Annapolis: Lunch at Sam's at the Waterfront

On our way back from Delaware, we made a stop for lunch in Annapolis.  We don't know a ton about the city (probably because it's in stupid Maryland), but using some combination of Yelp, Google Maps, and a bit of chance, we stumbled upon Sam's at the Waterfront.  Sam's is randomly located at Chesapeake Harbour Marina.  We initially thought it would be in the downtown area of Annapolis (Ben thought of the Georgetown waterfront).  Oops.  In any case, we had a nice lunch.

This is the calamari with sriracha mayo. We always order
calamari as an app, and this mayo was extra special.

We started with the calamari, as is our habit (see our previous post).  We don't really understand why, though.  Ben wasn't a particularly adventurous eater growing up, though he wasn't picky - in either case, he steered clear of calamari until sometime after college.  Elizabeth was grossed out by squid as a kid, to the dismay of her parents.  She remembers one day when she went out to eat with her brother and dad; her dad ordered "onion rings" for the table and Elizabeth loved onion rings.  These were chewier than normal but still delicious.  When her dad told her that it was actually squid, she didn't believe him.  Tricky dads. 

In any case, now it's a staple for us when we go out, and this one was a winner.  The calamari itself was light, crispy, and well-seasoned.  But the sriracha mayo was the real hero of this dish.  It was tangy and sweet, and it had just the right amount of heat.  We have not yet attempted to make calamari ourselves (if only because we have it so much when we go out).  But when we do, we will definitely be trying to recreate the sriracha mayo.  We'll let you know how it turns out.

Elizabeth's first lobster roll.  Glad it wasn't at Quizno's.

For our entrees, Elizabeth had the lobster roll.  This was Elizabeth's first lobster roll, and it won't be her last.  Pretty much all of the seafood we had during our stay in the Chesapeake area was incredibly fresh and delicious, and the lobster roll was no exception. We're pretty sure that the lobster didn't exactly come from the harbor, but still.  Maybe they just have higher standards since so much good seafood does come from Chesapeake Bay.  Either way, it was a pretty good lobster roll.  The shoestring french fries were a hit as well.

This burger is so photogenic. Too bad it was overcooked -
more medium well than medium rare.

Ben ordered the Kobe beef burger (it was on special) with bacon, blue cheese, and sauteed mushrooms.  The flavors were all fine, but sadly, Sam's committed a cardinal sin in Ben's book - though Ben asked for the burger to be cooked to medium rare, they sailed clear past that, almost to well done.  Ben hates sending food back unless it's inedible, but his general rule is that he never orders that item from them again.  And if the same restaurant overcooks a different meat or other menu item, they are blacklisted.  It's a real shame too because, if the burger were cooked to medium rare, it would have had the potential for true greatness.

C & D

Rehoboth Beach: Dinner at Lupo di Mare

Cape May - a day trip from Rehoboth Beach.  Darn!
Forgot to take pictures of Rehoboth.

Spring break is upon us!  That means sunny beaches, warm temperatures, tropical beverages, and all the rest, right?  Well, we decided that, because of the unseasonably warm winter, we didn't have to head south to enjoy the sun, and as a result, we ended up in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.  Sadly, the weekend we were there was marred by chilly weather and even some snow flurries.  Even so, we had a pretty nice trip.  We also had a little day trip to Cape May, New Jersey, which was cute.

While in Rehoboth Beach, we went to a couple of good restaurants, including Lupo di Mare, which has a pretty good Sunday dinner deal - 3 courses for $19.  We decided to pay them a visit, and we weren't disappointed.

This was the cauliflower bisque with truffle oil.

After the customary bread and olive oil, we got our starters.  Elizabeth had the salad, and Ben had the cauliflower bisque with truffle oil.  We also ordered some fine meats and cheeses to go along with the starters.  The cauliflower bisque was pretty yummy, though the truffle oil didn't add a ton to the dish.  Elizabeth's salad was not the best or worst salad ever - it lay somewhere in that range otherwise known as "forgettable."  The two starters - actually, everything we ordered except the meat and cheese - came from a set menu from which the special deal was available.  We probably wouldn't have ordered those two dishes without the special, but hey, it was a good deal, and the starters weren't so bad.

This bread was so yummy, and the olive oil had a
delightful saltiness that Elizabeth loves.

The bread was a nice treat, though.  Also, the pecorino and bresaola were pretty fantastic.  A little while ago, we bought some pecorino because we thought it was a substitute for parmesan.  It was definitely a bit sharper, perhaps since it's made from sheep's milk or some other reason (we admit we don't know a ton about cheese).  This one was quite smooth, though, with enough of a bite to make it interesting.  The honey and almonds rounded it out quite well.

We enjoyed making little sandwiches with pieces of bread, pecorino, and bresaola (and a touch of olive oil).  We could probably get used to those sandwiches.  If there's a picnic post at some point in the near future, look out.

3-4-year-old bresaola and baked pecorino

Our entrees were pretty standard and standard-looking - we just had a seafood pasta dish and chicken marsala.  Sadly, we didn't take pictures of them.  Now it just seems kind of empty not posting our entrees.  It's as if we had dessert and snacks for dinner only.  You'll have to take our word for it.  Speaking of dessert, we both had the tiramisu.  We brought it home with us because we were stuffed, but it was a good one.  Elizabeth ranks it quite high on her all-time rankings.  And this means something because tiramisu is Elizabeth's all-time favorite dessert.

