Lunchin' in the 'hood

To make up for not spending much time in our neighborhood dining establishments as of late, I made an effort to hit a few of them yesterday as the wife and I did kind of an eating melange.

We started by heading west on Thayer and hitting Safeway. Wait a second, we just picked up a prescription there so that doesn't really count. But with pills in hand we could see our first score of the afternoon - Negril. We had been to Negril (965 Thayer Ave) years ago, but wanted to give them a second look and really see what they had to offer.

I know most folks who eat there are going for their meat dishes, but since I know they're not serving happy meat, we opted for a couple veggie dishes and one seafood item. Since we knew we wanted to hit other spots in the 'hood we didn't want to order too much, but we did end up with a substantial amount of food. We tried one entree, the veg roti, and then two apps, a veg patty and the fried cod cakes. As described on the menu, roti is carrots, potatoes, plantain, pumpkin, cabbage, mixed vegetables, kidney beans, chickpeas and coconut cream in a stew, wrapped in a pancake-like dough.

I can certainly say the dish was filling, but even with all those veggies, it lacked any real flavor - no pizazz . It really needed the add hot sauce and a couple other sauces that were provided to help it out. The cod cakes were also substantial, three for about $2.95. However the cakes can almost be considered a vegan dish given the amount - or lack thereof - of cod that was found inside the deep fried balls. Again, another filling, but not a terribly flavorful item. The veg patty ended up being the best of the lot. It contained the same veggies as the roti, but they were served inside a flaky turnover. All in all a fairly disappointing experience. I would go back to try a couple of the other seafood items, but maybe this place is mainly meant to chow down on flesh.

Next on the list for us was Señor, excuse me, Mr. Chicken (8408 Georgia Ave). We knew we would not partake in their poultry dishes (again, not serving happy chicken), but we wanted to see what else they were serving. There were plenty of sides from which to make a meal, but neither of us were very hungry after our Jamaican starters. But we bore down and ordered more food. We tried the black beans, the yucca and their cole slaw.

The black beans were quite tasty and we were told they were completely vegetarian. I'd definitely get them again. They were even better when you took a spoonful of their green sauce and added that into the mix. Yummy. Now the yucca were pretty good, better when dipped in the beans, but the cole slaw was too sweet and had way too much mayo. There were a few other non-meat sides we could have tried if we had room -- rice, tortillas (5 for $1.50 - not home-made though), and plantains. I definitely would have considered an empanada, but they all had chicken in them.

They've done a nice job with the space. It is nicely decorated and clean. The folks who were serving customers were friendly and their prices were reasonable. I'll likely be back. And if they did ever serve happy poultry I'd be all over Mr. Chicken.

Since we were right next door, we figured a sweet from Velatis was in order. We noticed they are now serving home-made cupcakes. While they looked good, we opted for a few chocolate chewies with almonds, some sea salt caramels and a sea salt chocolate turtle. We took these for home though as we were both about to bust at this point.

But that did not stop us from checking out the new and improved Roger Miller Restaurant at 941 Bonifant. You all remember them well, right?

A few months back, RM did close and a Casa de Pollo was on its way to replace it. While the pollo place did open, it did not last long and now the folks who previously ran RM are back to run it again.

They have kept the chicken on the menu. But when I asked, I was told the chicken really wasn't Peruvian-style, but chicken with a lot of African spices. In addition, they are serving essentially all the dishes the old RM used to serve. And while you may not be able to read it, the entire right side of this outdoor menu are vegetarian dishes. Many of them sounded quite good -- Spinach Delight, Okra Stew, Ndolle (a bitter leaf soup), and of course, the Ayaba Special. I remember seeing lines around the block on the nights when the Ayaba Special was being served. Yes, fond memories. And now it is back!!

According to the sign, the Fearless Food critic gave RM the best food award for 2009. However, I have not been able to ID this critic and am a bit dubious of the award. Anyway, I am glad RM has returned. I'll be making my way over soon to try a couple of their non-meat dishes.

North of SoCo

I have returned from vacationland, AKA Maine. Had a fabulous week filled with cool weather, low humidity, cold beer and fresh lobsters. I am now ready to dive back into the SS dining scene once again, but before I do I wanted to quickly share some highlights from the week.

Highlight number one, walking around the first evening and contemplating whether I needed a light jacket. I didn't - but it was nice jut having to think about it. The second highlight, and one that captures all the other highlights, is Maine's thriving lobster industry. And man, did we do our best to contribute to the industry. In total for the house (6 of us) - so this doesn't include any lobsters we ate elsewhere - we prepared (and killed ourselves) 22 of the wonderful crustaceans. I ended up doing the deed on 21 of them while one house member stepped up a took care of a single lobster.

