Mokomandy

I gathered with a group of friends to check out a restaurant one of our friends work at in Sterling, VA.  It's a Korean and Cajun fusion restaurant, which is a first for me, but I am happy to report, it was one of the best dinner I have had so far this year.  Of course, a lot of it had to do with the insider recommendations we got ahead of time on what to order.

Crabbies ginger beer

I think I have found my favorite beer for the summer - the alcoholic ginger beer from Scotland.  Pick yours up at World Market, and remember to drink with ice. 

Potroast sliders

 The potroast sliders were delicious.  Tender potroast in between crunchy bread.

Grilled oysters

The grilled oysters were decent but I have had better.  I think there's other dishes on the menu worth ordering before this one.

Foie gras dumplings

The foie gras dumplings is probably the best dish to present the fusion element on the menu.  It was amazing and now I think all dumplings should be made with foie gras!

Jambalaya

The jambalaya was decent, it wasn't my favorite but again I am not a big jambalaya fan to begin with.

Korean karnivore ssam

The Korean karnivore ssam was awesome! It was such a fun dish to have on the table, and perfect for sharing with a party of friends.  I would recommend it if you have a large party.

Shrimp and grits

The shrimp and grits I had that night lacked seasoning, but one of my friend who had it previous time said it was better.  Overall, if it wasn't for the lack of seasoning, it was decent.  The grits were at a good consistency.

Wild boar bowl

I absolutely love the wild boar bowl.  It was another successful fusion dish.  The flavor, the concept, the presentation were all perfect.

Modern scallops

The seared scallop on glazed sweet potatoes with pea and orange puree was fantastic.  The scallops were cooked and seasoned perfectly.  The sweet potatoes compliment the scallops and bring the dish to a good balance. Another must order item.

Spiced rum bread pudding

Chocolate XS

I had such an enjoyable and delicious dinner at Mokomandy, when I was walking out, I was already planning a trip back with my friends.  I would highly recommend anyone who is interested to try.  Mokomandy is an amazing restaurant with innovative and great food.

Mokomandy

Sakuramen @ DC

Sakuramen is a Korean owned ramen joint which serves Korean food inspired ramen noodles.  The menu has seven different types of ramen and about half of them are spicy or can be spicy as a choice.  The menu is a little bit more diverse than the authentic ramen joint.

Fried gyoza

Fried gyoza before ramen as an appetizer is almost a must! The menu also offers pork buns and kimchi for appetizer.  The gyoza was decent.   The pork buns also look good, so it's worth a try if you have the stomach space for it.

Shoki Bowl

I got the shoki bowl, which comes with extra chashu and bulgogi with a chicken shoyu soup base.  The soup base is very different than a traditional shoyu soup base, I think the main reason is because of the bulgogi.  The shoki bowl is loaded with meat but the chashu was on the fatty side and the bulgogi were slightly dry.  The noodle was also under cook and a bit crunchy.  Overall, the ramen was mediocre and my least favorite part was the soup base.

Tonkotsu Red

My buddy ordered the tonkotsu red which is a spicy version of the tonkotsu.  You can choose a spicy level from one to five, and my buddy chose three.  To me, level three was pretty spicy already, so  make sure you choose your spicy level appropriately.  I like the tonkotsu soup base more than the shoyu one, but the same downfall with the shoyu ramen applies here as well.


Sakuramen

Daikaya - Ramen @ DC

I missed the pop-up event but finally had a chance to grab a quick lunch at the newly opened Daikaya.  

Daikaya

Daikaya right next to Graffiato, both are very good restaurants.

 Straight up noodle bar design on the lower level, be ready to squeeze.

Gyoza 

I liked the gyoza, they are bigger than the ones from Ren's.

Mugi-miso Ramen

I ordered the mugi-miso ramen and added soft boiled eggs to it since it didn't come with.  Overall, I thought it was pretty good.  The noodles have a good texture and the broth was very flavorful.  The only thing I thought it was off about Daikaya's ramen is their eggs.  For some reason, my eggs are too sweet in the yolk and they are usually salty in ramen.  But other than that, I like Daikaya ramen, and the fact that it's walking distance to my work makes it an ideal lunch place for me.  

Vegetable Shio Ramen

My buddy ordered the vegetable shio ramen and added eggs and pork belly to it.  The vegetable shio is the vegan option on the menu, so the broth is slightly lighter, but yet still very good.  Other than the fact that it doesn't come with meat, I think it has good flavors and good for people who likes a less heavy broth.

