Heritage India

There are many Indian restaurants in the DC area. We were looking for Northern Indian to start with and found this restaurant through the Post. The review cautioned that the food is very good but the sevice can be a bit slow; so we were wary. When we told our waiter, who also seemed to be a manager of some sort, about our little project he was more than happy to help. He steered us toward the best examples of Northern Indain cuisine.

There actually were some interesting yogurt beverages here. The yogurt drinks (lassi) can be ordered sweet or salty. The kids went with sweet and mango sweet. They are too filling to be a beverage in my opinion but would be a refreshing snack; somewhat like a tangy smoothie. Julian got a Taj Majal beer light and tasty with the spicy food. I chose and Austrailian Viognier to go with my meal.

The appetizers suggested were a great introduction; a sampling of different tastes and textures. That was the first thing we noticed about the food. The preparations seem to be all about contrast not only of flavors; spicy and sweet, but also textures; smooth dishes always had a crunchy element.

Bhelpuri, Dhai Bhalle and Gogappas. The Belpuri is like rice cripsies mixed with chickpeas and vermicelli noodles tossed with a tangy spicy dressing topped with peanuts for crunch. Immediately we notice that the flavor combinations are completely different from what Americans are used to. The yogurt sauce on the Dahi Balle is a very nice cooling element to the dish. By far the most unusual are the Golgappas. It is a puffy dumpling with a chickpea mixture. Each dumpling has its own spoon. You pour sauce into a hole in the top of the dumpling and put the whole thing in your mouth at once. Our server was amused at how we were trying to be neat when eating it and making a mess in the process. He decided to help us out. I would have loved to see that on video.






We had heard that the butter chicken (murgh makhani) is the best in DC and it did not disappoint. It seems simple chicken in a butter and tomato sauce. It is perfectly spiced: a bit of heat with a great balance. Julian got tandoor lamb chops which are tender and a bit spicy. He chose not to go with the Vindaloo because our server said it is too hot for him and he should be used to it because he is Indian after all. John got Dum Ka Murgh is chicken with a yogurt Garam Masala sauce. Not too spicy just delicious. My Aloo Gobi Masala (Potatoes and Cauliflower) is quite spicy. I needed yogurt sauce from time to time to cool my tongue. The rice accompaniment is delicious; topped with a sprinkle of golden raisins and peanuts for crunch.


We try to save room for dessert and we barely had room. We got Gulab Jamoon: milk dumplings in a rose water honey syrup, normally not my type of thing, but it is delicious and not as heavy as it may sound. We also tried the Shahi Tukra (rice pudding) very fancy served with a silver leaf.

Romanian restuarant in Atlanta

Cindy my friend from college, who happens to be Julian's cousin, heard about this Romanian place from her students. They said the food is just like their grandmothers make and that the disco starts at 9:30 or so. Woo hoo. We got there and the place was packed with a baptism party but they let us in anyway.

We started with Transylvanian wine "Vampire Red" no joke. It was terrible. The beer was better. Unfortunately I misplaced the menu of what we had so I will wing it. The waitress was so sweet. She seemed truly surpised that we wanted to try the authenic Romanian food.

Tripe soup and roasted eggplant dip. The soup was OK but tripe is not my thing. The eggplant presentation is interesting no? It tasted pretty much like what I make when I make it at home.












Romanian skirt steak smothered in onions and mashed potoates. Julia said it was very good. Not dry at all.



John's brains and fries. He said they were OK but couldn't eat them all. The taste was good but the texture was weird.




Sausages and something?








Sausages and white bean puree. The beans were so tasty. I think these cultures make everything so simple and so yummy by using butter etc.



This dish was basically mushroom stroganoff served with polenta and topped with three huge scoops of sour cream. It was so rich.




Stuffed cabbage leaves and not sure what else.





Desserts yummm! There was vanilla cream inside puffy dough layers. It was so fluffy and laced with lemon. The cake ball was filled with cream and topped with raspberry sauce. The kids inhaled them. We barely got a taste.

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.