November 23, 2004
Tuscarora Mill Restaurant, Leesburg, Virginia
I recently went to Tuscarora Mill Restaurant - dubbed 'Tuskie's' by regulars - for the second time. The last time we went, it was for lunch on a Saturday. I remembered liking the food, so I thought it would be neat to go for dinner. Tuscarora Mill Restaurant is tucked away in a fairly large crafts and arts type of shopping area. However, the restaurant is quite spacious.
I ordered a seared ahi tuna appetizer, which was delicious. I'm actually impressed that although Tuscarora calls itself an American restaurant, there's definitely a lot of Asian-inspired touches to the cuisine. This works in my favor, because I grew up with Asian cooking.
For the entree, I ordered the Pan Roasted Long Island Duck. I didn't know that Long Island was known for duck, but I've always liked duck, and was willing to give it a try. I also picked an Australian shiraz to go with the duck. The verdict? The duck was excellent - not too greasy, and the skin was well-prepared. Whether you agree with me or not, I always use the perfectly seasoned and roasted NYC and Vancouver Chinatown-style ducks to compare to any other roasted ducks. I'm happy to say that Tuscarora's roast duck was pretty close to Chinatown's. I thought the shiraz would be a perfect match - bear with me, I'm not a wine connoisseur - but perhaps a different red wine would have been a better pick. It's not like the shiraz was bad or anything - it was acceptable. I just remember that there was this one Syrah that went perfectly with a Provence-style honey roast duck I made once. I think Syrah and Shiraz are just different regional names for the same wine.
Anyhow, Todd ordered the buffalo steak special, which he paired with a merlot. That turned out to be a good decision, because the buffalo and merlot went together like bread and butter. Yum. Yes, he let me try some of his entree and wine.
All of this was topped by a wonderful selection of desserts. I picked the trio of creme brulees - vanilla, chocolate, and raspberry. I think creme brulees are my weakness. Vanilla was very good and the chocolate was very rich, but the raspberry is hands down the winner. I wonder if I can just get an extra large portion of the raspberry the next time I go there? I think it'll be pretty soon that I go back there.
Posted by Kathy at 10:09 PM | Permalink
August 16, 2004
Kuu Restaurant, Helsinki, Finland
It was pouring outside, and we didn't want to walk too far to eat today. So, based on proximity to the hotel, and a hearty recommendation from Fodor's guide book, we decided to give Kuu Restaurant a try.
Cozy and charming is how I would describe Kuu's appearance. Although the restaurant is small, the outer portion is glass-enclosed, giving it a greenhouse look. The inside is nicely lit by candlelight and chandeliers. I definitely liked the ambiance.
The menu is mostly modern Finnish cuisine. According to the restaurant homepage, every month, the theme ingredients change. My attention was immediately drawn to the chanterelle cream soup. So, I ordered the soup, and for the entree, picked a vegetarian dish - mushroom and grains patty with pureed parsnips, red currant sauce and slivered green beans. I think chanterelles are a delicacy here in the summertime. I happened to walk by an open-air marketplace today, and there were loads of chanterelles for sale. Anyhow, the soup was excellent. If Campbell's soup would just make their cream of mushroom soup taste exactly like this, I could live off of that. Sadly, Campbell's soup will never be of the same quality as Kuu's Restaurant.
My vegetarian entree was very good, and not too salty. I mention saltiness because that seemed to have been a recurring theme since I arrived in Finland. I especially liked the red currant sauce and the crisp green beans. This is a nice and quiet restaurant to go to if you like good ambience, and don't want to see too many other tourists there. If we have another night where we don't want to walk too far to eat, this would be the place I'd pick again.
Posted by Kathy at 10:39 PM | Permalink
August 15, 2004
Zetor Restaurant, Helsinki, Finland
Zetor Restaurant was described as a 'tractor restaurant' by Fodor's Scandinavia guide, so of course, we were curious to try it. Tucked away in a large hotel/restaurant complex, it took us a couple of attempts to find this restaurant. My first impression was that this is a rustic looking establishment. But what would you expect of a 'tractor restaurant'? Walking into the restaurant, it soon became apparent why this is a tractor restaurant. There were no less than three full-size tractors inside the restaurant. Around these tractors were benches built in so that one could dine in a group around the tractor. I think you need to have a large group to eat at one of those tables, because our group of three did not. Instead, we were shown to a picnic style table in a room decorated with posters like of the group 'Leningrad Cowboys'.
