Izakaya Seki

Traditional Japanese bar like Izakaya Seki is a rare encounter in the DC metropolitan area.  Izakaya Seki offers a causal and relax atmosphere that allows you to spend a night with a couple of good friends nibbling on authentic Japanese bar food while sipping sake and imported Japanese beer.  

Izakaya Seki

Izakaya Seki has a small entrance on V St, but look for the Japanese lantern and you won't miss it.    Shall we take a look inside?

Echigo Rice

Since this is a Japanese bar, there are a large variety of Japanese beer and sake on the drinks menu.  The beer are a tad on the pricey side, but I am hoping for some Happy Hour deals at a later date once the restaurant settles.  

Echigo Rice Cheers

In the Asian culture, it is very common to share a big bottle of beer among your party whether than getting a gigantic mug of beer for yourself like in the Western culture.  Asian dining is all about the art of sharing, we share our food, we share our beer, and that's the reason why we were given the small drinking glasses.  

Steamed monkfish liver and yuzu miso vinaigrette

Monkfish liver with beer? YUM! The fish liver has really smooth creamy texture and excellent taste.  The yuzu miso vinaigrette adds the right sweetness and tart to the liver.

Basil octopus salad

This was on the daily special menu, so it's not guarantee that it will be available all the time.  The octopus was really fresh and not overcooked, so it was not rubbery at all.  The basil sauce on top makes this a very refreshing dish.

Tarako (salted cod roe) rice ball

 While this is a Japanese bar which means food are suppose to be small portion and compliments your drinks.  However, if you are really hungry, rice balls would be a great and cheap way to suffice your hunger.

Kurobuta pork sausage

 The pork sausage tastes really good and the skins add a crunchy texture to the sausage which makes them unique.  The mustard sauce goes really well with it as well.  Sometimes when I eat sausages, they are usually on the salty side, so if you eat too much, it gets overwhelming, but the Kurobuta sausage has a mild taste to it, so I didn't get that feeling at all.

Mero grilled with miso 

Mero is chilean sea bass in Japanese.  I have always enjoyed Japanese fish with miso and this dish is definitely on the top of the list.  It is such a simple dish cooked perfectly. I highly recommend ordering this when you go to Seki.  Just give me some rice and this will be the perfect meal.  This is the one dish which makes Seki memorable and worth coming back for.

Kara-age: Chicken thigh with garlic puree

This is a good portion of fried chicken thigh and it's another good option on the menu if you are hungry.  The chicken thigh were well seasoned and lightly battered which makes it crunchy on the outside and tender in the inside. The garlic puree that comes with it is the perfect dipping sauce.

Fried oysters

The fried oysters were also the daily special, and it was fantastic.  I am not sure what the dipping sauce was made of but it was delicious.  Once again, the batter is light just to give the oysters enough crunch.

Kalbi: BBQ beef short ribs

Thin slices of short ribs, seasoned with sweet soy sauce and grilled.  The flavor was excellent and the short ribs were also very tender.  Overall, I really like this dish except there were small bones with some of the pieces. I think Seki just need to rinse the ribs more thoroughly before cooking them.

I can honestly say that I like all the dishes we ordered at Seki.  There were more interesting dishes on the menu we didn't get to try, so I will definitely come back for more, and hopefully they will have a Happy Hour deal by then. As a new restaurant, Seki has lived up the hype.  I think Izakaya Seki is a very good addition to the DC dinning scene and it offers the DC diners a good alternative outside of those fancy sushi joint.

Izakaya Seki

1789

The legendary 1789 Restaurant, named as one of the "100 Very Best Restaurants" by Washingtonian, is celebrating its 50 years anniversary.  For celebration, they are currently offering a 5 course tasting menu for $50, which if you ask me, it's a steal.  It is a good opportunity to try 1789 without breaking an arm or leg.  The deal only works from Sunday - Thursday, and it's expiring next week, so hurry if you are interested.   

Bordeaux

You always have to pair good French food with a good glass of wine.  Bordeaux has became my favorite French wine ever since my trip to Paris.  It was on the wine menu and I think it was the quickest wine decision I have ever made at a restaurant!

Bread and Butter

An authentic French restaurant should always take their bread very seriously.  We were given three choices of bread and three choices of spread.  Being a hug fan of bread and butter, this could be a meal of its own.  

