Good Ol' Ben's Chili Bowl

Ben's Chili Bowl is a historical diner that has earned a spot in every D.C. travel guide's restaurant section. The restaurant is fun because it is covered in framed pictures of their prestigious customer base, such as Martin Luther King Jr., Nat King Cole, Barack Obama, and their number one customer - Bill Cosby. The casual restaurant is adorned with diner booths and counter seats. The cooks and waiters are always laughing and chatting up the customers. Ben's is most popular with the late night weekend crowd, as they are open until 4am Fridays and Saturdays.

Ben's Chili Bowl- "A Washington Landmark"

Everyone comes to Ben's for of course- the chili! You can not come here without getting their famous chili dog. I ate my first chili dog, and certainly not my last, at Ben's. The restaurant also has great thick milkshakes, burgers, and fries. Don't expect to find anything green on the menu- it's all quality deep fried deliciousness.

Chili Dog with the Classic Mustard and Onions Topping

Chili Cheeseburger with the works

J'adore Adour!

I have been excited for weeks about going to renowned chef, Alain Ducasse's, DC restaurant Adour. For those of you who don't know who Alain Ducasse is, he was the chef at the restaurant in the Eiffel Tower and he owns a numbers of restaurants around the world. My friend, Kelsey, and I made a reservation weeks ago to catch the low prices during Restaurant week. Adour filled up so quickly that they extended their restaurant week special for another week. Dressed in our finest, we entered the extravagant and well decorated restaurant located in the St. Regis Hotel in downtown D.C. I was slightly intimidated by the upscale crowd and finely trimmed waiters, but eventually relaxed in my white cushioned chair. From the hostess, to the table presentation, to the overall appearance of the restaurant- there was a great attention to detail.

Inside Seating with White Cushioned Chairs

We excitedly reviewed the menu, and both decided to start with the Sunchoke Parmentier Soup with Bacon Foam. A sunchoke is a cross between a potato and a sunflower seed. The sunchokes were pureed with presumably a heavy cream and seasoning. The waiter served our bowls with two spoonfuls of foam, crispy bacon bits, and small croutons. Immediately I thought to myself, That's all I get?, but the waiter proceeded to pour the pureed soup, from a vase, over the foam right in front of me. The soup was absolutely mouth-watering. I scraped every last bit from the bottom of my bowl. The bacon foam complemented the sunchokes perfectly, and the crunchy croutons and bacon were nice little surprises.

Sunchoke Parmentier Soup with Bacon Foam and Croutons

Our next course was grilled hangar steak medallions, with Yukon gold potatoes and wilted spinach. The presentation was very well put together, as the rare steak was topped with a creamy horseradish sauce and the potatoes had some type of onion topping. The steak was perfectly seasoned and it was delicious with the horseradish sauce. The potatoes and spinach were also very well done.

Steak Medallions with Horseradish Topping, Yukon Gold Potatoes, Spinach

Finally- the dessert. We ordered a coffee cremieux with a Marsala Sauvignon sauce. It essentially was a dark chocolate covered coffee mousse with whipped cream in the center. The dessert was superb. The consistency was so light and fluffy that it melted in your mouth. The flavors blended very well together, and there was the strong liquor sauce on the side that wonderfully accompanied the dark chocolate.

Dark Chocolate Covered Coffee Mousse with Marsala Sauvignon Sauce

From the service, to the decor, to the food- Adour was fantastic.

Restaurant Week Part 2: Agraria

I was apprehensive about going because Agraria did not have the best reviews, according to Yelp.com (My favorite review website, where I find all of my restaurants!). My friend, Ruth, assured me it would be delicious because she had been before. Agraria is a spacious restaurant on the waterfront in Georgetown. The atmosphere was nice as it was right in front of the Potomac River, and the tables were lit by candle light. Agraria offered the Restaurant week 3 course prix-fixe menu this week, but I decided to order off of the regular menu. I ordered the grilled salmon with sauteed mushrooms and wild rice. Ruth ordered off of the prix-fixe menu and she got fried green tomatoes, New York strip steak, and the carrot cake.
I tried Ruth's appetizer, and it was very tasty. She had the fried green tomatoes, which came with a goat cheese flan (which was essentially a cube of mild goat cheese), a creamy basil pesto, and a tomato jam. The tomatoes were coated in cornmeal and Japanese panko breadcrumbs (Side note: if you ever coat anything in breadcrumbs- try panko and you will never go back! They are the best!). I have always wanted to try fried green tomatoes, especially after seeing the movie, but this was my first time and I was very pleased. They were sweet and crunchy. My favorite combination was the tomatoes with the tomato jam and a bit of arugula on top. These filling savory bites are a must-have.

Fried Green Tomatoes with goat cheese, tomato jam, basil pesto, and arugula garnish

Moments later, our entrees arrived. My salmon had a very basic seasoning comprised of only salt, pepper, and a sprinkle of parsley. The salmon was satisfactory, but nothing to call home about. I like a kick in my food, whether it's sweet or spicy, but the only word I can think of to describe this salmon is plain. I wish it had another ingredient to make it a little more flavorful. It sat on top of wild rice and sauteed mushrooms and a creamy, white sauce. The rice was moist, but like the salmon I think it could have been better if it had a little more flavor.