We all tried the rye beer that was available. I can't say much for it, but then again, I'm not a beer connoisseur, and tend to think that all beer is bitter. Todd and fellow Syn Ack Labs member John Schweitzer liked it just fine, though. I ordered a salmon soup, which was advertised as having won several awards. It was also labelled as 'low-lactose', and the creamy salmon and potato chunks with liberal sprinklings of dill was just the ticket to chase away the cold chill I had from walking around in the cold rain all day.
The entree of arctic char with boiled potatoes was good, but not as spectacular as the salmon soup. I could have just ordered a large portion of soup and dined on that alone, it was that good. For dessert, I was deciding between the rhubarb parfait with strawberry jam, or the spelt pancake with whipped cream, syrup, and bits of buckthorn candy. When I asked the waitress which one was the better choice, she said, "Definitely, the pancake." So, I went with the pancake, and got to see what buckthorn candy was. If you've had hawthorn candy before, that's what it's like. If not, I can't think of anything else close to it except maybe prune paste, but that wouldn't be doing it justice, because most people do not look favorably upon prune-anything.
Overall, I'm glad we visited Zetor Restaurant. The food was decent, and not overly pricey. The atmosphere inside the restaurant certainly gave us a lot to talk about. Apparently, John is a fan of Leningrad Cowboys, and I got to learn all about who they are.
Posted by Kathy at 10:50 PM | Permalink
August 14, 2004
Lasipalatsi Restaurant, Helsinki, Finland
Since we're staying at the Scandic Hotel Continental in Helsinki, and it seemed to be within walking distance from a lot of restaurants, we decided to just wander outside and see what we could find. It was in this fashion that we stumbled unto Lasipalatsi Restaurant. I'd been thinking that it would be neat to try Lapland cuisine, and here was a restaurant that serves said cuisine.
The restaurant was nicely decorated, and Todd noticed how much wood was used for interior decorating. I remarked that this seems to be common in the Scandinavian region. Looking at the menu, two entrees looked particularly interesting to me: the grilled reindeer and the whitefish with crayfish pate. August is crayfish month in Finland, or at least, Helsinki. Fortunately, my dining companion liked both of my selections as well, so we decided to get both the whitefish and the reindeer so we could share.
Although the restaurant had an extensive wine selection, I chose not to imbibe. This is because I had so few hours of sleep in the last 24 hours - three, to be exact - that I was afraid I would fall asleep right after dinner if I had any alcohol.
The rye bread we had before the entrees arrived was dense, chewy, and full-flavored. I had read that the Finns were very good at baking rye bread, and I definitely agree with that assessment. For the entrees, we had the grilled fillet of reindeer with baked Lappish potato and cranberry sauce, and whitefish gratinated with crayfish pate served with a black chanterelle risotto side. The reindeer was surprisingly tender. I had expected that the meat would taste gamier, but it didn't, which is a good thing for me. The whitefish was on the salty side, but still good. I thought the risotto was very creamy and tasty.
I'm a sucker for desserts, so I persuaded Todd to split a Tosca cake with me. I chose this dessert because it is served with ingredients which I'm not familiar with, namely, red currants and marinated black currants on top of vanilla sauce. The Tosca cake is kind of a cross between bread pudding filling, cobbler crunchy top, and a nutty tart crust. It was scrumptious. I would definitely go back to this restaurant again.
Posted by Kathy at 10:24 PM | Permalink
March 22, 2004
Queviures Restaurant, Barcelona, Spain
We found Queviures Restaurant while strolling around in the Eixample district of Barcelona. Unlike most American restaurants, Spanish restaurants do not stay open continuously from open to close. Restaurants may open for lunch hours, close for siesta hours, and reopen at 8PM for dinner, for example. While we were initially annoyed by this, we learned to follow customs, and wait until at least 7:30PM to start looking around for places to eat. This certainly added a certain "que sera sera" element to our travels.
