1331 bar & lounge

washington, dc

website

in town for a week of meetings, i managed to escape long enough to have drinks and snacks with anthony at 1331, located inside the marriott near the white house. it was surprisingly spacious and modern for a hotel lounge. instead of booths, the lounge has small couches set up that face eachother, with a coffee table in between. it's a little awkward for eating, but theoretically we were only there for snacks.

but we were hungry, so we ended up ordering grilled vegetables, hummus, bruschetta, and buffalo wings. it didn't sound like a lot at the time, but our little coffee table was overflowing with food. everything was good, the bruschetta was probably my favorite. 1331 also had a decent and reasonably priced list of wines by the glass. overall, a nice quiet spot to hide from the summer DC heat and catch up with a friend.

yank sing

san francisco, ca

website

strangely situated in an office building (rincon plaza) near the financial district in downtown, yank sing is a massive dim sum operation. at least on weekends, the crowd of dim sum'ers fills the restaurant and spills out into the lobby of the office building. jen and matt brought the kids and we found a perfect table in the lobby, underneath a ray of sunshine from the skylight above.

some of the dim sum options were better than others. we ate here a while ago, but i remember being a big fan of the shanghai soup dumplings and not such a fan of the regular pork dumplings. pictured is the fatty duck served in mantou pancakes - delicious. yank sing is a little pricey for dim sum, but it has a great atmosphere and quality food.

tamarine

palo alto, ca

whenever we ask a local about good restaurants, they invariably include tamarine in the list. it is located just down the street from our apartment but it is always packed. last minute reservations are nearly impossible to get. we finally planned ahead enough to make reservations for dinner. we arrived on time, but they still made us wait at the bar for twenty minutes before seating us. fortunately they make excellent cocktails.

asian fusion here means that they use high quality and expensive ingredients and then throw asian sauces on them. turns out to be pretty decent fare. the shaking beef (pictured) was delicious. was it worth the price? not sure. might be good for a special occasion with a focus on cocktails. otherwise i say go to a real asian restaurant for something more reasonably priced.

bistro le clochard

curacao

website

curacao doesn't have that many fancy restaurants. remember that couple that i mentioned in the pane e vino post? well, we saw them again at pampus the following night (where i forgot to take a picture). then we saw them AGAIN at bistro le clochard on the next night! turns out, one of the guys is originally from curacao but studied hospitality abroad and had returned to take his partner to some of the best restaurants in curacao.

bistro le clochard is definitely one of the best - everyone at the resort recommended it and it's been around since the 1970s. the restaurant is located inside an old fort from the 1800s and includes includes a little outdoor ledge on the water. we sat at a corner of the ledge, where we could look up at the old fort looming above us and out into the ocean to watch ships passing the island. great romantic atmosphere, solid french cuisine, excellent wine, and great steaks.

pane e vino

curacao

link to tripadvisor

we decided to go somewhere fancy for dinner one night and the resort recommended pane e vino, which was about a half mile down the street. the resort, however, ordered us a cab because they didn't want us walking in the area at night. when we arrived, there was a security guard outside the restaurant, so the resort was probably right to order us a cab. pane e vino is located in what looks like a little yellow house. it's cozy, with only a handful of tables. for a while, there was just one other couple in the restaurant. they had ordered two glasses of champagne - looked like a good idea, so we did the same.

incredible italian food, some of the best that i've had. the chef, who is italian, came out toward the end of the meal to greet his guests and everyone showered him with compliments. first, derek and i shared a massive antipasto plate with mozzarella, tomatoes, roasted vegetables, and parmigiano cheese. my entree was seafood pasta in a rich and winey sauce. derek's entree (pictured) was intense -homemade spaghetti in a butter truffle sauce served shaved truffle and chunks of foie gras. it's like a heart attack in a bowl. a delicious, rich, and fatty heart attack.

jaanchies

westpunt, curacao

link to tripadvisor

carlos, the resort's resident tour guide, took us on a fantastic tour of the west side of the island. gorgeous beaches and incredible coves to explore. the west side of the island requires a car, which means that the beaches are less crowded and tend to have more locals. one of the stops was jaanchies, a famous restaurant that serves the local island cuisine.

