and finished hardwood. But hey, you're here for the barbeque, right? The pulled pork was ok - not awesome, but not bad - wished it had more bbq flavor. I will admit - I order lean brisket - and am used to this being a bit more on the dry side than the 'wet' orders, but this was so dry it was crumbling apart. The beef shoulder (crod) is just a hard cut to work with - even after trimming visible tough areas I still had trouble chewing (not sure this is as much the restaurants fault as just a tough cut). Texas Chainsaw sauce was ok, though could have used more heat for being the 'spicy' version; eastern carolina was a little close to being straight vinegar for me. Please, for the love of God, if you only read one sentence in this write up, read this one: A 16oz portion of collard greens will cost you $14.25. Just to make sure we didn't miss anyone there - A 16oz portion of greens will cost you $14.25. Now to be fair, your little order card does list the price for each side in tiny little numbers inside the bubbles. Generally being a person who is not so concerned with price that I thought a side order of collard greens for two people might break me, I didn't really pay attention - after all, its a side of greens and some turkey that was left over from the day before. I would love to see their food cost for this. Or for the $14.25 portion of macaroni and cheese. Or for the $14.25 portion of lima beans and corn. But moving on... It was our server's first day, or at least appeared to be, so I hold her completely blameless but when you are half way through your meal and still do not have someone take your drink order, AND when you have flagged down three different staff members begging for drinks and then a manager, AND when you give you drink order to all three of these staff members never to see said drinks, it gets old. I'll still never understand why, when the new server finally appeared, she made an Arnold Palmer using Mountain Dew, but at this point I was beyond questioning. Bottom line - would totally go back for happy hour at the bar and listen to some music, but the dinner experience was approaching 'one-and-done' levels of not good. P.s. didn't want to start a new topic for a restaurant so far out that wasn't good, but please feel free to move as needed- 5 replies
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- Leesburg
- Village at Leesburg
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Sthitch: have you tried Willard's in Chantilly? For a jack-of-all-trades place they do a good job. Don't miss the cobblers! -
Must give a shout-out to one of my favorite sandwich shops around. Generously-sized hand-carved sandwiches on fresh bread at very reasonable prices. Sounds very simple, but I'm always surprised about how few places successfully implement this concept. This is one of them. Last weekend: Roast Turkey sandwich piled with lots of veggies for $5.75 and my personal version of the Turkey Melt (hand-carved turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado, sprouts, swiss cheese and honey mustard on a wheat sub roll) for $6.75. One of the best values around, IMHO. -
Anil Kumar is now at Bethesda Curry Kitchen, right across the street from Grapeseed, which opened on Tuesday, February 11th. On this very cold evening, the nearly empty restaurant seemed like an eternity away from Gringos & Mariachis, just a few blocks down Cordell Avenue, and which also opened on February 11th. I have no doubt that on this evening, Gringos & Mariachis was packed. A liquor license is still a few weeks away, so for now, this restaurant is without alcohol. I started my dinner with a homemade Mango Lassi ($3.50) which reminded me that Kumar's former restaurant, Saveur India, had some of the best Kulfi I've ever tried - Bethesda Curry Kitchen also has homemade Kulfi on their dessert menu. Chef Kumar is from Hyderabad, a huge city in the South of India, and the south is very well-represented on the menu. The city of Coorg sits about 400 miles southwest of Hyderabad, nestled in the Western Ghats. When I go to India for the first time, my plan is to spend some time in Goa, but a detour to Coorg is also on the agenda. Coorgi Chicken ($15.99) isn't a dish you see very often in the DC area, but it was very well-executed here, and obviously long-cooked, containing 5-6 boneless, Halal thighs in a wonderful curry (the quality of this chicken was very high). Served with basmati rice, I also got a Mehti Paratha ($3.00) for the requisite sauce dunking. On a frigid Saturday night, there was only one other family of four dining in this somewhat stark, utilitarian restaurant. "Until you get your liquor license, weekend dinners during the winter are going to break your heart," I said to my server. I cannot think of an atmosphere that's more different from Gringos & Mariachis than Bethesda Curry Kitchen, but both restaurants are initialized in Italic in the Dining Guide which speaks volumes about the potential quality of cooking here. Also just down Cordell Avenue from Passage To India, I don't even see the two as competitors - one is a curry house; the other is fine dining. Bethesda Curry Kitchen is going to survive, not by weekend dinners, but by delivery and lunch buffets. I walked past the empty buffet - which had the signs up - and noticed that my Coorgi Chicken was on it, so you can enjoy this exact same dish for lunch, with many others to accompany it, for less money. In fact, until they get their liquor license, a lunch buffet would be the perfect way to initiate yourselves with this fine newcomer.
