Tag Archives: Chicken

Fuego, 3 November 2012

Fuego Cocina y Tequileria is a new Mexican restaurant located where Harry’s Tap Room used to reside in Clarendon.  I dropped by there the other night to meet some folks for a birthday party, but after checking out their menu, I thought I should get some dinner there first.

First off, they’ve got some flavorful guacamole.

Some good, flavorful guac.

I went for three orders of soft corn tortilla tacos each ($7 / order of two).  The tacos at Fuego come with three salsas – rojo, habanero, and salsa verde – which went well with all the tacos I tried.

I got orders of the Lengua (slow braised beef tongue), Al Pastor (spit roasted marinated pork and pineapple serrano salsa), Birria (Jalisco-style roasted goat), and Pollo (chicken tinga, shredded lettuce, queso fresco).  The vegetarian I was eating with got the Calabaza version (Yucatán-style roasted squash and spicy pickled red onions).

Beef Tongue Tacos…so good.

Goat Tacos…

Round three – pork and chicken tacos.

To not overdo the taco theme of the evening (although they were all quite tasty – especially the beef tongue), I next ordered the Ceviche de Pescado (Tilapia, habanero, red onion, fresh lime).

Closing it out with a good ceviche.

Fuego offers three-glass flights from their extensive menu of over 110 tequilas.  This time around, I went with a flight of blanco, reposado, and añejo Chinaco.

Substantial amount of tequila options…according to a tweet I received from @FuegoCocina, they’ve got over 110 of them.

Also, great specialty tequila cocktails.  Try the Mala Suerte (habanero infused tequila, triple sec, grapefruit juice, lime juice) or the Gherkin Fresca (Sauza Blue Silver, Hendricks, jalapeño simple syrup, cucumber-lime agua fresca – has a great, fresh, cucumber-y taste).

Mala Suerte…

…and the Gherkin Fresca

I’ll be trying out some of the rest of the menu next time I drop by…I expect it’ll be good.

Blue Ginger, 3 July 2012

While I was visiting New England, I made a stop at Blue Ginger in Wellesley, MA.  Ming Tsai, once on The Next Iron Chef and other Food Network shows, opened this spot in 1998.  My friends had been raving about this place for awhile, so it was on our to-do list while I was out there.

The Blue Ginger kitchen working hard.

We started out with a couple of drinks from Blue Ginger’s creative cocktail menu.  I got the Thai Coconut Martini, which consisted of cilantro- and chili-infused vodka, Coco Lopez coconut milk, and lime…great flavor combination.

Thai Coconut Martini. “Creamy, spicy, delicious,” per the menu…I concur.

This was my first opportunity to obtain foie gras since the California ban on the delicacy went into effect, so I went a little overboard and both of the options.  Blue Ginger has two starters with foie gras, including a Foie Gras-Shiitake Shumai in Sauternes-Shallot Broth, and the Blue Ginger Charcuterie Plate.  The latter consisted of duck prosciutto, foie gras torchon, and country pâté.  Both were good…I especially liked the sweetness of the Sauternes broth with the shumai dish.

The Foie Gras Shumai. The shumai themselves came out in a dim sum bamboo container, and then were moved into the broth.

Charcuterie with delicious foie gras torchon (bottom right).

Seeing the need for another cocktail at this point, I chose the Gosling’s Gold Iced Chai Latte – chai-infused rum with Bailey’s and honey syrup.  Again, really tasty.

Gosling’s Gold Iced Chai Latte.

Moving onto the entrees…I went with the Grilled New Zealand Rack of Lamb, and my friends went with Szechwan Chicken and the Sake-Miso Marinated Alaskan Butterfish (two of the house specialties).  All of these were excellent.  The lamb was exceptionally prepared – juicy and tender – and was served with a crispy taro-corn cake, asian chimichurri, and adobo cream.  The butterfish was incredible.  I was a little jealous I didn’t get that myself, and if I go again that’s what I’ll be getting.

My rack of lamb.

Szechwan Chicken with Lapchang Sticky Rice and Sautéed Mustard Greens. Served with Garlic-ginger-soy syrup and sweet chile sauce.

The incredible butterfish, served with wasabi oil, soy-lime syrup, and vegetarian soba noodle sushi.

If rhubarb is ever on the dessert menu, I get it.  Blue Ginger has a Crème Fraiche Cheesecake with Rosé Sobet topped with gingered rhubarb, strawberries, and candied pistachios.  Also good was the Bittersweet Chocolate Cake with cardamom ice cream and chocolate ganache.  Great end to the meal.

Ming Tsai has some of his recipes (including a few of the ones featured at Blue Ginger) on his PBS show “Simply Ming“.  A few of the episodes are online on his website, which I’d encourage you to check out.

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Blue Ginger
583 Washington Street
Wellesley, MA 02482
(781) 283-5790
http://www.ming.com/blue-ginger.htm

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Food Truck Tour, 1 Jun 2012

Today I stopped by the food trucks just outside of the L’Enfant Plaza Metro station.  These were located at the 7th and Maryland entrance…did not see any trucks at the other side.

Food trucks location, in red…the L’Enfant Metro entrance is at the bottom left corner of the highlighted area.

Since I hadn’t gotten any shawarma last time I hit the food trucks, I wanted this time.  I got a recommendation for Halal Grill (@WhereHalal), so I went with them.  My friend went with Tops Trucks (@TopTrucks), which highlights their handmade sausage.

