Rosslyn is almost a complete dead zone for high quality, satisfying food, save for a few restaurants that tend to get a majority of the patronage. Michael Landrum, owner of the various Ray’s restaurants include Ray’s the Steaks, Ray’s Hellburger, Ray’s the third, closed the popular Ray’s Hellburger Two a few weeks ago without announcement. Not that it was a huge loss, with Ray’s Hellburger just a few doors down, still slinging out the best burgers in the area.

With a similar unceremonious gesture, the old Ray’s Hellburger Two was suddenly reopened and christened Ray’s Steak and Cheese. Clearly delineating the difference between his sammich from a ‘cheesesteak’, or even a ‘Philly cheesesteak’, the restaurant has a very limited menu of an 8 oz. sirloin and ribeye steak and cheese sammich served on a toasted roll, with your choice of lettuce (gratis), tomato (gratis), peppers, charred jalapenos, and sauteed mushrooms, cooked to a medium rare unless asked otherwise.

The problem is…well, there is no problem. The sammich is incredibly delicious. The tender cuts of ribeye and sirloin are heightened with a generous coat of cheddar, nestled in a soft sub roll and only further heightened with the addition of peppers and sauteed mushrooms. Do yourself a favor, however, and just skip the lettuce and tomato. There’s no need for any of that to defile this work of beauty. Each bite is as good as the last, and I was only dissuaded from going to order a second were it not for the line that had appeared in front of the register.

You do have the option to order a side of tater tots, extra crispy and piping hot pillows of potatoes and salted for just the right amount of flavor. Beer, root beer, and wine are all also available to help you wash down a meal that has enough staying power to keep with you for the rest of your day.

The restaurant is cash only, so be prepared to pay with paper, your plastic card won’t do you much good here. That is, unless you’re willing to brave the world of ATM fees, with a machine situated conveniently next to the registers in the back of the establishment.

The sammiches, which run $10.99, seemed a bit on the expensive side to me. But given the fact that they’re made with such high quality cuts of steak, I’d say in retrospect that’s it’s a pretty reasonable price for the meal.

Service is overwhelmingly accommodating and easy, as long as you know the process. Go towards the registers in the back, order your meal, take your receipt, and hang out while you wait for your meal to be delivered to your table. Easy, right? Try and get there before noon and you’ll have a better chance of beating the crowds.

See Ray’s Steak & Cheese on a map here (there’s no sign anywhere near the restaurant itself).

Recommended For:

• Moo
• Burgered-out Bonvivants
• Cheesesteak Cherubs

Not Recommended For:

• Vegetarians
• Paleoheads
• Zone Dieters
• Lipitor Lovers

Fiola is the new Italian restaurant in DC by Fabio Trabocchi, famous for his creations at Maestro in the Tyson’s Corner Ritz Carlton before the doors closed last year. Despite a slight mixup with the hostess losing our reservation, Jen and I were seated reasonably quickly for a weekend night. The buildout of the restaurant is of very high quality, with custom chandeliers, stone facade walls, and paneled wood walls as far as the eye can see. Despite the restaurant being given the high end treatment, some of the smaller details just didn’t work. Our first clue in was with the menus, with a sueded leather binding and thick, textured pages in between, neither Jen nor I ignore the fact that these were quite possibly the most flaccid menus we’d ever seen. The menu droops in your hand like…well, a sad flower (coughcoughpeniscoughcough) and the ink fails to adhere to the paper, leaving them virtually useless.

Thankfully, we received a different set of menus at our table than we did at the bar, ones a fair bit more legible. I’ll be the first to say that neither Jen or I would consider ourselves large, or even average sized Americans, but getting into the booth seating in between tables is virtually impossible unless you’re a size 0 as a woman, or, well, a size 0 as a man. I graciously took the chair seating at our table instead.

The bread service is a nice treat, a spiral shaped rolled bun that’s very reminiscent of a super fresh croissant, possibly the best bread service I’ve had in a long time. I’m sure the restaurant is quite aware of this, as you only get one to carry you through your meal, with just a tiniest bit of olive oil to accompany it. The olive oil to bread ratio is slightly disparaging, possibly due to the fact that I soaked up the entire puddle with one deft swab of my bread.