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- Bethesda
- Woodmont Triangle
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Have seen the sandwich shop Local Foods show up on a few 'best in the country' lists for sandwiches lately. They lived up to the hype. If you need a lunch spot in Houston, this is it. Great local beer selection too. -
Walked by at lunch and saw the Now Open sign out front. Turns out it was their opening day. Hope springs eternal when it comes to Bethesda delis, so I decided to give it a shot. It's pretty bare bones space, with a handful of tables inside and an outdoor space with a few plastic tables. But delis don't need to be fancy if the food is good. There the news is somewhat hopeful. The matzo ball soup is solid, with a big fluffy ball and broth that could have been a bit more flavorful but overall was very nice. My litmus test for delis is pastrami. Heckman's is solidly in the thick-cut pastrami camp and the good news is that it's undeniably juicy and well-balanced. But it's also uncomfortably fatty -- not the unctuous kind of fat that melts in your mouth but the kind that makes the sandwich hard to eat when it's stacked high. I ended up trimming some of the fat myself and then enjoyed the sandwich. Surprisingly, they didn't have pickles, which at a deli is unfathomable but presumably will be rectified soon. Service was somewhat confused, which is not surprising on day one. To be fair to the wait staff, I think the problems largely originated in the kitchen. Overall, I'm somewhat more hopeful than some of the other delis that have come and gone in Bethesda. -
So I'm sitting at Teatro Goldoni the other evening, watching someone eat the largest cheeseburger I've ever seen, and in walk couple-about-town Fellato Riminovich and Putana Harlotski. They ordered some bruschetta, wolfed it down hungrily, blew some air kisses, and then disappeared into the night. And I thought about a conversation I once had. "You're too much of a foodie," my friend once told me, shortly before heading to her shift at Cafe Milano. "I am not," I protested. "I just don't like things that suck." "Cafe Milano doesn't suck." "It does suck." "You need to understand: bars and restaurants aren't always about food." "How can a restaurant not be about food?" "It's no Tosca, but people enjoy it." "People enjoy Cheesecake Factory too." <glare> "Look: the customers at Cafe Milano might not know anything about food, but they know what they like." And I sat there, blinking. Then I came back into the moment, my thoughts turning toward the pizza in front of me at Teatro Goldoni, the uneaten pizza, the undercooked piece of dough with harsh dried herbs sprayed on top of it, seemingly from a firehose, and wondering to myself if I should just try and enjoy the pizza for what it was. And then I left and went to Palena.
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- Georgetown
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Prubechu is one of my favorite restaurants in the entire city. They have an a la carte menu, but we mostly stick to the $65 tasting menu. If you go with 4+ people, the tasting menu is required. Guamanian food (from Guam) food is a delicious mash-up of native Chamorro food, combined with influences from Japan, Spain, and the US, who have all claimed the island at some point. The beer bottle/can list is really good, and the guys who work there are total beer geeks, so they'll occasionally have some off-menu stuff or an interesting keg on tap. It's right by 24th/Mission so it's super easy to get to via BART, Muni or Lyft. Our latest meal there: Guamstyle sweet rolls / Tuba butter / Inarajan sea salt: perfect texture, the tuba/coconut butter on the side a great foil. Corn soup / spam / fried onions / coconut milk : I am a sucker for corn soup, but this was superlative. Creamy and sweet, yes, but deeply rich and complex, with textural contrast from the toppings. Chicken Kelaguen / grated coconut / lemon: this was a fun "make your own taco" style dish. The house hot sauce saved what would have otherwise just been a good dish. Coconut titiyas - the house flatbreads, they're about 3" in diameter and fluffy and delicious. Get some of the hot sauce and the tuba/coconut butter on em, omg. Fried thingies (I didn't get the name of this one): tomatoes are in season and this was basically an extravagant excuse to show off how good local tomatoes can be. Coconut greens: bury me in this dish plz. Motsiyas ( chicken sausage ) mint / basil / onions / coconut milk / onion soubise: this is always on the tasting menu, and it's always great. the crispy chicken skin is a great contrast to the herby sauage, and the hot sauce is the third pillar of joy. Chalakilis ( rice porridge) English peas / maitake mushrooms / fried egg / sesame seeds: the egg is a staple of the tasting menu and it's basically almost always my favorite dish. panko-coated and fried until the white is set and the yolk is still runny. The rice is great, and the black sesame was an excellent accent. Guamstyle BBQ ribs / soy / onions / vinegar / lemon: really good. soy marinated, with sunchoke chips. not too smoky, not too fall-apart-y, just wonderful. Coconut ice cream, fritter: there's a healthy sprinkle of salt on the ice cream and i don't understand why other restaurants don't also do this to every ice cream dish. Photos here.- 1 reply
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Clementine is in a unique area of Baltimore that is unpopulated by the usual hip restaurants. This place has the feel of a general store, and they cure their own bacon and make other charcuterie. It's a great spot to bring kids; there's a cute play area off in the corner. Great assortment of sodas from rosemary lemon fizz, lime basil elixir, Cheerwine, and other drinks. We went for breakfast. The waffles are fantastic - almost fried and funnel cake like with strawberries and whipped cream. There's an Elvis version with bacon, bananas and nutella as well, which I did not get to try. We ordered catfish with grits, corned beef hash, and their regular scramble. Be sure to ask for their housemade hot sauces that come in both green and red. Catfish was cooked to the right texture so that it didn't end up tough with great grits. The corned beef hash is unlike any other hash - the meat was high quality and came in chunks, lovely chunks of squash and potato. And I'm not sure what they put in their scramble of eggs, potatoes, red cabbage, onion and duroc bacon, but yum. Definitely want to return to try their version of bi bim bap and charcuterie. This has definitely unseated Miss Shirley's as my favorite brunch spot in Baltimore.
