Alexandia Restaurant Week (Summer 2013)

I was not really intending to go out. While packing a box of goodies to send back home, I browsed through the newspaper and discovered that its restaurant week once again, where a three course meal for lunch is just 20.13USD. So I quickly invited my friend and he was able to research and organize lunch in a jiffy. We even had his sister with us.

Reservations were made at the Chart House restaurant located along the Alexandria Waterfront. We were lucky enough to be seated by the water with a magnificent view of the Potomac River. I was quite excited to try this restaurant because two year ago, when I visited Alexandria, I wanted to try the restaurant out but a Korean friend told me that it was too fancy. Indeed, upon entering the restaurant it was as though you entered a luxury cruise ship. Our server, Chelsea, was very kind and accommodating. She was knowledgeable of the menu and you know that she's a foodie because the way she described the food was so detailed and the kitchen did not disappoint. For restaurant week, their menu included: 

Since it was cold and rainy that day, we all had the clam chowder served with a variety of breads and crackers

complimentary bread

clam chowder

The clam chowder was good but its not creamy enough for me.

for the main course:

My friend had the salmon burger. Do not get fooled by the picture. The burger was gigantic. Its not like any burger that you would order elsewhere. The texture was that of a crabcake and crabcakes are awesome!!! so you can imagine this being awesome too.

The girls had the firecracker shrimp roll. The menu said it was spicy but i feel it was not spicy enough. But again it was superb. The texture of the vegetables and the tempura shrimps in the roll blended well with the sauce. 

Our entrees may not look like much but the serving was definitely good for 2 persons. Everyone consumed only half of the platter and had it boxed up.

for dessert:

we had to try everything so my friend got the new york cheesecake

it was served with a scoop of ice cream. By far one of the best cheesecakes that I have tried. it was not overpowering at all and the ice cream was very light.

i had the creme brulee. it was good. But personally I find nothing special with it. Growing up from a household where my grandmother would make tons of leche flan (a similar dish) for distribution to friends and family, i feel creme brulee is just ordinary. In fact I would say leche flan is more difficult to make since you have to get the custard out of the mold in one whole piece, while with creme brulee you serve it right on the platter you baked it in. 

Overall, I would say that this restaurant is one of the best and I would definitely go back for restaurant week or happy hour. 

Maryland Restaurant Week Spring 2013

We discovered that the National Harbor in Maryland is having Restaurant Week from March 4-17, 2013. Its not just a week but I'm not complaining. During this week, restaurants serve three-course meals for just $20.13 (lunch) and $35.13 (dinner). My friends and I had the time to go here because its Spring break this week! cool huh? (honestly, that day was the only day we took a break). We researched all the restaurants and we picked McCormick and Schmick's.

We had a reservation. So we were comfortably seated. For a weekday lunch, they had a good number of tables. The National Harbor is not exactly in the middle of a business center.

There are no signs to show that its restaurant week, so unless you know it, you'll miss out on the good deal. They won't hand you the menu unless you ask for it.

We had the mixed greens, and oysters for starters. Lets say its nothing spectacular. Just alright.

 Mixed Greens

Roasted Virginia Oysters

For the main course, everyone had the Bourbon Glazed Salmon, since everyone is on a diet. It was definitely a treat. You have to enjoy the fish with the side dishes to make it perfect.

Bourbon Glazed Salmon

And for dessert, we tried Creme Brûlée and Walnut Apple Tart. In my opinion, the Walnut Apple Tart was the superior dessert. It was served with a scoop of cinnamon ice cream which had the perfect texture as opposed to the creme brûlée which i feel tasted too egg-y, if there is a word. I know creme brûlée is made up of mostly egg, but I believe that it should be a combination of egg and cream, otherwise, we should just have baked eggs or something like that. Leche flan tastes better than it.

 Walnut Apple Tart

Creme Brûlée

After lunch, we were just too damned full. We felt so sleepy that we decided to walk around the harbor and take pictures, but it was too breezy and cold so we just ended up hanging out inside Gaylord Hotel and home after.

Restaurant Week dinner and happy hour at District Commons

After the Afghan concert, my supervisor and I were really hungry and since it was Restaurant Week, we decided to have dinner at the nearby restaurant District Commons. This is my second time in the restaurant and considering that I do not eat out that much, I can say that they serve really good food for me to try it twice. In my defense, the other time was for brunch. This place is fancy enough to have different menus for brunch, lunch, dinner, bar and dessert.

What is Restaurant Week? 

This happens twice a year here in DC where restaurants offer a three course menu for a fixed price of $20+ for lunch and $35+ for dinner. People usually take advantage of this because restaurants that participate in restaurant week usually have entrees around $20-26 so restaurant week is definitely a good deal.

Since this dinner was unplanned, we didn't have a reservation which meant that we had to wait 40 minutes to get a table. So we waited at the bar. Their cocktails go at $10 and their wines around $6 and up per glass and we discovered that they have happy hour twice a day during weekdays: 4-6pm and 10pm until it closes. 

Here's what we had:

Butternut Squash Soup 

Grilled Salmon served on a bed of grits 

Roasted Duck cooked low and slow

served with squash and dirty rice bits

The serving was quite big that I had half of it to go. 

 Boston Cream Pie

 Banana Rum Chocolate Cake

The bar prides itself for having 99 different bottles of beer

 The Bar

Pacific Rim Mojito

(i had three!)

I will definitely go back to this place, if not for lunch or dinner, definitely for happy hour!