Restaurant Week, Meal 1: Taberna del Alabardero

So you know how much I LOVE restaurant week. It's a chance for me to completely destroy my budget for the month with just a few meals...and to have some great food. Sadly, my first meal was not near as tasty as it looked, nor was it worth the restaurant week price. 

My dining companion was gracious enough to let me try her food as well...so you get two tastings in this review! The picture on the top was their salad with a fried-hard-boiled egg, and on the bottom was the mussels & shrimp. The salad was probably the best thing we ate all night. It was lightly dressed and the fried egg was an interesting component. Would I go back just for the salad? No. But was it an interesting dish? Definitely.

The broth in the mussels was amazing (I couldn't stop dipping my bread in it). However, out of my three mussels, one had grit that was audible as I chewed, one tasted old (like it should have been thrown out) and the third was just ok. The rest of the dish (aside from the sauce) was simply underwhelming.

For the second course, I had the sea bream (top) and my friend the chicken (bottom). The sea bream had a strong fishy taste, which I know a lot of people gawk at when I say that, but fish should not taste super "fishy". A "fishy" fish is an old fish.

The chicken was chopped into bit size pieces before it was sauteed, which led to a very dry bite of chicken. The whole time I ate it I longed for a little sauce to help moisten my mouth ("why did they take my mussel sauce away?!"), but sadly there was none. I think the chicken would have been ok if it had not been chopped before cooking, but still, the dish needed more flavor to be considered for a restaurant week menu.

Finally, desert was rice putting and a bread pudding. Both looked lovely, and were not terrible, but at the same time they were not anything to write home about. I think we both only ate about half of our desserts.

So meal number one was a let down. I probably will not go back to this restaurant as there are TONS of Spanish restaurants in the city. Luckily, however, meal 2 was awesome! 

Stay tuned...

Reveiw: Teaism

I received a gift certificate to Teaism Restaurant for Christmas, so my good fortune has translated into another review!

Teaism has 3 locations in DC and I visited the one that is between Lafayette and Farragut Squares. I have actually been to the Teaism in the Penn Quarter and was not impressed with their afternoon tea.  This may be because I was hoping for a traditional "English Tea" and was given an "Asian Tea".  Being a self-proclaimed "tea snob" I am very particular about my tea.  I wanted an English Breakfast Tea with scones and clotted cream, but instead received green tea with wasabi sandwiches and ginger cookies. 

So with this Asian-influence in mind, I headed to Teaism for lunch.  Of course before venturing out in the cold DC weather, I first checked online to see Teaism's lunch menu. It is a fairly concise menu with your typical bento boxes and your not-so-typical portobello and goat cheese sandwich or veggie burger. I chose a pot of Dragon Well green tea and the Tuna Bento Box, which includes "rare tuna & wasabi sauce, sweet potatoes & miso sauce, broccoli & brown rice".

Everything in the box, except the tuna which had little to no flavor, was delicious.  The Wasabi sauce was supposed to enhance the tuna flavor, but it did not have the right balance. To quote Top Chef, I think it was lacking "acid" (usually a vinegar or citrus flavor). However, the sides were cooked perfectly.  I think my lunch companion and I could have eaten a barrel full of the sweet potatoes with it's awesome miso glaze.  I would love to get my hands on that recipe!  Also, the brown rice was fluffy with just the right amount of sticky texture to it that shows they know how to cook brown rice properly.  Notwithstanding the tuna, this was one of the better bento boxes I have had in the city.

Although, my eating companion said that her Chai tea was tasty, I would suggest sampling Teaism's green, white or oolong teas since they are stereotypically associated with Asian cuisine. This is a great chance to try a new and interesting tea.  Most Americans really only drink black tea, or brew green tea improperly which causes it to be bitter.  Teaism properly brews their tea, so it is the perfect opportunity to see how green, white, and oolong teas are supposed to taste.  But again, I'm a biased tea-snob...so you should discover all that Teaism has to offer for yourself!

Rating (out of *****): ****
Price (out of $$$):  $
Address: 800 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington D.C., DC 20006
Website: http://www.teaism.com

Review: Wasabi

I love Sushi! So when I find a decent sushi place for not a lot of money, I cannot help but go back often.  Wasabi has become a monthly/bi-monthly staple for my friend Liz and I.  If you've never tried sushi, Wasabi is the best place to go to to learn.  Instead of going to a restaurant and trying to figure out what the rolls look like and what its made of, you have multiple plates of sushi whirling past you at all times.  When you see something you want, you simply pick it off the conveyor.  If you don't see a roll you like on the conveyor, or want something hot, you can still order off the menu.  What is nice about Wasabi is that they label the plates on the conveyor as well, so if you cannot figure out what's on the roll, you can look on the menu to see what it is made out of.

How the pricing works is that each plate is a different color.  Above is a picture of the plate prices.  Wasabi does not offer many "yellow" or "orange" plates, which is a downside, but they do have an awesome happy hour special.  You can get 5 plates of any color and a drink (cocktail, soft drink, hot tea, etc) for $20.  If you do the math, that's an awesome deal!  Especially since some of my favorite rolls at Wasabi are either blue or purple plates.  I've only been able to eat 5 plates once, so come hungry!

 

Above is one of Liz and my favorites.  It is a volcano roll, which is basically a California roll ramped up.  I tried their rainbow roll this time as well, and most of it was good, except the white fin portion, which was a bit "fishy".  I know people laugh when I say that, but good sushi should never have a fishy taste to it.

So if you want a fast place to get decent sushi, this is the place.  I would not suggest bringing someone who is a sushi conoseur, however if you want good value and speed, this is the place to go.  They also have boxed sushi rolls, salads, and entrees in the front, so if you want to pick up a quick healthy lunch or dinner, this is also a great option.  For those of you in the Foggy Bottom area, they also have a Wasabi to Go in the Shops on Penn Ave.

Rating (out of *****): ***+
Price (out of $$$):  $
Address:   906 17th Street Northwest, Washington D.C. 20006 (Farragut Square)
Website:  http://www.wasabisushi.com/

Sorry for the photo quality...I took them on my phone.