The Carlyle Grand has been one of my favorite restaurants for a long time. The excellent service, great food, and fun atmosphere never fails to deliver a wonderful lunch or dinner. I've had a majority of the menu but for this review will focus on what was ordered during my last foray at the Carlyle.
To start thingswe had the blue crab fritters. These are served roasted red peppers and a grilled corn salsa. The fritters are light and never too oily even though they have been deep fried and every bite contains ample amounts of crab. The sweet corn salsa paired with the roasted red peppers are a great contrast to the saltiness of the fritters and bring out great flavors. If crab isn't your thing every other appetizer on the menu is just as good.
The picture is a bit blurry but they are of Mongolian Lamb Chops. The lamb chops are served with couscous and dressed arugula. The couscous and arugula were good but nothing spectacular and a bit bland. The lamb though was excellent. Thick cut (double rib cut) and perfectly grilled medium rare the lamb chops had a smoky char grilled aroma and melted in your mouth with every bite.
The Hickory Smoked & Grilled Black Angus Rib Eye Steak was served with roasted mushrooms and cauliflower mash. Like the lamb chops the rib eye was perfectly grilled medium rare. The rib eye was tender with every bite filled with hickory. The mushrooms were roasted in a brown sauce that was a bit salty. The highlight of the meal was the cauliflower mash. The cauliflower mash was creamy and very buttery but not overpowering.
The Carlyle has great service and best of all during the warmer months they allows pets! You do have to sit outside but the servers do the best they can to accommodate people with pets with treats and water bowls. The decor of the restaurant is 1930s themed and consists of two levels. I suggest getting a table upstairs as the view over Shirlington is great especially during the holidays when they have Christmas decorations up. The service, food, and atmosphere you get for the price you pay is almost unbeatable. A great place to dine!
Rundown:
Price: Moderate
Service: Great
Food: Great
Restaurant Decor/Setting: Casual
4000 Campbell Ave Arlington, VA 22206-3424 (703) 931-0777
Anddddddd.......he's back! I took a little hiatus bust made sure to take lots of photos and notes of the places I've eaten. I've continued my search for the best burger in the DC Metropolitan area and was introduced to a great local place called Urban Burger. Urban Burger won't be found easily. It's nestled in a small strip mall in the middle of a suburban community in Rockville, MD. There isn't much to do around Urban Burger but if you love great burgers it just might be worth the drive. To start things off you choose a burger type (Black Angus, Chicken, Smoke Sausage, or Veggie) and then add a style to it (Urban BBQ, Savannah, Frank's Favorite, Blazin' Saddle, So-Cal, USA, Bleu Bayou, or Special Style). I've been to Urban Burger 3-4 times and have stuck with the Black Angus Burger cause it never fails to disappoint and I haven't tried it with ever style available.
The 6 oz patty is lightly seasoned and grilled to your liking which is rare nowadays with the fear of food poisoning. I've always been hesitant to eat ground meats not fully cooked but I can say that every medium cooked burger I have had at Urban Burger has never caused me to be ill afterward. The patty is always juicy and the quality of the beef is outstanding.
The styles which I've paired my burger with are Urban BBQ (BBQ sauce, cheddar cheese, and a thick slab of bacon), Savannah (honey mustard BBQ sauce, provolone, and a thick slab of bacon), and SO-Cal, USA (honey lime sauce, sliced avocado, and melted provolone). The BBQ sauce used in the Urban BBQ and Savannah style are of the same base and are great condiments to the burger. The BBQ sauce has a great smokey flavor and do not over power the patty which I've found happen with BBQ sauces which are too bold. The highlight of both the Urban BBQ and Savannah styles is the use of a thick slab cut of bacon. The bacon used is from Virginia and cooked just right where it's not too crispy or too soggy. The saltiness of the bacon helps bring out the sweetness of the BBQ sauce but at the same time does no over power all the other flavors.
Other than the quality and taste of the patty, what impressed me the most was the bread used. Unlike Good Stuff Eatery the buns at Urban Burger hold up when eating and don't become soggy. They're lightly toasted and taste as if they were baked in house.
What's a good burger without good sides right? The battered onions rings are thick cut and fried to perfection. For a deep fried food they're light and crisp and old oil is never used. The servings are generous and the onion rings come with a side of horseradish remoulade that offer a bit of a kick.
A burger and onions rings will run you about $10 which is a great deal considering the serving size and consistent quality. Urban Burger is a bit of a drive since it's located in a suburban community but worth the drive if you're craving a good burger.
A friend of mine volunteered to write a guest column for Cheap Ass Dates and what he's written is pretty hilarious. I think you guys will enjoy this one or be disturbed by it. One or the other it's all in good humor.
