Hook

I love when livingsocial/groupon deals come through for those restaurants that you really really want to go to. Hook, was one of those for me. For one of my final dinners in DC, best buddy of BOOF, sio and I decided to put my deal to good use and head to Hook for dinner. I previously mentioned that Hook is the "big" sister restaurant to Tacklebox which is located right next door. Like its little sister, Hook also uses local produce and sustainable ingredients in all of their food which is a major plus for me. The restaurant is located in the heart of Georgetown on M Street and its a perfect way to spend your evening meal.

The interior has a nice modern look with dim low hanging overhead lights, nice hardwood floors and tables but it also features a nice long high table top across from the bar. There is normal restaurant seating in both the back and front of the restaurant but I would recommend making a reservation with hopes of getting a seat in the designated dining area.

To start I ordered the Asparagus Soup. When this dish came out, I along with Sio was actually surprised that it was green. Clearly, it make sense that it would be green because it is asparagus soup, but I guess maybe I was thinking that it would be more asparagus infused then just pureed and asparagus. Nevertheless, it was so good. So delicious. The asparagus was definitely the primary flavor that came through but because there was such a great complexity of additional flavors as well as jumbo lump crab meat throughout the soup, that you never felt overpowered by the asparagus. I would order that soup every trip.

For our entrees, Sio ordered the Lobster Risotto. We both had this on our radar upon deciding what we would order and it was definitely a very good choice. Although we are not in New England, the lobster was fresh and there was plenty of lobster present in the dish along with the full tail. The Risotto was a little soupier then expected but the flavor profile was there and it was a very well done dish as well. My only complaint is that there could have been a little kick to this lobster risotto which maybe would have not only been a good surprise but it also may have taken this good dish and made it into a great dish.

Additionally, I personally like my Risotto a little softer but Hook cooked it to al dente but I guess that is just a personal preference.

I ordered the Halibut which was really a pleasant surprise. I had not had Halibut in a while and I am glad that I waited for this occasion to have it. I could not have asked for a better cooked piece of fish on this evening as the white fish just broke beautifully and melted in my mouth. Furthermore, the dish was perfectly balanced with the saltiness of the beans underlying the fish with the beautiful sweet honey glaze on top of the fish and surrounding it. The fish was also plated beautifully but the fact that the taste matched its beauty made it a winner. The texture balance was also perfect as the crunchiness of the shredded carrot matched with the sear on the halibut and then the nice soft crunch of the beans was near perfect. Despite my desire to order another fish off the menu at a future date, I am sure that I will be so inclined to order the halibut once again. It was better than I expected.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time at Hook. It was definitely one of the better meals that I have had in DC and also a top 5 for seafood dining experiences in DC, which is saying a lot. The dessert menu was definitely enticing but both Sio and I declined for the evening; however, the Pastry chef at Hook is getting ready to be featured on the new Bravo Series with Gail Simmons, Top Chef Just Desserts. That is my kind of show. I digress. Hook is definitely a perfect place for a date or just a nice dinner with a few friends but it is not a place that you want to be rambunctious and loud in. After a nice meal at Hook, I definitely recommend taking a walk either down the Waterfront or across Key Bridge.

Grade: A-

Tacklebox

why did i not eat seafood for so long? it was not a conscious decision but really, i love seafood. note to self: never not eat seafood for that long again.

good buddy of BOOF, kka and I met up for dinner at one of my many groupons-to-use tacklebox. kka is a buddy that i don't see nearly enough but we we can catch up, it is always such a great time. we both loveee seafood so it ended up being the perfect choice and she had been to tacklebox before but I was an unfortunate first timer.

tacklebox is the sister restaurant to Hook and both are located adjacent to one another on the always bustling picture perfect M Street of Georgetown. tacklebox is the more casual of the two, fitted with picnic table seating and a walk up order service. they have a few meal options but both kka and I decided on the "Maine Meal" which comes with your choice of fish, two sides and one sauce. therefore, the meal definitely becomes a make your own sort of deal which is really nice, especially if you know what you are doing ;-).

for the fish, you can choose from it being cooked two ways: crispy or woodgrilled. Depending on how you want it cooked you can have the choice of shrimp, bay scallops, calamari, catfish, haddock, clam strips (all crispy), or bluefish, trout, tilapia, catfish, cheeseburger, calamari or chicken (wood-grilled).

for the sides you can choose from a sleuth of options: corn on the cob • asparagus • broccoli • side salad • coleslaw • cornbread muffin • mac & chease • mash potatoes • rice • house cut fries • sweet potato fries • portobello mushrooms • potato salad • hush puppies

and you also have your choice of sauce (which is served delightfully on the side): spicy marinara • classic tartar • lemon-garlic aioli • grilled lemons • cocktail • BBQ • Basil.

