Friday night, the fam and I went to DC Coast. This is one of those places I've been meaning to try for awhile and after riding around the city for nearly an hour in search of a place that opened before 5:30pm, we settled on DC coast. It opened at 5:30, by the way. If nothing else the baby got a nap during the drive.
The staff was extremely welcoming and attentive and our waiter, his name escapes me, was excellent. I finally got a chance to try caviar (loved it) and baked alaska. My husband had the special smoked lobster dish with crispy fried spinach. The lobster was great, but I found the spinach to be on the oily side. I chose the gnocchi which was darn near perfect, although I am afraid to know how many weight watchers points this cost me. I guestimated on the high side. The CEO martini was very nice even though it was not made with Grey Goose.
Of course, no family trip to anywhere is complete without a trip to the restroom. Little Miss is not potty trained, so we are still changing pull-ups. The bathroom was downstairs and the first thing to hit me was the scent. No worries, it was a very good scent. It has to be the best smelling restroom EVER. It was very clean, fully stocked, with a full length mirror and good hand soap. Unfortunatley, there was no changing table, but this is my 3rd child so I know how to make it work without dropping her on the floor. The only slight drawback was not having a trashcan right at the door to keep from having to touch the door handle.
This one is on my return list! Good food, clean bathrooms and excellent martinis; what's better than that?
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Farmers and Fishers (formerly Agraria)
We went to Agraria for the first time today and were pleasantly surprised. It is the sister restaurant of Founding Farmers, another new family favorite. The restuarant is located on the Georgetown Waterfront and many of the seats have a clear view of the windows which allows patrons to take in the beauty of the harbour. The service was a little slow especially considering there weren't many people in the restuarant.
Overall, the food was pretty good. We were encouraged to try to chocolate covered bacon lollips. No that is NOT a mistake. The waiter talked it up and we decided since it was restaurnt week, why not try something completely ridiculous. They were a nice balance of salty and sweet and completely unlike anything I've ever had. I think the fact the chocolate is dark and not milk made the combination work well together. My husband and I shared this interesting appetizer and a salad. The salad was excellent; made with extremely fresh ingredients! Our entrees were also fairly good. My husband got the cowboy pan fried chicken (the portion was too huge) which was very tasty and I got the grilled salmon, also very good. Be sure to ask for the salmon medium if you don't want it dry and overcooked. My fresh berry cobbler was good, but my husband's carrot cake completely missed the mark. Stay away from the the carrot cake!
The bathroom was great! It was very clean, a little on the dark side and nicely decorated. There was a changing table in the last stall and it was placed a lot lower than most changing tables. This was a plus for me for two reasons. 1. I'm short so it was easier for me reach the baby. 2. It allowed me to use the facilities and keep my hand on the baby. They have a state of the art hand dryer and no paper towels for drying. Ordinarily I would like this, but my daughter does NOT like loud noise, so I had to leave with wet hands.
Overall a good place, but I think we prefer Founding Farmers.
Overall, the food was pretty good. We were encouraged to try to chocolate covered bacon lollips. No that is NOT a mistake. The waiter talked it up and we decided since it was restaurnt week, why not try something completely ridiculous. They were a nice balance of salty and sweet and completely unlike anything I've ever had. I think the fact the chocolate is dark and not milk made the combination work well together. My husband and I shared this interesting appetizer and a salad. The salad was excellent; made with extremely fresh ingredients! Our entrees were also fairly good. My husband got the cowboy pan fried chicken (the portion was too huge) which was very tasty and I got the grilled salmon, also very good. Be sure to ask for the salmon medium if you don't want it dry and overcooked. My fresh berry cobbler was good, but my husband's carrot cake completely missed the mark. Stay away from the the carrot cake!
The bathroom was great! It was very clean, a little on the dark side and nicely decorated. There was a changing table in the last stall and it was placed a lot lower than most changing tables. This was a plus for me for two reasons. 1. I'm short so it was easier for me reach the baby. 2. It allowed me to use the facilities and keep my hand on the baby. They have a state of the art hand dryer and no paper towels for drying. Ordinarily I would like this, but my daughter does NOT like loud noise, so I had to leave with wet hands.
