No, but it’s really good. It’s so good that they put a sign up about it.
One on of my New York City visits, I went to this place for the “best sponge cake in NYC” and it was.
The address is 118 Baxter Street. Inside is a bit of a dive (but it’s more fun that way, right?).
Try to go when the buns are hot out of the oven.
I’m not even into sponge cake and this was so soft. Is sponge cake the same as chiffon cake?
You know a place is good when it transports you to your mom or grandma’s kitchen.
Last year, I mentioned my recommendations for where to eat in the Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) area. But I didn’t add photos.
Now I have a new recommendations. From that list, have you been to Cielo Rojo and Y Noodles? Try them!
Now, on to other recommendations.
The Italian Store: Having lived in Italy, I am obnoxiously picky about my pasta. Luckily most grocery stores in this are now carry good brands of pasta. But, if you want, you can go to the Italian Store. They now have a second location in a off the metro area of Arlington. The original location a few miles away was famous for getting New York City style bagels delivered fresh every morning (New York city is about a four hour drive from here).
The Italian store also makes fresh pizzas and sandwiches. Plus they have fresh baked bread.
There are seats inside along the front window and they have a few tables and chairs outdoors.
Sidamo Coffee and Tea: It’s an Ethiopian coffee shop in Washington, DC. (Coffee as a drink was invented in Ethiopia about 500 years ago). The Sidamo cafe serves coffee but what I like is their breakfast sandwiches and the side of banana and honey.
Good Company Doughnuts: Speaking of breakfast (was I?) and good friends, the Good Company Doughnut makes great breakfasts and doughnuts. They have two locations, one in Pentagon City and the other in Ballston. They make ‘mini’ doughnuts of a good size and of those, I think that the espresso cream is the best. No custard. Just frosting, inside and out. With chocolate glaze.
Good Doughnut Company also makes great breakfast sandwiches and meals for any time of the day. Really delish. One time, I was sitting next to a French tourist who said that she came back two days in a row! Mainly for the espresso cream doughnut…
Villa Yara: This Lebanese place is so good that it transported a Lebanese person to their childhood and made them cry.
While I am not really into desserts, I did enjoy the variety of desserts at Villa Yara. Not only the baklava. I can’t recall what they were called, but one was a sort of floss of ice cream (this is the one that made the Lebanese person cry as they recalled eating this dish in their grandma’s kitchen). The other was a cardamom ice cream, but much more complex. The baklava was excellent too.
I’m a sucker for dairy and the labneh, with olive oil and pepper, served like a scoop of ice cream — made me really happy.
Misha’s Coffee: The pastries are much better than at many other bakeries. It’s a feel good kind of coffee shop. Independent. Quality. A nice place to be.
Get the “Danish” and the “coffee cake.” I’m sure the rest is good but the Danish was exceptionally so.
2Fifty Barbecue: If you want the most tender barbeque meat, then go to 2Fifty barbecue in Washington, DC. This is the softest moistest meat in this area. Nope, the other places do not compare!
Lai Lai Malatang (inside 99 Ranch): Inside the 99 Ranch store in Fairfax, there is a stall where you can choose your own hotpot or dry noodle dish. It’s spicy in a good way.
Truong Tien: This northern central Vietnamese place was trending for a hot moment last year. The food is good. Go for the mini taco style Vietnamese omelet crepe. This blogger described his experience there.
As I find other places, I’ll write about them. Happy eating!
As I have a hankering for Nordic food all the time (Cinnamon and pearl sugar buns, anyone? Liver pate and smelly cheese, no?).
I wanted to make sure that I visited all the Nordic (There are five Nordic countries which include the three Scandinavian countries, just so you know) Christmas bazaars between last year and this year. Last year, I managed to go to the Finnish Christmas fair.
This year, the Danish and Icelandic bazaars were on the same day, November 9. So I went to those.
For those interested, the Finnish bazaar is on November 23 this year. The Swedish and Norwegian ones are on December 7.
The Icelandic Christmas fair was out in Fairfax, Virginia. It is the only one of the Nordic Christmas fairs held out in Virginia. It was extremely busy which surprised me because I had no idea there were so many Iceland-o-philes in the area. Maybe everyone else realized that you have to go early if you want to get the good stuff.
Then, I raced off to Rockville to the Danish Christmas bazaar. Wowza, were there a lot of people. Who’s left in Denmark?
I immediately got in line. It was the bakery line. Luckily someone came out to tell us that there was a separate line for the food… yes! Oh, but it was still a line. Just not as long as the bakery one.
The Danish Christmas bazaar only takes cash or personal check. Um. Oh. Kay. So I bought what I could get for the cash I had managed to find.
I was delighted by the “apple cake” which is a legit thing but is so easy to make. It’s a trifle basically and you can make it anytime. This one was homemade with good sized chunks of cooked apple in the apple sauce.
As I was trying to buy cheese and liver pate, I heard some folks discussing if they should buy the “strong” cheese. I dissuaded them. Maybe it was wrong but I am fairly sure that they would have hated it. The cheese was a Danbo which is like havarti in texture. But the strong one has high uric acid making the umami part taste a bit like toe cheese. I didn’t explain it that well. But they thanked me. I wish there had been samples. But, these Christmas fairs are for a targeted audience who know what they want. It’s hard if you have no idea. Danish smelly cheese is a unique thing and I can’t really explain it except that it’s stronger than any other cheese out there. Forget the stinky bishops and French blue cheeses. But I digress. I got my chunk. And I will have it all to myself.
Even if you don’t celebrate Christmas, there is still lots of stuff for you at these Nordic bazaars/fairs.
As someone who loves good bread, I find it hard to find European-style yeasty bread in Dhaka. There is plenty of pillowy naan, stretchy rhumali, chewy paratha, and flaky dhosa. When I want European style bread, I go to the following places:
Kings Confectionary: This is where to get long baguette-like hoagie or subway rolls. Plus, the sugared doughnuts are chewy, doughy, and sugary.
German Butcher: They bake their own bread. They call it black bread but it’s more of a whole wheat blend. You can even buy a half loaf if you want to start out with that.
Do Mi Ok: The best sliced white bread in Dhaka. It’s doughy. If you squeeze it, it will hold your finger imprint. They also sell a few other types of fresh bread but it’s the white that I like.
Le Souffle. It is slightly ridiculous how expensive they are. They have a bakery and sell French baguettes and other types. The bread is hard crust sourdough style. They sell croissants and cakes as well.
Nordic Club: They do great cinnamon rolls… the black bread has too much molasses and tastes slightly off.