After several minutes of pouring over our menus, we decided to split the fried mozzarella balls, which turned out to be more a duo of mozzarella balls. These aren’t your Costco brand mozzarella digs. You know the kind I’m talking about, heavy on the bread, with a 75% chance of biting into… a hollow mozzarella case. Don’t you hate that ish? It’s like the stupid company that produces them should be selling “PARTY SIZED MOZZARELLA AIR BALLS” instead. Ridiculous.

Where was I? Mozzarella balls. Right.

These are fully and completely stuffed with a warm, chewy mozzarella, served in an sweet, aromatic tomato sauce and topped with just the perfect amount of parmesan. Absolutely amazing, although take care not to inhale these or you’ll miss out entirely.

Jen ordered the baby artichoke salad, which turned out nothing like either one of us had expected, not to say that’s a bad thing. The baby artichokes tasted like a cross between a typical artichoke and a radish, julienned and served with cheese (pecorino? manchego?) and a zesty green sauce of some sort.  A really fantastic salad, unlike any we’ve had before.

I ordered the Crostini of Cod, Tomato, and Oregano, served Fisherman style, based on the waiter’s recommendation. A trio of crostinis, each served with two hearty chunks of cod. A good balance on flavor, ingredients, and presentation, but I couldn’t help but feel a little bit underwhelmed after having devoured this dish. Maybe it was the fact that the waiter said it was possibly the best thing on the menu.* Maybe it was the fact that I was expecting a giant side of cod on a massive raft made of bread.** Maybe it just wasn’t that amazing of a dish.

Jen ordered the Pappardelle with oyster and royal trumpet mushrooms, a complete vegetarian’s delight. This dish carries itself like a meat pasta without the meat. Wide ribbons of pappardelle are mixed with chunks of sauteed mushrooms, then served in a savory brown sauce fit to satiate even the meat-eatiest of meateaters.

I had the Cacio & Pepe, a spaghetti chiatarra served with sheep’s milk based cacio cheese, crushed black peppercorns, and what amounted to a white sauce without the cream. Heavy without being overly decadent, and a well executed spaghetti dish, despite my initial reservations.

We skipped out on ordering desserts, but the kitchen graciously delivered a trio of sweets to each of us, with from left to right a chocolate chip macaroon, a mini gingerbread and caramel sammich, and jelly and shortbread biscuit sammich. All delicious, but both Jen and I agreed on the chocolate chip macaroon being the best of the three.

I’m at odds with the service here. While we never waited too long to order, to have our food delivered, or to have our water glasses refilled, our waiter never offered on a second glass of wine for Jen or bring plates for our either of our two rounds of appetizers without me expressly asking. The service has potential, but still needs a considerable bit of polishing and work. Despite a few gaffs, the overall experience was very good. Patrons tend to be on the well dressed side, so wearing at least a button down shirt if not a sports coat is advised for attending gentlemen. The damage is actually fairly reasonable for an upscale DC dining experience without the stuffiness, and despite entering a sea of Italian restaurants already flooding the streets of the District, I have a feeling that Fiola will do just fine.

See Fiola on a map here. (entrance on Indiana Avenue).

Recommended For:

• Pastafarians
• Vegetarians
• Paleoheads (there’s a ton of meat dishes here, too)
• Special Occasions

Not Recommended For:

• Thriftmasters
• Codependent Carls
• Stripclub-bound Downtown Hounds
• Zone Dieters

* He didn’t actually say that.

** I did actually hope for that.

There’s a single highway that cuts through Khuk Khak, with a number of shops that stand shoulder to shoulder underneath the sweltering Thailand sun. Vendors hawk knock-off Louis Vuitton bags, scuba travel companies offer trips out to sea, and restaurants are beyond abundant. So much so, that it’s slightly difficult to pick out one that’s better than another. While walking up the highway, Jen pointed out one restaurant, Dao Thong, and suggested we stop in for lunch. The twin peaked rooftop looks as if the restaurant had been expanded at some point in the past, taking over its neighbor and doubling in serviceable size. I kept it in mind and hoped it was a good sign.

