FoodPrint-Washington D.C.: Old Ebbitt Grill

Restaurant:
Old Ebbitt Grill

Address:
675 15th St NW
Washington, DC 20005
b/t N G st & N F St

Category:
American

Average:
$30/person

Review:
During my short visit to Washington, DC in the long weekend of 4th of July, Old Ebbitt Grill was the restaurant that really impressed me. As we finished touring Smithonians and National Mall, the second most reviewed restaurant was located 5 minutes walking distance away. So there was no reason to miss this restaurant during the tour. 

Due to its extreme popularity, we had to wait in line for an hour and a half to get a table. It would be much better if we had a reservation. Even though the front door of Old Ebbitt Grill is crowded, hostess was polite and had a very accurate estimate of our waiting time, which was quite pleasing.

The appetizer we got was their famous Oyster. We ordered a dozen and since they offered three different kinds, we decided to have four of each kind: Indian Creek, Irish Point, and Wellfleet. With the oyster, they provided red wine vinegar and Tabasco sauce. Based on my preference, Tabasco sauce goes better with raw oysters. In terms of the different tastes between three kinds of oyster, to be honest, I can't really tell the difference between "sweet taste with a slight briny finish" and "briny with a crisp finish". I admit I am not a professional gourmet. Instead, I am just a person who likes the taste of ocean. Oysters in Old Ebbitt Gril are fresh and I can taste the slight hint of sea water in my mouth. This is enough to make me happy.

After appetizer, Summer Chicken Fettuccini was served as my main dish. This is the one dish that made me think that the restaurant worths its two hour waiting. Fettuccine itself was flawless, with a fairly chewy taste. Chicken scallopini was perfectly cooked and well seasoned. However, it was the special sauce with a slightly sour taste that created the great match between chicken and fettuccine. 

In general, this is a very impressive restaurant and it definitely worths a two hour wait. It has a lovely dining environment and delicious food with reasonable price. If you are planning to visit DC, you should not miss it. 

FoodPrint-Boston: Legal Sea Foods(Prudential Center)

Restaurant: 

Legal Sea Foods

Address:

Prudential Center

800 Boylston St

Boston, MA 02199

Back Bay

Category:

Seafood

Average:

$45/person

Review:

Summer is always a good time to enjoy seafood. As I spent the summer in coastal city Boston, there was no way that I would miss seafood there. 

Legal Sea Foods is the first seafood restaurant I explored in Boston. I tried this one first because some friends of mine introduced me here. As a chain seafood restaurant, Legal Sea Foods offered me a decent lobster meal, which really surprised me based on my low expectation and past horrible experience with chain seafood restaurant.

We tried two dishes from the menu. The first one was Baked Stuffed Lobster for two (about 2 lb). Based on the menu, the lobster was from crisp, cold North Atlantic waters, which did not matter that much to me since I have no clue where produced the best lobster. Anyway, the lobster was served with a small cup of butter. The stuffing of this lobster was definitely the most amazing lobster stuffing I have evert had. In the lobster, scallop, shrimp and buttery crackers magically mingled together with the help of cheese. The taste was absolutely amazing. However, if I have to name one weakness, I had to say that the stuffing of this lobster put lobster itself to a minor role, which kinda made this dish more about the stuffing but not about lobster. 

However, after a fairly satisfying lobster dish, comes a disappointing Nutty Faroe Island Salmon. This is my first time trying the combination of almond and salmon and I have to say that the result is not promising. Almond was sliced and put on salmon. Even though the  slight hint of lemon did improve the taste of salmon, I have to say that in my opinion, nuts don't go well with salmon in this way. The spinach was decent but the mushroom ravioli had a weird taste in the sour sauce and I couldn't even finish tho dish.

In general, if you just come to Boston and don't know where has the best seafood or you don't want to wait in line for over one hour, Legal Sea Foods offers you a decent lobster dish and a not so disappointing meal.

My "Foodprint"

This is just for opening the blog. This is the first blog I have ever had so I have no idea what I should put on it but I guess I will just follow my heart.

Anyway, I feel like it's kinda important to explain why "Foodprint". Obviously, this simple combination of "food" and "footprint", which conveys my traveling philosophy: Searching for food is always the best way to get to know a place.

I am a fan of traveling and I flew around the world fairly frequently between US and China. Coming back and forth between two largely different cultures, food is the connection that I have with each place that I have been to: hotpot in Sichuan, Beijing duck, deep dish pizza in Chicago, Italian cuisine in Boston, Salmon in Seattle etc.

So I feel like it is important for me to record all these connections in some way in order to create a traveling log. Also, I sincerely hope that my comments and reviews on various restaurants will be helpful to anyone who happens to drop by my blog.

Now, let the journey of food begins...