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Showing results for tags 'Seafood'.
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Lady KN and I were in the Fells Point area and decided to hit Thames Street Oyster House on a Friday afternoon. In fairness, we only had access to the raw bar, as we arrived between lunch service and dinner service. No problem, as we tucked into Malpeque, another local Maryland oyster, two varieties of Virginia oysters and a dozen large shrimp as a cocktail. Everything was fresh and good, and I am definitely going to return to enjoy some of that enticing menu.... -
There should be a thread for Dylan's, which should be regarded as the best (or a top 3) restaurant in Hampden. Spotlight here is on oysters, naturally, but easy to say that the remainder of the menu often steals the show. Bar program is high-quality too, with an emphasis on whiskies (the main bartender is a serious whiskey nerd). Highlights over several visits have included: - Coddies - basically giant cod croquettes; these are must haves - Fish sandwich - rotating selection of delicious fried fish on sesame bun with added hots. - Ramp toast - a seriously loaded-up roasted ramp and ricotta (I think? this was in the spring) toast. They occasionally have a burger special, which is supposed to be fantastic, and there is a rumored off-menu item called a "Smasher," which is essentially a coddie with the fish sandwich bun and accouterments. Sidewalk eatin' is great here too with an fun view of the busy intersection of Chestnut Ave. and 36th St. (aka "the Avenue"). -
Blue Sand has a daunting menu, so we took the easy way out and ordered set menu #2, which included bulgogi, soy sauce crab, beltfish, etc. Unfortunately nothing was memorable and we really didn't see why this place is better than the other Korean joints we've been to. Starting with the banchans, they were all vegetarian (kimchi, sprouts, kale, cucumber, seaweed, and one stemmy green) and none were special. The crab was marinated but raw. I liked the flavor, but am not generally in favor of eating crabs raw. I like grilled beltfish, I also like them fried. These were good but not different than what you'd get anywhere else. Seafood combo with veggie casserole. I liked the soup itself and I ate most of the veggies. We let the seafood sit in the boiling soup and they definitely got overcooked. There's a wad of soft and coral/brain-like looking thing that had no flavor and I couldn't tell what it was. It kinda creeped me out. The chawanmushi was not particularly refined. The pan-fried stuff were imitation crab, cucumber, Spam (or something similar) and mung bean cake. I barely touched the bulgogi.
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Today (Memorial Day), we went to one of my hubby's favorite fish places for brunch: Barbara Fishtrap 281 Capistrano Road Half Moon Bay, CA B says that this other place which is located 100 feet away from Barbara Fishtrap isn't as good since their menu is more pedestrian even though they take credit cards. Take a look and decide if you ever make it out to my neck of the woods... On to the food... Wedge salad with bacon and blue cheese Huge portion and pretty good even if the kitchen overcooked the eggs (you can tell by the discoloration on the yolk). Scallops with garlic and white wine, with rice pilaf and fried zucchini sticks Scallops had a good sear, rice was well-made, zucchini - excellent. Fair value for $26. Half-order of steamed clams, with green sauce and lemon For me, tres leches cake; for B, vanilla gelato with whipped cream. Cake was light even though drenched with milks. One of the better versions I've had. Total was $120 with tax and 20% tip. Would recommend. We left stuffed.
