Day Trip to Shepherdstown, West Virginia

Visiting small historical towns have always been a delightful interest of mine. Having grown up in a fairly new developed surburb, it's something that I didn't get to experience much. Luckily, around Washington, DC, there are many of them to visit within a 2 or 3 hour drive. This past Sunday, January 24, I decided to take a trip out to Shepherdstown, WV. My friends Simon and Laura decided to join me on this fun adventure!
Shepherdstown is about an hour and half drive away. However, thanks to my poor navigating skills and the confusing google directions, we somehow managed to cross the Pennsylvania border before we realized that we got lost. We were an hour behind when we arrived at our destination, but it was still early enough in which we got to see almost all that we wanted to. Shepherdstown is also a nice place to stop by while visitng Harper's Ferry.

The town is very small and walkable, despite the cold and rainy weather that day. The main street where all the main attractions are is German Street. To the North is the campus of Shepherd University. German Street is lined with cute and locally-owned shops from clothing stores, coffeeshops, restaurants, a library, and even an opera house. Every shop and place exhibited a distinct flavor of its own.

We first stopped by "German Street Coffee and Candelry." I can never say no to a place that sells coffee. The store sells a wide selection of coffee beans and grounds them up for you. It also had a selection of jams, wine, spices, other goods, and of course candles. I walked out with a small bag of "German Street Blend", which was highly recommended by the store clerk.

The Trinity Episcopal Church, built in 1859.

The Opera House, built in the early 1900s. It showed movies until 1956. It is now renovated and reopened as a movie theater.

The "Yellow Brick Bank" reststaurant. It was built in 1906 as the Jefferson Security Bank until 1975.

"The Little House"

The building definitely lives up to its name. The house was built as a summer school project of Professor Florence Shaw. Don't be fooled by the small size, however, it has two stories, equipped with 2 bedrooms, a kitchen, living room, and a dining room.

Meanwhile, lunch time arrives. We were all starving, and what better choice than to hit up a local eatery called the "Blue Moon Cafe." The restaurant was a few streets over from German Street, from the outside it seemed like a place where many university students would come and hang out at night. Indeed, the cafe hosts concerts and other events on a weekly basis. I started out with a Rogue Dead Guy ale, it's that type of day where you just feel like a nice cold beer. I asked the waitress for suggestions on the vegetarian menu, and the spicy black bean burger was recommended.

Inside the Blue Moon Cafe

The burger, however, turned out to be a big disappointment. The black bean patty was not homemade, and probably came from a frozen package. It was $1.50 to substitute the chips for a ridiculously small portion of cole slaw. The spicy mayonnaise sauce was probably the best thing on that whole plate. I did not feel very satisfied after scraping clean my dish.

Laura ordered a chicken sandwich in ciabatta, which seemed to be a better success than my dried out burger. It was a disappointing dining experience, especially since there were so many other tasty options on German Street.

After browsing in a few clothing stores and the "Four Seasons" bookstore, we just had to hit one last coffeeshop before we leave town.

The Lost Dog Cafe is definitely one of those hip and laid back independent coffeeshop that the Washington, DC area lacks. Walking in, you will find a huge selection of teas from all over the world, even my home country Taiwan!!

There was also a wide selection of coffee beans that can be made to order. The barista was very patient with me as I ponder on my order. I ended up ordering a hand-press Java coffee, which was a bit mild, but perfect for a late afternoon.

The inside was decorated with a selection of artworks. There was also a bookshelf for people who want to spend a pleasant afternoon reading. There were also sketchbooks on tables where people can contribute their drawings, writings, poetries, etc. It was definitely an interesting read!

The excurstion to Shepherdstown proved to be a worthwhile trip! I highly recommend this as a day trip if you want something that's close enough and with the just right amount of sightseeing and shopping!

RW Take 2: Zola

Zola is a restaurant that serves up contemporary American cuisine directly above the International Spy Museum near Gallery Place/Chinatown. The decor inside was very bright and had a very nice feel to it.

Zola had extended their RW by one week, and I was super excited because they were offering their full menu. Before the meal, they served a crispy flat bread along with tiny rolls. They were both delicious, but I decided to same some room for the rest of the meal!

Originally I had wanted to take a double take on Tuna. Having the Tuna Tartare for Appetizer and their tuna mignon for the entree. Unfortunately, someone else had order the last tuna mignon. I was highly disappointed; I scrambled to find another entree. Nothing else had sounded as appealing. Then I saw that their beef sirloin came from a farm in Shenandoah Valley, I decided why not? I haven't eaten meat in about five months.

