Food Pics of the Week (FPOTW): Mariscos 1133

Mariscos 1133 (***)

1133 11th St NW Washington, DC 20001

Last weekend, we hit up Mariscos 1133 - a seafood spot in DC for brunch. It's kind of interesting because I don't really think seafood (for the most part) goes with brunch/breakfast. The place was just ok for me. It wasn't bad, but I think I would prefer to dine there for dinner rather than brunch.

Oysters al Carbón con Crabmeat and Ceviche

Left: Oysters al Carbón con Crabmeat - I'm not really sure why they didn't keep the name all in Spanish or in English. LOL, I had to triple check to ensure that I typed carbón (charcoal) and not cabrón (a male motherfucker or bastard). This dish was interesting because I really didn't think parmesan cheese and grilled oysters would work out. Strangely enough, the dish was quite tasty. It probably was the best dish of the afternoon.

Right: Ceviche - This was very meh because it was a bit too 'soupy' for me. Maybe this type of ceviche popular in Mexico.

Seafood Huevos Rancheros

What a hearty dish that is great for someone who is always in a constant state of hangry. The ranchero sauce was absolutely amazing.

Pisco Sour

LOL. I joked with the server saying that he served the drink in the wrong orientation. I assume the drink was supposed to be placed in a way so that I would see an M instead of a W. Now, is the M because the restaurant is named Mariscos 1133, because the restaurant is on the corner of M Street, or both? ;)

Food Pics of the Week (FPOTW): Hook & Reel Cajun Seafood

Hook & Reel Cajun Seafood & Bar (***)

11006 Veirs Mill Rd L 10 Ste 10 Wheaton, MD 20902

EAT, SLEEP, CRACK, and REPEAT

It seems that in these mid-Atlantic region parts we are supposed to send away the summer with crabs. Keeping in line with the traditions of our new state, the hubby and I hit up Hook & Reel to crunch on some crabs during Labor Day weekend.

We’ve dined at Hook & Reel, but we only had the seafood boils (and cocktails) instead of crabs. Although I grew up in the mid-Atlantic region (Virginia Beach, Va to be exact), it feels weird eating crabs in a restaurant. Back in the day, my family would order bushels of crabs from our local seafood market, either steam them at home or have the market steam them, and eat the crabs in the backyard. Since eatin crabs is super messy, I feel more comfortable eating them at home . . . mainly because I don’t have to follow restaurant norms in the comfort of my home (or backyard). Also, I can wear very crappy clothes at home (instead of out in public) since I probably will make a mess. I had to LOL because a couple eating at a table next to ours was dressed to the nines. Since they didn’t want to mess up their clothes, they put on ponchos to chow down. I understand that they didn’t want to mess up their clothes, but I don’t understand why they didn’t dress down to enjoy their Hook & Reel experience. All of that said, I can understand why some folks might prefer to crack some crabs in a restaurant, because you don’t have to worry about cooking and cleaning them at home.

Like always, our Hook & Reel experience was quite wonderful. Unfortunately, we could not get a couple of seats at the bar (our normal spot) to eat our shellfish. From previous experiences, eating at a bar is a bit more efficient because it’s easier to get the attention of bartenders than the service staff.

The interesting thing, I think Hook & Reel is kind of a local hangout. I guess it’s one of our local hangouts too ;) During all of our Sunday visits, we have spotted the same group of 4 to 6 people having drinks at the bar. It’s funny because they rarely order food. They order drinks, catch up with each other, and watch whatever sports game is on TV. Since this restaurant is in a large shopping center/mall, I wonder if these folks chill at the Hook & Reel while their wives/partners are shopping.

Food Pics of the Week (FPOTW): J. Hollingers Waterman’s Chophouse

J. Hollingers Waterman’s Chophouse (***)

8606 Colesville Rd Silver Spring, MD 20910

I think hubby and I have found our local happy hour spot for the following reasons:

• A generous happy hour, Tues – Thurs 4-9 pm and Fri – Sat 4 – 7 pm

• A nice selection of happy hour food and beverages starting at $5.