kka ordered the bluefish woodgrilled with sides of asparagus and broccoli. she opted for no sauce and she really enjoyed the flavor of the fish and the veggies were nice and fresh and so that was also a definite plus. they also had a bit of seasoning, so they weren't bland which was definitely also a plus. veggies need flavor too!

to start i ordered the crispy calamari (you can also have it grilled) and these had great flavor. after having really good calamari at Il Canale and decent calamari at Liberty Tree , I was hoping for more of the former. The calamari was very good, super fresh and had nice seasoning. it had a really good amount of kick but it was not overpowering and they were fried very nicely. i would definitely want to try other appetizers on their menu on a trip back.

for my "maine meal" i ordered the catfish wood-grilled with a side of sweet potato fries and broccoli. I also asked for the spicy marinara on the side. this ended up being really quite delicious. i really enjoyed the flavor of the wood-grill coming through the fish and i think by topping it with the spicy marinara, it gave it that nice kick to balance out the grilled flavor. the sweet potato fries were also delicious but it is hard find "bad" sweet potato fries. i am pretty certain that is an oxymoron. as i mentioned earlier, the broccoli was really good, fresh and well-seasoned.

a favorite thing about both Hook and Tacklebox is that they only use sustainable seafood and ingredients and locally grown produce. they get bonus points just for that. all in all, i would definitely head back to tacklebox again (even minus a groupon) to try out other things on the menu. the seafood is good, not the best i have EVER had but nevertheless it is cheap and good.

Grade: B+

Things to do: Shop. plain and simple.

Liberty Tree

lovin' me some H street. i've given you guys my posts of both Sticky Rice and dr. granville moore's which are both absolutely delicious places. i have some a few more h street locations to "hip" you guys to (my dad's word, not mine) so that you too become just as obsessed with the up and coming h street corridor as i am.

i won't do the whole h street corridor # 1 up and coming neighborhood DC blurb like usual, just know that if you have not gotten up here, liberty tree is another reason to do so. liberty tree opened as a restaurant featuring traditional new england seafood flavors and brick oven pizza. really? did heaven just come to h street? seafood and pizza? all I really needed was them to have some mac & cheese on their menu and i really might have become the hostess there.

buddy of BOOF, lm and I decided to get out of the house one evening and head to liberty tree for dinner. I usually order in their brick oven pizza and walk the 3 minutes around the corner to pick it up but we decided to eat in there which was definitely a benefit to BOOF. liberty tree is located between 10th and 11th on H street and it boasts definitely a very new england feel inside of the restaurant with sea blues on on the walls and table clothes and dark brown furniture. the head chef, graig glufing, at liberty tree is no stranger to the DC food scene as he was formerly the exec chef at matchbox. 'nough said.

for an appetizer, we ordered the fried calamari which was good. after the calamari I had at Il Canale , I was definitely expecting a little bit more flavor and a little bit more of a kick but they were fried well; however, il canale definitely wins in the fried calamari department.

for dinner, LM ordered the atlas burger which is a 8oz Grilled Angus beef, gorgonzola, caramelized red onions. she really enjoyed the burger and said it was cooked very well. with all the new burger joints opening around the city, liberty tree offers a very classic but yet flavorful burger that does what it is meant to do, be a burger.

departing from my usual brick oven pizza (and I recommend any pizza at liberty tree), i ordered the grilled eggplant lasagna. it has been a while since this vegetarian has enjoyed some eggplant lasagna or lasagna at all for that matter, and it was a nice and well done entree. It featured marinated eggplant, fresh mozzarella, basil, mushrooms, and tomato sauce. my biggest complaint about the dish is that it had too much tomato sauce. rather than just having a touch of tomato sauce throughout the lasagna, it was drowned in a soup of tomato sauce which definitely took away from a lot of the flavor of the eggplant, mozzarella, and mushrooms.

after a few other trips to liberty tree, I am also well aware that they boast a very nice wine and beer list, so you can always enjoy one of those with your meals. and again, i definitely recommend the pizza.

my biggest drawback about liberty tree is that in this summer heat, they can't seem to be able to get their AC under control. on the evening that i went with LM, it was so hot in that restaurant that by the time we were finished with our meal, we were running out of the restaurant because it definitely appeared to be cooler outside then inside and outside it was 95 degrees. it is not a good thing when you can feel the sweat droplets forming on your forehead during dinner, gross. I thought that this may have just been a one time broken AC problem but after another recent trip to liberty tree, it was still pretty warm inside that restaurant. it was definitely cooler outside than inside and although the heat was not as uncomfortable as the first trip, when we got our red wine, the room temperature was definitely a little too warm for a red. liberty tree, i appease you to please get this fixed as we definitely have not seen the worst of summer and i really want to come back for some clams, scallops and peppadew peppers.

if you want a nice trip to new england, liberty tree is definitely your place as I am pretty certain that it is the only place in dc that is uniquely new england cuisine.

