Don Juan Restaurant Carryout - Mount Pleasant 2/2/2011

Don Juan Restaurant
1660 Lamont St NW
Washington, DC 20010

Mount Pleasant Street, specifically between Irving and Park, is a hub for Salvadorean cuisine in the District. Salvadorean restaurants line this vibrant commercial corridor, offering a wide array of Salvadorean and Mexican dishes. I was looking for one specific dish...the pupusa.

Pupusas are a thick corn tortilla stuffed with a variety of fillings. Fillings range from a soft cheese called quesillo (similar in texture to Queso Oaxaca, and to be frank, Mozzarella), black beans, ground beef, ground pork, chicharron, and vegetables. Pupusas are also served with a side of lightly pickled cabbage called curtido, which is like a tangy cole slaw, and a soupy tomato-based salsa. These dishes have been feted in the DC food press for some time, but I have had a hard time willing myself to go out and find out where to get the best ones. After doing a little research, I decided to head up to Mount Pleasant Street, which has a high concentration of Salvadorean restaurants.

Don Juan Restaurant is located in a building on the corner of Mount Pleasant and Lamont, across the street from a small public green with benches. I chose to go to the carryout store specifically because I only wanted to order pupusas. Inside the carryout are several tables, a long counter, a large backlit menu, and the kitchen, which appears to be where they cook the food for the sit down restaurant.

After ordering my pupusas, I sat down and looked up to see ESPN Deportes broadcasting a Spanish La Liga soccer game. As I settled in, I saw a trickle of men enter, ordering pupusas, and then sitting down in order to watch the game. As Real Madrid started to make a push towards the goal, everyone's voices became increasingly more animated and excited, chattering wildly as shots began to rain towards the overwhelmed Sevilla goalkeeper. It felt like I was in a comfortable and unpretentious neighborhood sports bar where you can sit back, order a drink and some finger foods, and chat with the people next to you (if you're fluent in Spanish, which unfortunately, I am not). Let us say the real life Don Juan would probably steer clear of this place...it was definitely a sausage fest, albeit an extremely convivial and friendly one.

I waited for some time...about 10 minutes, I would say, for my pupusas...but they were worth the wait. I sliced into my first one, and a stream of gooey, runny cheese immediately oozed out. After biting into it, the soft cheese gushed in my mouth, coating my palate with the soft, velvety texture not wholly unlike good burrata. Better, though, was the explosion of corn in my mouth...a pronounced melange of sweetness and nuttiness, accented by the melted cheese. Then, in order to cleanse the palate, I scooped up some curtido with salsa, which lent a tangy spiciness to the pupusas while also conveying a refreshingly tingling spine of acidity as well. The black bean pupusa was just as good, but I think I personally preferred the plain cheese. Something about the comforting simplicity of the dish struck a chord.

This is a good place to get pupusas, and the ambiance isn't so bad that you would feel like you would want to carry out your order. It's a downright friendly place. It also has free Wi-Fi (but apparently no public restrooms).

Pica Taco - Columbia Heights 2/1/2011

Pica Taco
1406 Florida Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20009

Pica Taco is a small taqueria tucked away on Florida Avenue, just a hop, skip, and drunken stumble away from the gentrification creep on 14th Street. The majority of the new development (the lux condos, the organic YES market, Busboys, etc.) is located on the eastern side of 14th while the western side contains the remains of what was once a skid row: dilapidated storefronts, carryouts, a food pantry, and of course, further down 14th near U, that monument to Marion Berry's Ozymadian ego, the DC Municipal Building. Pica Taco seems as if it sits squarely within this latter milieu, but considering the quality of the food inside, I feel it can certainly survive the wave of gentrification that's crashing upon the neighborhood.

The building is small, unassuming, and seems to be a former garage or carriage house. But for the small backlit sign and awning, it would be easy to miss. Primarily geared as a carryout, there are several small tables inside where you can sit down. After ordering, you can watch the kitchen staff prepare your food in the open kitchen and then watch as they bring it back to the counter, dress your dish with various sauces and toppings, and then place it in the pass for you to pick up. The friendly lady at the counter helpfully asked whether I wanted hot sauce, and after saying yes, she gave me a squeeze-bottle containing salsa verde (a spicy tomatillo sauce) that was clearly made in-house.

