Eat: Little Serow

And I was back in DC.

Why were you there, you ask? Well, movie meetings, and as we get closer to this grand event I will share many more details. But after two days of meetings, shmoozing, and air kisses, the introvert in me was aching for a dark corner and quiet.

A bonus in traveling to our nation's capital is visiting with my dashingly charming cousin, a recent resident of the District. Inevitably he is dragged out as my dinner date, this is a perk for him. This adventure we decided to try the Thai restaurant all of DC was raving about, Little Serow.

Little Serow is a tiny bungalow tucked downstairs on 17th St. It has no sign and sits next to Komi, one of the city's best restaurants. 

I get the exclusivity of being a secret, tucked away place- but two things happen as a result of this:

1. You get people like myself, who are doomed to stroll back in forth in very high heels looking for the right door to walk in to, hoping it's not someone's home (Surprise!)
All for your own Folly.
and
2. Who doesn't love a good font? I do! I love fonts, I love information! No sign just makes a restaurant seem incomplete.

Welcome.

Nevertheless I found it (thank you Yelp and all your user reviews). It's a very cute space. Low-key, easy, quiet- not a lot of money spent on the decor, but it's darkly lit so you barely notice and it really doesn't matter. Little Serow is all about the food.

This restaurant is a set menu, 7 courses of whatever the kitchen makes that night, served family style. No reservations so come early or later for the best chance to not wait, there are only 6 or so tables and a bar, so the line for entry can stretch down the street. 

We grabbed two seats at the bar and promptly ordered our drinks. Because, of course. 

After viewing the menu (really just to be informed) our first food to be delivered was a basket full of vegetables and a pile of sticky rice. Odd, we thought, but beautifully presented. "This is to counteract some of the spice should you need to, and also to cleanse your palate between courses." Right, ok.

My friends had warned me "The food is good, but spicy." When you arrive the hostess tells you, "The food has a lot of spice," when you sit down your waitress says, "The food has a high level of heat.". I GET IT, IT WILL BE SPICY. But saying that and experiencing that, are quite different. I have never chugged that much water in my life. And that vegetable basket? Gone. Gone and refilled. At one point Sean told the waitress just to leave the water pitcher.

The flavors developed in the varying dishes were exquisite and complex. I appreciated the menu structure and was a fan of nearly every dish. Except the snakehead fish dumpling soup, that was not a success. But every person we've told about it's existence is absolutely ENTHRALLED by this idea. I would imagine they stop listening at snakehead.

My favorite by far was the tofu and in no way do I eat a diet that includes tofu. That impressed me Mr. Chef.

By the time our 6th course was coming our way, I thought my mouth would never be the same again. Our waitress presented the dish saying, (and I paraphrase because the spice had interfered with my hearing) "This dish has sweet Thai chilies that are mild (me: OOH!) at first, then slowly gain heat and leave a lingering spice on your palate." (me: Nonononono).

This was the duck, which was also delicious

Honestly I don't know if I was full from the food or the copious amounts of water and sticky rice I shoved down my throat, but once we paid our check, the conversation went something like....

Me: "I am so full, I don't know if I can ever consume anything again."
Sean: "Bar?"
Me: "Yep, let's go."

Would I recommend Little Serow? YES. Not only is the food delicious, but you know what? Life is an adventure. You'll never experience it to its fullest if you don't get out of your comfort zone and explore every now and then.

P.S.: It's spicy.

Scotland, The Journey Begins

It's been a long time. I know. I'm a blogger failure. Alas, that is my reality and I shall push on as if it isn't true!

SO. Let me tell you about my travels to Scotland this summer and my beautiful friend's wedding. That will make you like me again. I hope.

Scotland, as we know from my Glasgow post, is one of my favorite places to be. I went to Uni there, I lived there, I have some of the closest and best friends in the world there- it's my special place. Should you travel there? YES.

One of my dearest and bestest friends got married this summer in Perth, Scotland and I eagerly jumped on a plane and flew across to celebrate. But, before I headed north for the wedding, I decided to spend a few days in Edinburgh with another bestest friend and celebrate my birthday, a momentous occasion.

Traveling is expensive and I had just been in London, so in an effort to save money, I did the many stop-over option, which is just never worth it. Pay the extra moolah and have one stop maximum, if you can. However, one of my stops was Paris, which is never that bad.

Birthday chocolates... :)

Paris, chocolate, and an incredibly cute boy I sat next to flying to Edinburgh, got my birthday off to a glorious start. And when I landed, I got to meet and snuggle with my friend's new baby who just happens to share my name....

Erin & Erin. Together at last.

Lots of cuddles and kisses and eventually a walk around Edinburgh.

She loves the view.

Because they're such lovely friends they came with me to the Museum of Modern Art.

"Everything is going to be Alright" Indeed.

I was excited to be here. As was Erin #2 (we share similar thoughts). The rest... well, much giggling and 'I'm sorry but how is that art?!' ensued and honestly, when we got to a room that stank and was full of sculptures that were created from urinating on snow, I stopped defending. I mean, really....

