DC Brunch Spot

Posted on December 13, 2013 by melsmosaic

Last Sunday the weather was bad but that was no reason to avoid heading out for brunch. It had been planned and was going to happen. There is a great restaurant called El Centro on 14th Street with a (food and drink) bottomless weekend brunch on Saturday and Sundays from 10:30-3 for $35.

It’s a great Mexican fare and you order, essentially, small plates. So, you can have a little bite of everything. The drink menu contains everything from Mimosas to Bloody Marias to seasonal mixes. What’s ironic? You HAVE to pay for coffee, tea and juice. Dang!

As soon you get there they bring you great chips and salsa and come on, guac is a requirement!

I tried some of the ceviche, chicken tacos, beans and eggs. Others at the table had beef tongue, jicama, chile relleno and more. Didn’t get pictures of everything. It was delicious. Definitely worth checking out. It was very slow, though. Sort of ironic with things like ceviche that don’t really cook and the restaurant wasn’t that busy. But, there was no rush since it was an ugly weather day out there.

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.

There’s no place like home

Posted on April 8, 2013 by melsmosaic

I have been out and about the past few days and as much as I love it, I have been tapping the heels of my ruby red slippers together to get back to my kitchen.

Tonight I was finally able to do so. With the amazing weather I wanted to make something light and refreshing and one of my favorite salads is Nicoise. But, I love just making spinoffs of it. So, after walking around outside for hours and doing a mental inventory of my kitchen, I stopped at Trader Joe’s to pick up the balance of ingredients I needed to make the ideal dinner.

My relaxing night preparing ‘Nicoise’ included making a vinaigrette with:

-Lemon olive oil

-Italian herb vinegar

-Dijon mustard

–Penzey’s Sunset Spices

-Garlic

-S&P

Then, the ingredients for the salad ended up being:

-Arugula

-Pan seared shrimp

-Green beans

-Grape tomatoes

-Artichoke hearts

-Greek olives

-Peanuts

-Generic triscuits on the side

Oh yeah, red wine, too. Had more of what I was enjoying while writing the post about the wine bar in Annapolis — Anakena Pinot Noir from Chile. It’s about $13/bottle in the DC-area.

All in all, delicious and refreshing. Trader Joe’s has great fresh, frozen and canned ingredients. Actually, there is VERY little that isn’t great at TJ’s. I will say, don’t go generic for triscuits, not worth it (I didn’t get the crackers at Trader Joe’s).

Great way to end the week. And tomorrow is Monday, it’s supposed to be in the upper 70s, and work calls. I digress…