Daikaya

Firefly @ Dupont Circle

If I were to summarize my dinning experience at Firefly, I would say it was phenomenal. There were many highlights and I was impress multiple times throughout the meal.  I am very glad the BF took us here for an early Valentine's Day celebration, otherwise I wouldn't have discovered such a great restaurant.  It was still the DC Restaurant Week when we visited, but we didn't expect to order from the RW menu, however when we got there, they offer their entire menu for RW with a few exception, so it was a no brainer to go the RW route.  (I might come back next time for RW again! )

Poached Octopus

We wanted to order an extra appetizer and were debating between the chicken fried oysters or the poached octopus. We consulted our server, and turned out the poached octopus is her favorite of all appetizers and she guarantees that it would be amazing. And I cannot agree more after we had it.  The octopus was poached with red wine, grilled to give it the smokey flavor, and served with roasted olives, cappers, avocado, and olive oil.  It was perfect.  My BF doesn't like olives, but he loved it as well.  It was the best appetizer out of the three and I highly recommend this one! I don't think I have had better except for in Spain.

Deviled Eggs

The deviled eggs were served with a garlic chip on top.  Creamy and flavorful eggs with crunchy heaven on top.  Great texture and flavor.  A good choice of appetizer off of the RW menu.

Chicken Soup

This is the weakest dish of the entire meal and it was supposed to be the family recipe too! Anyway, it was bland and the texture of the chicken ball was too soft.  This was disappointing.

Market Fish

Cooked Perfectly

I got the market fish of the day for my entree.  It was arctic char with polenta and braised kale.  The char was cooked perfectly.  Char and salmon has very similar texture, so one really shouldn't cook them well done (overcooked).  This char was cooked medium rare.  It was declious.  Not overcooking it allows one to taste the freshness and the nature flavor of the fish.  This dish really was executed with perfection because the side items are also delicious.  The polenta was very creamy and the kale has great flavors to it.

Pork Cheek Stroganoff

The pork cheek stroganoff was also fabulous.  Braised pork cheek with pappardelle pasta served with pearl onions, and cremini mushrooms.  Cremini mushrooms are like baby portobello mushrooms, they are filled with flavors and like all mushrooms, absorb juices very well. I think the Chef really chose some great ingredients and seasonings together to make this dish.  The flavors are amazing.  We were very satisfy at this point of the meal, and almost forgot that we have dessert coming.

Persimmon Cheesecake

The persimmon cheesecake tastes almost like carrot cake but it was served hot.  I like combining the cold fennel ice cream and the hot cheesecake when I eat them.

Chocolate Hazelnut Ice Cream Sandwich

Chocolate cake, peanut brittle, hazelnut ice cream, caramel sauce, and sea salt all on my dessert plate.  I think that should put it in perspective.  Just a small comment here, the ice cream in the middle was very cold and hard, and it is probably because the ice cream sandwich was pre made and was in the freezer before it was served.  However, I think I would stick it in the microwave for like 5 second to melt the ice cream a little bit before serving, because everything on the plate has a firm texture due to the freeze; even the ice cream. Just something small to improve the overall texture and balance of this dish.

Overall, the food was great and I loved my meal at Firefly. I highly recommend it and t definitely worth coming back to.

Firefly

Suna @ Eastern Market

I literally just came back from dinner with my food buddies at Suna and it was one of the most unexpected dinner of my life.  Usually, I will wait a few days before I write my blog, but since I was exposed to so many new flavors, new ingredients, and culinary techniques (not that I know any) used in this meal; I am afraid if I don't capture it right now, I will not be able to remember all the details.

Suna offers two tasting menu options: a four course and an eight course.  We wanted the full experience, so we chose to go with the eight course menu and it was definitely the right choice.  Since Suna only offers tasting menu, the menu changes constantly based on what's in season.
(Sorry for the bad picture quality, the lighting in the restaurant was not photography friendly)

Root Vegetables

The first course was root vegetables.  It was a salad combined with candied yam, pickled or raw beet, celery root, parsnip and topped with arugula granita.  I probably missed like ten other ingredients in the dish when the server was describing it, but those were the main ones I can remember.  This dish, being the most unique dish through the meal, caught all of us by surprise.  There was so many different flavors on the plate and every bite tastes like a brand new dish.  Depending on which combination of root vegetables was on your fork, the collaboration of flavors were different every time you take that bite.  One of my favorite root vegetables of the dish was the candied yam. The candy coat gave yam a new texture and 100% more sweetness.  It was so good that I can just snack on it by itself.  The most surprising element of this dish was the arugula granita.  I mean....who makes granita out of arugula or any vegetables? You will have to try it and be the judge of that. All of us had a different feeling about the arugula granita and I will leave it up to you to experience yourself.

Kampachi

The second course was fish.  We were served a mackerel inked with cured eggplant and pickled husk cherries.  I don't think I have ever had husk cherries nor eggplant ink nor all of them together on one plate.  I also never had mackerel served like this, but I think I like it.

Dashi Custard

The third course was dashi custard with scallop and roasted mushrooms.  This was my favorite out of the three cold dishes.  The custard were so smooth and creamy, and the scallop and roast mushrooms were also the perfect toppings for it.  This was a fun dish with fantastic flavors and texture.

Shellfish

The fourth course and also the first hot course of the meal, was buttermilk crab meat with crab mustard served with crispy rice chips (I think).  Once again, it was fabulous.  Every bite screams crabs!