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- Princeton by the Sea
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Funny name. Funny...but not so great...place. Six of us tried this new "local food" spot in Woodley with a bit of hesitation. It's the 2nd outpost of a Vegas based concept centered on crawfish, a product of the Gulf Coast. It's half bar, half restaurant. The tables are all covered in plastic. Most of the food is served in plastic bags dropped onto the tables. Crawfish: this is what drew us. The crawfish were a bit overcooked and not really in season quite yet. Steamed Shrimp: best item tried. A plastic bag full of decently spiced and sized shrimp cooked correctly. Chicken Wings: ok as far as deep frying can take a wing Sausage: also served in a plastic bag. forgettable. sweet potato fries: thin, oily OK, it's a bar and this is all meant to be bar food...I guess? All in, it came to $35/person including roughly one beer/person in our group. Ah, and top it all off: bad table service. We were there early before a crowd formed and still waited a long time for food from a confused waiter. -
http://kingstreetoysterbar.com/ Leesburg, VA 12 South King St, Leesburg, VA 20175 (571) 442-8068 Monday – Thursday11:00am – 9:30pm Friday - Saturday11:00am – 11:00pm Sunday10:30am – 9:30pm Happy Hour3:00pm – 6:30pm everyday Middleburg, VA 1 East Washington St, Middleburg, VA 20117 (540) 883-3156 Monday – Thursday11:00am – 9:30pm Friday - Saturday11:00am – 11:00pm Sunday10:30am – 9:30pm Happy Hour3:00pm – 6:30pm everyday I couldn't find a thread on King Street Oyster. Can I suggest specifically listing this also in Middleburg and Leesburg as this may be one of the best options in Middleburg based on what we saw wandering around. Mom and I had lunch there on Saturday at the Middleburg location. I had a salmon BLT, and the salmon used was of a higher quality than I have had on a sandwich or salad recently, and I thought it was really a good salmon flavor to it, crisp bacon, you could actually taste each component. They had a slaw with half mayo, half vinagrette, with relish that was really flavorful- a nice mix of acidic flavor and crunch with the mayo to balance it. I might have to try recreating it. Mom had the Asian shrimp salad. The dressing was really good, and there was a lot of fried shrimp on the salad, and the mango was super ripe. Our meal was really affordable and all the food that came out to the tables around us looked good. I would definitely go back here. (Edited to take out the world flavorful so many times- this is what happens when I write too many posts in one day) But I did think the dishes were well seasoned and had nice mixes of texture and acidic-umami-sweet-sour balance. I think it was the balance that impressed me so much.
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website Baltimore Sun review The sister restaurant of La Cuchara, I haven't been yet but I've gotten enough raving reviews from my friends that we probably deserve a thread -
A tiny storefront on Georgia Avenue, Fish in the Hood would verge on being one of my favorite new restaurants this year if not for its mysterious hours and a bit of brusque service. The first time I walked over there, at about 12:30 on a Thursday, the place was locked, though the lights were on inside. It was a crapshoot, since I haven't been able to find their hours listed anywhere, either on their "website" or Yelp. Some workers who'd been contracted to fix their sign were out front, and also chagrined since they couldn't get in touch with the manager or any staff. After chatting with them for about 10 minutes, I moved on (and ended up with an excellent roti from Rita's down the street). I got lucky the second time, stopping in at about 6:30 on a Friday night, and it was hopping. The interior is dominated by a glass case featuring 10-12 types of raw filleted and whole fish on ice and a high counter behind which the magic happens. There are two or three tables inside, but they're really there more for waiting than for eating. (In any case, I don't recommend lingering inside unless you relish smelling like a fryolater. The patio outside will be a nice place to eat in good weather.) The lady behind the glass case was impatient to take my order and irritated that I didn't know the ordering protocol and had to keep asking her to repeat herself because I couldn't hear her over the din. I ended up ordering six fried shrimp and one fried fillet of pollack--which she rejected out of hand as not enough so she gave me three. I also ordered the greens, mac and cheese, and potato salad (I needed to sample a quorum!). A little less than ten minutes later, a man with a big smile (proprietor, I think?) called me over to pick up the goods. He says, "Have you ever had my mango sauce before?" No, sir, I haven't. "Well dear, you take that home and have your man open it up, dip that fish in it, and feed it to you. That'll give you the makings of a good night right there." With no man at hand for the experiment, I fed it to myself, and holy mackerel (ha), was I in heaven. The crust--cornmeal batter--was still crackling after a 10-minute walk home, the fish and shrimp were well cooked, and that mango sauce is a dream. A dream. So good that I'm not even embarrassed to admit that a fair amount made its way into my mouth via my finger. Seriously: order extra mango sauce (a fancy place would call it a mango aioli or some such). The tartar sauce is also really, really good, and its served with a couple of pieces of bread that are average but which somehow makes for a pretty good sandwich. The potato salad was pretty good, the mac and cheese was okay, and the greens were pretty eh. Prices are good, and you can also get the fish broiled or take it out raw. Now just post your hours somewhere, folks, and I'll become a regular. -
