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’.

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.

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.

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.

Breweries, Wineries and Cideries (?)

Posted on October 18, 2015 by melsmosaic

Have been checking out some local places of imbibement lately and have had much fun. What else is there to do after hiking and running vs. supporting the locals while refueling?

#1 Forge Brew Works, Lorton, VA

Visited this one after hiking in Prince William State Park in VA. The hike also turned into 15 vs 9 miles. Great signage in that park, let me tell you. In the brewery’s tasting room, they have well over a dozen options on tap, from traditional to seasonal brews and you can get 4oz samplers at a great price to get a feel for the menu. My friend and I each got a spread of the 4oz pours so we could tackle the taps effectively. Some were very creative, some not up my alley, but awesome to check out. Dog friendly place (which is why we went — they have tons of water and treats for them) and you bring your own food if you want to munch on anything.

(Jet was passed out on the floor while we were sipping, eating and watching football)

#2 Distillery Lane Ciderworks, Jefferson, MD

I keep calling this a cidery because it goes with the flow of the sentence with winery, brewery… Ok, so it’s a distillery. They distill (hard) cider. Anyway, on we go. I mapped this out to visit after completing a half marathon as part of refueling. As a map point, it’s about 30 minutes from Harper’s Ferry and maybe an hour+ from DC. They have a big range of hard cider, from bubbly stuff, to ones with some additional flavor influence (fruit, sweet), to dry & sweet, to barrel-aged stuff. I never knew there was so much to this. When you buy your tasting, you get to pick whatever you’d like to taste — $5 for 4 pours, and the souvenir glass. And when you go with somebody else…sip & share, share & sip.

The whiskey-barrel influence stuff–nice! The cherry and maple (independent) fused stuff, yeah, not so much. The bubbly — where’s my champagne flute? They also have that regular apple cider that you don’t need an ID to buy and those healthy apple things that you buy to just add at this cool place.

#3 Big Cork Vineyards, Rohrersville, MD

(cork stool, oh yes)

It’s 5-10 minutes from the cidery, darn, I meant distillery. Isn’t cidery just a natural name? That’s why we visited it next. I’d tasted their wine a couple times at local farmer’s markets. But, they just opened they gorgeous tasting room this year. My friend and I decided to split a tasting so we splurge and went for the big one — 7 wines — watch out! It was $14 for this ‘more’ tasting.

Some were ok, nothing to write home about. There is still just something missing in MD wines. VA is gaining power and MD is next door so I don’t know why they can’t do it (at least for me, though I know I’m not alone in that comment).

#4 Right Proper Brewing Company, Washington, DC

Was simply googling breweries in DC and this one came up. Had never heard of it so had to investigate. It’s in the Shaw-Howard area of DC. So much on tap, innovative options, what do I pick? You can get half pours (no flight options). My friend and I opted to play with the wolves and ordered some Wild Wolves and Raised by the Wolves. We had some sips to ‘sample’ before ordering our half pour of choice too. I stopped here before a big dinner so didn’t get to do enough investigation but definitely plan to go back to do a deeper search.

#5 Boxwood Winery, Middleburg, VA

Located in a historic, very nice area 1-1.5 hours outside of DC, this winery is growing well. They used to have a nice tasting room/wine bar in Friendship Heights which has unfortunately closed. They still have one at National Harbor and in Reston. These are definitely VA wines, unique tastes and good to keep an eye on. I like a couple but I just can’t justify paying the price for some of them. The price was $10/tasting, and we got to keep the glass (add to the collection).

Blinder than Blind

Posted on September 12, 2015 by melsmosaic

Wine tasting on weekends are some of the best things to attend. Recently a wine shop in DC presented a blind tasting. They admitted when we got there that maybe they could have made it a bit easier and made it one region, one varietal or narrowed it down in some fashion. Why? Because we felt like we were taking the test for a Master Somm. It was awesome.

We had one bubbly, 3 whites and 3 reds. This store sells mostly old world wines and everything we tasted was sold in house. It was tough for me because I lean new world.

All I can say is I got a huge F on this test. I was writing/spelling wrong at some points because I was confused and failing so badly! I was close on some, region-wise.

Does that mean I need to take it again and taste more wine? I was definitely blinder than blind is this one.

