Sometimes a wine list can take the fun out of eating out.
This past weekend my wife and I met a few friends at Proof, a place that is prides itself on its wines. I took a bottle to be uncorked there, and the hostess sniffed that we were defeating the purpose of visiting their restaurant. A look at their wine list quickly revealed where their profits come from. With prices seemingly averaging around $300 or $400 a bottle, I had to consciously pick up my jaw from the table. One of our friends, a wine collector, took out his Blackberry, which listed his collection, and found a couple wines common to both his cellar and the wine list. He shook his head and just couldn't get himself to pay the restaurant's prices. My dinner was very good, but if I can't enjoy it because I'm worried about emptying my wallet on the wine the total experience goes down the drain.
My dinner, by the way, began with a charcuterie board, followed up with an entree of striped bass on pearl pasta sitting in a coconut-lemongrass soupy-sauce. The food was very, very good, but if I go back the Proof, I will likely bring my own wine again.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Ocean M, revisited
Sometimes you look at a person and conclude that there is nothing to know about the person. He or she might be dressed neatly, but in the unassuming chinos and buttoned-down shirt manner. The person will probably also have a nondescript hair style to go along with the average height and weight. In a party this person wouldn't stand in any way.
Ocean M reminds of this kind of ordinary person. The restaurant just sits there on the corner of the second floor of a small 2-story building where the first story is the parking garage. I looked through the window before stepping into the place with my son just to see how busy it was. It wasn't. Almost empty, in fact. The maitre d' asked for my drink order after seating us, and I think he was trying to bribe me into coming back, as he graciously informed me before fetching my drink that my double Johnny Walker Black on the rocks would be on the house. The waiter seemed grateful for having something to do and thanked us for sitting in his station, explaining that most people ask for seats by the window. My response to him, lightheartedly, was that there was no view to look at, so we were happy to sit where we were.
I read somewhere once that international spies are often the ordinary-looking type so as not to attract any attention. Underneath that bland exterior lies a quick mind, a heightened awareness and perhaps some suppressed excitement. Ocean M strikes me as being the same. When I get beyond the uninteresting atmosphere and get to the food, I become intrigued. Each time I go to that restaurant I look forward to the next time to see if my next new dish I will try will be as good as the one I just finished. Now, don't get me wrong -- I am not saying that Ocean M is the mother of all French-style restaurants. But it is wholly satisfying, somewhere I want to return to from time to time. I wish more people would go, just to make sure the restaurant stays in business so that I can try out more of their dishes in the future.
My son had his usual raw oysters for his appetizer. Mine was a softshell crab presented on a plate with a swirl of yellow-and-black sauce. I later learned that the yellow was saffron-based and the black was from soy and balsamic vinegar. This could have been my favorite softshell crab dish of all time.
For his entree, my son had a lobster and rockfish combination. The original called for a pairing of chicken with the lobster, but he asked for -- and received without hesitation -- the rockfish instead. I had a taste. It was good enough to try at least once.
I ordered a lambchop and crabcake duo. They were not other-wordly, but still solidly good. I think the highlight of this night's entrees was the carrot and zucchini that was served as an accompaniment. I think they could make a vegetarian meal out of it and put it on their menu if they wanted to.
Keep Ocean M in business. Go and eat there.
Ocean M reminds of this kind of ordinary person. The restaurant just sits there on the corner of the second floor of a small 2-story building where the first story is the parking garage. I looked through the window before stepping into the place with my son just to see how busy it was. It wasn't. Almost empty, in fact. The maitre d' asked for my drink order after seating us, and I think he was trying to bribe me into coming back, as he graciously informed me before fetching my drink that my double Johnny Walker Black on the rocks would be on the house. The waiter seemed grateful for having something to do and thanked us for sitting in his station, explaining that most people ask for seats by the window. My response to him, lightheartedly, was that there was no view to look at, so we were happy to sit where we were.
I read somewhere once that international spies are often the ordinary-looking type so as not to attract any attention. Underneath that bland exterior lies a quick mind, a heightened awareness and perhaps some suppressed excitement. Ocean M strikes me as being the same. When I get beyond the uninteresting atmosphere and get to the food, I become intrigued. Each time I go to that restaurant I look forward to the next time to see if my next new dish I will try will be as good as the one I just finished. Now, don't get me wrong -- I am not saying that Ocean M is the mother of all French-style restaurants. But it is wholly satisfying, somewhere I want to return to from time to time. I wish more people would go, just to make sure the restaurant stays in business so that I can try out more of their dishes in the future.
