Corduroy

By Matthew | September 22, 2011

Honestly, Corduroy was hard to find.  Obfuscated by construction on one side and an abandoned building on the other, we passed it twice while our heads were on a swivel.  Once we entered, we were glad we found it.  Corduroy possesses a chic, modern interior accented by crisp, clean geometric lines.  The place has a very well structured feel to it.

Upon arriving, drinks were ordered.  I, the Sazerac; Huyen, the Lemongrass Cocktail.  After an unfortunate incident with a floating fruit fly in my glass, the freshly re-prepared libation hit the spot.  Their Sazerac captured that essential balance of sweetness/bitterness with a pleasantly subdued anise undertone.  Excellent.  The same cannot be said of their Lemongrass Cocktail.  While it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t outstanding either.  It was just good.  Which is good.  Sweet, straightforward, and simple; but we wished it had more lemongrass flavor.

The Noriko’s Shiso Salad was a pleasant enough experiment with raw bonito and shiso.  There’s a fine line in my book of something “tasting like the sea” and tasting fishy so one could go either way with this one.  This dish fell on the fishy side for me.  The other appetizer was a cold tuna tartar floated on a warm sea of tomato jelly essence.  The temperature contrast was happily surprising as well as the unusual flavor combination.  The slight added texture of the occasional crunch of sea salt was appreciated.

The softshell crab entree arrived with fanfare as two enormous softshell crabs dominated the plate.  While good and tasty, Huyen felt they were somehow lacking contrast.  When you come to a fancy place like Corduroy, you’re usually expecting some kind of twist or uniqueness injected into your experience in each plate.  We gave the softshells a grade of B.  My entree was the wagyu beef strip steak.  The cut of beef Corduroy chose didn’t do the wagyu heritage justice as the tenderness was lost while the flavor of all that marbling was smothered under a rich sauce.  Now to be fair, it was a wonderful, tasty, good and salty/sweet sauce, and I enjoyed every bite.  It’s nice to find a chef who isn’t afraid of salt.  Oh, and just because you serve a great cut of steak doesn’t mean you get to skimp by with unremarkable sides like green beans and mashed potatoes.  Yawn.

Dessert was a peach tarte tatin with a peach “creamsicle”.  Outstanding.  I have no idea how they created this throwback to the infamous orange creamsicle, but it’s worth going back just to have it again.

All dishes were plated cleanly and with an artistic eye.

Service was slow at times; but overall professional, courteous, and confident.

We’d go back.

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Founding Farmers

By Matthew | May 21, 2011

Huyen and I walked into Founding Farmers on a whim this Saturday.  Located inside the IMF this is a well decorated restaurant, combining a new modernism with a farm themed style.

The brunch menu was placed before us, but we were in the mood for lunch.  After ordering an excellent beer from their extensive and impressive beer menu, we decided to just split three dishes between the two of us.

Bacon wrapped, cheese stuffed dates may be cliche now; but they’re still damn good.  Their clam chowder was a little on the light side for my tastes (read: thin and watery) which translated into a light flavor (read: thin and watery); however, the crusty bread served alongside was outstanding, boasting a crunchy exterior which brought a wonderfully charred flavor to every bite.

The chicken pot pie left us with mixed feelings: While it had a great base to it, with good sized vegetable chunks, all well seasoned; the crust atop was too bready and not “pie-like” enough.  It was good, just not what we were looking for.  Oh and it should have been listed as Vegetable Pot Pie on the menu because there was only one piece of chicken hiding underneath all that bread.

The only annoyance was our main meal arrived before our appetizer.

We’ll be back for brunch.  But this time we’ll get reservations.  It was packed.