The front of the restaurant nearly spills over with ferns, plants, and bamboo plants. Pass through the veritable garden and you’re greeted by a number of tables made out of thick tree trunk slabs that give the establishment a very cozy and natural feel.

On closer inspection of our surroundings, after being seated, Jen notices that a number of the dangling orchids are actually potted inside of coconut husks held together with wire and pure resourcefulness.

A little sense of humor goes a long way with the two of us, something that the kitchen staff clearly understood with their cup and glass selection. Jen ordered a Pina Colada, made with the freshest of fresh coconut milk and carefully poured into a glass I should have offered to purchase after our meal.

Hot. But wait.

There’s more.

Pow.

My Thai Iced Tea, which apparently is just called “Iced Black Tea” in Thailand (go figure) was considerably tamer in comparison, but still a high quality pour despite the absence of alcohol. The restaurant opts to use pure honey as a sweetener instead of sweetened condensed milk or sugar, which makes me wonder why every other place in the world doesn’t serve it like this.

Not even a plate of food and already the restaurant is setting the bar high for itself.

The Tom Kha Gai, a spicy coconut broth based soup with chicken, scallions, peppers, and parsley, was a suitable kick in the face with a request of even the most minimal spiciness. Probably somewhere around 40,000 on the Scoville Scale. Surprisingly, the soup is good and tasty even on the most humid of Thai days, and comes decorated with a large, unripened mango flower atop a lettuce bowl of fresh shredded veggies.

Jen ordered the battered corn cakes, deep fried a golden brown and served with a sweet dipping sauce and garnished with a radish flower, easily a $8.00 USD dish in one of the fancier restaurants in DC, but a whopping $3.35 USD in Thailand. Then again, I can’t say I’ve ever seen a dish like this on any Thai menu that I’ve eaten at stateside, and it was worth the money to try out this northern Thai specialty.

For my entree, I ordered the seafood salad, a mix of s’crimps, calamari, octopus,  scallops, and assorted vegetables, tossed with another spicy sauce, and served with carrot flowers. The presentation alone was worth it the order. The seafood is super fresh, and there wasn’t anything wrong with the dish itself, but I doubt I’d order this dish elsewhere – seafood salad just isn’t my thing.

Jen’s spicy cashew salad was more fitting to her tastes – a blazing hot blend of cashews, onions, celery, and thai chilies, once again garnished with the types of flowers you rarely see outside of hotels or other kitchens with a large enough staff to cut these things out of vegetables.

Dao Thong also offers free dessert with every meal, and true to their claim, we were presented with a plate full of fried banana bites, accompanied by a small bowl of sweetened condensed milk for dipping, and garnished with an orchid bloom from their hanging garden.

If these mini fried cakes weren’t filled with molten hot bananas picked from the Eyjafjallajökull crater itself, I’m pretty sure I would have inhaled these things in a split second. I could eat a giant plate of these for lunch any and every day until I started to serious pork out. A nice little treat from the kitchen that goes above and beyond what most restaurants will do, especially for such an unassuming place.

Dao Thong doesn’t stand out as the most extravagant places when you’re passing by, but maybe that’s part of why it’s so great. Jen’s great eye really picked a solid place for us to eat, possibly THE best place in Khao Lak that’s not on the grounds of a resort. The restaurant also has a number of kitschy souvenirs to buy, and is an absolute must if you’re vacationing here instead of the bustling streets of Phuket. I’d even warrant to say it’s worth a couple of meals, as all of this cost us less than $15.00 USD with tip, you’d be hard pressed to find a better restaurant in town.

See Dao Thong on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Vacationing Velmas
• Frugalistas
• Paleoheads
• Vegetarians
• Ducking Passing Storms

Not Recommended For:

• Climate Control Cathys
• Cambodian Cultural Preservationists
• Floraphobics
• Midwest Palette Marthas

Michel Richard’s Central (pronounced mee-shall ree-shard’s sen-trall) is an establishment of fancy dishes served in a laid back atmosphere. The intent of the restaurant is for someone who arrives in a tshirt and jeans should be as welcome as the man wearing a sportcoat and pressed pants, but you’re more likely to see the latter than the former in attendance.

The appetizers here vary in satisfaction. Les Gougères (cheese puffs) are a treat if you’re a vegetarian- small bite sized pastries filled with melted cheese that can be inhaled faster than Rick James set in front a plate full of coke.

