ktmoomau
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Everything posted by ktmoomau
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Can I lament on lunch menus for a second, I won't even get myself on the tizzy of brunch. I have been perusing lunch menus for lunch this weekend with my in-laws for my MIL's birthday and the vast majority are not very gf friendly at all. First it is hard enough to find a restaurant that serves lunch on weekends. They might have 1-2 options other than a salad, but many are uninteresting, unhealthy or just repetitive of every other restaurant. I am finding this really frustrating. For instance Liberty Tavern used to be my favorite restaurant I went there all the time, but now on the lunch menu if I don't want a salad which I don't I am sick of salad, I could have trout in brown butter or the sausage. And I am so sick of the 1-2 gf options being steak frites or fish in a butter sauce of some sort of sausage which seems to be all the rage everywhere. What about using lentils, quinoa, potatoes, rice, polenta, grits or a risotto, what about lettuce wraps? Or heaven forbid if anywhere actually got gf bread. The first burger joint that offers a gf bun would have my business probably once every two weeks at least. I would kill for an actual restaurant to have gf bread so I could have a real sandwich I didn't make. I would be perfectly fine with store bought pasta used to make gf pasta dishes if they choose something decent like ancient harvest or something. And yes there are lots of ethnic restaurants that I could eat at that would be fine, but those aren't the types of places I want to eat 24/7 sometimes I just want comfort food or new american cuisine, but I don't want steak frites, salad, fish in brown butter or sausage. Does that seem like too much to ask for? Ok rant over, frustration not quelled. I should note I was looking at places in NOVA mainly, if I expanded into DC there might be a few more options, but I don't know if I can make the in laws drive there.
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+2 Better late than never!
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No post on this thread for a long time. I have been to Thai Square twice in the past couple weeks. Once for a Chow lunch and then for dinner last night. I am not an authority on Thai cuisine at all, and this may not be the best place, but what I have had the past couple visits has been darn good. Last night with the Hubby we had pork knuckle stew which I love. Pork knuckle braised with greens that is tender and has really great subtle herbs. I am not sure exactly what spices go in here, but I love it. To me it is homey and earthy. We also had the crispy squid which was good as usual, really crisp and flavorful. The texture was great with the other things we had. I like that the sauce isn't gloppy at all not sparse, but not at all gloppy. We also had the county style curry which is more like a spicy soup with eggplant, lemongrass, peppers and chicken. Hubby really liked this. The girl questioned me before ordering most everything then smiles and told me the pork knuckle was her favorite dish. For the chow lunch we had a spicy almost sweet and sour like soup. I was not as keen on it, not because it wasn't good just not my thing. And an assortment of dishes I wish I could remember. It was a great lunch. And they parked our car for us and brought it out then helped us safely back onto Columbia Pike. Packaged leftovers nicely and gave me extra rice. I saw this dish on another table though that was a noodle dish that was orange, noodles the size of fettucine, kind of almost in a circular mold with a shrimp on top. I would love to know what that dish was it looked really good. Anyone ever have something that sounds similar? -
I would be in depending on date/time.
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I really loved the bittersweet bark that I bought with crystalized ginger, that is one of my favorite flavor combinations. Hubby loved the peanut butter bar, and my caramel bar was just great. But seriously that Passionfruit truffle is out of this world good. Will be back for some stocking stuffers!
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Concussion, fractured rib (not bad) and some contusions, but pretty much walked away ok and am ok now, save for feeling like I have a giant lit sign above my head saying, "No, no please hit me." Car Totaled, but did what it was supposed to do and protected me very well during the accident.