Grilled Salmon with Wild Rice, Sauteed Mushrooms, and Cream Sauce

Ruth's steak was very juicy and enjoyable. It was served with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and a house steak sauce. The serving was huge! Ruth could barely eat half of it.

New York Strip Steak, Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes, and House Steak Sauce

Overall, our trip to Agraria was a positive experience but not necessarily worth the steep prices. I would not mind going back and getting some of those tomatoes, but I do not think I would order the salmon again. This restaurant seems ideal for people, like Ruth, who enjoy simple uncomplicated dishes. For those of you like me, who like innovative variations of traditional dishes, Agraria won't blow you away.

New Restaurant in Town..Siroc

Now, I can not say enough good things about Siroc. This contemporary Italian restaurant is out of this world. The ambiance was simple and classic, and the wait staff was very nice. I went with Tyler for Restaurant Week in DC (35$ for 3-course dinner, 20$ for 3 course lunch), and we savored every last bite.

All of their pasta is freshly made
(picture is from Siroc's website- see link above)

I was tempted to order from the original menu because of the ravioli filled with lobster, chervil, and roasted fennel with a sweet corn sauce. Also, the Veal Ossobuco served over Parmesan polenta sounded delicious. I will have no problem paying the 30 dollars for one of these meals in the future- but tonight, we stuck with the 3 course menu.

At the table, they bring you fresh foccacia with olive oil. For the appetizers, we split an arugula salad with Gouda cheese, poached pear, pine nuts, and a black pepper vinaigrette. The vinaigrette is true to it's name as it was very peppery, but as long as you eat it along with the pear to give it a sweet and salty contrast it is fine. We also split the appetizer of Rabbit and Black Truffle Sausages served over Parmesan polenta. I licked the plate clean off of this appetizer- it was amazing and I highly recommend it if you come.

Handmade Black Truffle and Rabbit Sausages served over Parmesan Polenta

For dinner, we split two courses: Gnocchi with a braised lamb, carrot, and tomato sauce and a Beef Tenderloin with string beans and a garlic potato puree. Both dishes were incredible. The gnocchi was light and fluffy with the perfect amount of sauce on top. The beef was the most tender cut of meat I have ever eaten, perfectly seasoned, and perfectly complimented the sides. It was a little rare for my taste- but none the less, delicious.

For dessert, we had a chocolate covered tiramisu and poached pears with ginger ice cream. Both dishes lived up to the other meals as they were superb. The tiramisu was fluffy and came with an orange nectar sauce on the side. The pear was soaked in a thick sweet liquor and complimented the ice cream perfectly.

Chocolate covered Tiramisu

Overall, an A +. This restaurant is new in town, and lucky for us not many people know about it yet so it was no problem getting a reservation. I have a feeling that will change in the upcoming weeks when the word spreads, so reserve quickly!!

Good Stuff Eatery

Good Stuff Eatery is a casual burger joint belongs to Season 4 Top Chef's Spike (shown in the picture to the left). I heard about this place from a friend, and it's located in SE DC near Capitol Hill. The menu is simple with burgers, fries, salad wedges, and milkshakes.

I had a sudden craving for hamburgers, so Tyler and I hopped on the metro and walked to the restaurant. I ordered the turkey burger with avocado, sprouts, muenster cheese, and tomatoes on a whole wheat bun. It was good- but it tasted like there was lemon zest or lemon pepper in the meat and I felt like it overpowered a lot of the other taste. Besides that, the burger was tasty. Tyler ordered the "Good Stuff Melt" with melted cheddar and muenster cheese, caramelized onions, and mushrooms with Good Stuff sauce. I had a bite- and this was delicious. We ordered a side of onion rings which you HAVE to order if you come here. They are chunky, and there were multiple slices of onions in each fried shell with the perfect seasoning. Another must-have is the Black & White milkshake. This is a vanilla milkshake with chocolate fudge swirled and we were scraping the cup until it was all gone. Apparently the toasted marshmallow milkshake and milky way malt are also very good.

Black and White Milkshake

There is also a sauce bar with the usuals, mango mayonnaise, chipotle mayonnaise, and others.

Different sauces

Overall, it was fun! Very casual- you order at the counter and bring it to your seat, but good food and a good place to go with a large crowd.
** Unfortunately, the pictures of the hamburgers did not turn out well so I did not post them, Sorry!

Breakfast for Dinner

So I know this is not a restaurant in DC (although for the right price I'm sure you could pay him to cook you anything)- but I wanted to show off the V-day dinner that my boyfriend, Tyler, cooked for me.

Banana Pecan French Toast, Feta Basil Ham Scrambled Eggs, Turkey Bacon, Fruit Salad

He made banana pecan french toast with the bananas soaked in maple syrup and rum with pecans, whipped cream, and a mint garnish on top. The eggs had feta cheese, ham, and basil inside. He put a side dish of turkey bacon, fruit salad, and champagne mimosas. Now I know I have to say this because he's my boyfriend- but no lies, this was one of the most delicious breakfasts I have ever eaten! (It was breakfast for dinner- my favorite)

Here are the recipes:
Banana French Toast
Ham, Feta, Basil Eggs