• $1 oysters – you know I love my oysters

• Diverse clientele

• Friendly staff

For our dining pleasure, we went with a roasted beet and burrata salad, fried calamari, and mussels, Of course, we did mussels since it's a part of the restaurant's name.

For our dining and drinking pleasure, we had delicious gin tonics (I had a couple of Manhattans too), a dozen oysters, lamb meatballs, and ceviche. With the exception o f the ceviche, EVERYTHING was amazing especially the meatballs. The ceviche wasn’t bad, but it tasted more like guacamole with some shrimp.

While the food and beverages were great, I really enjoyed the diversity in the bar’s patrons. Often, I have to deal with the fact that I will be the only Black person in many places. However, J. Hollingers had folks of all colors, sizes, and shapes. The only downside: I wish it was in walking distance. Looking at Google, commuting to the spot is 1 hour on foot, 26 minutes by bus, and 9 minutes by car. Oh well, can win them all. 

FOOD PICS OF THE WEEK - Saltine

Saltine (***)

100 E Main Street, Norfolk, VA 23510

Before going to see Come from Away for “Broadway in Norfolk”, the hubby and I decided to stop here for some wedding anniversary bites. The funny thing: the plan was to have some oysters as an appetizer, then go to another place for light dinner. However, we enjoyed Saltine so much that we decided to stay until it was time to walk to the show. Everything was pretty amazing, and Saltine definitely is now cemented on our list of Downtown Norfolk happy hour spots. I love when you take a ‘risk’ on culinary delights, and it works out. Let me clarify. We have a main happy hour spot in the area (Todd’s Bistro) that is amazing. Sometimes, for me, it can be tough deciding on going to a place that I know will be amazing or taking a risk to check out an unknown spot. This time, the risk worked out for us.

THE FOOD:

We did more of a tapas-style tasting for a couple of reasons. 1. We were going to check out another place for some bites. 2. When I have a large pre-dinner meal before a show, I tend to fall asleep. Ok, so it’s probably the wine and not the food. BUT, I think (and will die on that hill) the large meals (and a cool, dark theater) also contributed to catching some Zs during a couple of shows.

From left to right:

• Raw Oysters: Perhaps, folks in the area do not really like raw oysters compared to fried oysters because we were shocked (and somewhat concerned) that Saltine had happy hour oysters for only 75 cents!!!

• Shrimp Ceviche: Great dish; however, I’m still not sure if I liked that it was served with pork rinds. Seems like the epitome of oil and water.

• Fried Calamari: This was amazing with the exception of the parmesan cheese. I’m team you don’t need to add anything to calamari. The dish was not gross; my tastebuds just were not used to having calamari with cheese.

• Fish Dip: This will be my go-to dish.

Random THOUGHTS:

When we first arrived at the restaurant, I have to admit that I was a bit apprehensive because I was the only Black person in the restaurant aside from a couple of employees. However, that changed once time passed, and we moved deeper into happy hour. Sometimes, as a minority, you wonder if there is a particular reason why you are the only person who looks like you in certain places. At first, I thought it was a bit strange because the clientele of our go-to spot, Todd’s Bistro (which is a block away from Saltine), always has a nice mixture of folks of different races/ethnicities. Although we ordered the oysters and a couple of glasses of wine upon sitting at the bar, I immediately went to Yelp to see if there were negative reviews that mentioned anything about racial discrimination. Fortunately, there were not. #PHEW.

FOOD PICS OF THE WEEK - The Atlantic on Pacific

The Atlantic on Pacific (***)

3004 Pacific Ave., Virginia Beach, VA 23451

Since the hubby had the day off, we hit up The Atlantic because we were feeling fishy (or rather, “shelly”). An old friend from high school recommended the spot, and I am so glad that we took her up on her suggestion. The place is awesome because they have a very generous happy hour, which has $1 for all types of oysters and some pretty cool cocktails from $3 to $8. The only drawback to this deal is the restaurant’s happy hour is from 3 to 6 pm. I guess this makes sense because the restaurant is located on Virginia Beach’s Oceanfront, which is very popular with tourists and locals. I guess if you are already in that part of town, you probably have the day off or took an early day. Note: that these pics are just a taste (no pun) of what we had.