I think this one was the final lobster for the week. Trust me, before we did them in we thanked them profusely for giving up their lives for our meal.

Buying the lobsters live certainly saved us money - our cheapest of the week was $4.25 per pound. But in general they were between one and two dollars cheaper per pound not having them steamed on site. And this way we were able to purchase them earlier in the day and just prepare them when we wanted. They do make a bit of a mess, but now that I've taken the step of killing them myself, I figured this is the way to go.

OK, some of our meal highlights. One meal we did was home-made tagliatelle with lobster, leeks, chanterelles and white truffle oil. Maybe the best lobster dish of the week. It was pretty rich. I think we included the meat of three lobsters and at least a couple cups of lobster stock and heavy cream. Here's a pic of lobster stock being prepared. You cook the shells by themselves in oil for a few minutes before adding your water, herbs and veggies if you like. I brought home about 2 quarts!!

This was not the week to diet! I'm surprised the pasta came out as well as at it did since my sous chef for the night and me were pretty inebriated when we made them. But in the end it all worked out.

Some of our other experimental dishes included lobster tacos with queso fresco and guacamole, a white lobster pizza with pesto, and a crunchy "lobster roll" done not in the New England way, but as sushi. I used a bit more rice here than I should have, but they did turn out pretty good. I added in some avocado, sliced peppers, and cucumber. After I steamed the lobster I pan fried it to finish the cooking. To make it crunchy I dipped the lobster in some egg white and then covered it in panko and fried it in sesame oil. They're drizzled with a mixture of soy sauce, ponzu, hoison and sambal.

Another dish that worked well that you can easily do at home this time of year - sans lobster - was gazpacho. Our version did include lobster and sliced avocado on the bottom of each bowl topped with the smoky and fine (as opposed to chunky) tomato-based soup. Great on a hot summer night. I do it Spanish-style with sherry vinegar and pimenton - a big hit.

And even though we did prepare a sushi "lobster roll" during the week, we could not very well get away with not preparing the more authentic version. As you can see for the bread we used the traditional Nissen roll, but for the lobster salad we went a bit more exotic than you usually get at the pound. Here I added thinly sliced and chopped kohlrabi, radishes, red onions and some fennel fronds too. I might have thrown in a small bit of basil but I can't remember now. I then added about 1/2 cup of mayo and 1/4 cup of sour cream and the meat of 6 lobsters. I mean there were 6 of us. And trust me, it took me quite a while to pick all that meat. The rolls were quite tasty - we had enough for two each, accompanied by some wonderful cole slaw.

I'll end with a pic of me about to gorge on two lobsters on the dock. Since August is shedder season up there (soft shell lobsters), I had to order two. The soft shell variety have less meat than the hard shells as the lobsters are growing into their new shells during the season. I can say after those 2 lobstah, a few cold beers, corn and cole slaw I was feeling pretty damn good.

And I bet you like that Hooters huggie I got going there. I mean, that's how I roll.

OK, that's enough for now. If I have you craving lobster you're in luck, I'm throwing an all-you-can-eat lobster fest at my house soon. Wait a second, I mean Red Lobster has got a promotion running. But seriously, the Red Hook Lobster Truck has just made its way to DC. Check them out on Facebook. They just went live in town this week and they're serving lobster rolls and other New England fare. Don't expect them in our 'hood, but if you work downtown you're in luck. If not, hop in the car. It's only about 10 hours to Maine. It's worth it.

Pho Hiep Noa!

In the interest of research, the missus and I ventured to the 2nd floor of downtown SS for lunch today. It was against my better judgement, but in the interest of research...

Anyway, we tried Pho Hiep Hoa, and while neither of us were hungry after we finished, we really can't say much about our lunch. We started with the garden rolls ($4.95). We ordered the veggie rolls which came with wrapped with tofu, veggies, greens, etc and were pretty good. It was served with peanut sauce and really anything served with that stuff cannot be all that bad. Let's admit it, the item we are dipping is essentially a delivery system to get the peanut sauce into our pie hole, i.e., summer rolls, old shoes, cardboard, c'mon, you dip anything in there and it ends up being pretty damn good.

