raysrestaurants

In early February, I went to New York City for an internship interview, and I met up with a friend who attends New York University. I asked him to take me to some local hotspots that weren’t too expensive but still well-known and delicious, so he took me to an interesting place called Café Habana, a Cuban-Mexican eatery on a residential corner of Elizabeth Street. Most of the things on the menu were under 15 dollars which is a great deal for the quality and uniqueness of the food you can get there.

One drawback was the small size of the place. Space is limited so expect a wait of about 20-30 minutes if you drop-in, and when you do get in, you’ll be eating on a pretty small table. First impressions regarding the size aside, however, the food was awesome. I would suggest starting off with the Mexican style corn, which was corn topped with chili powder, cheese, lime and butter. It was messy, but delicious!!! After that, I had the Cuban sandwich – a 7 dollar treat that was quite filling (I brought half of it home because I was full after the corn and half of the sandwich). Other specialties included the skirt steak with rice and beans, the pollo mirador, and the mango and jicama salad. Personally, the corn was my favorite, and when I go back next weekend, I’m planning on buying two orders.

In any case, I hope you have the chance to visit what I consider one of New York’s gems. The service was friendly and fast, and the crowded environment was balanced by the very familiar feel of the restaurant. It wasn’t the best eating experience of my life, but it made my belly really happy.

Here is the info:

Café Habana

17 Prince St., New York, NY 10012
at Elizabeth St.

212-625-2002

Happy eating everyone,

Ray

Hi everyone,

So, it goes without saying that today’s featured restaurant isn’t exactly a “hole-in-the-wall” restaurant, by any means.  That being said, I wanted to feature 1789 simply because of the summer special that is going on, which is a great deal for a really high class restaurant.  1789, for those of you who do not know, is one of Georgetown’s classiest restaurants, offering American cuisine to its patrons at a pretty high price.  Generally, entrees go for about 30 bucks on average, and both first and second course selections are around 8-10 dollars, with desserts around 8.50.  What I wanted to feature today was the summer special, in which you can receive a three-course meal (first/second course, entrée, and dessert) for only 37 dollars.  It’s a great deal and you get to experience what would be a 60 dollar meal for a discounted price.

I recently went to 1789 and enjoyed the 37 dollar summer special immensely.  I ended up getting the Steak Tartare, the Rack of Lamb, and the Strawberry shortcake.  Other selections for the first/second course are Cavatelli, Hamachi, Romaine Salad, Manila Clams, among others.  Other entrees included King Salmon, Porkchops, New York Strip Steak, Braised Chicken, and Lobster.

The service is first-class, and the ambience was great.  The summer special lasts until September I believe so I urge you all to try it out.

Here is the website and address:

http://www.1789restaurant.com/main/index.shtml
1789 Restaurant
1226 36th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20007
Phone: (202) 965-1789
Fax: (202) 337-1541

Happy Eating,
Ray

Hi everyone,

It’s Ray again, here to drop a few lines on some scrumptious eats that you can find across the nation. Today’s featured restaurant is a favorite of mine located on Georgetown’s Waterfront, a great date location if anyone is thinking about romantic places to take that special someone. In any case, Bangkok Joe’s is a Thai restaurant that incorporates a kind of modern flare to traditional Thai dishes. The great thing about Bangkok Joe’s is the variety on the menu and the relatively affordable pricing.

‘

To start off with, I’d recommend taking a look at the dumpling bar, which features different small appetizer like dumpling/sushi rolls/spring rolls in various manifestations. The crispy crab finger roll is one of my favorite, but everything on the dumpling bar menu is particularly good. I also suggest trying out the panang chicken bun as it is also very good. Anyways, after you’ve had your fair share of appetizers, you’re lucky to have a wide variety of great Thai food that is creative and well presented. Certainly, there are some non-Thai platters, which are also very delicious, so no matter what you get, you’re in for a treat. Some of my favorites are the Drunken Noodles, the Panang Curry with chicken (which is presented wonderfully), the Fliet Mignon (pricey but worth it), and the Seared Ahi Tuna – my absolute favorite as it is prepared with sprouts, wasabi mayo dressing, and mango slices which combine to make a great flavor.

In any case, I’d definitely check this place out if you have the chance. It’s been the date spot for me and my girlfriend on various anniversary occasions and also a place to go to just enjoy the ambience. It also has great Thai tea which tastes great with a little rum (if you’re of age of course ).

Here’s the info, and visit the website if you can!

http://www.bangkokjoes.com/

Bangkok Joe’s

3000 K Street, NW

Washington DC 20007

202-333-4422

Happy eating everyone,

Ray

Hello all,

It’s ray again! And today, I’m back with a little sushi gem that’s related to my earlier post on Makoto (the pricey but wonderfully delicious Japanese restaurant).  Like I said before, my girlfriend and I often frequent the sushi restaurant located above Makoto.  It’s called Kotobuki, and it is a great place to go if you’re looking for affordable and tasty sushi.  Kotobuki is a great hang out spot where the sushi chefs are friendly.  You can enjoy your meal while also listening to some Old School Beatles music, a great deal if you ask me. 