Cristina and I ducked out of a business cocktail thing early and took advantage of the fact that we had a sitter, and stopped into the relatively new Star Fish on Heights Blvd for a drink and snacks. The chilled seafood tower did not disappoint. Drinks menu is extensive, and will reward multiple return trips to make my way through the various martinis, gin & tonics, and sparkling wines. The "Saltwater" G&T, with star anise and "ocean water tincture" was delicious...a hint of brine, but nothing crazy. -
Happy Hour at McCormick & Schmick's with the library crew turned out to be pretty good. Drinks are regular price (Most draft beer $5) but if you buy two, you unlock the $1.95 happy hour menu of apps and entrees. Most in the group got the cheeseburger, which looked pretty much like the entree cheeseburger and fries. There was also crab dip, artichoke dip, mussels...stuff like that. Looked like a pretty good deal. Weird hours, though: 3:30-6:30, then again 10:30-12:00. -
So did Pier 2934 on the corner of 30th and M. It was a great place for one pound bags of steamed seafood. Especially Alaskan king crab. -
Any news on Fishnet in Shaw? -
Coming soon to DC. Best Ciopinno I have ever had anywhere. "Tadich Grill To Open a Location in Washington, DC" by Paolo Lucchesi on insidescoopsf.sfgate.com. -
I can't find the thread that raised the question, but here're some responses.
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RW Update: Last night had a great dinner at 1789 -- scallop ceviche "margarita," mussels, softshells, and more scallops for the lady as an entree. I told the waiter it was her birthday (which it was -- thank you, RW gods!), and her dessert (warm choco cake with the mintiest mint choco chip ice cream you'll ever have the fortune to come across) arrived with a candle and a birthday card from the staff. Lunch at Oceanaire yesterday -- Surprise! The RW menu is dinner only (damn you, RW gods!). I just don't get the appeal of this place, unless you like feeling like you're on a loud, overcrowded ship -- if I need seafood again and can't make it to O'Learys in Annapolis, I'm heading to Kinkead's. Strike one: the oyster po' boy looked like a package of van de camps fish nuggets dumped onto two giant pieces of puffy bread. Strike two: the following conversation -- Me: "Where do you get your crab meat from?" Waiter: [eyes dart side to side, shuffles a bit...] "They're a Chesapeake Bay Style crab cake, one of our most popular choices." Lady: "They're huge! And full of meat." Me: "Yes, but where do you get the crabs?" Waiter: "We get them from Philips; they provide most of the crabmeat in the region." Me: "Which is from Indonesia." Waiter: "Yes, but it's a very large crabcake." (Fortunately, the waiter went back to the kitchen to check and that day for some reason they had Marlyand blue crab.) Strike three: I still didn't like the crabcake. Too much breadcrumbs and parsley edging out the crab. With such a fat stomach and thin wallet, I decided to cancel my lunch at Vidalia tomorrow and go back to Breadline for the heirloom tomato salad and some chocolate + marscapone cookies, at half the price of a RW lunch (and no tips!). -
Saturday was a perfect day in Annapolis. I was with a friend of mine getting our hair done and she had some time and we were starving so we decided to go downtown. We got a parking spot near Pussers and decided to walk in and just see how long the wait was for an outdoor table. The wait was long, but when we went to the back bar to the self-seating area a table had just opened up. There was live music, it wasn't humid, just the right temperature and boats were consistently moving through Ego Alley to give us a nice view. We got rum punches and painkillers which were really good and just sat and enjoyed the day. I got some blackened mahi mahi tacos and she got the salmon with rice. Mine was a little too saucy to eat as tacos without making an incredible mess, so I ate them fork and knife. They weren't amazing in anyway, but it was good dock food on a casual day with good flavors, fries were definitely previously frozen seasoned fries, but they were fried well and soaked up all the extra taco sauce well. My friend enjoyed her salmon and was happy about the ample steamed veggies on the dish, we exchanged some fries for broccoli. Anyway, this place is definitely a bit of a tourist trap, but out on their back deck on a nice day, it really is worth it to just sit with a drink and a snack, especially when they have good music. -
.....almost 11 years later. I REMEMBER BERTHA's!!!!!! Bertha's has been around for decades. OMG, I was there a lot. It opened in '72. I was probably there soon after and then a lot. LOL. Mussels/Beer Beer/Mussels. Bertha's had beer mussels and no air hockey table. Other nearby places had beer and air hockey tables but no mussels. "You're So Vain" was always playing in the background. I still return on occasion.