My son had his usual raw oysters for his appetizer. Mine was a softshell crab presented on a plate with a swirl of yellow-and-black sauce. I later learned that the yellow was saffron-based and the black was from soy and balsamic vinegar. This could have been my favorite softshell crab dish of all time.
For his entree, my son had a lobster and rockfish combination. The original called for a pairing of chicken with the lobster, but he asked for -- and received without hesitation -- the rockfish instead. I had a taste. It was good enough to try at least once.
I ordered a lambchop and crabcake duo. They were not other-wordly, but still solidly good. I think the highlight of this night's entrees was the carrot and zucchini that was served as an accompaniment. I think they could make a vegetarian meal out of it and put it on their menu if they wanted to.
Keep Ocean M in business. Go and eat there.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Gooldaegee, Annandale, Va
I'm learning that one difference between being older and being young, when it comes to my taste in restaurants, is that now I go to restaurants for the food. When I was younger, I went for the decor, the "right" kind of people, the coolness factor and especially the high number of unapproachable girls.
I bring this up because I went to Gooldaegee, a Korean grill house in Annandale, VA, on July 12 with my family and a son belonging to my wife's friend. The name Gooldaegee is probaby better broken up and spelled as Gool Daejee, which can be loosely translated as honey pig or oinking pig. You guessed it, they have a lot of pork on the menu.
Any how, I did a Google search to see if they had a web site. They did not, but I clicked on to one of those sites where people can give their reviews of restaurants they've visited. At this particular review web site, everyone posting a comment seemed at least 20 years younger than I am. Let me set the record straight and say that I believe that the opinions of young people should be heard. Let me also insist that their opinions should be on point. The great majority of comments of the 20-something-year old critics of this restaurant centered around the customers or non-eating experience (obnoxious teens, obnoxious middle-aged men, obnoxious surroundings, obnoxious wait for a table, etc.). Now, I am not known for putting up with bad service or long waits, but in the case of this restaurant the criticisms of the young are, well, naive. If there is only a single restaurant/store/bar/whatever of its kind in the immediate area you live in, and if the lines are long and if everybody goes there because that establishment is the only one of its kind within within reasonable driving distance, just go and eat and get over trying to be cool.
Gooldaegee's concept by itself isn't new. Go to Korea and this kind of restaurant is everywhere. Go to any large U.S. metropolitan area, then a Gooldaegee-like place is there or is coming soon. The concept is simply a place where the entire emphasis on grilling meat on your table. Yes, the number of Korean restaurants where you grill meat at your table is huge, but at Gooldaegee the meat is its basic emphasis.
Our meal was simple, but before I get to that I should mention that this restaurant shifted the economics of soju, the vodka-like drink favored by Koreans. Soju is cheap to make. In Korea, it probably costs $3 retail for about a pint-sized bottle. In the Washington, DC, area soju used to sell for at least $15 a bottle. Then Gooldaegee came along and fixed its price of soju at just under $10. The local Koreans began flocking to the restaurant to guzzle soju with their meal, and this forced other eating establishments to match the $10 price. Competition is a wonderful thing for the consumer.
Our meal consisted of marinated beef short ribs, sliced pork belly and sliced pork, all grilled at the table on a grilling pan. The pork belly came last, as that was grilled with a large segment of napa kimchi that the waitress scissored up on the grill. The restaurant was hot, smoky and loud, but the food was good and the soju was cheap. The cost for the four of us, including 2 bottles of soju, was about $100.
Epilogue. I went there more recently and ordered the spicy beef intestine. When the dish comes out to the table, they don't disguise the fact that I ordered what I ordered: it looked like intestines on the plate. On the grill the casing started to bloat from the heat. Eventually the waitress cut it up into bite-sized pieces. Soon after we started eating it off the grill, rice was added to the remaining juices/marinade to make intestine stir-fry. Very tasty, but spicy.
I bring this up because I went to Gooldaegee, a Korean grill house in Annandale, VA, on July 12 with my family and a son belonging to my wife's friend. The name Gooldaegee is probaby better broken up and spelled as Gool Daejee, which can be loosely translated as honey pig or oinking pig. You guessed it, they have a lot of pork on the menu.