Overall Grade: B (really, the AC docked it from a B+)

Things to do: hang out with me. I would also definitely recommend taking a trip next door (!) to Rita's for some nice water ice and custard for dessert. YUM.

Maine Avenue Seafood Market

so although you have only really seen me engulf masses of vegetarian delights through this blog, i am in fact a…PESCATARIAN! shocker, i know. i could never give up seafood, it is really in my heart. i come from a family who believes in seafood of all sorts, so i knew that i could give up everything else but seafood…never. and i am so happy that i didn’t.

this brings me to last weekend’s BOOF adventure to the MAINE AVENUE SEAFOOD MARKET. i have been to the seafood market a couple of times before but buddies of BOOF, cc, tr, kh, and cc(yes, there are two) decided that we adventure down to this DC staple on a saturday afternoon for lunch.

the market is located on the SW waterfront off of Maine Avenue sitting across from Haines Point. It is a picture perfect spot on the water to watch some yachts go by (or convince someone to let you go on theirs!).

the girls and i opted to order the crab cake lunch from “The Wharf” and the crab cakes were very tasty. the lunch time special was served with two sides and a fountain drink so I opted for the macaroni and cheese and the green beans. the mac and cheese was quite good but the green beans tasted as though they were canned aka not good at all. a few of the girls had the corn on the cob and they all remarked on how good it was. I personally think that was in large part because they cooked it in the husk (try ittttt) which traps the flavors in and gives it a delicious bite.

all in all, i love the seafood market and i am sure that unless you don’t like seafood (which is so unfortunate), you will love it too. you can find me frequenting this summer. :-)

there are also restaurants on the SW waterfront but i definitely recommend to bypass the restaurants and just go to the market.

Overall Grade: A-

the biggest minus i have for the seafood market is its lack of seating. there is some standing tables but really, with that seafood, you just want to kickback, enjoy the day and watch the boats ride by. I do think they are building more seating…so we’ll see.

Dr. Granville Moore's

i’ve been gone for a minute, now i’m back with the MOULES.

best mussels in DC, why yes.

i am no stranger to dr. granville moore’s. i love this place. i love that i moved to the h street corridor/atlas district/edge of capitol hill because I don’t think that I would’ve made it to this place if I hadn’t. thank god for that.

i have mentioned many times before that H street is the top upcoming neighborhood in DC, so do not be dismayed by the bumpy ride that you will endure getting to GM’s.

without knowing vaguely where dr. granville moore’s is located on H street, you would never find it. It literally is one of many “hole(s) in the wall, and one might think they are “run down” brick townhouses lining H street. nevertheless, when you find this gem, you walk in and you are welcomed by the scents of moules, frites and most wonderous of all, belgian beer.

the interior is a little dark with just enough light so that you can see your food, the menu, your company and your beer. it is definitely has a bar feel with wooden tables and chairs and barely enough seating to sit my entire family. there is an upstairs which also seats a plenty, and they have an outdoor patio but that can really only be enjoyed in the early spring/late fall because i was told by the hostess that heat/humidity+moules= gross. that made complete sense to me.

onto the meal. originally, this trip was intended to be a large group outing with numerous co-worker buddies, but people’s weekends were packed, so it just ended up being me and great buddy of BOOF, Sho. Sho had never been to GM’s before so she was pumped for the moules, frites and beer that we were getting ready to enjoy. We went on a late sunday afternoon, not soon after they opened, but it was already getting packed. a favorite feature of GM’s is how EVERYONE is welcome. kids, big kids (us), parents, grandparents…everyone. it does make for a lovely scene.

for drinks, we both opted for beers on tap (the names now escape me—i will update with them later) and they were both tasty. as i mentioned a while back, in comparison to BB, their on tap beers are not nearly as exhaustive which is a minor drawback. For dinner, Sho opted for the Moules Champignon, which are made with truffle oil, mushrooms, cream and hoegaarden. I opted for the Moules Navigateur, which are made with coconut milk, serrano peppers, onion and garlic. Needless to say, they were both delicious. the seasoning was spot on for both and both sets were cooked perfectly. the taste and seasoning was well permeated throughout the mussels and you clearly wanted to sop up all the left over juice with bread when you were done. both had their own distinct flavor and successfully gave you the taste of mussels with something a little more and special. so good. most definitely the best and freshest moules in the city. HANDS DOWN. Now, we also split a grande order of frites between the two of us. you have a choice of two/eight types of sauce for your frites and we chose the truffle aioli and the chipotle mayo. both were so tasty and the frites were slammin’. yes, i just said slammin’. don’t judge.

we also ordered two bottled beers (the names escape me again..sorryyyyy) and they were both delicious.

overall, GM’s never disappoints. the moules are delicious, the frites are slammin’, the beer is great and the scene is delightful. however, if you go on an evening any night of the week, be prepared to wait a while. they will take your number and you can head to any of the bars nearby (one the pug is right next door) and they will call you your table is ready. also, you could head to one of the local galleries and check out an exhibit in your spare time too (see city gallery exhibit post). i recommend this for groups (not too big because it might be forever before you get a table) or a date. it isn’t too loud so you can carry on a nice conversation without yelling across the table to each other. drawbacks, small draft list and space. the venue is intimate which gives it a lot of its character but i do sometimes feel the place packs a bigger punch then allowed. i am really not sure if that made any sense. whatever. haha.