So this is it folks, the first guest column to appear on Cheap Ass Dates.I know what some of you may be thinking, who is this guy and what qualifies him to write a column over me?These are both very good questions, so allow me to briefly explain my credentials.I think this picture sums it up pretty well:
That’s me making inappropriate poses behind an unsuspecting life guard. Not enough for you? How’s about this?
Its okay my friends, you may stop dropping your jaw and close your mouth at this time.I know that by now surely your doubts on my understanding of dating world have been quelled.Now let’s talk about the big bad wonderful world o dating!
The first thing I’d like to talk about is George Sodini.
For those of you who do not know, George Sodini is the Pittsburgh Gym Shooter. He left a blog behind detailing his plans long before he ever carried them out.For information you can read up here http://wdbo.com/localnews/2009/08/just-discovered-pennsylvania-g.html. Sodini seems to imply the motivation and reasoning behind his actions was due to the fact that he couldn’t get a date.
Fact the First: Every person on this planet is capable of attracting date.
Now before I go breaking down what I think of the Sodini case let me just put in a disclaimer.Having read the blog and watched his videos, I believe the man is a psycho, if he were to have dated a woman and she had tried to break it off with him I believe he would have done extensive physical harm to her and probably killed her.That being said I also believe that the reason he couldn’t get a date is because he set his standards too high and it affected his level of confidence in himself.
Sodini had apparently attended a seminar on meeting and seducing younger women.This tells me that his problem was not meeting women; his problem was he wanted to meet a certain type of woman.This reminds me of an old saying “Go Ugly Early.”
Fact the Second: There is an ugly person out there for everyone.
I’ll take a second to let that soak in.Talking to the opposite sex can be an obstacle for some, especially males who feel pressured by peers or family to find an attractive partner.I’m by no means saying settle, but it doesn’t hurt to practice.Let’s run a scenario, shall we?
Before we begin I must put in another disclaimer.While I may advocate using less attractive people as practice I do not condone being insensitivity to their needs or purposely mistreating them as human beings.Now back to our scenario…
If you’re half the catch you think you are it should be no problem for you to pick up an ugly person.And let’s say you mess up in your approach or open, the ugly person should still be interested in you because odds are most people don’t approach them and try to get to know them.This is perfect practice for when it comes time to try pick up someone you may actually be physically attracted to.
Some of you may not be convinced, so let’s look at another example…this time from Hollywood.The movie, A Beautiful Mind, with Russell Crow.In the scene with the blonde in the bar the character John Nash states “If we all go for the blonde and block each other, not a single one of us is going to get her. So then we go for her friends, but they will all give us the cold shoulder because no one likes to be second choice. But what if none of us goes for the blonde? We won't get in each other's way and we won't insult the other girls. It's the only way to win. It's the only way we all get laid.”By going for the blonde’s less attractive friends Nash and buddies have guaranteed themselves a good night.This scenario works for ladies too, except that it won’t matter if you go for the good looking guy first since his friends are happy to take second choice because you have boobs.But seriously fellas, we can’t all have Megan Fox.And, speaking Megan Fox…
Fact the Third: Megan Fox is attractive and most guys want to do nasty things to her.
Guys, I don’t care who you are you’re better off hoping that she makes a sex tape with Scarlett Johansson than you are trying to date her.This is a woman who has been quoted as saying “My only job is to wake up, take a shower, and look attractive.”You don’t want that. Plus she’s been with Brian Austin Green, do you really want David Silver’s sloppy seconds?Need more proof that Megan Fox isn’t for you? Let’s watch this Jimmy Kimmel interview with Seth Rogen:
Here’s a little scenario that was once told to me by a Major while I was in the Army.We were discussing how some of my friends at the time were engaged to be married and how young and stupid they were.It was at this time the Major pulled up a picture of Christie Brinkley and he said: “You see that, Billy Joel got tired of fucking that!”
Fact the Fourth: For every extremely hot chick out there, there is some guy that is tired of fucking her and putting up with her shit to do it.
He then went on to explain that it was best to date and mess around until at least 32 when you realize that all women are crazy and you have decided just how much crazy you’re willing to handle, then go out and find you some nice young side piece to marry.
Now getting back to the topic of Seth Rogen let's look at this clip from Entourage:
Fact the Fifth: Entourage is a great show
As much as I hate to admit it, Turtle does have a point.The odds of the scenario that occurred in Knocked Up happening to Average Joe Stoner in real life are pretty poor.That is unless Average Joe Stoner has the confidence to at least talk and introduce himself to an attractive woman, which brings me back to my point of practicing on less attractive people.
Confidence is one of those things that no matter what sex you are everyone seems to look for in a mate so it never hurts to take the time to practice.So the next time you see someone all alone huddle in the corner go up and talk to them, make their night and I’m sure eventually someone will help to make yours.
