Medium Rare @ Cleveland Park

Saturday brunch at Medium Rare.  They only serve prefix menu at Medium Rare, for brunch you have a choice of green salad, fruit salad and yogurt parfait for appetizers, and Egg Benedict, steak frites, and eggs frites for entrees.

yogurt parfait

I had the yogurt parfait, which was excellent.  It was topped with dry cranberries, raisins, dry peach, granola, and strawberry syrup.   The texture and sweetness of the yogurt is perfect, I don't think I have ever had a parfait without fresh fruits, but it was surprisingly really good.  I didn't try the green salad, but my friend had it, and she said it was very good. None of us had the fruit salad, so we can't comment on that.

Egg Benedict

There are certain types of food that always gets me when I see them on the menu. Egg Benedict is one of them. So I went with that even though steak frites is what they are known for.  I regret it immediately, the egg Benedict was a little too salty, one of my friends thought the same thing.  And when we both tasted the steak frites, we both agreed that it was a lot better compared to our Egg Benedict. Lesson of the day, go with what the restaurant is famous for!

Steak frites

Cooked medium rare perfectly, the meat was tender, and the sauce was good.

Even though it is a little more expensive than your typical brunch, but you do get a lot of food for the price you paid, and it's definitely worth a try if you are into steak.  You can also try their dinner menu, which is also prefix, with only one choice, steak and frites. A restaurant that runs on one dish and surviving, you know they must be doing something right.

Medium Rare

Flushing, NY

Occasionally, someone I know would want to go to NY for just one reason...to eat.  I know it sounds a little crazy....who would drive all the way to NY just to eat? Well, the food buddies would.

Food court at New World Mall

The first spot we hit up was the New World Mall at Flushing, NY.   It is a Chinese shopping mall with a huge food court at the bottom level.  This shopping mall grand opened a few months ago, there are a lot of different varieties of Asian cuisine to choose from - Malaysian, Taiwanese, Sichuan, Lan Zhou, Shanghai, Japanese...you name it.

Dumplings in spicy oil

 I can't say this was bad, but this was bad for what it was supposed to be.  On the menu when we ordered, it stated "紅油抄手", a famous Sichuan dish, which is spicy WONTON in hot oil, NOT dumplings.  We were very disappointed.

Spicy seafood noodles

We got this from the Malaysian shop, this noodle was good, but it has no Malaysian influences to it, not very authentic.  They did serve you a huge portion for the price you pay, and the taste was decent.

Ox tail noodle

This was purchased from the Lan Zhou shop (the first picture).  What attracted me to their shop was their advertised  hand cut and home made noodles.  Standing in front the shop is the noodle master who is constantly rolling the doughs and pulling them into noodles. He looked really good at it, so I decided to get my noodle from that shop.  In the end, it was not disappointing at all, the noodles were fantastic, it has the right amount of tenderness to it.  Also, very affordable.

Moon Kee Dessert

Probably my favorite spot in the food court, Moon Kee Desert.  This is a young dessert chain established in HK, best known for their mango and durian desserts.  I was surprise to see that they have imported the same chain to NY.  At first, I was skeptical whether it is the same chain or just a copy cat, but after looking at the menu and actually trying a few things, I am delighted to see that they have expanded their business to NY.

Mango with white coconut slush and tapioca

Mango Pancake

My favorite dessert from Moon Kee, also what got them famous in the first place.  Also available with durian. 

Barbeque Stand

A random barbeque stand you can find on the street.  But make sure it says "Traditional Xinjiang Barbeque", it's so good, and only $1/skewer.

Chicken Kidneys

Lamb heart

Carlo's Bake Shop

Carlo's Bake Shop from the TLC show - Cake Boss.  We waited in line for 20 min to get into the shop, and fought through the crowd to place an order.  But it was worth it.

