One of my favorite restaurants in Washington D.C. is Mei Wah. For those of you who do not know, I attended Boston University and then spent a few years there following college. During those years, I became quite obsessed with Chinese hot spot, Chef Changs. (It since closed, which makes me truly sad.) Chef Changs made incredible dumplings and I indulged in them way too often (weekly). When I decided to move to Washington, it was imperative to me to find a Chinese restaurant with great dumplings. I did just that. In my opinion, Mei Wah has some of the best dumplings I have ever tasted.
For those of you who are dumpling connoisseurs like myself, you might be asking yourself what style of dumplings they are. Mei Wah's dumplings are thick and doughy, which is how I love them. If you are the type that likes a more refined dumpling, then I would not recommend Mei Wah for its dumplings. But in addition to the dough, the filling is outstanding. I am not much of a vegetable person, but I have to say the fried vegetable dumplings at Mei Wah are beyond scrumptious. I actually order those more often than the meat! (The meat are also very good.)
It turns out I am not the only one that likes Mei Wah. D.C.'s top political folk come to this Chinese mecca often. In fact, the restaurant is lined with photos of some of the most famous politicians. Who knew D.C. suits had a thing for dumplings?
Other favorites at Mei Wah include the meat spring rolls, fried rice (best fried rice I have ever had), special noodles and sauteed sesame chicken (the fried stuff is also good, too). For those of you who love Chinese, I highly recommend Mei Wah.
In a couple of months, I'll be taking my own dumpling cooking class. I hope my dumplings can stack up to Mei Wah's.
Mei Wah you get 4.5 out of 5 dumplings.
www.meiwahrestaurant.com
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Nam Viet - Washington, D.C.
And so my Asian tour of Washington, D.C. begins!! Honestly, it's not really beginning because a number of the restaurants I have reviewed to date have been Asian, but don't give me grief on a technicality. One type of cuisine I have not reviewed yet though is Vietnamese. While it is not my favorite Asian cuisine, I am a huge fan of Pho something I came to discover a few years ago. So when I heard a new Pho restaurant had opened in Cleveland Park (one of my favorite neighborhoods in Washington D.C.), I had to check it out.
Nam Viet is definitely a no nonsense type of place! The service is speedy. If you are trying to catch up with an old friend for hours on end, I would not recommend it. If you are, however, trying to grab a quick dinner after work, then Nam Viet is your jack pot!
One of the hardest things to decide at Nam Viet is which Pho to get. To be honest, I didn't even really look at the rest of the menu because I had my heart and stomach set on Pho. There did appear to be a lovely selection of grilled food numbers, but the Pho selection was awesome. After quite a bit of internal debate, I decide to get the shrimp and pork Pho with yellow noodles. I was torn between that one and the wonton Pho, which my friend Andrea happened to get.
Now for those of you who get Pho, you know that it is served with bean sprouts and lime. I never really have explored these sides with my Pho and I definitely think I need to in the future.
I really enjoyed my Pho, but I felt the flavor of the broth to be a little too light. When I asked a colleague of mine, who happens to be a Vietnamese food expert, how the broth is supposed to taste, she said, "it should be light, but also unctuous with flavor." I would say the Pho at Nam Viet could have used a touch more flavor (adding hoison sauce into it helped), but all in all it was very good. The noodles were delicious, the pork scrumptious and the shrimp perfectly cooked.
For a cold night, I would definitely recommend Nam Viet. It's super cheap, too! Nam Viet you get 3.75 dumplings out of 5.
www.namviet1.com
Nam Viet is definitely a no nonsense type of place! The service is speedy. If you are trying to catch up with an old friend for hours on end, I would not recommend it. If you are, however, trying to grab a quick dinner after work, then Nam Viet is your jack pot!
One of the hardest things to decide at Nam Viet is which Pho to get. To be honest, I didn't even really look at the rest of the menu because I had my heart and stomach set on Pho. There did appear to be a lovely selection of grilled food numbers, but the Pho selection was awesome. After quite a bit of internal debate, I decide to get the shrimp and pork Pho with yellow noodles. I was torn between that one and the wonton Pho, which my friend Andrea happened to get.
Now for those of you who get Pho, you know that it is served with bean sprouts and lime. I never really have explored these sides with my Pho and I definitely think I need to in the future.
