Afghan Restaurant

I had a Groupon to Afghan Restaurant, so we headed over there for dinner on Saturday night.

From the setup, it was obvious that the restaurant is also a very nice banquet hall. There was also a mural of what might have been buzkashi on the wall. We were given a table by the window, which was nice. The service was friendly and attentive. After I completely missed his joke due to exhaustion, the gentleman taking our order brought me a lovely cup of cardamom tea.

We started with the Boolawnee with leeks, which I forgot to photograph. It was a large, triangular, bread filled with tiny pieces of leeks and scallions. It was good on its own, but amazing with the accompanying cilantro-mint yogurt sauce. I cannot say enough good things about this yogurt sauce; I could have just eaten it with a spoon.

The first time I go to a new Afghan restaurant, I always order the same thing: the vegetarian sampler. Most places offer a version with rice or a version with bread, and I always choose the one with bread (mainly because you still get bread if you order the rice and that is a little carb-heavy for me). It almost always consists of spinach, eggplant, and pumpkin.

The serving was generous, but not extravagant. The sautéed spinach was served with a vegetable sauce and the eggplant and pumpkin were topped with yogurt. The spinach was very good, although I did add some more of the cilantro-mint yogurt sauce to it. The pumpkin was also good, but not the best I have ever had. However, the eggplant was absolutely incredible. It was perfectly cooked and the flavors were expertly balanced. It was definitely the winner of the night.

We were stuffed, so we didn’t try any dessert. But we will definitely be back again.

Evening Star Cafe

On a recent Sunday afternoon, Ian and I needed brunch, so we wandered around the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria until we found a little gem called the Evening Star Cafe. I adored this restaurant. For one thing, the decor was absolutely amazing. The colors were rich and the booths were snazzy looking. Plus, every light fixture was made of interesting items and erector sets. This is the one that was in our booth. I fell in love.

I am still smitten with this lamp. I just love things like this.

Not only did the place look awesome, but the food was also incredibly tasty. I had the spinach and mushroom quiche, which came with a side salad.

This was a very good quiche, with a buttery, flaky crust and a very spinachy filling. It had a good balance of egg to vegetable (heavier on the vegetable) in my opinion, which is very important in a quiche. The salad was dressed with a mustard vinaigrette that was absolutely to die for. I don’t usually gobble down a side salad, but this was an exception. Ian had a breakfast chimichanga and he really enjoyed it as well.

After brunch, we stopped at the Dairy Godmother down the street. Ian got a frozen custard and I had sour cherry and apricot-pistachio-saffron sorbet before continuing on our errands. It was really a lovely time.

Ted’s Montana Grill

Ted’s Montana Grill (website here) is another carnivore temple (see Red Robin) that actually treats it’s vegetarians pretty well. Although they are known for their dishes that feature buffalo meat, they make a pretty mean creamed spinach, and their roast asparagus is pretty tasty too. I also know a couple people who swear by their onion rings. They will also let you substitute a veggie burger for any of their burgers, although they do not discount the price from their beef burgers.

Veggie Burger with Blue Cheese (Ted's Montana Grill)

Also like at Red Robin, I ordered the Veggie Burger (I do eat them sometimes). As much as I like making a meal out of Ted’s excellent side dishes, I was looking for something a little more substantial. Although Ted’s menu has a dizzying selection of burgers to choose from, there are only a handful that don’t have bacon on them. I just wanted something simple so I got a cheeseburger, with blue cheese (it isn’t one of the options on the menu, but I asked and they said they could do it). The burgers at Ted’s come with lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickles on the side (I added everything but the pickles). The only sauce available was ketchup on the table (which I don’t really like on burgers), so I asked for a side of mayo (which was brought, eventually). What I really like about the veggie burgers at Ted’s is the bun; it is a dark wheat bun with oats and very tasty.

I ate half the burger, a few fries, and two onion rings (not pictured), which Ian’s friend Scott ordered as an appetizer. I really like the sauce that comes with the onion ring, which has horseradish in it, and had some with my fries as well the onion rings. I took the rest home to eat over the next few days, which was nice.

The Ted’s we went to is right next to the AMC theater at Hoffman Center in Alexandria, so we caught a movie after. It was really a nice evening, even if I was on crutches at the time.