MichaelBDC

Tentacles. Grilled baby octopus tentacles. That's all I really wanted. Eatruneat and I had both had stressful days so we decided to meet at the bar of Thip Khao, to enjoy a cocktail and each other's company prior to our reservation. The drink snob in me decided to order their finest Old Overholt and whatever Lao beer that was on sale during happy hour while I waited for Eatruneat to join me at the bar. Looking over the bar menu I noticed that they had grilled octopus tentacles on special for happy hour. Aside from the face meat, which is still my favorite, octopus tentacles come in a close second. Properly prepared they can be wonderful and I was eager to see how well they were prepared at Thip Khao. Eatruneat joined me not much later and I enthusiastically pointed out the tentacles on the menu. We had a few drinks and noticed that we were not only getting close to our reservation time, but the end of happy hour as well. I asked the bartender, Matt, if I would be able to order the tentacles at the table or if should order them now and just take them to the table with me. He assured me that while not on the dinner menu that I could order them at the table but would have to pay a couple of bucks more for them since happy hour would be over. I was fine with paying a little more as I really wanted to try them and didn't want to rush on my drink. We were seated at our table and when asked if there was anything we'd like to start with I replied that I would like the octopus tentacles. The waitress said that they were not served at the table. I informed her that I'd be willing to pay a couple of extra bucks and asked if she would check with the manager to see if that would be okay. She checked with the manager and said that it would not be okay because it was after happy hour. Uh, is this the Laotian version of Cinderella where all of the octopuses turn into pumpkins after happy hour? I decided to not call out Matt because I didn't want to get him in any trouble and for all he knew they've done it in the past. Maybe the manager on duty didn't want to set a precedent or maybe she was just having a bad day. Regardless, I just sucked it up and ordered something else. The rest of the meal was great and Eatruneat and I enjoyed pretty much everything we had. My night could not be complete though without those damn tentacles. Now I know better and will return for a complete evening.

I'm very lucky in that my work is located right between Metro Center and Franklin Square park so there is never a lack of lunch options. Food trucks of every variety line up each weekday to dispense their grub. The one downside is that my best friend in the office can only eat specific things. In addition to only eating kosher, he has a gluten allergy and is lactose intolerant, meaning that there are very few places that he and I can go together to get food. Usually he would go to one food truck and I would go to another. All of this changed a few months back when discovered that Pedro and Vinny's has a second cart located on the corner of 12th and F streets NW. Run by the daughter of the owner of the original cart located at 15th and K, Chris, the cart has all of the same great ingredients and hot sauces that people have come to love at the original. They also offer burrito bowls at Chris' cart and there's never any line. I'm not sure if there's no line because of the plethora of other offerings from the trucks or people just haven't discovered how great the cart is. Either way, I can't complain. I get to go to the same place as my friend for lunch, don't have to wait in line for great food at a good price and get to have a nice conversation with Chris. Make sure to pick up a loyalty card when you're there so you can get your tenth burrito for free, get your free peppermint patty for dessert and bring cash. They do not accept cards. Unlike what I've read above, Chris tweets out every day she is out so all you have to do is check one of the food truck tracking sites to see if she's there for the day.

I've never had a sweet tooth. Just ask eatruneat. When she and I go out for dinner I typically ask the server if any of the deserts are tart. Well, if she doesn't beat me to it. Thankfully I discovered Dolcezza's Lemon Opal Basil sorbetto, which is fantastic for those of you out there who are looking for something tart. I'm seriously considering doing some major hoarding since it's only around for a brief amount of time in the summer. Walking back from scoring my sorbetto from the Dolcezza at City Center it was Tuesday, which means the farmers' market is out with all their goods. I happened past the stand for Black Rock Orchard and was informed - by who my colleague and I refer to as the "Apple Lady" because she's always handing us samples of their delicious apples - that they had just picked the first round of sour cherries for the season and that she brought in as much as she could keep the staff from eating. She knows my taste in apples and she said that I would really like them. Of course she gave me a sample and was she ever right. The cherries are thin skinned, small pitted and have a nice sour flavor to them. Score some at a farmers' market near you while they last.

It's not late summer yet - technically I don't think it's even summer until Sunday - but Pinch Dumplings have made their debut at the Tuesday farmer's market at City Center. A set of six comes either steamed, fried or combination of the two for $8.50. I elected to go with the pork & cabbage and beef, onion & cilantro. You can certainly tell that the dumplings are made by hand because of their odd, inconsistent shape. I typically prefer fried over the steamed, but in this case the steamed pork & cabbage won me over. The cabbage was surprisingly crisp considering the dumpling was steamed and the pork had just a hint of spiciness. The beef, onion & cilantro were not without their charm, but I couldn't taste the cilantro and the onion was almost nonexistent. I also got a side of the 'Asian Slaw', which consisted of carrots, cabbage and green onion in ginger scallion type dressing. It was a nice accompaniment and worth the extra dollar fifty.

