Category: Restaurants

La Diplomate

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I finally got a chance to taste La Diplomate. Paris was an amazing experience for me last year. After having tasted a REAL baguette and croissant my palate has been in search of the perfect baguette here in the good ol’ states. I found ONE place that I can pick some up at for home nearby.

It was a hot cloudy day when we went. There were no reservations available for sunday, so we decided to try our luck and wait for a patio seat outside. So french. Other than being a fairly large place on the corner of the street, decor wise, it did remind me of Paris. I loved it.

20130604-141656.jpgWe sat outside, facing the sidewalk, and watching the street. I had an Orangina, and ordered the duck terrine. I was sad that they lacked the standard charcuterie board, which is my go to whenever I go to a french restaurant. But Ben, our wonderful server suggested the duck terrine, which was on point. The boo had the macaroni au gratin, which was made mostly of gruyere, his favorite cheese, and cavatappi noodles.
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Then it started to rain. HARD. Luckily we were finishing up and didn’t have to find an alternate eating situation. The service was great. He even threw in a baguette with my to go food because I loved it so much.

Definitely gotta go back there with someone who will share mussels with me, and again for brunch!

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Daikaya

Hmmm. I’ve been craving ramen a lot lately. Maybe because the weather got cold again. What are you doing mother nature? *shakes fist. We decided to try out Daikaya one cold Sunday.

20130422-091558.jpg Daikaya is located right next to Graffiato in chinatown, DC. Tiny place, and set up like a ramen place is known to be. Side by side seating. Fast paced and buzzing with chatter and slurping. They are very hi tech in there. Seating system is via tablet. Order system is also via handheld.

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Our server was super friendly and helpful. Explained the difference between broths and helped up make all decisions. Even though it was busy, he was very patient. It was a sunday evening, and the wait for 2 wasn’t that bad. Maybe 5-10 minutes. I would guess bigger parties would be more of a hassle. Don’t count on sitting together.

The noodles were great. Perfect texture. I think I picked the wrong broth for myself. The shoyu was great, and very traditional, but I’ve come to realize, I like a lighter broth, like the miso, or I will try the shio next time. The bowls were too big for me, and I got tired of the flavor. The egg in it was delicious! It all was really great at first…but half way through my bowl I was sleepy!

I would definitely go back. Great vibe. Delicious broth.

 

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Izakaya Blue Ocean Restaurant: Ramen

After hearing many great things, and being recommended this place often, I finally got the chance to try Blue Ocean Restaurant. I hear their sushi is GREAT and their ramen is flavorful. But that would be too much for me to judge on at once, so let’s break it down by food. Today we are talking soup. Ramen noodle soup to be exact.

I ordered the soy ramen soup. And that was it. It came out in a perfect portion, for me. Meaning it wasn’t a huge bowl that I was doomed to waste. There was bamboo, a seaweed sheet, scallions, half a boiled egg, and piece of pork. Your standard ramen bowl. No extras to add in were even offered on the menu. Just straight up ramen.

And that was all it needed to be. The noodles were a perfect texture, the soup full of flavor. WOW. I did not expect this from a non dedicated noodle joint. I am happy. Maybe all the other places had too many choices? And I made the wrong choice? Now I have to reevaluate and try ALL the soups every where else. Or maybe not. But yes. It was GOOD. and I am satisfied. Better than Tanpopo for me.

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Hot & Juicy Crawfish

How have I not written about this place before? I’ve gone here a couple times already, to quickly satiate my cravings for crawfish, when my brother can’t whip me up a pot “real quick”. Out of the two places in the area that I’ve been to for crawfish, this place is only second best to my family’s boil.

I took my little there for her birthday the other weekend. It was her first time EVER having crawfish. But being the adventurous eater she is, she opened them like a pro. She even sucked the head for the sweet brains, and loved it. I was a super proud big. They also have crab legs, clams, blue crabs, oysters, calamari…basically its a down and dirty seafood joint.

They take their spices really seriously there, so their “mild” is spicy enough for me. So tread carefully when you are ordering your spice levels. My favorite is their Juicy Cajun flavor for the crawfish. Since it’s not like Ai Toy’s crawfish, I have to dip the meat back in the sauce…but at least it doesn’t taste like pond water!

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Virtue Feed & Grain

Another year older for my ride or die chick Vitya. Due to a long day, and bad allergies, we had to opt out of friday night shenanigans. To make it up to her the OG CFFs (couple friends forever, yes its a real thing) took her to Virtue Feed & Grain. We got in right on time. The chefs were leaving the establishment, and we had one final chance to taste the amazing food before they got new chefs.

