Anyways, as a thank you for dog-sitting while we were in the Galapagos, we took my mom to Tail Up Goat, which is a new restaurant in DC. It’s owned by the same people that own the well-known Komi and Little Serow, both of which get a significant amount of praise.

DH really doesn’t like tapas restaurants, at least not those that charge entree-like prices for small plates. So I think he was a bit suspicious of Tail Up Goat. Don’t worry, even he was won over.

After a palate-cleansing drink with ginger, we started with the seaweed sourdough, a peculiar dish that was quite tasty. And I don’t even like sourdough. It has ciccioli (some type of pork mixture, if I’m not mistaken) and fennel pollen. Not quite sure what fennel pollen is, but it sure is tasty. The sourdough was not overpowering, and it was perfectly toasted.

Next up we ordered some excellent cavatelli, which had octopus ragu, breadcrumbs, and green olives. This was by far my favorite dish of the night. The octopus was perfectly cooked, and the flavor combinations were just so delicious. I wish it was a teensy bit bigger, but it is not labeled as an entree. Perhaps we all just liked it a bit too much…

For entrees, DH and my mom split the lamb. I don’t eat lamb (I don’t even eat things that are touched by lamb, I really dislike the flavor), so I’ll have to take their word that the lamb was just phenomenal. It had sumac onions, favas, and hazlenut dukkah. DH would go back to Tail Up Goat just to eat the lamb ribs again!

I opted for something a little different–the hen of the woods mushrooms. I love hen of the woods mushrooms, so I figured it would be a good choice.  The hen of the woods mushrooms themselves were simply wonderful. It’s surprising how filling a mushroom can be…and I am not one opts to eat mushrooms instead of meat!

The hen of the woods mushroom dish came with chicken crisps and burnt bread sauce. The chicken crisps were super crispy fried pieces of what seemed like chicken skin. I like a piece of chicken skin here and there, but there were a few too many pieces for me. The burnt bread sauce I could have lived without–even with the savory and delicious mushrooms, I couldn’t quite get behind the burnt bread sauce. It tasted exactly like what it was: burnt bread! I am not a huge bread person and can’t stand anything burnt, so I suppose it wasn’t meant to be. However, the mushrooms were so deliciously seasoned that I’d consider ordering the dish again anyway.

The portions at Tail Up Goat vary by the category on the menu, which is a fair way of doing things. I felt the starters were starters, and the entrees were entree-sized. And I appreciate having the opportunity to taste multiple dishes, since some of the portions are smaller. You could certainly go there and fill up without ever having an entree.

While the food is a bit adventurous, I’d definitely return to try some new flavors (and probably order more of that cavatelli). The atmosphere is very cute, and I’m thrilled to have another fun option that is in the neighborhood!

In solidarité with Parisians and France after the attacks this weekend, (and, subsequently, in reflection of ISIS’ newest video release threatening DC), I’m highlighting my three favorite French restaurants in the city.

Because who doesn’t love a good glass of French wine, delicious bread, with a side of four letter words for ISIS…

Bistro Du Coin

This is a DC stalwart, and one of my favorites…if you can get a table. It’s quintessentially Parisian, with tiny round tables and sometimes absent waiters and brusque hosts; of course, that is what also makes the atmosphere charming. Great for any time of day, whether you want a hearty meal or a relaxed break/drink from walking to the zoo. I, of course, like the properly executed French onion soup, along with the beef bourguignon. Of course, mussels are always a good option, too.

1738 Connecticut Avenue, NW. 11:30am-12pm daily. Entrees $20-$30.

Le Diplomate

This new-ish restaurant may need no introduction, but it’s one of the few places (though some may disagree) where the hype about the restaurant overshadowed the actual excellence of the food. It’s a place to see and be-seen, not stroll in wearing yoga clothes. You can try to get reservations, but for busy evenings, you better try at least 2 weeks in advance. The bar is always open, so sneak in early or sit on the ‘terrace’ and people watch like a Parisian. The French onion soup here is like a meal, and the scallops are impeccably cooked.

1601 14th Street NW. Open at 5pm daily; Brunch Sat & Sun. Entrees $17-$30.

Chez Billy Sud

Love, love, LOVE the patio. Off of the main M Street in Georgetown, this place is quaint and endearing. They also serve the perfect Kir Royale, which doesn’t hurt. As an olive lover, I think the olives marinees are a perfect way to start a meal, and while I’m a bit of a steak snob, their steak and frites does the job. Especially the frites. They also serve a lunch and brunch menu, with good selections of French cheese if that’s what you’re feeling.

