Restaurant Review: Kero Sushi

Graham and I love sushi. It's always been one of my top choices for a date night. When we moved to Virginia last summer, we had a few mediocre dinners out, so I was scared to try any of the sushi places I had bookmarked.

We got good news last week, so to celebrate we decided to go out for dinner, and Graham suggested sushi. I picked Kero Sushi. It had excellent reviews on Urbanspoon & it was close by. When we arrived, there was a short wait. The restaurant is on the small side, and the only open spots were at the bar.

Once seated, we ordered drinks and were brought complimentary soup or salad. Graham had the soup, which was delicious. The salad was okay. We ordered the Gyoza for an appetizer, and they were awful. They weren't fresh, and when they were steamed, there wasn't enough liquid. The tops were hard, while the bottoms were soft. They had no flavor, and to be honest we were a little worried about the quality of the sushi.

We ordered four rolls, the Lovers Roll, the Independent Roll, the Rainbow Roll & the Dynamite Roll. All four were absolutely fabulous. 

The Independent was Graham's favorite. It had a decent sized piece of fresh jalapeno inside and definitely had a kick to it. My favorite was the Rainbow, of course =) Instead of having a slice of avocado on top, there was a huge chunk inside, and a significant amount of cucumber. It tasted fresh & so delicious. The Lover's Roll was delicious, and the fact that is was heart shaped was just absolutely adorable. I thought it was *almost* too pretty to eat!

The Dynamite Roll was not what either of us were expecting, but I guess neither of us read the menu description close enough. It was delicious though. The baked fish on top was excellent, and the roll itself was pretty standard. They went together perfectly. 

Kero is definitely our go-to sushi spot at the moment. Just do yourself a favor & skip the warm appetizers. Order an extra roll or some edamame if you're extra hungry.  

Restaurant Review: Zaytinya (Washington, DC)

For our second "second" anniversary, we took a short trip to DC. We had a great day exploring one of my favorite cities and ended the evening with an amazing dinner at Zaytinya. 

We had reservations for 7:45 and we arrived a few minutes early. They couldn't sit us yet, so we had a drink at the bar. I had a delicious glass of wine & Graham had an interesting cocktail. It was called the Olympic Torch. It had Greek brandy, Cocchi Americano, cardamom syrup, lemon juice, flamed orange... and an egg white. The egg white made us both a little concerned, but the drink was absolutely delicious, and the egg white gave it really nice body.

Once we were seated, our waitress brought out amazing pita bread with Greek olive oil & pomegranate vinegar for dipping. I had also mentioned that it was our anniversary when I made the reservation, so she also brought us complimentary glasses of champagne to toast with. The bread was amazing, and the pomegranate vinegar was a very pleasant surprise. It was tart & delicious with the oil & warm bread.

We asked our waitress about the sizes of the portions, and she said that most couples order 5-7 items. We started with five but as the waitress was walking away, I added on an order of the Elies Tis Elledas (marinated olives). I love olives. I could live on olives. These were wonderful. 

The Piyaz (imported warm giant beans, kale, oven roasted tomato & garlic) was delicious. I actually tried to recreate this as soon as we were back in Virginia. It wasn't nearly as good as what we had at Zaytinya. Theirs was creamy & delicious, and packed with flavor.

The mushroom couscous was phenomenal. I've never has couscous like this before. The couscous was huge, and the dish was rich and hearty. The Brussels sprouts leaves didn't offer as much flavor as I hoped, but the mushrooms were delicious. This was my favorite of the side dishes that we ordered. I even liked the garlic toum. 

I didn't like that they brought all of the side dishes out first, and all of the meat out at the end, but whatever. The scallops were my favorite thing we ordered that night. The scallops were served in a harissa-carrot puree, orange sections & radishes. This was amazing. The scallops were perfectly cooked, and all of the flavors tied together really well. The carrot puree was so good. I was worried it would be overly sweet, but it was amazing.

The octopus Santorini (grilled Mediterranean octopus, marinated onions, capers, & yellow split pea puree) was Graham's favorite. This was fantastic. The octopus had a slightly smokey taste and was super tender.

And last, we had the ufra biftek (grilled hanger steak, arugula tabbouleh & roasted hazelnuts). Oh my gosh, this was good. Everything about this was perfect. The steak was perfectly cooked and so flavorful. The arugula tabbouleh was delicious, and the pomegranate seeds were the perfect tart & sweet surprise.