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After being in a pretty bad car accident last Monday in which my car was totaled, I was in a despised rental car this week. Saturday I decided to use said rental to take a bunch of old coats and blankets to goodwill. Sitting stopped in that parking lot to exit the lot a woman backed into my rental car. Thank goodness my husband was present because this sent me into a panic attack about not being safe no matter what I do or where I drive. Getting home I wanted dinner and it could not be anywhere that required driving. And I wanted a nicer dinner and wine, lots of wine, or gin and tonic. We decided to go give Rustico a try because their menu is much more gluten free friendly than Willow. Hopped over there and a wait for a table was 45 minutes! Sheesh, I didn't expect such a draw, but good job guys. Luckily while ordering drinks a table at the bar opened up so we only waited about 5 minutes for a table. Hubby got a couple different beers on tap. I stuck with gin. He got a burger- per normal. I got the braised pork shank with apple and potato puree and cabbage with jalapeno caramel. Now I will just start by a slight suggestion- perhaps don't call it a caramel, why not just say a glaze. That part of the description almost made me not order the dish not knowing what this would be, but it was just a sweet and a little spicy glaze that was actually great. The pork was really tender, I think the glaze kept even more juice in. The puree was really outstanding in flavor. I loved the potato texture with hint of apple in the taste. The sauce was great, and the cabbage added needed crunch. The whole dish just came together really perfectly. And Hubby's french fries were really good, nice and crisp just the way I like them.
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While I am not surprised about Sette Bello, food started good then went downhill and there were often service issues, I am not at all excited by it's replacement. Which I think will have tough competition for the demographic they are seeking and won't bring anything new to the area- neither in food or in atmosphere.
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RJ Cooper & Chefs as Parents Iron Chef Viewing Party
ktmoomau replied to RJ Cooper's topic in Events and Gatherings
Too bad we probably won't be home yet this looks like it will be a great evening. -
Ok so I apologize to the Leleboo in advance, I am sure my lackluster searching skills must be incorrect, but for the life of me I cannot find a thread on the Silver Diner, in multiple locations under diners or American food, or in Virginia in Clarendon. I then google searched to no avail. I just wanted to state that I am really liking their new menu. It's not a regular spot for me, but when you want down home comfort food, which I did, don't want to pay a lot, which I didn't, and wanted it delivered to my door, it really was good. Things seem to be made fresh with more care then in past times. Stepping things up I would say. We got take out last night. I got meatloaf with mashed potatoes, corn and veggie mix with a choice of soup or salad side, got veggie chili. The meatloaf was well seasoned and tasted good, the veggie mix were carrots, broccoli, and butternut squash (really... I really think it was), they weren't mush they tasted quite nice. The mashed potatoes tasted very real. Nothing tasted like it was from a box or prepared ages ago. All in all I was really happy with it. So much food I haven't eaten my veggie chili yet, but will have it for lunch tomorrow. Hubby got a burger and said it was a surprisingly good burger. The menu has lots of choices, healthy, not so healthy and lots of gluten free choices. I will be back (or at least order delivery) more often. I was really impressed. It seemed a lot different than in times past. Anyone else tried the new Silver Diner?
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Just wanted to note, the gluten free pizza at American Flatbread is the best gluten free pizza I have had to date. It actually tasted like real pizza crust, not exactly like the typical American Flatbread crust, but it is very good. Rather thin with a little puff, a little crunch. And with their awesome toppings it is so good. I am so glad they have the gluten free crusts! It is really helping me stay on the straight and narrow. Also wanted to note that Restaurant 3 has been really good for gluten free eating. Lyon Hall is also attentive to gluten free dining. Anyone had the gf pasta at Carmine's yet?
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So ate here this afternoon. I noticed a sign on the door that said they were moving to King Street in 2011. We had fool which was good, went well with my kafta platter, which had excellently seasoned meat. I think one of the places where the Pita House shines is the seasoning of their meat. Nice veggies and rice with it. Hubby had a schwarma sandwich and fries. They have really good fries. I am not crazy about the pita here, I prefer Lebanese Taverna, but this place is a nice little place for good staples. With the Lebanese Butcher gone, this fills a nitch for small little place for a nicely seasoned sandwich or etc. But I do miss me some Lebanese Butch right now.
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Stopped by last night on the way to the American Flatbread dinner. I had a pineapple passionfruit truffle right from the counter that was really good. The flavor was just awesome and went so well with the chocolate. Picked up some packages of goodies for the road, my Hubby working late that evening was very happy.
