DCVegEats

With an established branch in Silver Spring this combo street food cafe and upscale Mexican restaurant (Buena Vida, on the second floor and open only for dinner and weekend brunches) has made a much ballyhooed entrance into the Clarendon area.  I managed two visits in a week to the the downstairs cafe ("TTT") and there are real pluses with a few minuses.  On the plus side the food is very good.  The four salad offerings are unique and flavorful.  The "mix and match" tacos come on hand-made tortillas which melt in your mouth and the guacamole is delectable -- basically mashed avocado with a kind of salsa fresca.  The crispy potato taco is "beyond", a small fried treat which will warm the cockles of your tastebuds with a crispy outside and a smooth, soft inside.  The refried beans are vegetarian (yay!) and breakfast items are available all day.  Those are the strengths.  The weaknesses impact the overall dining experience.  There is price gou...

A celebration landed me at the restaurant which has been on the top of my list for many many years.  The notorious line wasn't that long and wasn't even necessary as the restaurant didn't fill up during our visit.  Was it worth it?  Yes and no.  The fun, funky interior had reclaimed wood tables and a warm ambience but major points were lost on the thumping music which made the small space too loud and conversation difficult.  The limited chef's menu, switched up on a regular basis, offered two "starters", two small plates, two pastas and a couple of larger meat plates.  There were three options listed as vegetarian or "could be made vegetarian".  Apparently the starters (a popcorn soup and a strawberry pasta) could have been made veggie as well but my menu didn't indicate that.  In any case, we received gratis sour cream biscuits with yummy creme fraiche and a freshly made marmalade.  These were amazing and melt-in-your mouth.  The flu...

For reasons beyond my understanding I keep going back to Ballston Quarter expecting to find something special.  I keep being disappointed.  Construction is still a bear.  You either have to walk across Wilson Blvd two or three times to deal with sidewalk closures or walk blocks around the whole thing.  When I arrived this time the barn doors were open which was actually nice.  It was a pretty day and people were strolling in and out, taking advantage of the variety of seating options.  The food choices, however, landed me back in an unhappy place.  I was going to get something from the Mi & Yu Noodle Bar for lunch and grab a pizza for dinner from Turu's by Timber Pizza (the first time I tried to get a pizza from them they were "out" of pizza).  Doing take-out from the Noodle Bar proved a tad problematic.  On one hand they gave me a ton of food, but on the other hand it was all in separate containers (broth, tofu, udon noodles, vegetable...

A trip to Baltimore gave me the opportunity to swing by Mark's Kitchen in Takoma Park, a place which has been on my radar for a very long time.  Veggie-friendly and "Asian inspired" this affordable cafe has food which far exceeds the humble paper napkin setting and a menu you could take a while to read.  I got an appetizer, the Vegetable Mandoo, which was excellent.  Five pillow-like dumplings filled with finely minced vegetables, they were the perfect texture and had a subtle, gentle taste.  The dipping sauce was too salty for my taste but used sparingly it was fine.  I also neglected to ask for steamed so the dumplings were very lightly "grilled" but in no way greasy.  For a main dish I got the Yang Nyum Tofu, which exceeded expectations.  Described as deep fried tofu with a spicy red sauce it did not have the vegetables listed but had seasonal choices which worked just as well.  I got the soba noodle version (you can choose noodles or rice) w...