Jul 13 2017

Rose’s Luxury – Roof Garden Tasting Menu

When two friends have birthdays in July, what do we do? We have a fancy birthday celebration at Rose’s Luxury!

I still remember the first time I ate there. It was totally worth the wait. This time, it was even better because we had a reservation!

This beautiful rooftop garden (that I would just pass by on my way to the restroom upstairs😂) welcomed us when we got there. One of the birthday girls, “C”, had to stay online and refresh their reservation page 15,000 times to get this. The competition is intense! Special thanks to C for your fast click skills!

We basically sat there for 4 hours and kept eating and drinking. That’s what I call a great life!😁 What was even better, I didn’t have to experience that anxiety/agony/suffering at Komi, where I was asked not to take any pictures of the food. Food was great but every time they brought out beautiful dishes, I gotta say, a little part of me died. No picture, no blog post. Oh well.

So, here are the pictures from our lavish birthday party!

Rye Challah / with whipped honey-caraway butter and sea salt

Pheasant “Mortadella” / with pistachio, Dijon & red onion

Stuff Date / with cultured butter

Artichoke Leaf / with barigoule & smoked trout roe

Kung Pao Tofu / with broccoli, Virginia peanuts & pea shoots (Well, most of us were Asian. When they brought out the Chinese to-go paper containers, for a split second, some of us thought, ‘they are not serving this because we are…?’😂)

Carrots “Pastrami” / with smoked butter, rye & sauerkraut (This might have been my favorite dish this time!)

THE Lychee Salad / with pork sausage, habanero, red onions, coconut milk foam, toasted garlic slices, cilantro & peanuts (This dish has been on their menu forever and I like it every time I eat it!)

Farro Reginetti / with garlic & mustard greens (Some said that it was too salty, even though I liked pasta better than the other one😉)
Rogatoni Alla Vodka / with squid & genovese basil
Pickle-Brined Fried Chicken / with honey & benne seeds (Btw, pickle juice is a great marinade! Never throw away leftover pickle juice. I use it all the time!)
Smoked Brisket / with white bread, horseradish & slaw

Italian House Salad

BBQ Beans / with Carolina gold rice

Toasted Cinnamon Ice Cream / with apple cider donut (The. Donut. Was. The. Bomb.)
Innkeeper’s Pie / with walnuts, chocolate ganache & milk ice cream (O. M. G. 😱)

Last, but not least, the breakfast goodie bag! On our way out, they gave each of us this bag with a cinnamon bun and bottled cold brew coffee!

It was such a nice treat! We got to meet and hang out with some cool people while enjoying scrumptious food all evening! If you have some important celebration coming up, I definitely recommmend that you set a reminder on your phone and get online to make a reservation!

Happy summer!😎 And happy birthday, Y and C!!💕

Apr 3 2017

Convivial D.C.

Going out for ethnic food in Northern Virginia is always awesome: super delicious and quite affordable. However, we all have one of those days we wanna treat ourselves in a fancier setting. That was last night.

We went out to Convivial in DC to celebrate my birthday and my father-in-law’s retirement. You may not wanna walk in there in your shorts and flipflops but it is pretty laid back there. All the servers were wearing jeans!

First, and our favorite dish: Arctic Char Lox. Rye crisp, horseradish & caraway coleslaw, “everything” aioli. What a brilliant twist to a great food concept! It actually tastes better than it looks (and yes, that’s possible!).

Zucchini Roulade. Tomato, goat cheese, sumac, pine nuts. Good thing I took a quick snap of this beautiful dish because there is no pretty way to cut this roulade😂 The pleasant, subtle goat cheese flavor in this cold dish was just perfect.

Bouillabaisse. Blue catfish, clam, mussel, prawn, crab, squid, daurade, octopus. I know it can be quite intimidating if you are not used to certain seafood items in that broth. However, I think everyone should try this. The broth had this super creamy texture and the fresh seafood was perfectly cooked. Say no to overcooked, chewy squid!

Grilled Daurade. Sautéed squid, celeriac mousseline. Daurade (European sea bream) may not sound quite familiar to you. I think a lot of Asian countries use this fish too. I know that it’s considered a very expensive kind in Korea😉 Absolutely delicious!

And, of course, desserts! No meal is complete without desserts!

They serve French-American food in smaller portions like tapas. It’s perfect for me because I love to try many different dishes! And more importantly, EVERY SINGLE THING WAS JUST FANTABULOUS! It almost reminded me of Rose’s Luxury in a way- small delicious dishes to share with everyone.

Their service is top-notch too. A new set of silverware is provided in a timely manner for every course. Serving spoons/forks are set aside as well in case you need them to share food.

