sushi samba

new york, ny

website

it took a while before derek and i decided to try this restaurant. between the asian fusion menu, trendy-looking exterior, club-like interior, it didn't really look like our scene. (although it was featured on an episode of satc - "and you can forget samba!" yells samantha as she storms off). turns out, however, that the food is very good. it's a mix between brazilian, peruvian, and japanese cuisines. i know, it sounds weird and it is weird, but the dishes turn out pretty tasty.

pictured is our favorite dish - the seared otoro kobe beef, served mostly raw with warm japanese mushrooms, ponzu gelée, and truffled tofu crema. it's only about 5 bites of food, for $3 a bite. but each bite is luxurious, meaty, and delicious. we usually order a couple of other things there, but we never end up full because it just costs too much and takes so long for each plate to come out. still, we keep going back for the seared beef. yum.

dos caminos

new york, ny

website

i joke that i have a dos caminos for home (located on park btw 26/27) and one for work. this is a great restaurant for meeting up with friends. there is always plenty of room and never a wait. the food is excellent, reasonably priced, and the drinks are good too. at night, they tend to play the music kind of loud (i'm such an old fogey) but during brunch they either keep it quiet or have a live jazz band. big fan of the dos caminos brunch. so it was perfect for a little get-together when tony came to town.

pictured is quite possibly my favorite salad in the world. and it's only available at dos caminos' weekend brunch. there's lettuce somewhere in there, but then its topped with roasted corn, chopped onions, fried tortilla strips, spicy chorizo, grilled chicken, chopped tomatoes, and a cilantro-basil vinaigrette. it might also be the unhealthiest salad in the world. anyway, it's delicious. you can also get it with avocado and queso fresco, but i think my version is better.

dragonfly

san juan, pr

website

derek and i were intrigued by this place (owned by the same company that owns aguaviva and the parrot club) because it advertised "latinasian" cuisine. obviously fans of latin and asian cuisines, we decided to try it out. this place is located in a very touristy area of san juan, near where the cruise ships dock. i'm not sure why it tries to be so fancy, but they frown on people wearing shorts so they made derek wear a sarong! i was very confused, yet amused. and no, i'm not posting a picture of derek in the sarong, this is a food blog!

the food was hit or miss. the hits - stir-fried noodles with fried chicken and deep fried lobster dumplings with truffle sauce. i can't believe that no one thought to add fried chicken to chow mein before - it was brilliant. and lobsters with truffle is such a luxurious combination that its hard to go wrong. the miss - duck nachos were drenched in hoisin sauce, but it was a clever idea. the place was trendy and expensive - if that's what you're looking for, i would recommend - but for me, the food wasn't worth the price. derek in a sarong, though, was priceless.

la bombonera

san juan, pr

link to yelp

when we first walked by la bombonera, we were hungry for real food not sweets. but after one look at the shelves of baked goods in the window, i made a mental note to stop by later. once we had lunch, i managed to lead derek back to la bombonera. it was a little confusing when we walked in because the baked goods are in the window, the register is in front, and then there's a full diner in the back. we weren't sure if we were allowed to sit in the back and order the baked goods. the woman at the register, however, waved us in so we sat down.

the menus were very long and didn't mention anything about the pastries. then i noticed that a woman was taking pastries out of the window so i boldy walked over and asked her if we could order some. she said of course! i asked for her recommendation and she suggested the guava filled pastry (on the left). and then i asked for a doughnut too, of course. the pastry was perfectly flaky and buttery. the guava jelly was a bit too strong for derek, so i took some and spread it on my doughnut - delicious! my cafe con leche was also very good. apparently this place was recommended by rachel ray - her face and name were everywhere - well, now i'm recommending it too.

la fonda el jibarito

san juan, pr

website

our favorite meal in puerto rico! and cheapest (not counting mcdonald's although the chicken mcnuggets in PR are a million times better than those in the states - probably the dark meat, yum). about $9 for each entree. for each delicious, yummy, fantastic entree. service was awesome too, clearly catering toward tourists. "yes, order the rice too, that's how puerto ricans eat it - it's very good!" and it was.

i ordered the pasteles de masa - which are tamales made out of plaintains. mine was filled with pork and served with yellow rice. it looked like a pile of mush but tasted great. derek had the beef stew (pictured). tender, juicy pieces of meat in a rich and flavorful sauce. derek and i are now big fans of puerto rican cuisine and are trying to find a good place in new york.