Any how, I did a Google search to see if they had a web site. They did not, but I clicked on to one of those sites where people can give their reviews of restaurants they've visited. At this particular review web site, everyone posting a comment seemed at least 20 years younger than I am. Let me set the record straight and say that I believe that the opinions of young people should be heard. Let me also insist that their opinions should be on point. The great majority of comments of the 20-something-year old critics of this restaurant centered around the customers or non-eating experience (obnoxious teens, obnoxious middle-aged men, obnoxious surroundings, obnoxious wait for a table, etc.). Now, I am not known for putting up with bad service or long waits, but in the case of this restaurant the criticisms of the young are, well, naive. If there is only a single restaurant/store/bar/whatever of its kind in the immediate area you live in, and if the lines are long and if everybody goes there because that establishment is the only one of its kind within within reasonable driving distance, just go and eat and get over trying to be cool.
Gooldaegee's concept by itself isn't new. Go to Korea and this kind of restaurant is everywhere. Go to any large U.S. metropolitan area, then a Gooldaegee-like place is there or is coming soon. The concept is simply a place where the entire emphasis on grilling meat on your table. Yes, the number of Korean restaurants where you grill meat at your table is huge, but at Gooldaegee the meat is its basic emphasis.
Our meal was simple, but before I get to that I should mention that this restaurant shifted the economics of soju, the vodka-like drink favored by Koreans. Soju is cheap to make. In Korea, it probably costs $3 retail for about a pint-sized bottle. In the Washington, DC, area soju used to sell for at least $15 a bottle. Then Gooldaegee came along and fixed its price of soju at just under $10. The local Koreans began flocking to the restaurant to guzzle soju with their meal, and this forced other eating establishments to match the $10 price. Competition is a wonderful thing for the consumer.
Our meal consisted of marinated beef short ribs, sliced pork belly and sliced pork, all grilled at the table on a grilling pan. The pork belly came last, as that was grilled with a large segment of napa kimchi that the waitress scissored up on the grill. The restaurant was hot, smoky and loud, but the food was good and the soju was cheap. The cost for the four of us, including 2 bottles of soju, was about $100.
Epilogue. I went there more recently and ordered the spicy beef intestine. When the dish comes out to the table, they don't disguise the fact that I ordered what I ordered: it looked like intestines on the plate. On the grill the casing started to bloat from the heat. Eventually the waitress cut it up into bite-sized pieces. Soon after we started eating it off the grill, rice was added to the remaining juices/marinade to make intestine stir-fry. Very tasty, but spicy.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Leftover steak
Hey, we don't eat out all the time. In fact, I have been know to grill a decent steak. Over the July 4th weekend I bought some steaks and volunteered to grill it at a friend of ours. We took home the huge leftover ribeye.
This expensive cut of meat was, well, too expensive to throw away, so we had been planning the last few days to make stir fry out of it. Tonight we executed the plan.
First, we bought raw stir-fry veggies (a couple of days ago) from the local grocery store. Tonight I sliced up the grilled ribeye (medium rare). I then sauteed the veggies in a frying pan with olive oil until they started sweating. Then I threw in the sliced steak, just to heat them up. Remember, they were already cooked. Just before I turned off the heat, I added about a teaspoon or so of soy sauce and a couple of teaspoons of Chinese chili garlic sauce. Serve it with rice. Easy and not so bad for a quick home-cooked meal.
This expensive cut of meat was, well, too expensive to throw away, so we had been planning the last few days to make stir fry out of it. Tonight we executed the plan.
First, we bought raw stir-fry veggies (a couple of days ago) from the local grocery store. Tonight I sliced up the grilled ribeye (medium rare). I then sauteed the veggies in a frying pan with olive oil until they started sweating. Then I threw in the sliced steak, just to heat them up. Remember, they were already cooked. Just before I turned off the heat, I added about a teaspoon or so of soy sauce and a couple of teaspoons of Chinese chili garlic sauce. Serve it with rice. Easy and not so bad for a quick home-cooked meal.
Ocean M, McLean, VA
I don't know if its the slow economy or if people are away for the summer, but restaurants have been empty lately. Ocean M last night was no exception. Too bad, because I think that this restaurant deserves more customers.
For appetizers, my family of three had snails with garlic butter and merlot glaze (that would be escargot for you French snobs), risotto with asparagus and oysters on the half shell (that would be my son's choice). The snails and risotto were good, and it is difficult to ruin a raw oyster as long as it is fresh.
I ordered the pan seared rockfish with fennel & beurre blanc sauce for my entree, my wife went for another appetizer that I can't seem to remember for now and my son got the linguini with crabmeat and pernod cream sauce. I'm not a fan of western-style fish dishes, but my rockfish was probably the best fish I've had in a non-Asian restaurant. The flesh was moist, the fennel not overcooked and the sauce didn't overpower. I'd order it again. I tasted a bit of the linguini, and it was good, but not quite perfect -- the pernod sauce added an interesting and quite good accent to the dish, but the sauce was overall a bit too salty for my taste. My son finished all of it, though, and he doesn't usually order pasta.
