DCDining.com Reviews

About once a year, I find myself in North Richmond not far from Henrico, and three times now, I’ve ended up at Umami, a tiny little family-owned coffee and tea shop, specializing primarily in teas.

The shop was decorated for the holidays, and I ordered an Iced Tea ($3.25), got out my computer, and went to work on their free WiFi. After about thirty minutes, the kindly proprietor came over, took my cup, and refilled it for me without even asking. This is not some junky iced tea either; Sabrina, the owner, knows her teas, and they are exceptional.

Wanting to support this wonderful little family business, I also bought a two-ounce packet of Jasmine Tea ($5.00) and an Infuser ($5.99). Even though you can’t make the journey down to Richmond every day, you can still support Umami by shopping at their online store – they have a large selection of quality teas, and I’m sure they would appreciate the business.

I hesitate to mention this, but Umami is also minority-owned, and I personally take great pleasure out of supporting small, diverse, family-owned businesses rather than simply walking into some corporate behemoth and buying a pack of tea bags.

This is a delightful shop, and one which I will continue to frequent when I find myself anywhere in the area. You can shop online with confidence, knowing that you’re supporting kindhearted people when you buy from Umami.

Coverage initiated in Italic in the Dining Guide.

Ray’s Hell-Burger, now being served at Ray’s To The Third, may not be getting the massive world recognition it was getting two years ago (think about the ramifications of this: The President of the United States and The President of Russia go there for hamburgers), but it sure seemed to be doing pretty well Monday afternoon, and if you look at the pin-board near the front door (‘Where in the world did you come from to get your Hell-Burger?’), there are so many pins on it, from so many places, that I’ll bet Michael Landrum wishes he’d made it ten times larger. 

I ordered about as simply as one can possibly order – an Original 10-Ounce Hell-Burger ($10.99), grilled, medium-rare, with nothing on it, no cheese, no side orders, and a glass of ice water.

Whatever Michael does to his hamburgers, I hope he never changes it. Essentially a ground up steak on a bun, it’s as good as I remember it being (I haven’t had one in over a year now). I added exactly one shake of salt (someone should start a specialty salt product called The Sheikh of Salt), and a dab of Gulden’s mustard on the plate for the occasional dunk, and that’s it.

Beefier than beef, Ray’s Hell-Burger remains arguably my favorite hamburger patty. Bone marrow and persillade is perfect with this sandwich, but that’s now a five-dollar topping. Even what I had, with tax and tip, was about $15.00, and with the bone marrow, it would have been over $20. This is a lot of money, but this is also a lot of burger. Delicious, and maintained in Italic in the Dining Guide.

On Monday, I jumped in my car and headed over to Caffe Aficionado, computer in tow – they have WiFi. Even though the streets were nearly devoid of traffic pre-Christmas, parking in Rosslyn was still nearly impossible. After about ten minutes of driving around, a car pulled out, just one block away – perfect! I paid for one hour forty-five minutes of parking, thinking that was going to be way too much time; I was wrong.

I was taken back by just how small Caffe Aficionado is. It’s a tiny little pillbox, but with the most perfect, minimalist decor you could hope for. It has several tables, and a bar running along the front window. Given the lack of (inexpensive) parking, and lack of seating, this can probably never be a “destination” coffee shop.

Unless, of course, you’re me because I plan on making Caffe Aficionado part of my regular routine, and I don’t care how much trouble it takes to get here. I’m going by memory on these prices which are close, but may not be exact.

I walked into an empty shop, dazzled by the interior design – the design of subtraction – and ordered a Cappuccino ($3.75). Gathered around the register was what might have been a family, with the most charming, polite young child helping the register. I gave a $10, and only took $5 back, wishing the child Happy Holidays. 

Taking a seat along the window bar, a couple minutes later, the barrista walked over and handed me the most *beautiful* Cappuccino. I walked up to the “fixin’s bar” – tiny, but well-equipped with everything from organic sugar to simple syrup – sprinkled a little sugar atop my Cappuccino, and nursed it for a good thirty minutes.

At cup bottom, there remained some froth which I quietly put to my mouth and skimmed off (the sugar was still on top of it), then decided I didn’t want to leave yet. So I went back up and ordered an Iced Chai ($3.75), handing them my $5, and putting the $1.25 into the tip jar (if I’m going to use their WiFi, I’m going to tip).

Again, the barrista came over with the most delicious iced beverage I’ve had in quite some time. It was so good that it scared me because it certainly wasn’t calorie-free, and I could drink about ten of these things. I forced myself to sip it s-l-o-w-l-y, again over the course of probably thirty minutes, as I worked and wrote. Wow did this drink hit the spot.

I’d been there a good hour, and still wasn’t ready to leave, so I went back again and ordered an Iced Tea ($2.75), this time adding a little simple syrup. Somewhere in this drink – either from the tea itself, or possibly from an infused simple syrup – there were some chai-like spices which added a nice undertone, and eliminated any bitterness from the drink.

After about ninety minutes, I decided it was time to move on, so took the rest of my tea with me. I should add that during this time, the staff came over and checked on me probably three or four times – making sure I was comfortable, pointing out the condiments, asking me if I needed anything – these are some of the friendliest people I’ve met in a coffee shop, or for that matter, anywhere else.

In the Dining Guide, restaurants are ranked by geographical location according to one very simple criterion: “If someone else was paying (i.e., if money were not an object), where would I want to be?” It’s a given that initial coverage of Caffe Aficionado is in Italic (this is not a close call), but can I really say I’d rather be here than Guajillo, or Ray’s To The Third? Can I rightfully place this at the very top of all Rosslyn restaurants when “all it is” is a coffee shop?

