Tag: hole in the wall

Where Have All the Hole-in-the-wall Places Gone?

M's Adventures
Taco Ssam surrounds the Pho and Grill place — they have a restaurant and take out on either side of the grill

Living in the DC area, I rarely go to a hole-in-the-wall. Even the famous ones are… famous. For example, Blue & White Carry Out in Alexandria is still a small “shack” but it is well known. And some say the prices are getting a bit too big for their britches.

Inside the grill. Lots of room.

Often, when invited to happy hours, the location is in DC, super crowded, and the appetizers cost $20. Recently, I went to a much less fancy happy hour. Actually there are two places, cantinas, in the Culmore strip mall. The one plays latin music at a slightly lower level. There were mostly guys enjoying a pail of 10 beers before going home… one guy was asleep on the table. But, no one bothered us.

Inside Taco Ssam.

The prices were good too. One place is called a grill and the other is a Korean taco chain (they have two locations). I’d go back. A the grill, they have pupusas from El Salvador and pho soup from Vietnam. No, it’s not like your Vietnamese grandma’s soup. But they figured that they could make a clear soup and their customers like it. America is a melting pot, remember?

Happy hour prices are a bit cheaper than the regular prices but not by much.

I’ll continue my search. Recently, I went to Table Talk, a local diner in Alexandria. It was really old school. But not a hole in the wall.

A Food Adventure in DC – Oaxaca Off the Map

M's Adventures

“Are you up for a food adventure?” YES!

The most photogenic dish - a tostada with chicken.
The most photogenic dish – a tostada with chicken.

While there are thousands of restaurants in Washington, DC, few of them truly transport you overseas with one bite of huitlacoche. Sitting around the card table at Taqueria Jugalita will make you feel like you are on an adventure. If you want to go too, here’s how:

1. “Atencion: Solamente Sabado y Domingo, 7 am A 7 pm”

2. Choose your teammates… exclude anyone who cannot handle sitting on a plastic chair in someone’s living room.

3. Cash only. BYOB if you want B. Otherwise, they sell soft drinks.

4.Go to 1445 Park Road, #211, Washington, DC 20010 (That block of Park Road is a tiny example of world fusion with Los Hermanos and a pho restaurant side by side). Ring on the doorbell, wait for the keys to be thrown down to you. Go up to apartment (do not take elevator as it may not work).

5. Try something “bizarre” like beef tongue taco, corn smut (“huitlacoche” – “wheat la coach eh” in my non-phonetic phonetic), or organ meat. Try the sauces on the table. The portion sizes are also “normal” so not as huge (for example, the quesadilla is about the size of a taco since it’s made from one home made corn tortilla — see photo below).

Two servings of quesadillas.
One pork skin quesadilla and one potato and pepper quesadilla.

6. Expect to pay $3.50 per taco (so $7 for a plate or around $14 for a meal). It’s not dirt cheap food and not as cheap as street food from a food truck.

7. Practice your Spanish. Enjoy.

This green "salsa" is spicy!
This green “salsa” is spicy!

Bangladeshi Mashup or “Bhorta” in Bangla

M's Adventures

Bhorta dishes.
Bhorta dishes.

Bangladeshi food includes these specialty which involves many dishes of mashed up vegetables, served cold, some spicy, and some saucier than others. There are also small dishes of fried fish, chicken, and it is all served with a plate of white rice. All the dishes are brought out and at the end, one pays only for what one has tried. There were so many different dishes from tomato salsa, eggplant, white root vegetable with green chiles, potatoes, taro root, red spinach, green spinach, and so much more. The whole of our meal cost under 500 taka ($5) and we only found this place because we went with a Bangladeshi friend. The restaurant is quite large once one has gone in through the “hole in the wall” doorway. I almost missed it entirely and kept taking photos of the wrong doorway. As always, thank goodness for local friends!

The doorway to the restaurant.
The doorway to the restaurant.