Condimania Strikes 1100 13th Street!

This impressive collection of condiments graced the made-spare desk resulting from a departed (fired) co-worker recently, drawing an assortment of responses as varied as the collection. Claims such as, "wow! its like a restaurant!" were frequently made, and of course the petty pilferers had to be dealt with uncompromisingly. Look closely -- there's even a packet of Cajun Sparkle from Popeye's. Love that chicken!

Late Night Bloody

Pool Bar Bloody Mary as ordered by nary a mary.

Yeah, Pool Bar. Not it's real name but, then again, I don't know it's real name or the name of the Hotel it's in...Washington something or other. Fitting, since it's in my NATION'S CAPITAL.

Anyway, it's off of Thomas Circle around Mass and 14th, near the big church.

So, to it. The bloody, courtesy of diminutive bartendress mix-drink wizard, Sarah, was solid. Not too many flavors competing for attention, in a drink that always gets my attention. I recommend it for heading off that hangover-like feeling that can creep up on you before your brain wants to call it quits for the evening.

Or you pass out in the hotel bar bathroom.

On a somewhat related note, some dooshopotamus wanted me to post this recipe that's never been tried:

Pizza Bloody Mary

1/2 C. Don Pepino's Pizza Sauce
1/2 C. V8 juice
1t. chopped garlic
1 C. absolut peppar vodka
5 cocktail onions
ice
1 stick slim jim
ground parmesan

Rim (Ha! rim) a tall glass with the parmesan. Combine the first five ingredients and stir with the slim jim. Serve cold with the slim jim as a substitute for pepperoni.

Mongolian BBQ Downtown DC

First off I need to apologize, just got back from the Mongolian BBQ at Soho on 13th and K where the only stipulation is the food must all fit in the to-go container for it to cost $9.99 -- so it doesn’t really matter how many bowls you use for the raw ingredients, no matter how much they disapprove. I assessed the layout of the ingredients and utilized the dual bowl technique to fill up one bowl to the brim with 2/3 beef and 1/3 lamb, followed by a compacting cycle for 4 rotations. Probably got about 70 slices of the frozen meat slices in the bowl. Second bowl was for vegetables. Started the veggie bowl with a full layer of baby corn, arranged to lie flat and in one layer. I then added some zucchini to provide more structure, then built the pea pod fence around the edges of the bowl to provide a sturdy retaining wall. Then really piled on the mushrooms, I selected only slices, no quartered mushrooms b/c they are bulky and unwieldy on the tiny bowls, filled in the spaces with a mountain of bean sprouts, then encircled the bean sprout mountain with red pepper slices. The veggie bowl was stacked a good 6 inches above the rim, the meat was about an inch but thanks to the 2 bowl compacting technique its appearance betrayed the quantity of meat compressed below.

OF COURSE we got some crap from the cook who said we couldn’t use 2 dishes, I responded that the sign says it must fit in one box and I know this will all fit, all while opening my wallet and reaching for a tip, then retracting it as he began to try to inform me of the rules. He then pointed out the 2 security cameras and begrudgingly put all the bowls onto the grill. He dumped on all the meat and veggies, and gave us a bowl back for us to make the sauce choices. Sauce selection was perfection, 4 scoops red chile sauce, 3 scoops Mongolian sauce, 1 scoop ginger sauce and a large spoonful of garlic. The cook changed his tune as the cooking progressed and asked if I wanted it all in one box, I said yes and presented him with his tip so he really crammed all the cooked food into one box. It was so bunched up it was pouring out of the edges, but it still fit in one, SUCCESS!

While going and getting a drink, the cook must’ve given the cashier some signals b/c as we approached her with a jubilant “Oops, sorry about that!” she rang up our order, then shot us a glance and threw the box on the scale which shouldn’t come into play with the “set-price” Mongolian bbq. She then signaled back to the cook “3” with her hand, indicating the item was 3lbs but we were still only charged for 1 portion. I hope they don’t change any rules, the price is already pretty outlandish and with the quality of ingredients, it’s impossible to use $10 worth of food in one box but I think we took it to the limit today and nearly got our moneys worth.

Ebbitt Express Brisket Platter and Chili

Went to Ebbitt Express for lunch. Got the brisket plate with a side of coleslaw and rice and a bonus round plastic container of hot pepper flakes, free for the taking.

The brisket itself was delicious and tender, and the authentic smokey flavor was impressive. Coleslaw was as almost as good: crisp, great taste (celery seed was key), and not swimming in mayo. I wish I could say as many nice things about the yellow rice, which was dry. At least some of the flavor was still there.

Overall, a good lunch experience from an expert in providing simple food at great prices. And the portions are always generous. Got your attention now, fatty?



This is some good chili....