Clarendon Culture

Lyon Hall brunch

If you’re staying in town this holiday weekend and trying to line up brunch plans, consider @LyonHall, one of our personal favorites.  We headed there with some good friends last weekend, and had a pretty amazing lineup of dishes.  I’ve blogged about Lyon Hall before (here, here, and here), and I’m certain you’ll see it again.  It’s always a solid choice.  

(Awesome coffee)

(Freshly baked bread)

(Housemade donuts!)

(Steak & Eggs)

(Pulled Pork Poached Eggs)

(Short Rib Hash & Eggs)

(Squash Poached Eggs)

(Sausage & Eggs)

Layalina

I’ve been out of town for the past week, without much of a pulse on what’s been happening locally. The best “first day back from vacation” post I could think of was a collection of photos and a mini review from a recent dinner at one of my favorite middle eastern restaurants: Layalina, located at Wilson Blvd. and George Mason Drive (if you click on the link and you’re at work, turn down your speakers, because blaring arabic music might disturb your co-workers.)  

The owners of Layalina come from Lebanon and Syria.  The menu is expansive, with plenty of meat and vegetarian options.  Layalina is the type of place you’d never think to go into.  From the outside, it looks like it may have once been a convenience store.  

The inside, however, is a completely different story.  It’s like cracking open an old rock to find beautiful crystals inside.  Persian rugs hanging on the walls, colorful light fixtures and hanging lanterns, walls covered in items that look like they came from a flea market in the middle east, fabric draped on the ceiling.  It’s other-worldly.  

No other middle eastern restaurant in the area that I’ve experienced comes close to the homemade nature of the food that is served at Layalina.  I’m middle eastern by descent, and this is the only food that actually takes me back to my grandmother’s kitchen.  

Middle eastern ‘meatloaf’:

Roasted lamb w/pomegranate seeds served over couscous:

Vegetabled stuffed with a ground beef/rice mixture, and served with roasted lamb:

I highly recommend that you order any of the lamb dishes or the daily specials.  I’ve been to Layalina 4 times now, and fall more in love with this place every time.

Tandoori Nights

With the Groupon for Tandoori Nights ticking down (about 13 hours left, at the time of this post), I thought I would post some photos of our recent meal there.  Tandoori Nights is our favorite Indian restaurant in the area, next to Rasika in downtown DC.  Purchase your Groupon ($20 for $40 worth of food & beverage) and enjoy!

Mango Margarita | Bread crisps & dip (brought out upon being seated)

Aloo Chat Papri - A medley of chickpeas, potatoes, flour crisps mixed with chutney and yogurt.  (it’s like an Indian version of Frito Pie - delicious.

Palak Paneer - Fresh homemade cheese cooked in a creamy spinach sauce.

Lamb Korma Kashmiri - Cubes of lamb cooked in a creamy sauce and garnished with almonds and fruits.

Plain Naan - Freshly baked white bread topped with butter

Cava opening delayed

If you were planning on going to Cava’s grand opening this afternoon, think again.  Due to a snag of some sort, Cava’s grand opening, originally planned for 5 PM this afternoon, has been delayed.  The Greek restaurant is hoping to open by week’s end, so will keep you posted!

Thursday night at Spider Kelly’s

I’m known to be a huge fan of the Spider Kelly’s breakfast burrito.  I ventured out into new SK territory last night: dinner.  Didn’t have my big camera on me, so I snapped a few photos with my cell phone camera.  

Happy hour lasts until 8 PM! at Spider Kelly’s.  I took advantage of the $2 Bud Light.  Bud Light bottles have an odd little feature that allows you to write on the bottle label using either a key or coin. Harder than it looks if you’re trying to get more than 3 characters on there.

For my meal, I chose the grilled Mahi Mahi fish tacos.  They were WONDERFUL!  I’m pretty picky about my fish tacos.  I usually prefer the taste of fried ones unless I find grilled ones like these!  Might be my favorite tacos in Clarendon.  The tacos come with a choice of side.. fries, onion rings, salad, mixed veggies, grilled asparagus, and some others.  I chose the grilled asparagus.  To my pleasant surprised, the asparagus was FIRE grilled!  You could taste the char on it.  Delicious.

My friend ordered the burger, and she devoured it.  It was topped with grilled onions, served with fries, and some of their special fridge sauce.

 .

SK’s was PACKED with sports fans and there were flat screen TVs on every wall.  As we all (hopefully) already know, the Mavs won another beautiful game last night!  1 more game, and Dallas will be crowned champions once again!

Taste of Arlington

We had a great time at Taste of Arlington yesterday.  We got there about 30 minutes after the start time, and it was already packed.  The weather held up nicely for the most part, aside from a couple small showers.  

I do think in the future, the Taste of Arlington committee really needs to expand to include more streets.  It was way too many people in such a tight space.  Lines were stacked on top of other lines, or blocking restaurant booths all-together.  Had we not been so tightly packed into such a small area, we probably would have had the patience to spend all of our tickets.  We walked back home with a couple unspent tickets.  

That aside, it was a great time, and we had very happy bellies.  My favorite tastes of the day were BGR Burger Joint’s beef sliders and Jaleo’s Paella.  My hubby’s favorite bites were both from Pinzimini - braised short rib and pork belly.  Below are some photos of the event.  

The BGR crew grills up beef sliders, which were my #1 favorite taste of the day.

The massive paella pan at Jaleo’s booth.  My #2 favorite taste of the day.

Caribbean Breeze’s chicken kabobs and rice.  My 3rd favorite of the day.

My least favorite taste: the buffalo wings from Velocity5.  Way too over-salted.  These wings were the only bite I didn’t actually finish.

Rustico salad.. this was one of my hubby’s bites, and I didn’t actually taste it, but he enjoyed it.