Even though it’s in a busy part of DC, you are not on top of each other like other well-known, hot restaurants in the city. I wouldn’t say that it’s serene but you can have a normal conversation with people in your party without other people running into you every 5 minutes.
This weekend, we definitely well treated ourselves. Now, I’m ready for some baseball!

Jan 27 2015

Delicious NYC!

Oh boy. Last weekend, we went up to NYC to get a couple of things done and, of course, we tried to eat as many meals as possible in a very limited time frame. 😉 Here are things we ate.

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1. Momofuku Noodle Bar – We had ramen noodles. I’ve become obsessed with finding GREAT ramen noodles. One thing is that I think I ate ramen noodles that were TOO good. That was in Osaka and I tend to compare every bowl to that one, which is not fair. Momofuku ramen noodles were good but they were not mind blowing. They do have some interesting dishes I want to try next time, though.

2. Levain Bakery – While standing in a mile long line, I felt like I became one of those tourists lined up in front of Georgetown Cupcake. Haha. This bakery has baseball size cookies. Was it worth the 15 minute wait? I say yes. Cookies were nice and crispy outside but super duper moist and soft inside. The peanut butter kind wasn’t from the best batch but overall it was a very satisfying experience.

3. Gato – Another restaurant of Bobby Flay’s. We were there for some cocktails so did not get to taste their food. However, people seemed to be happy with their food and the menu looked simple yet interesting. Maybe I’ll go back for the whole dining experience. 🙂 (Side note: are New Yorkers better looking than Washingtonians?? Sitting there watching people, I thought everyone was so pretty and handsome. Too much Riesling, maybe?)

4. Pepe Giallo – I personally liked this place a lot. It’s very small but nice and cozy. They seemed to have a terrace area where you can sit outside when weather is nice. I had spicy seafood pasta. I LOVE SPICY FOOD so I did not have any problem with the heat but apparently it wasn’t supposed to be THAT spicy. Overall, the restaurant owner (who I think is from Italy) was very attentive about it. It’s a great restaurant for a date I think. The best part? The price! They have 7 dollar pasta dishes. Unbelievable. No one can beat that!

5. 72nd Street Bagel – It’s just a small bagel place in the neighborhood recommended by our cousin. They make their bagel on site. LOX! Yup. Can’t miss that. Here’s my secret though. New York bagels are good but my favorite was the ones in Montreal!! Shhhhhhh

Next time I go up to NYC, where should I go? Suggestions?! 😉

May 11 2014

How to gain 10 lbs in 3 days: go to Pittsburgh!

Never did I know that Pittsburgh was such a food city! We were expecting lot of sports and history but Pittsburgh wowed us beyond that, BIG TIME.

A few things:
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Apr 12 2014

[Restaurant Review] Oriental East Restaurant

▣ Location: 1312 E West Hwy, Silver Spring, MD 20910
▣ Tel: 301-608-0030
▣ Dim Sum
▣ Yelp Rating: ★★★☆☆ (as of April 12, 2014) – Click stars for more info!

Oriental East is supposed to be one of the best dim sum places in the area. A & J Restaurant is said to be another great Chinese restaurant but today was a dim sum and dim sum ONLY kinda day. 😉

I won’t say much, though. It was AWESOME. Been to Beijing only once and never been to Hong Kong or anywhere down south so I don’t really know what’s “authentic”. However, some of my Chinese friends have approved this place to be authentic – if not, very close.

On the table is the empty bill, which is to be filled up as your tummy gets fuller with delicious Cantonese food.

Tip1! They open at 11am daily and BE THERE EARLIER! We showed up around 10:40 and were part of the first round of seating. A lot of people had already been there a while. Those 20+ minutes of waiting can save you 1 hour or more! (Hmm… This sounds like the GEICO commercial…… lol)

Tip2! Pick-up is another great option if you are not a big fan of hustle and bustle. I didn’t even know if that was an option until I saw another line forming in the restaurant for pick-up orders. Duh.

Caution! You don’t necessarily know exactly what you are getting here but that’s part of the experience, right? The ladies with carts try to explain but not all details are accurately delivered. 😉 As long as you know it’s pork or shrimp, you are good to go. 🙂

So enough said. Here are some of the dishes from the restaurant. Add this to your restaurant list! 🙂

(☝️Btw, the dish above here was my personal favorite. Had eggplant and pork… Don’t know what it’s called but it was MONEY!)

Oct 13 2013

The Pit is the $h!t!

I usually try to avoid franchises and look for a hole in the wall and underrated mom and pop restaurants in new places. When I asked people for the best BBQ in Raleigh, NC this weekend, they all gave me this name, “The Pit.” I was a little reluctant to go at first cuz that’s what EVERYONE recommended but, oh boy, didn’t that place just blow my mind.