When I walked into "QuQu", as this restaurants calls itself, in shortened form, I immediately liked the setting. It looked and felt like I was walking into the biggest tapas bar restaurant I had yet seen in Spain. All of the food was being prepared in an open air market fashion, and I quickly picked out my favorites. However, besides my favorites, there were a lot of other items I had not seen before, but definitely wanted to try. You can just imagine my dilemma at having to limit my order to what I could eat. That was difficult to do.
Here's what we settled on - omlette with wild mushrooms and garlic shoots, chorizo, jamon iberico with tomato bread, a pitcher of sangria, croquettes with jamon, sipia calamar hamburger, smoked salmon, steamed veggies, and crystallized apple with cherry sauce and soft cheese. Actually, I think I ordered two desserts. I got the feeling the waiter was quite impressed. He asked me if I was sure I wanted two desserts, and when I nodded, he took off, and I caught him talking to another waiter and showing him my order. Truly amusing, but it was 8PM, and I was starving. Besides, I probably walked 7 miles that day already, sightseeing around Barcelona.
I loved the omlette with mushrooms and garlic shoots. It was probably the tastiest omelette I've ever had. One thing I noticed is that in Spain, a tortilla is completely different than the Mexican tortillas we have here in the States. For example, all the tortillas I had in Barcelona were basically omelettes with other ingredients added in. Anyhow, tortillas are not flour-based in Spain. Chorizos, or Spanish sausages, are popular. Depending on who is making the chorizo, it can be spicy. I think QuQu has it just about right. Of course, we had to get the jamon iberico. Every tapas place has jamon iberico, and every place has great jamon iberico. I pratically lived off of jamon iberico the whole time I was in Barcelona. If I were to try and make it at home, I would use something like a french baguette, except not as thick, and drizzle olive oil on the sliced bread surfaces. On top of that, I would add minced tomatoes and perhaps slices of Manchego cheese. Last of all, I would shave off slices of jamon iberico - cured pork leg - and add the slices on the bread. Now I have a crusty, savory submarine-like sandwich, which is called bocadillos in Spain. The ham, or jamon croquettes were very tasty. The sipia calamar hamburger is not beef-based at all. Rather, it is calamari and octopus kind of chopped very finely and formed into a patty. It's kind of like eating crab cakes. We really enjoyed that dish. For some reason, smoked salmon tastes better in Spain then it does here. Is that because most of our salmon is farmed? I think it makes a big difference in taste. We got the steamed veggies because it seems like we hardly had the chance to eat veggies in Spain. Oh, I shouldn't forget to mention the wonderful sangria we had. Top all this food off with the desserts - the carmelized apple, and a custard flan - and I was already drifting off thinking about buying a vacation house in Spain.
Posted by Kathy at 10:31 PM | Permalink
February 14, 2004
Lightfoot Restaurant, Leesburg, Virginia
We went to Lightfoot Restaurant for lunch. I had read good reviews about Lightfoot, and was eager to give it a try. The reviews I saw mentioned the head chef's proficiency with adding creative twists to traditional American cuisine, which sounded great to me. The restaurant was also lauded as being one of the "most romantic restaurants" by the NoVA Living Polls. Certainly, the interior decor, which was converted from what used to be a bank, had a turn-of-the-century sense of grandeur . Unfortunately, beyond this point, the restaurant failed to meet our expectations.
I have certain criteria that I expect to see in restaurants that aspire to be "upscale, and romantic". We were seated at the small table almost right behind the reception desk. That would have been acceptable, given that there's a panel which separates the table from the desk. However, the area was distinctly drafty, since it was close to the front entrance, and I was stuck trying to decide whether to shed my coat or not. Also, the tables were placed too close to each other, which immediately killed any sense of romanticism that the front entrance may have cultivated. These flaws alone probably would not have hurt the restaurant's rating, except that the service and cuisine left much to be desired.
