Spanish Tapas at Bodega

It's 4:26 in the morning, but what better time is there for writing an entry about food? There isn't hehe and so I will attempt to write a coherent review of a restaurant I went to a couple of days ago. I'm probably not thinking clearly at all, but as long as the entry has lots of pretty pictures the quality of the writing doesn't matter, right? Right! (And that makes two questions that I've posed and answered on my own in this entry!)

I believe it was Wednesday night that Eunae, David and I went to Bodega for tapas. You might be wondering what exactly "tapas" means. Being totally ignorant of Spanish culture, I personally translate it as "appetizers" but they're really so much more than that. Wikipedia explains it much better...here are some choice snippets that I think illustrate my point well.

"According to legend, the tapa tradition began when Castile's King Alfonso the Wise recovered from an illness by drinking wine and nibbling small dishes between meals. After regaining his health, the king ordered taverns to serve their guests food along with wine and the tapas became a kind of loophole in the law to allow drinkers to imbibe alcohol.

According to The Joy of Cooking, the original tapas were the slices of bread or meat which sherry drinkers in Andalusian taverns used to cover their glasses between sips. This was a practical measure meant to prevent fruit flies from hovering over the sweet sherry. The meat used to cover the sherry was normally ham or chorizo, which are both very salty and activate thirst. Because of this, bartenders and restaurant owners began creating a variety of snacks to serve with sherry, thus increasing their alcohol sales."

Tapas evolved over Spain's history through the incorporation of ingredients and influences from many different cultures and countries. The east coast was invaded by the Romans, who introduced the olive and irrigation methods. The invasion of the North African Moors in the 8th century also brought olives to the south, as well as almonds, citrus fruits and fragrant spices. The influence of their 700-year presence remains today, especially in Andalusia. The discovery of the New World brought the introduction of tomatoes, sweet and chili peppers, maize (corn), beans and potatoes. These were readily accepted and easily grown in Spain's micro-climates."

I hope that wasn't too much reading for you guys...In any case now that we've firmly established what tapas are, let me get into the details of dinner on Wednesday!

-Wikipedia, query: "Tapas"

Bodega is a small tapas bar on M street...I found these two photos online while I was looking up the address and contact information...they were taken during the day but give you a much better idea of the interior than the photos we took did (as you will see shortly!)

The matador room.

A longer dinner table for larger groups...I love the color scheme and table set-up! :D

Eunae frowns at me but it's okay because we are cool with each other!

This wonderful dish right here was without a doubt the best part of the meal. The tortilla espanola (forgive me for missing the tilda..I just dont know how to insert it!) really shouldn't be as devastatingly AWESOME as it is, considering how easy it is to make. It's basically an omelette with potatoes and fried onions, but alongside buttery, tangy dipping sauce your hum-drum brunch item is transformed into a plate of deliciousness that you wish would never stop. But then it does and you feel sad when you put down your fork. -____- Go tortilla espanola, you rock!

The catalonian tomato bread. When i ordered it I thought it was going to be some crazy amazing concoction...mostly because catalonian just sounds so damn exotic. Unfortunately, what we ended up with was soggy bread with a few tablespoons of what tasted like weak salsa on top. Boo~

Grilled flank steak with roasted red peppers and asparagus. I loved that the different components provided a nice balance of texture, temperature, and flavor, which I always like to see in a dish. Though it was great, at $19 the portion seems downright skimpy, as you can probably tell from the photo.

Random shot of the damage! There's a tiny salmon dish in the forefront of this photo. I'm not entirely sure what it was but I think it was grilled salmon with a mixture of fried shallots and some other vegetables. It was tasty but again, left my stomach empty and unhappy.

My overall impressions of the restaurant: great for a date, a bit on the pricey side, great ambience with tons of funky interior decorations and mood lighting, and uh...it would probably be a bad idea to have dinner with small children at Bodega, especially since the front half is a bar. I'm so sleepy right now I can barely type.

Adios!

Bodega
3116 M Street NW
(between N 31st St & N Wisconsin Ave)
Washington, DC 20007
(202) 333-4733

Movies!

Here's a list of movies that I either want to see for the first time or rewatch...If there's anyone up for having a movie marathon let me know!

La Femme Nikita, 1990 French Action, directed by Luc Besson

Leon the Professional, 1994 French Action, also directed by Luc Besson

Escape from New York, 1981 American Scifi, directed by John Carpenter

Raise the Red Lantern, 1991 Chinese historical, directed by Zhang Yimou **note: I remember renting this movie in 7th grade after we had a unit on Chinese history in social studies...I don't remember too much of it but would like very much to go back to this film...**

Children of Heaven, 1997 Iranian drama, directed by Majid Majidi

ZhongGuoFan in DC

Hello there! So here's yet another one of my incredibly overdue posts...but at least this time, it's actually about food! Hurrah !
So this weekend the very lovely SarahP made the arduous journey from Connecticut (don't forget the second c! ) all the way down to Washington D.C. to see me. We did little but ate much...cue surfeit of photos!