I believe that the "M" in Ocean M stand for Mediterranean. The food certainly reflected French/Italian influences. This blog probably has zero readers so far, but just in case somebody out there lives near McLean and hasn't tried this restaurant yet, I suggest you give it a try.
For appetizers, my family of three had snails with garlic butter and merlot glaze (that would be escargot for you French snobs), risotto with asparagus and oysters on the half shell (that would be my son's choice). The snails and risotto were good, and it is difficult to ruin a raw oyster as long as it is fresh.
I ordered the pan seared rockfish with fennel & beurre blanc sauce for my entree, my wife went for another appetizer that I can't seem to remember for now and my son got the linguini with crabmeat and pernod cream sauce. I'm not a fan of western-style fish dishes, but my rockfish was probably the best fish I've had in a non-Asian restaurant. The flesh was moist, the fennel not overcooked and the sauce didn't overpower. I'd order it again. I tasted a bit of the linguini, and it was good, but not quite perfect -- the pernod sauce added an interesting and quite good accent to the dish, but the sauce was overall a bit too salty for my taste. My son finished all of it, though, and he doesn't usually order pasta.
I believe that the "M" in Ocean M stand for Mediterranean. The food certainly reflected French/Italian influences. This blog probably has zero readers so far, but just in case somebody out there lives near McLean and hasn't tried this restaurant yet, I suggest you give it a try.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Hunan Lion, Tysons Corner, VA
Hunan Lion has been at its Tysons location for as long as my wife and I can remember, and we've lived in the Tysons area for almost 20 years. The restaurant looks high-end, with tablecloths, suited waiters and so on, but it welcomes eaters wearing shorts and flip-flops and t-shirts. Not much about food has changed over the years, and the food advertised on the menu is pretty generic stuff. If you want something that is not on the menu, however, feel free to ask the waiter if they can make it for you. Last night, for example, in addition to the spicy scallops, Peking duck and shark fin soup, which were on the menu, I ordered jellyfish and fried salty and spicy whole shrimp (shell on).
I have never been wowed with the quality of food here, but it has always satisfactorily fulfilled any Chinese food craving I might have had. Last night's dinner (which was a lot for three people), including two beers and tip, came out to just under $120.
I have never been wowed with the quality of food here, but it has always satisfactorily fulfilled any Chinese food craving I might have had. Last night's dinner (which was a lot for three people), including two beers and tip, came out to just under $120.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Ruth's Chris -- Tysons Corner, VA
Tonight my son and I went to Ruth's Chris for dinner. Mom was working late. He and I had a selection of appetizers in the bar area. I don't know exactly the Ruth's location in Tysons is a dud, but the two or three restaurants that came before RC in the same space failed. So, tonight, the night before July 4, was dead, as usual.
Tonight was the second time I went to this location, or to any RC for that matter. The first time I went there, it was just for the steak, which was OK, but not spectacular for the price. This night we ordered only a selection of appetizers, and they were a little better than OK. We had scallops, crab ravioli and chilled seafood (oysters, shrimp, etc.). The chilled seafood was OK, nothing wow and nothing ewww. The crab ravioli was good, but a bit too heavy on the salt and and a slightly too heavy on the salt. The scallops were memorable. It was served with a carrot/radish/cucumber thing that lightly accompanied the scallops, and the butter/garlic/other stuff thing that the scallops were cooked in was delicious.
The small chilled seafood appetizer we had was $55. The cost of the entire meal of appetizers was $160, including 2 glasses of wine and tip.
Tonight was the second time I went to this location, or to any RC for that matter. The first time I went there, it was just for the steak, which was OK, but not spectacular for the price. This night we ordered only a selection of appetizers, and they were a little better than OK. We had scallops, crab ravioli and chilled seafood (oysters, shrimp, etc.). The chilled seafood was OK, nothing wow and nothing ewww. The crab ravioli was good, but a bit too heavy on the salt and and a slightly too heavy on the salt. The scallops were memorable. It was served with a carrot/radish/cucumber thing that lightly accompanied the scallops, and the butter/garlic/other stuff thing that the scallops were cooked in was delicious.
The small chilled seafood appetizer we had was $55. The cost of the entire meal of appetizers was $160, including 2 glasses of wine and tip.
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