Please feel free to leave comments, I will respond to them and make sure to join me next time when I discuss the following scenario that may haunt you “I broke up with my Ex and now they’re dating a douche bag.”
I think we've all been guilty of this at one time or another. You're in a relationship that isn't working out but yet you're not ending it. You're not happy and constantly wishing the other person will change but you're holding on because you're afraid of being alone.
As I get older I see more and more of the above scenario happening. I notice a lot of people who stay in their troubled relationship because it's better to have someone which you can stress, be sad about, argue with, etc than the prospect of sitting home alone on a Friday night twiddling your thumbs. The idea of being alone is a scary one and I'll admit that it use to scare me but at some point you have to come to terms with yourself and admit that it's not working out.
The relationships I'm referring to are the ones where you're significant other has annoying traits that just drive you crazy. For example flirtyness, cleanliness, having a big mouth, not respecting you, gold digger, and the list goes one. These are no way the classic abusive relationships such as physical violence but are at the same time big problems. I'm a firm believer that a person can only truly change themselves because they're doing it for themselves and not for another person.
If you've convinced yourself that they'll change for you if they love you then you can give up on that idea now. People are spiteful by nature and by letting someone know what bothers you the most is the same as Superman telling everyone that Kryptonite can kill him.
Sometimes the benefits do outweigh the costs but if you've had thoughts/wishes that your significant other would stop doing something which annoys you on a daily basis then you should probably end the relationship. The more time which you invest into the relationship the more you will feel obligated to make it work which leads to more time being invested thus creating a vicious cycle that could lead to a failed marriage. And don't think I'm exaggerating about marriage, I've seen it happen.
So take that jump off the cliff and into the waters. You never know what's in the ocean until you take a look.
Top Chef is one of my favorite shows and when I heard that Evangelos "Spike" Mendelsohn had opened up a casual burger joint I was pretty excited. After being open for about a year I finally got a chance to try out Good Stuff Eatery.
Burgers are one of the simplest foods to cook but very hard to get right. Every backyard griller can slap some ground beef formed into a patty and call it a day but how many can make a mouth-watering juicy burger that has you craving for more? The answer is not many.
Being a native of Arlington I've been a proponent of Five Guys for as long as I remember since they are a local establishment and since becoming a franchise they have been pretty good at keeping their traditional level of quality.
Before I get into my thoughts about the Good Stuff Eatery burger I'd like to go over the sauces which they have. When I first walked into Good Stuff I was a bit confused at all the people huddled around at what I thought at the time were ketchup pumps. It was actually a sight to be seen and I wished I had taken photographs of it. There was a large mass of people pumping sauces furiously into their little containers. When the area cleared a little I decided that I'd give the sauces a try. I casually walked up to the pumps and as I reached up to begin pumping a sauce a girl literally pushed my hand away and stuck her little container under the pump. I guess she realized what she did cause she apologized and asked me to get my sauced. I saw that she had already filled 15+ containers and said, "Wow they must have good sauces here. You should finish up since you're almost done," while pointing to her little pyramid of sauces. She blushed a little and replied with a quick "Yeah" but didn't hesitate to finish filling 5+ containers before leaving.
So there are four "special" sauces at Good Stuff. The sauces are all a mayonnaise base with either chipotle, mango, Old Bay, or Sriracha mixed in. The sauces weren't bad and my favorites were mango and Sriracha. Chipotle really didn't work well with the mayonnaise. I felt like there were too many contrasting flavors and the flavors never came together. I have no qualms with Spike or the mayo but I do find it a bit amusing that people who are very enthusiastic about Good Stuff think what he has done is revolutionary. When I was in Good Stuff waiting for my food all I could hear the regulars talk about was how great and unique the mayo sauces are. You can find similar comments online on many other food critic blogs. I find this amusing because people have been using mayonnaise as a base condiment to create other sauces for a very long time. Japanese sushi chefs use a wide variety of mayo based sauces for rolls and the bases of thousand island dressing, hollandaise, and *gasp* even McDonald's special sauce is mayonnaise mixed with something else. So my advice to the food critics who are raving about his sauces, you shouldn't be a food critic if you don't even know that Japanese sushi chefs have been making similar sauces for years now let alone McDonalds. Now to the important stuff...the burgers!
The burgers pictured above from left to right are the Obama Burger, Uncles D's Chili 'N Cheddar, and the Farmhouse burger. I can only comment on the Obama burger since that it was I ate.