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$20 Tuesday @ American Flatbread in Clarendon
ktmoomau replied to DanCole42's topic in Events and Gatherings
Good news! My jury trial settled! So I will should be there, with my +1. -
You might also consider a quinoa salad of some sort. Not finger food, but I think you can go outside that box so everyone meets their needs. Also think about lettuce wraps of some sort. I really like that when I am cutting out gluten from stuff. We had untraditional foods at my bridal tea, but they were tasty and no one complained In fact they finished most everything.
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Ate at one new and one place I have visited before: Dinner at Hamilton's Friday night, and it was really good. Started out with some hand crafted cocktails. I had a homemade gin Tom Collins (no-mix) that was nice and refreshing. Then moved on to Jefferson Vineyards Chardonnay. We had the calamari with white bean salad appetizer. The calamari came with a nice citrus rosemary (I think?) sauce, but the white bean salad was really good with roasted red peppers and artichokes. We also had korean short ribs with kimchi. Those were good, but not like what you can get around here. For an entree I had a polyface porkchop with mustard greens, whipped potatoes and maple bacon butter and some trumpet mushrooms. This dish was out of this world good. The greens had awesome flavor, the porkchop was cooked perfectly and had great flavor. The maple bacon butter made it rich, but not over the top, just good enough you couldn't stop eating it. Hubby split the passionfruit cheesecake with hazelnut crust with me. Can I say how nice it was to find a dessert with a non-flour crust! The cheesecake itself was a little soft, I like my cheesecake a little firmer but the flavor was excellent, it tasted like fresh, ripe passionfruit and I love passionfruit. All in all I really loved this place, hope to go back! Second meal was at Cocina del Sol in Crozet. I had snapper tacos. There tortillas are homemade and good but so small you have to eat the tacos with a fork which I am not a huge fan of. But the flavors between the sauces and snapper were excellent. It all had nice texture. We also had their nachos which were pretty good too, I really liked the tomato, avocado dip. We go here now and then for lunch and compared to many of the options in our area I am always pretty impressed with this little place.
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I finally went back to Columbia Firehouse, just for an Alexandria Bar Association networking lunch. I have to say we had drink refills very quickly and attentive service by the waiters. We had 3-4 lunch options. I got Ceasar salad with hanger steak there was also the option of chicken. The salad was good, the dressing was really good. You could tell there was an anchovy in it. I was a little disappointed with the steak. It was really small, not sure on the size, but not what I was expecting and definitely looked like a much smaller plate than the other entrees, if the steak had been incorporated into the salad I probably wouldn't have noticed. But sitting there by itself it just looked a little puny. Now I know, I know, it is a Bar lunch... but last time I was there the food was good. The shaved parmesan on the salad was really good though. I think they just need to rethink the plating and presentation of the salad. Next time I will ask to order as soon as we get there as a colleague and I had to get back to a meeting and I think they put all our orders in at once because the food was really slow coming out. We got there at 12:15 and didn't get back to the office until 1:40 which is just too long for lunch. But it is nice that they agreed to host us.
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$20 Tuesday @ American Flatbread in Clarendon
ktmoomau replied to DanCole42's topic in Events and Gatherings
If I can come I will bring at least my husband. I am crossing my fingers I don't have to work after the trial. -
For the design and tiles I recommend Architectural Ceramics, they have locations around the DMV. They were really nice, we took in color samples and they did a good job of suggesting things, which is nice since Hubby and I have very opposite taste, and we took tiles home to look at and that helped us come to consensus. I didn't love our contractor (gross understatement of the year) so I am not sure who to recommend for installation, but they might know someone who does small jobs like that.
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I forgot to mention they were opened. I stopped by the other day to see if they had gluten free pizzas yet, apparently they are working on it and they hope to have one developed soon. I hope soon really is soon because this place is uber convenient to my office.