In comparison to other sushi places which charge around 4 dollars for 2 pieces of Nigiri Sushi (the pieces of fish on top of rice), Kotobuki charges 1 dollar for 1 piece of sushi which means that you will end up spending half the money you would spend at any other Sushi restaurant! The sushi rolls are also of good quality and cost about 3 dollars per roll, which is also a great deal relative to other sushi restaurants.  I would also recommend the Seaweed salad, the Plum wine, and the Mochi Ice cream (for dessert). 

 If you add up the great music, environment, and sushi, then there’s just no reason not to check this hot-spot out.  It gets crowded around dinner time, so be sure to arrive early. They also take orders for pick up so that’s a convenient option as well. 

4822 Macarthur Blvd NW

Washington, DC

(202) 625-9080

Happy eating everyone!

Ray

I recently celebrated my 18 month anniversary with my girlfriend, and I decided to take her to a Japanese restaurant in the Washington DC area called Makoto. My girlfriend is from Japan and loves Japanese food, but I hadn’t yet found a place that offered really authentic Japanese cuisine in DC. I had heard about Makoto from a friend, who said that it was a great experience with great food. So, I decided to make reservations so that I could try it out when my girlfriend was in town. We had both been to the sushi restaurant located above Makoto, but had never gotten the time to venture below and try it out.

We walked into the restaurant and were greeted by a friendly Japanese woman who began speaking to us in Japanese. She asked us to take off our shoes and offered us slippers to use. She took us to our table and showed us the menus. All the while, the various staff members called out “Irasshaimase”, which means “Welcome” in Japanese. Though the menu featured quite pricey items, it was well worth it. My girlfriend and I each opted for the chef’s tasting menu which included about 8-10 smaller courses of authentic Japanese food. The first dish was a seafood soup (with mussels and clams) served in a real conch seashell, the presentation of which was amazing. We were then served a refreshing salad, with cherry tomatoes, avocado, greens and a small cracker and a house dressing (I believe it was a ginger based dressing). We then moved on to our sashimi course, which was raw fatty tuna (very very delicious creamy part of the tuna). Afterwards, we were served a seafood course including squid, eel, and clams, served with wasabi mayo sauce. Afterwards, we had a green bean soup with slightly cooked salmon. Then, we were served three pieces of very delicious sushi (yellowtail, salmon, and tuna). Afterwards, we had grilled fish (I had salmon and my girlfriend had a fish called Saba, though I’m not quite sure what that means in English). After the salmon, we had Japanese soba which was very delicious and refreshing. We ended the night with Yuzu (sort of like a lime) sorbet, which ended the night perfectly.

Along with the delicious food, the Makoto servers were very polite, helpful, and gracious. They took their jobs very seriously and would wipe the smallest drop of soup or drink from our table as if they would be fired had they not!

Certainly, the meal was quite expensive, but like I said, it was very worth the money spent. My girlfriend was very impressed, which is hard to do because she is from Japan.

I urge you all to try it out! It’ll make your tummy happy.

4822 MacArthur Blvd. NW

Washington, DC 20007

Phone: 202-298-6866

Happy Eating,

Rayray

Hello all!

For my first feature, I’d like to introduce everyone to Casa Fiesta, a Salvadorian/Mexican fusion restaurant that is both affordable and delicious. At Casa Fiesta, I had some of the tastiest pupusas that I’ve ever eaten. Pupusas, for those of you who don’t know, is a thick handmade corn meal tortilla that can have cheese, beans or any kind of meat cooked within it. On top is a combination of cabbage and carrots which is often eaten in conjunction with the corn meal tortilla along with salsa if desired.

Casa Fiesta’s pupusa’s were some of the best I’ve tasted in awhile. Being from Texas, I’ve been to my share of pupuserias, and Casa Fiesta offered some of the tastiest pupusas at a very low price. I got a combo of one pupusa, one tamale, beans, Mexican rice, and friend onions for only 10.00.

The menu also features affordable combinations of chimichangas, fajitas, and other Salvadorian and Mexican treats that I truly miss being far away from Texas (where I grew up).

In any case, please check it out sometime. It’s in Tenleytown, a couple of blocks from the metro stop. Here’s the address if you’d like to visit soon!

4910 Wisconsin Ave NW
Washington, DC 20016

(202) 244-8888

Good eating everyone!

Ray

Well, well, well. Hello there everybody in the Today.com community. My name is Raymond (you can call me Ray or Rayray if you like), and I’m a student at Georgetown University. I’ve always considered myself quite the kid at heart (and the fat kid at that), so I thought I’d begin writing about my experiences in the hole-in-the-wall restaurants around the places that I’ve lived just to share with everyone how delicious life can really be.

Anyways, I guess I’ll simply write about the most recent places that I’ve been and then continue on after that. I’ve been fortunate enough to experience various kinds of food from different places - San Francisco, New York, Dallas, Chicago, and Washington DC just to name a few.

Hopefully, my blog is entertaining and fun for all of you! I’ll start off tomorrow with my first featured restaurant, Casa Fiesta - a great Salvadorian-Mexican fusion place on Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, DC in the Tenley Town area. If you’re living in the DC area, I highly suggest you check it out! I’ll be writing more on that soon!

Take care everyone,

Rayray