The tuna tartare was served with a cucumber salad and lemon cream on top, taro chips, and spicy lime vinaigrette.

The presentation was beautiful. The taro chips were lightly seasoned and crispy. To me the lemon cream was a little unnecessary on top. It didn't really go with the flavor of the tuna. The lime vinaigrette though was delicious, the spiciness definitely matched well with the tuna and cucumber on top.

My friend Amy ordered the Porcini Mushroom Ravioli as the appetizer dish. The flavor of the ravioli was decent, however, I found that the filling to be a bit mushy. I was somewhat expecting to see pieces of actual porcini mushrooms inside the ravioli.

The main entree was the biggest disappointment of the meal. First of all, when the dish was served pieces of the meat had fallen off the couscous and the whole plate was a mess. For a high class restaurant, something that's not presentable should not have been served. When the dish was delivered to me, I literally was thinking, "what the hell is this?" Secondly, I had asked for my sirloin to be cooked medium-rare. What was served to me looked to be medium-well. It was overcooked, so I asked for it to be taken back. The picture below tells the story.

After about 10 minutes, they brought my dish out again. This time, it was cooked right and it looked presentable. The meat was flavored well and cooked perfectly. The couscous though had some huge chunks of cream in some portions while some couscous just wasn't cooked well enough. The pancetta was a bit excessive in the couscous because there was already enough meat in the dish itself. The flavor was good, but it could've done without the pancetta.

Meanwhile, Amy ordered the Lobster Mac and Cheese, which sounds irresistible from the beginning! The portion was huge, and had a decent amount of lobster chunks in it. The flavor of the lobster was well incorporated into the mac and cheese. Overall a very comforting and satisfying dish.

I wanted a light finish to my meal, so for dessert I asked for the different flavors of sorbet. They had passion fruit, cassis and apple cider. I am a sucker for passion fruit, so I can't say no to that, but just to mix it up I asked for a scoop of cassis as well. Amy ordered a pear crisp tart. The slice of pear on her dessert was a bit bland. It wasn't crispy like a chip, yet it wasn't a full slice of pear either. Amy found it really hard to eat and gave up after one bite. For some odd reason, for a simple as a dessert of passion fruit and cassis sorbet, the kitchen managed to mess that up as well! Instead of the cassis sorbet, they brought out this toffee flavored ice cream. And of course once again the waitress was no way to be found. I notified the other waiter, and he took the dessert back in. When it was brought out again, I noticed that they had simply removed the toffee ice cream and replaced it with a scoop of cassis sorbet instead of bringing out an entirely new bowl.

I then asked for the manager, because I found this entire experience to be unacceptable. The food was good, but the the messing up of not once but twice took away what potentially could've been a very pleasant dining experience. I ended up having my meal for free, but I still walked out with a feeling of not wanting to return to Zola again.

Maybe for restaurant week, Zola just didn't take things very seriously. But it's no excuse to be serving food that's not presentable nor messing up a simple order such as sorbet. It's also highly disappointing that one of my only 2 RW excursions turned out to be so bad. People told me that I should give it another chance, but I'd rather take that chance to another restaurant that's going to be worth my time, palate, and money the next time I go out to eat.

Chinatown Coffee Company

I'm sure many of you, like me, are sick and tired of seeing only Starbucks or Caribou coffee around Washington, DC and its suburbs. What's even more disappointing is that more and more independently owned coffee shops are shutting down. I'm not big into espresso drinks, I mainly drink black drip coffee. What I really longed for is a cafe with freshly brewed coffee right as you order them, nothing served in a giant pot that's been sitting there for who knows how long.

I had read about "Chinatown Coffee Company" in the Washington Post a while back. I remember trying to find it once without writing down the address, not very smart of me. This time I made sure I have the address and phone number with me, so that nothing less than a visit would satisfy me!

It's a nice and cozy cafe by 5th and H Street. The interior is simple, but has a comfortable feeling. It has brick walls lined with photography from all over the world. There are maybe about 10 tables inside. I got super excited when I learned that they serve both french press and hand-pour coffee as well as your usual espresso drinks and a selection of baked goods. My friend and I shared a large pot of French Press coffee with Brazilian coffee beans. It was enough to pour 2 mugs and more. All for around $4.50. It is such a rare treat to find a place that serves up fresh and aromatic coffee. The baristas were nice, friendly, and very patient with me as I asked them about the different coffee and prices. The nutty flavors of the coffee plus the ambiance of the coffee shop made me want to stay there for hours and hours. The place offers free wi-fi as well. I think my only complaint would be that the chairs aren't particularly comfortable, therefore, it's hard to sit after a few hours.

