Mmmmmm

I’ve spent more money in DC on eating than I ever did anywhere else I’ve lived. In defense of that, DC is also the first place I’ve ever lived and had a full time job. So take that with a grain of salt. Having said that, I’ve also eaten some really good, really cheap food as well; the falafel at Amsterdam Falafel House is worth the pain of having to sit outside on the steps eating it. Actually, I guess that’s sort of the charm.

I like eating good food and I’ve realized why so many nice restaurants have smaller servings. When you have a nice meal, it isn’t always about getting a huge serving of one entrée, but about getting lots of smaller servings of various flavors that are all coordinated together.

The following are some of the restaurants I’ve enjoyed most, recently…

Jackies (Silver Spring):

Dinner for 2: 1 drink, 1 appetizer, 2 entrees, 1 desert, about $95.00 with tax and tip.
We left satisfied, and with good tastes lingering in our mouth.

I took Amon to Jackies for sort of a last hurrah as we get set for the upcoming wedding expenses. It was one of (was it THE) first restaurants I went to with Amon. We started off with mini burgers, called Elvis Burgers, that had a pimento cheese topping. I loved them, Amon took the cheese off and thought they were all right. I stuck with water, alas, but Amon had a cocktail called Jackies something or other, that was a raspberry flavored concoction with a frothy raspberry finish.

For our meal, I had rockfish that was seared and served with potato puree and spinach. Amon had a pork chop that came with sweet potato puree and apple sauce, I think there was something else on her plate. Amon was very pleased with the pork chop, though I preferred the flavor of the fish. It seemed odd to me that the pork chop should have a more subtle flavor than a white fish. For desert we had gingerbread cheese cake ice cream that was really tasty.

Matchbox (Gallery Place):
Dinner for 3: 3 drinks, 9 mini burgers, large pizza, about $60.00 with tax and tip.
We left stuffed, carrying leftover pizza home, and with a few neat matchboxes (one with cute matches in it and one with a notepad in it).

After Church Saturday Amon, Malcolm, and I went to one of our favorite pizza bars. Matchbox is a neat little brick oven pizza place sandwiched in one of those narrow little store fronts in Gallery Place. They have recently expanded and are open on Sunday, but they still have between a 30minute and 1 hour wait depending on when you show up.

They still hand us the menus but we never really look at them. The waiter (or more likely waitress) goes through the specials while we politely listen at which point we order the mini burgers and pepperoni pizza.

When you order the mini burgers make sure you are clear that you want them well done, unless you are ok with having pink ground beef in the middle of your burgers. Otherwise, the mini burgers are just this side of perfection. The buns are just crisp enough on the outside without being crunchy (for a bun that small I think that’s impressive). The meat is flavored very well, and the fact that you can eat the whole thing in 2 or 3 bites (come on, we’re trying to be polite here!) is fun. The mini burgers come with a heaping mound of fried onion strings that you can eat separately or put on your burgers.

The pizza is excellent. Good flat crust (traditional brick oven pizza), great sauce, magnificent pepperoni. It is spicy enough that I enjoy it, but not so much that Amon minds. As far as I can tell it’s her favorite pizza in DC.