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…

Denizens Brewing Co

Posted on August 8, 2016 by melsmosaic

Finally got around to checking out Denizen’s Brewing Co. in Silver Spring, MD recently. They are just outside of Washington, DC and have been around for a couple years as the craft brewing industry continues to grow.

They have both the indoor portion of the brewery/restaurant and a huge outdoor area, which is great on gorgeous night.

My friend and I each ordered different beer flights, but got a bit confused because they might have gotten turned around when handed to us, and given us a wrong tasting card, so not quite sure what I ended up enjoying. But, they were all pretty good; lots of variety, from IPA, pils, ales and more.

Enjoyed some good food, too. Outside they have a smaller menu. I ended getting the grain burger; a grain blend, root veggies, aoili, kale slaw with some manchego. It came highly recommended and dang, that was good!

Totally worth visiting, especially with great weather. And the outdoor patio is dog friendly if you have a 4-legged friend.

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.

8407 Kitchen Bar

Posted on March 27, 2016 by melsmosaic

Have heard of the restaurant 8407 Kitchen Bar in Silver Spring, MD for awhile and was finally able to check it out recently. It’s right next to the Silver Spring Metro and just outside of Washington, DC.

There is a bar area downstairs with TVs and then the restaurant upstairs. My friend and I were ‘normal’ and (actually) got a table upstairs.

After looking over the menu we decided to split a bunch of small plates versus going for entrees. The decisions the ended up on the table were:

-Farm Fresh Deviled Eggs

-Pickled Veggies

-Salmon Bites

-Gouda Ewephora Cheese

-Black Goat Truffle Cheese

-Prosciutto Americano

(so we devoured half the salmon before I took a picture)

Also ordered some Temptation Zin to pair with all this. Nice wine with berries and spice.

Was a very nice meal. Service was a bit slow but nothing to worry about. Prices are about the same as most restaurants (as in entrees were low upper teens to mid 20s) in the DC area. Would totally be game for checking this out again.

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.

The Daily Dish

Posted on November 16, 2015 by melsmosaic

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.