Chilled Cucumber Soup

This was a complimentary course, more like a treat to clear your taste buds before you dive into the real thing.  It was a chilled cucumber soup with green onions, lime juice, and olive oil.  It was on the sour end with a hint of sweetness from the cucumbers.  It was refreshing.

Beef Crudo Two Ways

On the left side of the plate is a beef tartar with truffle oil; delicious! On the right side, we have a carpaccio with shaved cheese and baby arugula.  The carpaccio was good, I really like the fried garlic slices which really give the carpaccio a good flavor and crunch.

Tomatoes and Burrata

This is a French version of the tomatoes and mozzarella.  My food buddy and I both thought that the Burrata cheese taste like a blend version of mozzarella but with a very soft texture, it's almost like yogurt but yet it's cheese.  After some quick wikipedia, Burrata is made with mozzarella and cream.  Now it all makes sense.  I think I prefer the traditional Italian tomatoes and mozzarella more. One up for the Italians! 

Duck Confit Strudel

This is duck confit stuffed pastry with foie gras cream, topped with cranberries.  I love the pastry, and after all, we are at a famous French restaurant, and it is almost expected for a good French chef to make killer pastry.  The duck confit on the other hand was a little dry, I think if this dish was stuffed with lamb, it might be better dish.

Roasted Pork Ravioli

This was probably one of the weakest dish for me, the roasted pork inside the ravioli was kind of blend.  To their credit, the homemade ravioli was good.

Black and White Tagliatelle with Shrimps

This was my food buddy's dish, and I thought the homemade pasta, shrimp, and flavor of the dish was good.  I like hers better than my ravioli.  However, the English peas were slightly undercook.

Red Snapper with lobster sauce

This was my food buddy's entree.  The red snapper which you can't really see in the picture was seared on the side with the skin. The fish was amazing.  The fish was not overcooked, so it still has a creamy and flaky texture, and the skin was seasoned with salt and seared perfectly which gives it a good crunch.  The lobster sauce came with pieces of lobster, and I don't know who can complain about lobster on your plate.  We were both impress with this entree.

Teres Major

It took another research session to find out what kind of beef cut is Teres Major.  Teres Major is a shoulder muscle, that is one of the most tender and comparable to filet mignon but cheaper. The server suggested to have it served medium rare which is perfect because I only eat my steak medium rare to rare.  The steak came out perfectly medium rare, which I can always rely on the French to do very well, because they don't like their steak overcooked.  I once had a raw steak at a restaurant in Paris and it was delicious! The steak was seasoned very well, and the bordelaise (French red wine sauce) was a good compliment for the dish.  This dish was amazing.  It was at this point of the meal where I finally feel that 1789 was not overrated.
 

Ice Cream Profiteroles

Profieroles or the American version of cream puffs with hazelnut, expresso ice cream with warm bittersweet chocolate poured over at the table.  Now, if there were three things the French do very well, they are definitely their wine, pastry, and DESSERT! I alway say it's much harder to make really good dessert than a main course.  Good dessert requires precise measurements and need to be prepared with delicacy, an extra 1/4 teaspoon of flour or sugar makes a big difference.  But the French are so good with their dessert!  This dish has everything I like in a dessert, hazelnut, coffee, chocolate, ice cream, and it was prepared so well.  I was so full at this point but I still cleaned out the plate and wanted more.  This is hands down, one of the best dessert I have ever had, and it is the strongest dish of the meal.  Can't ask for a better end for the meal.

S'mores

Chocolate cake, graham cracker, with marshmellow ice cream (which you can't see in this picture, it's behind the cracker).  This is your fancy version of s'mores.  I love the homemade marshmallow ice cream, it was unique and interesting.  Overall, I like the profiteroles better than this dish, but this was still a very good dessert.

Overall, it was a delightful meal.  Even though I was expected to be WHOA much more, but there was some memorable dish that 1789 do very well on.  You can't expect any restaurant to make everything on the menu mouth dropping good, but if there are dishes which made an impression and you can't find anyone else to deliver it the way they do, it's a good reason for a return trip.  Maybe this is the reason why 1789 is still one of the best DC dining spot after 50 years in the business.