Given it was like 99 degrees outside we didn't want something piping hot for lunch so we both ordered vermicelli noodles. We had one with shrimp and the other with tofu (although tofu is not on the menu they did make it for me - I liked that). What came to the table was pretty straightforward, vermicelli noodles with some veggies and bean sprouts and fish sauce on the side. However the shrimp served with the one dish were perhaps the worst I have ever tasted in my life. I am not sure what they did, or if maybe the shrimp was from like 1998, but man, it was not good. And I am not one to pass up on shrimpies, but these things were not acceptable at all!

I know, it does look pretty good, but trust me, it was not!!

Thankfully the kitchen was confused by my order and they ended up adding tofu to my dish and then cooking up another order for some reason. The waiter brought out the extra tofu and asked if we wanted it - on the house - so we said sure. I am glad we did since the shrimp were inedible.

I guess all in all this place is not the worst of the worst, but overall the setting is bland and sterile - I know, Ellsworth, I'm really telling you something you don't already know - and the food is completely uninspiring. And the prices were more than I thought they should be too. No lunch specials and most of the lunch dishes were about $9 and up. What about something for $6.99 that comes with a spring roll?

If you are jonesing for Vietnamese and can walk a bit, do yourself a favor and head south on Georgie to Lotus Cafe. While this is not fine dining, I am confident you will have a better meal and you'll be dining in a place with a little character. And the folks who run it are great too.

Now I will juxtapose our lunch with a great dinner at Thai Derm. Again, this place is not the be all and end all of Thai restaurants, but it is a wonderful place to have in the 'hood. They are consistent, the people are wonderful and the prices are good. And I must say it helps that I can walk there. But I for one would not be a happy camper if TD was not around.

And although the deep-fried whole fish (tilapia) is usually reserved on for Fridays, they served me up one tonight. Mmmm, it was yummy. And what a site it is. I mean, look at this thing.

If you are there on a Friday night (or perhaps a Thurs) I would recommend you try it.

OK, my next post will be focused on lobster as we head to paradise in the morning for some needed time off. Maine -- vacationland!

Can someone pass me the butter?

Life without electricity...

Really sucks! We are now pushing 72 hours with no power at our SoCo casa. Everything in the fridge is shot. But with the uncomfortable temperatures in the house, we cannot bring ourselves to do a fridge clean out. I imagine we'll do one later tonight to get all the rotten food out for trash pick up in the morning. I pray that this clean up happens with cold air blowing on me.

Feeding ourselves has certainly been a challenge. We actually had friends over Sunday evening, but things worked out on the grill. I had already made a nice cous cous salad (that luckily is served room temperature) and we combined that with some happy beef and pork sausages that were thrown on the grill with some lovely yellow squash from our neighbor's garden. And the beer stayed cool enough to keep everyone happy.

After that, things started to get dicey. We ate our remaining eggs and more sausage on Monday morning, but after that we had misgivings on what else to eat. To get some work done during the day we camped out at the bar at 8407 (which is where we did work on Tues, and where we are right now), but it's not the best place to actually be productive. But we were able to commandeer an electrical outlet all to ourselves, which is more than we could accomplish at Panera. That however is offset by a higher tab at 8407 than Panera. But extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. And Pedro, Nancy and staff have been extremely accommodating, so we very much appreciate that.

For dinner Monday we rolled the dice and cooked some ground pork we had in the freezer. Earlier in the day I threw an 8 pound bag of ice in the freezer so I figured that would help keep some of the items in decent shape for a few hours longer. It seemed to work OK. I did a nice dish using my peppers from the garden - stuffing them with the pork and onions (cooked on the gas stove). I gave it an Asian twist adding fish sauce, Asian spices and soy sauce to mixture. I then threw all that on the grill to cook and served it over some jasmine rice. All things considered I felt pretty good about the dinner. And eating it al fresco wasn't all that bad. We certainly didn't want to go back into the kitchen since it heated up even more with my cooking.

And as you know, we woke up Tuesday still with no power. Another restless night of sleep (or lack thereof) and another few hours at 8407. But our frustration, sleep deprivation and irritation levels were continuing to rise so our productivity certainly suffered.

The evening called for dulling our senses. So we hit Olazzo for their $5 martini night and dinner. Was nice just to chill in there for 2+ hours and try to regain some of our civility back. We milked the AC as long as we could and then took in a couple more hours of AC at the AFI - saw the Kids are All Right, good movie. And even though the temp outside was quite nice, inside the house upon our return was still uncomfortable.

Three nights straight without a good night's sleep. Not good for us. I know readers who have raised kids will have little sympathy for us on the lack of sleep, but this is something we were not used to.