The Obama burger has bacon, blue cheese, onion marmalade, and horseradish mayo. It was a very good burger but you do not get the taste of all the ingredients. The blue cheese is the dominating flavor followed by sweetness of the onion marmalade. I was surprised that the flavor of the bacon got lost since bacon is a dominating flavor when used in most foods. I could not taste the horseradish mayo at all and would not have known it was in the burger if not told. What impressed me the most was the beef patty used. The quality of the ground beef used was excellent and you could really taste the beef. The patty was juicy and not over cooked but still had a great charred flavor. I hate to admit it but the patty at Great Stuff is much better than Five Guys. Like most burger joints though the buns were a bit soggy from grease. This made it difficult to eat the burger since the buns were small and began to fall apart as I was eating the burger.
Jason's Farmhouse burger is the classic burger with lettuce, tomatoes, and all the toppings you would normally find. He had the same opinion on the patty but the drawback to his burger was that you couldn't customize it. Five Guys has a long list of toppings which you can request when ordering. I understand that I had ordered a specialty burger so it doesn't make sense to ask me about my toppings preference. I strongly believe that a classic burger should come with the choice of ingredients which Good Stuff does not offer. You could probably ask for it but I find it odd that it's not standard when ordering.
As my side I ordered Spike's Village Fries which are topped with thyme, rosemary, and cracked pepper. They sounded great on the menu and I was eager to try them. When I opened my bag and dug through the fries I was met with charred herbs on the fries. The herbs are roasted before being placed on the fries and I guess they were over roasted this time. I would not recommend getting the fries with the herbs. The herbs were incredibly overpowering. You can't see it in the picture but herbs were dumped haphazardly into the fries and not mixed well throughout the fries. All you could taste was the over roasted thyme and rosemary which was not pleasant.
Good Stuff Eatery is a great place to take a date as it's a popular casual setting with great burgers. Although a bit pricier than Five Guys, Good Stuff Eatery offers a better atmosphere and serves as a good start for a night in DC. Does Good Stuff Eatery offer the best burger in the DC area? At the moment I'm still partial to Five Guys but they're pretty darn good.
So you've decided to go out to Georgetown to maybe hit up a few bars or lounges and want to get a quick bite to eat before drinking. You realize every sit down restaurant is horribly over priced and the wonderful smell of the Potomac (I say that sarcastically) has you craving some seafood. As you walk around you see a restaurant with picnic tables and a large American flag draped on a wall.
The Tackle Box was introduced to me by a friend of a friend. She was raving about the place for a good 15 minutes and it took another 15 minutes for us to figure out that this place is called the TACKLE Box and not the TACO Box (which it might as well be called) because of her difficulty in pronouncing it. So we decided to give it a try because it was suppose to be amazingly fresh seafood at an equally amazing price.
The first thing we noticed as we walked in was that this place is NOT cheap. They do have their specials with meals starting at $8 but that would only be enough food as a snack. As we looked through the menu meals below $15 consisted of various fried fish and seafood with sides such as mashed fries, cole slaw, etc. I had initially wanted the lobster roll but it was over $20 which is a bit pricey for a self serve place with picnic tables. After much deliberation I got scallops with grilled asparagus, sweet potato fries, and tartar dipping sauce.
The scallops were actually quiet tasty. They did not have a rubbery texture which low quality frozen scallops have and they were a moderate size. I thought the portion of scallops given to me was pretty fair for the $15 I paid but it lacked flavor. The asparagus was well just grilled asparagus. It was a bit bland as it seemed no salt was put on it but it was fairly fresh and not overcooked. It also had a nice smokey flavor. The sweet potato fries were not very impressive. They were a bit greasy and lacked any flavor. It was almost like eating cardboard.
At the end of my meal it was a bit lacking. Even though my meal was not bad it was not good either. I was still hungry afterward and I had just spent $15. Below is what everyone else got. I didn't try anyone else's food (somehow everyone tried mine....) but I'll try to relay what they told me as accurately as possible.
Their signature dish is apparently the fish taco. I'm not sure what kind of fish they use but Kris and Jason both said it was really tasty. The only downside is the portion size. For $8 you get two small tacos that leave you wanting more.
Terro and Cheryl both bot the blue fish with potato fries. They were both pretty happy but at $15 they both were left hungry after their meals.
The Tackle box is definitely not a bargain. For $10 more you can get a proper seafood entree that is both tasty and filling at many restaurants in Georgetown. I had high hopes for the Tackle Box mainly because of its decor but I soon realized the decor is analogous to a person who is obsessed with North Face clothing. They wear a ton of North Face gear to make people think they're outdoorsy adventurous people but in reality have never gone camping once in their life. And Tackle Box has succeeded in this. The place is made to look like a hole in the wall with lots of promise but sadly it has none.
With summer in full swing it's nice to be outside again. Three great events I found are the Pentagon Row concert series, Rosslyn I love the 80's outdoor movie series, and the Crystal City Superheroes outdoor movie series.