Merci!

Fiola @ DC RW 2012

 Thank you to my food buddy - Ting for introducing me to this excellent Italian restaurant.  Before I went on my Europe trip, I really wan't a big fan of Italian food, but after you had real Italian food from Italy, you can't help but fall in love.

Restaurant Week Menu

A pretty good selection of choices for the Restaurant Week, I might consider coming back next time for another RW.

Italian Moretti Beer 

I was never a big fan of Italian wine, so I opted for an Italian light beer, which was pretty decent.

Beef Tartar

This is hands down, the biggest Beef Tartar I have ever had in my life, and with a fried egg!  This was delicious, and the toasted Italian bread was a perfect balance for texture.

Veal Meatballs

My food buddy ordered the Veal Meatballs for her appetizer.  I had a small taste from her plate, and it has a really good texture and flavor.  I would recommend this as another appetizer choice.

Squid Ink Risotto

For entree, I ordered the Squid Ink Risotto.  Ever since my Italy trip, I have been looking for a squid ink pasta that is on par with the Italian standard.  This is probably the most successful attempt.  Even though it is not as good as what I had in Italy, but this was pretty close.  I would definitely get this again.  If I was to be really picky, my only complain would be  it is a tad salty and oily, but in terms of flavor, I am totally satisfied. 

Ricotta Cavatelli

This homemade pasta dish was very good as well.  The pasta was cooked al dente and it has a very good texture.  I would still prefer the squid ink risotto, but this is a good alternative.

Gelato and Sorbet

I am a big fan of the homemade gelato, the sorbet is good too but cherry is not my favorite flavor.  Overall, I was satisfied with the meal and Fiola was good at delivering in terms of flavor, texture and presentation.  Fiola is definitely one of my top Italian restaurant in the US and I would consider coming back for the next RW.

G&M Restaurant & Lounge

 I had the chance to dine at G&M yesterday.  Many people have told me how great their crab cakes are and I wanted to see if they can live up to the hype of serving the Maryland's #1 Crab Cakes!

Stuffed Mushroom Caps with Crabmeat

For appetizer we ordered the Stuffed Mushroom, the portion was big, and there was so much lump crab meat on it, you don't even see the mushrooms.  The crab meat was delicious.  100% crab meat, creamy and rich and cooked to perfection with the right amount of moisture and seasoning!

Maryland Carb Soup

The Maryland Crab Soup was a disappointment.  There was too much tomato sauce in the soup, the consistency was on the thicker side, and there were more vegetables than crab meat.  Maybe try ordering their cream of crab soup and see if that's any better. 

Baked Crab Imperial

When we were ordering our entrees, the waiter told us we have ordered way too much food, but since we wanted to try everything, we just told him we will pack it to go afterwards.  When the food came and we saw how humongous the crab cakes and baked oysters were, we knew there was no way we can even finish half of our entrees.  So, unless you are going straight home after dining at G&M, I would highly recommend you share an entree, one entree is not for one person, it was more for 2-3 people. I seriously think a double crab cake platter can serve 4 people.  Don't get me wrong, I wasn't complaining about the portion, to be honest, for the price you pay and get such big portion of delicious crab cakes, it was a steal!  It was just a little embarrassing that we have to pack 80% of our food home.  Was G&M crab cakes the #1 crab cakes in Maryland? I don't know, but it was definitely the best crab cakes I have ever had in terms of price and quality by a long shot!

Baked Stuffed Oysters

6 baked oysters layered with crab cake should be the right name on the menu, each one of those is bigger than my palm!  Also I forgot to mention, each entree comes with 2 sides as well. 

Homemade Crab Cake Egg Benedict

Since we packed all our food home, today we took the imperial crab cakes and split them and lay them on English muffins, and threw a poach egg on it and made 4 Eggs Benedict to feed the family.  I tried two method to warm up the left over crab cakes, one is oven baked in low heat and the other is microwave, both method didn't take anything away from these killer crab cakes, and they taste just as good as they did at the restaurant.  By the way, the huge imperial crab cakes wouldn't even fit on the muffin, so we threw the rest onto a salad and it still taste delicious!


G&M Restaurant & Lounge

Shake Shack @ Dupont Circle

The famous Shake Shack have been opened for over 1 year now in DC. I have passed by it couple of times but never had the chance to try it, and finally did over the weekend.   

