Les Halles (DC)

Shortly after we got back from our trip, we realized that we hadn't been to a French Brasserie during our time in France. We went to one in DC, when we happened to be downtown. It was very authentic; down to the fact that everyone working there seemed to be French. We got traditional brasserie dishes Steak Frites, steak hache, steak tartare, escargots, soupe a l'ongion. I had the plat minceur "salmon and steamed veggies". A guy came to our table and made the steak tartare tableside. It was pretty fun to watch. He enjoyed putting on a show and knowing he would be "famous" on our blog.

German restaurant in Germany

These dishes are from the local place we ate at with our friends in Germany. I am not sure I love the German food where they are. It seems to be a large piece of breaded fried meat smothered in mushrooms, onions or some other sauce. Everyone seemed to like it but I got soup and a salad (as did my friend Jane) not too exciting. But the potato "logs" are fun. They are somewhat like tater tots. I think they are mashed potatoes extruded through a machine that makes them look somewhat like fried play doh. Pretty tasty though. But if you know me, I had a hard time in Germany because the food didn't seem too healthy. A lot of the dishes reminded me of my Pennsylvania dutch background.

Domku

This is Norweigian, which we were surprised to find. We went for brunch on Sunday it is in the Petworth area of DC which has some cool restuarants but we are kind of afraid to go at night. It is definately on the edge of being a cool area.

Since it was brunch, we thought we'd start with a"bloody Domku". The Domku version of a Bloody Mary made with house made chili vodka. Oh my gosh; it was so spicy I couldn't even drink it. Julian loved it though. I changed to a pomegranate mimosa.

We had the Danish pancake balls; made in a special mold and available only on Sundays. They are yummy fried donuts.






The Norweigian pancake is very much like a crepe. The batter is very eggy and the pancake is quite thin.




Mushroom and Feta Lefse: a different pancake made with potatoes. We had these in Minot. These were wrapped like a blintz and filled with a tasty nushroom filling.




Herring and Potato Pie gotta have some herring right. This was surprisingly light and not fishy at all. I guess I have pickled herring on the brain but this was a creamy sauce with herring and mushrooms inside a flaky pastry. Yummy.

Salmon pyt i panna: cubed potatoes and smoked salmon sauteed like hash and toppd with a poached egg, caviar and a mustardy sause. So simple and so delicious. A perfect dish for a chilly Sunday morning. I want to try this at home.




Swedish meatballs: must try the offical meatballs if you're doing Scandanavian. The creamy suace was delicous on the mashed potatoes but the meatballs were not that exciting.



All in all this was a fun place. A review said to be prepared for terrible service and we were. Our waitress couldn't have been better an our food came out quickly and it was delicious.

Panjhir II

Afghanastan was our next stop. This is one of the best in the area and happens to be owned by the brother of the man who remodeled our basement. So we were excited to see what is like.The restuarant is in a strip mall in Vienna, Virgina; it seems like that is almost all there is to Vienna.

The restuarant was not very crowded at 6:30 when we got there but it began to fill up at about 7:00. The meal started with some very good naan served with a spicy vinegar sauce that is not unlike some that we had in African restaurants. The veggie platter was a great way to taste the different flavors. It had Kadu Chalow (pumpkin), Shalgham Chalow (turnips), and Buranee-e-Kachalow; they are all stewed in some manner of sauce. The pumpkin was absolutely delicious. It had cinnamon and some cardamom. The potatoes were in a creamy sauce. The turnips were so mild I wasn't sure they were turnips. There was a bit of oil around all of them so I am sure that is what made them so tasty. Julian got Muntoo which are traditional dumplings stuffed with lamb. He said they were OK. Chopp e Kabob is grilled lamb that our waiter said is his favorite. It was indeed declared the winner.

The portions aren't huge so we had room for dessert. Gosh-e- Feel which was a pastry with powdered sugar and Firnee a delicious pudding of some sort. I am getting used to the puddings for dessert. It seems like most cultures eat more desserts that are like egg custard than Americans do.

Russia House Restaurant

We finally got through western Europe and are now headed East. Russia House Restaurant in Herndon is owned by a Russian family and has been there for a couple of decades. The decor is very sumptuous seventies elegant style.

We had to have some Vodka and the owner picked for Julian the special vodka that you can't get in state stores. It was actually quite smooth. He and his sister were kind of having a contest to see who could pour the biggest shot without spilling out of the glass. So of course we got a bit more than we wanted.