Tiramisu

Tiramisu is probably my favorite dessert, and there is no way I am going to go to a famous Italian bakery and not walk out with one.  The cake boss' tiramisu is not the traditional kind, it is modernized.  I have nothing against modernized tiramius, in fact I think a good pastry chef should add their own flavors and characteristic to their work.  This is not the best tiramisu I have had, but it's definitely up there.  The hardest part of making a good tiramisu is getting the right texture.  I like making my own tiramisu, if you ever tried to make one, you would know if you beat the mascarpone cheese and egg white too long, it will get watery, but if you don't beat it enough, it won't be soft, getting the right balance is the hardest part.  The tiramisu from Carol's Bake Shop has the perfect fluffiness to it.    

Chocolate creme tart

I think I like Italian dessert because they always have the right level of sweetness to it.  Sometimes when I eat American dessert, I feel like I am eating straight up sugar.  Even Italian ice cream, gelato, are never over sweet. 

Creme puffs

Mitsuwa food court

Whenever I go to NY, if time permits, I always try to drop by Mitsuwa, a Japanese supermarket in Edgewater, NJ.  They have a huge inventory of Japanese snacks, groceries, household items, and even beer and sake.  On top of that, they also have a food court in the supermarket, which have very affordable Japanese food. 

Herring with Capelin Roe Sushi

Capelin roe is super fishy, I wouldn't recommend it unless you think you can handle it.  I love fish, and the more fishy it is, the more I like it, so I love Capelin roe, they are also hard to come by in MD. 

Miso ramen

I usually don't like Miso ramen, but the one from Mitsuwa is pretty good.  Their meat is one of the best I have had, has the right porportion of fat and lean meat to it. We need a Mitsuwa in MD.

Roe on rice

Spicy miso ramen

Carlo's Bake Shop

Mitsuwa 

Coming Up: Medium Rare

Toki Underground

People who follow the restaurant scene in DC have most likely heard about the new ramen joint on H St - Toki Underground.  Toki has only been in business for a little over 2 months, has over 100 reviews on yelp and earned at 4/5 stars rating.  Therefore, a few of my friends who are ramen enthusiasts have decided to pay a visit to Toki Underground and see what the hype is all about.

Japanese toy figures

The interior of Toki Underground is decorated with a skateboard theme, very colorful and urban.  There are no tables in the entire restaurant, only an extended bar wrapping around wall, like a noodle bar.

The Menu

The menu is relatively simple, 5 choices of ramen, 5 types of dumplings, steamed or pan fried, ramen toppings, and some sides.

Oolong cocktail

Oolong cocktail, tastes like oolong tea, very refreshing, can  barely taste the alcohol.

Steamed seafood dumplings

The steamed dumplings and pan fried dumplings kind of taste the same to me, they have the same sauce on it
 maybe that's the reason why.

Pan fried seafood dumplings

We had both the pork and seafood dumpling, I seriously can't taste the pork in the pork dumpling, I almost thought they gave us the vegetable dumplings by mistake. Definitely go for the seafood one, it's much better.  The sauce tastes good though.

Grilled corn

Their grilled corn is really good, kind of pricey, but worth a try.

Toki Hakata Classic

There all five types of ramen on the menu, but all five of us got the classic.  I wanted to try the classic type because every ramen house serves the classic soup base, and I wanted to compared it to one of my favorite ramen house  - Ren's Ramen (which recently reopened in Wheaton, but I haven't gotten a chance to visit it yet)  Also, making a decent classic ramen is the minimum requirement of a good ramen house.  To me, the soup base is the most important component of a good ramen.  I like my soup base really flavorful so I can taste pork in every sip.  I like Toki's classic ramen, but I don't love it.  I think the soup is not flavorful enough, they need to throw more pork bones to make the soup base.  I also thought their noodle is a little too thin, but one of my friends said she actually prefers the thinner noodle, it's a personally preference I guess.  The good thing is, they give you a lot of sliced pork, even though my pork was a little dry.  During the whole time I was eating, I keep trying to compare it to Ren and I want to say I like Ren slightly more, but base on the fact that Ren has been closed for almost a year, I am basing it on memory, which can't be too accurate.  So, after our meal, a few of us actually drove to the new Ren's Ramen at Wheaton and was ready to do an immediate comparison.  Unfortunately, Ren closes on every second and third Tuesday, so we couldn't.       

