Sunday, July 31, 2011

Community Canteen

If you're near Reston, VA and looking for a new breakfast place, head on over to Reston Town Center and visit the Community Canteen.  Its a quaint little place attached to one of our favorite restaurants in the area, Mon Ami Gabi (but thats for another blog post). I believe it is owned and operated by the same owner as Mon Ami Gabi but they only serve breakfast and lunch.



It is simple with a touch of cafeteria atmosphere but much more modern and charming.  They offer fresh made-to-order cuisine that is seasonal and delicious.  We've been there twice now for breakfast and here is a look at the delectables they offer...

build-your-own omelet with whatever you want in it...bacon, peppers, onions...with a side of hash browns crispy on the outside and soft on the inside...

sausage and cheddar quiche with a little fruit cup

freshly squeezed orange juice and a build-your-own parfait...organic vanilla yogurt with strawberries and blackberries

freshly made belgian waffle with strawberries

another yummy omelet with gruyere cheese, mushrooms, onions, hash browns and crispy bacon on the side (this is only a small portion of the omelet by the way, they are huge)

ahh, beautiful bacon...

fresh simple coffee

our table number so they know where to bring all the vittles!
Theres comfortable seating inside and outside. So when you're in the area check it out! Its awesome!

Monday, July 25, 2011

DC Weekend 2011: The End

Mussels

Granville Moore's  is not a grand place, inside or out, but what they do, they do really really well. And what they do well is mussels. Their menu is limited to a few typical pub appetizers and burgers and then their Moules and Frites (mussels and fries). 


There are several different types of mussels they offer. I ordered the Bleu Moules.  A huge bowl arrives at my table filled with all these black mussel shells swimming in a broth made with white wine and lemon with chunks of tangy blue cheese, juicy pork belly, shallots, and spinach.  Words cannot describe how delicious these were! I'm always a sucker for blue cheese anyway!


Superking had the Belgian White mussels.  His also had pork belly but braised leeks and Belgian ale cream. Also super delish!


Next to our heaping bowls of mussels we each had a small basket of frites (crispy fries).  It is Belgian tradition to have your frites served with some type of mayonnaise.  Which I loved this idea even as a kid! Hmm, maybe I have Belgian ancestry... They had several mayonnaise offerings but we chose truffle mayo and bacon chive mayo.  Both very good. I loved the mushroomy flavor in the truffle mayo and of course what's not to like about bacon?


I have to admit, the place looks like a dump inside (and the outside isn't very promising either) but theres a reason people line up out the door for over an hour waiting to get inside this place every week!

This is the outdoor patio area where we sat. Its hard to see in the picture the trash can, cleaning supplies, and old towel hanging up to help block the sun and the back alley.

door leading back inside which was too dark and cramped to even try to get a picture

Two words...Moules and Frites. Thankfully we got there early enough that we didn't have to wait, but even if we did have to wait, it would've been worth it once we tasted those sweet juicy mussels!!

not exactly a 5-star joint but they serve 5-star food! we were happy!

Sunday, July 24, 2011

DC Weekend 2011: Part Four

Shawarma!

After spending a couple hours at the Natural History Museum...

in the butterfly house


butterfly landed on Superking's head!

the mighty T-rex

the Hope diamond

...we decided to take a walk down 18th Street in the Adams Morgan area.  Adams Morgan is a very culturally diverse area of DC comprised of colorful old row houses and unique eateries specializing in just about every type of cuisine imaginable.

cool old houses




We chose the Shawarma Spot.  Shawarma is like a Middle Eastern pita bread sandwich filled with shaved meat such as lamb, goat, or beef or some combination thereof. 

First we ordered the hummus appetizer. Yumm!! Fresh creamy hummus with olive oil and a touch of paprika served with warm soft pita-type bread.



Then we split the lamb gyro.  The lamb was juicy, sweet, savory, and spicy with a little crispy edge. And they had a little fixins bar where you could add your own components. We had cucumber, lettuce, tzatziki sauce, and more hummus. So good and fresh!!



Friday, July 22, 2011

DC Weekend 2011: Part Three and a Half

So Part Three talked about our lunch at Truckeroo and Part Three and a Half is about our dinner at Truckeroo.  Yes, we went back to eat more food.  So we like to eat! Is that so wrong?? Anyway...

live band playing
way more crowded than lunch

After our Truckeroo lunch, we went for a walk around the National Gallery of Art and a leisurely snack and a drink at the Founding Farmers restaurant, which we went to for Memorial Day.


popcorn of the day: old bay

By the time we got back to Truckeroo, there were two lines of people waiting to get in. It was packed out! We finally make it in and we hop in line for the Sabora Street truck.  It was about an hour wait before we made it up to order. Thankfully the weather was nice! When we got our food and took the first bite, we knew the wait was worth it.



Chorizo Arepas served with yucca. An arepa is like a cornmeal cake patty and you are usually given two of them stuffed with some kind of meat in between like a sandwich.  It was sweet and soft and really delicious. A great compliment to the spicy Spanish chorizo The chorizo was accompanied by a little crunchy slaw and some cotija cheese.  And next to it was the yucca fritas.  Yucca is similar to a potato but with a slightly different, almost sweeter taste and these were cut like fries and topped with a yummy creamy sauce.



The next truck we waited for was Takorean.  Just like the name implies, they specialize in Korean tacos.  We had a little bit of an adventure in this line.  All the lines were so long and we were still hungry.  It might sound like we ate a lot but when you split one small meal for two people and then have to wait another hour or more for the next bite, its hard to feel full. But luckily there was a nice couple in front of us that we started chatting with in line.  They hadn't eaten anything yet and decided maybe to try a shorter line.  Being the nice people we are, we told them to go ahead and try another line.  If you get through that and want to come back to this line, we'll give you cuts. So they took us up on our offer.


About twenty minutes later, we're still waiting in the same line and not moving very far and that couple comes back. So we kept our word and let them cut.  Then shortly after that, they found a friend who was in the same line but near the front.  Their friend gave them cuts and since we were so nice to them, they said they would order our food when they ordered if we gave them money so we didn't have to wait anymore! See? No good deed goes unnoticed! Paybacks work for both good and bad!


Ok back to the food...we decided to go for something unique so we ordered the Caramelized Tofu tacos.  Most people when they hear tofu they immediately get grossed out.  But trust me its not that bad.  In fact, when prepared well and served with other food that is yummy and prepared well, tofu can actually be quite good.  It usually has the texture of a mushroom or a semi-soft cheese and it has no taste of its own. It simply takes on the flavors around it.  These tofu tacos were amazing!!

such beautiful color

This tofu was marinated in hoisin sauce and served in small corn tortillas with siracha sauce (a little too spicy for me but yummy), lime crema sauce, fresh cilantro, sesame seeds, and a spicy kimchi style slaw.  Talk about yumma yumma!!

After we left Truckeroo, we decided we needed a dessert.  Let's catch a cab to Georgetown and go to the Thunderburger Bar.  And what do we find when we get there? Our friend Ruby Woo and company out for a birthday celebration! Oh yeah, and their Guinness Chocolate Cake was delicious too with Belgian chocolate whipped ganache and raspberry sauce!! To die for!

Heres some other yummy food trucks...

Sweetbites truck: cupcakes, cookies, muffins

Tasty Kabobs

Porc Mobile: pork sandwiches


Fojol Brothers: Ethiopian

Dc Slices: pizza

Eat Wonky: poutine (fries with gravy and cheese curds)

El Floridano: Cuban