The Charcuterie plate has a sampling of country pate, La Queceria proscuitto, and assorted salami. Bold flavors really come out in these thinly sliced sheets.

My appetizer, the Pork Belly Confit with a Chile BBQ Sauce, was absolutely knock-off-your-socks good. The thick chunks of pork belly carried a fantastic combination of textures, both the crispy fried tops down to the juicy, meaty sections of belly beneath, all laid out on a swath of barbecue sauce. The price tag on this dish is a bit steep at $3 per bite, but the sheer amount of deliciousness makes up for it.

The lamb shank at Central is no joke, either. I’m always slightly worried about portioning with a dish like this, but Central does not disappoint, with a large portion of lamb, served with creamy corn polenta and fried onion strips, topped with a fresh sprig of rosemary.  The portions of tender, succulent lamb fall off the bone with the slightest pull of your fork, and the rich sauce that tops it makes my mouth water just writing this.

You can’t have a dish like that without a proper paleo side, so I opted for the small cast iron pan of Brussel Sprouts and Bacon. I was dismayed with how small of a dish comes out, as you can see in proportion to the serving spoon in the photo below. I do credit Central for pairing a classic combination of meat and vegetable here, but for a side that’s good but not great, I’d give this one a pass on my next visit.

Personally, Central was my first experience with gourmet burger houses in DC. While I’ve had a number of high end burgers throughout the metro DC area, Central served me my first taste of how a burger should be done. That being said, the burgers here aren’t inexpensive, but if you do pick one from their selection, you won’t be disappointed.

Desserts here are equally as good, such as their Opera Cake…

Or their rendition of the Napoleon Cake…

Or even their Chocolate Lava Cake.

While Central may not be the newest restaurant in the neighborhood, it stays as one that consistently puts out quality dishes with a very good array of choices to please just about any appetite, unless you happen to be a vegan or a vegetarian. Prices are not modest here, but they aren’t exorbitant for the quality you’d expect to get, either. I’ve been to Central on more than several occasions and I’ve never failed to be disappointed with any meal I’ve had, and I’d readily go back again.  The service here is very friendly, accommodating, and helpful with recommendations if you’re having a hard time choosing. There’s also are a plethora of other more interesting options for the more adventurous types, like the Frog Legs, the Sauteed Calf’s Liver with Bacon, or the Lobster Burger (a personal favorite).

If you’re a purveyor of delicious salty meats and, well, delicious salty meats, Central is an absolute must.

See Central on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Business Lunches
• Fancy Frenchies
• Sightseeing Tour Safehaven
• Paleoheads

Not Recommended For:

• Vegetarians
• Vegans
• Frugalistas
• All Of Your Gigantic Plate Needs

With a name like the Flying Pan in the heart of Hong Kong, the now ancient joke of “flied rice, you plick!” from Lethal Weapon 4 comes swimming up back from the depths of my mind. But all ridiculous jokes aside, it is incredibly difficult to find a good breakfast in Hong Kong. For all intents and purposes, it seems to be the one meal that the city would rather forget. There’s certainly a wide array to cafes willing to accommodate your money in exchange for meats of questionable origins, half-cooked, runny eggs, and all the congee you can eat, but after several frustrating days of disappointing meals, Jen and I turned to the Googles for help.

The one place that came up time and time again as the best place for a more traditional Western breakfast was the Flying Plan. Deep in the heart of ex-pat district in Central, it’s easy enough to find once you board the travelator- a seemingly endless stretch of inclined moving walkways that snake their way over the bustling commerce of the streets below.

The sign for the Flying Pan can be seen as you take the travelator (yes, that’s the official name of it) up the hill, and being situated in the ex-pat community is the perfect location for the restaurant.

Stepping inside past the sliding door (which you have to manually slide open and closed yourself), the familiar diner decor, large plastic covered menus and tiled tables all seem to beckon a comforting feeling of a greasy spoon back home, and being the only greasy spoon in the city that we could find, the restaurant already had a lot going for it.

