Bon Chon tonight!

I've heard my friends rave about Bon Chon Korean fried chicken for forever now.  Tonight I will finally try it and pass the experience on to my readers, naturally.

Mike Isabella's "Bandalero" Preview

Mike Isabella of Graffiato and Top Chef is hosting a preview event over 4 nights in February for his much anticipated restaurant, "Bandalero".  Living Social is running an advertisement for this event.  119 dollars to attend, meet Mike, and enjoy a 5 course meal with cocktail pairings, gratuity included. 
http://www.livingsocial.com/gourmet/239706-exclusive-preview-of-bandolero?msdc_id=1-washington-d-c

I could be talked into going if any of my foodie fans are diehard Mike Isabela fans.

Be Right Burger (BRB) - Reston Town Center - Is Wrong

The formula for a great burger joint is so utterly simple that it blows my mind that these places keep popping up everywhere doing it wrong time and time again.  Here is the formula.  Make incredibly consistently fresh, well seasoned hamburgers, good french fries, include all the normal toppings Americans have grown accustomed to, while also putting offering some twisted alternatives and a fun atmosphere.  If you fall short on any of these items, you have done nothing to separate yourself from the rest of the burger places out there.  BRB is yet another over-priced burger joint that won't be around a year from now.

Their burgers themselves are decent and made with quality ingredients but then again, so are burgers at Five guys (cheaper) or Red Robin (more fun and diverse menu) or The Counter Burger (the other burger joint in RTC).  They make a valiant effort to distinguish themselves from the rest by serving a lobster roll (not sure if this is still on the menu) who really is going to drop that kind of money for a lobster roll at a burger joint?  Ok, I did, but it's just a bad idea.  The potato fries and sweet potato fries were just ok and not worth coming back for.  But the real kicker was.... they didn't have A-1 steak sauce...........  Remember my formula.  All good restaurants serve A-1 if they serve beef or hamburgers but you are too cool to follow suit?  The hip new thing with burger joints is to make your own "bbq" sauce.  But here's a little tip - your sauce isn't as good as A-1!  Your sauce might be really good and people might love it on its own merits, but don't try taking on Heinz by proclaiming your sauce as THE steak sauce and ceasing to have A-1 delivered to your restaurant.  Because that's when I will stop coming.  The Counter Burger does the same thing with their proprietary steak sauce and refuses to keep A-1 on the table.   Burger places MUST include the normal toppings Americans have grown accustomed to!  Ray's Hell burger offers it all AND includes incredible toppings like fois gras and unique cheeses that no one else offers. 

If I am paying high prices for a burger, which I'm not against for a high quality burger, ask me how I want it cooked!  I was never asked and my burger came out well-done.  Now Five guys makes all their burgers well-done and they are somehow delicious!  However, BRB's burger was on the dry side.  If you are trying to be a premium burger place and charging 8-10 bucks for cheeseburger, you better be cook-to-order.

What I will say that is good about BRB is that it is open late and burger grease is wonderful late at night with a little alcohol in your system.  But will I be going for lunch or with my kids, nope.

Side note, I wrote a letter to the whomever reads the email off the contacts link on their website and asked that they add A-1 to their condiments.  Never heard back.  When I talked to some employees about it during the Reston Festival, they laughed and said "oh, you are that A-1 guy... haha, no, we aren't putting A-1 on the menu for you, buddy and walked away".  Really???  If it were my restaurant, I'd tell that customer, "come back in and I'll have a special bottle of whatever you want under the counter for you. Just come back." The difference between this scenario and how things played out is the difference between a play that is infamous for customer relations and a restaurant that will be out of business soon.  Clearly people at BRB heard my in-person request for A-1, read my email request for A-1, enjoyed a laugh about it internally and then when presented with an in-person opportunity to please a customer, laughed in his face.

Really wanted to like this place.  I won't be coming back.  Best burger in RTC - Jacksons.  Great American Restaurant all make an incredible cheesebuger and they are open pretty late, as well.