To be fair, the quality of the food started out pretty well. The pre-entree bread basket contained several types of bread, all of which were probably freshly baked. There was a sundried-tomato herb bread, a pumpernickel raisin bread, a sweet Hawaiian-type of bread, and a jalapeno cheese bread. Every single one of these breads were excellent. We both ordered the Lightfoot spicy creamy tomato soup with roasted garlic and sweet basil, and enjoyed that quite a bit. For the entree, I ordered the sauteed lobster and fresh tomato over angel hair pasta. If I ever go back to this restaurant, I will certainly not order this dish again. The pasta was overcooked, which made it gummy and sticky. There were almost no tomatoes in the dish, despite the title of the entree. I love tomatoes, and was sorely disappointed in the lack thereof. The worst part was the sauce. I felt like I was eating a very heavy alfredo. Needless to say, I didn't even come close to finishing my entree. The best I could do was pick out the lobster pieces and eat them. Todd ordered the special, which was some type of pan-seared breaded rockfish with greens and rice. The rockfish was sitting on a huge pool of cream sauce, though. What is up with the sauce usage at this restaurant? Todd said that he felt kind of sick after eating the entree. My opinion is, if you are a good chef, you do not need to use a lot of sauce to "mask" the food. The fresh flavor of the food should be able to stand on its own. After ignoring us for most of the meal, the waiter finally showed up and asked how things were going. I noticed that he frequently took the liberty of chatting with the older blond and redhead at the table one foot away from us, as well as the older brunette at the table two feet behind us. I guess we're too young to be his type. Or perhaps, since we didn't order wine with our meals, he didn't feel like we would leave much of a tip. I have a sweet tooth, and usually enjoy ordering a good dessert after my meals. I really didn't want to press my luck with this establishment, though.
Posted by Kathy at 10:35 PM | Permalink
September 06, 2003
L'Auberge Chez Francois, Great Falls, Virginia
Yesterday's dinner was quite the feast. I went to L'Auberge Chez Francois in Great Falls. This restaurant was rated one of the top restaurants in this area by the Washingtonian magazine, and even won a Blue Ribbon Award this year. So, it was with high expectations that I went to this restaurant. Exactly what kind of expectations, I do not know. This is because I've never been to an Alsatian French restaurant before. I guess I just expected to be gastronomically wowed. First thing I noticed is that this restaurant has separate allowed seating times. The reason for this did not become apparent until I realized how preparation intensive most of the cooking is. Having separate seating times allows the kitchen to move from one mode to another, for example, migrating from preparing entrees to preparing desserts. Also, the separate seating times prevent long waits for a table from the patron's perspective.
We started with two baskets of breads, raisin and garlic-herb. Both were good. I especially liked the chive butter that came with the garlic bread. Then, we were pleasantly surprised with a small portion of a savory, light, and custardy quiche composed of gruyere cheese, spinach, tomato, ham, and bacon. By the way, before we proceed any further, it might be worth mentioning that the menu is pseudo prix fixe, which is why we got the quiche. The prix fixe format made for room to be surprised with in-between dishes that we were not expecting.
For my appetizer, I ordered a bouillabaisse, which I ususally find to be very salty. I figured I'd try it at a more authentic French restaurant, and it was still very salty. So, I concluded that all bouillabaisse is supposed to be this salty. Personally, if I were to make this highly seasoned soup consisting of fish and shellfish, I would probably add a lot less salt. The tomato based broth, minus much of the salt, would provide the essence of the flavoring.
Following the bouillabaisse, I ordered a salad consisting of succulent lobster, various greens, Belgian endive, what tasted like Kalamata olives, cherry tomatoes, tender asparagus, and an edible orchid. The latter fact was told to me by our waiter. The entire salad concoction was dressed with a passion fruit vinaigrette, which I thought must surely have been the best salad dressing I have ever tasted in my life. I wished they sold the dressing by the bottle at the restaurant. As you can probably tell by now, this is not the kind of restaurant that would serve "ranch or thousand island". Not that I have anything against people who like ranch or thousand island, but you know what I'm saying. In case you were wondering, eating the orchid was strange. If it wasn't for the passion fruit vinaigrette, which I eagerly sopped up with the orchid petals, the orchid would have been completely tasteless. For now, I think I just want to grow orchids, not eat them.