There are some anomalies here- but all for the better. Copies of various publications are plentiful at the door, including a local version of the Wall Street Journal if you’re into catching up on current events. Omelettes and the house specials come with your choice of an array of freshly squeezed juices such as orange, grapefruit, apple, cranberry, tomato, pineapple, or lemonade. You also get your choice of two sides, including spiced apples (highly recommended), fresh fruit, grilled tomatoes (another favorite between Jen and me), potatoes, baked beans, grits, or a small garden salad, and THEN your selection of white or wheat toast, an english muffin, a biscuit or a bagel to boot.

There’s a copious selection of omelettes to choose from, and I’m a little upset that I never got around to ordering the Kitchen Sink – an omelette stuffed with veggies, meat, and cheese, something that’s quite obviously designed for my inner fat kid. That’s not to say you can’t get by with the other choices, like my selection of the Three Little Pigs, with bacon, snausage,  and ham. You also have the option of ordering an egg white omelette if yolks make you scurred.

Which they shouldn’t, you ninny.

Jen dove right in with the Eggs Sardou – an eggs benedict version sans the meaty awesomeness, but with the addition of artichoke, tomatoes and spimmach. I guess I can give her a pass, being my girlfriend and all.

The food isn’t the most amazing diner food I’ve ever had, but it’s the best breakfast you’ll find in the city at a reasonable price. Service is very good, the space is clean, and you can’t go wrong with any of the options of pancakes, waffles, french toast, or blintzes on the menu. If you’re up for a challenge, there’s always the 4x4x4 Monster Pan – a large platoon of 4 eggs, 4 strips of bacon, and 4 sausage links, served with 4 slices of toast, 4 sides, and your choice of either a large glass or 2 small glasses of juice.

Just enough to fuel a paleohead until lunch.

See the Flying Pan on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Paleoheads
• Zone Dieters
• Vegetarians
• Frugalistas
• Late Night Breakfasts

Not Recommended For:

• Claustrophobics
• Vegans
• First Dates
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Hanging Out, Plotting World Domination

Savour’s website, rather than following the conventional www dot restaurantname dot com, or some variation thereof, is actually just a page off of the website the company chose to highlight as their moneymaker, Sutra Lounge.

That same thinking is evident in dining at Savour. The restaurant, clearly an afterthought to the what brings home the bacon, has a simple interior, with the main entrance opening to 18th Street in Adam’s Morgan. Bright orange paint coats the walls, and in an effort to keep the holly and jolly spirit going, Christmas decorations continue to adorn the ceiling.

In mid-February.

Or maybe that’s just extreme forward thinking.

Our waitress failed to inform us that one of the two vegetarian dishes would not be available, much to Jen’s chagrin, leaving her with the option of having either a curry tofu dinner (which did not appeal to her) or having a plate of fried tofu blocks. Given her paltry choices, she opted for the latter.

If that plate looks depressing, it’s because it is. A small mountain of unidentifiably fried something, with a few scant pieces of argula to decorate and “season” the dish. That’s not food. Not even a high school cafeteria would serve something that unappetizing.

My plate ended up a little bit better, with the flank steak, served with a slice of potato gratin pie and some green beans toss in for distraction. Not a side of green beans, but maybe four green beans. Really? Four green beans?

Thankfully, the steak was reasonable, and the potato gratin pie wasn’t too bad either.

The food here isn’t entirely deplorable, but calling yourself a vegetarian friendly restaurant with a limited number of options that may or may not be available isn’t exactly great. Our entrees, an appetizer of fried tofu blocks and a steak, took nearly an hour to get to our table, even after several tables who had arrived after us had already been served. Diners will be treated to frigid blasts of cold air on winter days every time the restaurant front door is opened with the lack of any sort of heavy curtains or a second set of doors to insulate the room, and the service isn’t the worst I’ve had, but it’s bad enough to say that I’d pass on the offer to eat here again.

If you’re really hungry, you can always get a Jumbo Slice of pizza just across the street. Quick, easy, dirty, and probably about as satisfying.

See Savor on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Zone Dieters
• Paleoheads
• Getting a bite to eat in between the OONTZ-OONTZ-OONTZ at Sutra Lounge upstairs
• Dates with that girl/guy who emphatically once told you, “OMG I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!”