Half boiled egg

I don't think Toki Underground is worth the 4 stars on yelp, it's good, but not on that level, I would give 3 stars personally.   I can see why people will hype about it though, ramen houses are so hard to come by, especially in DC.  I was excited just to see they have ramen house in DC.  I will go to Toki again, whenever I am in the area, and feel like eating ramen.  There's no way I will wait 3 hours for it though, like other people have.  Even Ippudo is not worth the 3 hours wait. But I am very happy to see the ramen culture spreading, and Toki Underground had done a decent job.

Coming Up: NY Food Adventure

On the Potomac, Riverside BBQ, and Pretzel and Pizza Creations

This is going to be a long post, I am warning you.  I am going to review three of the places I have been to over the weekend when we were having a mini getaway at the Landsowne Resort.  Apologize ahead of time, these are not local, and if you ever want to go to these places, it's pretty out of the way. But at least now we know, there are good food everywhere, so yea, we have to keep eating to find those hidden pearls.

The first place is called On The Potomac.  It is a French-American restaurant at the Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, VA.  I usually wouldn't expect much from a restaurant from a resort, because you would think, they already trapped you here, you kind of have no where else to go, why would I feed you good food. I would just feed you moderate food, but to my surprise, On The Potomac's food is fantastic, I would say definitely one of the top meals I have ever had. 

Smoked Salmon

The smoked salmon was a complimentary treat for everyone dining there.  Everyone loves free food, especially when it is delicious.  I can't tell you how good this treat is, all I am going to say is, I love smoked salmon, and whenever I get a chance, I always force my bf to try it and he was never a fan. BUT he loves this one.  No further explanations needed. We were so excited for the upcoming courses.
 

Tasting of House-Made Charcuterie

I didn't know what Charcuterie is, so I had to ask my friend Wiki. And Wiki said: "Charcuterie is the branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products such as bacon, ham, sausage, terrines, galantines, pâtés, and confit, primarily from pork"  When we first saw this on the menu, we thought we were only getting one of the four, and I wanted the foie gras, and you think $16 for foie gras, makes sense, let's order it.  When it arrived at our table, we were delighted, more food and most importantly, more varieties for the bucks, best deal ever! 

Foie Gras with jelly and croutons

The foie gras with jelly and croutons is one of the best combinations ever.  The sweetness of the jelly balances out the saltiness of the foie gras and the crunchiness of the croutons lending a hand with the softness of the foie gras.  Now your texture and taste are all well balanced, what more do you want? I am satisfied.  This is how I would like my foie gras served cold, and if I want it served warm, I will prefer the Michel Richard Citronelle way. Which hopefully one day, I can write a review about it if I go there again, since I am not going to back log.

Duck confit with fava beans, mushrooms, and polenta

The duck confit was flavorful, a bit on the salty side, but the fava bean is that one element that helps balance the texture, and you got your polenta there to help with the saltiness from the duck confit.  Once again, very well balanced and prepared, and you have to get a bit of each ingredient on your fork before you eat it.

Chorizo

This is probably the weakest dish out of the four.  The chorizo is a bit dry. We need a little bit more fat mixed in.

honey glazed duck ham with watercress

The ham was very tender, and it was glazed with honey.  So, does anyone know why watercress? Why not lettuce, or spinach, or any other greens? This is what I think (this is my blog, everything is what I think), watercress are a little bitter, so it goes well with the honey, otherwise, it might be too sweet :)  A good chef do everything for a reason, they are not going to throw stuff on the plate just because it's cool.  This is a good chef, he knows how to balance his food (not everyone do) because he knows that's how our taste buds enjoy our food.  Lesson of the day, guys...if you never notice about the balance of texture, flavors, you are going to now. It makes a huge difference.
 