the parrot club

san juan, pr

website

after attending a beautiful beach wedding the day before, y+a+n, derek and myself headed to old san juan to see the sights. the interior of old san juan is full of gorgeous colorful buildings and the exterior is surrounded by a castle-like wall. all that walking, of course, made us very hungry. we walked by aguaviva, which is a really popular and expensive ceviche bar. across the street was a colorful restaurant called "the parrot club," with the same owner but better prices and a more inviting atmosphere.

the waitress seated us immediately and pulled up a high chair for the baby in our party. the adults ordered cocktails - very good (with rum of course!) the cuisine is called nuevo latino - apparently a modern take on traditional puerto rican food. i ordered shrimp (again) with chorizo rice - it was excellent. derek had a chicken skewers with mofongo (a traditional puerto rican dish made with plaintains). great food, great drinks, a fun atmosphere. i highly recommend.

good stuff eatery

washington, dc

website

neither derek nor i watch top chef. but i do read food blogs so i've heard about spike mendelsohn and his dc burger place. we were excited to try it. what we weren't prepared for, though, was the very very long walk it takes to get there. turns out capitol hill is actually a hill! anyway, by the time we got to good stuff eatery, we were very very hungry. there was a long line, so i made derek wait while i snagged a table upstairs. it took about 20 minutes to get the burger, a bit faster than the shack.

derek had the big stuff bacon meltdown - "double patty, lots'a bacon, double cheese, ruby tomato, lettuce & pickles with good stuff sauce." as i write this blog, he is literally salivating just thinking about it. i really enjoyed my burger, it definitely comes close to shake shack level quality. juicy and flavorful meat, soft bun, good veggies. the fries had a ridiculous amount of rosemary and other herbs sprinkled on top, but they were still crispy and tasty. the burgers, however, were the highlight. definitely worth climbing up and down capitol hill for.

vidalia

washington, dc

website

another rec from our guidebook was also described as serving southern food. given that georgia brown's wasn't that great, we decided to give vidalia a try. it's located in foggy bottom, which is a bit of a hike from downtown, but dc is pretty easy to navigate. plus, its fun to say foggy bottom. fortunately we were semi-dressed up because vidalia turned out to be quite a fancy restaurant. the yellow-beige decor looks like it was designed in the early 90s, but the food more than made up for it.

dinner started with amazing cornbread and rolls. my favorite dish was my appetizer - perfectly cooked asparagus topped with orange slices, salmon roe, and a light dressing. it was delicious! it was salty, sweet, and refreshing all at once. it was a remarkable dish, unlike anything i've ever had before. the rest of the meal was also excellent - i had yummy shrimp and grits. for dessert, the georgia pecan pie. so good. this is how fancy southern food should taste!

sculpture garden pavilion cafe

washington, DC

website

amidst all of the monuments and museums, there's a cool sculpture park with some really interesting pieces of art. and a cafe! after walking from the white house to the washington monument to the cherry blossoms to the smithsonian, we were pretty tired. the pavilion cafe in the middle of the sculpture garden was perfect to sit down for a "light" snack, a cold drink, and air-conditioning.

"light" is in quotes because as you can see, i chose to go with the red velvet cake. it was actually really good! the cake was moist, the cream cheese frosting was sweet-but-not-too-sweet. tasted homemade. a really excellent find in the middle of the touristy area of dc. another reason that "light" is in quotes is because i'm pretty sure derek had a hot dog and a bag of chips for his snack.

ten penh

washington, dc

website

work has been extremely busy so i apologize that i have not been updating regularly. i have, however, been eating regularly so i have quite a backlog to catch up on. okay, back to our recent trip to washington DC. we walked past this restaurant on pennsylvania avenue a few times while seeing the sights and derek was very intrigued. given the name "ten penh", he thought that it might serve cambodian food. unfortunately every time we walked by, it was closed. finally, on the third try, it was open and we went in.

summary of derek's thoughts: "ten penh? i think zero penh." basically, it's fake asian food in the middle of downtown. it's not cambodian at all, but has a mix of asian cultures and cuisines -- peking style duck rolls, shanghai filipino lumpia rolls, roti wrapped tilapia with wasabi -- and it doesn't mix well. wasn't cheap either. bottom line - don't bother. maybe hike a couple of blocks north and check out chinatown instead.