monkey nonsense

As part of my 1001 day project (87. Become a “food snob” - try out new unique/non-chain restaurants), i’m trying to try out different types of restaurants… not just the usual chain restaurants. unfortunately, this costs money. with coworkers, we’ve been trying to go out to restaurants/cafes near the office for team lunches on a regular basis. here’s my “review” of the restaurants we went to, in order of enjoyablility. i think in the future, i might post them as they occur.

Nooshi - this place offers sushi and noodles (hence the name Nooshi). This is my favorite place to get lunch. i think it’s a combination of convenient and tastiness. the sushi is decently priced and they have boxes of pre-made sushi that make for quick pickup. the noodles are also quite tasty. when tina was in training in DC, we ate here. i think she enjoyed her noodles too.

Vidalia - went for resturant week. for $20.07, i got an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert. i ordered a glass of wine following the recommendation of my coworker and really enjoyed it… need to find out what wine i had. i had the rabbit sausage for appetizer… that was my first time eating rabbit. it was quite tasty. i had chorizo sausages with pork tenderloins as the entree… it was a lot of sausage. but i actually enjoyed the entree more than the rabbit sausage (don’t get me wrong, that was good too). i got an apple turnover-like dessert. quite tasty.

Greek Deli - this place has a line out the door nearly every day. so far, i’ve had the greek combo (love the orzo and pastitsio, this lasagna like dish) and the gyro… both good. portions are very filling! the bread is also quite good though the crust is quite hard. (the inside’s nice and moist!)

Kramers Cafe and Grill - this is supposedly one of the best, cheap places to eat in DC. i remember enjoying my sandwich while there (in late november), but clearly it must not have been GREAT because i can’t remember what it is i ordered! my coworkers got the meat lasagna which looked delicious and the portobello sandwich, which was HUGE. i think i’d definitely like to try this place again.

Naan and Beyond - fast, take-out indian place. i love samosas and this place has both vegetable and chicken ones (i think i like vegetable ones more). this is also the place where i first tried biryani. i’m surprised i enjoy biryani because it’s a rice dish, but it was quite delish. also good are their tandoori chicken wraps.

Levante’s - we took my new manager to this restaurant. following my big manager’s lead (he was the one who chose the restaurant), i got some sort of pizza like dish, but on a pita. pretty interesting. i think i should’ve tried the pastitsio to compare it to the Greek Deli.

Well-Dressed Burrito - this place is located in an alley. seriously. we walked down a deserted alley into this hidden door and in the basement of the building was this burrito place. i think i still prefer chipotle, but this is a pretty good alternative. it offers more variety than chipotle.

Penang - on my coworker’s “last day” (it wasn’t her last day but because of scheduling, we did it a week before she actually left), we took her out to this malaysian place. i ordered the chicken basil. it came in large pieces of chicken (not the grounded up version that i like) but it was pretty good. they had a lunch special that allowed you to get an appetizer, soup, salad, and entree for $10. pretty good price though i cleaned my plate completely.

Nirvana - my coworkers wanted indian so we decided to go to this place. i didn’t realize it was vegetarian until we got there. i think i like indian food with meat better. this was the first time i tried their after-meal refreshmint… usually it’s in a bowl by the door, these seed like things. i’m not a fan of licorice… so i wish my coworker would’ve told me it tastes just like licorice before i put a spoonful in my mouth!

C.F. Folks - interesting little place that serves a lot of international stuff. depending on what day you go, it’ll have a theme (i.e. indian, italian, etc.) the day we went was american…. i got a sandwich which was alright. nothing too special. may be worth it to try on another day… a place that can prepare both indian AND italian has got to be interesting…

Singapore Bistro - this place is upstairs from my favorite lunch place and ole standby Nooshi. it serves the same kinds of food… maybe with even less variety (but more in-depth). my coworkers who ordered the singaporean noodles preferred Nooshi’s over this places. i didn’t enjoy my food that much and didn’t even finish it.

Finally… a restaurant I didn’t go to with my coworkers but should definitely be included in this list:

Jaleo - tasty tapas and sangrias! i like the spinach and pine nuts dish, the potatos something-or-rather bravas, the fried sausage-shaped rolls that have something inside (!! ahh, i can’t describe it), cod fritters, the duck, and endives… i’m sure i’m forgetting more. also, their paella (sp?) was good. the dishes themselves aren’t that filling so this is NOT the place to go if say… it’s 9pm and you haven’t eaten all day and just got back from hiking in the mountains… it gets costly!