Now, back at 8407 hoping that when we return home the gods from PEPCO will have finally smiled on us. Though I'm not holding my breath.

A Return to Pacci's and Ramen Redux

I know, my posts have been pretty infrequent lately. I'll blame my new job and their expectations that I actually do work. How dare they!

Anyway, I did want to jump back into the blogosphere but didn't really have a lot to say. I can however review a lunch last week at Pacci's and another LA ramen experience. I'll start with Pacci's.

It had been at least a couple months since we had eaten there. I think we did 3 visits in the first couple wks after they opened. We then tried to go back with a friend a few wks ago on a Friday night and could not bring ourselves to go in. You want to talk about crawling with kids. Wow! My single buddy trekking to SS from Adams Morgan was a bit aghast when he surveyed Pacci's. We agreed to come back another time.

So the missus and I walked up for a quick lunch last week to see how things were going. It was pretty quiet, just a few tables were full. Rosario, the pizzaiolo at the restaurant told us the lunch business had been a little slow. But we were definitely interested to see if they had worked out some of their initial kinks.

And granted I know this was not gonna be easy to tell over a lunch with just 2 people, but we still could get a general sense. Since it was working hours we passed on anything alcoholic and asked for tea -- but they only offered sweet tea. Where am I, McDonald's? At least the server pointed this out. He also said most folks are disappointed to hear they only serve sweet tea, so perhaps a non-sugar option will appear soon.

We shared a simple salad to start -- romaine, cherry tomatoes, olives, some fresh mozz, in oil and vinegar. Was good, not great. Perhaps the dressing could have been a bit more flavorful. But we came for the pizza, not the salad.

For our lunch we shared la verace -- tomato sauce, buffalo mozz, parmesan, basil, and extra virgin olive oil. While we both agreed the sauce was tasty, the pizza itself was a bit too limp for us. If you had picked it with one hand to try to eat, the tip of the slice would have been very droopy. You needed to use a knife and fork for the first bite and then hands-only would have been OK. I think next time we'll have to ask for it to be extra crispy. I've been making my own pies at home for a couple years now so we're certainly used to having a crispier dough.

I guess all in all it was a good experience, but it did not meet our expectations. But we'll be back to throw them some more business. However we'll definitely ask for our pies to be cooked a little longer than what they would normally do.

All right, on to ramen. So on the suggestion of Tina & Drew, a couple readers, I visited an LA ramen institution in Little Tokyo called Daikokuya a couple wks ago when I was out on the west coast for work. I had eaten at a well-known ramen place the week before, but Tina & Drew said I had to eat here. So I did.

Got to the restaurant after work, arriving about 8:00. I knew there would be a long wait so I was prepared with reading materials. After checking up some on the place on Yelp I knew to go in to write my name on the list. And while there were plenty of folks ahead of me, I thought, how long can it take to seat one person? Right?

Well, it can take almost an hour. It was a lively crowd of mostly young folks, mostly Japanese (descent at least) waiting to chow down. I seem to have been the only solo diner. Woe is me. Yes, was a long wait out there by myself. It was just before 9:00 when I got the OK to take a seat at the bar. Needless to say I was quite thirsty and famished. I quickly ordered a big Asahi and settled in to survey the menu.

I was told the tempura was a good way to start things and of course, I knew I was gonna have some ramen. There were other choices for dinner, but hey, if I'm waiting an hour because they have the best ramen in town - maybe the country - I am damn sure ordering ramen.

The service was friendly, but pretty no-nonsense. I got my beer fast and didn't have to wait long at all till one of the servers returned for my dinner order. I did try the tempura and also the Daikoku Ramen. The tempura was mix of shrimp and veggies. The batter was light, but not that flavorful. It came with a dipping sauce that also lacked any real character. It was a bit bland, so I added some Ichimi Togarashi -- Japanese red pepper -- to spice up the sauce a bit and it did help. But still, I was not wowed by the tempura.

My main course arrived and it was quite a dish. This pic really doesn't do it justice. It was a large bowl filled with lovely egg noodles, pork belly (yes, I cheated), bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, scallion and an egg. Of course it is surrounded by their special broth -- pork bones and joints that have been simmered to a wonderful concentration and then added to their special soy sauce. And yes, wow was the first word that came to my mouth when I tasted this broth. This was something special.