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If you're ever in Napa, there's a location of Hog Island Oyster Co. in the Oxbow Public Market (which is sort of like "Napa's Ferry Building Marketplace"). There's also a third location in Marshall, where I've never been, but if you're staying on the coast, it's no further than Napa. All three locations are mapped here (ignore the mileage figure - each location is just over an hour from the Ferry Building, depending on traffic, which can get pretty bad):
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- Local Chain
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Josh's post about La Cuchara in Houston reminds me that Houston's La Cuchara (which means "The Spoon") has nothing whatsoever to do with La Cuchara in Woodberry, a Basque-inspired restaurant run by brothers Ben and Jake Lefenfeld. However, Baltimore residents will be pleased to know that the Lefenfelds will be opening a second, seafood-based restaurant in South Baltimore - Minnow, located in the 2 East Wells Apartment Building: "Restaurateurs behind La Cuchara Opening Seafood Restaurant in South Baltimore" by Sarah Meehan on baltimoresun.com According to Sarah Meehan, Minnow is hoping for a May, 2017 opening, will seat around 130 guests, and will have a Mediterranean-based wine list to match their seafood, which will include high-quality, simple, grilled fish.
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In-laws are visiting for the 4th of July. They are not adventuresome eaters, everyone in the family gets car sick if we go more than 10-15 minutes from their hotel and in desperation we have taken them to Bonefish in the Kentlands twice now. They love it. So we're going again... I, on the other hand, have yet to have an edible meal there. Part of the problem is that I am frozen when it comes to ordering fish out. I can remember that Chilean Sea Bass is endangered or over-fished and not to order it and that wild salmon is good and farmed salmon is generally bad. Beyond that I'm lost. Has anyone had a decent meal with a sustainable, not endangered, not contaminated out the wazoo fish??? Thanks! -
When crawfish are in season, it's tough to go a week without heading out for a few pounds, and this weekend we set out early for lunch at what may be the most well-known of Houston's Viet-Cajun joints, Crawfish and Noodles. C&N has hosted Zimmern, Chang, and god knows who else, and they are clearly aware of their celeb-status, with t-shirts for sale prominently displayed as you walk in. That kind of hubris is typically not a great sign, and I have to admit approaching the rest of my visit as though I were cross-examining a hostile witness. C&N held its own, and while I didn't leave with a "We've Got Crabs" t-shirt (I mean, really), I can dig the food they're putting out. We started with an order of honey-garlic chicken wings, as requested by the 4-year old. He fell in love with the "Viet wings" at Cajun Kitchen, and hasn't stopped talking about them for weeks since. C&N's wings were solid, though I think we should have ordered the "Fish sauce" version for a more direct comparison. These were a bit too sweet for my tastes, with no heat. There are a variety of noodles and soups to choose from, and we went with the stir-fried rice noodle with mixed seafood. This is a hefty portion, with onion, celery, carrot, and crispy shallots mixed with shrimp, (chewy) squid, and fish balls, with a peppery sauce on the side ready to be mixed in. Delicious, and devoured quickly, but if we had to go head to head, we all agreed the crabby garlic noodles from Cajun Kitchen might edge out a win. The crawfish delivered. Choices are limited to spice level (though an intriguing "ginger grass" option is listed as being available at some point in the future). Medium is Houston-medium, which is to say, probably "hot" if you're coming from somewhere else. We opted for medium with a side of "hot" dipping sauce, and I would heartily recommend this combo. For the spice-loving but not super-spicy friends, the medium mudbugs alone are perfect. For those of us who prefer to see God when we eat, you can drag the tail through the sauce and get it done. Compared to the purely Cajun versions I grew up with (and have had at Houston places like The Boot in the Heights), these have a more pronounced garlic and citrus flavor. Priced at $10/lb, these were also the most expensive I've had thus far. Note on wait times: We got there just before noon on Sunday, and were 1 of 5 or 6 tables there. 30 minutes later there was a line out the door.