Overall a good place, but I think we prefer Founding Farmers.
Ella's Brick Oven Pizza
Ella's is one of those places I've passed by for years, but did not try until recently. It has become of my favorite places to take the whole family on a Saturday.
The pizza is high quality with a crunchy yet tender crust. The toppings are varied and there are a lot of other great choices on the menu besides pizza. I had a great salad and drinks from the bar are fairly good. I noticed there were some complaints about the size of the portions, but I don't think you should leave a meal feeling like you've ingested a basketball. The staff is very helpful and the place is extremely friendly. The dining room is small, but when we arrived with our stroller, they offered to put it away from us and immediatly brought us a high chair.
The bathrooms are in the back past the open kitchen, which I love. I'm always a bit concerned when the kitchen is hidden from view. The bathrooms are always clean and there is a changing table in the front stall. Now mind you, I always travel with my own changing pad, but it just so happens I had removed it for disinfection and forgot to return it to the diaper bag (I guess I don't "always" travel with it). Well, lucky me, this is the only bathroom in 7 years of motherhood that had the liners stocked! Seriously, even the most family friendly places do no bother to stock them, so this earns them extra points in my book.
I have no complaints about this place.
The pizza is high quality with a crunchy yet tender crust. The toppings are varied and there are a lot of other great choices on the menu besides pizza. I had a great salad and drinks from the bar are fairly good. I noticed there were some complaints about the size of the portions, but I don't think you should leave a meal feeling like you've ingested a basketball. The staff is very helpful and the place is extremely friendly. The dining room is small, but when we arrived with our stroller, they offered to put it away from us and immediatly brought us a high chair.
The bathrooms are in the back past the open kitchen, which I love. I'm always a bit concerned when the kitchen is hidden from view. The bathrooms are always clean and there is a changing table in the front stall. Now mind you, I always travel with my own changing pad, but it just so happens I had removed it for disinfection and forgot to return it to the diaper bag (I guess I don't "always" travel with it). Well, lucky me, this is the only bathroom in 7 years of motherhood that had the liners stocked! Seriously, even the most family friendly places do no bother to stock them, so this earns them extra points in my book.
I have no complaints about this place.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Good Stuff Eatery, Washington, DC
Finally, I'm doing a new post. I'm back to working part-time but 3 kids takes up a lot of time. Through it all, my husband and I managed to find some time to check out Good Stuff Eatery in DC for some phenomenal burgers.
I happened to come across the announcement of the the impending opening back in July and was very excited to find that Spike Mendelsohn of Top Chef was running the place. Spike was my favorite that season. That said, I was a bit leery of a place that boasted of burgers, after all, how special can a burger be? Let me tell you something; these burgers are pretty damn special as evidenced by the wall to wall customers tripping over themselves to make an order that day. I got the Farmhouse cheese burger and was blown away by the perfect seasoning and fresh taste of the meat. This was no ordinary burger. The onion rings were less like rings but more like battered onion chunks, not a huge fan, but the french fries with thyme and rosemary were quite good. Since I'm still trying to lose baby weight, I didn't even get near the custom made shakes, but they sounded wonderful bearing names like Toasted Marshmallow, Milky Way Malt and D-Lechable Leche.
I really didn't expect much from the bathroom as I have found that in Capital Hill, space is at a premium and there is no such thing as a large bathroom. This place was no different, it was more like a small closet with a toilet. Here's the interesting thing, while I was waiting, 3 women emerged from the bathroom. I have no idea how they all fit and even less of an idea of why they were in there together. At any rate, the bathroom was in need of some cleaning attention, I'll provide a pass since the place was beyond busy. The trashcan was overflowing, the mirror was smeared and there was hair and water on the sink. Overall, it did not appear to be a bathroom that suffered from chronic lack of attention. Now, the restaurant is listed as kid friendly, but I assure you the bathroom is not. While it would not be impossible to change a child and/or have multiple children with you, it would be quite a challenge. The food; however, is so good I would not let that deter me from returning.
