VA Food Galore: Part Three

La Tasca - Arlington, VA (spanish tapas)

Paella de Verduras (Left) - miniature paella with assorted garden vegetables Patatas Bravas (Middle) - Fried potatoes with a spicy tomato sauce and garlic aioli Brocheta de Pollo (Right) - Skewers of grilled chicken marinated in Andalusian spices with roasted peppers.
Paella was so delicious. Beautiful blend of spices, rice cooked perfectly. Perfect portion
Patatas is one of my favorite tapas dishes. Simple dish but gets you with a punch of flavor from the spicy tomato sauce and garlic aioli mixture. Those two sauces alone will make you crave this dish over and over.
Pollo was an excellent choice by the waiter. The Andalusian spices were an unfamiliar taste yet so tasty paired with the green sauce.

 My mom noticed a new Japanese Ramen noodle restaurant in the newspaper and wanted to try it out.   The broth was milky but lacked the richness. I'm not a big fan of pickled ginger so the flavor overwhelmed me. Overall this dish was tasty with the soft poached egg. 

My first encounter with Japanese Ramen was in L.A. at the original restaurant (forgot the name). It was an exquisite experience. I've never tasted broth that was so rich and creamy. The pork slices were so tender and that soft poached egg was a splendid treat at the end. No other ramen noodles could compete with my experience in L.A. 

 Late night treat after partying hard on Adams Morgan in D.C. The Big Slice. For the first time I was able to thoroughly enjoy this pizza. As you can see the size is ridiculous, 4x the size of my hand! Though it's a late night snack and they probably don't have to put in much effort in making this pizza delicious, um it's really delicious actually. Thin sauce, packed with cheese, perfect crust - couldn't ask for more.

 My lovely friends showing a comparison

 Mariscada at Guapo's - Spanish style, seafood stew of scallops, shrimp, fresh salmon, squid, and clams cooked with saffron. Served with white rice on the side. This dish is pretty much a paella without the rice. Excellent seafood flavor and the broth is so delicious. At first you're intrigued and you get addicted to the flavor and keep on going back for more.

 Tamal de Elote - Sweet corn cake slowly cooked in a corn husk. My friend introduced me to this appetizer and I was alarmed by its sweetness. When I went with my parents we ate it for dessert. Actually no, we devoured it before it came our dessert because we kept on going back and forth from our meals to get that salty, sweet satisfaction. 

 Carne Asada - Marinated skirt steak. Hands down the best carne asada I've ever had. The meat is so tender and flavorful. They serve it with a butter sauce to dip your meat. YUM!

 Kimbab - Sushi filled with egg, sweet daikon, crab, carrots, and spinach. Kim = seaweed and Bab = rice. Great snack when golfing.

Yook Kae Jang - Spicy Korean shredded beef soup with scallions, bracken fern (gosari), taro stems (torandae), bean sprouts, sweet potato noodles (dangmyeon). Looks insanely spicy huh?! It isn't that spicy or maybe I'm just used to it. It's a classic Korean soup that's great in the winter.

There are two more parts to this trip, stay tuned. I literally ate my heart out on this trip back home.