Wednesday, August 31, 2011

China Star


Spicy beef, beef tendon, and beef tripe.


Ma po tofu with ground pork.


Tilapia with spicy sauce (whole)


Make sure you ask for the "other menu" (Chinese menu). 


Dinning area.


Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Pho City


S4. Pho Tai, Gan - Beef noodle soup with eye round steak & soft tendon.


Pho toppings – Basil, bean sprouts, jalapenos, lime.


Dressed Pho.


C5. Com Tam Suon Nuong - Grilled pork chops on broken rice.


A2. Goi Cuon - Fresh spring roll - steamed shrimp, pork, vermicelli, lettuce & peanut sauce.


Fresh Coconut Juice.


Condiments.


Dining area.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Jaleo - DC


Pan con tomate y queso manchego - A toasted slice of rustic bread brushed with fresh tomato served
with manchego cheese.


 Mushroom soup.


Ensalada campera - Salad of conserved tuna, fingerling potatoes, green beans, tomatoes and hard boiled eggs.


Gambas al ajillo - The very, very famous tapa of shrimp sautéed with garlic.


Datiles con tocino ‘como hace todo el mundo’ - Fried dates wrapped in bacon that you will want to eat every day.


Chistorra envuelta en patata frita - Slightly spicy chorizo wrapped in a crispy potato.


Butifarra casera con mongetes ‘Daniel Patrick Moynihan’ - Homemade grilled pork sausage with sautéed white beans.


Lomo de cerdo con salsa de cabrales - Pork loin with roasted onion and cabrales sauce.


Calamares a la romana - Fried squid served with alioli.


Flan al estilo tradicional de mamá Marisa con espuma de crema catalana - A classic Spanish custard with ‘espuma’ of Catalan cream and oranges.


Espuma de chocolate negro con bizcocho de cacao y helado de avellana - Dark chocolate mousse with a cocoa sponge cake and hazelnut ice cream.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

amuse


Small batch gin and tonic (Hendrick’s Gin / house recipe lemongrass, cardamom, and allspice tonic / lime twist)


House made blueberry bread.


Scotch Egg / Charred Yellow Tomato Sauce / Fillo Nest.


House Smoked Sockeye Salmon Blini / Black Caviar / Red Onion / Sour Cream.


Grilled trout / Watermelon quinoa salad with candied pecans / Arugula pesto.


Seating


Bar.


Sign.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Secco Wine Bar - "A Taste of Carytown" Restaurant Week

Secco is a well known hot spot in Carytown. It shares the same store front and owner as its neighbor, River City Cellars. The long and narrow restaurant has an European/Japanese ambiance with simple and casual decor.
   

Cheeses were nicely presented on a bamboo cutting board.  The goat's milk cheese had great aroma with soft and creamy texture like melted butter. A semi hard cheese with pepercorns had a creamy texture which matched well with the sweet red onion preserves.  Finally the blue cheese was salty and matched well with the sweet plum preserves.


Charcuterie, Olli Salametto Calabrese, Olli Prosciutto, Olli Sweet Coppa.  The Calabrese was spicy with a nice chewy texture.  The Prosciutto was mild with creamy fat marbling.  The Coppa was meaty with peppery spices. All of the charcuterie were locally sourced and sliced perfectly.


The bread was crispy without being hard.


Chilled olive wood smoked rock shrimp, charred corn, lime, tarragon, sea salt.  This was my favorite dish of the night.  It was visually amazing and tasted fantastic.  Shrimp were smoked perfectly with a nice light crunch.  The texture and sweetness of the charred corn paired perfectly with the shrimp.  The creamed corn sauce glued all of the ingredients together while the lime and tarragon brightened up the dish.  And finally the use of seasoned corn silk was brilliant!  I've never eaten the silk before.  It had a nice spicy flavor and was visually striking.


House-made ricotta and rapa agnolotti with sea urchin butter sauce and Aleppo toasted bread crumbs.  The little pillows of agnolotti were fresh and cooked al dente.  The rapa filling was very earthy with a spinach like flavor.  The toasted bread crumbs added a very nice crunch and spice to the dish.  The flavor of the sea urchin butter sauce was on the light side.  I wish I could taste the sea urchin more.


Hazelnut encrusted pork tenderloin, tomato and fig confit, house-made labneh, fresh herbs.  The tenderloin was cooked to perfection, still juicy and tender.  The crust was very mild but added a nice crunchy texture to the loin.  The lebneh cream had a yogurt like tartness that went well with the pork.  The texture and flavor interplay of the confit tomatoes was very interesting.  It had a soft cooked tomato texture but tasted like fresh raw tomato. I did wish there had been some sea salt sprinkled on top of the loin during plating.
  

House-made chicken liver pate, pickled cherries, anise, pine nut sauce. The liver pate was very high quality with a smooth and creamy texture.  The fennel fronds added texture and a liquorish flavor to the pate, not to mention it was visually amazing.  The pickled cherries were very tart which served as a great palate cleanser between each bite of the rich pate. The anise pine nut sauce didn't really contribute much to the dish for me.  The flavor of the sauce was too mild to pair with the rich pate and tart cherries.


Pistachio bombolini with peach pastry cream.  Freshly fried with nice dough to sugar ratio.  I did wish there had been more peach cream piped into them.


Chocolate-eggplant ganache, fresh berries, whipped basil sauce. The whipped basil sauce was very fragrant and it really dominated the dish's aroma.  The eggplant added more texture than flavor to the granache.  When eaten together, it was sweet, salty, earthy, and refreshing.


They also had a small but interesting selections of beer.  I also liked how they served them in the proper glass.


Overall I was very impressed by the food at Secco.  All of the dishes had amazing presentation with great colors, composition, and preparation.  The service was great and price was reasonable ($25 per person).

2933 West Cary Street Richmond, VA 23221-3515

Rating: ●●●●○