Let the sweating begin! And not just from the gross, humid weather outside today.

Eatruneat and I went last night because I kept pestering her that I wanted to try the beef cheek taquitos that are on their Guadalajara inspired menu. I read the review on Brightest Young Things and the combination of face meat and a spicy bean paste was too good to resist. Let it be known that I love face meat. The yellow tail jaw at Izakaya Seki might be my favorite thing on the menu. Anyway, eatruneat and I sloshed our way through the torrential downpour yesterday evening, which turned out to be a blessing as there were fewer people on 14th street, to score what we thought would be an interesting meal. We started off with the a fore mentioned taquitos and the chicken tinga tomales. The taqutios were bland, and I mean bland. The only discernible flavor came from the spicy bean paste that resides under the three taquitos. I was very disappointed. Eatruneat offered me a bite of her tamales in exchange for one of my taquitos and I happily parted with it. The tamale itself was quite good. The chicken was tender and it had a had a really nice texture. My only complaint would be that the sauce that covered the tamale was overly sweet. It tasted like they ran out of tamale sauce so one of the line cooks cracked open a jar of Ragu and poured it over the tamales. For the main course we both went with tacos. I had the hanger steak and eatruneat had the lamb skirt steak. She didn't agree with me about her's, but for me the predominant flavor in mine was the tortilla. No steak, no cheese, nothing. Side note, when they say crispy cheese that means they burn it to the sides of the tortilla. The lamb was slightly better. The avocado paired nicely with lamb and did a great job of hiding the overwhelming tortilla flavor. Oh, the chips and salsa were great as was the service!

Indeed, Paul was at Town Tavern and maybe even The Dubliner as the partners own all three. I think he's gone from all of them as the story I heard about his departure was that he moved to some 'remote location'.

Being new to donrockwell.com I decided to look around and see what I could find about the places in my neighborhood. I was a little surprised that there were not any posts about Sixth Engine even though they've been open for over three years now. Perhaps that's because it wallows in mediocrity. Don't get me wrong, they've always had a consistently good brunch and well cooked burgers. The problem for me is that much of the rest of the menu has always been a little 'heavy handed' when it comes to ingredients and sauces. Thankfully, the chef who opened the place, Paul Madrid, has left and things are starting to get better. Additions like the arugula salad and roasted cauliflower with "Ling Sauce", which is very much a sweeter General Tso's sauce, have injected life back into the menu. Hopefully they will continue down this path. The bar program, on the other hand, came flying out of the gate and hasn't lost its momentum. Draft beers rotate regularly to highlight the best of the season and the bartenders take pride in not only making the drinks, but also the ingredients, creating custom shrubs and tonics to use in their creations. While I realize the latter can be found at craft cocktail bars all over the city, it's surprising to find in a place that has the vibe of a glorified TGI Fridays. The layout is more on par with the food than the bar program. Do not go there if you're looking for a quiet evening. The bar bleeds into the downstairs dining area and with TVs in both, it can quickly become a situation where you have to yell at the person across the table from you in order for them to hear you easily. The beautiful upstairs dining room has exposed brick walls and hardwood floors that echo all of the activity in the kitchen that adjoins it. Surprisingly the outdoor patio is the least noisy of the three even with the traffic on Mass Ave just a few feet away. There are a plethora of tables and the service is good. The sun us really the only enemy. During happy hour you're fine and in the shade while the sun scorches Philos' patio across the street. During brunch though you are in the sun's crosshairs and it will roast you at your table even with umbrellas in place to help prevent that. At the end of the day Sixth Engine is a nice place to get a drink and maybe have something to eat if it speaks to you. Otherwise, have a few drinks and walk around the corner to Wise Guy Pizza and score a slice of pie.

Hello, my name is Mike. I am a native Washingtonian. I enjoy eating out with my girlfriend (eatruneat), drinking, and cooking. My favorite places in DC are Wise Guys Pizza, Sundevich, Sushi Capitol, Izakaya Seki, and the Partisan but only for the charcuterie these days. You can usually find me enjoying a beer and shot of whiskey at Sixth Engine or A&D. Looking forward to giving my very strong opinions about eating and drinking establishments in the area.