My Big Fat Indian Wedding

Mr. I and Ms. S finally tied the knot!!  It was quite a spectacular event.  Unfortunately, my camera is less than spectacular so I was unable to snap decent pics of the lovely couple.  However, I did manage to get excellent pictures of the food.

This extravagant Indian wedding had an amazing caterer.  There were 3 food stations for the 600+ people that attended the morning ceremony.  I don't know the name of everything and it would be great if one of the more seasoned experts in South Indian cuisine could assist me with proper names and ingredients!

For now I will simply post the pictures and my comments on the things I did eat.

I didn't get a chance to try this, but Mr. G did.  Perhaps he'll let us know his thoughts.

I didn't get a chance to sample this which looked like chickpeas, but perhaps I'm wrong.

The string beans were quite good.  I only had a taste though.

Ah my second favorite.  Paneer curry.  It was spectacular.  Pour this sucker over some rice and you are in heaven!

This potato spectacular is FANTASTIC.  I could have filled up on just this, but I decided to try other things. It was rather spicy and that made me incredibly happy.

I'm not sure what this is supposed to be eaten with, but I did see it in a cup and it seemed that people were happy every time they took a sip.

While I'm not a vegetarian and usually require a little poultry or fish to make it a meal, I was quite satisfied.  This was a fantastic meal catered with skill and only more delightful because of the joyous occasion.  Congratulations to Mr. I and Ms. S.

Hungry yet?

Current Sushi DC

After the first part of Mr. I and Ms. S's two day wedding extravaganza, we decided on a little after party at Current.  As per usual, the DC scene is not live.  No offense, but you know it's true.

Luckily Current also happens to be a sushi joint that was willing to feed me at the late hour.  I started off with a Spicy Tuna roll and two pieces of Salmon.

Delightful.  It was very fresh, but not too filling.  I was still hungry so I went ahead and ordered the Premium California roll.

It was FANTASTIC! Jumbo lump crab meat, fish eggs, avocado and spicy mayo.  It was clear why this was a Premium roll rather than just a regular california roll.

Current offered great sushi and was perfect for late night.  I was not impressed with the New York prices at a DC restaurant, but with little else in terms of options, I had to take it.

Hungry yet?

BBQ in Manassas

Mr. G and I ventured down to Virginia for the formal union of Mr. I and Ms. S.  We had a long and rough ride courtesy of the usual MD and VA traffic.  Simply rubbish.  After 6 hours, we made it to Mr. S's home in Manassas Park, VA.  We missed the BBQ, but luckily Ms. S made sure we had enough to eat.

Mr. K's housemate, Mr. I was in charge of the grill.  He has previous experience mastering the grill and I trust his ability.  Unfortunately he brought the skill a little too hard on the chicken.  It was quite delicious but didn't present too well.

The turkey burger was delightful.  Well cooked, not too dry and with a little ketchup it was just right.  There were also some grilled vegetables in the mix.

These veggies were fantastic.  A little bit of spice and well sauteed.

Look how juicy they are! There was also a little bit of corn to get things going.  Yummers!

And of course you can't have a BBQ without corn.  Thanks Mr. I for providing some deliciousness and to Ms. S for keeping it warm for us.

Hungry yet?

Blue Smoke

I was fortunate enough to receive a dinner invite from Ms. H.  Her father, one of my favorite grown-ups, is coming into town!  I'll be in Virginia for the weekend so we made a 10:45 dinner reservation at Blue Smoke.  I was really excited to try Blue Smoke, especially since the menu looked SO GOOD!

Ms. H and I arrived on time and unfortunately it was evident Mr. H wouldn't be arriving for some time.  We decided we should order a couple of appetizers to get things going.

The Chipotle Chicken Wings were FANTASTIC! Seriously, I must say they even beat out the wings from a few weeks ago.  Sorry PIC! They were juicy, drenched in spicy deliciousness and the perfect appetizer!

I was less than impressed with the Deviled Eggs.  They were a little salty and while they had a little kick to them, it wasn't anything special.

After a short while, Mr. H arrived and BOY were we excited!  It was great to see him after so long (and it meant we could finally order our entrees!)

I went with the Applewood-Smoked Organic Chicken with Mashed Potatoes.  I skipped the Crispy Onion topping, just wasn't interested.

