Week 16 - Belgium - Belga Cafe

Situated along Barracks Row on 8th Street SE is Belga Café, a Belgian restaurant lead by Chef Bart Vandaele. Belga offers authentic Belgian dishes to its Capital Hill clientele.

For starters we enjoyed the 4 Kazen Kroketten. These were four cheese croquettes with a strip of bacon and some salad. Very good, but when we asked a server with limited English what type of cheese was used, we ended up with a whole other order we didn’t want. Turns out the cheese was swiss, but not like swiss cheese as we know it. These lightly fried croquettes were creamy and delicious.

Next came Mussels Mariniere for me, a pot of mussels in a white wine, shallot, and garlic broth, along with Belgian fries and Belgian mayonnaise. (Yes, I dipped my fries in mayonnaise – sounds gross, but it was good.) My mussel pot was good, but would have been better as an appetizer. It became kind of repetitive to eat - not much variety in the flavor. The fries were top notch.

I mention the chef because he came to our table while we were dining. He wanted to know how we liked a special we ordered, a new dish that the chef said he was offering for the first time. It was corn bread waffles with pulled pork, topped with two fried eggs and avocado. It was very good, and the chef seemed pleased that were enjoying his new creation.

Another yummy meal under/expanding my belt...

http://belgacafe.com/

Week 15 Mexico - Mexican Radio

Gallows humor had infected our spirits as we thought about dining at Mexican Radio in Hudson, New York. We joked that this meal could be Dad's "Last Supper." Very early the next morning we would be checking him into Albany Med for a valve job and a bypass. So we were counting on this meal being terricfic. Mexican Radio didn't disappoint.

Mom, Dad, and I started our meal with their excellent maragaritas. Next was an order of fried calamari with a green dipping sauce. Not exactly typically Mexican, but we all agreed that the dish was the best example of fried calamari we'd ever tasted. Light, airy, and tender, the morsels of calamari were heaven. See the photo attached of the tiny octupus on the edge of the plate - even whole, the calamari were incredible.

We also tried the Mexican Spring Rolls, an intriguing take on the ubiquitous Asian appetizer. They were made of a savory fresh mix of corn, mushrooms, carrots, poblano peppers and cilantro rolled into rice paper with guacamole, and then served with a raspberry-chipotle peanut sauce. Another inspired dish that was unlike any I've tried.

Dad had enchiladas, Mom a Chili Relleno, and I had the carnitas. Mine was not an inspired selection - perhaps the pressure of the next day got to me. But we all enjoyed the meal, and especially the company.

Desert featured Mexican Radio's award winning flan - again, excellent - close to the best I've tasted. Rated best in the country by Latina Magazine, we had to agree.

Mexican Radio Hudson is the sister restaurant of New York City's Mexican Radio. Columbia County is lucky to have such a terrific eatery find its way to downtown Hudson.

Week 14 - Chile/Julia's Empanadas

So I've fallen behind in the fourth month of my dining quest. The posts are going to be shorter for now - I'll try and write more as we go...

Julia's Empanadas on 18th Street in Adams Morgan. This was my first time at this long time DC establishment popular with kids looking for a late night layer of food on top of pitchers of beer. They serve empanadas in paper wraps which make them easy to walk in and out with. I ate the chorizo and the Chilean I think at their window counter - I didn't take any notes at the time. Both were very good, and would definitely hit the spot after a fun night out.

(It's a stetch to call Julia's a Chilean restaurant... but one of their most popular is the Chilean. They make empanadas from all over Central and South America. Oh well...)