DC Adventure

On a recent trip to Washington D.C., I got to try some really good restaurants in the Crystal City area — where our hotel was. We were there for the 2015 Native American Journalists Association conference. 

I flew in early and arrived early. I didn't have time for breakfast or lunch. As I checked into my hotel room, I asked the concierge where I could eat. He gave me a map of local restaurants and Kebab Palace drew my eye in. I had a mission when I learned it was a Middle Eastern restaurant. 

When I got to the restaurant, I noticed it was pretty small and a little dingy. I came to a sign on the red building saying "Entrance" so I went in. I found myself in a hallway with brooms and cleaning supplies. That didn't deter me. I walked in like I was a frequent customer. "It's OK, I come in the back door all the time."

It happened to be their lunch buffet time (at 2 p.m.). I did an inner squeal for joy as I looked down the buffet line and saw silver trays of basmati rice, qorma, biryani, kebabs, saag paneer and naan.  I filled up on those items, as you can see by the photo below:

For $14, this was the best thing I had in DC. I had double servings of the goat biryani, a stewed dish with spices. That was my favorite. The meat was a little fatty, but it was easy to separate the fat with my plastic spoon.

The naan bread was tough and kind of tasteless, though. I felt bad for throwing most of it away. My strategy was to sacrifice the bread so I can fit more tasty things. The rice was tasty and I think it was flavored with some kind of meat broth. That's fine, it was delicious. But with my Middle Eastern dishes I like a plain, tight basmati rice. This rice was not that tight, it was kind of soft. Middle Easterners know their rice. It's their science and magic. I've had some beautiful, delicious rice before and the rice at Kebab Palace was not at that level. It's OK, I can tell it was a different style and probably from a different country that I haven't tried before.

My sister and I headed out of Crystal City to Chinatown where every block was packed with Asian restaurants and good smells. At a random guess, we stopped at Tony Cheng's Seafood. This place looks like a Hollywood Chinese restaurant. I could imagine a gun fight breaking out at any moment or a bad drug deal going on in the back room. We tried the five-meat platter with vegetable fried rice, pictured below.

The five-meat platter included roast duck, shrimp, scallops, calamari, pork and chicken. Oh, that's 6 meats... It had a brown sauce that sort of got in the way of the meaty flavors. I loved it though. I was worried, at first, about all these meats being together and fighting over my taste buds, but they behaved themselves and were not cooked together.

I had the best steamed dumplings at Tony Cheng's. They're an appetizer that costs about $4 and you get six of them. Just try them.

We also had some Thai food at Urban Thai in Crystal City. Pictured in the forefront is the chicken and potato curry. The other dish is drunken noodles. Both were surprisingly refreshing. The curry was incredibly savory; a mix of sweet coconut milk and savory curry and Thai spices. I could eat that kind of curry for days. The fresh garnish of cucumber and red onion provided a welcome crunch and juiciness to the dish.

The drunken noodles were pleasantly spicy; very spicy. The noodles were very wide (I think they were cut up egg roll wrappers) and held a lot of spice and flavor from the chicken and stir-fried vegetables. There was a mix of smokey, grilled chicken flavor with sweet and salty tones from the spices. The basil leaves that were mixed in added a burst of basil flavor that soothed the high and low notes in this dish.

DC was an adventure and a tasty one. If you're out having an adventure in a different city, or obligated to attend a conference, go out and explore. Even if it's just one dish per day, make it something that you probably can't find at home. If you're near the sea, have some seafood, if you're in the desert, have some chile. When you go home, it's going to taste the same way it always did. (Then again, you're blessed if you live in a diverse city where the world is at the tip of your tongue.)

Burger King

I have eaten at a lot of restaurants since my love for food started about a decade ago. I've had cheap treasures, exotic ingredients, expensive cuts of meat and delicacies. I've eaten out of paper bags and on white table cloths. I crave for the tastes of certain parts of the world and I know how to satisfy myself in that way. I also know how to be adventurous and random.

I don't eat at fast food restaurants when I don't need to. I don't frequent chain restaurants if I can help it. I value a local experience at a table and on plates.

But there's one thing I keep returning to; one item that will always have a special place in my heart.

It's the Whopper from Burger King, and I'm not afraid to say it. I think every foodie has their favorite fast food item. They're probably ashamed of it, but they know they have those same cravings that I have for a good ole Whopper.  

You don't know how many times my boyfriend and I ended up at Burger King after 30 minutes of driving around town saying "I don't know what I'm hungry for. What do you want to eat?"

"I don't know. What do you want to eat?"

"Burger King."

"Yes."

The Whopper is my favorite burger. It's my go-to item when I can't pin down exactly what I want to eat for a late lunch or an early dinner. It's what I want when I'm "starving."

The thing I like best is the burger paddy itself. It's the element that's most pronounced (as it should be. Some burgers get too busy or they taste too much like grease and fat). There's no special sauces or special toppings to distract me. The charred flavor is addictive. The bun is not too sweet or bready and it allows the meat to have the glory. The simple toppings of lettuce, tomatoes, and onions (I take out the pickles from all sandwiches and burgers) works perfectly with mayo and ketchup (although I ask for extra mayo sometimes). Millions of burgers are made this way, but there's something about the Whopper that gets me. The onions always taste the same. The ketchup tastes the same. The paddy tastes the same all the time. And the smell outside of the restaurant is mouth-watering. The sesame seeds add just a little nuttiness when you happen to chew one up. 

I've seen a couple of versions of French fries paired with the No. 1 and I think I like these thick ones the best. They're not my favorite, but they are a good partner to the sandwich. 

Commercials, ads and billboards featuring Burger King's new creations never entice me to change my order because the Whopper is perfect the way it is. Adding bacon, avocado, hot sauce or pineapples is needless. 

So, I give it up to Burger King. If I ever get lost in the wilderness or sentenced to death. I'm pretty sure I'm going to order a Whopper when I come back and before I go.