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): Taberna del Alabardero

Taberna del Alabardero (***)

1776 I St NW, Washington, DC 20006

Since the hubby wanted food from his homeland, we decided to hit up Taberna del Alabardero in DC for brunch last weekend.

Boy oh boy walking into this restaurant really takes you to an old school bar/restaurant (i.e., taberna) in Spain.

Like most of our brunch excursions, we decided do brunch with bottomless cocktails. In additional to the $35 brunch (one starter and one main) menu, the restaurant offers bottomless red/white sangria, mimosas, and Bloody Marys (for an additional $18). Unfortunately, you have to stick to only one type of bottomless beverage. This was kind of sad because I wanted to have one rebujito – a typical beverage of sherry or white wine plus 7Up or Sprite. Oh well, next time.

Overall, the restaurant was amazing from the service to the food. However, I will say that the husband’s Spanish dishes that he makes at home are a little better. We had a lovely spread of food that included: huevos rotos con txistorra (eggs over easy with txistorra sausage), ensaladilla de atún (tuna & potato salad), patatas bravas (potatoes with a spicy mayo sauce), and pulpo (grilled octopus).

HA! I just realized that all of our plates were very potato-rich. I guess we can visit again when I need to carb-load before a half or full marathon.

The restaurant even gave the hubby a little treat for his b-day.

Random thought/question: Since this was a Spanish restaurant and the hubby has a Spanish name, I’m surprised they didn’t put Feliz Cumpleaños instead of Happy Birthday.

Since we were down to keep the party going, we decided to grab couple of scooters and hit up JR’s (on of our favorite LGBT post-Brunch bars).

Fortunately for us, we arrived right before the deluge of rain, which took out a few trees in the area.

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 - War of the Wings Festival

War of the Wings (***)

333 Waterside Dr., Norfolk, VA 23510

Winner, winner, chicken (wing) dinner. I was lucky to score a complimentary ticket from Costal VA Yelp Elite for this year's War of the Wings. From top to bottom, this was an excellent event. Ok, I will admit that I'm not a huge fan of food festivals. Well, I guess I wasn't a fan of food festivals during my NYC life for a few reasons.

• They tend to be a bit overpriced for the amount of food you get. I recall going to a food truck festival in NYC that was 35ish dollars. After 45 minutes, I left hungry and ended up going to a Thai restaurant a couple of blocks away. The next reason is why I left hungry and frustrated.

• These festivals tend to have massive lines for crumbs of food. Regarding the NYC food truck festival that I mentioned above: I tried to find the shortest line possible, I found it, waited for about 20 minutes, and was disappointed. Turns out the line was for goddamn doggie treats.

• There is rarely any place to comfortably enjoy the food. I guess I'm a little bougie when it comes to this, but I like to sit at a table to consume my food and beverage(s). What's the point of eating (and trying to enjoy yummy food) if you have to struggle to balance the food on all of your limbs while living in fear of dropping it?

• The Fyre Festival of Pizza in NYC. Seriously, who the hell is paying ~$75 to sample various slices of pizza?

However, I experienced NONE of these issues during the War of the Wings festival. For the festival, Coastal VA Yelp Elite provided us with a complimentary VIP pass, which included 10 tasting and 5 cocktail tickets, and access to a VIP "lounge". Depending on the vendor, one tasting ticket gave you 1-3 chicken wings. Based on my experience at the festival, I wouldn't mind dropping ~$35 for VIP tickets for next year's festival. I mean five cocktails alone probably will cost at least 35 bucks.

LOL, I think that I was doing the festival wrong because I used up most of my drink tickets before making a real dent in my tasting tickets.

Kwame S, multipass. Muuuuulllllltttttiiii pass.

The Food:

The festival had about 15 vendors competing to win the "war" on wings. Even Hooters was there, but I hope to God that they did not win. Of my tastings, I really enjoyed two vendors, but I'm not saying that the other ones were bad. I think the Koren fried chicken vendor had the best wings.

If they did not win the war for the best chicken wing. I hope they got an honorable mention for the nicest vendor.

I have to say that I was a bit disappointed with the peace cobbler wing from one vendor.

You know, what? I'll take it back. It wasn't a bad chicken wing; it just wasn't to my taste. I think I'm at an age where I'm not a fan of things that are sweet just for the sake of being sweet. If I want peach cobbler, I'll just get peach cobbler . . . I don't need my chicken to taste like dessert.