I really enjoyed my Pho, but I felt the flavor of the broth to be a little too light. When I asked a colleague of mine, who happens to be a Vietnamese food expert, how the broth is supposed to taste, she said, "it should be light, but also unctuous with flavor." I would say the Pho at Nam Viet could have used a touch more flavor (adding hoison sauce into it helped), but all in all it was very good. The noodles were delicious, the pork scrumptious and the shrimp perfectly cooked.
For a cold night, I would definitely recommend Nam Viet. It's super cheap, too! Nam Viet you get 3.75 dumplings out of 5.
www.namviet1.com
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Vace - Washington, D.C.; Bethesda, MD
A couple of weeks ago when I posted about Carmines in Chinatown, I asked my Facebook friends for their favorite Italian restaurant in D.C. I got a lot of recommendations, but since two of my colleagues recommended Vace in Cleveland Park, I decided to check it out.
Now Vace is not your typical restaurant. I would classify it as an Italian market or delicatessen. For those of you who know me well, you know I have a pasta shape obsession, so Vace was essentially my Disneyland!! First of all, the small shop features an amazing selection of dried pastas with some exciting creative shapes. The true highlight though was in the freezers - the frozen pastas! And I did not hold back. Chris and I purchased gnochi, meat ravioli, pumpkin agnelloti, spinach and cheese cannelloni, meat cannelloni and three sauces! For those of you wondering, that came to $43 (woops) including a last minute slice of pizza. It took everything in my power to not also buy the spinach and cheese ravioli and mushroom agnelloti, but that will have to be for next time!
After we left with our purchases, Chris ate his pizza slice on a bench in Cleveland Park. Now Chris being from New Jersey has high expectations of what pizza should taste like. When he said it was really good I almost fell off the bench. I have not heard him say that about D.C. pizza once! Points to Vace.
As we walked home, we had a big decision to make - what to have for dinner! After much debate and conversation, we decided we would save the cannelloni for a special occasion and try the gnochi. Chris would have the meat sauce and I would try the walnut sauce.
We made our Italian feast tonight and it was exactly that! The gnocci was delicious and we both enjoyed our respective sauces. While the walnut sauce was a touch on the heavy side (I literally had a teaspoon of it.), the bite I had of Chris' meat sauce was delicious.
For those of you in search of Italian, I would highly recommend Vace. It makes a great Sunday dinner and you can keep the pastas frozen for quite some time.
And so ends my first Italian tour of the city. Don't worry there will be more, but I think it is time to embark on my first official Asian tour of the city.
Vace you get 4.5 out of 5 dumplings!
www.vaceitaliandeli.com
Now Vace is not your typical restaurant. I would classify it as an Italian market or delicatessen. For those of you who know me well, you know I have a pasta shape obsession, so Vace was essentially my Disneyland!! First of all, the small shop features an amazing selection of dried pastas with some exciting creative shapes. The true highlight though was in the freezers - the frozen pastas! And I did not hold back. Chris and I purchased gnochi, meat ravioli, pumpkin agnelloti, spinach and cheese cannelloni, meat cannelloni and three sauces! For those of you wondering, that came to $43 (woops) including a last minute slice of pizza. It took everything in my power to not also buy the spinach and cheese ravioli and mushroom agnelloti, but that will have to be for next time!
After we left with our purchases, Chris ate his pizza slice on a bench in Cleveland Park. Now Chris being from New Jersey has high expectations of what pizza should taste like. When he said it was really good I almost fell off the bench. I have not heard him say that about D.C. pizza once! Points to Vace.
As we walked home, we had a big decision to make - what to have for dinner! After much debate and conversation, we decided we would save the cannelloni for a special occasion and try the gnochi. Chris would have the meat sauce and I would try the walnut sauce.
We made our Italian feast tonight and it was exactly that! The gnocci was delicious and we both enjoyed our respective sauces. While the walnut sauce was a touch on the heavy side (I literally had a teaspoon of it.), the bite I had of Chris' meat sauce was delicious.
For those of you in search of Italian, I would highly recommend Vace. It makes a great Sunday dinner and you can keep the pastas frozen for quite some time.
And so ends my first Italian tour of the city. Don't worry there will be more, but I think it is time to embark on my first official Asian tour of the city.
Vace you get 4.5 out of 5 dumplings!
www.vaceitaliandeli.com
Friday, October 15, 2010
Teatro Goldini - Washington, D.C.
I know you have been waiting with bated breadth for this review! My Italian tour of D.C. restaurants continued last weekend with a stop at Teatro Goldini. While I had gotten mixed reviews about the restaurant in the past, Teatro Goldini has been an establishment in D.C. for some time (11 years at the K street location if you read the website). So with that, Chris and I headed on to Teatro Goldini for a special date night... ooooh la la.
