Taste of Lincoln

I’m not allowed to say yet, but there is a new tenant going in downtown.  It will be located in the ground floor of the Arbor Day Foundation building on 12th and P Street.

I’ll post it here as soon as I’ve been given the OK, but I thought we could have some fun with guessing until then…

If you could hand pick a place to go in this location, who would you select?

Attended the Junior League’s annual “DISH It Up” event last night. It’s fundraiser they do where local chefs are invited to serve small plates/appetizers paired with a wine selection. The local eateries represented were: Venue, Billy’s, Dish, High Society Cheesecake, JTK, The Parthenon, The Peacock and Bread & Cup. Of these, I have only eaten at three of the restaurants so was very excited to check out the offerings. The event was quite full and navigating to the various tables proved a bit challenging, especially after consumption of two glasses of wine, but the food I sampled was very impressive. Pleasantly surprised with Bread & Cup’s offering which was an all day pork roast (from locally raised pork) with malted wheat, corn & pine nuts served on crostini. The pork melted in my mouth and absolutely blew my mind. It was so good that I checked out their web site and found the owner has his own blog: http://www.breadandcup.blogspot.com/
After participating in our blog, I appreciate his willingness to share his thoughts and experiences of owning a small, local restaurant. It’s pretty interesting stuff.
JTK had tuna tartar and a seared kobe beef on crostini. This was touted as being the best eat of the night. Unfortunately, I missed out on the kobe and am still a little disappointed.
Venue had a lovely presentation with a tempura battered seafood roll and their Hot Damn Shrimp (which I could eat for the rest of my conceivable life.) They had a hostess at the table explaining and plating the food. This was opposed to the guy at Dish’s table that stood and stared at me while I picked out my scallop on endive.
All in all, an excellent way to test out some places I hadn’t been.

It’s not worth restating that the city of Lincoln has plenty of “authentic” Mexican restaurants these days.  So when I had the opportunity to give Las Herraduras (1st and O Street) a try, I wasn’t expecting much.  I never went to the place that was there before, but it looks like they did a lot to the inside of the place to make it nice.  For what it’s worth, here is my take on the place:

The Good

• Probably the best salsa I’ve ever had.  Depending on your style, this is more on the saucy side instead of the chunky style some people prefer.  The chips were not stale and just the right amount of salt.
• The menu is huge.  I wanted to try something new, but ended up with the #21: Burrito La Herradura.  Basically it was a steak burrito with beans and rice in it.
• Service.  I was in a hurry and there only appeared to be one server over the lunch hour.  It wasn’t packed, but they were busy.  He did a great job taking care of us.
• American options on the kids menu.  My kids just don’t care for Mexican so it was nice to have the option.

Suggestions

• For the quality, I don’t mind paying a little more.  This is not fast food Mexican.  With that said, the markup on Italian and Mexican food is HUGE.  Even with the lunch specials, it was a little more than I want to spend.
• Along the same lines, the kids meals at $5.99 is well above average.  With my two kids, that means I’m $12 in the hole before I even order.
• Alcohol, or lack there of.  They are in the process of getting the applications submitted, but to get me there for dinner, I need a beer.

I’m a big fan of the “Not for Tourists” Guides.  They have them for a lot of the major cities and I have the editions for Los Angeles, San Francisco and now Washington DC.  They are almost a blog in book form and they give opinions on everything from restaurants to tourist attractions.  Some of them are quite funny.   I hope it benefits someone, but here is my restaurant review from DC.  My hotel was in the DuPoint Circle neighborhood, so obviously a lot of the entries are from that area.  I’ve also included the Not for Tourists Commentary.

J Pauls – Georgetown
This was a fun bar/restaurant that claimed to be one of the oldest breweries in DC.  I sampled some of their house brews and I was not impressed or disappointed.  As for the food, the east coast seems to be infatuated with “The Sliders”.  To me, this is restaurant marketing that allows them to give the appearance of more, with less of the expensive ingredients.  I had the pulled pork sliders and they were fantastic.  The only problem was, 3 hours later I wanted to eat the $4 Snickers in my room’s mini-bar.

N-F-T Take: Wanna feel like a pompous Georgetown loudmouth?  It’s kinda fun!

Bua – DuPont Circle
This Thai restaurant has turned me on to a new favorite.  I’ve always loved Pad Thai, but here I tried Pad Gai.  Basically it’s the same, but a little spicier.  By far this was the best place I ate at and in fact I went there twice.  Now I need to go chat with Blue Orchid here in town and see if I can get it locally.

N-F-T Take: The food far outclasses the décor, as it should be.

Kramerbooks & Afterworks Café – DuPont Circle
This was the most unusual place I went to and I’m thinking it would do well in Lincoln.  It’s split into 3rds.  1/3 Restaurant, 1/3 Bar, 1/3 Bookstore.  I went there on the recommendation of the hotel staff and it was definitely fun.  I had a great tenderloin sandwich with fantastic red beans and rice.  I didn’t make it back, but I guess it’s a hit on Friday and Saturday nights as they are open 24 hours.

N-F-T Take: Restaurant? Bookstore? All-night pancake joint?  A must-visit