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Wanted to start a thread on this little gem in West Annapolis. This is really a local's spot. It's part sit down greasy spoon, part deli, part German restaurant. We go here pretty often for breakfast when we want just a normal breakfast. They do a decent amount of take-out orders too. Went this Saturday with my Mom. I had the sausage platter with a brautwurst, but subbed in hash browns for potato salad and added a fried egg since it was breakfast. The sausage was mild, but tasty with the sauerkraut, which really is good. I can't pinpoint exactly why I like it so much, I think it might be the addition of some pulled pork and pork jus that counterbalances the sourness. But it really is sauerkraut you want more and more of. Potatoes and fried egg were normal. Mom had one of the specials, the pumpkin pancakes. I have eaten some very good pancakes- Pancake Pantry, Tallula's ricotta and cherry pancakes, blueberry and bluebucks. I really like pancakes. But these pancakes were phenomenal. I think it was the quantity of pumpkin in them. They were light not overly sweet, but just perfect. Really I would drive all the way back this weekend for another round of these. I ate almost a whole pancake because they were so good and I kept stealing bites. Service is always a little hit or miss, you might have to flag down someone for more coffee, but it isn't a big place so that isn't hard. But it's just a small little joint, so long as you don't expect stellar service you won't be disappointed. Also of note are their Reubens.
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Saturday night I went all in here and ordered a burger with bun (my stomach thanked me for the gluten in it's usual way, but it might have been worth it). I qualify this statement with the fact that it has been some time since my last hellburger and I haven't been to BGR yet. BUT in comparison to many other haute burgers in the area, they definitely are in the competition. The bun was excellent, soft, but held together with great texture not dry, not gummy, not too dense. The burger was seasoned well and cooked to medium as requested. The mushrooms, gorgonzola, lettuce and tomato were all fresh and provided good crunch, but didn't make it too overwhelmingly juicy to eat with the hands. I got my normal order of favorite cold potato salad ever. And we got the tomato, mozz salad which again was really good. Nice slices of fresh mozarella, not pre-cut. Flavorful and ripe tomatoes with nice balsamic and olive oil and salt that has to be sea salt. I also had part of key lime pie (really pretty much the whole thing as my husband wasn't wowed by it, but I really liked it. Not as good as Ray's the Steaks key lime pie, but good. Nice and tart, crust was very soft though in a way I liked, Hubby didn't. But I liked the flavors. It was a little messy, not real firm. Nice whipped cream, I wouldn't be surprised to find out they whip their own cream, as it certainly didn't taste like most spray or container whipped creams. Brought some friends who hadn't been there and we all had a nice time and didn't have to wait at the horrendous lines caused by all the Navy/Wake folks going out to all the sit down places. Seriously people- Clarendon, Ballston next location.
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All good choices above. I would add in Againn. I was really impressed by recent cocktails there (although many have egg fyi) and really enjoy the food.
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Stopped in yesterday for a late lunch/snack. Had more people than I expected at 3:30. Bartender on duty was really nice forget his name made me a raspberry stoli. I had a spinach salad and fries. I love the dressing on the spinach salad. Virginia ham on it was good. I love their fries. It was a nice reprieve before making dinner for friends. If I drank beer this place would be a Mecca. But I have to say as a resident of that neighborhood it is really nice to have a nice neighborhood restaurant not quite as fancy as Willow but nicer than ted's. I am very excited to have it in the area. I think this will be Hubby's new game watching spot.
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The Momma and I headed to Black's before a concert at the Strathmore the other night (Steve Earle was really good, Joan Baez is more my Mother's thing). We wanted to get to Bethesda before the bad bad traffic from NOVA to make sure we had enough time. Went to Black's and sat at the bar in a little booth. Had the happy hour wine a Sauvignon Blanc from Chile, which was crisp, but well balanced a nice choice for just a drinking wine. We shared the mussels with spicy tomato sauce on bar special. While the mussels weren't huge, they were quite tasty and the broth was so good I think we almost ate it with spoons when our bread ran out. We also split the flank steak with chimchurri sauce and greens. It was really nicely seasoned and cooked, the greens were fresh and the onion straws served with it were great. We also had a side of cornbread that was really good, a little denser than some cornbreads, but in a good way, it wasn't crumbly at all. Service was attentive and we got everything pretty quickly and made it out in time to get to the show. Based on the quality of the mussels and the broth, I would like to come back to try some other seafood dishes here.
