Eastern Market (Washington, D.C.)

[Eastern Market]
225 7th St SE
Washington, District of Columbia 20003
http://www.easternmarket-dc.org/

My only disappointment is that I didn’t go to this place sooner. This farmers market has everything. Outdoors, they sell local produce, jewelry, and local artwork. There are also outdoor tents that sell food. Indoors, there is a bakery, vendors that sell fresh meat, freshly made pasta, flowers, prepared meals, and made-to-order sandwiches.

At an outdoor tent, Crepes at the Market, I ordered a savory crepe. I think mine was turkey, spinach and gouda. Yum!

Cupcakes were $1.25! I ordered the German Chocolate Cupcake and my friend got the Red Velvet. They were actually not very good as they were probably baked using cake mix boxes. Oh well.

This Cuban sandwich was amazing. You can buy it indoors.

How can you go wrong with fresh-squeezed lemonade and the juice of fresh raspberries? So good!

Super Chicken (Falls Church, VA)

[422 S Washington St]
Falls Church, VA 22046
(703) 538-5550

Peruvian chicken! This is the most flavorful Peruvian chicken I’ve tried in the area. The chicken was incredibly moist. I could have gone without the yucca and I wish they didn’t charge for extra dipping sauce. I would suggest getting it to-go because it’s such a tiny place.

Tsunami (Fairfax, VA)

[Tsunami]
13039 Fair Lakes Shopping Ctr
Fairfax, VA 22033
(703) 449-8404
http://www.tsunamisushioffairlake.com

I went here for lunch because they have a all-you-can-eat sushi special. It was pretty bad. They only served sushi rolls in their buffet. This was fine, but all of the pieces of fish were super thin, so all you could taste was the rice. The tuna was still frozen. I’m not going to say this place was horrible, but I would definitely never eat the buffet ever again. Try ordering something off the menu.

Tsunami: sushi rolls from the sushi buffet

Frozen Dairy Bar & Boardwalk Pizza (Falls Church, VA)

[Frozen Dairy Bar & Boardwalk Pizza]
6649 Arlington Blvd
Falls Church, VA 22042
(703) 534-4200
http://www.fdbpizza.com

How did it take me so long to eat here? Great NY style pizza, fantastic frozen custard, and they have horchata shakes. There is a huge selection to choose from. This place has been around for 60 years and has stayed local. The place stays open pretty late and is a great place for a get-together with friends.

Frozen Dairy Bar & Boardwalk Pizza: Pepperoni

Frozen Dairy Bar & Boardwalk Pizza: Mushroom

Frozen Dairy Bar & Boardwalk Pizza: their own Old Bay shaker

Zaguan Latin Cafe and Bakery (Dallas, TX)

[Zaguan Latin Cafe and Bakery]
2604 Oak Lawn Drive
Dallas, TX 75219
(214) 826-9887
http://www.zaguanbakery.com/

I ordered the Arepa (Venezuela/Colombian sandwich) with a chicken, avocado, and mushrooms inside. I loved the texture of the creamy avocado against the slight crunch of the bread.

Arepa with reina pepia and mushrooms ($7.99)

I also tried some of the Cachapa with beef and cheese. It was good, but a little too sweet for me.

Cachapa filled with beef and cheese ($9.99)

Along with our entrees, we also ordered Sweet Fried Plantains and the Cuatro Leches. The plantains were too mushy. I didn’t like the consistency at all. The 4 leches was delicious, but way too rich for one person to finish alone.

Sweet Fried Plantains ($2.99)

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Mai’s Restaurant (Dallas, TX)

[Mai's Restaurant]
4812 BRYAN ST, SUITE #100
DALLAS, TEXAS 75204
(214) 826-9887
http://www.maisrestaurant.net/

On the search for a good Vietnamese restaurant in Dallas, I came across Mai’s Restaurant on accident one night. This restaurant has extensive menu options, which are all listed on their website.

I ordered the Vermicelli Noodles with Grilled Pork, which I thought was a bit pricier than it would have been in Northern VA. It was very tasty.

Bun Thit Nuong - Vermicelli Noodles with Grilled Pork ($7.25)

My dinner date ordered the Chicken Curry Bowl. It comes out in a clay pot. It was incredibly delicious and reminds me of my childhood. My mom used to cook curry all the time.

Bun Ca Ry Ga - CURRY CHICKEN BOWL ($7.50)

Vietnamese restaurants are notorious for their lack of service (according to American standards). However, at this restaurant, the wait staff was very attentive and friendly. Overall, very good food at a decent price.

Pinkberry (Dallas, TX)

[Pinkberry]
3839 McKinney Ave 157
Dallas, TX 75204
(214) 526-3100
http://www.pinkberry.com

Definitely one of the better froyo places I have visited.