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Cheong-Wong

By Matthew | March 8, 2011

We were primarily intrigued with Cheong-Wong due to its location.  You see it’s located inside a restaurant.  A Chinese restaurant inside of another restaurant.  We’re not talking about a separate set of tables where there’s a different menu.  We’re talking about a full on, sectioned off, separate host/hostess’ podium, distinctly separate menu restaurant.  You see Cheong-Wong is inside Malibu Grill, the churrasco-style eatery off of Fairlakes Pkwy.  Not only is the restaurant’s location slightly schizophrenic but so is the decor.  The structural columns are dressed up to resemble tacky palm trees while mispainted walls and accents vie to equally disrupt your attention.

While the service was typical of most Chinese restaurants (sharp, curt, to-the-point, no fussing about), I decided to order something that wasn’t typical.  Something from the “real” Chinese menu.  When my crispy, spicy pork chops with garlic arrived (complete with all of its boney, fatty, salty garlic flavors), I wished I ordered from the Americanized menu.  When my wife’s Hunan beef made its appearance, half of it was still ice cold from when they pulled it out the freezer.  The pasty sauce still tasted of cornstarch.  The complimentary dessert didn’t improve things.  While the bean-based dessert possessed an admittedly pleasant nutty aroma, the filthy bowl and the bad water aftertaste turned my stomach.

Maybe I should have just stuck with my Diet Coke.

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Maple Ave. Restaurant

By Matthew | February 9, 2011

A cute little restaurant now stands where the El Salvadorian eatery once stood along 123.  It’s a nice location, smack in the middle of Old Vienna, easily accessible by foot if you’re walking along the shops (which might be the preferred way of getting there as parking is sparse).  From the outside it almost looks like a diner, but once you step inside it’s apparent that it is what it says it is, a restaurant. Befitting its small size, the focus of Maple Ave. Restaurant is small plates (however, regular sized portions/entrees are also available).

The interior is sparsely decorated, the only standout is a bizarre 80’s dance mix being piped overhead.  Being that my wife and I were there for brunch Sunday morning, the choice of tunes was a distraction to the otherwise pleasant atmosphere.

The service was generally excellent throughout with the waitresses being attentive, yet not overbearing; giving status updates on our food when it became noticeable that it was taking too long to arrive from the kitchen.  As a note to that point, it turned out the reason our food was taking so long was that the waitress forgot to put in our order.  That error was rescued by a generous offer of a free appetizer: brussel sprout soup.

While brussel sprout soup may sound more like a punishment than a treat, it was a nice gesture.  A consistency and color like thick, creamy split pea soup unfortunately masked most of the flavor.  While a nice brussel sprout bitterness made itself known in the finish, it became overly dull.  I would order no more than a cup next time.

I decided to start my brunch with a poinsetta: a cranberry and Champagne cocktail.  Good flavor but it seemed that the Champagne bottle was left open a little too long as my drink was a little flat.  Their coffee was quite good.

Even though this place is known for their small plates, we ordered from their brunch menu, which was full sized.  Their baguette French toast had great texture but barely perceptible flavor.  The sausages that accompanied it were tasty, with a pleasant snap as you bit into them, but I can get tasty sausages at most breakfast places.  So nothing special here.

Huyen’s sweet potato hash possessed an incredible flavor: multilayered elements of maple syrup, oregano, the sweetness of the potato; all distinct yet balanced.  Huyen thought it was a bit on the greasy side; I, however, felt it was a minor issue.

Rounding out the whole experience were decent cups of coffee throughout.

We’ll probably go back for dinner to see what Maple Ave.’s signature feature, small dishes, have to add to this mediocre impression.

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Pho Deluxe

By Matthew | December 17, 2010

My wife and friends decided on pho one chilly night and decided on this unassuming, little restaurant in Fairfax.  It was cute and clean although trying to be trendy with their crazy colors and little doodads decorating the tables.  It was an average crowd (I guess) for a Friday night.

The service was prompt, as is usually the case in these places.  Straight to the point.  Gimmie your order.  All business.  Everything we ordered was fine.  The summer roll with pork and shrimp was as good and fine as a summer roll with pork and shrimp could be.  Crispy spring rolls and “Chopped pork, shredded pork, pork loaf” were pleasant enough (although the pork was a bit bony).