In its 7th year Pentagon Row has been offering an outdoors concert series which runs June 4th to August 20th every Thursday from 7-9 PM. It's a great outdoor atmosphere and I highly suggest you go if you have never been. The concert if held in a quad area which is surrounded by restaurants. There is ample parking and you're right next to DC if you decide and on a metro line. It is also a short drive to the Clarendon, Ballston, Crystal City, and Olde Town.
Who doesn't miss the 80's? Transformers, G.I. Joe, ALF, Nintendo all bring back fond memories of my childhood. This is a great event to relive those childhood memories or introduce someone to the 80's if you're dating someone really young... But like Pentagon Row you have a lot of options to different areas after the movie such as Georgetown, Clarendon, Pentagon City, etc.
Everybody loves a good superhero movie. And there's nothing better than watching it outdoors on a giant screen for free. Like the aforementioned areas Crystal City is surrounded by lots of things to do before or after the movie. It is also metro accessible and a short drive to many other locations.
If you say any of the items listed below be prepared to lose all leverage in the relationship. This would entail your free time (which we’ve established is money since time is money) and money.
9. I’m not seeing/interested in anyone else.
Ambiguity is on your side here. Women like no LOVE cat and mouse games. The more ambiguous you make the relationship the more she’ll be after you.
8. I miss you.
Once you say this you’ve established a marker of your feelings. With that she can gauge your interest in her which allows her to test your limit i.e. how much time and money she can eat up of yours.
7. I’ve never felt this way about anyone else before.
The cat and mouse game is over once you say this. You should pretty much castrate yourself at this point. Women always want what they can’t have cause they never know what they want. Once it’s established that they have you there’s no guessing game anymore. At this point you actually have to WORK to keep the relationship interesting such as planning dates, anniversaries, gifts, etc.
6. You’re the perfect girl for me.
Again this is putting the ball in her court. This establishes another gauge that will allow her to test the limits which she can push you.
5. Don’t worry I can pay for that.
I think it’s gentlemanly for a man to pay for a woman. I’ve paid for dates plenty of times but this shouldn’t become a habit. Women’s suffrage happened for a reason. You’re both working and you shouldn’t be stuck with the bill all the time while she leaches off of you. Choose the times you pay wisely i.e. special occasions.
4. You should meet my parents.
This is inviting her to be apart of your family. This is never a good idea and also alludes to marriage.
3. Let’s move in together.
Personal space is a definite must. You may think you’re saving money on rent but once you realize women use toiletries like none other you’ll give it a second thought.
2. I love you.
This is far worse than #7 on the list. You’re pretty much saying please put a leash around me now.
1. Will you marry me?
I don’t think this one needs an explanation.
I’ve been busy with work and life stuff hence no updates in almost 2 weeks. I’ll get back on the ball as I have more free time. Food reviews will be coming soon!
Up until now I pretty much just talked about food. It was brought to my attention by a couple readers that I need to diversify my posts and that cheap dates aren't just about going out to eat. That's true and I do have posts in the works that do not involve food and here is the first.
The DC area is full of trails that span through parks and even downtown areas. I didn't discover the wonders of biking until last summer and have been hooked since. Biking as a date has many advantages over other physical activities. Usually girls are a little apprehensive about throwing balls in holes or hitting them. Running gets old pretty fast and a lot of people don't enjoy it since you don't get anywhere fast.
Biking is a great way to see your area from a different perspective, shed some extra pounds, and be able to hold a conversation with someone while doing something. This site has a list of the major trails in the DC area: http://bikewashington.org/trails/
I can only give my experience with the DC and VA trails as those are the only trails I've biked.
W & OD
This is a great trail to bike since it runs from Purcellville to Shirlington. It leads to many other trails which can take you into the DC monuments or into Arlington and Alexandria. I would only take this trail to get onto other trails as I don't think it offers much to do if on a date. If you're biking for distance than this is a great trail to do but if you would like to get closer to the city then I would not suggest going west on this trail.
Four Mile Run Trail
Running through Arlington, the Four Mile Run Trail offers great picnic areas and a sense of being away from the city while still being in it. The trail is nicely tucked away but also runs through busy areas such as Shirlington. The entire trails follows a fresh water stream which is stocked with fishable farm raised rainbow trout. People are also allowed to bring their dogs off leash into the stream. This is a great trail cause you can have your picnic, do a bit of fishing and dog watching, and then ride a short ride into Ballston, Clarendon, or Shirlington to end the night.
Custis Trail
The Custis is the main route from Virginia into the monuments of DC. This is a great trail to ride as it has a fair number of hills and turns which will work up a sweat. The trail can be used to enter Georgetown through Key Bridge or through the Lincold Memorial through Memorial Bridge. I would suggest not turning onto Key Bridge and continue biking straight and cross into DC through Memorial Bridge. The monuments are much more biker friendly and there are more outdoor activites.