But generally, if you want a nice coffee drinking experience from a place that's not ubiquitous around the world, Chinatown Coffee Company is definitely worth checking out!

For more information check out their website http://www.chinatowncoffee.com/

Evening of take out and fine wine

Wine is another one of my pleasures in life. For me there is nothing better than a nice glass of wine with a nice meal. Recently I've started to learn more and more about wine. I suggested to my friend Amy to have a wine night at my place. We started off the evening with watching "A Single Man" at the AFI in Silver Spring. The movie was very artistically crafted and very abstract. The music was even more amazing. We then met up with our friend Rebecca to get take out at "The Greek Place" located on Georgia Avenue. Not only do I enjoy fine dining, I also love cheap and authentic take out places that are always a good treat to find!

I ordered the Grilled Shrimp Greek Salad, which came with 5 giant shrimps, pita bread, on top of lettuce, feta cheese, tomatoes, olives, onions and capers. The flavor of the shrimp was amazing! This all for just under $10.

Amy and Rebecca ordered the Falafel Platter, that came with a side of yummy orzo pasta and Greek salad. We were all very hungry, and finished our enormous amount of food!

We stopped by the county wine store before the movie. Before I left the house I was reading some notes that I've taken in the past of some good and decently priced wine. I thought that a good pinot noir would go well with some light Greek fare. Nothing looked decent the first trip down the aisle. Then on one of the wine racks, I saw a bottle of Cambria, Julia Vineyard's Pinot Noir from Santa Maria Valley California. The 2006 vintage was named by wine enthusiast last year as "the best pinot noir at this price on the market." The store had the 2007 vintage on sale for $18. It's more expensive than what I would normally pay for a bottle of wine, but I felt like it would be worth the splurge!

The wine was just amazing, the first sip was a bit dry, but smooth. It had a hint of cherry and a bit of cinnamon. The wine tasted better and better as it had time to breath in the glass. It went very well with my Shrimp Salad!

Amy and I were both very disappointed when the bottle was empty. "that's it?!" NOOOOO!

Hey, who said a nice dinner can't consist of cheap take-out in plastic containers and a bottle of expensive wine?

My love affair with Balsamic Vinagrette

I have recently discovered that balsamic vinagrette is probably the best ingredient to use in cooking. It can be used in just about everything from fish to vegetables to sauces, etc. And it's also a healthy alternative! One suggestion I would make is to invest in a really good bottle of BV, because a bottle actually goes a long way, and you want to have the best and full-bodied flavored as possible! Here are some simple recipes that I've used for salad dressings, for marinating fish, as well as vegetable stir fry.

All the recipes will be for a single serving, but feel free to double it or triple it!

• Balsamic Vinagrette Salad Dressing:

1 tbsp Balsamic Vinagrette
1/2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 tbsp Mustard (I like the ones with seeds in it, but feel free to use any kind)
Whisk them together and drizzle over your favorite salad!
What I usually like to do is warm it up for a few seconds in the microwave and then top it on arugula salad, it wilts the arugula down just a bit, and makes it extra yummy!

• Balsamic Vinagrette Wine Reduction Sauce:

A while back I made this amazing vegetable soup out of celery, carrots, tomatoes, red peppers, onions, etc. It was some of the best soup I've ever had. I also had a bottle of wine that's been opened for a while that wasn't suitable for drinking. So I thought, why don't I attempt to make a wine reduction sauce out of it? The recipe is approximate, I'm not a person who strictly adhere to any recipes anyway, so use it only as a reference :)

1/2 cup of homemade vegetable soup (drained)
1/2 cup of red wine
2 tbsp of Balsamic Vinagrette

Combine all ingredients in a small pot, let it simmer for about 1-2 hours.
Use it with brussel sprouts, broccoli, or marinate any type of meat with it.

• Baked Salmon with honey balsamic vinagrette

1 piece of salmon about 6 to 8 oz lightly season with salt and pepper
For the sauce
2 tbsp Balsamic Vinagrette
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tbsp mustard
1 tsp rosemary
Whisk sauce together, marinate salmon in the sauce, make sure to do it on both sides. Put the rest of the sauce on top of the salmon. Bake in oven at 400 deg. for about 10 minutes.
I hope you'll enjoy these as much as I did!