i ordered the fish. derek got the beef stew (again). as you can see, my fish was served with picked vegetables, rice and beans, and buttery shrimp. the seafood was incredibly fresh and everything was delicious, especially with the spicy onion sauce that they serve on the side. jaanchie's is an open air restaurant with a garden full of tiny birds along the front of the restaurant. it's a little disconcerting to be eating so close to the birds, but you get used to the chirping.

hemingway's

curacao

website

we were getting tired of just sitting on the beach at the resort and wanted to explore more of curacao, so jenny did some online research for us and suggested the curacao seaquarium. it was only about a mile south of us, so we decided to walk. along the way, we saw several other resorts and beautiful beach areas packed with tourists. one of these areas was seaquarium beach, which apparently has a cover charge (ridiculous), but if you look like you belong (which means, if you look like a tourist), you can just walk onto the beach without anyone asking you for money. there's a few shops with beachwear, scuba gear, and a couple of restaurants.

we stopped at one with seating on the beach, hemingway's. i decided it was a great opportunity to try some dutch snacks. curacao was formerly a dutch colony and the place is full of dutch tourists. pictured is my order of bitterballen, a deep fried beef snack. i don't know where these have been all of my life. i don't understand why this delicacy has only been discovered by the dutch. it's chopped bits of beef, mixed with potato, deep fried, and served with coleslaw. awesome.

iguana cafe

willemstad, curacao

link to tripadvisor

we chose curacao for our honeymoon because it's conveniently out of the hurricane paths and we happened to be traveling during the caribbean's hurricane season. found a fantastic luxury resort (which was also fantastically expensive, but you only get one honeymoon, right?). the resort was located about a mile and a half away from the capital city, willemstad. apparently it's not safe for tourists to walk that distance (said the resort staff), but we didn't find that out until our trip was nearly over. we walked during the day, did not run into any issues, and it was nice to explore the area.

iguana cafe is on an extremely touristy stretch of the capital. it's the perfect place to sit, eat a touristy meal, drink an appropriately tropical alcoholic beverage, and watch the "famous" floating bridge float back and forth to allow ships to pass through the channel. derek ordered the "local" beef stew, which was delicious. i ordered the very touristy chicken strips, which were fried to death but still delicious. a rum punch and a pina colada rounded out our excellent lunch.

sam wo

chinatown, sf

link to yelp

a month before our wedding, derek and i made a very quick trip up to sf's chinatown to find me a wedding qi pao. did some quick yelp searching and found a place called L & G trading. derek picked a style he liked, in red (per tradition). i tried on the XL (sigh). it fit. we bought it. and we had plenty of time to find a spot for lunch.

we wandered around a bit and found sam wo, which is really a hole in the wall joint. menu looked good and very cheap. downstairs is a small kitchen and there's a very narrow staircase to a small dining area upstairs. ordered some wonton noodles, congee, and you tiao. the noodles and congee were standard, but the you tiao was surprisingly good. probably because it was freshly fried. apparently sam wo is popular with non-asians, not sure why, but maybe they know about the you tiao.

maverick

mission, sf

website

my friends are scattered across the country, across the globe and usually my only interactions with them are through gmail or g-chat, so it's great when a bunch of us can actually get together in person and share a meal. tony and kate were in town for a wedding, eric happened to be on a business trip for work, luckily i managed to escape my work long enough to caltrain up to SF for dinner with the gang. lisa recommended this great spot in the mission (but unfortunately couldn't join us). maverick hits all of the right SF highlights - focus on fresh and local ingredients, sustainable and ethical practices, comfort food, but with a twist.

the menu is always changing to keep up with the seasons. good news for the diner, bad news for the blogger who went to the restaurant months ago and can't remember exactly what she ordered. i do recall that the guys ordered the fried chicken, which maverick is famous for and which was fabulous. i also remember that the girls ordered the asparagus dish with the runny egg that turned into an amazing sauce for the veggies. kate, of course, picked out the perfect glass of red wine and i always follow kate's lead when it comes to wine. great food, great company, had a lovely time.