Quite good authentic food! Not as drop-dead amazing as Baan Thai or Elephant Jumps, but pretty darn good. I gave their pad thai a shot - it could have used more acid and soy sauce, but it was significantly better than any other Thai place. The Samboosas were very interesting! Super flaky pastry and sweet potato and cinnamon (almost sweet) on the inside with onion and cucumber salad to balance it out. Kia got a beef broccoli stir fry(?) that the waitress recommended. It was spicy but very good!! I wouldn’t order the green Thai tea again. Not terrible but actual Thai tea is way better. Definitely need to come back to the area - super interesting bakeries and groceries at Eden Market.

Second time at Black coffee - disappointing coffee that’s watery (Kia got the Carmel latte)

Our best meal in DC yet! Excellent relaxed atmosphere, it’s a little cafe that expanded to the townhouses next door so waiters and hostesses have to come in and out. No reservations, our wait for 2 was about 15 minutes at 11:00 on a Saturday. Parking was a little tougher than what we expected but not as bad as downtown. Since it’s opening in 2000 no special has ever been repeated - they are proud of their chef. And for good cause. Their most unique dish was the breakfast Tots which was sautéed veggies and sliced chicken sausage with home-made tater tots which were a bit more like squishy fried ricotta balls (with fresh dill and caraway) than traditional tater tots, and two fried eggs for like $12. It was the cheapest of our plates with my traditional Eggs Benedict (named the ugly sweater) at $15 and our “small stack” of super fluffy buttermilk pancakes at $6. Kia fell in love with pancakes again from this plate. I loved my Benedict (best hollandaise in philly so far) though it could use a hint more citrus and definitely needed salt. We marveled at the crispy potatoes and how they could possibly get such an even browning on all of them - home fries are often criminally under-seared.

Excellent drinks and a fantastic theme and vibe. Their signature drink is Saffron and cardamom which was very odd but creamy and very yummy. My earl grey drink was too strong of gin to enjoy fully, but we greatly enjoyed the atmosphere, music, books, and lights. It’s only been around since December 2017 (celebrated it’s 2-year Anniversary this past new years). We went on a Friday night and it’s definitely not hoping but we liked that a lot. It’s cozy and the people who go there are regulars. Apparently they removed some sofas in exchange for a bunch of stools, which one regular was quite upset about. It’s three levels and the top two are the nicest to enjoy.

Seasonal Punch (pink) Meet your Maker (martini glass) Excellent drinks! The seasonal punch was sweet and tangy and the rim was dusted with a sugar, salt, and cardamom combination

Tortilla Espanola (potato appetizer) (good) Roja Sangria (good, light) Albondsi meat balls (excellent - citrusy and juicy. Heavy and light, good filler food but not comatose) Paella Mixta (very very good. Less crust than I like for paella.) First restaurant in Philly trip before Kia’s job for DC starts!! 💕

Fabulous food and coffee and experience all around. We had a waiter so we had to tip but that was the only down side. He was super nice and let us stay as long as we wanted with our laptops out. They do have weekend wifi. Across the street from a DC public library. I got the eggs Benedict which had fabulously crispy bread bottom, good ham, and the right consistency of hollandaise with a nice tang to it. The hashbrowns were garlicky and great. Kia got the breakfast sandwich which had nice flavored sausage. The fries are really fantastic though. Coffee is from a small independent small batch roaster in MD and has a thick unique character. Vanilla latte was very good. The chocolate croissant was great too - crispy on the top, flakey in the middle, and doughy on the bottom. Plenty of chocolate stuffed in there! Chai latte was sweet and nice too

Went to Russia House with Bob again, this time with Kia, Shawn, and Bob’s friend Anna. We got our usual wine which was fabulous as usual. The vodka and other options were upwards of $200 so that didn’t happen. I got the filet steak, Kia got duck two ways.

Really fantastic and fun experience!!! We ordered off menu scallion pancakes (recommendation from one of Kia’s podcasts) and a tofu appetizer dish which was one of my top two favorites. It had pork in it? We think? It was called Maputofo. We also got Chengdu Dumplings steamed, which was also among my favorites of the night. Bob and Shawn got a beer which tasted like beer. We also got hot sake which lasted all four of us two shots/cups. We got a Dry Pot - squid, king mushrooms, lotus root, egg noodle. The “egg noodle” was actually several quail eggs. The lotus root was my other favorite for the whole night. Shawn was responsible for ordering this one. Bob was responsible for ordering the Hot Pot - frog legs, beef dumplings, bamboo shoots, potatoes. The potatoes were disappointing but the beef dumplings were amazing. We were afraid of undercooking the frog legs so they were a bit tough. My first time- I didn’t like them. Kia and I were responsible for ordering the Zhu Ge Grilled Fish because the pickled peppers are supposed to be very good. They were ok. The broth was amazing and the fish was ok - they thought it was great I thought it tasted too fishy near the bones. Kia ate one of the eyes, like he did in Iran. Shawn copied him and ate the other one which we think may have been infected- he spit it out and had to go wash his mouth out in the bathroom.

Surprisingly good crab cake - good size and not too bready. Fries were ok. Strawberry martini was quite good.

