Pacci’s Trattoria

Posted on November 14, 2016 by melsmosaic

Awhile back checked out an Italian restaurant I had heard about in the Silver Spring/Forest Glen area of DC — Pacci’s Trattoria.

They have a pretty traditional Italian menu, nothing overly fancy. After we had plenty of time to look over the menu, we finally got a waiter. Not overly eager, rattled off the specials, not very understandable (extremely heavy Italian accent). After that, stuck to the menu. I decided to go with Piattone di Pacci’s, signature sample platter features Bruschetta al Pomodoro, buffalo mozzarella (skipped that), smoked salmon rolls, artichokes, olives, and prosciutto wrapped cantaloupe.

My friend opted for a Pacci’s salad, baby spinach, arugula, cucumbers, fresh mozzarella, onions, nuts, cranberries, pears and our homemade honey balsamic vinaigrette and Ravioli alla Florentine cheese ravioli with spinach, artichoke and garlic cream sauce; topped with shaved parmesan.

The food was all pretty good, but nothing spectacular/out of the ordinary. The service was just terrible though. Even though I told the waiter that I was ordering a (large) appetizer as my entree, he brought it out first. Then the pasta dish took maybe half an hour+. And the restaurant was not at all busy. You always have to try a place…

Los Tios Grill, Del Ray

Posted on August 19, 2016 by melsmosaic

Hot weather equals cool food. Checked out Los Tios Grill in Del Ray/Alexandria, VA (just outside of DC) recently.

The first thought of cool when walking into a Mexican restaurant is a margarita. There were a few of us at dinner so we figured why not get a pitcher. This is probably the first place I’ve been to that doesn’t have pitchers of margaritas. Ok. Decided to get the large one, and large it was. The picture doesn’t quite do the size justice.

Of course had to order some guac. It was very nicely presented as it is served in the avocado. Good taste, too.

Now, when looking over the menu I was pretty disappointed. It was hot out, so I wanted something cool. And a staple of mine at Mexican restaurants is ceviche. It’s not on their menu. I was trying to figure out what else to get. Very fortunately the waiter came over and told us the specials. One of them was ceviche. The night was saved! It was a combo of shrimp and whitefish. It tasted a bit like the shrimp had been cooked a bit, which some restaurants tend to do for safety reasons. Still nice to get the ceviche.

All the others at the table ordered Tacos los Tios, which are beef or chicken tacos, served with rice, beans, lettuce, pico de gallo, guac and sour cream.

Overall, good meal. The restaurant is pretty big, so easy enough to get a table. Will check it out again, too, when it’s less sweltering hot and can sit outside.

First taste of Ethiopian

Posted on July 22, 2016 by melsmosaic

My friend finally talked me into trying Ethiopian food recently. I was told I would not have to worry because there is no dairy in this stuff. So I checked it out. We went to Addis Adaba in Silver Spring, MD, just outside of Washington, DC (sorry they don’t have a website).

I had heard that with this cuisine you get to use the hands (only) so this was going to be pretty interesting. I let my friend order because he’d been many times. So the decision was Beyaynetu, a vegetarian platter combo of Meiser Wat, Yatekilt Wat, Kik Alicha, Tikil Gomen and Gomen.

The definition of these:

Meiser Wat: Spicy lentil stew with berbere and garlic
Yatekilt Wat: Green beans, carrots, potatoes, jalapenos with Ethiopian spices and herbs
Kik Alicha: Yellow split peas with garlic, peppers and onions
Tikil Gomen: Fresh cabbage with onions and carrots
Gomen: Collard greens cooked with onions and jalapenos

And this is all served with injera, the traditional Ethiopian bread, aka your fork. After a quick google search, I have found that this is:

Injera (Amharic: ənǧära እንጀራ [ɨndʒəra]; sometimes transliterated as enjera; or “taita” Tigrinya: ጣይታ) is an East African sourdough-risen flatbread with a unique, slightly spongy texture. Traditionally made out of teff flour, it is a national dish in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

It was a super cool sponge texture, indeed, as darn tasty.

So dinner came out and pretty interesting. Very colorful and quite good! I am very glad my friend got me to go. Will definitely have to enjoy this food again and explore other Ethiopian restaurants, as well.

ACME Oyster House, New Orleans, LA

Posted on June 15, 2016 by melsmosaic

Visited NOLA awhile back and one of the people in our group said we were required to visit ACME Oyster House.

Despite being the middle of the afternoon, the wait was quite long. This place obviously lives up to its reputation.
Once at our table a couple of us just felt like having Bloody Mary’s. Can never go wrong!

Then orders varied around the table. Raw oysters had to be ordered by some. Apparently their (traditional) roasted oysters are phenomenal — some great butter and parm on there.

I asked if I could get something different done to mine because of my whole lactose intolerance issue. The waitress took some notes and said she couldn’t guarantee anything and I would still have to pay if anything came out wrong. Gulp! They were perfectly roasted and I just added some lemon juice. I don’t love oysters but I just had to order them because of where I was.

Some crawfish also came to the table. Was hilarious watching different people eat them. Everybody had their own way of dealing with them.