Next, we were presented with a palate cleansing lemon sorbet with candied violet. This was tasty, and was without a doubt homemade. I have never had a lemon sorbet that didn't taste completely sugary and somewhat artificial before this. At this point in the meal, I started to feel like I was too full to eat the entree. My entree, which was Dover sole sauteed with lobster, asparagus, wild forest mushrooms, capers, and brown butter (what is that anyways?), was paired with a pinot blanc wine (Kientzler Pinot Blanc d'Alsace 2000 for you wine connoisseurs). In case you were wondering, I am definitively not a wine connoisseur. I just asked our waiter to make a recommendation, and he did a great job. The sole was very good, but I really went for the mushrooms. There is a world of difference between grocery store mushrooms, and wild mushrooms. I wanted another whole plate of these mushrooms. The creamed spinach that accompanied the entree was somewhat bland. I prefer spinach stir-fried with garlic over creamed anyway. The pinot blanc is drier than I'm used to (I love grape juice, and am not ashamed to say so), but I did enjoy it with the fish.
Anyhow, meanwhile, I'm feeling completely stuffed, and thinking about how I'm possibly going to find room for dessert, which I had ordered at the beginning of the meal, since I wanted souffle, and that takes a while to cook. But, I have never had Grand Marnier souffle before, and it's supposed to be a classic French dessert, so I felt obliged to try it. It was with a grand flourish that the souffle was brought out to the table. What impressed me was that it was timed so perfectly that the souffle went straight out of the oven to our table. We Americans can say what we will about the French, but their attention to detail is impeccable. So, now I have this hot, hot souffle in front of me that I get to pour the Grand Marnier souce into. This is getting dangerous. Any reservations I had about being too full to eat dessert flew out of the window at once. I found that I liked Grand Marnier. Before I could register it, the entire side of Grand Marnier went into the souffle ramekin. Absolutely heavenly, and the perfect ending to a rich meal.
Or so I thought. Afterwards, along with the check, our waiter brought a plate of cocoa dusted chocolate truffles and butter cookies. The truffles were so sweet and chocolately that I nearly choked on it, and had to gulp a lot of water down. These truffles were much better than Godiva's truffles, needless to say. All together, my portion of the dinner came in under $100, but not much under that. This includes tip and the glass of wine. I only put the total here because some of my co-workers who read my reviews requested it. Expensive? Yes. Worth the price? Yes, I'd say so. I was thinking about how many ingredients must have gone into my dinner. I was also thinking about how it's a good thing I don't live in Alsace, or I'd probably be a chubby doll.
Posted by Kathy at 10:39 PM | Permalink
September 02, 2003
TenPenh Restaurant, Washington, D.C.
I took some time to try out the wonderful Pan-Asian cuisine at TenPenh Restaurant in Washington, D.C. I have heard from others that this was a good restaurant to try. Washingtonian Magazine rated it in the top 100 best restaurants. Starting with the appetizers, we had Steamed Mussels in Thai Curry Sauce, and Steamed Crabmeat and Pork Shu Mai dumplings, both of which were good. We were offered a sample of their Chilled Tomato Consomme Soup, which I was not particularly crazy about. It just felt too much like I was sipping salad dressing. There were many delectable looking entree choices, so it took me a while to decide on what I wanted to order. For example, I've never seen seared Ahi tuna flavored with Tahitian vanilla before. The fusion of relatively familiar dishes with exotic spice flavors shows good innovation in the dish offerings. I finally settled on the Miso-Sake Marinated Seared Chilean Seabass with Kimchee and Dashi Buerre Blanc. The seabass was wonderfully mellow, and was well counterbalanced by the slight sharpness and spiciness of the kimchee. I really enjoyed this dish. For dessert, I was again facing several choices, but knew I only had enough room left for one choice. I was intrigued by the Yuzu creme brulee, but ended up going for the Warm Bittersweet Chocolate Cake with Ginger Chocolate Ice Cream and Caramel Sauce. Yes, I chose to get a decadent dessert. Needless to say, the dessert was heavenly and a perfect end to a meal that inspired the feeling of trying new ingredients in different ways at home. As it turned out, I had enough room left for another dessert. Afterwards, we went two blocks down the street to Teaism and I got a Sweet Green Tea Bubble Tea.
Posted by Kathy at 10:45 PM | Permalink