A quick nap (which consisted of me falling on the bed fully dressed) and a lovely wakeup ('Alright, up, that's enough sleeping) we headed out for my Birthday Dinner. I would tell you where it was but I don't remember, on a cobblestone street if that helps you.

Delicious food. So yummy. You really should go eat here.

We began with Haggis on a potato cake with balsamic tomato jam.

Followed by gnocchi in pesto, tomatoes and artichokes.  

 Followed by Pork Belly (a weakness of mine) with honey and pureed turnips.

Finally, Hake (or Turbot) over a lobster risotto.

A perfect birthday meal. Even Erin came for a bit, but she said 'People, I am tired and not at the age I appreciate adult dinners. I would like to go home please.' (I interpret her cries into English).

Good friends, amazing meal, the pub afterward. It was a wonderful day.

The next morning I was up with the sun and jumped on the train to Perth!! 

Goodbye Edinburgh!

Hello Scottish countryside!

Restaurant Review: Full Kee

Sorry I've been such a shit blogger recently. I had a particularly exhausting trip to DC, promptly followed by contracting pneumonia. It's been really awesome. But now I am back with you and am ready to continue my DC eating extravaganza.

The night after we ate at Kushi, we tried Matchbox on Capitol Hill, but the meal was meh and not worthy of a post. So moving on to our next meal adventure: Full Kee. 

Full Kee is a favorite of ours and one I was particularly looking forward to revisiting. There's nothing special about the environment- definitely one you could walk past and hesitate going inside. But then you'd be an idiot and miss out on an incredible meal.

Located in Chinatown, Full Kee has been included in the Top 100 Chinese Restaurants in America six years running. In case you need a reason other than my blog to go.

Following our normal routine we sat, ordered beer, and let Jonathan do allllllllll the ordering. 

Ahhhh.... Tsingtao. Refreshingly delicious.

We began with the pork dumplings, hand rolled to order.

I have such fond memories of these. Brief, as I shoved them in my mouth pretty quickly, but fond.

Then, plate after plate of incredibleness started to arrive. Beginning with Crispy Spicy Grouper- 

 Followed by my absolute FAVORITE dish, Stir-Fried Chives Flower-

 Then pork with dried tofu-

Ending with Chicken and Eggplant casserole. Which, I have to say, I wasn't quite sure about as I'm not the biggest eggplant fan, but, cooked this way the eggplant is creamy and almost melts in your mouth. I ate much of this.

Finally, our fortune cookies. We interpreted the fact that we all had the same fortune, as one we were supposed to take REALLY seriously. So we listened and had a really really good time. Much love for my movie family.

Full Kee, 509 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20001. Give it a go. You won't be disappointed.

Restaurant Review: Kushi

I know I have been missing for a bit, no excuse for a true blogger, but I have a job and sometimes it demands my attention. Boo. 

Work took me north, to Washington, DC, to shoot a television pilot. Always wonderful to have a mini reunion with people I don't see regularly.

For my wonderful work family up here, this means long, long days of meetings, wrangling people, scheduling, negotiating, filming, planning, etc etc etc... then ending the day with a fabulous meal. As one of our wisest producers says: "You have only a few meals in life- don't waste them," so we've made that our motto. And everyday at 2pm we have the required: 'ok, where are we eating tonight?' conversation, and even though we won't be able to escape until 9 at the earliest, it gives us something to look forward to.

For my first DC night, the restaurant answer was Kushi, a modern Japanese Izaykaya and Sushi restaurant on K Street. And what a perfect choice because it was freaking delicious.

Izakaya literally means Japanese place to drink, with food to accompany the drinks. In honor of this namesake, the first thing we ordered was Sake. Obv.

I prefer unfiltered Sake, which is why it looks white instead of clear, and this one was exceptionally good. I would tell you what it is, but I have absolutely no idea.

Then came the food. We typically put the ordering in the hands of our wise producer, he never leads us astray. After a quick glimpse at the specials of the day-

-we decided on Kara Aged Fried Chicken, Pork Belly skewers, Hickory-smoked cauliflower and brussel sprouts, spicy tuna roll, grilled squid legs and another special roll I don't remember. My least favorite was the cauliflower, which wasn't a shock as the conversation that preceded us ordering it went:

JZ: Cauliflower?

Me: Ech, gross. I hate cauliflower.

Steph: How can you hate cauliflower? You haven't had it cooked right. Over hickory smoke? Yum, let's get that.

So, no surprise, I still hate cauliflower. But everything else was amazing.

Kara fried chicken

spicy tuna and I remember! the other was yellowtail and scallion, delish

The chef sent us over two scoops of their house-made ice cream: Sea Salt and Black Sesame. Both were incredible, but the sea salt was my favorite by far. I would show you pictures but by the time I finished shoving food down my mouth I realized I had forgotten about you and our bowls were empty...

 Sorry.

Not only is the food really really good, the decor is fun. There's massive anime painted right onto the wall-

The kitchen is open and you can watch everything happening-

photo courtesy of the Washington Post

And now they have a food truck so you can get some deliciousness on the road!

If you find yourself in DC, put Kushi on the list. It's worth a trip up K St.