I had a single Shack Burger and the BF had the Shack Stack.  Let's talk about the Shack Burger first.  It comes with American Cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and topped with Shack Sauce.  To be honest, I didn't really taste the Shack Sauce that much, and also don't know what is so special about the sauce.  The patty was good, the lettuce and tomatoes was also fresh, and the best thing I like about it is the hinged bun which helps hold the burger together so it didn't get messy at all.  The hinged bun is probably the only advantage I see Shack Shake over Five Guys, otherwise I would rather save myself $1 and get the little cheeseburger from Five Guys with unlimited free toppings which I think taste comparable to the Shack Burger.  I am speaking from memory since the last time I had a Five Guys burger was probably over a year ago, so maybe it's only fair if I do a side by side comparison.  But I did eat a lot of Five Guys burger in my life since there is one right under my office. 

While the Shack Burger didn't make a deep impression, the Shack Stack Burger made quite a noise.  The Shack Stack is a cheeseburger with a fried Portobello Mushroom filled with melted cheese topped with lettuce, tomato, and Shack Sauce.  The fried Portobello with melted cheese is fantastic, I would say that it's the highlight of the burger, and it definitely bumped it up to the star level.  You can also get the Shroom burger which is your vegetarian option with the Portobello Mushroom as your burger patty.  This is also a cheaper option to the Shack Stack which cost almost $9.  It is kind of pricey but if I were to go to Shake Shack, I would definitely order this with no hesitation. 

We also ordered the fries and a chocolate malt shake.  The fries were excellent.  It was not greasy at all, but I still like Five Guys greasy Cajun Fries a little more.  On the other hand, even though it is called "Shake" Shack, the shakes were a little disappointing, I could not taste the malt at all.  Johnny Rocket and Potbelly's malted shakes are way better than Shake Shack's.  Next time, instead of getting the shake, I will get the ShakeMeister, which is brewed by Brooklyn Brewery exclusively for Shake Shack.      

BTW-feel free to comment if you think Shake Shack is better than Five Guys or vice versa, I want to know what everyone thinks.

Graffiato by Mike Isabella

Last week, one of my food buddies took me out to Top Chef Mike Isabella's (also former Executive Chef of Zaytinya) Italian restaurant - Graffiato.  Initially, I was given three choices, but I chose Graffiato at last and I am glad I made that choice because Top Chef Mike Isabella definitely lives up to the hype.

Roasted Pistachio

These Roasted Pistachio was a free snack, something for us to nibble on while waiting for our food. Pistachio lightly roasted with salt and old bay.

Flat Bread with Pepperoni Sauce

The famous pepperoni sauce which was featured in the actually Top Chef Show paired with soft pizza dough made into flat bread makes a perfect appetizer. When I watch these cooking show, I have always wondered if what they cooked was as good as they said, now here's your chance to see if Mike Isabella's pepperoni sauce is as good as Gail Simmons said it was.

Prosecco on tap

When I saw the Prosecco on the tap menu, I thought it must be a beer called "Prosecco" and they have it on tap..but when I asked the server and he said it really is Prosecco - your Italian sparking wine, ON TAP! Prosecco on tap is so good, the bubbles won't stop rising to the top, I wish I can get all my Prosecco on tap now.

Countryman Pizza

My bad for not taking the picture before the server smeared the egg all over the pizza, he was too quick.  The Countryman is a black truffle pizza with fontina cheese topped with a poached egg; it was delicious. I love truffle, and I love egg, and would never imagine to combine both of them on a pizza.  I highly recommend this if you like truffle.  The only complaint I have is the pizza dough, which was not as crispy as I would like it to be.

Crispy Lamb

The lamb was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, which makes the perfect texture.  The favas, olives, cucumbers, red onions, and yogurt combined to make an excellent seasoning for the dish.  I love this dish and here's my complaint for the dish: the portion was too small!

Blue Crab Fettuccini

Homemade fettuccini with blue crab, summer squash and arugula pesto.  The pasta was literally swimming in crabs.  In every bite you take, you will taste al-dente pasta with delicious crab.  Every ingredients on the plate was in harmony and I would love to have this alone as the entree, but I will probably have to get two orders to fill me up.