For a while I only sipped on the broth since it was so good. Then I finally got down to business and started slurping down the noodles - nicely cooked with a little bite, and then the veggies and pork. And to be honest, I could have done without the pork belly in the ramen. I know the broth is a pork broth, but I really didn't need the belly too. I would have been happy with some tofu thrown in there. And while I tried my best I could not finish all the broth. I did eat all the noodles, pork and veggies, but the broth was too much after starting with the tempura.

My final conclusion, while I really liked the Daikoku Ramen, I'm not sure how interested I'd be in waiting another hour - or longer - on a subsequent visit. One thing quite different than the ramen I ate the previous week was that this broth had no spiciness at all. I kinda missed that. I like my broth to have a good kick to it. At least for me, that is something I look for.

And while I probably won't have to get ramen my next trip out to LA, if I do start craving it, I'm likely to go back to Orochon Ramen where I can much more easily get a table and have my butt kicked with the spice. I know it's not right, but I like it when my nose runs when I eat ramen. What can I say?

Ramen!

All right, I'm not in the hood. The new job took me out to LA for the week so I thought I'd post a short report. Had my second meal of the week tonight in LT -- yes you're right, that's Little Tokyo. Even though I come from Italian and Mexican stock, Japanese food is way up there for me.

My first LT meal of the week was a bit disappointing, was good, not great. I had some izakaya at a place called Izayoi. Was a lot better the last time I was in town. Was gonna try another izakaya place tonight, but when I walked up the place was dead. So I thought, what are my options? I knew there would be ramen places nearby, so I pulled out my phone and surveyed the scene.

Lo and behold, what did I find -- Orochon Ramen! This place has a bit of a following since it is both really good, but it was also highlighted on a Travel Channel show called Man v. Food not that long ago. A main draw for the show was the Special 2 ramen.

This is an extremely spicy ramen. And I think if you actually finish an entire bowl you get some kind of special prize. I am not that loco, but I did want to push it a bit and I ordered Impact - Orochon 3. It would have been better if I didn't start with a couple small dishes -- the spicy scallops and the cucumber with miso -- but hey, I was hungry. Both dishes were good, but the ramen is very filling. Especially when all the broth is combined with a couple big Sapporo's.

You can choose from 3 styles, miso, soy sauce and salty. I chose miso.
I can't imagine what salty would have been like. I'm already gonna have to double up on my blood pressure medicine after that meal.

And all the prices are cheap, around $6 to $7. Same for the small plates; mine were less than $4 each. I also added tofu to the ramen ($2 extra), but it obviously comes with ramen noodles and veggies. I thought it also might come with pork - since the menu said that - but mine didn't. Just as well since I know it was not happy pork.

Now doesn't that look good?

And the spice level didn't kill me. It was hot, but not so much it wasn't enjoyable, But for sure, as I made my way down to the bottom of the bowl it did get hotter - or liquid lava as my fellow ramen eater next to me called it.

And even though I tried my best, I could not get all the way to the bottom of the bowl. It was a bit of heaven and hell, agony and ecstasy. I was so full, but the ramen was so good. I didn't want to stop, but I had to. I did make it pretty far. I would highly recommend this place if you're out in LA for any reason. It's on the 3rd floor of a little mall called Sutton Court - has a lot of other restaurants - at the corner of 2nd Ave and San Pedro.

I wish I knew of a place in the metro area that did ramen like this. Given the low price of serving ramen, I bet it would do well. I read the other day in SS Singular that Langano is losing its lease. Is there any way a ramen place could take it over?? If so, I would be one happy man.

Two quick items of note

First off, some news outside the 'hood but still pretty close -- a very good vegetarian eatery in Langley Park, Udupi Palace has lost its lease and is shutting down. I believe this may be taking place at the end of the month. If you need a fix from Udupi you only have a couple weeks to get this done with a short drive, otherwise you'll have to haul yourself out to Chicagoland where they have two other locations. Or if you're just jonesing for Indian cuisine in general, you can always hit the vegetarian Woodlands or Udupi's sister restaurant, Tiffin, both located in Langley Park. And let's not forget Ghar-E-Kabab right here in SoCo.

Next, wanted to alert folks that Charlie Koiner, our local SS farmer is being showcased in a short film at Silverdocs this year. Charlie was actually on the front cover of the Montgomery Gazette today talking about his big screen debut. The short will air three times, the first one Tuesday night, June 22 at 9:00 pm outside at the Silver Plaza on Ellsworth. If you miss this one you can also catch it on either June 25 or 26.

Glad to see Charlie is gaining some notoriety, just hope it doesn't go to his head and he raises his prices. I just can't pay more than $1.50 for green onions. OK, see you there.