Capital Crescent Trail
This trail runs through Georgetown and follows the C & O Canal to downtown Bethesda. It's a great oppurtunity to see the C & O Canal of Georgetown and you can park your bikes and walk around Georgetown. There are interesting restaurants and locally owned shops along the trail as you pass Georgetown and head towards Bethesda.
Mount Vernon Trail
This is a very scenic trail as it follows the Potomac River from Theodore Roosevelt Island to Mount Vernon. Roosevelt Island does not allow bicycles but offers great picnic areas and contains a small bush maze which is fun to get lost in. The sights along the river are great and Old Town Alexandria is a great resting spot to explore if you're heading to the trails end at Mount Vernon.
We've all seen it before. At parks, lounges, clubs, restaurants, school, even AT work men pursue women. In the pursuit of finding a mate men sometimes end up spending a vast amount of money AND money (Yes I said money twice. Initially I was going to write "time and money" but time is money so you're essentially spending money and money).
When that one girl has caught your eye she is either dating someone else or single right? The correct answer is no. No decent looking woman is every truly "single". So as you're chatting it up with her and possibly taking her out to dinner or spending time together she most likely has 2, 3, or even 4 other guys she's "hanging out" with also. If you think she's worth it you'll step up your game which would probably mean more money and money. At this point you're competing with multiple guys meaning your value to her probably isn't much because if she loses you she still has 4 other guys to buy her dinner.
So, what to do? Use that effort on someone already in a relationship or specifically a troubled relationship. You may think women in troubled relationships are hard to find but the fact is people get bored easily and when bored they get curious. Your job is to spark her interest and more importantly swoop her (definition of swooping). Most women in a relationship are (or at least should be) monogamous. So your job is to get her to open up and start a conversation that will let you know what she's lacking.
Since the girl is already in a relationship you have no competition. She wants things to work out but at the same time you've made her curious. Your value is exponentially greater with her than the single girl because she feels she doesn't have many options and you're the knight in shining armor.
This is the cheapest and easiest way to get a girl but not the greatest. Don't get attached and don't expect the relationship to be serious. Since she basically cheated on her bf to be with you (if you were successful) then there's nothing stopping her from doing the same thing to you.
You may be a bit confused about this review since Popeyes isn't actually a restaurant. I mean it is but it's a fast food chain and none of my previous reviews have been of chains. Popeyes though has a special place in my heart. I actually flew down to New Orleans one summer to find some good fried chicken, red beans and rice, and cajun rice.
When I got to New Orleans I was very confused. There was a Popeyes on every street corner. It was like 7-11 and Mc Donalds. Everywhere you turned there was a Popeyes. I wasn't going to go to a Popeyes after flying so far but after 6 (yes SIX) days of trying Cajun food at restaurants ranging from upscale to hole in the walls I could not find anything better than my beloved Popeyes so on the 7th day I broke down and went to Popeyes.
So that was just the background to this post. Some people have made fun of this report but I actually empathize with these customers. The link to the video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pyW6w5B7Aw
Ay, CARAMBA! I actually have no reason to be shocked about the food at Cafe Salsa: Nuevo Latino Cuisine (I spelled cuisine in the title Spanish because it seemed appropriate). I've learned that whenever a restaurant has "NEW CUISINE!!" (meaning that they've revolutionised the food or have done some sort of play on it) and it's in an area like Old Town Alexandria it's probably bad. That was actually the first comment I made when I sat down and saw the menu but I decided to give it a try anyway.
It was a rather hot day and I had just biked 20+ miles with some friends so we got a bottle of Pellegrino and were given complimentary tortilla chips and two types of salsa. The salsa on the left comprised of lime juice, salt, tomatoes, cilantro, and olives. The salsa on the right was a simple tomato salsa with salt and lime and a bit of diced tomatoes but it comprised mostly of tomato juices. The chips were actually very good. They came warm and were very fresh. They were a thick cut and had a great crunch to them. The salsa though was a bit of a disappointment. Both salsas were flavorless and did not compliment the chips. The left salsa had an overpowering taste of olives and nothing else while the right salsa seemed to be left tomato juices from preparing another dish. Both were very under seasoned.
The two sandwiches below are suppose to be different but were essentially the same. I had ordered a Cubano sandwich while Jason ordered and Chicken Aioli sandwich (can you even tell a difference by looking at the pictures?). Like the salsa for the chips, both sandwiches were very bland. The biggest disappointment in my opinion of both sandwiches is that they were both served with french fries. The restaurant was clearly Latin and emphasized this through the artwork, color, music, and furniture in the restaurant but they serve a Cubano sandwich with fries? I know french fries are immensely popular in LatinAmerica but so are yuca fries and plantain chips. I would have liked a choice and it would have added much more character to the dishes.
