Panjshir Falls Church
I’ve been to Panjshir several times. Each time I’ve been in there, I’ve always wondered about people getting Korean food during the Korean War, German, Italian, or Japanese during WWII, Vietnamese during Vietnam, etc. I’m sure plenty of people ate Italian during WWII, but you’d think there would be at least some stigma around it. In any event, I digress as we’re drawing down in Afghanistan, and I’d like to talk about the food.
The wife and I headed out, thinking we’d get some Crisp and Juicy, only to find out that the building was empty. I assume they’re moving, or have closed, but haven’t been able to find out definitively online. Another FCC resident pull in the parking lot and was typing in her phone with the desperation of a crack addict trying to figure out why there was no pollo a la brasa to be had. Since we were nearby, we went to Panjshir. While not our first choice that evening, Panjshir has never disappointed. Its very good, and also a great value. I ordered a mixed kebab, and my wife got the Kadu Palow. The Kadu Palow is very interesting to me. Its got pumpkin, yogurt, and lamb, which is an unusual (to me), but amazing combination. Its a must try. The kebab, while much less adventurous, is also very good.
I rounded out the meal with a Johnny Walker black, and left feeling full and quite satisfied. If you’ve not been, definitely go.
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The Deli at Nourish Market
We used to go to Kennedy’s natural foods all the time for a sandwich. When they changed ownership, I’m not sure why, but it fell off our radar. I remembered it for some reason the other day, and we got some takeout. Its now called Nourish Market.
Let me first say that I don’t know much about health food. I eat fried food, southern food, mcdonalds, etc. So while sprouted multigrain bread does sound better than normal bread, I’m not sure by how much or even why.
I used to be a big fan of their tuna salad sandwich, so I got that. The wife got a black bean burger (vegetarian). Neither of us are even slightly vegetarian, but we are open to good food. Both sandwiches were very good. I’d get both again. They taste great, and I like to think I’m eating at least slightly healthier and more responsibly/locally than usual.
Now for the fun part. I saw on their website that they have local kombucha on tap, and more options than anywhere around. I’d never had kombucha, but there is not much I’ve not heard of, given the strange predilections of my health conscious friends that are into things like paleo, perching, barefoot running, and other things I’m sure I’ve incorrectly identified and will hear about later. Back to the kombucha. We got an original, and a fruit flavored one. The original was as described on wikipedia: slightly effervescent tea, with a mild vinegar flavor. The fruit one tasted like pure carbonated vinegar. I kept an open mind, and drank a whole one, but I’m not sure I would again. Lets just say it was an experience.
If you like health food, or just want a really good sandwich, check out Nourish Market.
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Make your own ginger cocktail bar, blenheim ginger ale, Rush
My dad needed to borrow my truck, so I went over to my parents place to exchange cars and have some dinner. I brought the movie All is Lost, and thought we might have some rum drinks, and enjoy the movie. I juiced some limes, put out some ginger syrup and ginger ale. I bought the red (magenta) and gold capped blenheim ginger ale locally at red white and bleu. The red cap version is pretty spicy. I think it really makes a cocktail if you’re really into the flavor of ginger. Its not subtle, but you don’t always want subtle ingredients. For my drink, I poured about 2 oz or so of mount gay eclipse over rocks, added some lime juice, topped with blenheim red, mixed it, and then poured some el dorado 15 over a lime slice to top it.
The topper looked best with the black seal rum, but tasted best with the el dorado. The ladies mixed the topper in, so looks probably mattered more in their case.
The blenheim red is just spectacular. Very spicy bite on the end, great ginger flavor. I highly recommend you check it out. A friend of mine recommended it to me at the cheese shoppe in Williamsburg, and I’ve been a fan ever since.
I still had chicken and waffles on the brain, and in the freezer, so I put threw a quick dinner together on short notice. Nobody was feeling my movie pick, so we ordered Rush on demand. I thought it was very well done. If you’re a race fan, check it out.
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Salteñas, Review of Luzmila’s Cuisine in Falls Church City
If you live in Falls Church City and have not been to Luzmila’s Cuisine, you are doing yourself a disservice. The food here is excellence, very affordable, and comes in huge portions. There are lots of interesting options on the menu. When we dine in, we usually try something different. However, when we want some take out on a lazy weekend, we go for the saltenas. The Falls Church News Press has this to say about Luzmila’s saltenas:
“At $2 a piece, the saltenas on the appetizer menu should be the start of every meal at this establishment. Pieces of meat (chicken or beef), vegetables, olives, and hard boiled egg are mixed in gravy and served inside a hard, sweet pastry shell, served up with a small spoon to help hungry patrons fight past the outer shell. Most diners, however, are happy to pick the fist-sized treats and dig in, accepting the inevitable mess as the price to pay for enjoying the delicious turnovers more quickly.”