Two faults with this restaurant: 1) The che ba mau was served in this cocktail/hurricane glass which made it quite difficult to stir the ice with everything and mix it all up.

2) We ordered the following item off the menu: hot wings.  Now, when you read “hot wings”… what do you think of?  Yes.  I agree.  Tiny little chicken drumsticks and wings that are in hot wing sauce.  When the waiter brought them over, he must have been confused by my friend’s question, “Are they spicy?” because he just kinda stared and said, “No.”

“But they’re hot wings, right?”

“Yeah, but that’s because their hot.  Like in temperature.”

…what…?

“They’re hot wings because they’re hot, like in temperature.”

…wow…  Did that really happen?

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Chadwicks

By Matthew | December 9, 2010

Chadwicks, from the outside, appears to be what you’d want from a waterside Alexandria restaurant: cozy, inviting, all with a touch of authenticity.  When you go inside, it almost succeeds; however, it comes off a little too country (almost on the verge of a Cracker Barrel).  While the view overlooking the Potomac River is gorgeous, there are sadly too few windows to offer that experience to everyone.

Everything else is what you’d expect: the food is decent, the service is competent, and the price is about right (for the location).  The only thing that stands out to me is the drink specials at brunch: Worth the trip alone.

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Palena

By Matthew | January 31, 2010

It’s hard to describe Palena’s decor.  The tiled cafe/bar area seems separate (in design and style) from the rest of the establishment.  As you make your way back to the dining room, an old European feel makes itself known.  Now take this atmosphere, couple it with a touch of the 1970’s carpet and upholstery, the real candles, subdued lighting, and rustic furniture centerpiece, and you have a vibe that seems authentic Italian in nature.

The food seems to run the full gamut of European fare, from gnocchi to consomme.  Everything is presented beautifully and with careful attention to detail.  Speaking of consomme, theirs is dazzling.  Bright and vibrant vegetables (carrots, celery, some kind of leafy vegetable that I didn’t recognize) just pop out at you, both in taste and visual appeal.  The depth of flavor, underlined with peppery notes and wee-little morel mushrooms is just outstanding.  I wish I could say the same about Huyen’s ceviche.  While appealing to the eye, we couldn’t taste any fish.  Whatever they sauced it up with just clobbered any subtlety that lurked herein.

The nuance of the spinach based sauce of the Dover sole was also obliterated by its other components.  It tasted good (and the fish was excellent), it’s just that I couldn’t find any hint of the spinach.  The gnocchi with lamb meatballs was outstanding.  Each bite would give just enough resistance before melting away in your mouth.  Best gnocchi I’ve ever had, bar none.  While the beef filet was cooked to perfection (its rich and savory red wine sauce complements it beautifully) my half chicken was over salted, almost to the point of unpleasantness.  The saving grace of the dish was the seared foie gras; cooked just enough, yet retaining that essential pate flavor.

It’s important to note that throughout this whole time, the service was spot on: Attentive while not being overbearing.

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Monterey Bay Fish Grotto

By Matthew | March 31, 2009

What first drew my attention to Monterey Bay Fish Grotto was its dining room.  This glowing, blue cube that juts out from the side of the PricewaterhouseCoopers building in Tyson’s Corner is hard to miss, especially at night.  The main entrance is an office building so it feels a bit unusual to walk past a security desk and such; however, once inside the restaurant proper you are greeted with dark, ocean blues; sleek, sharp lines; and a very contemporary atmosphere.  The bar, situated behind the reception area, overlooks the majesty of Tyson’s Corner’s shopping areas.  Through the enormous glass wall you can relax and enjoy inventive cocktails all the while observing the shoppers coming-and-going, to-and-fro from Tyson’s Galleria and Tyson’s Corner Center.  At night the lounge takes on a nice, modern feel.

