Agua 301

Posted on March 13, 2016 by melsmosaic

Yards Park, DC. Visited what is labeled as a ‘modern Mexican’ restaurant. Don’t know if that’s the middle ground between tex-mex and authentic Mexican, but of course had to give it a try. So, the place is Agua 301.

The time of the visit was oh-so-fortunately in the evening which meant happy hour was at hand…margarita, on the rocks, no salt. I took a sip and sort of jumped back. Waited, took another. Took a sip of my friend’s as a comparison. Then truly confirmed…they don’t skimp on alcohol. I guess that’s good? While I appreciate tequila in my drink I very much appreciate the lime in a margarita. I had to send it back. I could not drink this. It was straight alcohol. Some people might love this…anyway.

Of course came to this place for dinner to also check out the food.

Guac was also on happy hour. Ordered that ASAP. For $6 you got probably a softball size serving of great guacamole. Some nice chunks of avocados were in there, too. Tasty! Paired nicely with their unique salsa.

For dinner, I had to get their Ceviche Pescado Blanco. It was extremely unique. It was mixed with some salsa and other unknown, good flavors.

My friend went for the Camarones en Crema de Chipotle, which are pan seared shrimp in a chipotle cream sauce over Spanish rice. Good flavor and nicely cooked.

Overall, dinner was good. But, service was marginal. We were there around 6pm on a Friday and the place wasn’t too busy. It was tough to attract or find the waiter and it took a long time to get drinks and food. Considering they don’t take much time to cook, it was odd.

Carluccio’s

Posted on March 10, 2016 by melsmosaic

Yet another new restaurant has been added to one of the growing areas just north of Washington, DC on the red line. In Pike & Rose, the latest restaurant to open its doors is Carluccio’s. They are so new that they haven’t even added this location to their website. Went during their soft opening and you could tell things were still getting worked on/staff trained. Took awhile to get service at some points, when waiters were just standing there chatting with each other or doing nothing. But overall a good experience.

You have to pay for bread at this Italian place. I was not impressed with that. Tried a bellini and it was nice.

Also ordered some Caponata which was very tasty!

For dinner, I opted for the Insalata al Abruzzese – an Italian-style Nicoise. Per the menu it was albacore tuna, green beans, sweet peppers, vine tomatoes, new potatoes, anchovy fillets, salad leaves and soft boiled eggs with olive oil vinaigrette. I was disappointed when it arrived and the tuna was albacore tuna from a can. I expected it to be a grilled steak. Nonetheless, it was good. The anchovies added a nice taste.

My friend ordered a basic Spaghetti con Polpette, with their house-made meatballs served with spaghetti and tomato basil sauce. Exactly what it was labeled.

Will totally check this place out again and see how it progresses as it gets a little ‘older’.

Green Bamboo

Posted on February 9, 2016 by melsmosaic

Had a recommendation from a friend for a great Asian restaurant in Rockville, MD right next to the Twinbrook Metro station to check out. It’s Green Bamboo. They have various food and drink happy hours as well as evening food specials.

I started with a simple house Asian salad with ginger dressing — a whopping $2 for the special of the evening. It was made with spinach, which was unique. This thing was huge, with a great taste.

I ordered the Sashimi dinner that had 6 different fish on it. It also comes with soup. The pieces were all so good. I very much remember the salmon and how it just melted in my mouth. The platter also had these great spirals of carrots. Very nice presentation.

My friend ordered some rolls and sashimi pieces that were very nicely done and apparently tasted very good.

My one comment, don’t ask about wine here. The waitress had little awareness of dry wine, or even what sauv blanc vs riesling are. So go basic or know what you want.

Overall, great dinner, check this place out. Good prices, good service and good to have on your list.

Taqueria el Poblano

Posted on February 9, 2016 by melsmosaic

Was finally able to visit a Mexican restaurant that I have only heard great things about. Checked out Taqueria el Poblano in Alexandria/Del Ray, VA. They also have 2 locations in Arlington.