After much debate, Chris and I decided to get the prosciutto wrapped scallops as an appetizer. Let me rephrase. I made Chris get the prosciutto wrapped scallops as an appetizer. He actually hates scallops! I found them to be over salted and hard to eat, frankly. Chris had a bite and claimed to like them, but I know the truth! While we ate our scallops, (or while I ate our scallops) we enjoyed the homemade bread. The focaccia style bread was coated with a light marinara sauce and was quite delicious. I only had a bite or two of that because of my tomato allergy, but the olive bread was absolutely fantastic.
I would not do this blog justice without commenting on the bread sticks. Now depending who you ask (Chris or I) the bread sticks were a nice amuse bouche. While they were in a glass vase and no one else seemed to be eating them, I felt they were up for the taking. Some (ahem, Chris) felt otherwise and argued that they were a decoration.
On to the entree. One of the things I liked about the Teatro Goldini menu was that there were quite a few pasta options I could choose from. After much debate, I decided to get the tagliatelle with duck ragout, despite having duck the night before (long story). What excited me about the dish was that it was very similar to a bolognese, but without the tomato. It was delicious and I could eat that dish most nights of the evening. Chris tried the chicken parmesan and was a little disappointed that it did not come with a side other than sauteed spinach. I have to say I hate when Italian restaurants do that. He did not appear to love Teatro Goldini's rendition of one of his favorite dishes and I felt bad that our fancy Italian dinner out did not go as well for him.
We chose not to get dessert (I know lame) because we were pretty stuffed and instead walked home a little tipsy to eat some chips ahoy cookies. All in all it was a nice evening, but not great. I would say the ambiance is a little weird in the evenings because there aren't many people there. My guess is given the location it's a hopping lunch spot and is worth checking out. Teatro Goldini you get 3 dumplings out of 5 - I am sorry, but I still have not recovered from the salted scallops!
http://www.teatrogoldoni.com/
After much debate, Chris and I decided to get the prosciutto wrapped scallops as an appetizer. Let me rephrase. I made Chris get the prosciutto wrapped scallops as an appetizer. He actually hates scallops! I found them to be over salted and hard to eat, frankly. Chris had a bite and claimed to like them, but I know the truth! While we ate our scallops, (or while I ate our scallops) we enjoyed the homemade bread. The focaccia style bread was coated with a light marinara sauce and was quite delicious. I only had a bite or two of that because of my tomato allergy, but the olive bread was absolutely fantastic.
I would not do this blog justice without commenting on the bread sticks. Now depending who you ask (Chris or I) the bread sticks were a nice amuse bouche. While they were in a glass vase and no one else seemed to be eating them, I felt they were up for the taking. Some (ahem, Chris) felt otherwise and argued that they were a decoration.
On to the entree. One of the things I liked about the Teatro Goldini menu was that there were quite a few pasta options I could choose from. After much debate, I decided to get the tagliatelle with duck ragout, despite having duck the night before (long story). What excited me about the dish was that it was very similar to a bolognese, but without the tomato. It was delicious and I could eat that dish most nights of the evening. Chris tried the chicken parmesan and was a little disappointed that it did not come with a side other than sauteed spinach. I have to say I hate when Italian restaurants do that. He did not appear to love Teatro Goldini's rendition of one of his favorite dishes and I felt bad that our fancy Italian dinner out did not go as well for him.
We chose not to get dessert (I know lame) because we were pretty stuffed and instead walked home a little tipsy to eat some chips ahoy cookies. All in all it was a nice evening, but not great. I would say the ambiance is a little weird in the evenings because there aren't many people there. My guess is given the location it's a hopping lunch spot and is worth checking out. Teatro Goldini you get 3 dumplings out of 5 - I am sorry, but I still have not recovered from the salted scallops!
http://www.teatrogoldoni.com/
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Carmines - Washington, D.C.
Ok, so my series of Italian food posts in D.C. continues. Last Wednesday, I ventured over to the latest Italian hot spot Carmines in Chinatown. (For those of you familiar, this is the same Carmines in New York.) Unlike my typical dining experiences, I decided to go to Carmines and check out my first D.C. food blogger event. I was so surprised by the talent and the amazing group of diverse individuals that showed up. I learned that I need business cards and fast! It was very inspiring and I have some future ideas for when I take my blog to the next level (pictures will be coming soon). Special shout outs to Johnna from JohnnaKnowsGoodFood and Ms. Putman.
