DGS in Dupont

I have been interested in trying out DGS in Dupont for ages. Finally, I made a date with two fellow food friends to check out the upscale deli menu. 

The Mensch $7 (regularly $11)

I arrived a little earlier and grabbed a drink at the back bar while waiting for my friends. From 5-7 pm at the bar, they have a happy hour special on some sandwiches and drinks. 

The daily pickle plate $5

Half sours, dill pickles, bread and butter pickles, pickled cauliflower, pickled egg, pickled mushrooms.

Whitefish salad with radish and capers on a toasted Montreal bagel.

DGS Reuben with sauerkraut and Swiss Cheese.

Really delicious. The quality of the corned beef is very good, and the meat is cut thick.

Wanting to try a taste of each, one of my friends and I shared halves.

Shakshouka
This version is a bit prettier and different than the one I tried in Tel Aviv. The sour cream is also not really needed. The mix of tomatoes with cumin is savory but not spicy.
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It's not traditional Jewish deli food, but it's done very well, and delicious. I look forward to trying the 1/2 pound corned beef or pastrami sandwich in the future. I think my husband would need to order more than one sandwich to feel full, but it was the perfect size for my friends and me. Love the space, but beware if you're seated near a boisterous table like we were, the hard surfaces do not absorb noise that well.

Overwood Brunch

We went to Overwood for brunch with one of his friends. The brunch menu has been changed, taking off my favorite guilty pleasure, the fried chicken breast with biscuit and mushroom sage gravy. They added a few new items. 

Fried Green Tomato Stack with tempura shrimp

Poached eggs and hollandaise sauce on pulled pork and roasted potatoes.

Overwood breakfast, two poached eggs with asiago grits, bacon and toast.

Blueberry ricotta pancakes

Hong Kong Palace

While I was out of the country, the hubs had a dinner meeting with an acquaintance who works in China and New York. They went to our nearby Sichuan restaurant and tried a number of different dishes. After I returned home, we satisfied a spice craving by heading to another Sichuan restaurant, Hong Kong Palace.

Beef and Beef Tendon

Super spicy with a mala numbing and freshness from the cilantro.

Dan Dan Noodles

This version did not have as much spicy sauce underneath as usual. A little on the dry side but still good.

Pork with green peppers and nuts.

Beef and vegetables in spicy sauce.

This was a little watery and not as spicy as normal. Usually this is my favorite dish.

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HKP usually has nice and spicy Sichuan dishes, at a lower price than Sichuan Pavilion on K Street, and closer to our home than the Sichuan restaurants in Rockville, MD. Hopefully this visit was an anomaly. 

Kintaro Restaurant in Georgetown

I really enjoy good sushi, yet often feel like it is tough to find authentic sushi at an affordable price. It was exciting to hear that the old Chez Mama-san space in Georgetown close to the Key Bridge was now the site of a new Japanese spot. I saw a review of Kintaro in a post by a fellow mabo tofu afficiando and had to give it a try. Kintaro specializes in sushi and ramen. Given the no reservations policy, I figured lunch time would be best. With my boss in tow, we headed over to try out the lunch menu.

Chirashi  Sushi with salad and miso soup ($14)

The rice was flavored well, and the fish was all excellently prepared. This was a most impressive chirashi at a very reasonable price.

Miso Ramen with salad ($10)

The tiniest sushi counter, fit for two people. 

The seating area is quite small with the tables close together. There is one sushi chef and a chef in the kitchen to handle the cooked dishes and ramen. Two ladies serve the front of the restaurant with one lady working in the kitchen. For the price, the sushi was really very good quality. Notably, I do not think the restaurant has a liquor license yet, and the air conditioning is a bit weak in the hot summer days.

Farragut West Lunches

With a super busy week, I stepped out twice to pick up lunch.

While in Australia, I really enjoyed the lamb dishes.

Greek Deli Roasted Lamb with orzo, green beans and gigante beans.

Greek Deli lunch comes with a small salad. There was enough food for two lunches.

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Axian Italian Combo sandwhich.

Gom Ba Woo

Some days I feel like it's just too hot to eat soon dubu. My husband would disagree with me, and loves to eat Japanese curry in the dead of summer. We had recently tried out a new Korean restaurant I found online, Gom Ba Woo. It's located next to "Jiggle Jiggle BBQ". When the husband was recently craving some Korean food, we headed to GBM. 

Soju and pan chan, a nice way to start out.

Steamed Mandu

I love the flavor, and the method of steaming on this steam pan. 

Yuk Gae Jang

Spicy beef soup with egg, vegetables and noodles.

Cabbage and pork noodle soup.

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The staff is really lovely and the atmosphere is very homey and nice. The one downside of the small dining room, is that one loud table with a screaming child and parents who ignored the screeching, can disturb the atmosphere.

Chasin Tails Late Lunch

Catching up with the hubs and a good friend after returning from the trip, we went to Chasin Tails in Falls Church for a late lunch. I had heard from another friend that the quality was not quite the same. 

Beers come in a large and larger size.

Raw Oysters 

One of the two dozen we ordered was in less than pristine and not quite edible condition.

Bags of crawfish in hot Whole Shebang sauce.

The corn was quite nice, and sausages mixed with the spicy sauce is very tasty.

Beignets with fruit sauce.