Well, I may change my mind after thinking about this some more (after all, it is *much* easier to run a coffee shop than it is a restaurant), but for now, Caffe Aficionado sits all alone, atop Rosslyn. Even if this ranking is temporary, hopefully it will draw attention to what is one of the finest coffee shops in the area. I love this place, and you will, too.

“Buz!”

<He looked at me, with that stare of panic we all have when you know someone but can’t instantly place them>

“Don Rockwell!” I said, to minimize that “awkward moment.”

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“What the hell are *you* doing here?”

I was in Henrico, and decided to head to the new Buz’s for a light lunch. I sat at the *wonderful* bar (if you haven’t been here, you’ll love it), fully stocked with beers and liquors that remind me Buz is a one serious connoisseur of cuisine, both high and low.

I broke my “6 PM Rule” and got an 8-ounce draft of Anderson Valley Winter Solstice Ale ($3.50), having asked my bartender for something on the maltier end of the spectrum. Note to self: search this beer out for home use.

Right before I got my bowl of Brunswick Stew ($5.99) is when I glanced up and saw Buz standing right in front of me, not even noticing I was there. 

“This stew is great!” I told him a few minutes later.

“That’s because I made it,” he said.

Buz, Matt, and I have been to dinner at Edo’s Squid before, and he (knowing that Matt was in town) asked me if he’d like a bowl of chili for the ride home. Sure! I tipped generously.

Later that afternoon, before our long drive home, I picked up Matt and he was starving and wanted some solid food. 

“Want to go to Buz & Ned’s?”

“Sure!”

So we went to the *other* one, downtown on Broad Street, for dinner. This kid was hungry, so we split a full rack of Pork Baby Back Ribs ($30.95) with baked beans and cole slaw (two sides are included). The ribs at Buz & Ned’s come pre-sauced which irks purists, but these were really great ribs, a cut above anything you can find inside the beltway. And both the beans (made with fatback and maybe some pork belly) and slaw were, refreshingly, more savory than sweet

So I have a beer for lunch, but not for dinner, and I go to two iterations of the same restaurant in one day. Odd!

Odd, and strongly maintained in Italic in the Dining Guide – for both meals. Every single item, lunch and dinner, was excellent.

I’ve now ordered online from Curry Mantra 2 about five times. I got my online receipt sent to my email at 6:08, with delivery promised at 6:50. 

They are now batting 1.000 at being late *every single time*, and not by a little; by a lot.

I ordered strictly tandoor items tonight because I no longer trust their stir-fry cooking. I’m praying that my food – if it comes at all – will not be dried out or whatever else they can do to screw it up.

The Curry Mantra chain needs shoring up badly. And I’ve ordered from Curry Mantra 2 at least 20 times, so I’m comfortable saying that.

Tonight is the final time – I’m going back to Haandi. And considering how *bad* I think Haandi is, that’s really saying something.

They’re now 25 minutes late. I suspect they’ll call, like they usually do, saying “we got lost.”

By the way, remember the cell number I traced to someone who was running a porn website on the side when I Googled the number (when they called me to tell me they “got lost?”)

Yep.

10 more minutes, and I’m calling to cancel my order. I’ve had it with this lousy chain.

—

ETA: it is now 7:357:45, I’ve called to cancel my order, and they’re not picking up their phone – if you let it ring long enough, it rolls over to a fax 

Downgraded in the Dining Guide.

BTW, it naturally dawned on me that Curry Mantra 2 probably didn’t open tonight because of the weather. This is a classic case of the straw breaking the camel’s back – I wish they had flipped whatever switch needed flipping to disable their online ordering system. The downgrade remains – I ordered from here a couple of weeks ago, and even Matt told me he’d prefer Haandi from this point forward. How is it possible for a restaurant to render such a poor rendition of Aloo Gobi that 80% of it gets thrown out?

Curry Mantra 2, for a few, fleeting weeks, had the best Indian food I’ve eaten in the DC area. Somewhere out there, at one of the three restaurants, may be lurking one hell of a cook. I hope if someone finds him (and it will be absolutely obvious if it happens), they’ll post about it here. Until then, I think I’m done with the Curry Mantra chain – okay, maybe their tandoori paneer which, to me, has been fantastic 100% of the time, but it is so, so expensive – $16 for a skewer of baked cheese. Still, I could eat it every day.

Anne-Marie made me two Shepherd’s Pies yesterday because Matt was having his wisdom teeth removed today, and she and Michael saved them for me until today. 

I’m having half of one right now, and it’s just as good as it was before. This is *great* Shepherd’s Pie, and I’m pretty sure it’s the only good Shepherd’s Pie I’ve ever eaten.

Yes, it would be better still with ground lamb instead of ground beef, *but* that is the only thing that could possibly make this any better.

I don’t know about Backyard Barbecue’s business model, but I can tell you one thing: they are to Shepherd’s Pie what Mockingbird Hill is to Sherry, what Pupatella is to pizza crust, what Sushi Taro is to sashimi, what Pure Pasty Co. is to the Pasty – Backyard Barbecue’s Shepherd’s Pie is so far-and-away better than anyone else’s is, that there’s simply nothing to compare it to.

The problem is: it’s not on their regular menu, and I have to ask: WHY? This is the one thing here that’s Best In Class, at any price. Yet, it’s a rare and fleeting occasion when it becomes available. It is legitimately great. Anne-Marie, could you chime in, and answer why it is you don’t make 50 of these a week, and sell them for $20 each? Granted, that would be a bit pricey, but knowing how good they are, *I* would pay $20 for one. Others wouldn’t, and to sell to the masses, you might have to price them at $14.99.

Would you consider it? If you want lines out your door, you’ll specialize in this one item. The day you do, is the day you get a LOT of publicity from me.