paella – Mel's Mosaic

This year I visited Frederick, MD a couple times and on one occasion had dinner at Cacique, which serves fine Spanish and Mexican cuisine. Fortunately on a Friday night it wasn’t too packed when we arrived, but I could tell we just beat the rush!

We ordered the required of guac and margaritas, both of which were very good.

For dinner, my friend ordered the Paella de Marisco — a rice dish consisting of shrimp, scallops, fish, mussels, calamari, and garnished with a clam. Cooked in a seafood broth and Spanish herbs (made to order). Made to order in the sense that they warn you it takes 20-30 minutes to prepare. Now jumping forward it did take quite awhile (30-45)…but come the end it was quite good.

I went for my favorite of ceviche and found one with calamari, which isn’t all that common. The whole dish was Ceviche Mixto — fresh tilapia, shrimp, scallops and squid marinated in fresh lime juice with red onions, cilantro, celery, garlic, ginger, and jalapenos. Very good! The ginger was also a unique ingredient in the dish.

The food and atmosphere overall were very good. Service got a bit slow mid-meal, though it was a Friday night. But, I would definitely check this place out again. Salud!

Visited a restaurant that I park in front of a least once a week for a morning run. I see it when it’s dark out and there is nobody around but my running partner and me. So we had this novel idea to go check this place out during daylight hours when they are actually open.

It’s The Daily Dish in Silver Spring/Chevy Chase, MD. We went at lunch on a Federal Holiday and it got pretty busy, which was good to see.

(image source: thedailydishrestaurant.com)

We started with one of their seasonal special, some pumpkin hummus. Too…good, needed…more. It was served with roasted pumpkin seeds in the middle and roasted cauliflower on the side, as well as the normal pita bread.

After debating the menu for awhile, my friend opted for a salad with pan-seared salmon, on spinach, arugula, fennel, with orange segments, red onion, citrus vinaigrette. I opted for the couscous paella (with shrimp for an extra charge). It was Israeli pearl couscous, peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, red onion, artichokes, marinara sauce served with quinoa.

My friend’s salad was delicious. My paella was ok. The veggies were nice and crunchy, the shrimp were perfect, but there was far too much couscous to be had. We also each enjoyed a glass of wine. I just remember mine was a Shiraz/Pinotage blend…can never go wrong with Pinotage!

Overall good lunch experience. I’ve heard the restaurant can be hit or miss. They have a wide variety of options on the menu so definitely worth checking out.