Even though we were full, ordering dessert is a must on an anniversary dinner. We couldn't decide which one to share, so we ordered small portions of the two we were torn between. I had the chocolate rose (rose ice cream, chocolate custard, spiced berry puree) & Graham had the Galatopita (semolina custard espuma, apples, crispy phyllo, almonds, honey crisp apple sorbet). Both were completely amazing & the perfect end to our dinner.

This was a completely amazing dinner. I read a lot of "Best of DC" lists trying to decide where to have dinner, and I'm so glad that so many of them mentioned Zaytinya. This was one of the best dinners I've ever had. If you have the opportunity, make a reservation (you're definitely going to want a reservation) and get yourself there. You will not regret it!

Restaurant Review: The Barking Dog

One of the first restaurants Graham & I went to when we moved to Virginia was the Barking Dog. I am a suck for a good hot dog and the Barking Dog more than exceeded my expectations. We've been several times and have yet to be disappointed with anything that we've ordered.

Visit #1

We've actually started each visit with the corn dog nuggets. They are delicious, and the portion is huge for $4.95. There is also the perfect ratio of breading to hot dog.  

My first dog there was a chili cheese dog. You have the option of a "classic cased snap dog" or a 1/4 lb. all beef kosher dog. If you're going to cover it with toppings, get the snap dog. It's cheaper, and all of the toppings mask the flavor of the dog. 

Graham had the crab cake sandwich & it was delicious. There was very little breading, and loads of crab meat. The Old Bay potato chips pressed into the crust were a nice, crunchy addition.

Visit #2

On our second visit I ordered the 1/4 lb. dog plain & Graham had the "Barking Dog" with chili, slaw, onions & mustard. I can't stand slaw or raw onions, but my hot dog was delicious. The dog itself was so good, it didn't need to be smothered in toppings. 

Visit #3

On our most recent visit Graham ordered one of their sausages with spicy mustard and caramelized onions.

I had the fish tacos. These were epic. The fish is fresh and changes based on that days catch. This day the fish was blackened tuna and they were amazing. The chunks of tuna were HUGE, spicy & had tons of flavor. These tacos were enormous, and I was so full after eating them I barely touched the potato salad. 

This place has definitely become my favorite lunch spot in Hampton. They only have outside seating, and the space isn't very big, but it's worth the wait. They also serve a great selection of craft beers, wine & Coke products. 

Restaurant Review: La Parrilla Mexican Grill

When I first moved to Arkansas in January 2011, I never imagined it would become the home to some of my favorite restaurants. But the food scene in Little Rock is surprisingly excellent. Even more surprisingly, one of my favorite Little Rock restaurants was a Mexican chain called El Porton. Graham and I ate here at least once a month. The food was excellent. Especially the California burrito. And during happy hour, a small pitcher of margaritas is dirt cheap.

Anyways. Back to La Parrilla. It's challenging finding restaurants we love in a new area. Places that have great reviews on urbanspoon have poor reviews on Yelp. And vice versa. It's even more challenging considering we don't have any friends here yet that can recommend places. My search for excellent Mexican food led me to La Parrilla, which had mostly positive reviews on both.

It's in what looks like a fairly new shopping center in Suffolk. The restaurant was nice, we were seated quickly (they were slow even though it was a peak time on a Saturday night). The server was a little inattentive, but not horrible.

The complimentary salsa was delicious. It tasted fresh, was spicy and had lots of cilantro.

We both ordered meals that were pretty much identical to our favorite options back at El Porton. My favorite was a California burrito... A beautiful 10" tortilla stuffed with chicken, pico de gallo, guacamole, black beans & rice, smothered in cheese sauce. La Parilla had two that were similar. I chose the "crazy burrito". It was close, but not quite the same. For one, it had steak instead of chicken, re-fried beans instead of black beans and no rice. I don't like re-fried beans so next time I'll order it with black beans. It was absolutely delicious. Ad enormous. And I only managed to eat about half of it.

Yes, that's my wallet for a size comparison. My full sized checkbook wallet. 

Graham ordered the Chorio Pollo, which is exactly what he ordered at El Porton. He said it was every bit as good as what he was used to getting. The chicken was tender, and the crumbled chorizo was delicious. It's a huge platter of food, which he finished... and was miserable for about four hours.

We'll definitely go back to La Parrilla. There are a few more things on the menu I can't wait to try. Like their fajitas. The table next to us ordered those, and they looked amazing.