If you thought about going previously, but the hours of operation didn’t work for you, check again. I don’t recollect how recently it was, but Luzmilas changed their hours so that they’re now open after 5pm pretty often (it used to be more of a lunch and weekend spot). If you dine in, you may get a waiter/waitress doesn’t speak english very well, but they’re always friendly and helpful. There is really no excuse not to stop by and give Luzmila’s a try.
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Evening out in DC
The wife and I got some Wizard tickets from my parents that they couldn’t use, and I made some reservations at Zaytinya. Neither of us had been to Zaytinya in about 5 years or so, so we were excited. We started out with cocktails (3pm in Istanbul for her, Turkish Storm for me), and butternut squash hummus.
The hummus was crazy. Its going to be hard to go back to plain hummus. The next three mezza to come out were the snail kibbeh, octopus santorini, and loucaniko sausage.
Everything was so good, its hard to find a standout. That said, the snails were particular good. I wouldn’t miss the octopus either.
The last two courses were the meatballs, and lamb kleftico (a special, and probably the best food of the night).
We order a couple more drinks, the fashionably date and a serefe, and a mini greek apricot yogurt dessert to share. Everything tasted amazing. This is definitely one of the best meals I’ve had in a good while. I’ll probably try to recreate or at least use some of the drinks as a muse. The fashionably date is essentially a manhattan with date syrup, and the turkish storm would just require one to make some syrup flavored with cardamom.
The game was insane. Awesome ending. And we saw Wolf again, but not as close this time.
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TV News
I’ve had PBS Newshour record on my dvr the last couple weeks. Its supposed to be TV news without talking points, and about as centrist/objective as possible. The state of TV news is pretty depressing, but so far, I’ve thought PBS Newshour has been pretty good. I like to throw it on while I’m eating breakfast, or while my wife is getting ready for bed.
Update***
Speaking of news, check out these crazy pictures from Kiev:
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2014/02/bloody-battles-in-kiev/100684/
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V and Prez Day catchup
For Vday, the wife and I went to Sea Pearl in Merrifield. Despite how close it is to us, it was the first time we’d been. The ginger smash (shorter drink) was so good I’d order it again. That said, I was not overly impressed by anything but the company. It was very good, but not great. I found a review here I believe to be pretty fair. Then we went to the angelika film center and saw the Monuments Men. If you like history, I’d recommend it. We also watched the USA Russia olympic hockey match. Amazing.
We went house shopping with my sister in Old Town, and went to Overwood. I had southern eggs benedict. The southern part consisted of fried green tomatoes on the bottom. Delicious. Monday night my wife made homemade bread and then grilled cheese and tomato soup. Can’t beat the classics.
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Snow Day Part II
After working from home all day, I got to shovel the vehicles out. It took longer than expected.
Then we took a walk to dinner.
Since my wife saw the chicken and waffles post from earlier in the week and got jealous, I took her to Dogwood Tavern to rectify the situation. We started with fried green tomatoes (not as good as homemade or in season), and then had chicken and waffles with peppered maple syrup. The beer, which was delicious, was some kind of schwarzbier. Also the collards, insane.
No snowmen or snowball fights, but all and all, a good day.
The next morning I had to use some 4wd to get out.
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Me Day
I had a pretty stressful week the week before last. I decided to take a me day. I reaggravated an old rowing injury, and had a sore back, so I decided to pop a few muscle relaxers and advil, and start my day at NMTI right down the road from me in Falls Church City. NMTI is a massage school that offers massages from current students for $35 an hour. Its a great deal, and the worst massage I’ve ever had there was still good. More often than not, the massage is excellent. Its very easy to schedule your massage online.
After the massage, I stopped in palm beach tan to get some color.
After tanning, I swung by my parents house for a soak. I poured a little Talisker Storm, and put some jazz on my portable speakers.
After the hot tub, I quickly got into the sauna to dry off and stay warm (notice the snow on the ground).
In the evening, I took the metro in DC to meet a friend at Old Ebbit Grill for the orca platter (half off during happy hour). We also got a bottle of rose bubbly. A couple at the next table asked what we were celebrating (assuming we were together).
We ended the evening at Shelly’s Back Room. Had some nice cigars, and a few glasses of Blanton’s (only 9 bucks a glass, about the cheapest place to have Blantons out).
What a great day. I’m not sure how I’ll be able to top it.
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Sweet Rice
Two Falls Church City restaurant reviews on my blog in one day?
Sweet Rice is one of two Thai restaurants in FCC. I also like the other option (Pilin Thai), and when they do restaurant week, the deals are incredible. Both Thai restaurants’ weak point used to be their wine lists. I’ve had some OK wines at Pilin Thai, but never a good bottle. I’m no wine snob, especially when the price is $20-30, so when I say the wine lists were weak, I mean the wine was pretty much undrinkable. Sweet Rice has updated their wine list, and now there are a couple pretty good options. My favorite is the Riesling (dry, creamy, great value). Sweet Rice has plenty to choose from on the menu, but the Kapow chicken (or seafood) is my favorite. If you haven’t been, definitely check it out.
I found another review here.
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