Food was fine. It took too long to come out, they were out of rice. Shrimp was good but spicy. I got the enchiladas which were fine since i was hungry. Table made guac was ok but not great. The queso with sausage was quite good though. Nice outside seating and the staff were very nice.

I don’t know how the other food was but my crab roll was to die for. It was so amazing! Great flavor, great crisp to the bun, nice butter to dip or drizzle. I ate it in about two minutes. The alcohol was fun too! This is my favorite restaurant of the trip with Aziza and Amanda, former Atlantic Council people.

I went with Nidhi, and thought it was really good food. Nidhi didn’t think so and she’s the expert. Bob, Kia and Shawn went a few days after me and liked the food ok but it didn’t sit well with them afterwards. Nidhi got the veggie sampler platter and I got the meat sampler.

Fabulous as usual.

Coffee and breakfast with Kia in a nice new coffee house/brunch spot. At first the prices and menu are wildly pompous and outrageous, but we ordered a latte with cinnamon (which Kia liked),and a chai latte for me (which was very nice, pretty, and fun, and a Green Scramble or something in the skillet, which was wonderful - very well cooked eggs, nice crispy veggies, and singed feta cheese which added a great salty flavor. Kia and I talked about his Law review article on NAFTA the whole time, outlining and organizing the structure of the paper.

Excellent English breakfast and excellent corned beef hash. Great coffee but no wifi on the weekends

We took Kia here to celebrate his freedom from studying for the bar. It was very expensive but good food. I wasn’t impressed with our appetizers or tapas but the paella we got was fantastic!! We got a special summer sangria which was very good too but not a lot of drink for the price.

All the wines are made right there in the dc distillery. Grapes are flown in from their NYC location. We tried the Orange Wine which was interesting. I ended up with one of their rieslings which was okay. I definitely want to go back and want to see if they have flights. They have wine tastings available too in a separate part of the store. It’s right on the water at Navy Yard. The scone was huge and tasted amazing (cheese and bacon?) and my crab Benedict scramble was EXCELLENT except the poached eggs were a bit too runny. Service took a while but they were nice enough. I went with Andrea and we ended up staying the whole day in Navy Yard by the water and walking around the shops, chatting.

I went here with Kia and his craving for a good burger after eating really healthy for about a month. Their burgers were really really tasty because of the meat - it is soft and falls apart and melts in your mouth. The extras are okay and the fries are great. They have some awesome flavor combinations. I would definitely come back, though mine had dijon mustard that I didn’t realize was on there :( kia and I switched. He got the spicy sandwich I think and I got the Anniversary.

I went to Anxo with some new coworkers at my new job for brunch. It was really surprisingly good! We gor the $25 bottomless cider with 5 options. I did not like the traditional still cider, and remember my first was my favorite but can’t remember which it was. I think it was the Cider Blanc. It was a really fun place to go, great atmosphere, better food, and really fun unique things to try. Cider was strong. The patio was closed because of the rain, but if it had been open they would have been shoveling massive amounts of paella. I definitely need to come back for brunch again, with Dad and Madeline I think they would really enjoy it. The Clara is the most fun to drink - not the best tasting but definitely the most fun.

Kia and I came here for brunch since it is 5 minutes walking from my house new apartment. It reminds me of McDonalds when it was still a respectable brand (say 80s-90s) with its gaudy blue seats and rushing waiters. The food was tasty and is super cheap. I got the corned beef hash, which i like but was a little soft for me - I’ll ask them to really char it next time. The hash browns and pancake were both great as was the salad (picked out old leaves though). All around a nice little diner. I came again with Carolyn and Haley, but was about 20 minutes late because of a work crisis They have a timing policy so they had to order and had already eaten by the time i got there. It was less enjoyable but still a nice local place for what it is.

Kia had been craving a specific pork dish (name escapes me) after he visited Vietnam for his masters capstone project. He googled places that serve it and found this little spot. I had just finished reading Four Fish and refused to eat Tuna or Salmon, which is tough at a Japanese restaurant, so I ordered ramen. It was good but I probably won’t order it again. Kia absolutely loved his.

I came here with Arash and Jacklyn after my housewarming party when Bob was in town. Arash picked an apartment nearby so we stopped here for lunch to chat about it after touring. This is easily the best grilled cheese I have ever had in my life. DC and it’s suburbs are overpriced but I wouldn’t have paid twice as much for this sandwich - it was so good. Definitely coming back here.

Kia and I came here for brunch during the March for Our Lives. Kia had been craving an English Breakfast with beans and sausage, so we intended to go to the Dubliner bar down the street. But they told us they didn’t serve brunch, even though their website literally advertised brunch all day specifically for March for our lives protesters. We were so angry we left, and don’t intend to go back. Union Pub was a nice alternative. The food is remarkably greasy so be prepared but it is quite good. I got huge mimosas for a good price and eggs Benedict tater tots. Kia got an omlet with sausage and home fries. Quite good.

This was my birthday dinner from Kia when I turned 25. He spent hours trying to deliberate where to go and finally with all his factors picked this one so we could have drinks and wine and appetizers and dessert. It was wonderful. I got the special - white wine pasta with salmon and he got their classic lamb ragou. The bruchettas were great as well but the drinks and wines were not sweet enough for us. Flourless chocolate cake was subpar but it was chocolate and it was free