Our nibbles from left to right: 1. Fried Oysters 2. Oyster Chesapeake (mushrooms, garlic, and fontina) & Roasted Oysters with chili butter; 3. Oyster Rock (bacon, parmesan, cream cheese, bread crumbs, and spinach); 4. Raw Oysters; 5. Hushpuppies; and 6. A few glasses of white sangria to wash it all down.

Because of the yummy and multiple varieties of oysters, I have a feeling that the Atlantic will definitely go on our favorite restaurants list.

FOOD PICS OF THE WEEK - Oyster Time

We have TWO restaurants for this week's Food Pics of the Week.

The Rustic Spoon (***)

1658 Pleasure House Rd Ste 101, Virginia Beach, VA 23455

The hubby and I hit up this spot for a late breakfast on his birthday. Last year (or was it the year before last?), we visited this place right before driving from Va. Beach to NYC because the restaurant is on the way to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunel (US-13). This visit was a bit better (for me, at least) because I did not have to worry about driving for the next eight hours.

For my dining pleasure, I enjoyed the Fried Oyster Eggs Benedict.

I have a feeling that The Rustic Spoon will be one of my favorite go-to spots for brunch because everything always has been on point . . . at least for the last two visits.

A small LOL moment.

Since it was the hubby's birthday, I secretly asked the waiter to bring out a slice of carrot cake after our breakfast. In the middle of our brunch, the waiter came to the table and told us that the computer "lied", and the restaurant did not have any more carrot cake. UMMM DUDE! It was supposed to be a surprise. Since it was not a big deal, the hubby ordered an apple bread pudding. About 15 minutes later, the waiter came back to the table to tell us that the computer "lied" again, and the restaurant did not have the other dessert. Sounds like the restaurant needs a new computer. ;) All was not lost because the manager gave us two desserts (a strawberry cake and some chocolate Oreo cake) on the house.

Orion's Roof (***)

4201 Atlantic Ave., Va. Beach, VA 23451

After our massages, we hit up Orion's Roof based on a friend's recommendation, and I have to admit that I was quite blown away by this restaurant.

Or course, we started off with a round of oysters for appetizers. Then split quite a few sushi rolls. I wanted to try a few more things from the menu, but I was still kind of full from breakfast.

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Normally, I 'm not a huge fan of rolls with a whole bunch of frills (just give me rice and ONE fish), but I gotta say that I ABSOLUTELY loved the restaurant's Triple Spicy Tuna Roll (spicy tuna, black pepper tataki tuna, red onion, serrano chili, cilantro, and ponzu). Man, I could have eaten six of these.

In addition to the yummy food, the restaurant has amazing views of the Va Beach Oceanfront. . . Well, with the exception of the construction at the hotel next door.

FOOD PICS OF THE WEEK - The Mermaid Inn

The Mermaid Inn (***)

570 Amsterdam Ave New York, NY 10024 (Upper West Side)

The other day, the hubby and I had a craving for raw oysters. Well . . . it was I who mainly had the craving. We came across The Mermaid Inn because it was the closest restaurant to us in Harlem that had raw oysters. The hubby did not want to risk eating raw oysters in any of the restaurants in our section of Harlem. To be perfectly honest, I don't blame him. As your resident hater, I will say that I absolutely LOVED The Mermaid Inn. It's funny how you always find great restaurants when you are about to leave a city.

First, the restaurant had a pretty amazing happy hour menu. Well, pretty amazing for New York City standards.

Oysters and Salmon Tartare

Fried Calamari & Hushpuppies

I have to say that these hushpuppies were the best that I've ever eaten in NYC. From my previous experiences, I find that many restaurants tend to make hushpuppies too dense. I mean, I want to eat a hushpuppy, not a billiard ball.

For sh*ts & giggles, I ordered the mini New England Clam Chowder because I was wondering how much clam chowder can you get in NYC for $3

That's how much. ;)

While the food was pretty delicious, I really enjoyed my Pink Flamingo adult beverage (gin, strawberry puree, lemon, and basil).