Paladar

Posted on August 3, 2015 by melsmosaic

Went to check out a place down the street from me with all this heat because of little desire to cook. It’s Paladar, in the DC-area, and I’d been there once right when they opened so it was packed. Was looking forward to checking it out again.

It’s a Latin restaurant which means some of their drinks are perfect for a hot evening. My friend and I both opted for Sangria — one of us red, one of us white. These things went down way too easily!!

For some food, we grabbed the neccesary guac then went with ceviche. The guac is served with yucca, plaintain, malanga and ‘regular’ chips.
They have unique ceviche options! I opted for Salmon & Mango, which was thinly sliced salmon, fresh mango and red onion tossed in sweet and tangy coconut ginger marinade. Very nice balance between all the flavors.

The other ceviche at the table was the Mixed Seafood one, with a great blend of fresh snapper, calamari, and shrimp tossed in sweet and tangy broth made with lemon, lime & orange juices, aji peppers, and celery, topped with fresno peppers, carrots and onion. Nice flavors all around.

A place worth checking out for drinks and/or dinner, definitely on a hot summer night.

Sugo

Posted on May 11, 2015 by melsmosaic

Revisited a restaurant recently that I hadn’t been to for a few years — Sugo in Potomac, MD (a suburb of DC), an Italian Osteria and Pizzeria.

The best thing this place has to offer is their Sangria, and they also have other phenomenal dishes.

After browsing the menu for awhile decided on the Brussels sprouts to start with, served with crispy pancetta & caper aioli sherry vinaigrette. The Brussels sprouts were so perfectly crisp. And, I don’t like aioli, but let me tell you, there wasn’t quite enough in the bowl. I don’t know what they put in there besides what the menu states…

Next I ordered the squid. Or properly said, charred octopus with potato, ‏ capers and pickled radish. Let me tell you, there was so much seafood on that plate, it was awesome! And, so perfectly cooked, just moist when you bite into it with amazing flavor.

Great place to check out if you need something new.

Green Hat Distillery

Posted on March 29, 2015 by melsmosaic

Microbreweries are expanding/exploding but now so is something else…microdistilleries. What is the world coming to? HEAVEN! In DC there is a gin distillery, Green Hat (they hope to make more than gin in the long run).

They have been around for a little over 3 years now and are located in NE (the North East quadrant if you’re not completely familiar with the area). It’s one of the less expensive areas so this is of course where a lot of the growing micro (alcohol) folks in DC are going because of the cost. It’s amazing, there is so much potential and it’s really helping these areas grow. It’s also where Union Market (drove near it since the street sign isn’t actually on noted off of NY Ave so took a couple extra turn and my GPS was taking me some extra places). Ok, anyway, back to in.

So to actually visit the distillery you can only go on Saturdays from 1-4pm. The rest of the week they are busy making this good gin for us. You go in and get to taste a couple gins and get a tour of the place. What was great on the tour is that you walk to the back of the distillery (maybe the width of a football field) and the guide said ‘ok, this is the whole size of the place, nothing more, are you disappointed that more of your tours are so much bigger?’ This ‘tour’ was very interesting because I’ve only done beer and wine tours so I learned the process of distilling gin. They have gone through a long process of who to work with for getting their product and are working with relatively local farmers in Virginia. Then we learned about everything from start to finish, from grains going in, to heating to the ‘flavor’ choice going in to bottles. The whole process can take about a month.

With the tour you of course get a taste. They consider a variety of spices when making the gin, from juniper berries to celery seeds, so have these out for you to smell why enjoying the gin.

The first gin we tasted was their tradition gin. This one was about 41% alcohol. They hand write the percentage and proof on each bottle in case anything changes and anybody comes in to inspect them.

The second tasting was the Navy Strength which was around 57% alcohol. WOW! I think I was shivering when I sipped that stuff.

Though we didn’t get to taste them, they received awards for two of their gins last year — Ginavit and Spring-Summer. Side note — I though we were tasting all 4 of the gins, so I was carefully sipping the first 2. Not that I needed to down them, but still, I wanted to taste the awards winners.

They are also working in whiskey. They hope to have this ready in about 3 years.

So, if you live in DC, head to NE on a Saturday afternoon and check this out. Go to Union Market after it and get some food, or there is a MOMs 3 blocks away. This area is growing and it’s great. Cheers.