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Looks like Jeff Shively's no longer there. Anyone know what's up with changes to the menu and Executive Chef at Sea Catch? The crab cakes are different (still good but different) and the pumpkin/pecan tart is gone. -
Because of three people, my dining companion and I spend five hours trekking to Swan Oyster Depot in Nob Hill. Call me crazy, but just don't ever call me apathetic (pathetic is fine; just not apathetic). We found a parking space *way* up high (it is in the Nob Hill neighborhood), but only about three blocks away. Even though it looks flat, if you see that intersection where the person is crossing the street, and take a right there? You'll be walking up at a 45-degree angle. You'll also be waiting in line - justifiably, I will add. To make the line seem longer, right through that glass window on the left side of the restaurant is a tantalizing display of today's offerings. Swan Oyster Depot is nothing more than a counter, with no seats other than what you see at the bar, so when it fills up, it fills up quickly and with a vengeance - I don't know what the seating capacity is, but it couldn't be more than fifteen. When you finally get in (the wait isn't *that* long), you'll note the knickknacks of a very old establishment - in this case, over one-hundred years old - which include the James Beard "America's Classics" award they won in 2000, and a motley menu featuring the day's seafood. Note, by the way, the vehemently written sign about not having a website. On the bar in front of you, you'll see Swan's napkins, a brief history of the restaurant, and a better-than-expected wine list, which breaks down into two possible choices: a bottle of Muscadet, or a few glasses of Anchor Steam ($6). Swan isn't built for dining; it's built for eating. Eating quickly, and eating well. That quote by Bourdain (in the center picture above) isn't at all wrong, and quite frankly, I think Swan Oyster Depot deserves a James Beard Award not just for being an "America's Classic," but for "Outstanding Restaurant in America," although this is an owner-driven restaurant which may not even make it eligible. How much of an owner-driven restaurant? The first thing we ordered was Smoked Salmon ($13 - when I saw the size of the plate, I panicked, thinking we got the $24.50 item, but there must have been something else listed that I didn't see) and six Malpeque Oysters ($18-ish). The salmon came out right away, and it was as good as any smoked salmon I've ever eaten - there was some *extremely* potent horseradish on the bar as well - so potent that you need to beware of it, using only a few fibers. The Malpeques didn't arrive, so I figured that Swan was following the trend of "serving things whenever they're plated" - I was wrong. Next up was a half-dozen Cherry Stone Clams ($14), and these were the best Cherry Stone Clams I've ever eaten: batting two-for-two. As good as they look - that's how good they were. Then, a cup of Clam Chowder ($2.75) that was perhaps my favorite thing in the entire meal. It was so good that we ordered an entire *quart* to take home (I think that was $20, and worth every penny). Alongside of that, a Prawn Cocktail ($14.50), and if you could say this meal had one weakness, this would have been it. These were great; they just weren't life-changing; the clam chowder, on the other hand, was something akin to a religious experience. Back to the owner-driven part ... a gentleman who was clearly in charge (there were probably a dozen people working the counter, about one for each diner), asked me if we'd like anything else, and that's when I thought to mention the Malpeques, which never arrived. He *immediately* asked who took the order, and to be honest, we didn't quite remember, and even if we had, he asked the question in a way that oozed menace, and goodness knows I wouldn't want to get an employee in trouble just because an order was forgotten, so we simply said we weren't sure. Don't get me wrong - this guy wasn't going to scream at the person (at least, not in front of the