This time around, I tried the offerings from Tops Trucks (in red, with the “Handmade Sausages” sign), and Halal Grill (green truck to the right of Tops).

From Halal Grill, I ordered the Combo Platter ($7.99), which consists of chicken, gyro, rice, salad, sauce (it appeared to be both tzatziki sauce and a spicier one), and chickpeas.  The chicken and gyro meat were both really tasty.  I’ve been told that many of the shawarma/halal trucks get their gyro meat from the same place, so they are likely going to taste pretty similar whichever truck you get it from (although the sauce might be different).  However, the chicken is from different vendors and cooked by the individual truck, so there should be more variation between those dishes.  Regardless, both meats in my platter were great.  The rice was good…there was plenty of sauce to flavor it well without making it a soupy mess.  The chickpeas weren’t bad either, although they could use a little more oomph.  The salad contained lettuce, tomato, onions, cabbage, and was topped with tzatziki (I believe)…went well with the rest of the food.

Really good combo platter…I’d get this again.

My friend ordered the bratwurst ($7) from Tops Trucks.  Topped with cherry tomatoes, onions, and their house “ju-ju sauce” (sp?) and served on a toasted bun with a side of fries.  The sausage was really tasty, and the toppings (especially the sauce) really made it better than the average sausage.  The fries were good too.  While a sausage would not normally be the thing I’d order for lunch, after trying this one, I’d hit these guys again.  They also have a picture on Twitter of an apple maple, fried egg, cheddar, and maple syrup sub that I want in my mouth immediately.

What a brat…

This location had a few areas to sit…I went to the steps on the south side of the Department of Education building adjacent to the food trucks.  I was there around 11:45…it was sunny out at the time, and wasn’t packed, although it started to get busier.  There is also some seating on the opposite side of the street at USDA Graduate School.

My only regret…?

…Why didn’t I come out to the food trucks for lunch during the rest of the week?!

Dinner at Das Ethiopian, 22 May 2012

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For the past couple weeks I have been fiending for some Ethiopian food.  I got my fix last night at Das Ethiopian in Georgetown.  Das used to be known as Zed’s.  If you liked Zed’s, you’ll like Das…I believe I read somewhere that the owners changed, but that they kept the same chef.

Top picture:  The dish at the top of the picture is an Ethiopian dried curd cheese plate called Kaisa…gives a contrasting taste to the other food I generally get.  The other appetizer in that picture is beef zilzil tibs.  Nice and spicy, and slightly crunchy.  Good starters.

Bottom picture: Lots of stuff going on in this picture.  At the top and bottom left is what’s left of the Kaisa/beets/onions from the appetizer.  Just above the beets/onions, and also at the top right, is an order of Steak Tartare Kitfo.  I’m a big fan of rare meat dishes, although it’s not for everyone.  If you don’t know if you are, this is a place to find out (as an aside, I’d also recommend Zaytinya’s Kibbeh Nayah as another great tartare dish).  Seen at the middle of the plate is Chicken Doro Wot, served as a chicken leg (it’s a little challenging to remove from the bone if getting your hands dirty is a problem for you) with a boiled egg, topped with a red pepper sauce.  The last dishes are vegetarian sides that came with the two entrees.  On the menu, I believe these are the Red Lentil Miser Wot (top left) and Collard Greens Gomen (bottom right).  Both are good; I especially liked the collard greens, which are mixed with onion and garlic.

Everything I had was served with traditional injera bread.  There are no utensils…the food is eaten by scooping it up with the injera.  Your fingers WILL be stained at the end of a meal, especially from the darker red and brown sauces, but it will be worth it (and you’ll get some wet naps at the end of the meal).

I usually get a bottle of white wine with Ethiopian food.  This time I got a Fleur du Cap Sauvignon Blanc from South Africa).  Depending on your tastes and your orders, you might want to go with something else.  I have a feeling that beer would also go well with the dishes I had, and there is African beer on the Das menu.

I’d definitely recommend Das as a great date place with a great menu, and if you haven’t had this type of food before it will be a little adventurous.

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Das Ethiopian
1201 28th St NW
Washington, D.C. 20007
(202) 333-4710
http://www.dasethiopian.com
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Afghan Food

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I was going through some of my photos from my time overseas, and came across pictures of food from Afghanistan.

The local food I had in Afghanistan was better than any of that type I’ve had in the D.C.-area…a fact I would fully expect would be the case anywhere else in the world regarding local dishes.

In the top picture is Qabili Palau.  According to Wikipedia, it is “the most popular dish in Afghanistan.”  I certainly saw a bit of it in southern Afghanistan, and it’s a staple at the D.C.-area Afghan restaurants, so I can believe it.  It’s typically made in a broth which imparts quite a bit of taste to the mixture.  Where I was in Afghanistan, the Qabili Palau was moist…much more oily than the stateside restaurant versions that I’ve tried.  It was good enough that some naan bread and Qabili Palau made for a complete meal (heck, even the naan over there was flavorful enough to eat by itself).

The bottom picture shows a veritable feast.  Succulent lamb, delicious chicken (some of the best chicken I’ve had ANYWHERE), tasty tomatoes with eggplant, and an Afghan pudding dessert (Firni) made with cardamom and pistachios.

I only wish I had more of the local food while I was there.  The western food there got boring.

And yeah, Sprite and root beer probably not the best choice to go along with such good food…probably should have had Red Bull.