The Pit
328 W Davie St, Raleigh, NC 27601
(919) 890-4500

They give you complimentary biscuits and hush puppies to begin with. Each item on their menu looked amazing but they offer this three course family style all-you-can-eat option so we went for it. You get to choose two appetizers, two entrees, two sides and a dessert.

Here are things we got.

Fried green tomatoes, cornbread, collard greens, fried okra, baby back ribs, pulled pork, sweet tea and banana pudding!

I gotta say that it was the best BBQ that I’ve had in the last decade! The meat was cooked perfect. I am usually not a “saucy” person but I was pretty much licking the baby back rib sauce off the serving plate at the end of the night.

I can’t help emphasizing how great the banana pudding was. OMG is my review. I’d never tasted any desserts that delicious in my whole life. One item you must try!

So, please spread the word! All of us deserve some amazing food! When in North Carolina, go dine at The Pit!

Sep 21 2013

Palm Springs! Another tasteful vacation!

Killing two birds with a stone! We participated in the Certified Angus Beef® (aka CAB) conference and made a vacation out of it. It goes without saying that the meals were phenomenal. 🙂

They were very creative and inspiring in preparing all the dishes. I had never seen a cotton candy wrapped beef bites until this trip! So, here’s the footage of all the delicious dishes.

We were given great dishes every night at the venue but there’s one restaurant that I think everyone should check out when in Palm Springs. Le Vallauris! They proudly serve French cuisine and the dining experience there is beyond your imagination. They even give you different color napkins that match your dress! Besides, the whole restaurant is just so beautiful. I strongly recommend sitting out in the patio. Absolutely gorgeous!

Aug 27 2013

Montreal & Quebec City

6 days in Montreal and Quebec City. How did I like it? I enjoyed every single bite of it! And that includes Tim Hortons!

One great thing that we did was using Airbnb. You basically rent out someone’s apartment or room by the day. This makes perfect sense, especially price wise, when you need two hotel rooms. The one we stayed at in Montreal was much better than my own apartment! I definitely recommend it.

What food was the best? It’s really hard to say. I never had a bad meal on this trip. However, if I have to pick only one, I’m gonna go for bagels. This awesome bagel place was right downstairs from our Airbnb apartment. Montreal bagels are very different. There’s no bottom! Both sides look the same and they are cooked as seen in the picture below.

So here we go. Food pictures 😉

Another thing that I can’t forget about! Poutine! It was just so dramatic. 🙂 Fries with gravy, cheese and other toppings of your choice! It sounds kinda heartattacky but you know what? When in Rome, do as the Romans do. When in Montreal, eat poutine! 😉
Yup! These are “some”, not all, of what we ate for 5 days. Montreal and Quebec City are great places to visit in many aspects. However, wherever I go, food comes first! Everything else (attractions, tours, excursions, history, etc) is just what happens between meals. 😉 Now I look at all the pictures, I want to go back!

If you need names of restaurants or the locations, please do ask me by commenting here or tweeting! Bon appetit!

Mar 31 2013

[Restaurant Review] Rosemarino d’Italia – Alexandria, VA

Rosemarino d’Italia
1905 Mount Vernon Ave, Alexandria, VA 22301
(703) 299-8906

This restaurant opened up literally two weeks ago. It wasn’t even on foursquare so I had to add it to check in! I get so excited when I see a new restaurant opening in the neighborhood. So, I went to check it out on its opening day 🙂

Home-made pasta! YES! I can’t say much about anything else yet because i went there only once and there aren’t even reliable reviews yet. But their pasta was cooked perfect with a lot of seafood – YUM! I’m a marinara sauce person 99% of the time but the linguini with white wine and garlic was fantabulous! Best part? Their home-made tiramisu! You don’t even know that you even put it in your mouth. It just melts away 😉 I am definitely interested in going back to try their chicken piccata, which is supposedly really good as well! Loving my neighborhood ❤

Happy Easter!

Mar 22 2013

Hello, San Francisco!

Out trip to SF was short but sweet! Lots of baseball and lots of food!

There’s nothing better than Samgyeopsal after three straight days of baseball! That was our “last supper” in San Fran. SF has so much to offer. Can’t wait to go back. 🙂

What was the best thing from this trip? I met lots of baseball players in person such as Rodney from Tampa and Kevin Millar who used to play for Boston. However, to me, the most awesome thing was that I met Chan Ho Park, who used to play for the Dodgers! He’s a baseball legend in Korea! I am so excited to hang this picture with his autograph in my husband’s favorite room aka “sports room” 😉

Virginialicious

Food-porn for all food lovers!

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