1 out of 5 stars

Cerrito's Pupuseria

Top - Chicken Tamale, Bottom - Corn Tamale

Beef Tongue Taco and Chicken Taco

Pork Pupusa

I have to say, the first time (and second and third, etc...) I heard the word 'pupusa' semi-sexual thoughts came to mind.  It just sounds similar to words my latin friends have thrown out there when they are angry.  A pupusa is a latin appetizer that is similar to a quesadilla.  Key differences are the the shell is made of corn instead of flour and the ingredients (meats or veggies) are ground to a pasty consistency instead of whole parts.  The process originated in El Salvador many years ago.  Anyway, I was on the hunt for something new with a friend of mine and I read some yelp reviews on Cerrito's Pupuseria as a great little dive restaurant.  Perfect Saturday lunch idea!

The reviews weren't kidding around when they called this place a hole in the wall.  It truly is a dive. After dealing with some peculiar looks from some central american regulars, I grabbed a seat in the back with my friend. Unlike some dives I've been to, this one actually didn't make me worry about the cleanliness of the food or the tables.  Although, as my server wiped our tabletop down with windex, I resisted the urge to tell her that while I appreciate a streak-free table, it's a better idea to use something that disinfects and isn't actually toxic for humans to ingest!


The menu is a tiny little trifold piece of colored paper.  Get your glasses out if you don't see well.  It was officially the smallest menu I've seen. Everything here is cheap, cheap, cheap.  Their clientele clearly appear to be working-class latin locals that want a cheap bite to eat on their way home.  Why do they come?  For the tacos, tamales, pupusas and the El Salvadorian soups.  I was able to try everything except the soup which appears to be a favorite; especially the "hen" soup.

Tacos - These open, soft shell tacos remind me of the ones I get in Costa Rica or Mexico.  Corn shells, not flour.  The ingredients were fresh.  I opted to get the beef tongue and chicken tacos while my friend sampled the carne asada taco.  The consensus was that the Carne Asada is absolutely worth coming back for while the beef tongue and chicken were just ok but still a good value for the money.

Tamales - We ordered a corn and a chicken tamale.  Both were excellent although the corn tamale mixed with some green hot sauce was really tasty.

Pupusa - Mmmmm, I learned today that I love pupusas!  We started with a pork pupusa and we devoured it.  I liked it with a little bit of their chopped slaw and some hot sauce on top.  Even though I was stuffed, I ordered another pupusa.  Zucchini this time.  Not quite as good as the pork pupusa.  My beef (pardon the pun) with the pork pupusa is that you can't really see the meat.  Americans tend to get a little sketchy when eating meat dishes where the meat is a completely mystery because it is puree'd or mashed up into the dish.  We like our meat in identifiable chunks.  Nevertheless, I'd come back and eat some more pork pupusas, for sure.

Each item was only 2 bucks.  So after three drinks between us, the check arrived and the total was 21 bucks.  Not bad and not too far out of the way west of the wonderful city of Chantilly on route 50.

4.5 out of 5 stars 

*** Update May 2012 *** Went back to try the soup and it is excellent.  That's two superb visits to Cerrito's.  

Best Bang for the Buck - Posted

I love great deals as much as I love great food.  Here are some of my favorite values I've come across that I'll share with you.  Return the favor with some of your own in the comments section of the article!
http://briansfoodadventures.blogspot.com/p/best-bang-for-buck.html

Waba Grill in Chantilly

A groupon came by for Waba Grill in Chantilly so I figured I would try this place out to see if I wanted to buy a couple.  I'm always on the lookout for good, cheap, asian places.  Centreville/Chantilly is the asian capitol of Northern Virginia now.  Yes, you heard me.  It's no longer Annandale.  You've gotta go west of the beltway to get to the asian capitol of Virginia.  From asian markets, to asian restaurants, korean bakeries and karaoke, it's all there!  If we could just get a kickass dumpling restauran and a late night ramen bar, we'd be able to finally compete with rockville/silver spring for the mideast asian capitol.