I ordered three tacos: a lengua (beef tongue), a barbacoa (braised, shredded beef), and a pastor (a shredded pork dish with spicy seasoning), wrapped in corn tortillas. Each was moist, tender, and flavorful. The barbacoa stole the show with its deep, savory, beefy flavor that only a well executed braise can pull off. While the lengua and pastor were both good, they tasted a little innocuous...not bland, but not quite as identifiably "porky" or "offalish" as I would like. But, they were still tasty and some might appreciate that they aren't too gamy in flavor. I was also slightly annoyed that I was given lemon, rather than lime, but that is just picking nits. I mainly used the salsa verde, anyway, which I actually wished was a little spicier and tangier, but it was still good and acted as a nice accompaniment to the tacos.

These reasonably priced tacos (about $2.25 each) are about as well prepared as any I have had in the DMV. Go. Now.

Super Tacos & Bakery - Adams Morgan 1/30/2011

Super Tacos & Bakery
1762 Columbia Road NW
Washington, DC 20009

Super Tacos & Bakery is across the street from the so-called "Spanish Safeway" located on Columbia Road. It is near several Hispanic grocery stores, a Peruvian chicken restaurant, and several other shops that appear to cater to a Hispanic clientele.

Inside, the store is bare bones with an exposed kitchen behind the counter where you order. The place is clearly meant to be a carryout, though there are some stools and another countertop where one can eat in.

The menu, which is posted on several large green signs that run across the perimeter of the entire store, has a large selection. Tortas, enchiladas, burritos, and many other Mexican staples were available, including selected dishes such as the "Gringo burrito," which is apparently the chicken burrito. It was quite entertaining to watch this one kid, fresh out of college and rocking an L.L. Bean fleece vest, stumble into the restaurant with his girlfriend, look at the menu slightly bewildered, and then guilelessly order, in a voice that sounded like it just started cracking last week, for a "gringo burrito" without the faintest hint of irony.

I ordered three tacos: the lengua, the carnitas, and the pastor. The lengua (beef tongue) taco was excellent. It was slightly gamy, but extremely tender and moist. The carnitas and the pastor (both shredded pork) were both less exciting. I found the texture to the carnitas to be a little mealy and mushy, and the flavor a little bland. The pastor had some chili seasoning on it to make it a little more flavorful, but it had the same textural issues as the carnitas. The tacos were also enormous...three were way too much for me (and I am 240 lbs. and 6'6"), and next time I will stick to two or fewer. Because of their size, the tacos were also a bit more expensive than other taco stores in DC (about $3 each).

There was a also a salsa bar that had a salsa roja, a salsa verde, and a pico de gallo. All three were fantastic. The salsa roja had an earthy, smoky spiciness while the salsa verde was all bright, tangy freshness. The pico de gallo was also incredibly fresh and flavorful. The tomatoes were ripe, which, considering the time of year, meant they were either from a greenhouse or Peru (or perhaps both), but it is a sign that the proprietors make an effort to get good product for their restaurant.

All in all, I thought it was a solid experience. The woman at the counter was incredibly sweet and the service alone made me want to patronize this store again. Next time, I'll try the tortas.

Lighthouse Tofu (Vit Goel) - Rockville 1/29/2011

Lighthouse Tofu
12710 Twinbrook Pkwy
Rockville, MD 20847

Lighthouse Tofu (also known as Vit Goel) is a Korean "tofu" restaurant located a short distance from the Twinbrook Metro Station and also has another branch in Annandale, VA. This place specializes in dishes called soondubu, which is a stew of soft, custardy tofu in an extremely spicy soup. Although this restaurant specializes in "tofu" dishes, this is no safe-haven for vegetarians. The vast majority of the entrees have seafood or meat in them, and even some of the dishes that may appear to be fauna-free (specifically the complimentary panchan dishes) often are seasoned with seafood based condiments known as jeotgal. Of course, I am about as sympathetic to those vegetarians who complain about being "duped" into eating "animal-tainted" food in Korean restaurants as those who go to a McDonald's and who are shocked, absolutely shocked, to discover those luscious fries they were eating were dipped in beef tallow (there is a reason Korean cuisine is known for their beef BBQ rather than the gruel served in mountain monasteries to Buddhist monks). However, I thought some fair warning to the fastidiously flora-inclined was necessary.