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Following the boozy lunch, we stopped in Old Town to pick up some coffee, cupcakes and other odds and ends. 

Chocolates from Grape and Bean.

Back Home in the Kitchen

I was gone for 10 days, which is the longest time since we were married that my husband and I have been apart. We go grocery shopping together every week, so I knew he could take care of procuring foodstuffs for himself. When I came home though, he admitted he was useless at preparing food for himself every day. 

After a long work week, we went to the grocery store to stock up our barren refrigerator. Instead of heading out to a restaurant in the rainy weather, I set about cooking up something nice for my hubs. With all of the rainy, I think DC summer weather was colder than Brisbane winter...

Roasted tri-tip steak with baby yellow potatoes and carrots.

Cauliflower with cheese sauce.

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Morning Menu

Bagel topped with tomato and mozzarella cheese, and bagel topped with bacon and fried egg.

Kaz Sushi Friday Lunch Special

After a long day of flying, I arrived back home to the welcome sight of my husband. After passing through LAX, which is just a horrible airport, Dulles with the gleaming white and airy windows was a welcomed sight. I went straight back to work the next day.

Friday's Special Bento: Beef with Sushi

Friday my boss had a 2-hour meeting with other organizers for the Shin-Shun Matsuri that is held in January each year. My job, order and pickup bentos for the lunch meeting. Fortunately the lady working at the hostess desk is super nice and always has my order already packed up and ready to go.

Home Cooking in Brisbane

I've been to Brisbane twice before this visit for the wedding, so there was no need to set out on any touristy expeditions. Instead, as an organizing whirling dervish whose skills were honed in my MBA program, I was there to roll up my proverbial sleeves and help out the bride and groom. Let's just say that opposites attract. My friend is loaded to the hilt with Excel worksheets and lists. My friend's fiance is well, good-intentioned, but neither known for timeliness nor effective at combating procrastination. There were photos to print out and put into frames, errands to run, and ceremony rehearsal to be walked through.

There was also lots of lovely wintertime foods to be enjoyed. I was remiss in taking photos of the massive buffet of pumpkin soup, roasted pork, lamb, beef and chicken, salads and vegetables from the birthday dinner for her brother. Let's just say, I was duly impressed. Another missed photo moment was red wine braised lamb shanks with lamb jus and creamy mashed potatoes made with the bride-to-be, fiance and fiance's brother.

Beautifully breaded and panfried chicken cutlets.

Eggs Florentine with a lovely hollandaise sauce for breakfast on the wedding day.

I really need to learn how to poach eggs.

Mid-Prep Wedding Beautification Lunch

There is something really lovely about chewy multigrain bread, sliced cheese, gorgeously ripe tomato and lettuce.

Everything is Better on Skewers

Chicken Satay and BBQ Chicken skeweres and beef kabobs with vegetables.

Bridal Lunch at the Jetty South Bank

The South Bank area is really lovely, with a nice riverside view of Brisbane. While the bride originally wanted to have lunch at a different location, the size of our party would have required a set menu and separate drinks package. Hmmm. No thanks. Instead we went with the Jetty South Bank. While the restaurants prefer reservations to be made via telephone, fortunately the restaurant manager at the time was happy to deal with me via email and an ala carte menu.

Lovely view from the restaurant.

We were able to sit at a nice round banquet table.

I brought the little elephant placeholders with me, since the bride had liked elephants and the symbolism of longevity. Another American party favor was the customized Hershey kisses. Customizable stickers for the bottom of the kisses from Michael's and mesh bags in silver and light blue completed the look.

Entrees here are the equivalent of appetizers in the U.S.

Calamari with sweet chili dipping sauce.

Vegetarian Nasi Goreng with pickles and a glass of wine 

One of the restaurant's Winter Lunch Specials for 25 AU$. This is a nice bargain since the dish is regularly priced at 29 $AU.

Sticky Pork Belly with Scallops under the Something Light category.

My Main (entree) was also a Winter Lunch Special that came with a glass of wine for 25 $AU.

Slow-cooked Lamb Shoulder in red wine with polenta, parmesan and bread crumbs.

This is regularly priced 35 $AU.

Side of Bok Choy with Garlic and Bread Crumbs

The Bride-to-Be's Tasmanian Salmon

Our reservation began at 1 pm. Let's just say the cocktails were flowing and we stayed long enough to watch the sun begin to set. The whole time the staff at the Jetty were lovely and attentive. 

Adventures Down Under in Brisbane

After 23.5 hours of flying and airport time, I arrived down under in Brisbane for the wedding of my best friend. Last time I visited was after I finished my MBA program and in the early days of dating my now husband. 

How to order a coffee in Australia: Long Black

Perhaps Australians take their coffee a bit more seriously. No hot carafes of black coffee here. A Long Black, of equivalent of regular black coffee in the U.S., is hot water and a double espresso. 

Late lunch while shopping in the city for last minute bits and bobs for the wedding.

Beef wrap with spicy fries.

Chicken Schnitzel with salad and spicy fries with a side of mushroom gravy.

Corner Cafe in Tarragindi.

Lovely little shop with pastries, sandwiches and coffees. 

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The hardest thing to get used to, was the lack of tipping in restaurants, although the cafes often had a little cup out for tips. I was also advised to not bother collecting my coffee dishes together on the table and looking for where to put them.