So two coworkers joined me on the trip at lunch.  One was reassuring me that it was really good because she's been there before several times already even though it just opened.  Standing in line, I felt like I was at an Asian Chipotle somehow.  The kitchen staff had huge amounts of steak and chicken cooking on the flame grill and the front-line people were super efficient. It was a bit odd to see full asians and full mexicans working side by side but hey, you want authenticity AND affordable hard-working labor so that's how it's done. Their formula is simple.  You are basically are getting some rice with some marinated meat on top and they are making money on high volume.  Options are beef (a lot like bulgogi but not quite as fatty), chicken, Salmon or shrimp.  For a little more you can get some fresh cooked veggies, as well.

The food came out super fast.  Perfect for a power work lunch.  In fact, it came out so fast, we ran over to Tutti Frutti in Centreville for some froyo and WOW that Taro froyo with mochi and rainbow jellies is the SHIT.  I digress... So back to Waba.  Pretty good value over all.  I just drank water but a combination chicken/beef bowl with veggies with a drink would be just under ten bucks.  I'll definitely be going back again soon.

3.5 out of 5 stars

My favorite Local Restaurants

I've updated my New Page - Favorite Local Restaurants!
http://briansfoodadventures.blogspot.com/p/favorite-local-restaurants.html

Jose Andres and Ruben Garcia - 24 courses

Gilt DC has a special right now that will have foodies everywhere drooling.  24 courses from a James Beard Chef and his star pupil at Rogue 24.  A good valentine's gift for anyone who has 185 clams to drop.  And yes, that's per person.

http://www.giltcity.com/dc/rogue24session4

New Page Added!

I've update the blog to include my favorite restaurants of all time.  The link is in the toolbar above.  These may not all be the best restaurants in the world, but they were great memories and experiences with excellent food.  What more can we ask for from life?

MokoMandy – A NON-fusion of Korean and Cajun

MokoMandy's take on Korean Bulgogi

Foie Gras Dumplings and POUTINE!

There is a really great feeling walking into a hidden strip mall restaurant, sitting down and realizing you just discovered something amazing that no one you know knows about yet.  That’s what I experienced last night when I sat down at the bar at MokoMandy.  The restaurant is well styled but fairly small.  It was a Tuesday night and there were maybe 10 people inside at 7:30.  Slow night.  However, don’t expect to be able to get a table on the weekends in the near future.  MokoMandy just took a reluctant first step into utilizing advertising according to Thaddeus, the mixed Korean/White owner, by signing a deal with Specialicious and selling over 250 coupons on the first day.  I picked up a coupon myself but after seeing the menu more closely, I couldn’t wait for the coupon to become activated.  They serve….. POUTINE!   I headed straight over to try this place out!

Most restaurants I go to, there are a couple of things on the menu that I know I’m gonna love and that I want to order.  In addition, if I’m lucky, there may be a couple of things that I’m very curious about.  MokoMandy blew me away with the number of interesting dishes, new ingredients I’ve never heard of and dishes I HAD to try.

Location and Ambience – 4/5 Stars.  Easy to find and parking is no problem because… it’s at a strip mall! The restaurant is small and very nice inside.  The bar stools were very cushiony and comfortable.

Food – 5/5 stars.
Foie Gras Dumplings – Foie Gras is a fairly fragile substance and I was curious how they would cook it in a dumpling without it being a mushy mess.  This turned out incredible and was my favorite dish.  Three homemade dumplings with foie gras and pulled duck meat inside.  Each bite was pure heaven.  I’m pretty sure my good friend Carissa in California experienced remote mouth orgasms from me eating this as she lives and dies for Foie Gras. They aren’t cheap at 15 dollars for three, but it’s still a must-try.

Bulgogi Beef – Traditional Bulgogi makes me gag at times as Koreans choose some pretty fatty sections of beef to marinade and cook for their Bulgogi.  However, Exec Chef Dan Stevens and owner Thaddeus Kim decided to use Filet instead.  I was shocked to see pieces of dried seaweed (like Japanese nori but a little lighter) on the side.  I used the seaweed to make little bulgogi sandwiches and added the various condiments and banchan on top.  The beef was seasoned expertly and I much preferred this dish to the traditional Korean Bulgogi.