Speaking of taste:

I get that you want to have a unique chicken wing sauce, BUT you still gotta season the chicken. I noticed this lack of attention to detail from a few vendors. Y'all spend so much time adding 80 thousand things to the sauce that you forget about the main component of the wing THE ACTUAL CHICKEN WING.

Both of these wings (a chicken parm sauce and a soy, ginger sauce) were AMAZING

This was was interesting, because the sauce contained fish sauce. Actually, I think that vendor was more of a seafood restaurant than a chicken joint. However, I think the sauce actually grew on me as I nibbled (maybe pecked would be a better term) at the chicken wing.

Since I did not take too many pictures, I guess this wasn't much of an FPOTW post. There was a bit of carnage though. ;)

Although you cannot see my face, I was happy because there were plenty of spots throughout Waterside District to sit and enjoy the food.

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 - Jada Villa

Jada Villa (***)

353 Independence Blvd Virginia Beach, VA 23462

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a Lunar New Year-inspired Coastal Virginia (CoVA) Yelp Elite event at Jade Villa. From top to bottom, it was a grand event. While Hampton Roads, VA is not NYC, I will say that I have been impressed with the various culinary options that we have in our area. Maybe if these options were available, I might not have left the area in 1998 to pursue my educational dreams. I’m lying, Actually, leaving the area is one of the reasons why I’m now so experimental with my culinary delights.

Prior to attending this event, I had no idea that there were authentic Dim Sum places in the area. Actually, I think there are only one or two places. Most of our Chinese restaurants are more of the Chinese-American take-out spots where everything on the menu is $8.95 and comes with pork fried rice rather than authentic Chinese restaurants. Don’t get me wrong there’s nothing wrong with the Chinese-American take-out spots . . . especially when you are hungover. Another reason why I enjoyed this event: there was SOOOOO much food, and it was all very yummy.

THE FOOD:

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Unfortunately, I could not get a photo of all of the food because it was coming out so fast, but it’s the thought that counts. I think this is one of the few Yelp events (regarding NYC & CoVA), where I told myself that I’m coming back to this spot. As a matter of fact, I’m gonna ask the hubby if he would like to get Dim Sum from Jade Villa this weekend.

THE FOOD GENERAL YELP ELITE THOUGHTS:

This event was my third (or fourth) event with the CoVA Yelp Elite group, and I kind of prefer this group over the NYC Yelp Elite group. Don’t get me wrong, there was nothing wrong with the NYC Yelp Elite group, but the CoVA group is a more friendly group compared to the NYC group. Perhaps, it’s the Southern hospitality. Also, the CoVA group is a bit more diverse regarding age, race, and sex/gender. This observation is kind of interesting considering that NYC probably is more diverse than CoVA, and one would assume that this would trickle into social groups.

FOOD PICS OF THE WEEK - Tulu Seaside

Tulu Seaside (***)

4201 Atlantic Ave, Va. Beach, VA 23451

I guess almost every city now has Restaurant Week. The hubby and I checked out Tulu Seaside, and I gotta say that we both enjoyed the restaurant (not because it was Restaurant Week). While we had a nice spread of food, I cannot wait to return to try more things on the restaurant’s menu. To be perfectly honest, I was a bit more interested in the non-Restaurant Week menu items.

While we were fortunate to get a view of the Atlantic Ocean, it was unfortunate that the weather was kind of crappy.

THE FOOD

The food (left to right): Crisp Chicken Kofta, Adobo Pork Tenderloin, and No More Thym (some thyme-infused gin-based cocktail)

While everything was oh-so delicious, I will say that the Apple Fritter Bread Pudding was worth the 1000+ calories.

FOOD PICS OF THE WEEK - Bay Local Eatery

Bay Local Eatery (***)

72 Laskin Rd Virginia Beach, VA 23451

What an amazing brunch joint. This spot definitely is on the top of my list for weekend brunch excursions. The only issue: the place is super popular so wait times can be a bit long, and the place does not take reservations. Fortunately for us, we had to wait about 30 minutes for a table. You know how I am . . . I don't believe in waiting more than 45 minutes for a table. Actually, that was my rule for NYC dining. Perhaps, I might have to update this for my suburban life in Virginia.

Great Advice, Bay Local Eatery.

