The DC Traveler

The 2007 Washington, DC RAMMY Awards (Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington) are out and one of my favorite places, Lebanese Taverna, was voted as the “People’s Favorite” restaurant of the year.
And I agree couldn’t agree more. 
This crowd pleaser does one thing consistently well - serve great Middle Eastern food.
Unlike many kids that grew up in the 1960s and 70s, I was luckily enough to try foods from around the world, in Chicago. My Mom and Dad loved to dine out and enjoyed ethnic foods.  In fact, we rarely went to American restaurants. Every Sunday evening, the family got dressed up and we went out for dinner.  My …read more

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Last weekend while running around DC (and while doing some research for a couple upcoming posts), I stopped for some Indian food at one of my two favorite Indian restaurants, Taste of India.
Across from the Woodley Park Metro and competing against a couple other Indian restaurants within one block (one being right next door), you can only assume that the food has to be good. And it is.
Since 1991, they have been serving authentic Northern Indian cuisine. With an outdoor patio adjoining other restaurant patios on either side, it can be a lively place. I prefer to dine mid-afternoon when …read more

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Boaters call them Dingy Dine-Arounds, where you go from boat to boat in your row boat sampling a different dinner course at each host’s boat. On land, they’re commonly called Progressive Dinners. But today, I heard a new term, the “Ramble Dinner” - where one ‘rambles’ around to different places to enjoy in their dining courses.
Professionals in the City, a national social and networking organization for professionals under 50 is hosting a downtown DC Dinner Ramble with three exotic locales.  It’s also a great chance to sample the foods from three different restaurants in one evening.  
The evening starts with Indian appetizers, entrees …read more

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The DC metro area has so many cultures and therefore, so many cusines to try.  One notable area is the Vietnamese-centric Eden Shopping Center in suburban Falls Church, Virginia. 
The shopping center, named after a famous shopping mall in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), has over 30 Vietnamese resturants and shops.

One small sandwich deli or bánh mì shop is Song Que. They serve all types of the traditional Vietnamese sandwiches called Bánh mì.
Made on a French baguette, it combines grilled or barbecued meats, paté, meatballs or cold cuts with thinly sliced cucumbers, pickled daikon radish, carrots, cilantro, onions, jalapeño and fish sauce.
Most …read more

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It’s 2:30 in the morning. You’ve been out enjoying a bit of DC’s nightlife. But before heading back to your hotel, you decide you want a slice of pizza.
But not just any slice, you want a extra large JUMBO slice.
Surrounded by bars and nightclubs, Pizza Mart in the heart of Adams Morgan, has been satisfying late night partiers with probably the largest slice of pizza on the East Coast.
While most other pizza parlors use a 16-inch pan and call it an “extra large”, the folks at Pizza Mart use a giant 36-inch pan.  Then they slice it into only 8 pieces …read more

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