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