customers), but he was going to make *very* sure that this didn't happen again on this evening. He was starkly polite - picture a manager of an old-school New York City deli, and you'll have the exact countenance. In fact, Swan Oyster Depot reminds me of a deli more than any seafood restaurant I've ever been to in my life, with the possible exception of Durgin Park in Boston, but when I first went to Durgin Park in the 1980s, it had already lost the battle to becoming a tourist trap, so ... deli. (In fact, Durgin Park has gotten *so* touristy that it's now owned by, gulp, Ark Restaurants, which has an $80 million market cap trading on the NASDAQ.) Within one minute, a half-dozen Malpeques appeared, with a sincere (but unnecessary) apology from the manager, and should I even bother to say it? Okay, let me take a different tack: I invented a saying, long ago - "The bigger, the blacker the blotch, the badder the bivalve," meaning that oysters should ideally have a pearly white interior shell, and when you find ones that have large, black blotches, they're usually the bad apples - still perfectly edible; just not the best of the bunch. Well ... About the non-blotchiest Malpeques I've ever come across. Not only were they blotch-free; they were just plain free: They were not added to the check. How's that for putting the customer first? All this food came out to just over $100 before tip (this accounts for the oysters being removed, but also accounts for the quart of clam chowder, so $100-110 was the "true price" of this sensational meal - on a whole, the best raw seafood I've ever eaten, and a restaurant experience unlike any other. To quote that great American statesman, Anthony Bourdain, "If I died eating at Swan's counter, I would die a happy man." And of course, as I flew into a panic when the manager told me Swan Oyster Depot was cash-only, he reassured me that there was an ATM across the street, just as he has done a thousand times before. PisS - There is a very slang, somewhat crude, French word for "men's urinal" that I have never before seen used in a real-life situation, not in DC, not in California, and not in probably twenty visits to France. Until now.
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Has anyone been to this place? The website is enticing. Fresh fish and great sandwiches. -
For those who are not a fan of Mark's Duck House but are a fan of Cantonese cooking in the Falls Church area, there is a little, hidden alternative pretty much right across the street. Open since February of this year, XO Taste has the hanging poultry & ducks, roast pork, and other familiar Cantonese dishes on an expansive menu, BUT in a much, much cleaner and brighter setting. Today's Pipa Duck was the highlight of the evening, nicely roasted, although slightly fatty still, crispy skin, with great juice and marinated flavor. The bonus was that it was not too salty or dry, as served at some places. They also had a great array of congee, so my friend and I went with the traditional Thousand year old eggs with pork congee. Again, not too salty, but not as thick as other Cantonese restaurants--this dish was every bit as comforting as good congee should be. The pork had a nice salty kick to it, but not overbearing. The only miss of the evening was the Seafood in XO sauce, since they didn't use a lot of sauce, and the kitchen used too much yellow chives and onions, and not enough seafood. But it's XO sauce! All this came to around $32, which is probably a bit pricier than some of its Cantonese counterparts, but for the atmosphere and complimentary sweet red bean soup dessert, I'd come here again. Especially to explore more parts of the menu. And those little swimmers in the water tanks towards the back of the restaurant. Most of tonight's diners were Asian families, in case you were wondering. Someone on one of the area chats asked if the reviewer had gone before, so it's on some people's radars. Hopefully it'll be on the area food critics' radars soon too. 6124 Arlington Blvd. Falls Church, VA 22044
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