Sad to say but I was disappointed with the chicken.  Maybe it's because the wings were so good.  The chicken required too much work.  It was dry-ish so I had to pour on the BBQ sauce.  I don't go out to eat so I have to do the work.  While they're BBQ sauce was better than the Kraft sauce I used last week, IMHO my chicken tasted better.  There.  I said it.  The mashed potatoes were good, but again I'd go with my potato wedges anyway.

To wash away the disappointment, I ordered a Hot Fudge Brownie Sundae.  Warm brownie with vanilla ice cream topped with hot fudge and whipped cream.  Unfortunately, I didn't notice that the menu said it was served with toasted walnuts.

I mostly ate around them, but even if the walnuts weren't there, I don't think I would have enjoyed it that much.  The brownie was good, but not great.  I was happy it was served warm though.  Few things as good as a warm brownie with cold ice cream.  Mmm Mmm Mmmmmmm!

Apparently, it wasn't as good as the Banana Cream Pie that Mr. H  and Ms. H shared.

Look at them diving in!  They cleaned the plate.


Blue Smoke was good, but not great.  Perhaps if I ate beef or pork I would have enjoyed it more.  Ms. H loved her ribs and remarked on how great they tasted.  Mr. H also looked satisfied with his Hamburger.  As a poultry and fish girl, I was impressed that there were so many options on the menu.  Chipotle Chicken was delicious the Smoked Chicken not so much.  While not the best meal I've had, I would go back and I'd definitely recommend it for those with a wider range of protein options.


Hungry yet?

Calle Ocho

Today was the annual JP Morgan Corporate Challenge.  While my team was out there for the run/walk, I was stuck in the office on a conference call.  Luckily, the call ended in time for me to join the team for dinner at Calle Ocho.  This upper west side "Nuevo Latino" restaurant is the perfect place for big groups.  When you first walk in, you’re in the bar/lounge area.  This low-lit area is definitely the place to be if you’re just trying to chill for a bit.

Our group headed to the back.  The back has a large dining area.  I’ll get to the food in a moment, but first I must comment on the atmosphere.  Calle Ocho is LOUD. So if you’re looking for a quiet dinner, this is not the place.  The lounge area is a little quieter but I’m sure it gets wild as the night goes on.  The servers were definitely overwhelmed tonight.  It took them 10 – 15 minutes before they came to take our order.  Not cool.  Not cool at all.

Okay on to the food.  We ordered a number of appetizers and while I didn’t eat all of them, I tried to take notes on the comments from others.

The appetizer tray included bacon wrapped almond stuffed dates, Crispy calamari with Dominican honey cashews and organic sprout salad, Puerto Rican rum glazed shrimp with crispy onions and avocado salad, and Lobster filled empanadas.

I obviously didn’t mess with the bacon and truth is I don’t fancy dates so I don’t think I missed much.  The calamari was fantastic!  The honey made an already tasty treat even more delightful!

The lobster empanada was okay.  I loved the filling, but the crust didn’t really do it for me.

Next up our Gallitos arrived.  Beef and chicken Costa Rican soft tacos.  It is usually served with shrimp too so I was super bummed that there was no shrimp.  The chicken was incredible! So well seasoned and incredibly succulent I could have sworn it was cooked for a week!

At some point a few other things arrived.  I wasn’t able to photograph most of them but I did catch the Beet salad.

It was actually pretty good.  But as one of my coworkers said, “Best beet salad I’ve ever had, but with all these other things on the menu, why order beet salad?”  Agreed.  The plantain was also quite good.  They brought out sweet and green.  I only messed with the sweet though.

After stuffing our faces beyond belief, we still had the nerve to order entrees.  Most of my coworkers were smart enough to either split entrees or order small meals.  I on the other hand went with the Paella.  Obviously meant for two or at least one really hungry person. 

Look at that sucker! Huge right? I loved every bite.  Not that I took too many bites.  Truth is I only had a few then I called it a night.  I will say I was impressed that they were willing to make their Paella sans chorizo and instead they added chicken sausage.  Good work.

Calle Ocho has incredible food and an extremely lively atmosphere.  I highly recommend it for a fun high energy dining experience.

Hungry yet?