At such a restaurant one much always start the meal off with a margarita. Very nicely done! Found out later they also make them with some Grand Marnier and decided to give that a try…can’t complain at all.

Opted for the other mandatory piece at such a restaurant, guacamole. Just the perfect balance of smooth vs. chunks and nice spices in there. The chips were ok.

One of their specials that night was lobster tacos. Uh, yeah, I think I’ll order those! AMAZING. I don’t think I’d ever had lobster tacos. Huge chunks of meat in those things, some non-mayo coleslaw and other great flavors. So much good food.

My friend opted for pork tacos that came with green peppers, cheese and other great stuff.

We were stuffed to the brim. Definitely have to go back here.

The Urban Winery

Posted on January 23, 2016 by melsmosaic

There is a relatively new wine place in Silver Spring, MD that I finally checked recently — The Urban Winery. They serve their own wine, local wine and a few other wines.

Went on a Friday night and it was pretty quiet (maybe 10 people there). Was a bit surprised at that. Several wine options on the menu and opted for a flights of the house-made wines. They limit what you can get, unfortunately, in their flights. So I finally opted for their un-oaked Chard and two reds (Syrah and Philotimo).

It took about 15 minutes to get our wine. The Chard was half decent. The Syrah was ok at the start but after a sip or two it really just tasted like grape juice. The Philotimo tasted like dirt.

As we were tasting the wine, we ordered some food. Flatbreads were on happy hour special for $4. Sure! A simple pizza-like dish. We requested it with no mozzarella, just feta because of the lactose intolerance. It took over 25 minutes to get this simple dish. Ok.

My friend and I finished our first (not great) wine and opted for a second round and more food, too. I opted for a glass of Hungarian red and my friend got a local wine.

We also ordered a mezze platter and the avocado toast. At this point there were about 6 people in the restaurant. It took over 45 minutes to get our food, which didn’t seem normal since it was not really a cooked meal. Another problem, once the food came out, the avocado toast had cheese on it after the waitress knew I was lactose intolerant. So, had to be returned. It took another 15 minuted to get the proper order, which is just guac spread on bread.

If you can’t tell, I’m not overly impressed with this place. Long wait, high prices, not great wine, bad service. Not going back.

Barcelona (DC)

Posted on January 11, 2016 by melsmosaic

Finally made it to a Barcelona Wine Bar in DC. They have several locations and I hit the one in Cathedral Heights.

I was going to have wine, of course, but when reading the menu I was lured to the sangria. At this time of year they make it with lavendar, sage and rosemary. That…tasted…so…good.

The venue is tapas-styles, so small plates with many cheeses and charcuterie. After much glancing at the menu, with many choices of sheep and goat cheese, we opted for the Cabra Romero, which is goat’s milk crusted in rosemary and the drunken goat, which has had it’s share of wine.

Also went with some Hand-Sliced Jamon Mangalica, which is cured Hungarian pig and a Catalan sausage (I believe). They bring this all out with some amazing bread.

I can’t believe it has taken me so long to get to this place. I can’t wait to go back and try more of their food and wine. They also have locations on 14th St. and in Reston.

Mykonos Grill

Posted on December 24, 2015 by melsmosaic

Another restaurant tested…received a recommendation to check out Mykonos Grill in Rockville, MD from a good friend. I had driven by it countless times (when going to Bed, Bath & Beyond) and was glad to hear it was worth checking out.

Got there sort of early and the hostess asked if I had a reservation. No, but was able to get a table for my friend and me. Within 30 minutes that place was packed! Wow, this place i obviously popular.

My friend and I split a bottle of Greek Red. Can’t remember the name of it (no correlation to the amount we drank).

They come out with their warm bread and the super seasoned lemony olive oil — so good!

We ordered some Melitzanosalata right off the bat; a smoked mousse (no dairy) eggplant froth, olive oil, lemon juice and herbs. Similar to baba ghannoush.

Based on their specials that night, we opted to split their roasted Branzino, a whole Mediterranean bass, white moist tender flakes, delicate flavor. It was so nice.