We went to one of the few restaurants in the Chinatown here...it's actually kind of sad to visit the area because there's only a single block of shabby Chinese restaurants and stores. It's never very crowded, there are no fish markets or exotic fruit stands, and there seem to be more Chinese signs than people. I think it used to be more bustling at some point in D.C. history, or that's just what I like to tell myself :(

In any case, dinner was at Tony Cheng's Seafood Restaurant -one of the more impressive buildings on the block with a pseudo-marble facade and high entranceway. The funny thing is that while the second floor of the building, where Tony Cheng's is, was jam-packed with happy eaters, the first floor was another restaurant that was completely deserted. There might have been one or two people having lonely little dinners and a handful of waiters lounging around looking for something to do.
I am enthused for Sarah's arrival and delicious Chinese food made by Tony Cheng's loving hands.

The second floor with all the waiters in action. You can tell how quickly they were zipping around from the speed lines hehe...I was so excited 'cause when Eunae, Sarah and I were first seated, I understood little snippets of the conversation around me! One waiter was saying "No, I don't want to! I don't want to!" and that's actually ...uh...all that I picked up. Hehe

Vegetable fried rice...nothing too special. At one point I found what appeared to be a huge web of fried egg buried in the rice. My reaction was first "Woahh!" when I picked it up with my chopsticks, but it unfortunately did not taste any different from its smaller fried-egg brethren. I thought its size might have changed something about its flavor...

Look at the glistening MaPo tofu! I had hoped for a burning-hot tofu entree with plenty of red peppers, but it was not in the stars for me last night...(and don't be deceived by the bright redness of the dish in this photo!)

:D


Our photographer of the night, Eunae! All credit goes to her for the photos in this post- thanks love!

I think Tony Cheng's is supposed to be a family-style restaurant, meaning that the portions are bigger and meant to be shared with other people. And by "bigger" I mean that our plates were actually the size of platters...or perhaps deep dish pie pans. Really big deep dish pie pans. I don't know what I'm talking about right now...I'm incredibly sleepy and I miss baking cookies and cakes here haha. O well. Tony Cheng's is pretty much your typical Chinese restaurant, but judging from the number of diners at the fairly late hour that we went there, it must be well established. High marks all around! :D



Tony Cheng's Seafood Restaurant
www.tonychengrestaurant.com
619 H St NW
Washington, DC 20001
(202) 842-8669

the dichotomy between my wants and my wallet

The New York, London, Milan, and Paris fashion weeks have pretty much wrapped up (I believe either today or tomorrow is the last day of Paris?) and you know what that means...a review of all material things both beautiful and extravagant!

I don't have much to say but I'll add little comments to the photos as needed.

DRIES VAN NOTEN Spring '09
All of these looks are so lovely and inherently wearable.


I'm totally digging the bangles sporting immense gold baubles. This was one of the things I loved most about this collection -there's a funny little play on having understated clothing and jewelry that's ridiculous to the point of being nearly gaudy.

The colors and the draping of the fabric! Ah! :melts:






Again with the over-the-top jewelry...

ANN DEMEULEMEESTER Spring '09

Fresh and clean

A bit of a variation on the previous look...I consider this one to be something like a deconstructed evening gown.

What I wouldn't do for this necklace...

There's nothing particularly striking about this look, but I do love how put together it is and the balance between the feminine and the masculine.

And of course the collection that's been on everyone's mind...

COMME des GARÇONS Spring '09

Can you believe this? Tremendous shocks of lavender Versailles wigs on nearly all the models!



This entry really wasn't a review so much as a highlight of things that I particularly loved...but then again, who can keep up with four major fashion weeks in a row?

Oh I almost forgot...I came across this photo of Gareth Pugh after his spring ready to wear collection last year and just thought that he was so darn cute.



Awww, right? :)

Back from the dead

I'm sorry for having completely gone MIA on you guys...I hope you didn't weep into your pillows too much! It is the beginning of the end for me and for many of you as well, meaning that COLLEGE is now upon us. Georgetown is wonderful in most respects and terrible in a tiny, few others, one of which being that all of you are not here with me. I've been spending my days going to class, running around campus and getting fat off the food in the cafeteria. The shopping/restaurant scene here is quite spectacular, as the area around the school is akin to our beloved 5th avenue in its astronomical prices for real estate. I strongly suggest applying here if you want to live and eat like a prince on a pauper's budget. I hope that all of you are doing well at your respective schools! :D

And now, on to the food. Emily sent me these photos from dinner about a week ago but I haven't found the time to upload them until today. Actually that's a lie, I HAVE had time but chose to spend it awkwardly socializing instead. -____- (forgive me! I need to make friends too!)

