Yechon in Annandale

Surprisingly busy, sadly underwhelming. For the length of our wait for a table, you would imagine that it was something amazing. It was decent but there are other place that are better for different dishes. 

 At least there are tons of pan chan.

Beer and a slice of hamul pajeon (seafood scallion pancake) with beer is a pretty good start.

 The hubs ordered japchae...not sure why...not super impressed and not worth the price.

I picked the wrong fish to have grilled. Should have stuck with mackerel. 

The kalbi was only so-so and overpriced. 

Only so-so and overpriced with too long of a wait. Boo Yechon, I doubt I'll get the hubs to try you again.

Finally Putting My Pottery Barn Catering Sets to Good Use

Amusingly I found out that my silverware catering set had two sets of forks and one set of spoons. Sigh. On the bright side, we always need more forks when entertaining. 

Grilled chicken with a cheese plate, shrimp cocktail, salad and Costco pepperoni pizza.

My brother and his family stopped by for the night with us on their way back north from visiting my sister-in-law's brother. I only get to see them once a year if I'm lucky, so it was a really nice surprise. Even we couldn't host them in the style we would like, such as beds for everyone, it was a great opportunity for my brother and his family to meet my husband's family from Japan. The kids keep growing faster than the speed of light, but it's a pleasure to see them becoming young adults who unfortunately tower over their aunt. 

 The hubs has been actively expanding his grilling repetoire. 

Before my brother's family departed, we prepared a cheeseburger lunch. The watermelons we have been buying lately are incredibly sweet and delicious. I put kimchee and Kewpie mayonnaise on my cheddar burger with sliced onion and tomato, and it was awesome.

 Spanish tortilla breakfast

After many mornings of delicious breakfasts cooked by my mother and sister-in. -law, I wanted to make something different for them to try. I made a Spanish tortilla with potato, onion and egg, plus mixed greens salad to go with the shrimp cocktail, blueberries and toast.

In addition, I made a chilled corn pottage soup with leftover grilled soy sauce corn on the cob.

We have been eating very well during August. I'm almost a little afraid to see how much weight I've gained.

Japanese In-Laws Are Visiting and Cooking Fabulous Meals

My husband's family is visiting our new house. I love our new place, and now know it comfortably fits all of us with some room to spare. While we are happy to see them, unfortunately one of the cats needs to work on her hostessing skills and not pee in inappropriate places. The in-laws have been recovering from jet lag and yet my mother-in-law and sister-in-law have been cooking up a storm in the kitchen. 

 Delicious and nutritious breakfast with miso soup, rice, salad, kimchee and tamagoyaki.

 Salad with slices of charcoal-grilled ribeye and aged beef plus pork.

Hubs went to the special meat butcher in Fair City Mall to pick up the meat.

Grated fresh garlic with soy sauce is a fantastic dipping sauce.

Japanese Breakfast 

Potatoes with tofu, kombu and small fish. Kelp with yellow peppers and cucumber with ponzu sauce.

 Pork Shabu Shabu with salad and sliced heirloom tomatoes. 

 Wagyu Beef with kimchee and green beans.

Beef was so soft. One of the kitties was even lucky enough to have some handouts from grandma.

Soba maki sushi with egg and cucumber, tempura onion and carrot.

 Shrimp tempura.

 Costco steak dinner

The inlaws went on a field trip to Costco and came back with gorgeous steaks, which the hubs grilled over charcoal, plus salad, kimchee and kabocha simmered in dashi and soy sauce. We totally could have shared half of the steaks and been fine, but this was a nice American indulgence considering the price of beef and all other groceries in Japan. I made it through half of my steak and my sister-in-law also had some leftover.

 Breakfast of champions

Omelets, salad, rice, miso soup, simmered kabocha, kimchee, and leftover steak sliced and topped with sliced scallions and ponzu. Waste not, want not and sooo delicious.

Duangrats in Seven Corners

Duangrats has a decent amount of parking and a very nicely decorated restaurant space. This was our first time, so we chose to try a few of our favorite dishes to see how it compares. Flavor-wise it was good, spice level was nice, although price-point was a bit high.

 Hubs loves a tom yum gai or tom kha gai soup, and this was nice but not earthshaking.

 Larb Gai

Minced chicken with lime, fish sauce, chilies, cilantro and red onion.

Good but I really like larb gai, even average ones.

 Ka Prow

Spicy chicken with broccoli. Ok, but not my favorite dish. 

Flounder in a spicy chili sauce

Flounder was decent, but I prefer a deepfried rockfish with chilies, garlic and ginger. In all, it's a nice space, good service.

GRK is Good but No Greek Deli

I'll admit it, the line out of Greek Deli was too long so I opted to try out GRK instead. I'm sure there's a number of other lunchseekers in the area who have done the same thing. It was good to try it out and the ample seating space is definitely a draw, but the taste doesn't hold a candle to the gyros at Greek Deli.

 Great packaging and I dig the options of chicken, pork or lamb/beef gyros plus choice of sauce. 

I'm positive GRK will do well. I just don't hope it does so well that it hurts the small businessman a few storefronts away.

Lamb/Beef Gyro

Hands-down, this is a decent gyro, and definitely more ample and satisfying than the Greek joint in International Square plus Greek Deli gyro. That being said, it doesn't move me in the same way that the Greek Deli gyro does.  

Greek Deli Gyro

I like the cucumber, onion and tons of tzatziki sauce. Flavor is great, and the other dishes on offer at Greek Deli are really good, almost large enough for two meals.

Shake Shake Dupont Circle

Some days my husband and I attend the same event at the same think tank. Leaving one of the think tanks together one day, we commiserated that we had both missed lunch. Debating between stopping in for kabobs at Moby Dick or burgers at Shake Shack, we opted for the second choice. 

, 

Double cheeseburger with Shack Sauce with a side of fries.

The burger is delicious, although incredibly fattening. The fries were nice but not extremely noteworthy. The hubs prefers the fries at Five Guys. This salt and grease bomb was satisfying although salt coma-inducing. I don't advise having one when you have a full slate of work to do in the afternoon, but a little indulgence now and then is very enjoyable.

Grilled Ribeye with Corn, Tomato and Fruit Salad

The title pretty much sums up what we had for dinner. After a luxuriously delightful Saturday morning where I woke up, turned over and slept until I felt fully rested, I made breakfast/brunch, and did a wee bit of gardening before we headed to Old Town Alexandria for the hubs' haircut appointment. We managed to renew our Costco membership and survive the crowds, and came home with our spoils. Buying in bulk is interesting, but we definitely have much more room and storage to accommodate all of extra units. 

The hubs grilled the ribeye on the charcoal grill, and I cooked the corn and sliced the fruits and vegetables.

With a mixture of grated fresh garlic and soy sauce to dip the steak into, it was delightful.