RW Part 1: Rasika

Rasika is probably the most well known Indian restaurant, as well as one of the most popular restaurant altogether in the Washington, DC area, whether it's by a word of mouth or in dining guides. In last October's Washington Post Magazine's 10th Annual Dining Guide, food critic Tom Sietsema raised Rasika's from three to four stars.
It's been about a year and a half since I've done RW, so as soon as I heard that Rasika was participating in RW, I booked my table almost immediately!
I must say I broke one of my personal rules, the menu of Rasika is rather limited, however, it does offer meat, fish, and a vegetarian option.

Here is the lunch menu for RW:

Appetizers:
1. Malai Chicken Tikka
2. Tamatar Goli Kebab (lamb meatballs)
3. Palak Chaat (crispy baby spinach)

Entrees:
1. Chicken Makhani
2. Lamb Roganjosh
3. Tandoori Salmon
4. Palak Paneer/ Vegetable Mix

Dessert:
1. Black Cherry Sorbet
2. Mango and yogurt ice cream
3. Carrot Halwa with Cinnamon Sabayon
4. Gulab Jamun with Cardamom Ice Cream

For appetizer, I started with the Palak Chaat. It is a dish with fried baby spinach with a yogurt sauce on top. The first bite was delicious, crispy, salty, but balanced out with the yogurt sauce. However, I do feel like towards the end the dish get end up being too salty. It could've used more yogurt sauce. My friend Amy ordered the Malai Chicken Tikka, even though I didn't try the chicken, the cream cheese sauce that came with it was excellent and would be good if we had naan to dip it in!

I ordered the Tandoori Salmon for the entree. And I was surprised to see the two big portions of salmon that came out on my plate. The salmon was to die for, and hands down it was some of the best salmon that I have ever tasted. It was soft, tender, and juicy inside. The spices wasn't overpowering. The sauce that came with it matches well with naan and the mint paratha that came on the side. I had to force myself to finish those 2 pieces because it was so delicious. I would almost go back just for the salmon! I was a little disappointed in the naan, it was a bit on the dry side, and wasn't very fresh.
Amy ordered the lamb roganjosh, which is a dish that goes very well with rice.

For dessert, I chose the Carrot Halwa, which is one of their house specialties. It's a dessert with chooped carrots with raisins and cashews inside. It was a little sweet for me, but still very good. It was a nice balance to finish the meal, and a way to justify eating a dessert. Hey carrots are good for you right? Amy ordered the Gulab Jamun, which is similiar to little donut balls soaked in a sugary sauce, and it came with a cardamon ice cream. I really liked the ice cream, the spice just jumps out right at you.



Overall, I'd say Rasika almost matched up to the hype. One thing I did not appreciate was that the waiter dropped the check right in front of us while we weren't even half way through our dessert. That should be a big no no, especially in a nice restaurant like that. Then it took him forever to take my credit card once we were finally finished.
It is now 6:40pm, and I am still full from my lunch!

Restaurant Week in DC

One of the great things about Washington DC is its diverse selection of restaurants. It ranges from excellent and cheap street carts and carry outs to the expensive five star hotel restaurants. The types of cuisine fare no less, one can easily taste food from just about every country in this world.
Restaurant Week, which happens twice a year in various cities throughout the US, might seem like a foodie snob thing to do, yet it's also an excellent way to try out different foods, different courses, and desserts (especially for those who aren't as into dessert, like me!)
Not every restaurant is worth the RW trip. I literally spend hours looking at menus after menus and finally deciding on the ones that I will end up going to. If you want the best experience, you better do your research.
My first rule or rather, a preference, is to go at lunch. For $20, you get appetizer, entree, and dessert, same as you would for dinner, except that dinner is $35. Sure the amount or selection of food might not be as abundant, but, for someone on a budget like me, lunch is the way to go.
Second rule, try a restaurant that you've never been to. It's always interesting to go to a new setting, see a new menu, and try a new cuisine. Think outside the box.
Third rule, avoid restaurants that have a very limited menu, and go to the ones that offer their full menu. One of the joys of RW is to try the different foods that the restaurant has to offer, if the restaurant isn't offering their best dish, then why bother?
Fourth rule, share! Go with friends, order different appetizers, entrees and desserts and share them! This way you get to sample even more food for the price of one!
Finally, have fun! RW is a great excuse to dress up and enjoy an exquisite dining experience with your friends and family!