The servers were so nice, all the service was great, the place was packed and the dinner just melted in your mouth. I can’t believe I had driven by this place so many times. Glad I finally went.

Momoji

Posted on December 24, 2015 by melsmosaic

Recently dined at a sushi restaurant in Chinatown, DC, Momoji to be exact. You walk in and they have a very small bright downstairs area or you can ask to go upstairs to a more quaint (sort 0f) Asian restaurant.

photo source: momijidc.com

We were there right at the end of happy hour and there were some great prices on the menu that we were able to snag with 5 minutes left. Note: you can only order 1 drink/per person at a time. Even if you were the only person sitting at the table, you can only order one drink at a time. You can’t stockpile pre-end of happy hour. Really?

Cocktail-wise we opted for some asian beer and a pear drink. That thing was pretty good.

They had some seasonal food on the menu and a Christmas roll came to the table.

I ordered the squid salad…very good (sorry for the bad light in the picture).

For main indulgence we got the Chirashi Dinner of 13 pcs sashimi (chef’s choice) over seasoned rice. So good with several varieties of fish. Every piece of that got finished!

Overall good food. Service was slow, happy hour had good prices. Worth checking out if you’re in the area.

Founding Farmers

Posted on December 15, 2015 by melsmosaic

After one runs the MCRRC Jingle Bell Jog in shorts & tshirt, because of 60-degree weather in mid-December, why not continue the great day?

My friend and I visited Founding Farmers in Potomac for brunch. I had heard mixed reviews on the restaurant, based on the locations, so was excited to give it a try.

Photo source: wearefoundingfarmers.com

Knowing the popularity of this place I made a reservation a few days ahead of time. So glad I did. It was packed!

When we arrived the #1 priority was coffee. Good stuff. After skimming the menu I opted for a nice basic breakfast; you get to pick eggs, meat, bread, veggie.

I went for scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, wheat bread and a green salad.

Very nicely cooked eggs. The salad was great. There were grapes tomatoes, avocados and almonds in there with a nice light dressing. The price was under $10.

Complaints: they wondered why we wanted jam for our bread and brought us maybe a single serving for the two of us. It frustrated them to bring more.

Then we got the check. It was just over $20 — my friend ordered the sausage, mushroom & spinach pan scramble. We were floored (in a good way)! Then we noticed they didn’t charge us for the coffee (not a major cost to the restaurant). After we gave the waitress the credit card to run, she came back and let us know she forgot to charge us the $3+ each for the coffee and would now need to include it. Seemed like something unnecessary based on the fact that it was her fault and it was only coffee. Not worth the fight.

Cava Mezze

Posted on December 15, 2015 by melsmosaic

It’s definitely the time of year to try new places. A recent restaurant visit took me to Cava Mezze in Rockville, MD. This is the real restaurant vs the fast-food version, which is Cava Grill.

The restaurant offers a wide selection of shared plates (like tapas) and good drink menu.

They start you off with super warm pita bread and nice olive oil and harissa.

After looking over the wine list, we opted for a house wine, Black of Kalavryta. Wow! It’s labeled as a dry Greek red. Got a slight hint of leather and some great dark cherries and strawberries.

Jumping ahead, we asked if we could buy bottles to take home, and it was not possible. Going to do some research as to who makes this stuff.

The waitress suggested 2-3 tapas per person, so we ordered 2 each to start and sort of share.

Taramosalata — salmon roe, lemon, breadcrumbs. First I had to look up what this really is. Per Wikipedia: Taramasalata is a Greek and Turkish meze made from tarama, the salted and cured roe of the cod, carp, or grey mullet mixed. Let me tell you: tasty!

Roasted Cauliflower — cumin, olive oil, fried capers, lemon yogurt. Such a nice taste from the roasting and apparently the yogurt was amazing!!

Octopus — grilled octopus, black beluga lentils, green harissa. OMG, enough said.

Lamb Chops — two baby chops, crisped potatoes, extra virgin olive oil. Perfectly done.

This was a phenomenal dinner. The only thing bad is that it had taken me so long to get there. It is a small place so when you check it out, make a reservation.