Usually, I'm a bit hesitant with bright drinks (unless I'm on a beach) because they tend to be unnecessarily sweet; however, this cocktail had the right amount of tartness for me. Keep in mind I'm the type of guy who orders his mojitos without sugar. Upon hearing this request, some servers will be like "So, you just want rum and muddle limes + mint in a glass?" To which I always respond "YUP!"

Although we're leaving the city in eight days, I know where I want to eat during a future NYC trip. You know what? Maybe this will be the restaurant where I'll have my post-NYC Marathon dinner (it's only about 20 blocks from the finish). Thinking about it, visiting NYC in the future will be interesting because we will not have to do (or will not be interested in doing) all of the touristy things (eg Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Empire State Building, etc.).

FOOD PICS OF THE WEEK - Mission Ceviche

Mission Ceviche (***)

1400 2nd Ave, New York, NY (Upper East Side)

It’s time for some FISH. . . . Well, kinda.

The hubby was having a craving for raw fish that was not sushi so we headed to our nearest ceviche spot. We’ve been here a few times and have not had any issues or complaints. However, I feel like the place is becoming more overpriced as time passes. More on that below.

Of course, no excursion to a ceviche spot would be complete without a couple (well, a few) rounds of pisco sours.

Slight rant:

Due to the pandemic, I understand that menu item prices are increasing so I’m not complaining about this issue . . . for the most part. While I get that one should expect ceviche to be a bit up there in price, I kind of feel like this restaurant is doing too much. Actually, I am not complaining about the ceviche prices per se, because no one wants to eat bargain-basement raw seafood. *I learned my lesson after eating at a 2-4-1 sushi place back in the early 2000s.* But, the prices of some of the restaurant’s non-ceviche menu items are a bit outrageous.

For instance, the Aji de Gallina (shredded chicken breast in a yellow chili sauce) was about $35 for a relatively small serving. We also ordered a side of yucca fries (not pictured), which were about $19. You should have seen my face when the small plate came out with five goddman fries (about the same size as your typical steak fries) on it. To be perfectly honest, I was already a bit annoyed that one side was $19 bucks. I guess that restaurants (like any business) have to mark up prices so they will make a profit, but I think there’s a difference between making an honest profit and price gouging. Then again, the restaurant is located on the Upper East Side (UES), which is a pricey part of NYC so I get it . . . I think. Yes, the UES is in a somewhat posh part of town, but it’s not like the restaurant is located in TriBeCa or SoHo. For the most part, I know how the game goes on the UES because I used to work in that area for about 5 years during my 20-year tenure in NYC. Let me stop complaining bc the yucca fries probably would have been $25 bucks had the restaurant been located in TriBeCa or SoHo.

Ranting aside: I will say that the restaurant’s service was pretty on point. No wait, the service was TOO on point. It seemed like the waitresses were constantly trying to take our plates before we finished eating our meager servings. In the restaurant’s defense, it is a popular spot (probably because there are so few ceviche restaurants in the city) so I guess they like to get customers in and out. I was like: Damn, Girl. I was going to order another overpriced pisco sour, but I’ll pass since y’all trying to kick us out.

The next time that either one of us wants ceviche (unless we are in Perú), I’ll just sprinkle lime juice on some sushi or sashimi.

A LOL Moment: A couple of ladies were seated next to us. One kind of sassy lady asked the waitress: so how does this work? Thinking to myself, I was like: what’s so confusing? Take a look at the menu and order what you want. It’s not rocket science or as one of my friends says – it’s not rocket surgery.

Food Pic of the Week

Cap’t Loui (***) 

3147 Broadway, New York, NY 10027

At this point, I probably should be saying “food pic of the month” instead of “food pic of the week”. That said, I will try to update this thing more often with yummy food pics. Because of the pandemic, it has been difficult to try out new food spots around the city. Since things are beginning to open up (a little too fast for my liking), I think that I will be able to update this blog more frequently.

Have you ever pass a restaurant on multiple occasions and think to yourself that you should try out the joint? A couple of weeks ago, Cap’t Loui was that place for us. To be perfectly honest, the hubby and I were going to have ramen at another spot about a block away from Cap’t Loui. Before going to the ramen place, I was like screw it, let’s do to Cap’t Loui.