While Monterey Bay Fish Grotto has a nice bar, it’s the restaurant part that I was interested in.  And what better way to visit a seafood restaurant several times in a short time span than during Lent?  The dining room maintains the clean, crisp feel of the bar when you walk in and throws in a cozy warmth for good measure.  The booths are spacious and comfy while the tables are well spaced, imparting a sense of privacy.

There’s a lot of choices on the menu, each with several methods of preparation.  I guess with the sometimes slow pace of the service this gives you time to read the whole menu…  :P   Usually I grow a little concerned when I see something like this.  I’ve seen too many places spread themselves too thin; a case of quantity over quality I suppose; however, the food we had there was good.  Their appetizers are inventive and beautiful.  I’m particularly fond of the ahi tempura and tuna tartare three ways; however, don’t neglect the special soups that they occasionally have on rotation.

The fish dishes I’ve had there (halibut and Chilean sea bass – or Patagonian toothfish as fish savvy markers would have you just as soon forget) have been solid performers, both in flavor and temperature (nothing was over or undercooked).  Their scallops were nicely done; cooked just through and finished in a little butter sauce that allowed the natural sweetness to shine through.

The dessert menu is pretty basic, which was a bit of a disappointment considering the effort and originality that went into the rest of the menu.  The steaming chocolate latte was cute, it being a play on words (a chocolate souffle served in a cappuccino mug with a Chantilly cream “froth” and chocolate sculpted “steam.”)

Bottom line: I’m -very- picky about fish, but I have definitely put this place in my rotation when I want fresh seafood.

P.S.  Our latest excursion to Monterey Bay Fish Grotto was motivated by Huyen’s craving for oysters that day.  After calling several places, we stopped in for dinner.

Being from Louisiana, where raw oysters are served, steamed ones are not far behind – so my disappointment must have been apparent when the waiter responded to our request with, “Steamed?  What do you mean steamed?  Let me check.”

Oh geez.  Now it’s going to evolve into this gigantic, big ordeal.  It didn’t matter how many times we assured the waiter that it was no problem.  He promised to set out and fully research the issue.  I’m sure my embarrassment was evident on my face when the general manager came over to further inquire about our request.  “Is this something you want in a broth?”  We attempted to explain why we assumed they would serve steamed oysters (see remark nine sentences ago).  Off she went to, yes, fully research the issue.

Now don’t get me wrong.  I love good service.  It’s hard to find and impossible to keep.  I just don’t like causing scenes in restaurants.  So when the OWNER of the ENTIRE Monterey Bay Fish Grotto FRANCHISE stepped out of the kitchen and sat down at our table to discuss our request, I was shocked, embarrassed and honored (and struggling to balance all three from playing across my face at the same time).  A very down-to-earth and gracious guy, Glenn Hawley came up with several suggestions on how to get what we wanted, eagerly describing each possible method of preparation.

It was very refreshing to see not only a chef, but the owner, exhibit such passion and enthusiasm for cooking and the creative process of a new culinary challenge.

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Villa Mozart

By Matthew | February 19, 2009

A rare gem, Villa Mozart manages to combine the best of a downtown fine dining experience with the personal attention and service of a local eatery.

This unassuming little house off of Chain Bridge Road in Old Fairfax hides a crisp, neat dining area appointed with modern furnishings and contemporary accents.  While the size of the dining room is small, that aspect lends a warm and cozy character to the place.  A light touch of contemporary, light music (all in Italian) and a working wine shelf (so many these days are for display only) round out the atmosphere.  I need to point out that, every time we’ve been there, it’s been on a weeknight.  While my impressions may not give an accurate portrayal of how the restaurant is run during peak hours, I urge those interested in giving the place a try to follow our lead.