Elizabeth liked the tiramisu - that's high praise, as Nicolas
Cage (via Andy Samberg) might say.

It was a good meal for the right price.  If we come back to Rehoboth Beach (perhaps when it's warmer), we could come back here.

Though we didn't take pictures, we also went to Pig & Fish for a happy hour that turned into an impressive meal.  We started with the andouille mussels and fried green tomatoes, which were both pretty delicious.  We've been suckers for mussels for a while - there's about a 50% chance that we'll order either mussels or calamari whenever we order appetizers with dinner.  There's were hard to beat.  The fried green tomatoes were also pretty good.  Elizabeth had never had them before, but she was a fan.

For our entrees, Elizabeth had the pork belly with white cheddar grits and collard greens.  The pork belly was not quite as good as what we had at Orzo in January, but it was crispy and delicious.  Ben had a nice salad and one of the specials: a flatbread pizza with speck, ham, smoked mozzarella, and some other goodies.  Though Ben can't remember exactly what else was on it (why oh why do we wait a week to post?), it was one of the better pizzas he's had in a while.  This place definitely seemed like a dime-a-dozen bar when we walked in (our plan was just to get some drinks and find someplace else for dinner), but it definitely got the job done in the end.  We may or may not go back to Lupo di Mare the next time we're in Delaware.  But we'll definitely go back to Pig & Fish.

C & D

The Roadtrip: From Los Angeles to Austin, TX

The crab claw curry and pineapple fried rice from Jitlada.

It has been a while since we've posted here.  This is in part because 1) it is difficult to find the energy to write after spending 8 hours on the road, and 2) classes have started again.  Thus we have a bit of a backlog of things to talk about.  (After this post, we have to talk about our recent trips to Orzo and Fossett's.)

We decided to do the roadtrip for reasons that are unclear to us in retrospect.  Even so, we had a fantastic time over our seven days of traveling.  We also got to try some interesting food (though we won't bore you with tales of the footlong Spicy Italian sub from Subway).

The Crying Tiger from Jitlada.

We started in Los Angeles, and for dinner we went to one of our favorite Thai restaurants, Jitlada, with some friends from the area.  We first went to Jitlada in January 2011, when searching for a random place to eat after coming from the Griffith Observatory.  We ended up going back about a week later (our trip to LA was about 10 days long).  This is definitely the best Thai restaurant we've ever been to.  In addition to being especially delicious, many of the dishes here are SPICY.

We started with the tom kha soup, which was so delicious that the table decided to order seconds.  For our entrees, we had the crab claw curry, crying tiger, and pineapple fried rice.  Though all thought the crab claw curry was delicious, Ben probably ended up eating most of it given its insane level of heat.  (Elizabeth may have blacked out momentarily from the spiciness - we didn't know that was possible.)  The crying tiger, which apparently was featured on Food Network's The Best Thing I Ever Ate, was also delicious.  The pineapple fried rice served as a nice contrast to the heat of curry and crying tiger, and the presentation in a carved out pineapple was lovely.  We're definitely looking forward to coming back here next time we're in LA.

Ben just had a steak, but he tried some elk too.  Delish.

After LA, we drove eastward, making stops in Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Santa Fe, and Texas.  Sadly, we did not get the full picture of Southwest cuisine during the rest of the trip, but there were definitely some highlights.  Staying at the Grand Canyon, for example, Elizabeth tried elk for the first time, and it was pretty good.  Neither of us had ever seen elk on a menu before, though we did see plenty of signs along the road telling us to watch out for them.

The elk, with delicious mashed potatoes and veggies.

Mmm... brisket and ribs.

When we got to Texas, though, we did go to two standout places.  The first was Smitty's, in Lockhart, Texas.  Lockhart, which bills itself as the "BBQ Capital of Texas," has several great barbecue places to choose from.  Ben has previously been to Smitty's, and we decided to go back.  We ordered the brisket, some ribs, and sausage.  Served with some bread, an avocado, and a couple of Shiner Bocks, the meat was phenomenal: juicy, flavorful, tender, delicious, juicy... all the things that make great barbecue great.  And, of course, no sauce was necessary.  (It's apparently a crime to ask for sauce for your barbecue in Texas.)

Ribs, with a side of lovely avocado.

When we got to Austin, we went to a "trendy" Mexican restaurant called Takoba.  Elizabeth had a mango-habanero margarita, and Ben had a house Mexican martini.  Both were quite yummy - the mango-habanero margarita had a lovely kick to it too.  We started with the queso fundido, and for our entrees, Ben had the tacos al pastor and Elizabeth had the tortas de carnitas.  It was a fantastic meal - though inexplicably Ben couldn't finish his food, and Elizabeth rightly made fun of him.

Adding spice to fruity beverages?  Jitlada, meet Takoba.

The queso fundido.  So yummy - this may have been the
dish that put Ben away.

The tortas de carnitas.  Fabulous.

The tacos al pastor.  Ben could only wave wistfully at these.
And also taste them.  Yummy.

All in all, it was a great trip, and we ate pretty well.  Next time, Orzo and Fossett's, two of our favorite places to eat in Charlottesville.

A tomato from a friend's garden in Riverside, CA

A Louis Vuitton Store in Vegas - not actually edible

Everything's more syrupy in Texas

C & D