Not Recommended For:

• Vegetarians
• Dinner with the Commander in Chief
• Dinner going Commando or in Briefs

Italian restaurants are a dime a dozen in DC, which isn’t to say that all are created equal. When it comes to competition like that, the capabilities of the kitchen are indubitably of importance, but what about the basics of a meal, the fundamental elements used in every dish?

Restaurateurs will sometimes go above and beyond to ensure their ingredients are of the utmost importance. Acquiring their agriculture locally and thereby supporting local community. Obtaining their seafood from sustainable fisheries. Making sure every steak and sausage comes from pasture-raised, antibiotic meats. Using local, organic dairy vendors for the mountains of cheese used for every plate.

Well, now you’ve got an idea of the lengths Dean Gold and Kay Zimmerman of Dino go through to ensure that your meal is as unforgettable as they can make it. After all, the devil is in the details.

This Cleveland Park restaurant is a long hike from downtown, especially in the sub-arctic temperatures Jen made me carry her via dogsled (Normsled), but it’d easily be a great walk in temperatures otherwise warmer that we encountered in our winter stroll (car and metro options would have been entirely too reasonable). Tables are outfitted with giant dishes of sea salt and bottles of olive oil, perfect to soak your fresh, tableside bread in.

Highlights of our meal included my order of the Uova alla Diavola. Creamy Sriracha achovy aioli, anchovy salsa verde and fresh yolks make for some of the best deviled eggs I’ve had in years.

A wide assortment of cheeses are available from cows, sheep, and goats, all paired with rustic slices of bread, fruit, and candied nuts.

My locally sourced Dr. Joe’s Pekin duck breast with pasta stood no chance to an appetite built up from a good 30 minute sprint uphill, with Jen cracking the whip and screaming “MUUUUUUSH! MUUUUUUSH!” to my lone ears and tired legs. She even noted that I was unconsciously pushing the strips of duck to the side of the plate as I powered through the plate,.

Jen: What are you doing?

Me: Huh?

Jen: Why are you pushing the duck to the side of the plate?

Me: Uh, apparently because I wanted to save the best of this for last.

But really, the duck here is unreal in flavor on a bed of Dino’s finest house made pasta.

The Budino de Pane, or bread pudding, however, was a bit lackluster not only in presentation but substance. Made with barberries and raisins, then served with a scoop of vanilla gelato and and amaretto whipped cream, this was by far my least favorite dish of the night, but with 10 other different dessert choices, I’m sure I can manage to eventually come up with something I like on that menu.

The service is of the caliber of the dishes served here at Dino. Our waiter was friendly and accommodating, great with casual banter and recommendations on the restaurant’s formidable list of selections. Nothing about this place screams “DC HOT SPOT” but rather, an upscale dining establishment that Cleveland Park just happened to be blessed with having in their ‘hood.

What is it about Italian restaurants that make them so plentiful throughout the District? Is it our region’s love for pastas, rich sauces, and abundant selections of wine? Or is it somehow a considered a comfort food among gastronom and omnomnomnivores alike?

Whatever the reasons, it’s refreshing to come to an Italian restaurant that simply, somehow, just does things better than the status quo.

Add in special considerations such as a $39 for three course special every night of the week, and that the restaurant has a number of gluten free options to choose from, I can’t see why I wouldn’t be returning.

Unless Jen suggests we take the dogsled again.

See Dino on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Vegetarians
• Pastafarians
• Frugalistas
• Paleoheads
• Dinner Date after the Zoo

Not Recommended For:

• Indecisivists
• Jersey Shore Casting Call
• Haters
• Gators
• AC Slaters

If you ask anyone where the best Korean food is in DC, they’ll direct you down to the VA suburbs to Annandale, where the area has gradually become the epicenter of all things Korean. So much that it’s more commonly referred to as ‘K-town’.  Business signs flicker and glow at night with the Korean name first, and if you’re lucky, an English translation for you as an afterthought.

That shouldn’t preclude you from venturing through here and trying the food here.  Many of the restaurants stick to their roots with the interior design, but a few restaurants have started to realize that a more contemporary atmosphere will get a better draw of customers, especially like me.