Soup of Lam with Orzo

Orzo is your rice shaped pasta.  This lamb soup is really good, you can tell that they used a lot of lamb bones to make the broth.

Rib Eye with potato puree, stuffed pepper, and chile mole

Cooked medium rare

Initially, I was going to go with the duck breast, but after the appetizer, I felt that I have had enough duck dishes.  So I decided to go with the rib eye steak.  The steak was good, cooked perfectly, just like how I ordered it.  I only like my steak medium rare or rare (tartar style).  It's the only way to eat a steak, don't talk to me if you want it any other way.  I remember one time I went to Ruth Chris with a friend and he wanted to order a well done filet, and I was like you are insulting the chef by doing that. If I was him, I will throw you out of the restaurant, you shouldn't be eating here if you want a well done steak.  Go get a burger from McDonald, it will taste the same. What a waste of money.  He ended up getting it medium well, and he said it was his first time.  But he liked it a lot. There you go.  Anyways, the steak was cooked perfect medium rare, juicy, you can taste that it was a good quality cut.  I like how it doesn't have a big chunk of fat on the side, just the right amount, so I don't have to throw away half a steak like I have before. The only complaint is the big grill marks, it's a little burnt on the grill marks, maybe the grill should have been cleaned better.

Grilled Sturgeon with fried jasmine rice cake

Never had a sturgeon before, it tastes similar to a tilapia.  The fish was not overcooked. The worst thing you can do to a fresh piece of seafood is overcook it.  This dish is mediocre, I probably won't order it again if I ever come back.  However, the one thing I love about this dish, is the fried jasmine rice cake! The crunchy part is so delicious, reminds me of the brunt rice from clay pot rice, Chinese people will know what I am talking about.  I am going to try that sometimes.

So, that's for On the Potomac, people will probably never go there unless they are staying at the resort, but it is definitely are good quality restaurant.  If it is closer from home, I will definitely go again, especially for the Charcuterie.

The next place I want to review is totally random.  We were leaving Tarara Winery, Leesburg trying to head to Pretzel and Pizza Creations, and we saw signs on the road said "BBQ" and "Pull Pork".  We were so hungry, we couldn't resist, so we stopped by.  The place is called Riverside BBQ, the owner literally drove his propane gas grill out on the road, parked there and started grilling ribs and pull pork on the road.  I asked the guy that was making my pull pork sandwich, and he said they are only there on the weekends, so we lucked out I guess.

Pull pork with cole slaw and potatoes salad

I am serious, this is the best pull pork sandwich and potatoes salad I have ever had.  It's better than the one at Woody's Beach BBQ at Chincoteague Island.  The pull pork is extremely tender and juicy, the sauce was delicious, not very sweet (which I hate how some BBQ sauce is so sweet).  The potatoes salad is to die for.  They added honey to the dressing and the bacon stripes are minced up, so you taste it but you don't see it.  So you won't bite into hard bacon stripes when eating your potatoes salad, but yet the flavor is there.  It's brilliant, how come I have never thought of that.  Sometimes things so small make such a big difference.  If I go to Leesburg Outlet next time, maybe I will try to find this place again, but it's hard, because I don't know if they stay at the same location every weekend. 

Last but not least, Pretzel and Pizza Creations at Frederick, MD.  So, I was saying we were doing a wine tasting at the Tarara Winery, and the couple next to us were telling us places to eat around the area, and that her best friend owns this place called Pretzel and Pizza Creations in Frederick that she claims has the most amazing pretzels and pizzas.  Usually you wouldn't want to trust someone who knows the owner of the restaurant, but then our server just so happens to hear our conversation and confirmed that she has been to P&P and it is very good.  The next thing we know, we are there.   

Spinach and cheddar stuffed pretzel

spinach in the pretzel

Everything was made to order at the restaurant, you can see through the kitchen where the chef was making the pretzel and pizza from scratch right after you ordered.  The pretzel was served right after it came out from the oven, nice and toasty yet still soft.  Fresh spinach in the soft pretzel, it was good.