Grade: A-

Black's Bar and Kitchen

going with the flow.

impromptu happiness. because numerous co-workers were unable to celebrate my previously mentioned friend’s celebratory going away happy hour last week at cantina, they decided to plan an impromptu happy hour at Black’s Bar and Kitchen in Bethesda.

little did they know that I had recently added sister restaurant BlackSalt Fish Market & Restaurant to my must go to restaurant list. If I had to choose one type of food that I would consider myself a connoisseur of/eat every day, it would be seafood. So, I was ecstatic to find out there is a fun unique slew of “modern american” restaurants in the DMV area which specialize in seafood. needless to say, despite the 40 minute metro ride, i would be at this happy hour.

I arrived a little late but my co-workers had already started chowing down on some mussels, oysters and flatbread, all of which looked delicious. Upon walking into Black’s, I knew that I was going to love this place. The restaurant is divided into two parts, the long (beautiful) bar area filled with high tables and stools and boasting a soft brown wood color. On the other side, is the sit down restaurant area, which on its wall features an awesome panoramic forest landscape which matches perfectly with the dim lighting and overall relaxed but not snooty ambiance. In the Bethesda suburb, it could have been easy for this restaurant to be snooty, too expensive and not good for the more “local” scene, but on the contrary, it has more of a sophisticated, stylish but relaxed vibe. i dig it. oh and two words: open kitchen. need i say anymore?

owners and chefs, Jeff & Barbara Black, are not new to the food scene in the DMV as Black’s is one of their four restaurants in the area. they also own Addie’s (Rockville MD- New American), Black Market Bistro (Garret Park MD- New American Cuisine) and the aforementioned, BlackSalt (Washington DC- Contemporary American Seafood). They have garnered critical acclaim and praise for all of their restauraunts with most of them (if not all) making it onto the the Washingtonian’s Top 100 list. they are wonderfully revitalizing the DMV american/contemporary seafood scene. thank God.

Back to Black. Black’s features a wonderful 4-7 mon-fri happy hour, also late night thurs-sat specials and an 11-5 sunday happy hour. but more importantly they have great deals. they have stella, blue moon and smitwick’s on tap for $3.75 and they also have miller light (for those of you who like that…) for $2.75. They also have a daily selection of wines for $5.00 by the glass. Another side note, their wine display is quiet impressive as it forms the wall behind the bar, and I was told that the red’s are kept at a perfect 57 degrees. take that luke warm red wine.

I mentioned that a large part of my dislike of Cantina was founded in its lack of food happy hour specials. No worries, we did not have that problem at Black’s. They only had four items but the 3/4 items that we had off that menu, were delicious. We ordered “Addie’s Mussels”, which are cooked in a tomato, garlic, shallots, lemon and parsley sauce. So fresh and so delicious. Definitely on par with Brasserie Beck. I ordered the Fried Squid (Calamari) which was absolutely delicious. Definitely, some of the best I have ever had and that is saying a lot because I have had some delectable Calamari. It was fried perfectly, not too hard but just right, and the seasoning was light enough that you still tasted the squid but well enough that you weren’t overpowered by the seafood taste. It was also served with an un-recreatable sauce but it had a mayonnaise base (maybe some tartar and ketchup?). I thought I would save the oysters for last because one thing that you must know about Black’s is that it is known for it’s Oyster Bar. So fresh. So delicious. They just slide right off the half shell. The Chesapeake Bay Oyster is their stalworth but they have a variety of other rotating oysters depending on what is freshest that day. so great. We also had a wood grilled flatbread that was topped with cheese, mushrooms and deliciousness. I can’t remember what all it had on it but it was super tasty.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by my trip to Black’s. I had no idea that this gem was in Bethesda and I would definitely make the trek back up there again for an actual dinner. Furthermore, their other restaurants were recommended by my co-workers who live up in Maryland, so I would also make the journey up there to see what the buzz is all about. Black’s is a great place for both a group and/or a date because they divide the area’s so well. Also, if you want a relaxed date, you can definitely head to the bar area or the great large outdoor patio space.

Grade: B+/A-