Tacos, Tortas and Tequilas

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 gouging. You can order guacamole but the chips are extra (really???) You can switch out the beans and rice for a small side salad, but it will cost you $4. The wait staff is severely under-trained. On the first visit our waitress disappeared after handing us menus and we nearly had to get up to flag someone down to make our order. It took three requests to get the bill and at the end of the meal she mixed up the receipts and credit cards, returning the wrong bill with the wrong card. On the second visit I specifically asked the waiter to check on how vegetarian the egg dishes were, then got ham on my plate. After it was sent back (I hadn't had a single bite), I was charged double for the dish. Lastly, the bathroom is on the second floor (broken/inaccessible elevator) and was completely out of toilet paper (except for the many bits all over the floor). I was handed a roll of paper towels by a member of the staff, but I found that "insufficient". Bottom line -- the food is worth it. If they can clean and stock their bathroom and get their wait staff up to par, then we may have a winner.

Three establishments in one -- a downstairs cafe with "street food", an upscale Mexican restaurant and a rooftop bar
2900 Wilson Blvd, Arlington and 8407 Ramsey Ave, Silver Spring
https://www.tttrestaurant.com/

Comments

Afghan Bistro

With family members moving to Springfield, it has been a struggle to find good places to eat so far afield. After flirting with some chain restaurants near the mall, we tried a Pakistani restaurant (there are many, many Pakistani restaurants there), but it fell flat. Finally, someone suggested this amazing place. It's a little hole-in-the-wall in a strip mall. With oilcloth table coverings, the vibe seems questionable. For about a minute. Then you are warmly greeted and given menus with a plethora of choices. My party ordered a great number of items and every dish rose above expectations. The staff are eager to please and checked in to make sure everything was okay, from food to drink needs. When a member of my party dropped a piece of silverware on the floor one of the waiters swooped in with a replacement before we could even ask. But onto the food. We ordered the Potato and Leek turnovers, the Aushak (leek and sc...

Dera

Was looking for a good Pakistani restaurant in Springfield and this one had some of the best reviews, so I gave it a shot. Arrived for an early dinner to find some regulars around a table in a cavernous room. The restaurant staff looked at us like we had interrupted a private party. We sat and were grudgingly given menus after asking. Tepid water in questionably clean glasses were eventually brought. One member of the party ordered a salad. It arrived in a large mixing bowl and was mostly iceberg lettuce. A plastic basket of cold bread was literally "dumped" on the table, then the waiter disappeared. Eventually we were able to get someone to take our orders, which included a curry, a biryani and a kebab. Portions were huge and the rice, again, came in what looked like a mixing bowl. It was enough to feed ten. The food wasn't bad. Sometimes the seasonings were a bit heavy handed (particularly for the rice) but it was...

Junction Bakery & Bistro

Everything here was good. My party got a Tofu Stir Fry, Roasted Chicken Breast Sandwich, Crispy Flounder Sando, Sweet Potato Fries and a Chocolate Cream-Filled Croissant. The food took a while but arrived literally hot off the grill. The two sandwiches came with a plethora of side salad and a great homemade dressing. Portions were large and all of us took home enough for a second meal. The bill, with tax and tip, came to just under $75. As mentioned, it was good. Very good -- but not great. Everything came close to being great it just didn't cross the line. The cross-cut sweet potato fries were extremely munchable but the "Harissa Sour Cream" had a lot of sour cream and very very little harissa. The Tofu Stir fry had a nice mix for a cold day but needed a little more oomph (I borrowed salad dressing from my companions). Everything, including the Tofu and Flounder, were breaded and fried but didn't seem greasy until later....

DCVegEats

Search This Blog