Spike Mendelsohn signing autographs

Pork belly at Pinzimini, complete with a syringe dropper for the juice!!

Braised shortrib from Pinzimini (my hubby’s #1 favorite taste of the day)

Chocolate cake from RiRa.  I LOVED this cake. (my hubby’s words were along the lines of, “it’s just good chocolate cake that they didn’t screw up.)

Free smoothie samples from the MickyD’s booth.  A refreshing treat to end our day.

Santa Fe Cafe

I recently walked over to Santa Fe Cafe for lunch on a beautiful spring day. I had seen it and heard about it, but after one of my readers mentioned that they have great Mexican food, I decided to finally check it out in person.

Santa Fe Cafe is located in Rosslyn - about a 20-25 minute walk from Clarendon.  It’s at the ground level of a larger building, so this sign is one of the only markers.  It’s easy to miss if you’re not on the lookout.

The decor consists of lots and lots of chili peppers in every form - pictures on the walls, christmas lights, dried bunches, handkerchiefs on howling wolves.  

The menu is displayed on a large chalkboard above the registers where you order.  (I should point out.. at lunch, you order at the registers, pick up your food when your name is called, and your lunch is served on disposable plates.  At dinner, on the other hand, you are served at your table, on normal porcelain china, and it is a much more relaxed setting.)

I ordered 3 of my favorite items: queso, guacamole, and a taco salad.  Queso and guac are my “litmus test” for any Tex-mex or Mexican restaurant. Both were excellent.  The queso was particularly a favorite, and it could be due to the fact that good queso is hard to find around here.  I can’t say it’s as good as any of my favorite queso in Texas, but it’s creamy and delicious, and probably some of the best I’ve had in the area.  The guacamole was house-made, with freshly chopped onions, tomatoes, and avocado.  Both paired well with the light, crispy chips.

The taco salad was served in a flaky flour shell.  The ground beef was well-seasoned (not over-seasoned), and none of the toppings tasted like they came out of a bag, which seems to be a rarity in restaurants these days.  All the veggies were freshly chopped in house. - the lettuce was crisp, and the tomatoes were juicy.  

Santa Fe Cafe also has a fully stocked beer fridge for your brewski pleasure.  Just grab and go.

All in all, Santa Fe cafe is a great place to get your Tex-Mex fix.  It’s better quality food than many of the area Tex-Mex or Mexican restaurants (or Mexican’t, as Colbert would say), prices are affordable, service is quick & friendly, decor is unique, and the food is made with love.  I spoke briefly with the owner, who seemed like the kindest man.  I’ll definitely be back (enchiladas, next time!)

Celebrity Delly in Falls Church

I stumbled upon an awesome NY-style sandwich shop this afternoon: Celebrity Delly in Falls Church (inside Loehmann’s Plaza).  It’s a bit out of the way from Clarendon, but Celebrity definitely knows what they’re doing, so the drive is totally worth it.

I ordered the $10 California Club, which has grilled chicken, avocado, tomato, and mayo.  The sourdough bread was perfectly toasted, the avocado was deliciously fresh, and the chicken was well seasoned, juicy, and tender.  It was wonderful.   

Their corned beef sandwiches looked STACKED, and ridiculously good.  Frankly, all their sandwiches looked awesome.  Other menu items include stuffed cabbage, potato pancakes, potato & meat knishes, soups, and salads.  

Highly recommend this place if you’re up for a delicious (albeit, overpriced) New York style sandwich.

Coming soon: Sichuan Hot Pot Restaurant

A new “hot pot” restaurant - Mala Tang - will soon be opening at 3434 Washington Blvd, Arlington  22201, near the corner of Washington and Kirkwood.   

Mala Tang’s website gives a brief introduction to what exactly a hot pot is:

The hot pot itself is a saucepan that sits on a portable burner, surrounded by an array of small plates piled high with fresh ingredients. Guests select pieces of food and drop them into the soup to cook, and then dip them into a delicious mixture of seasoned sesame oil and chopped garlic. 

While hot pot can be found throughout China, Sichuan is famous for its ma la hot pot, which is characterized by the yin and yang effect that the sichuan pepper and the red hot chilies create when combined together.  

Advertisements on Craigslist indicate that Mala Tang is already looking to hire servers, cashiers, hosts, and marketing interns. 

Burapa Thai

I went to Burapa Thai recently for a quick lunch.  My friend and I ordered the spring rolls to start, and for my main dish, I chose the lunch special, where you have the option of choosing two items (from a list of about 10) for $10.  I chose 2 standard “Asian restaurant litmus test” items: chicken fried rice and chicken pad thai for my lunch duo.

Service & Ambiance: It’s a clean, modern-looking restaurant with a fully stocked bar.  The service was excellent all around - fast, friendly, and attentive staff.

Spring Rolls: the spring rolls lacked flavor.  Even the fish sauce couldn’t make up for the lack of flavor.  Lots of cabbage and vermicelli noodle stuffing, but not enough veggies or spices. (I also have a pet peeve of appetizers being served in odd numbers instead of even numbers, but that’s my personal hang-up.)

Pad Thai: It wasn’t memorable or craveable - it was just fine.  The sauce was a bit on the sweet side, and I generally prefer more “substance” to my pad thai (eggs, veggies, bean sprouts). It scratches my pad thai itch, but that’s about it.

Fried Rice: My favorite Clarendon fried rice is at Nam Viet, and unfortunately, Burapa’s fried rice didn’t come close to dethroning Nam Viet’s.  I will say, all the veggies in the fried rice tasted so fresh, and I really enjoyed the veggies.  It was the rice itself (perhaps the type of rice - long grain) that I wasn’t crazy about.  

All in all - it was mediocre.  It does the trick when you’re craving Thai food, but I can’t say it ranks anywhere higher than that.