By the time the meal was done we were just sort of rolling out of there. The meal was definitely worth the wait.

Golden Century, Sydney, AUS

Posted on June 13, 2016 by melsmosaic

Decided to check out Chinatown while in Sydney, AUS. Walked around the whole area and then of course had to have some dinner. Finally decided on Golden Century.

It was quite the large restaurant and we were in the minority. That had to mean great food! The menu could easily put your back out if you weren’t careful. Huge and heavily bound. We got there a bit early and not too many tables were full. Within 15 minutes the place was packed.

Our waiter didn’t speak too much English and wasn’t too responsive, but eventually we were able to order some wine — decided to go with Hentley Farm Brass Monkey Vineyards Pinot Gris. Some nice pear tastes on there; wise choice.

After looking through the novel of a menu, we finally decided on steamed prawn dumplings, steamed chicken with ginger and shallots, and poached Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce.

The dumplings took awhile to arrive but once they did, ummm, very good. Then then other food arrived quickly. The chicken was awesome! Overall, very nice dinner. Couple things — fairly pricey and why is this place open until 4am — what do you do until 4am????

Portobello Caffe, Sydney, AUS

Posted on June 10, 2016 by melsmosaic

Was walking around Sydney and needed a bite to eat before taking a tour of the Opera House. Found a place called the Portobello Caffe, right on the water, where people’s food looked really good. Had to take a seat.

They do a lot with salmon at this place so at the table we ordered the Bruschetta Al Salmone — avocado, Tasmanian smoked salmon, sun-dried tomatoes, capers & Smoked Salmon Salad — tasmanian smoked salmon, mixed lettuce, cherry tomatoes, asparagus, grapefruit, lemon dressing.

Both were delicious and good sized portions. One complaint — very expensive — $24 (for lunch), even though very good. And, come to find out, there is a 6% surcharge for food on the weekends, pretty much because restaurants in that area know they can. You learn by trying, right?

The Morrison, Sydney, AUS

Posted on June 10, 2016 by melsmosaic

First night in Sydney, wanted to have something easy and close to the hotel. The concierge recommended The Morrison, which was about a block away. That worked.

They had a interesting spread on the menu. We opted to actually try one of those funky guacamoles that was on the special — pea guac. Not bad, though I like it ‘straight.’

For the main course we went with a whole baked fish, believe it was flounder. Absolutely delicious! They just use chilli, olive oil and parsley.

We paired all this with a nice white, Under & Over Pinot Gris. Nice and refreshing and a perfect match for the meal. The service at the restaurant was not tremendous but the food made up for it.

Dundee’s, Cairns, Australia

Posted on May 22, 2016 by melsmosaic

April, Cairns, Australia. It’s the place you go to visit the Great Barrier Reef. You get off the plane and it’s upper 70s to low 80s. Heaven! Can we bring some of that to the DC-area…PLEASE?

The first night there we walked around and checked out menus for dinner and finally decided on Dundee’s, which is one of the many restaurants right on the water.

While going through the menu of course some wine was needed. We opted for some (get Austin Powers in your head) Mojo. Very nice Shiraz from Barossa Valley.

After much going through the menu we decided on one of their very popular dishes to get a true local flair, the Australian Sampler Plate — A taste of Australia’s most popular cuisine – chargrilled eye fillet, pan seared wild barramundi, kangaroo striploin satays, crocodile tail satays, emu chipolatas and a tiger prawn satay served with honey roast sweet potato, teriyaki, spicy peanut and plum sauces with lemon beurre blanc.

We also decided to get some salad to have a bit of veggie, so went for Rocket & Apple Salad and Mixed Leaf Salads.

That mix of meat was so unique. I’d had the ‘roo, but the croc was pretty cool. Similar to gator. The emu was nice. Praws, just like shrimp. The barramundi was great. All this, the salads and that wine…glad the hotel was about a 2 minute walk away.

Beirut, Auckland, NZ

Posted on May 12, 2016 by melsmosaic

Another night, another restaurant. Asked for another suggestion from the concierge and this time because of what we were looking for, the restaurant suggestion was Beirut, which is contemporary middle-eastern food.

After pouring over the menu, we opted to split several small dishes and opted for:

Za’attar: kale, thyme, coriander, sumac, goat’s cheese

Fattoush: watermelon, beetroot, cucumber, orange blossom, parsley

Bubba: burnt eggplant, black sujuk, toasted sesame, black cabbage

Skate: fermented apple water, bees wax, pine oil, onion ash, batarekh, white radish

All were amazing. The bubba just melted in your mouth. The radish wasn’t my favorite in the fish dish (skate) but the rest of it was great. Love this kind of food!

Fuga Japanese Brasserie, Auckland, NZ

Posted on May 9, 2016 by melsmosaic

On the second night in Auckland, opted to go for some Japanese fare. Found a place right around the corner from the hotel, Fuga Japanese Brasserie, that wasn’t busy. It was also pretty hidden/subtle. When we walked in, we were definitely in the minority, which likely meant it was not common for tourists to check this place out. Makes it all the better.