The biggest disappointment was that Spike was not wearing his trademark hat! Also, he threw an eggshell at me. OK, not at me but while I was standing in line Spike tossed a an eggshell toward the traschan,missed and hit me instead. He laughed and apologized.
Overall, a great place and well worth the wait!
I happened to come across the announcement of the the impending opening back in July and was very excited to find that Spike Mendelsohn of Top Chef was running the place. Spike was my favorite that season. That said, I was a bit leery of a place that boasted of burgers, after all, how special can a burger be? Let me tell you something; these burgers are pretty damn special as evidenced by the wall to wall customers tripping over themselves to make an order that day. I got the Farmhouse cheese burger and was blown away by the perfect seasoning and fresh taste of the meat. This was no ordinary burger. The onion rings were less like rings but more like battered onion chunks, not a huge fan, but the french fries with thyme and rosemary were quite good. Since I'm still trying to lose baby weight, I didn't even get near the custom made shakes, but they sounded wonderful bearing names like Toasted Marshmallow, Milky Way Malt and D-Lechable Leche.
I really didn't expect much from the bathroom as I have found that in Capital Hill, space is at a premium and there is no such thing as a large bathroom. This place was no different, it was more like a small closet with a toilet. Here's the interesting thing, while I was waiting, 3 women emerged from the bathroom. I have no idea how they all fit and even less of an idea of why they were in there together. At any rate, the bathroom was in need of some cleaning attention, I'll provide a pass since the place was beyond busy. The trashcan was overflowing, the mirror was smeared and there was hair and water on the sink. Overall, it did not appear to be a bathroom that suffered from chronic lack of attention. Now, the restaurant is listed as kid friendly, but I assure you the bathroom is not. While it would not be impossible to change a child and/or have multiple children with you, it would be quite a challenge. The food; however, is so good I would not let that deter me from returning.
The biggest disappointment was that Spike was not wearing his trademark hat! Also, he threw an eggshell at me. OK, not at me but while I was standing in line Spike tossed a an eggshell toward the traschan,missed and hit me instead. He laughed and apologized.
Overall, a great place and well worth the wait!
Saturday, October 4, 2008
We have A New Baby!!
In case anyone is wondering where I've been (yeah right), I've been busy having another baby! Not only that, I went back to working full time, so I don't have as much time to rate my beloved restrooms anymore.
At any rate, our daughter Sasha Michelle arrived a full 2 months early on August 16, 2008. The birth story is quite interesting, but I'll save that for my friends over at Baby Center.
At any rate, our daughter Sasha Michelle arrived a full 2 months early on August 16, 2008. The birth story is quite interesting, but I'll save that for my friends over at Baby Center.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Benihana, Georgetown, New Year's Eve
Happy New Year Everyone! Last night we took the boys (ages 2 and 6) to Benihana in Georgetown for New Year's Eve dinner. We don't keep them up until midnight for obvious reasons. At any rate we thought they were old enough to enjoy the spectacle that is Benihana. Overall Benihana was just fun as it was back when I was a kid. My 6 year declared it was better than Disney World. We'll see what he has to say when we make it the next family vacation destination. HA! My little guy was mesmerized and enjoyed it as well. Overall the food was OK. Our steak was overdone and the shrimp were not fully deveined, but the chicken, salad and soup were all good. Their special drink for the evening was a Cranberry Mojito. It was very nice, but that second one did sneak up on me. Of course, a trip to the restroom was necessary as is the case whenever we have the kids with us. I'll just say this; they keep those grills amazingly clean and I guess that's why they completely ignore their bathrooms!! Paper was everywhere because the waste basket had not been emptied. The soap dispenser was leaking and it had been for some time the soap had damaged the wood between the sink and the wall, causing it to separate. The sink also had not been cleaned in awhile nor had the toilets. It wasn't the worst bathroom I've been in, but I was very disappointed. Overall a fun place, but avoid the restroom if you can.
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