A bunch of us went to Saigon Grill in Union Square for a farewell dinner of sorts...I don't really remember the names of the entrees we ordered or how all of it tasted, but in any case, here are the pictures.
It was fairly dark inside, as you can tell by this photo.

Sarah's choice of appetizer...I'm guessing this is some sort of vegetable wrap?

The close-up! Look at how it glistens and beckons you to eat it! :D

Chicken skewers on top of clear rice noodles? I should have taken notes or something...my memory is really too foggy right now.

This was my entree so I can describe it a tiny bit better...Mixed vegetables in a spicy curry sauce with thin pancakes served on the side. I've recently realized that I order the same thing whenever I eat out. Boring, right?

This is the last photo from the night..Emily attacks her food with eager chopsticks!

Now I'm off to work on my very first college assignment! I'm trying my best not to fall asleep from sheer boredom....

Saigon Grill
91 University Place (bet. 11th and 12th Sts)
New York, 10003
(212)-982-3691

Of Bees and Bun Xao

First and foremost I'd like to thank all of you for actually sitting down and patiently reading my nonsense! I love reading your ever-creative comments ; ) I will try my best to surprise and delight as often as I can, though it remains to be seen whether or not I can maintain this blog at Gtown.

And now, moving on to today's events...After an arduous afternoon spent combing the Chelsea and Union Square areas for clothes/shoes/anything remotely useful in a dorm, Sarah, Emily, and I came across this little Belgian waffle place. As Emily put it, Petite Abeille is somehow both "comfortably dark" and yet sunny enough to cheer up even the most gloomy of downtown shoppers with its waffles and WONDERFUL wonderful coffee.

Lovely girls

I hope you can ignore the glare on the window and appreciate the cuteness of the logo. It's a little bee girl! Petite Abeille! Vive la France!

The lemon yellow interior was nicely decorated with french pop art, mainly depicting the adventures of Tin Tin, i.e. "Tintin contre Batman!"

These are the waffles I mentioned at the very beginning of this post. Though they were so temptingly displayed, much to our dismay, the waffles we ordered came in a sealed plastic bag labeled "Le Pain Quotidien". Amid our cries of 'Poppycock! Poppycock!" the cashier attempted to explain why it was really better for the waffles not to be made at the restaurant itself but bought elsewheres. He said that they were officially designated liege waffles, made specifically in the town of Liege in eastern Belgium and imported to countries where the waffle frontier is a bit grimmer and more desperate. I really didn't care for this explanation too much, except that the slim, trendy man next to us in line asked, "So is this like, you know, champagne? Like you know how champagne isn't like, champagne if it's not from Champagne in France?". Yet another reason why I love hipsters.

The unsuspecting waffle is ripped apart by the GAUFRE GODZILLA! raaaawr. (Please excuse my silliness as I am extremely tired right now)

I really think that I could have had about three more of these...the espresso was lovely in taste but surprisingly had no crema. I guess their espresso machine either drips too quickly or has a bit of a problem with its pressure gauge.

These girls are too cute for their own good.

Annnnd the last photo of this entry with a price menu- an important detail not to be left out! The prices were fairly reasonable and I would probably come here more often if it weren't for college and all that jazz.

Petite Abeille
44 West 17th Street
212-727-2989

P.S. Please don't let me forget to upload the apple turnover entry as well as the dinner part of tonight! I would have included the latter but I'm almost about to drop from exhaustion so I'll save it for a day when I can actually write coherent sentences.

Food Porn

Hey there guys!

I wanted to put up some photos of my fooding adventures, a la thegirlwhoateeverything, aka MY HERO and everything I aspire to be later on in life :). My family (minus the father) went to have lunch today at Ham Ji Bach, a little place near Bayside. Yes, I know...direct transliteration is so unappealing, particularly for a restaurant. In any case, here are the photos! 

Checking out the hustle and bustle
The male JenKo surveys the spread of side dishes...
My mom's choice, Yuk Ge Jang. It's a spicy sort of noodle soup with tons of vegetables and beef. Not recommended for the faint of heart. I think the steam rising up from it is why this photo came out so horribly...
My brother's dish, SanCheDolSotBiBimBap. (God I hate transliteration...) It's just vegetables mixed with rice and served in a hot stone bowl.
Andddd last but not least, the king of all inferior dolsots...the spicy squid rice bowl! This dish is violently spicy and delicious, not merely because of the severed tentacles (of which there are many included) but also because of the hot stone bowl that it's served in. This also applies to the dish my brother ordered, but I think it revealed its true tastiness better in mine. The heat from the bowl continues to cook the rice as you're eating it so that you encounter funny little crunchy bits now and then, which makes the whole experience so much better :)
Done!

My next post will be on my ever-popular apple turnovers. I meant to bake them this morning but woke up at ten, oddly enough. It seems that my insomnia has been vanquished for now...