Man Oh Man, I’m so glad that we went to Cap’t Loui because it was AMAZING. Long story short, the restaurant is pretty much a New Orleans-style seafood boil spot. You pretty much will pick a boil and select 1+ seafood options (crawfish, shrimp, crabs, etc.), a sauce, and any extra fixings. For our boil, we went with shrimp, mussels, corn, potatoes, garlic noodles, and sausage. Since I spent my undergraduate years in New Orleans, I guess that I was supposed to select crawfish as one of the seafood options. Under normal circumstances, I would have gone with crawfish, but I was EXTREMELY hungry and did not have time to fiddle around with crawfish. Sometimes, I find getting to the meat of crawfish takes too much effort for a little reward.

One tip: Wear clothes that you do not care about messing up because the food will be quite messy (especially because of the butter sauce).

Although I did not relive my memories of New Orleans through crawfish, I did relive my time in New Orleans years through a Hurricane cocktail at Cap’t Loui.

In my opinion, I found my Hurricane WAY too sweet. Maybe Hurricanes are supposed to be really sweet, and I never really noticed the sweetness as a 21/22 year-old. Let me stop lying about the 21 year old thing, I probably had a few Hurricanes as an 18-year old freshman. If memory serves me correctly, I think Louisiana (or maybe it was just New Orleans) raised the drinking age from 18 to 21 a couple of years before I started college so many bars in New Orleans were pretty lax in serving underage folks. Yeah, I think it was the state because Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) successfully lobbied to withholding federal funds for Louisiana unless the state raised the drinking age.

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Food Pic of the Week - Get out Edition

The Pisco Y Nazca (***) 

1823 L St. NW, Washington DC 20026

The hubby and I needed to get the heck out of Dodge for a couple of days. By “the hubby and I”, mean me. Also, by “Dodge”, I mean NYC. We decided to make a trip down to the Hampton Roads area of Virginia (my hometown) with a three-day “layover” in Washington DC. Also, it just so happened to be the week of our second wedding anniversary. During this trip, I have to say that we definitely had some good food, especially in DC. It felt like we were eating all the time. However, in our defense, pretty much all of the museums (with the exception of The Museum of the Bible) were closed due to the pandemic so we spent a LOT of walking around to enjoy the sights. Funny enough of the museums were going to be open the week AFTER our trip. According to my Apple Watch, we averaged about 15 miles of walking each day.

Since we were constantly in hunger mode from all the walking, I was so glad that we stumbled upon Pisco Y Nazca. Just in case you did not know, Peruvian food is one of my favorite cuisines.

We were both shocked by the amount of food included in the restaurant’s tasting menu. For $55, the tasting menu included: 1) a flight of pisco sours; 2) a flight of leche de tigre shot (shrimp ceviche), toston, and ceviche cremoso; 3) a causa sampler (crocante, tartare, pollo); 4) a choice between lomo saltado, pescado a lo macho, or chaufa de mariscos as an entree; and 5) pionono a la mode for dessert.

I gotta say this was the first time that I was completely full from a tasting menu. Actually, there was so much food that we had to ask our lovely waitress, Luz, to pack up our entrees and desserts to go. I will say that the pescado was not super delicious on the reheat. :(

I definitely have got to keep this place in my mental Rolodex for my next trip to DC.

Random thought about DC:

Growing up (middle and high school age), I never saw the lure of or excitement with DC. Maybe this was due to only relating DC with school. I do not know, but there must have been some rule stating that all Virginian school-aged children had to go on at least one field trip to DC every year. For that reason, I kind of thought that DC was a “boring” city. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know that politics is very important and exciting. As an adult, I absolutely LOVE visiting DC because of the historical and (now) social significance of the district. Since visiting Georgetown (as a potential graduate school), I’ve always had a good time in DC. By “good”, I mean AMAZING. Honestly, if I was not so stubborn in attending a graduate program in NYC, I probably would have attended Georgetown for my graduate studies. I wonder where I would be now had I gone through with that decision.

That said, I CANNOT wait until my next trip to DC.