As some might know by now, I love Eggs Benedict, and I love oysters. . . so of course, my brunch dish was a combination of the two. Overall my dish was pretty delicious. Although the prep crew could have worked on the plating just a little bit. ;)

A slight rant:

Before I begin, this rant more or less is about dining in the mid-Atlantic region (specifically SE Virginia) and not about Bay Local Eatery.

Ok, I get that particular regions, states, and/or cities want their claim to fame in terms of cuisines. For example, N. Carolina and Texas, BBQ; NYC and Chicago, hotdogs and pizza; Southern California, fish tacos, etc. This region is known for crabs (and other shellfish delights) from the Chesapeake Bay, which is fine. BUT, here is what bugs me. Why do restaurants in the area have to put Old Bay Seasoning on EVERY GODDAMN THING?

Even in the picture of my food, you can see some Old Bay Seasoning on the lemon wedge. During brunch, my aunt and I were discussing this. I had to ask her to refresh my memory on whether this was a thing back in the day because I only remember having Old Bay Seasoning whenever we had steamed crabs. I never recalled seeing beverages with Old Bay Seasoning rims. Now, we have Bloody Marys, mimosas, margaritas, mojitos, and plain old glasses of water accompanied by Old Bay Seasoning.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO PUT OLD BAY SEASONING ON EVERYTHING because it really doesn't elevate the taste of eggs . . . or water.

Ok, rant over

FOOD PICS OF THE WEEK - Park Lane Tavern

Park Lane Tavern (***)

1250 Fordham Dr Virginia Beach, VA 23464

I came for a beer but stayed for the fish n chips.

I will say that enjoyed my experience at Park Lane Tavern, which is a British-inspired pub. The hubby and I had to lol for a little bit because the ceiling of the tavern has a huge painting of the European Union’s flag.

was like, I thought that the UK was not a part of the EU any longer. Perhaps, Park Lane Tavern did not get the memo, or they are hoping that the UK will rejoin the EU. Actually, maybe the physical vibe of the restaurant is British, but they have cuisines from other EU countries.

Anywho, on to the food. While we were deciding on what to eat, the waitress told us that the day’s special was fish n chips. Once I heard that I was sold.

I’m gonna say that this was the BEST fish n chips that I have eaten in a very long time. OMG, the fish was fried perfectly (ie the breading was not soggy as hell and the fish was nice and flaky) and the fries had just the right amount of salt on them. I’m glad that I gave Park Lane, as an establishment, a second chance. A couple of months before this visit, the hubby and I had brunch at the other location in Hampton. That experience was a hot mess for the following reasons:

• The food kinda sucked. I get really annoyed when restaurants screw up simple things like eggs.

• The Hampton location is way too large for the amount of staff they have. As a result, the service was very slow.

FOOD PICS OF THE WEEK - Mel’s Place

Mel’s Place (***)

5020 Ferrell Pkwy Virginia Beach, VA 23464

Nothing too fancy . . . or even near fancy with this entry.

At this point, I think Mel’s Place is our local watering hole, especially since most of the bartenders know our names. Mel’s Place was the first bar that the hubby and I visited when we moved to Va Beach back in July. We came here immediately after unpacking the UHaul truck because 1) it is within walking distance from the house and 2) I did not feel like driving that damn truck anywhere else for the next 24 hours.

Mel’s pretty much is a come as you are and no frills type of place. Oh yeah, the food . . . pretty general bar/pub delights. Also, I had no idea that Virginia still allowed smoking in bars as long as there is a non-smoking area that is closed off from the smoking area. It’s funny how the smoking area/room is a smaller room in most places. Nope, not at Mel’s. At Mel’s the smoking room IS the main room.

The picture below is from our visit after I ran 16 miles for the (virtual) Crawlin Crab Half and NYC Marathon Training long run. Normally, my go-to, post-long run meal is more on the brunch side of things (ie some sort of meal with eggs). However, I did not really feel like driving anywhere, and the hubby still does not have his driver’s license, so we settled on Mel’s.

Here we have a screwmosa (mimosa plus vodka), lumpia, and chicken waaaaaangs. If you eat anything at Mel’s, you gotta go with the lumpia. Hell, Mel’s lumpia tastes a bit better than the ones served at the Filipino restaurant a couple of miles down the road. Oh, lumpia is like the filipino version of spring rolls. Oh (part II), since we made this visit on a Sunday afternoon, the wings were only 50 cents for Sunday football.

Also, it was here that I learned that there is no such thing as the Washington Redskins anymore. Now, they are the Washington Commanders. Sorry, I only watch football during the Superbowl.