Tag: donuts

M’s Recommends More Good Eats in the DMV

M's Adventures
L’Ardente’s famous 40 layer lasagne.

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.

L’Ardente’s pappardelle pasta was pure comfort.

Now I have a new recommendations. From that list, have you been to Cielo Rojo and Y Noodles? Try them!

Y Noodles signature spicy noodle dish.

Now, on to other recommendations.

Cheese and wine at the Italian Store.

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).

Imagine how much sugo gets sucked up by that great pasta shape!

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.

Bread presented in a fun way at the Italian Store.

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.

Loved my breakfast sandwich. It tasted homemade.
The giant coffee pot makes for a good photo op.

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.

Look at that espresso cream…

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…

This is a salad of chickpeas. So good you won’t want to share.

Villa Yara: This Lebanese place is so good that it transported a Lebanese person to their childhood and made them cry.

Thin ice cream strands.

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.

A ball of pure dairy joy.

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.

The Danish at Misha’s.

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!

So juicy it fell apart.

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.

Lai Lai Malatang where I chose what they stir fried for me.

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.

Those small round things are open face dumplings.

As I find other places, I’ll write about them. Happy eating!

Carnival Confectionaries

M's Adventures
Castagnole di carnevale and frittele.

Carnival, carnevale in Italian, translates to “farewell to meat” and marks the festivities before Lent (the 40 days of fasting before Easter in the Catholic religion, this year starting on February 17). Traditionally, one had to use up all the fat and sugar (luxury items), therefore the treats served during this period are deep fried. There is one type called “Castagnole di Carnevale” which translates to “mardi gras chestnuts” — donut holes. Also called “frittele.” Another fried dough is the “zeppole” which is a lump of fried dough.

The lasagne style fried dough are called “cenci” which means “tatters” as they look like tatters. There are other names for these (just there are many names for the same type of pasta depending on the region) including “frappe (commonly called this in Rome), chiacchiere, bugie, and guanti.”

Frittele, fried lasagne dusted with sugar.

As it is, Italians eat sweet things for breakfast. Many do not eat very much at all for breakfast. Some even considered the milk in their coffee to be breakfast…

Savory lasagne at my local.

While Italians eat lasagne all year round, it is served more during this “farewell to meat” period than at other times of the year. Another thing I noticed about lasagne in Rome is that it’s not very saucy, although during carnival it is meatier. Lasagna with an A at the end is one piece of lasagna. No one wants that!