The appetizer plate had most of the traditional dishes caviar, eggplant caviar, beets, pate, celeriac, mushrooms, potato salad, pickled herring. It was all tasty, if you like mayonnaise. It was what I expected; lots of root veggies, hearty food.

The owner explained to us that Russian peasant food is cabbage, beets, potatoes and the like but the upper class style is more French influenced because the czars brought in French chefs. I had Lososina Alexander which was salmon in a creamy sauce. Their twist on Beef Stroganoff is that they make it with filet mignon. We were also surprised that it wasn't served on noodles. I guess noodles is the Americanization of it. Kulebiaka Po Baranini is a family recipe for a kind of lamb filled pastry. Ground lamb is laced with cinnamon among the other spices and wrapped in a puff pastry; served on a bed of rice. Our last dish was another speciality Duck with Sour Cherries We expected it to be sweet but it wasn't. Fried onions balance the sweetness and even the layer of fat that is on it is yummy.

This was a delicous blast from the past. This is the kind of food I remember going to a "fancy" restaurant with my parents as a kid. The restaurant feels elegant and is a lot of fun. Of course we couldn't pass up blinis and Russian tea for dessert.

Taberna del Alabadero

Julian and I went here for an early anniversary without the kids. It is billed as one of the most romantic restaurants in DC. It is very plush looking; with banquettes and deep red walls. We went at happy hour time because Tapas are half price and that ended up being a good deal. At first we were the only ones there practically but by 5:30 the place had filled up. You could tell that at this time of day it is definately an after work stop for the movers and shakers and for casual meetings.

The sangria is delicious; fruity without being to sweet. Some places it is like fruit punch laced with red wine but here it is a perfect light accompianment to the tapas dishes. After a few we decided to change to a house red by the glass which was so enjoyable that when we looked at the check we realized we should have paid for a bottle. Lucky we had an hour on the metro to recoup. However we stayed quite awhile.

The list is long when you go for tapas. Our favorites were the Bacalo Frito con Ali- Oli y Miel. This is like glamourous fish fingers. A Spanish friend had told us that Ali-Oli is her fathers favorite thing and we can see why. Garlic mayonnaise never fails to disappoint. Just like Aioli in France. YUM

We also enjoyed the Pulpito a la Plancha con Arroz Negro. The octopus is grilled to perfection. It is not at all chewy like it can be sometimes and the wood charred flavor was perfect. The delicous rice as too small a portion for both of us because we liked it so much.

The Patatas Bravas weren't as good as some we have had. The dipping sauce was good put the potatoes needed to be crispier.

We were surprised by the Acietunas Alinadas y Boquenons en Vinagre. Little fishes were pretty good. I thought they would be too salty but that was not the case.

The Spanish cheeses were artistically presented but I think we had tried them all before at Whole Foods. I would have liked to have a list of the chesses but we just guessed what they were from out previous knowledge and by that time we were full and our waither was too preoccupied to be able to give us any information. I think he was just glad to see us go. It had gotten that busy.

We thoroughly enjoyed the restaurant and I would definately recommend it as a happy hour stop.

Carmello's and Little Portugal

We were happy to find a Portugese restaurant close by in Manassas. The atmosphere pleasantly surprised us. We had a little nook all to ourselves which is nice because we discuss everything we are tasting. We tried to only get Portugese sounding dishes; there was a lot of Italian on the menu.

As an appetizer we got Ameijoas a Portugesa. Clams with chorico. The sausage added a mild spiciness to the garlicy sauce. There were a good number of clams and the dish was freshened by the addition of parsley. The clams were fresh and not too gritty, but I could have done wihout the clams and just eaten the sauce with bread.

Carne de Porco a Alentejana. Was an interesting combination for American tastes. We don't usually think of Pork and clams going together but Julia thought it was quite tasty. The sauce was quite garlicy and finished with cilantro. This was a clear winner.

Frango Grelhado a Porto was just OK. It didn't seem particularly interesting. Chicken with port wine, mushrooms and pine nuts. Really more of just a classic continental dish.

Paelha Valenciana was full of seafood and the rice was delicious. We thought it was too big when it came out and then ended up eating almost all of it.

Vieras Fish and veggies this one seemed to be just a continental cuisine type of dish from the eighties in the same vein as the Chicken with Port wine. I am not sure what I was expecting. It was good but nothing remarkable that I would want to try again.

We ended up with dessert and coffee. The kids wanted this ice cream ball thing and we were snookered in because we wanted coffee. It was mass produced but tasty. John got lemon sorbet that was served in a lemon rind cup. That was perfect and refreshing after the meal. But I am still not sure if it was homemade.