restaurant reviews

nom nom, nam!

~ jama ~ 2 Comments


Huong Viet received “Best Restaurant/Best Bargain Restaurant” Awards for the past five years from Washingtonian Magazine.

One of the greatest “perils” of reading and reviewing food-related books is hunger.  *pant, pant*

If the writing is tantalizing enough, this hunger surpasses mere curiosity and borders on obsession. After reading Noodle Pie, I had to had to had to try some Vietnamese food. And I couldn’t wait until I found the right brand of fish sauce to make some of the recipes included in the book — no, I had to try some right away, and wanted to sample Vietnamese cooking that was as authentic as could be found in the greater D.C. area.

Perhaps you’re wondering how I could have reached my dotage respectable middle age without ever having ventured into at least one Vietnamese restaurant. My life has been happily blessed with Chinese, Korean, Thai, Japanese, and Indian food aplenty, but never Vietnamese. I suppose since I wasn’t exposed to it growing up, it simply wasn’t on my food radar.

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a little halibut, a little rhubarb, a little goatee

~ jama ~ 1 Comment


 photo of 1789 Restaurant entrance by KATHERINE & RYAN.

I tried to warn Len before we left home. “Wear a sportcoat.”

We were going to 1789 in Georgetown, after all. A pricey place where traditionalists tête-à-tête in beautifully furnished period dining rooms and rattle their jewelry between courses. I did not wish for George Washington to raise his brow in disapproval, or for any of Georgetown University’s alumni to bite their thumbs.

But alas! Len paid me no heed, opting for a pair of chinos and a golf shirt. Blame it on the heat, or the indefatigable spirit of rugged New Hampshirites. Anyone who lives by the words, “Live Free or Die,” is gonna do just what he wants to do.

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mmmmmmmajestic!

~ jama ~ 14 Comments
photo by Doug Focht

On a beautiful, warm Saturday night recently, Len and I headed over to Old Town Alexandria for dinner at the Majestic Café. You may remember my mentioning that Mrs. Obama hosted a birthday dinner there for her mother, Marian Robinson, this past summer.

Of course we had to check it out. (This is my favorite kind of “blog homework.”)

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jared and jama dish on alan wong’s pineapple room

~ jama ~ 30 Comments

“Wong has always been able to take well-loved and highly recognizable dishes and put a spin on them, and nowhere is this talent more apparent than at The Pineapple Room.” ~ Jo McGarry, Midweek.

    
    photo credit: Tina Yuen, PBN

Pictured above is internationally acclaimed chef and restaurateur Alan Wong, whose name is synonymous with the best of Hawai’i Regional Cuisine. Last month when we were on O’ahu, we treated ourselves and nine of our favorite relatives to dinner at The Pineapple Room, one of three restaurants Wong owns in Hawai’i.

Though I had dined before at his flagship restaurant in downtown Honolulu (an Obama favorite), and loved his creative dishes which blend different ethnic cooking styles, this was my first time at The Pineapple Room. 

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in good company

~ jama ~ 13 Comments

~ This is the seventh in a series of posts about Presidential Food

 

Important things can happen in a tavern.

Random, fun, history-making, world-changing important things.

Like resting from a long day of travel and savoring a good meal with friends, dancing the night away in the ballroom, or attending a musical or theatrical performance. While you’re there, why not meet with other like-minded people to plan a revolution?

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