Housed in a free-standing building, slightly reminiscent of the Greek diners prevalent in the southwestern Connecticut sprawl where I hail from, the exterior is adorned with a large banner advertising "$6.99 Korean Pancakes," which I suppose would make this place a more legitimate international house of pancakes than that other blue-roofed ambassador of flapjacks. The interior is rather typical for a Korean restaurant: lots of wood paneling, some private rooms with sliding lattice doors, and a wall proudly draped with a large American flag on one side with a much smaller Korean flag, tastefully tucked behind a potted plant, next to it. The clientele mainly consisted of Korean families, some other Asian ethnicities, I suspect, with the occasional Caucasian or three sprinkled throughout the crowd. A wailing baby serenaded me as we sat down.

The waitress arrived quickly and was quite courteous and patient, though she clearly did not have an absolute command of English and ordering was slowly deliberative. Allow me the opportunity to make a quick aside on the often-repeated complaint that members of Korean wait staff are rude. Personally, I don't recall ever receiving rude service in a Korean restaurant. Brusque, certainly, paternalistic even (especially with respect to Korean BBQ), but, from my own statistically insignificant sample set of observations, that mainly stems from my lack of Korean competency and their inability to speak fluently in English. Rather unsurprisingly, they don't tend to chat you up when they lack the linguistic ability to do so. Indeed, I am sure most must feel some embarrassment about being unable to fully understand the demands of customers outside of the occasional one word order or demonstrative semaphore, so I would chalk up brusqueness to these factors rather than a malicious intent to slight.

The panchan we received, which is meant to be an accompaniment to the rice, but often acts as a (large) amuse bouche, was quite frankly poor. The kimchi was soggy, leaden, and dull. It was clearly made that day, which one would normally think is a benefit, but for kimchi is a decided deficiency. Kimchi is a pickled dish that needs time to ferment. Given time, the spices actually mellows, the tangy acidity increases, the leaves of the cabbage can become deliciously crisp, and overall it can leave a refreshing impression on the palate. This dish had none of those things. The other complimentary dishes were slightly better: the bean sprouts were also a little soggy, the cucumbers had decent crunch, but could have fermented a little longer, and everything else was fine and forgettable. The cold kimchi soup they served was actually refreshing. This was fairly consistent with my experience in the Annandale branch (though the soup was much better there).

We also ordered several of the "$6.99 pancakes": an "oyster pancake," a "seafood pancake" and a "kimchi pancake." The kimchi pancake was the best, conveying brightness and tang to the crisp texture of the pancake (hint: a great way to salvage bad kimchi is to cook it). The seafood pancake and the oyster pancake turned out to be identical in flavor...though I suppose there might have been a nugget of oyster hidden in one of them, though I didn't get it. It was good...not too oily, had good texture, but not something that really stood out.

I also ordered the "spicy seafood soondubu," and this was clearly where this meal shined. You have the option to order soondubu mild, spicy, and "spicy spicy;" being faint of palate now, I chose spicy and it was just barely below my heat tolerance threshold. But, nonetheless, the soup was delicious, especially with the soft, creamy, and custardy tofu. It also comes with a raw egg, which I recommend you crack and mix the raw white and yolk into the soup. It comes boiling hot, so by the time you stir the egg into the broth, it is thoroughly cooked. It adds such an extra dimension of creaminess to dish, I could only shake my head in sadness when I saw other tables with their unused eggs. The soup also had two head-on shrimp and others miscellaneous bits of fruits de mer, and you could taste them in the broth. Well done!