On our latest visit, maybe one or two other tables were filled, allowing the waiter to give us his full attention.  There have been very few places where I have no complaints about the service.  Either my companions and I are left wondering where/when the entree or dessert will make its appearance known, or our heads are on a swivel looking for someone to refill our beverage.  I’m sure those of you reading this are also familiar with the other end of the spectrum: The Incessant Hovering Waiter.  The Incessant Hovering Waiter (IHW for short) is refilling your drinks every time you take a sip or is asking “How is everything?” every ten minutes.  Our waiter was none of these.  He was close to perfect.  (I am hesitant to call him full blown perfect just because I know when ya’ll go there, toting along your high expectations, -something- will go wrong.  It always does.)

Now I’m not one to discern the differences between Northern Italian cuisine (which this restaurant boasts as its specialty) and “plain, ‘ole” Italian, but if Villa Mozart is an authentic representation, I’m a newly converted fan (although it seems to me to be more of an Italian/haute cuisine fusion).  The skill and creativity of executive chef Andrea Pace’s creations stand out in such creative dishes as the citrus and lobster salad with a tomato foam.  Although hesitant to give it a try, I was quickly won over.  Each bite brought the individual flavors of the citrus (orange, grapefruit, etc.) together to highlight the natural sweetness and texture of the lobster.

Finding turbot on the menu was a nice surprise, it being a fish you don’t normally see (well, it being a fish -I- don’t normally see).  Paired with celery root puree, baby veg, and roasted fingerling potatoes; it made for a hearty meal that left you satisfied, yet feeling as if you’ve eaten lightly.  One note on the plating of this dish: It came out “deconstructed”-like with swoops and smears of the sauce.  I don’t have a problem with this style at all; however, it was a brown sauce which, when paired with the white, flaky fish, gives the impression of mud from the river on your fresh catch of the day.

Huyen’s plate, on the other hand, was both delicious AND beautiful!  A roasted rack of lamb so perfectly cooked that your knife was not needed.  We had to resist the temptation to pick the individual chops by hand to get at every last bit.  (Okay.  We failed.  But it was worth it!)  Each bite brought layers of flavor, each one building upon the last; yet not clobbering the natural flavor of the lamb.

Does the idea of olive oil and chocolate mousse on the same plate freak you out?  It does to me.  Or at least it did until I tried Mozart’s olive oil chocolate mousse.  A tender dollop of moist, rich, creamy, chocolately goodness with a subtle fruity undertone from the olive oil.  Contrast that with their apple strudel.  Arriving like two oversized eggrolls, the simplicity of this dessert betrays itself with apples that still retain their texture, through a satisfying, crispy filo dough jacket.  Accompanied with a sour cream ice cream that is as velvety smooth as it sounds, and you have something I -will- order again when I return.

And I -will- return.

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Old Angler’s Inn

By Matthew | February 18, 2009

This past weekend we went to Old Angler’s Inn, a beautiful little cottage buried deep in the woods just off the Potomac river.  With the last vestiges of snow melting on the ground, this warm, cozy bungalow fit the bill.  Old “English” decor, a crackling fireplace, and snug leather sofas greet you as you arrive.  So do the wait staff who can barely speak English, and when they do, slur and mumble their words so badly that I practically had to ask each of them to repeat themselves.

The 2009 D.C. Zagat guide describes the experience as “overpriced.”  Boy, were they on the money.  This was another Restaurant Week excursion so keeping in mind my theory of service (see my previous post), this place just didn’t care.  There was no Restaurant Week menu.  We had to ask (and re-ask, and re-ask) the waiter about what was offered.  With just two options for appetizers (watercress soup & Caesar salad) and two options for entrees (braised short ribs & salmon) I thought they’d be well executed.  What we received was above average Cheesecake Factory fare (hey, I like Cheesecake Factory).  But if this is representative of their effort, I sure hope all the other diners I saw there tonight weren’t paying full price (up to $61/person according to Zagat!!!).

Short Ribs

Short Ribs plopped on a plate

To add insult to injury, the food was just plopped on the plate, all crowded up into a corner, with barely any effort paid to presentation.  While the display was unappetizing, it -did- taste good.

Props to the creme brulee as well.

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