Terro ordered a flank steak that was served with rice, plantains, and a side of beans. According to him it was not very good. The steak seemed chewy and overcooked from the look of it.
The restaurant ambiance was decent but a bit cramped. The owners seemed as if they were a bit ambitious in maximizing their space and put one too many tables in. The servers were decent also and responded when asked for but were cold. Only the owner greeted and thanked us where as the servers all had a stone cold face.
The biggest issue I had with Cafe Salsa was their serve time. We waited over 40 minutes for our entrees at 2 in the afternoon. It was a late lunch so there was not too many people in the restaurant. I'd hate to find out how long it would take if it were a full house.
With tax and tip my sandwich came out to be $15, which is a bit much for a mediocre sandwich and mediocre service.
I would say that most of my cooking has a bit of a Latin influence and sadly I think I could come up with a better tasting menu than Cafe Salsa. I would not recommend this restaurant for anything.
I think the title sums up what I think about this restaurant. Have you ever gotten a present and the person who is giving it to you is incredibly excited thinking they just got you the PERFECT gift which you've also wanted? Going to the Present is pretty much the same exact experience except instead of receiving a free gift you're paying for your own gift which you can't return.
The Present has been open for about 6 months and I've actually been there 3 times. Each time they've made major revisions to the menu because their business has not taken off yet. Unfortunately they still have not gotten together something that works.
First off who wrote this latest menu? It's pretty absurd. Some of the dish names are "Cow in the Open Field" and "Gift from the Sea on a Haystack". The names were so outrageous that I ordered by number and by my broken Vietnamese.
So I order a tuna steak with green papaya. The description sounded good and I was a bit surprised by the portion size. For $12.95 I got a tuna steak that would have easily cost $6-8 at the supermarket. The plating was actually pretty nice. The entree though was not as good as the plating. The tuna steak was deep fried with no seasoning whatsoever. It was very very bland. The tuna is suppose to be eaten with the fish sauce poured over it but that didn't help very much either since the fish sauce was also bland.
My dad got the rice vermicelli with beef and spring rolls. The beef was overcooked and the wrong cut of meat was used. Traditionally the cut of beef used is a slightly fatty sirloin. A fatty sirloin needs to be used or at least a slightly fatty cut of beef needs to be used because the meet is sliced thinly and grilled. The Present used a top round cut which is extremely lean. Grilling a thinly sliced lean meat is never a good idea as it'll easily be overcooked and dry out becoming tough and chewy. Also, a top round cut is never a good choice for grilling. It's better off in a pot roast, stew, or roast.
The restaurant decor is very nice and the staff is hospitable and attentive. When asked how the food was my dad gave his honest opinion and they made every effort to correct the situation and gave us free dessert. The dessert was fried banana in a coconut syrup. This dessert has been done time and time again. It wasn't bad but it's also not very hard to get right.
Lunch for two ended up only costing $34 with tax and tip. That's a very fair price seeing as I ordered a tuna steak. There were other items on the menu that I really wanted to try, specifically a flaming beef dish cooked on bamboo but it wasn't available at the time.
Overall if The Present can get their seasoning and cooking right this will be a great restaurant as the service and ambiance is excellent and the pricing is very fair.
Rundown:
Price: Moderate
Service: Great
Food: Below Average
Restaurant Decor/Setting: Very Good
6678 Arlington Blvd Falls Church, VA 22042 (703) 531-1881
A couple of nights ago I was thinking of what posts I can do other than the restaurant reviews I have done and planned and a great idea came to fruition. My site helps guys get white and asian girls. No joke. True story. (I only write about white and Asian girls cause that's what I'm familiar with. I am in no way discriminatory against other female races. If you're a fun, active, attractive, young professional woman I'd be interested in you regardless of race. Feel free to e-mail me if you fit the above criteria) Lets first start off with how this gets you white girls.
White Girls
White people like foreign culture or are at least intrigued by it. They love traveling or the idea of traveling and learning/experiencing things they have never done. So that's the link. Nothing says you're cultured or well traveled more than knowing about lots of different kinds of food.
The definitive resource that proves this is the website http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com. This site has 13 posts relating to food and/or foreign culture. (If you're curious they are post #s 7, 13, 20, 36, 42, 45, 54, 58, 63, 72, 78, 90, and 112)
If you're a white guy trying to get that white girl that's caught your eye what says I'm well cultured/traveled more than taking her out to a foreign restaurant and then breaking down the dichotomy of the food on its authenticity. You're pretty much the best of both worlds for her. She's tired of hamburgers, fries, and good ol'American pie and wants something new and exciting. You can give her that and at the same time she's not venturing too far into the unknowns since you're white too.
