China Chilcano

Posted on January 14, 2017 by melsmosaic

Was able to dine at a restaurant I had not yet checked out awhile back — China Chilcano in the Gallery Place/Chinatown/Judiciary Square area of Washington, DC. I had heard rave reviews about it so couldn’t wait to check it off my list.

It is one of Jose Andres’ places and it brings together Peruvian, Chinese and Japanese cuisine. And their feature cocktail – Pisco Sours.

I went on a Wednesday night. Made a reservations so the table was all set. The tables were at a very low level (from the ground) so you really have to bend over/down to eat. The light was very yellow-y, too. Not sure why. Hence why the picture all have an odd light to them.

The service was very slow, as in it took a long time to get our waiter. Once he finally arrived, we had to make the required order at such a restaurant — pisco sours! And they also bring you these little nibbles — pepitas.

Once we received the pisco sours (that also took awhile), cheers! Very nice.

The menu is tapas-style, so most of the dishes are small and meant to be shared. The choices were almost overwhelming. But we finally decided on:

Ensalada de Chonta — Hearts of palm, tamarind, avocado, tomato, kiwicha seed, sweet plantain

Ceviche Clásico La Mar — Red snapper, leche de tigre, sweet potato, red onion, cancha, cilantro

California (Roll) — Potato causa, jumbo lump crab, spicy mayo, cucumber, avocado, tobiko, huancaína sauce

HaKao — Steamed glass dumpling, shrimp, pork, ají rocoto-soy sauce

Yàn Wõ “Birds Nest” Soup — Coconut “Birds Nest” soup, pink grapefruit sorbet, mint, sesame, ginger

Like a typical tapas restaurant, these orders came out randomly. Some within a minute then others about 15 minutes later.

The hearts of palm salad was by far my favorite. Could have ordered several of those. The ceviche wasn’t quite what I was expecting because it was ‘soupy’. I could have used a spoon to eat it (picture below, top row, right). Unique and tasty, nonetheless.

The other dishes were very good, as well. The others at the table enjoyed the dessert and said they’ll have to pass next time. I had a small bite of the sorbet and it was interesting. I’ll stick with just the citrus itself.

Very glad I checked the place out, would totally go again.

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????

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.

Daikaya

Posted on December 7, 2014 by melsmosaic

Checked out a new restaurant in DC the other night after various suggestions and trying not to go for the tried and true that I’ve had. So, I have now check Daikaya in Gallery Place-Chinatown off my list.

I was told that it has two levels and be sure to go upstairs. I naturally picked the wrong place to go at first. Their lower level is a noodles restaurant for quick, easy meals. It’s perfect to grab before a game (this place is right next to the Verizon Center, so ideal for Caps or Wizards game night) or at lunch. So, I had to ask where to go. An obvious common question based on the quick answer. Immediately next to the bright-light was a hidden black door with the Daikaya name on it. Upstairs we go.

This non-ramen portion of the restaurant is based on how “the cuisine is freestyle and adaptive in nature and each izakaya in Japan puts its own touch to their menu items. In this spirit, we also like to put our twist on our dishes and drinks and embrace our role as an izakaya in DC, with international and American influences as we feel inspired.”

It’s very similar to a tapas restaurant. Everything on the menu was small plates and you might need 3-4 per person, if not more. They also had quite the drink menu, from beer to sake.

For the drink, I opted for a red beer, in a bottle — Echigo Red Ale. It was hilarious because they bring you a glass that is the size of a juice glass at breakfast. I guess it makes you feel like you’re drinking a lot from the 12oz bottle. Very unique and nice beer.

For food, opted for a few different tastes. There were so many choices on the menu, it was honestly hard to pick!

-fried garlic
-grilled avocado
-tuna poke
-cold steamed chicken breast

This picture doesn’t do the food any justice. The flavors were incredible! I wish I had room for more food to taste for options from the menu. Will definitely have to go back again. If you live in DC or are visiting, definitely add it to your list!

Ding Dong, Ping Pong, Dim Sum

Posted on April 9, 2013 by melsmosaic

I couldn’t resist the title with the tiny bit of catchy-ness it has.

Dim Sum is always a great meal to enjoy over the weekend — no need to order, just stare, point, nod, chew, repeat, progress to food coma.

I checked out a new place (for me) in DC this past weekend for Dim Sum — Ping Pong in Chinatown. Not what I expected. I went in, ready to start chowing down within 5 minutes of sitting. But, I didn’t see any carts. Rather, I see a menu and check lists, just like when you order sushi. ???? — what is that? So, I find out that you have to literally pick what you want from the menu, check the box on the long, skinny piece of paper then wait 5-20 minutes for your food. That’s not Dim Sum!

Now a pro to all this — you can’t just pick anything you want off the cart and therefore constantly eat. You realize what you’ve ordered and have to wait. Eventually you realize you are full and stop ordering. Also, you can reserve a table for Dim Sum’ing via Open Table (score! — it was busy and there was no need to stand outside for 30-60 minutes before they opened to be sure we got a table).

Side note — they have this really cool tea with a ‘bag’ — I don’t know the true term — that blossoms into a flower. Pic below.

To summarize, next time I want this treat, I will go to one of my favorite places with the true tradition. But, I would like to try this place again out for a ‘regular’ meal as their food was good and I’ve heard they have good happy hours.