We've been in Virginia about four months, and I'm happy that we're finally getting out and exploring the culinary options the area has to offer.

Our Epic Road Trip: A wonderful day in Charlotte.

It's hard to believe that it was almost three weeks ago that we were getting ready for our epic road trip up the east coast. Before we could get started on our vacation, we needed to leave our animals in capable hands with family in Charlotte. I know it seems crazy, driving six hours south before heading up north, but the cost to board our animals was ridiculous.

Home Sweet Home. The first of the 13 states we'd cross into during our trip.

I got an email a few weeks earlier reminding me of the Komen Race for The Cure. We did it the year before, and I loved it, so I signed us up again. I love the positivity that comes along with it. Not to mention it's such a pretty city and we love exploring it. 

 

 

 

 

 

The food in Charlotte was as epic as always. 

This pomegranate margarita popsicle was AMAZING. 

And even more amazing: the Breaking Batter hot dog from JJ's Red Hots. OMG, so good!

I love eating hot dogs, but that night we headed uptown for a fabulous dinner with some friends.

(And took a few photos in the parking deck...)

We ate at Kings Kitchen for the first time since our first wedding, about 2.5 years ago. Their menu had obviously changed, but the meal was fantastic and did not disappoint. 

We started withe the pimento cheese dip. It was phenomenal. Nothing like the chunky stuff that us southerners spread on sandwiches. This was a queso consistency and I just wanted to eat it with a spoon. 

We also ordered biscuits & cornbread for the table to share. The biscuits were the best I've ever had. The cornbread was disappointing, but I think that was just a personal issue since I prefer sweet cornbread. 

Graham & Megan both ordered the shrimp & grits. This was amazing. The sauce was just right, the shrimp was excellent and the grits were perfect. I've decided from here on out, I only want to eat stone ground grits. 

(Stone Fisheries shrimp, Anson mills grits, spicy tomato sauce)

My friend Heather and I couldn't decide between two dishes, so we each ordered one and shared. The scallops were slightly overcooked but they had delicious flavor and were still really tender. The succotash was fantastic as well. 

(Stone Fisheries seared scallops, low country succotash, fine herbs)

The other dish we were torn between was the chicken and dumplings. This was (in my opinion) the best meal at the table. Everything was perfect. Vegetables are easy so of course the were good. But the sauce & the chicken? Oh my. The sauce was perfect. The chicken was perfect. The meat was super moist and had amazing flavor, and the skin was crispy and delicious. The dumplings were good, but the chicken & the sauce were completely amazing.

(Seared Airline chicken breast, house dumplings, fresh vegetables and pan jus)

We headed home after dinner, since we had to get up super early to start on our road trip. But it was a fabulous day in Charlotte and I'm already ready to be home again for Thanksgiving!

Restaurant Review: JJ's Red Hots

I love hot dogs. There, I said it. I always used to feel like less of a foodie whenever I have one, but I don't care. I decided that there is a fine line between being a foodie and a food snob. I try never to be a food snob. I like pizza. I like burgers. And hot dogs, FTW.

The hot dogs at JJ's are hot dogs unlike any I've ever had. The dog itself is whatever. It's a hot dog. But the toppings, and more importantly the combination of toppings is what takes these to the next level. 

Graham was traditional and boring with his dog. He had the Char-heel, which was a combination of slaw, chili, raw onions and mustard. I loathe all of those toppings, so I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. But in his words it was "effing delicious". 

I had the dog of the week (the big cheesy), and oh baby... It was topped with bacon, jalapeno pimento cheese & pickled jalapeno  One word to describe it: epic. The pimento cheese was so good. It's not a combination I would have ever put together on my own, but it definitely worked! 

We both had our dogs with chili cheese fries (which were fantastic) and best of all, it was SO CHEAP! $15 for everything, including two sodas.


On our way out of Charlotte a few days later, we decided to stop by again. Graham had the same hot dog. I ordered something different, but it didn't matter what I ordered, because they gave me the wrong one. I ordered the Sonoran, and the one I received was the Joliet Jake. Once I scraped the raw onions off, that one was pretty amazing as well. 

So if you're in Charlotte and craving a good hot dog, stop by JJ's. You won't be disappointed! And if you're as lucky as we were the second visit, maybe the guys from King of Pop's will have their popsicle cart in the parking lot. Try the blackberry lime ginger and thank me later ;)