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Ted's Bulletin

It's Restaurant Week in Arlington so I checked out Ted's Bulletin.  The good news:  They have an expansive menu (breakfast served all day!) with numerous vegetarian options (although not a lot of vegan).  The space is attractive and bright, even on a rainy day, and our server was outstanding.  The fixed price menu, available for Restaurant Week, included vegetarian options in every category.  Servings are large.  I not only left stuffed but my entire party was able to take home leftovers.  Desserts are courtesy of Sidekick Bakery, the attached, funky and fun options sweet shop which is affiliated with the restaurant chain.  The not-so-good news:  1)  It's loud.  Really loud.  My companions laughed.  Typically they can't hear the server.  This time the server couldn't hear us.  It took three tries for one of them to order a soup (the server thought she wanted "fruit").  2)  It's expensive.  Blame Ballston rents on this one.  3)  The food delivery was all out of whack.  Main dishes and desserts arrived before appetizers, none of the dishes came together.  Our waitress did apologize for this.  4)  The food is "okay" but nothing to knock your socks off.  One companion really liked her grilled cauliflower appetizer and her tomato soup.  The cauliflower was delivered tongue-burning hot with a light coating and super-spicy dipping sauce.  The tomato soup was earthy and made for a good rainy night meal.  Another companion had the Spaghetti and Impossiballs.  I had it as well.  We both agreed that the tomato sauce was nicely tangy but there was nothing particularly memorable about the dish.  I added green onions and paprika to my leftovers in order to flavor it up.  Beyond that, the spaghetti was sliced!!!  My companion didn't mind.  Like a caveman, he always slices his spaghetti.  I believe that slicing spaghetti is a crime.  If people choose to destroy it like that, it is their choice.  This is America, after all.  But serving it like that should lead the chef to culinary jail.  The Avocado Hummus came with superb pita and a kind of bland, creamy avocado paste, along with nice sticks of carrots and a radish skewer.  The biggest faux paus here was that there was a ton of feta cheese included, which overwhelmed the dish.  I tend to only use feta in small amounts as the salt can drown out other, more subtle flavors.  I selected the vanilla shake for dessert and it was (almost) on par with those at Silver Diner, right down to the traditional serving method (leftover in a metal pitcher served with the glass).  It is worth another visit but I'm still waiting for the dish that makes me want to go back.

Upscale American Cuisine
Six locations in the DC Metro, including downtown, Ballston, and other ex-urbs
https://www.tedsbulletin.com/

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