Lemony Zest :: Kim Lewandowski

Archive for the ‘Restaurants’ Category

On Wednesday, my weekly dinner group headed to the No Frill Bar & Grill on Colley Avenue for dinner. They’re having their annual February special – for each appetizer and dessert sold during the month, they donate $1 to the Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters, a very good cause.

So we go and pretend the appetizers are tapas – buy several and share Then share a dessert. It was good and filling, with lots left over. We had:

• Artichoke/cheese dip with pita bread
• Nachos with chicken – it was huge! Must have been 5 lbs. of food there!
• Bowl of beef and bean chili – they counted this as an appetizer
• For dessert, we feasted on the Chocolate Amaretto Sin Pie – essentially, a big truffle with a cookie crust and whipped cream – sinful indeed

So if you’re local, stop by the No Frill Grill and have a few for the children

We had a good crowd for the TNT dinner on July 17. We went to our favorite Mexican place – Tortilla West, on Orapax Avenue near Lamberts Point Docks. It’s more of an upscale Mexican restaurant – one of the waitresses told me they have trained chefs who like to do Mexican-inspired dishes rather than the typical Mexican. It seems to me that most of the Mexican restaurants around here use a version of the same menu – the same Speedy Gonzales Lunch #1 and so on – which are fine for what they are, but Tortilla West has their own delicious dishes.

So, to help us keep track of what we’ve tried and not tried, here’s what we all had that night:

• Barbara – Chicken Enchiladas Mole
• Kim – Fish Tacos
• Susan – Chicken Enchiladas Mole
• Martha – Chicken Fajitas – a very generous portion!
• Randy – Spinach and Goat Cheese Quesadilla
• Duane – Chicken Enchiladas

All declared their dinners delicious

On April 2, Barbara and I went to Imperio Inca, a Peruvian restaurant on 21st Street in the Ghent neighborhood of Norfolk. I love that place. It’s the only restaurant I know of in this area that serves ceviche as an entree.

Barbara had Lenguado a lo Macho: Grilled flounder topped with a Peruvian pepper sauce along with shrimp, calamari, mussels, and clams, and served with white rice. It was good, but a bit bland, so Barbara asked for some hot sauce. They have a green Peruvian sauce to spice things up – that helped a lot.

I put together a plate from three a la carte dishes: Leche de Tigre, a Peruvian fish ceviche cocktail; Papa a la Huancaina, or halved boiled potatoes served on lettuce and covered in a spicy Peruvian cheese sauce garnished with olive and a slice of boiled egg; and half a roasted chicken, marinated in Peruvian spices.

The ceviche was excellent – spicy-hot and tangy.

I liked the potatoes, too. They’re served cold with the spicy sauce on top – very good.

Didn’t get a good shot of the chicken. It tasted good, but I didn’t get any flavor of the Peruvian spices it was supposed to be marinated in.

Last Wednesday, our TNT dinner group went to a new Mexican place that just opened in November – Plaza del Sol, at 22nd Street and Colonial Avenue in Ghent.

It’s an interesting space. There’s a large patio up front, with tables for dining al fresco, and a bar and dining room inside. It has a two-story ceiling and attractive Mexican decorations on the walls.

The food was just okay, though. Barbara, Susan and I all had the chicken fajitas with a side of refried beans. Nothing special there. I like the beans better at San Antonio Sam’s because they mix in lime juice and top with cheese to give more flavor.

Jane had a bowl of chicken tortilla soup. It looked good, and had lots of chicken in it, but it was not hot when it was served. The manager took care of that right away – we appreciated that. We’ll probably go back and try something else, but right now it’s just – so so.

We went to see a Bobby Flay cooking demonstration in early March, which was lots of fun (I have a post about it in my drafts, I just haven’t finished it yet). The day before the demo, he challenged the owner of Wood Chicks BBQ, Lee Ann Whippen, to a BBQ Throwdown. So of course, we have to try the BBQ there. This is a reminder of where the place is, so we can check it out later this spring.

• Directions

Bardo is another favorite. It’s an Asian-inspired tapas place, so we get to have lots of little nibbles there. Great food. Here’s what Liz and I had a week or two ago:

• Buddha buns – ground pork and veggies steamed in won ton skins, with a soy -based dipping sauce
• Panko-crusted fried shrimp with sweet chili sauce
• Crab rangoon – fried won ton skins with a filling of what seemed like crab and cream cheese. Not one of my favorites, but something I’ve wanted to try.
• Edamame – soybeans steamed and sprinkled with sea salt.
• Chicken satay (Thai chicken grilled on a stick) with three sauces.
• Doughnut “dip sum” – three fried doughnuts with three dipping sauces – chocolate, peanut butter, and (if I remember right) raspberry. Dee-lish!