Duck LEG confit. Duck anything confit. I love. I ordered. It was perfect. OH and the steak. I had to trade plates half way through my duck, because I wanted to fill the rest of my tummy with steak. The chef brought out ALL the desserts to our table in celebration of her birthday, so we got to try a little bit of everything. Thanks to Killa DEE and her knowing the chef 😉

It was great, and I am nervous about the chef change, but I wish them the best!

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Society Fair

So you might have remembered, I was away in Hawaii for the week of my birthday. So by the time I came back, most of my friends forgot my birthday even happened. Deanna didn’t. She took me out to fill me with my heart’s desire at Society Fair in Old Town. Ever since I left Paris I’ve yearned for that perfect baguette, the best charcuteries/fromage and the beautiful pink wine to rinse it all down with. I’ve tried multiple places for charcuteries, Bistro Cacao, Lyon Hall, Birch & Barley… but nothing really did it justice…until now.

We literally sat there and ate about 4 bowls of baguettes slices with our charcuteries. And the best part? It’s a market, so I can just pick some up for a girl’s night WHEN EVER. Definitely my new favorite market. I even got to pick up a copy of “Little Paris Kitchen” and some TCHO chocolates.

Plus! One of the chefs was nice enough to give me tips on how to roll my baguettes! *sigh HAPPINESS IN FOOD!

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Sansei Seafood Maui

This glorious bowl is the Dungeness Crab Ramen with Asian Truffle Broth, served with cilantro, Thai basil and mild jalapenos, from Sansei Seafood. It was a Tuesday night and this place was PACKED and popping.Had a very hip vibe to it, and it was definitely the place to be. Did I mention they have karaoke and half off sushi on Thursdays?

We took a seat at the sushi bar, where we were helped by Frank, our super friendly sushi chef for the night. He recommended this award winning bowl and it was …amazing. I don’t even know how to describe it, and I am sorry, you will just have to figure out a way to get your hands on some crab, truffle broth ramen. I’m sad that we only had one bowl.

The sushi was good, they had a lot of island specials, but as you probably already know, food is a lot more expensive in Hawaii, and I wasn’t willing to gorge on my usual amount of sushi for 4x more money! Plus there were other unique to the island things I wanted to taste!

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Star Noodle Maui

I don’t know why, but I always want ramen. I think if you’ve read my blog long enough you know that. So while we were in Hawaii, I had to have at least two bowls of ramen. Not knowing anything or anyone familiar with food in Maui, I used the trusty Yelp app, and checked out places with good ratings.

One of the places that got great reviews and had a line out the door was Star Noodle. This got me excited. I was really looking forward to a great bowl of ramen.

Fail. It was aight. And we were HUNGRY and I still didn’t think it was awesome. I got the Hapa Ramen, which is Pork Broth, Roast Pork, Poached Egg, Bamboo Shoots, Kamaboko, Baby Bok Choy, Mayu, Spicy Aka Miso. In theory it sounds all good right? But the broth lacked flavor and depth.

All is not lost. Their pork bun was good, and I think their selection of small plates are worth trying. Boo still thinks my pork belly sliders are way better.

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Aloha Mixed Plate

I think my favorite meal of the day in Hawaii is ALWAYS breakfast. Hawaiians know how to start the day. I love this place. Aloha Mixed Plate is right next to The Old Royal Lahaina Luau, and its outdoor seating, good service, good food. We went there twice that week. I would have all my breakfasts there if I could! The view of the ocean and a nice cold glass of POG juice and I’m a happy camper for the rest of the day.

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JB’s Kitchen in Wailuku

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No eating adventure is complete without finding a mom and pop, hole in the wall place. We opted for a Korean place in Wailuku, on our way to Iao Valley. Set in a bustling city area (compared to the outer circle of the island) theres a tiny parking lot in an iffy looking area. We go into a sticky restaurant/lounge…and saw it in the daylight. Not pretty.

Aesthetics aside, the server was super friendly and playful. Never expect quick and speedy service like in the mainland. No one is in a hurry in Hawaii…no one. Aside from that, they got creative with it, and made a kalbi burger. The idea was good, and in general it was a good burger…but definitely didn’t taste like kalbi. However, this is something I will attempt on my own one day.

tonkatsu

I had the chicken tonkatsu. Nom Nom. It was pretty good, cheap and a good portion. And cheap is a big factor because food out there is definitely about 4 times as much as it is at home!

This place had all good reviews, but we weren’t hungry enough to get the full korean bbq experience!

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