The surprise was the the galbi, i.e., the sliced, marinated short ribs. The restaurant does not specialize in BBQ, but nonetheless, the kitchen produced as fine an example of galbi as I have had in a DMV Korean restaurant. It was moist, juicy, flavorful, and properly broiled. The marinade wasn't over-sweetened (which mars most of the Korean BBQ I have had in the past) with sugar, though there was a bed of sauteed onions, which I suspect was broiled with the ribs, which lended itself to the dish. All in all, a truly nice surprise.

As we left, it was near closing time, so I got a peek of the staff meal, and it looked like they were actually eating dishes from the regular menu. They were eating nakji jeongol, which is "casserole" of sauteed small octopus in a spicy sauce. I haven't had there rendition of this classic here, but I've heard mixed things. But, of course, octopus is not exactly a crowd pleaser, so it might be good. It certainly looked it and I might try it next time.

If you've never been to a Korean restaurant before, this place might not be the best place to start. As noted, this place specializes in only a select few dishes and is geared mainly to the traditional Korean palate. For the most part, within this limited scope, it is done well (and quite frankly better than at its sister branch in Annandale (though I've only been there once)). But, if you aren't familiar with these flavors, it might be a little too much, too soon, and you would probably be better served trying Yechon, which serves a wider variety of dishes and BBQ.

Crumbs Bake Shop - Clarendon 1/28/2011

Crumbs Bake Shop
2839 N. Clarendon Blvd.
Arlington, VA 22201

Having failed to receive the memo that cupcakes have gone the way of mesh trucker caps and Ithaca Is Gorges t-shirts, Crumbs Bake Shop, a New York based cupcake bakery chain, has recently opened in Clarendon (which clearly needs more chain restaurants and eateries). It is a little storefront shop next to a Red Mango, and its presence has now supplanted the tart Korean yogurt establishment as the most dated dessert fad on the block.

Clearly meant to cater to recent college grads and square state transplants who haven't yet become utterly wearied by the surfeit of cupcake shops in the DMV, it is a small, intimate space with about three tables shunted to the side of the store. After ordering at the counter and sitting down, I was glad to see the store live up to its name as I looked down upon a complimentary dusting of crumbs on the table.

I chose the Cookie Dough cupcake, a vanilla based cupcake with a huge wad of cream cheese frosting on top. It wasn't dry, though it wasn't exactly moist either. but the frosting was so confected and the cake felt so processed, I flashbacked to my days in college when I would eat a box of Entenmann's pastries as a chaser after downing a forty of Colt 45. Though not as pleasantly evocative of thing's past as Proust's Madeline, it was amusing to reminisce about times in my erstwhile youth when I had the metabolism to process the calories and chemical preservatives in this monstrosity of a sugar bomb.

My friends ordered a chocolate cupcake and a blueberry muffin. The chocolate cupcake was apparently, and unsurprisingly, dry. The muffin was reported to be edible, but it looked like something that came fresh out of Dunkin Donuts display case just around closing time.

I wouldn't completely write the place off. If you want to get a coffee and chat with a friend, this will do and is certainly better than Starbucks. There aren't many other options in the area.

Cafe Asia - Rosslyn 1/28/2011

Cafe Asia
1550 Wilson Blvd., Ste. 1
Arlington, VA 22209

Cafe Asia is a "fusion" restaurant...the type of place now ensconced in the better strip malls across the American heartland. As a rule, I generally avoid "fusion" restaurants for the simple reason that I don't fully understand the appeal of being able to order candied Pad Thai with a side of California rolls squirted with syrupy teriyaki sauce on top. But, as it so happens, I was meeting some people after work and since this restaurant is conveniently located in the hive-like catacomb of office buildings in Rosslyn, we all decided to come here.

The interior is of a minimalist design, de rigueur for this type of establishment. The walls are primarily glass, the open-air kitchen is composed of burnished stainless steel, the furnishings are made of blonde laminate, and the place is otherwise unadorned with ornament (the gigantic projection screen broadcasting a basketball game being the one notable and garish exception). The color palette of the interior is, much like the food, whitewashed. All we would need to complete this archetypal design scheme is a gigantic Buddha statue, a rock garden, and some bonsai trees surrounding a little electric-powered fountain with a cutesy spout.