If you're an non-white guy then just be yourself and use this site as a resource to save a couple of bucks. Don't try too hard. She's already into you because of your race. Your ability to speak multiple languages and personal insight on another culture has caught her attention. MILK it while she has an infatuation with your culture before she decides she's had enough of it and moves onto the next culture.
Asian Girls
Asian girls are a bit of a conundrum. A lot of them are sick of their traditional Asian upbringing and want to rebel. Most of the time they do so by dating outside their race and associate all Asian males with their fathers and the suffocating tradtional Asian culture which they were brought up in. Interestingly though at the same time they yearn to find that extremely white Asian guy that understands their situation and feels the same that they do about traditional Asian upbringings. So most of the time Asian girls are at a lost. They feel like white guys only like them cause lets face it all white guys have yellow fever and Asian guys are well too Asian and not white enough.
So where do I come in? If you're non-Asian it's simple. Use this site to learn about Asian foods. The Asian girl will feel that since you are open minded enough to try her foods then you'd probably be open minded enough to care and try to understand her situation.
For Asian guys use this site to save a few bucks. Pop your collar a little more and wear more North Face products. Try to mix up the Asian and American restaurants and don't be so bitter about all the Asian girls who only date white guys. Laugh it off and be confident in your game. If you're bitter then it's only more reason for her to stop dating Asian guys.
I went to VIP Bistro awhile ago and had even completed the review on it but lost it in when my computer crash. (Scroll down for quick review is you're too lazy read everything)
VIP Bistro is in Eden Center in Falls Church, VA. For the people that don't know where or what that is, it's the largest Vietnamese strip mall on the east coast of the US. You can find authentic Southeast Asian cuisine there at reasonable prices but sadly Eden Center is slowing catering to the curious non-Asian crowd. This means watered down food and price hikes but there is a plus side to this! The positives I have seen are better service and most importantly CLEANER establishments.
VIP Bistro is one of the newer restaurants which cater to a younger and Americanized crowd. This can be seen by their great service, colorful and contemporary decor, and higher prices. Fortunately the food is not watered down.
So I suggested this place to my dad and off we went for lunch! Our meal started out with cafe suada (Vietnamese ice coffee served with sweetened condensed milk). This is a popular drink in Vietnam and is meant to be drank slowly. Think of the strongest coffee you've ever had at Starbucks and multiply it by 5. The strength and flavor of the coffee is obtained by a slow brew using a percolator. I was actually very impressed by their coffee. You might think "How hard is it to brew coffee?". Well, getting the correct water temperature to brew this coffee is very important. It's a chickory blend so if the water is too hot you'll burn the beans AND the chickory which will give the coffee almost a cigarette after taste. If the water is not hot enough you won't get a strong enough blend.
As an appetizer we had chagio (Vietnamese egg rolls). It's quite different from a Chinese egg roll. The main differences are that it's smaller, doesn't have cabbage, is heavy on peppercorn, much more crispy, and eaten with a nuoc mum (consists of lime, chili peppers, fish sauce, garlic, and other stuff). There isn't much to say about their chagio. It was good but not amazing. The most notable part of the dish was how fresh the greens were. Greens are a large part of Vietnamese food so the freshness of the greens are very important since they are eaten raw most of the time.
My dad and I inadvertently ordered the same entree. We ordered the beef with rice vermicelli. It was an average dish. The beef was a bit tough and under seasoned and the noun mum wasn't as flavorful as it should be.
Lunch for two ended up costing around $30 with tax and tip I think. I'm not quiet sure as it was awhile ago. $30 isn't too bad for 2 drinks, entrees, and an appetizer but I could of gone to HaiDuong which is across the street and ended up with better food for about $5 less. I would only go there again with someone who is hesitant to try authentic Vietnamese food although it's pretty authentic for the crowd it's targeting.
The Carlyle Grand has been one of my favorite restaurants for a long time. The excellent service, great food, and fun atmosphere never fails to deliver a wonderful lunch or dinner. I've had a majority of the menu but for this review will focus on what was ordered during my last foray at the Carlyle.
The picture is a bit blurry but they are of Mongolian Lamb Chops. The lamb chops are served with couscous and dressed arugula. The couscous and arugula were good but nothing spectacular and a bit bland. The lamb though was excellent. Thick cut (double rib cut) and perfectly grilled medium rare the lamb chops had a smoky char grilled aroma and melted in your mouth with every bite.
The Carlyle has great service and best of all during the warmer months they allows pets! You do have to sit outside but the servers do the best they can to accommodate people with pets with treats and water bowls. The decor of the restaurant is 1930s themed and consists of two levels. I suggest getting a table upstairs as the view over Shirlington is great especially during the holidays when they have Christmas decorations up. The service, food, and atmosphere you get for the price you pay is almost unbeatable. A great place to dine!