Turns out something cool happens when you decide to pursue food blogging - you get free food! Carmines had a selection of appetizers out for the group. In true form, I sampled all of the fried food - calamari and zucchini were my favorites and quite tasty. I also heard the wings were quite tasty, though I opted not to try those.
For those of you who like family style, Carmines is definitely worth checking out. At first the menu seems expensive, but keep in mind since it is family style, you will likely have leftovers and lots of them! I just had two pet peeves with the Carmines menu - there were not many non tomato dishes (butter and sage sauce is not that complicated, people) and to get a side of pasta cost $9. With that said, after the event, Chris and I decided to get the Chicken Scallopini with Lemon and Butter. We made our own pasta (I am not paying $9 for a side of pasta.) and it was quite delicious. The chicken was nice and moist and the lemon butter sauce was light, but had good flavor. I am definitely looking forward to trying more dishes at Carmines in the future. This would be a great place to try for a birthday party. While I did not try many dishes at Carmines, it was an enjoyable evening and based on what I did have, I would give Carmines 3.5 out of 5 dumplings.
And for my true blog followers/fans out there. I promise my post on Teatro Golidini is coming soon. I am a little behind!
www.carminesnyc.com
Turns out something cool happens when you decide to pursue food blogging - you get free food! Carmines had a selection of appetizers out for the group. In true form, I sampled all of the fried food - calamari and zucchini were my favorites and quite tasty. I also heard the wings were quite tasty, though I opted not to try those.
For those of you who like family style, Carmines is definitely worth checking out. At first the menu seems expensive, but keep in mind since it is family style, you will likely have leftovers and lots of them! I just had two pet peeves with the Carmines menu - there were not many non tomato dishes (butter and sage sauce is not that complicated, people) and to get a side of pasta cost $9. With that said, after the event, Chris and I decided to get the Chicken Scallopini with Lemon and Butter. We made our own pasta (I am not paying $9 for a side of pasta.) and it was quite delicious. The chicken was nice and moist and the lemon butter sauce was light, but had good flavor. I am definitely looking forward to trying more dishes at Carmines in the future. This would be a great place to try for a birthday party. While I did not try many dishes at Carmines, it was an enjoyable evening and based on what I did have, I would give Carmines 3.5 out of 5 dumplings.
And for my true blog followers/fans out there. I promise my post on Teatro Golidini is coming soon. I am a little behind!
www.carminesnyc.com
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Famous Luigis - Washington, D.C.
Sorry folks for not posting in a bit! It's been a busy time, but no excuses. Play like a champion. This is going to be my first bad review of a restaurant in a while. I have eaten at Famous Luigis a couple of times and have never really liked it. This past week, I decided to give it one more shot and was disappointed again!
I decided to order the tortellini, but instead of getting the cream sauce, I asked for pesto. The tortellini were pretty good, but the pesto sauce was too heavy and creamy. I personally prefer a lighter pesto without cream. I also felt I got short changed on the number of tortellini I got. I have noticed this before at Italian restaurants. You always get less when you order the stuffed pastas and I can eat a lot of pasta.
And now for my tirade about Italian food in D.C. It's time D.C. stepped it up. Now in full discretion, I have not tried Poste yet or the new Carmines in Chinatown or Casa Nonna in Dupont, so my point of view might change. If you are a true Italian food aficionado though, I would not recommend Luigis. The pizza is better than the pasta, but still not worth your cash. Luigis you get 2 dumplings out of 5.
Hopefully, Teatro Goldini will impress me this weekend and my impression of Italian food in this area will change!
http://www.famousluigis.com/
I decided to order the tortellini, but instead of getting the cream sauce, I asked for pesto. The tortellini were pretty good, but the pesto sauce was too heavy and creamy. I personally prefer a lighter pesto without cream. I also felt I got short changed on the number of tortellini I got. I have noticed this before at Italian restaurants. You always get less when you order the stuffed pastas and I can eat a lot of pasta.
And now for my tirade about Italian food in D.C. It's time D.C. stepped it up. Now in full discretion, I have not tried Poste yet or the new Carmines in Chinatown or Casa Nonna in Dupont, so my point of view might change. If you are a true Italian food aficionado though, I would not recommend Luigis. The pizza is better than the pasta, but still not worth your cash. Luigis you get 2 dumplings out of 5.
Hopefully, Teatro Goldini will impress me this weekend and my impression of Italian food in this area will change!
http://www.famousluigis.com/
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