I had heard of daMoim in passing, but didn’t think too much of it until a friend suggested that we try eating there one night for dinner. Tucked away in a strip mall next to the blaring thumps and off key singing of a karaoke bar, the furnishings here aren’t expensive, but nice enough to hold its own against some of the more cosmopolitan places I’ve eaten at in the District.

The menu boasts over 70 dishes, many that combine traditional Korean dishes with American flair. Beef short ribs (galbi) are optionally served as tacos. Spicy pork (jaeyook) can be prepared as a quesadilla with caramelized onions, then topped with cheddar and jack cheese. There’s even a daMoim burger – 8 ounces of  of beef topped with caramelized kimchi, and brought to your table in between a bun.

So what’s not to like?

The dumplings (mandu) here are deep fried pockets filled with pork and beef, although a vegetarian option is also available. I prefer my dumplings pan-fried myself, but there’s no skimping whatsoever here.

Traditional Korean plates like the short ribs (galbi dolsot bibimbap) are also available on the menu. The short ribs come served over a bed of rice, julienned carrots, sprouted soybeans, a fried egg, and a number of side dishes including kimchi, fried fish cakes, and a small bowl of zoup.

The most crucial part of eating here is, without a doubt, the house fried chicken. The mandatory 30 minute cooking time wait might seem daunting, but, take my word for it, it is unbelievably well worth it. With your choice of fresh  drumsticks, wings, or a combination of the two, cooked with either a spicy or soy ginger sauce, and served with a side dish of pickled radish cubes, I couldn’t believe how good these things were. Flash fried with no breading, these are a plate full of paleo crack.  Well again, technically paleo, I did taste a sugary sweetness to the sauce. Luckily for me, my fellow diner tapped out early, and I ended out the majority of our 12 drumstick order.

There are definitely some vegetarian items on the menu, but like most Korean spots, you’re better off coming here with some of your most meateatingest friends forever (mff’s).

Service is good, but not great. It’s a small place with what’s most likely a family run staff, so take your time to enjoy the meal. Don’t forget to stop by and get down with the karaoke bar next door after dinner.

Giiiiiiiiiirl, I think this yo’ song.

See daMoim, which is open Tuesday through Sunday, on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Paleoheads
• Late Night Kimchi Fiends
• First Dates
• Frugalistas
• Kim Jong Illmatic

Not Recommended For:

• Vegans
• The Jane Austen Literary Club Monthly Meeting
• Car Free Carbon Credit Hippies
• Fifteen Minute Lunches

Tampa has a lot of multitude of fantastic things to offer an out of town visitor, but only if you really, really like strip clubs.

If you don’t, that takes out about pretty much anything you’d want to do around the city except to go to a football game and drink.

No, wait, that’s not fair. Daddy didn’t mean that. I’m sorry.

There is Ybor City, which actually stands as a little neighborhood in Tampa that’s well known for its pedestrian only streets on the weekends, and of more historic notoriety, the Columbia Restaurant. This cigar shop/flamenco show/restaurant boasts seven locations throughout Florida, with the Ybor City location being the original, and it shows.  Columbia owns an entire block, split up into a souvenir shop, a flamenco show & dinner restaurant, and a separate restaurant for just meals, all in spacious, quirky rooms. Columbia also happens to be Florida’s oldest restaurant, established in 1905, so a good amount of history and stories goes along with the name.

Jen started with an appetizer of Black Bean Cakes, served with sour cream and guacamole. These hush puppy shaped cakes were tasty, but nothing too out of the ordinary.  A good dish to start your meal and whet your appetite.

I took a chance and went with the ’1905′ salad. The ingredients are almost typical for a Chef’s Salad, but with the tableside preparation and the unique Columbia dressing with elements of freshly squeezed lemon and Worcestershire sauce, I was hooked on this salad.  Worcestershire isn’t exactly 100% Paleo, but hey, neither am I.

Technically Paleo.

Jen’s entree, the Pasta con Trufas “Cristalino” was a plate of pasta pockets, stuffed with truffle and cheese, simmered in a creamy sauce made with Cristalino sparking Spanish wine. Odd, but a nice touch.