We ordered watermelon and coconut and got it for free because it was a apartment community event. For the toppings, we had brownie bits, granola, a waffle chip, and mini white chocolate chips. I am fairly certain that instead of the coconut frozen yogurt, we actually got vanilla because it tasted nothing like coconut. That was a bit disappointing. However, it was pretty good and not tart (thank goodness). I liked the watermelon, but got tired of it fast. Still not a huge fro-yo fan and I may have to give up on it. I think ice cream, gelato, and frozen custard are the way to go.

Pinkberry

Deep Sushi (Dallas, TX)

[Deep Sushi]
2624 Elm Street
Dallas, Texas 75226
(214) 651-1177

http://www.deepsushi.com/

Thank you Groupon for another lovely deal. I went to Deep Sushi in Deep Ellum. We ordered a number of items, including salmon nigiri ($4.95/2 pieces), yellow tail nigiri ($5.75/2 pieces), Texas roll [eel and avocado roll, fried] ($10), Deep roll [tuna, yellow tail, salmon, red snapper, shrimp, smelt egg] ($10).

Deep Sushi

The rolls were delicious! I loved the texture of the Texas roll. The smoothness of the eel and avocado went well with the crunchiness created when it was fried. I enjoyed it only slightly more than the Deep Roll. The nigiri was alright, but the cuts of sashimi could have been a bit thicker.

The waitress was friendly enough, but did not really come around to our table. Our water wasn’t refilled until it was time for us to leave. I would definitely recommend this place even though the service was sub-par.

The Dream Cafe (Dallas, TX)

[The Dream Cafe]
2800 Routh St. Ste 170
Dallas, TX 75201
(214) 954-0486
http://www.thedreamcafe.com

I copped myself an awesome deal on Groupon to the Dream Cafe ($10 for $20 worth of food).  I decided to surprise my boyfriend with a Saturday brunch.  He’s had lunch (take-out) from there before and said it was good.  I already knew what I wanted – Granola-Crusted French Toast ($10)!  Yum.   So I ordered that and based on recommendations on Yelp, my boyfriend ordered the Austin Tacos ($10).  We ended up sharing both.

The Dream Cafe: Granola-Crusted French Toast ($10.00)

So incredibly delicious.  The french toast was served with fresh strawberries, fresh cream, and powdered sugar.  The syrup was really good.

The Dream Cafe: Austin Tacos ($10.00)

The Austin Tacos were filled with scrambled eggs, potatoes and smoked bacon.  The tacos were topped with jack cheese.  Beans and white rice were both served on the side.  Neither of us like beans very much so we could’ve done without that.  Otherwise, we loved the dish.

I love this place!  I wish I bought more Groupons.

EatBar (Arlington, VA)

[EatBar]
2761 Washington Blvd
Arlington, VA 22201
(703) 778-9951
http://eat-bar.com

EatBar was recommended by a couple of people to a dear friend and old neighbor, Marno Muth of Marno Muth Photography .  We ventured out on a Monday night with some of my other besties.  Pretty neat little joint.  The water was served in mason jars and the wine bottles were on tap.

EatBar: water served in mason jars

EatBar: wine on tap

Having never eaten here before and not really knowing what the place was about, we ordered several dishes to share.  Most of the categories on the menu were really cheap.   We knew they were small plates.  We ordered the Falafel and Chesapeake Crab fritters.  It turns out that $1.50 pays for one fritter.  Totally thought they would have 2-3 of each on each order.  Whoops.  Under “sliders”, we ordered “Sloppy Joey.”  They brought one slider out.  Haha.  We definitely cut that tiny little burger into fourths.

EatBar: Falafel and Chesapeake Crab ($1.50/fritter) and a Sloppy Joey slider ($3.50)

I could’ve done without the falafel fritters and the slider, but the Chesapeake crab was delicious.  We also ordered some fries ($3), smoked lardo ($5/4 slices of pork and slices of baguette),  steak salad ($12), and chicken and waffles ($12).  I rushed to eat these and forgot to take pictures.  Oops.  Everything was cooked really well.  Of these, I enjoyed the smoked lardo and steak salad best.   Everything was good though and I recommend all of these dishes to you, dear reader.

What I do not recommend, however, is the baked ziti.  Holy smokes, for $9 an order, I would expect at least 15 more pasta noodles.  I was unsure of whether or not to cry or to laugh when I saw this come out of the kitchen.

EatBar: Baked Ziti ($9.00)

I think my camera made it look like a bigger portion.  I think maybe a 1/3 cup of pasta there.  Anyway, don’t do it.  It’s nothing special.   For dessert, yumyumyum, we ordered the banana split ($6).  It was a good-sized portion and easily shared by four.  I could probably devour this all by myself, but I might slightly regret it later.  Belgian waffle, Nutella, vanilla ice cream, flambéed bananas, bits of pineapple, and whipped cream.

EatBar: Banana Split ($6.00)

Great atmosphere, good food, amazing dessert.  Slightly overpriced small plates, but I still recommend it.