Fowl

The fifth course was fowl.  For the night, we had squab breast with sunchoke, grain, broccoli and a crispy squab skin to balance the texture.  The squab was seasoned and cooked perfectly; it was flavorful and tender.  The grain which included sunflower seeds and oat was not your typical grain, but it was delicious.  Half way through the meal, I think we learned to expect the unexpected and just enjoy the ride.  One complaint though, I wish there were a couple more slices of squab confit on my plate.

Pork

The sixth course and also the last entree, was pork shoulder with tahini garlic puree served with daikon and kale chips.  This was another phenomenal dish.  I loved the tahini garlic puree and kale chips.  It was really hard for me to decide which meat dish I liked more, but luckily we got the eight course meal, so we didn't have to choose.  I would be sad to miss either one of them.

Apple

The seventh course and also the beginning of our dessert journey was caramel ice-cream served with cilantro apple and salted malted milk crumbles. When the server was introducing it, I thought I heard the word cilantro and I was thinking in my head....cilantro and ice-cream?  But again, we are at Suna, and all things are possible, and we have seen many ingredients that are not typical used together, but somehow, worked.  It was the perfect dessert after a savory meal and salted caramel had never failed me.

Hazelnut

The eighth course and our last course was a hazelnut parfait with coco and hazelnut crumbs.  The texture of the hazelnut parfait was indescribable.  The parfait was such a spotlight of the dish, I don't want to ruin a great movie for you if you ever decide to watch it, so I will just leave it as it is.  You will be surprised but you will not be disappointed.

The food was delicately prepared, well-planned and very labor intensive.  With all the thoughts that came behind this meal, I was very satisfied.  While every dish has its own characteristic and a whole different unique flavor, there was  a common theme through out the whole meal.  Despite the combination of all the different ingredients used in every dish, the texture were always perfectly balanced and the flavor were always new.  For Suna, you would definitely need to have an open mind in order to fully appreciate such a unique experience Chef Spero is exposing to your taste buds, and when you are ready for it, I bet you, it will be eye opening.

Also, special thanks to the great dinner company and helping out with the photography!

Suna

Fishers Farmers Bakers @ Georgetown

Located right next to the Washington Harbor in Georgetown, Fishers Farmers Bakers offers a wide selection of dishes from East to West pair with exotic cocktails and local brewed beer...sounds familiar?  

Created by the same restaurant group as Founding Farmers, and operating with the similar concept, I think if you enjoy Founding Farmers, now Fishers Farmers Bakers is another good alternative.

Scorpion - Chef Mix Style

You can order any scorpion mix cocktails in this scorpion bowl, and if you get the Chef Mix like we did, you get flaming 151 in the middle.  It definitely has an eye popping factor to it (who doesn't like fire?), however to get the most bang (ahem...alcohol) for you bucks, get the zombie.

Zombie

I think this is bad because there's absinthe in it, and it's on the menu that you can't get more than 1 bowl per guest.  Drink responsibly!

Flying Dog

If crazy cocktails with fire is not your taste, FFB also offers a good selection of local brewed beer and seasonal beer that's changes all the time.

Duck Fat Chicken Wings

Duck fat are amazing; these chicken wings fried in duck fat are very crispy and flavorful.  A little asian twist of on the sauce with green scallions and soy sauce and a side of the mustard was also the perfect dip for the wings.  Tender, flavorful and crispy.  I don't know what more can you ask for in fried wings.

Beer Mussels and Fries

Fresh mussels cooked perfectly in beer.  Another good appetizer on the menu.

Fishers Fry Combo Platter

The combo platter comes with scallops, shrimps, and fish.  I am not a fan of fried seafood, so as long as the batter is not super thick and doughy, I will give it a pass.  Credit to the restaurant, the fish and shrimps where both decent size and fresh.  My favorite thing of the dish is actually the sweet corn, it's so yummy, I  will order that by itself as a side.

Detroit Red Top Pizza

The Detroit Red Top Pizza is a deep dish pizza with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese.  It was a little disappointing for me, since I am so used to District of Pi Pizza's deep dish pizza which comes with tons of sauce and toppings.  This pizza is small and doesn't have a lot of toppings, however they did a good job on keeping the crust crispy, but still not on par for me.  On a side note, go to Pi Pizza in DC for their deep dish pizza, it's so much better! Hopefully one day I will write a review on it.

Seafood Jambalaya

The Seafood Jambalaya - Chesapeake Style, comes with crabs, mussels, sausages, and shrimp.  I am indifferent about his dish, I think the generosity of the amount of seafood that comes with it, but the dish was dry.
  

Flounder with green peas and grits

It's always a good thing to end a meal with a strong dish and the flounder did it well this time.  The flounder was cooked perfectly.  It was crispy on the outside and flaky in the middle.  The two side items: green peas and grits where also good tasting.  Definitely a strong item on the menu.

Farmers Fishers Bakers

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