Half chicken pesto and half Philly cheese steak pizza

All of their pizzas are made with pretzel crust.  The pretzel crust is a little sweeter than your regular bread crust, which balance out with the saltiness of the pizza (because of the cheese).  It is also softer.  We like the chicken pesto way more than the Philly cheese steak. If I ever visit Frederick again, I will visit again and get their chicken pesto pizza.

Who would of thought pretzel and pizza can work? Trust me, they do.

Thank you for taking me to Loudoun County, otherwise, I wouldn't been able to explore all these fantastic food! And thank you all for reading, I know it was long.

On the Potomac

Pretzel and Pizza Creations

Coming Up: Toki Underground

Cheesetique @ Alexandria

I needed to go to the Mini dealership at Alexandria on Friday, and when I go to Alexandria, I always try to find new food places to eat at.  Just because I only go there once in a blue moon, and there are a lot of good restaurants in Alexandria that I want to explore.  So, the night before, I was trying to find a good lunch place and Cheesetique caught my eyes. 

Cheesetique is really a cheese shop in the front and a small cheese and wine bar in the back of the store.  It features a variety of dishes with cheese as the focus and offers wine pairing for all of their dishes.  If you are a cheese and wine fan (like me), I would recommend you check it out.  I have only had the chance to try one of their dishes, since I was rolling solo, but it was very good, definitely meet my expectations.   

Rioja

This is a Rioja from Spain, it's my first time drinking Rioja, and the reason why I got it was because it is the recommended pairing wine for the entree I ordered.  Of course, like most red wine, the taste of it changes when you drink it by itself and drink it with food.  This Rioja is really good, it is a wine that I won't mind drinking by itself, indeed I drank most of it while waiting for my mac and cheese.

Mac and Cheese with truffle infused bread crumbs

So, out of all the entrees on the menu, I have decided to go with the mac and cheese.  A long long time ago, I was not really a mac and cheese fan, to me it was just cheddar cheese and macaroni, what's so special about it?  Once again, it wasn't until I had a really good one, then it changed my whole perspective of mac and cheese.  It was that one mac and cheese I had at Smith and Wollensky, when I go there, I am actually  looking forward to their mac and cheese more than their steak.  It is just absolutely mouth dropping good. If you do go there for their aged prime ribs, which is what they are famous for, you want to get their mac and cheese as the side. You will not be disappointed.  This mac and cheese from Cheesetique is surprisingly up to par to the one from S&W.  It is prepared the way I like my mac n'cheese - served with truffle infused bread crumbs.  I like my mac and cheese with bread crumbs on top, it makes the texture more interesting, and I LOVE truffle infused bread crumbs, because truffle goes very well with cheese.  This mac was made to order, served really hot, all the cheese were melted, the bread crumbs were still bubbling when it was served.  It is not made with your typical type of cheese, which also make the taste more complex than your usual.  The only downfall about it is...I wish the serving side was bigger! (You can check out the menu on their website - link all the way at the bottom of the post, for the 3 types of cheese they used)
 

Lemon Gus Soda

 

This lemon Gus Soda, I had it after my meal, just to chill a little longer at the bar before I head home.  It is super frizzy, it's not too sweet, it is like a lemonade with frizz, a lot of frizz.  I wanted an Arnold Palmer, but this is the closest thing they can offer me.
 

After my meal, I walked around in their cheese and wine shop.  They gave me a 10% coupon to shop in the store, and I saw that they have a very good selection of foreign wines.  So, I picked up a bottle of French Bordeaux and Argentinian Melbec.  Both were under $15/bottle.  And when I check out, I got a pleasant surprise to get the second bottle for only $1.  Not sure if it was a mistake or if I read the coupon wrong, but it's worth a try next time you go.  No one can reject a bottle of "free" wine right? 

Cheesetique

Coming up: Food extravagant at Loudoun County Virgina