I was completely satisfy with our dinner at Graffiato, their food is definitely of high quality, and Top Chef Mike Isabella has all my respect.  There are other items on the menu that I wanted to try, so I will definitely come back another time.  I recommend Graffiato to everyone but make sure you bring enough money to pay the bill, it will be expensive.  With that remark, special shout out to my food buddy for taking me out, it was a wonderful meal :)

José Andrés' PEPE Food Truck

I know it has been a while since I have updated....my apologies for slacking, but I am here now, and I have an update!

Today, my usual lunch buddy ditched me for a lunch meeting, so therefore I decided to go out and try a food truck I haven't tried before.  This is the beauty of working right in downtown DC, everyday at the intersection of F St and 12 St near Metro Center, a troop of food trucks will hangout in that area during lunch time. Usually there are about 6-7 different food trucks parked in that area, and what a pleasant surprise, the famous Jose Andres' new food truck PEPE was one of them.

I initially heard about this food truck from one of my food buddies, then after reading a lot of good reviews online, I added it to my "To Try" list.  I don't know if it was because of the great selection of food trucks available at that spot today or if it was because of the higher prices of PEPE, there was no lines when I got there, so picking PEPE was a no-brainer.  I was curious what PEPE means in Spanish, so I did a quick search and found out that Pepe is actually a nick name for the Spanish name Jose.  So it make sense why Jose Andres named his food truck Pepe.

PEPE has a selection of Spanish influenced sandwiches, and some side items like daily soup and dessert. The average prices for the sandwiches are around $8-$11 but the one sandwich that gets everybody rumbling is the famous $20 sandwich - Iberico Pork, and the typical me will order that and not let the idea of spending $20 on a sandwich bothering me that much, but I read online that the Iberico Pork is extremely greasy (not that I would mind either), but my stomach wasn't at the best shape for greasy food today, so I decided to get something else and come back for the Iberico Pork at a later date.

I went with the Club Barcelona and Gazpacho.  On the menu it says that The Club Barcelona comes with bacon, sliced chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, and mayo, very typical ingredients, wasn't anything special, and I picked it solely because of the name...yes, I miss you Barcelona!  Anyways, I didn't really expect much from the sandwich, I just wanted to see what Jose Andres' version of chicken sandwich would taste like.  Now when I took my first bite, the first thing I noticed was how crunchy the baguette was, I would say almost like it was fresh from the oven. This sucks, because now I know if I ever get a baguette sandwich again, and it is not as crunchy and fresh as this one, I am going to be upset. I loved the baguette so much that I would eat it plain!  In fact, the gazpacho came with a plain baguette, kinda like bread-sticks, and it was drizzle with olive oil, and it was still super crunchy. So I am here eating this sandwich, and I just can't believe it only has chicken, bacon, lettuce and tomatoes...why? because it tastes so good and I know for a fact if I take all those ingredients and make the same sandwich, it's not going to taste anything like this.  So I started eating each ingredients by itself to find out what made the difference. The tomatoes and lettuce tastes like normal tomatoes and lettuce, I never expected more.  The bacon was very crunchy, maybe slightly thicker than your normal bacon.  Then I realized the sliced chicken and the mayo is the key.  The chicken was definitely marinated or seasoned with garlic and onion and whatever I can't tell, but it was very flavorful and tender.  The mayo was also mixed with something else, which I also can't tell, but it was not your typical mayo.  But I was just amazed how one can take such simple ingredients, layer them on a piece of bread, and the combination can be this tasty.  I am definitely in love with PEPE, and yes Jose Andres, I am going to spend $20 on your Iberico Pork sandwich, and probably everything else on the menu.  Actually other than the Iberico Pork which is ridiculously expensive, and I probably won't get it more than once, the other sandwiches are decent priced if they taste as good as the Club Barcelona.  It's decent priced consider other delis in DC sells their sandwiches for $7-$8 and no, they don't taste this good. So I will definitely return to PEPE and I will let everyone know how the rest of the sandwiches are.  Oh and the gazpacho was just ok, I have had better, in fact, the gazpacho from the Big Cheese Food Truck tasted better, BUT it doesn't come with the crunchy baguette...hmm...that's a tough decision for me to make...