My entree, the Filet Mignon “Chacho”, named after the youngest son of the founder, Evelio “Chacho” Hernandez. A center cut filet mignon served with the most amazing roasted potatoes I’ve had in years, then left swimming in a bourbon, shallot, and mushroom sauce.  The server then comes with a shot of Booker Noe bourbon and sets the filet mignon on fire at your table.

It’s at this point I realize that the entire family is probably a string of alcoholics, as it seems like everything is cooked with alcohol.

It’s shortly after this realization does our server tell us the history of the “Chacho”.  It turns out Evelio would come in and open the restaurant in the morning, and immediately get set on making the coffee for the day. He’d go across the street to the bar for a few eye openers, followed by a few more eye openers for good measure. He’d be quite hhhhhhhammered at this point, and the coffee, left unattended and burning, would set the restaurant on fire.

This would happen on numerous occasions, with the same thing happening over and over again, with Chacho repeatedly setting the restaurant on fire.  It happened so many times that, eventually, the restaurant would be threatened to have their insurance revoked if somebody did not stop Chacho from making the coffee.

Chacho has since passed away, but his memory lives on every time a customers requests this dish and has their previous dish set ablaze.

The food is actually pretty good given that I had fairly low expectations of Ybor City.  The service is awesome and very friendly, despite Jen and I hearing at least three glasses being dropped in the span of our meal (none from our server, who never even flinched once). The atmosphere is a little odd, but given the history of the establishment, I’m willing to believe there are some great stories with every wall and tile.  I highly recommend taking a dinner here if you find yourself in Ybor City or Tampa.

See Columbia Restaurant on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Paleoheads
• Vegetarians
• Pyromaniacs
• Business Meetings

Not Recommended For:

• Nyctophobics
• Marriage Proposals
• AA Meetings
• Bears

Jen and I were looking to get a late Sunday brunch, and with a number of doors already shutting down shop by 2pm, our options were limited to only a few places if we weren’t intending to chow down on vintage thrift rags or get by purely on the aromatics of the patchouli emanating from several Caucasian dreadlock rastas that ambled up and down the street.

Siips is but one of many small business storefronts that litter the mall along downtown Charlottesville, and during our search, one of the few places that would still seat us.  The outside seating is perfect to soak in some sun and watch both locals and college students walk by, and the interior of the restaurant is just as visually entertaining.  Racks and racks of wine line the floors, and the walls are peppered with art that’s also available for sale.

As the self proclaimed “Charlottesville’s Premier Wine & Champagne Bar”, Siips carries an extensive collection of wines, and on Sundays, you can take advantage of this fact by getting an open bottle discount on your Sunday morning eye opener.

Brunch menu items, however, are a bit of a downer. The conversation I had with our waiter went like this:

Me: Excuse me, Flo?

Waiter: My name’s Gregg.

Me: Right. Listen, Flo, what are the Pancakes Du Jour?

Waiter: They’re the pancakes of the day.

Me: That sounds good. I’ll have those. With a side of sausage.

The pancakes themselves were as well dressed as the Prince of Wales himself, and about as lively.  The best thing on my plate were the strawberries, which would have been great had I ordered a fruit salad. The pancakes were flat-borderline crepe-like, and the sausages looked like they could have been fresh…out of a Jimmy Dean bulk bag.

Jen’s Crepe du Jour (for those of you just joining, that’s Crepe of the Day) didn’t fare must better.  These charred “crepes” looked like somebody half attempted to roll a burrito, light it on fire, then drizzling it with honey and considering it “haute cuisine”.  But I’d never say that myself; that’s a disservice to the noble burrito. The crepes served were the kind of pretentiousness that I’d only expect from a place that would try calling themselves “The Best Wine Bar in Charlottesville in Comparison to the Swill those OTHER Places Serve”.

Her fruit salad, however, was delightful.

Service at Siips was decent but not as good as it could have been, considering we were likely one of a handful of tables eating a late lunch, and no patrons eating inside.

I’d venture to say we’ll not be coming back here to eat again.  I did manage grab an order of Marco & Luca dumplings on our way back to the car right after to help fill the void in my stomach.

See Siips on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Fruitarians
• Light Eaters
• Wine Aficionados
• Art Lovers

Not Recommended For:

• Paleoheads
• French Cuisiine
• American Cuisiine
• Sunday Bruunch