Shrimp Etoufee – I really wanted to sample some of the Cajun food as well as some of the Korean food so I ordered the Shrimp Etoufee after listening to Thaddeus go into detail about the laborious process they use to create the sauce.  It’s nice to hear that the kitchen staff is not just opening up cans to make their shrimp sauce but to hear how they use special tools and lengthy processes to extract as much shrimp flavor as possible to use in their sauces, I had to try it.  It was easily the most flavorful Shrimp Etoufee I’ve had and a good amount of heat (I give it a 2 out of 5 on the forehead sweat-meter).  Hopefully they’ll put crawfish etoufee on the menu before my next visit and I’ll be in heaven.

POUTINE – This was what brought me in the front door while everything else is what will absolutely keep me coming back.  I went to Montreal last summer and experienced Poutine for the first time.  After getting it once, I was on a mission to eat as much of it as possible before coming home where I was told it is very hard to find.  Sure enough, since coming back, I haven’t found it anywhere in northern Virginia.  MokoMandy’s POUTINE is excellent.  When my server Phil dropped the plate off, my heart sank a bit as I saw the fries were skinny and not fat Five Guys style fries like I had in Montreal.  However, the dish was excellent.  I stuffed bite after bite of cheese curd gravy fries into my mouth.  What made the dish mind-blowing were pieces of the best bacon I’ve ever had in my life.  There is a pork genius working in that kitchen.  They also choose to put sliced sausage on top and that also added some heat and texture to the dish.  I’ll be ordering this again… and again….

For dessert I had to try the bread pudding but I had my eye on another ingredient used in another dessert called “chicory”.  Thaddeus brought us a small sample of the chicory mousse on the side and it was excellent.  I don’t trust mousse’s that are too smooth.  I like a little contrast in texture and the tiny pieces of chickory provided that.  If you enjoy coffee desserts, give this a shot.  The bread pudding was very good.  Not the best I’ve had, but very good.

Dishes for the future – I’ve never had gator and the gator croquettes sounds like it could be good.  Our server Philip really likes the Grilled Quail and house-made ramen soup.  The thought of quail and duck meat in a nice ramen soup in the middle of January sounds perfect.  I really could go straight through the entire menu and try everything on it, that’s just how good this menu is to me.

Service was 4/5 stars.  Food came out when I wanted it to and my water glass stayed full.  I don’t expect the Head Chef and Owner to be able to be as attentive and conversational as they were as they get more and more busy but it was a very nice touch.  I love to talk food with other people that love to talk food and it made the meal extremely enjoyable. As an fyi, a 5th star is tough to achieve with me and it is not a knock on the restaurant at all. 4 stars is way above my expectations for a strip-mall restaurant in Sterling, VA.

These guys aren’t open for lunch as they are slaving away in the kitchen preparing food for the dinner crowd and make sure you reserve a table if you plan on going on the weekends.  They are already turning people away on Friday and Saturday nights.  I’m not only giving this restaurant 5 stars but I’m putting it in my top 10 places in the DC area.

*** Updated 1/28/12 *** - A subsequent visit to MokoMandy on a busy Saturday night.  The Wild boar rice bowl was very good.  Tender chunks of boar as well as charred chunks on top mixed with slightly kimchi'd cabbage and two types of rice.  There are two scallop dishes on the menu so we decided to try the Modern Korean Scallops.  The presentation was A+ (photo below) with the variety of colors and a delicious foam on top (foams look delicious to me but not to my dining partner), however, the entire dish fell short on flavor and execution.  The scallops were tough and if you are not a fan of sweet entrees, stay away as the sauces were more sweet than I expected.  The server never asked if we liked the dish in spite of the fact that we were sharing it and still managed to leave a scallop on the plate uneaten.  It might seem nitpicky but it's things like this that will make people not want to spend 100 dollars for a dinner for two in Sterling, Virginia.

Modern Korean Scallops - Beautiful, but almost inedible.