The clientele is to be expected: young urban office drones wearing their Friday night best, sipping on industrial pinot grigio and gamefully spearing pieces of gamy spicy tuna roll on their chopsticks. Luckily, since it was a Friday, they kept their yoga mats at home, though every table had a Blackberry, Droid, or Iphone sitting next to the bottle of soy sauce and packages of Nutrasweet.

The cuisine was as I expected. I ordered a beef rendang, which the menu characterized as an Indonesian curry. I have had this type of curry before in Malaysian restaurants, and it is an interesting cross between Indian and Thai style curries: it contains the earthiness, weight, and deep color of an Indian curry while also having the creaminess and some of the brightness of a Thai curry. The sauce in this dish was actually pleasant and piquant; unfortunately the beef was not properly braised and thus insufferably stringy. After eating this dish, I can now safely report to any medical journal two surefire ways to contract lockjaw: stepping on a rusty nail and masticating the beef in this rendang.

I had a taste of my friends' dishes as well. One ordered the Lemongrass Chicken, which was fine. It was made out of boneless, skinless chicken thighs (vastly superior in flavor to chicken breast). It had a nice char, was moist, and surprisingly tasted like chicken (though I didn't taste any lemongrass). Nothing you couldn't get anywhere else.

My friend had Shrimp Pad Thai. It was bland and limp, which is actually a vast improvement to most other pad thai I have eaten because at the very least it wasn't saccharine and cloying.

Then there was fried rice. It looked fine. At least it looked like it wasn't prefabricated in a factory and reheated in a wok.

All in all, the one reason you would come to this place is that it is convenient and there is so-so people watching, if pasty-faced Rosslyn office workers tanned by fluorescent lamps are your thing.

Sticky Lemon Chicken with Champ

I found this Gordon Ramsay recipe on Youtube and decided to give it a try. I took some fresh thyme and two cloves of crushed garlic and put them in a pan with olive oil. After the garlic softened, I took four bone-in chicken thighs and browned the skin side first and seasoned the other side with coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. After the skin got crispy and brown, I flipped them and seasoned the skin with salt and pepper. After that was done, I splashed some soy sauce and champagne vinegar [the original recipe calls for sherry vinegar] into the pan and let it reduce into a syrup. I then threw in some Meyer lemon slices on top of the chicken and squeezed some of the Meyer lemon juice over the thighs. I also cut a little more fresh thyme on top. I gave the pan a shake and then placed about half a cup of water in the pan to let the chickens braise a little. After the water evaporated, I put in some clover honey to thicken the sauce and add sweetness. I then chopped some fresh flat-leaf parsley and threw that on top, and then pulled the pan off the heat to let things rest.

I then made the "champ," which is basically mashed potatoes with scallions and apparently a traditional preparation in Ireland. Simple enough: boil peeled potatoes, heat some heavy cream, mash potatoes in heavy cream, throw in some chopped scallions and butter, mix, and serve.

This was a great dish. It actually seems like a spin on Filipino Chicken Adobo, where you get the savoriness and saltiness of the soy sauce with the brightness of the lemons and vinegar. Of course, the western bit is the addition of the honey, but it doesn't add too much sweetness while giving the sauce a nice viscous texture and conveys a floral hint to the aroma. The sauce also added a lot to the champ, marrying well with the slight bite of the scallions and the richness of the potatoes. So, here, you have a very Western dish with very subtle Eastern notes [the soy sauce, the "adobo" of the chicken, and the use of scallions in the champ]. Lovely.

I also enjoyed the Meyer lemons, which I don't believe I have ever had before. Meyer lemons are essentially a cross between a regular lemon and a mandarin orange, so you get less acidity and slightly more sweetness [though not sweet enough to eat on their own]. They are grown in California and I believe they are only available in DC during the winter months, so get them now while you can. Definitely a subtler fruit than regular lemons and actually refreshingly pleasant to bite into when you're eating this dish.