1039 31st Street NW. Closed Mondays; Lunch Tues-Fri; Brunch Sat & Sun. Entrees $18-34.

Our thoughts are with all those in Paris and affected by the attacks.

One of the obvious highlights of New Orleans is the food. Oh the food. I would have carried an extra, external stomach around me to fill if it was socially acceptable.  So I went to Emeril’s twice for lunch, because it was good and super close to the convention center.A 3 course lunch is $22.50, which I’m sure sounds pricey if you are used to cheap food, but since DC is expensive (and adds a 10% tax, cough), $22.50 sounded just about right for 3 courses.The highlights?  Let’s start with an oyster bacon bisque (above). Creamy, tender oysters (I hate chewy oysters in soup), thick bacon with obviously lots of fat, a touch of corn, and I’m sure pounds of cream and butter. So good.

Also delicious was the bucatini nero with gulf shrimp. Bucatini is a hollow noodle, and this was black, so I’m assuming it was made with squid ink as I’m not sure how else you can get noodles that pitch night color. The noodles were good, but the highlight was the delicious sauce, gulf shrimp, and of course, the local chanterelles. Have I mentioned I just love chanterelles? I need to start looking for them…maybe for a risotto?

The crème brulee was good–nothing wrong with it at all, but I’m more of a savory person and would have had another bowl of soup. Nonetheless, I of course finished the whole dish. That caramelized sugar on top just makes me keep eating.Can you really go to New Orleans without some gumbo? Of course not, and Emeril’s was offering an Andouille/seafood combo. Flavor was absolutely perfect, though the shrimp were just a touch mushy for my liking–though I realize it’s hard to keep shrimp unmushy in gumbo which needs to simmer all day. The Andouille was really flavorful. I need to try my hand at gumbo making at home…

Finally, an angel hair pasta with many delicious crawfish and smoked mushrooms really topped it off.  I am usually not a pasta person in restaurants, but I really wanted crawfish and the rest of the ingredients were too delectable to pass up. There actually was just a handful of pasta, and it paired nicely with the crawfish and other items.If you are in to fancy cocktails, with creative twists, there are plenty of offerings. A seasonal pumpkin spice martini looked delectable, but I stuck to beer as I didn’t need any extra sugar after the beignets at Café du Monde.I really need to get back to New Orleans for more food, pronto. I also didn’t have time to go to the World War II Museum, which I haven’t been to for about 15 years or so.

Where is your favorite place to eat in New Orleans?

We decided to do the tasting menu because who knows when we will return to Bangkok again. I’m definitely glad we did as it allowed (errr…forced) us to try some things I never would have ever dreamed of trying.

First, the service at Nahm was great. Attentive, but not annoying. Friendly and helpful, but not pretentious or condescending. Courteous. I’d definitely give it two thumbs up.

Now, on to the food…

Here is what we ordered. For the prix fixe option, you received all the appetizers (canapes, to be exact), one soup each, and then one dish off of every page on the menu (salad, relish, curry, and stir-fry/steam/grill), and then one desert of each diner’s choosing. The portions are generous.  Here is what we chose:

Canapes
Um…bad on us, but we don’t remember all of them.
DH’s favorite was the smoked mussels.
My favorite was a coconut crisp, with crab, ginger, and some pickled vegetables (pictured).

Salad
Grilled beef, with cucumber and mint.

Relish
Fried prawns and vegetables, served with a coconut cream with preserved shrimp and crab.

Soup
Hot and sour soup, mine was with mushrooms and chicken, DH had his with prawns.

Curry
Crab in a yellow curry sauce, with ginger (I think, I’m not good with my curries), served with pickled onions, peppers.

Stir-Fry
Stir-fried wagyu beef, with oyster sauce, Thai basil, and onions.

The stand-out sauce/taste of the night was the stir-fried wagyu beef. The beef in the salad dish was actually more tender/cooked a bit rarer, as we prefer, but the overall flavor of the wagyu was excellent.

Neither DH or I are really a huge fan of curry, but the curry was good. I think we are unqualified to say how good, but for people who don’t eat curry it was tasty.  The relish was interesting…the sauce was a bit overwhelming, which considering the amount of things provided to eat with it, I think was the intention.  The flavor was good, but it was just overpowering.

The salad was also quite good, and I’m a huge fan of the tender, delicious little cucumbers they use in all of their dishes.

Overall, while expensive (particularly for Thailand, not so much for Washington DC), the tasting menu was absolutely worth it and it was so much fun to try all of the different dishes.  While I think both DH and I love cheap Thai food too much to return to Nahm if we end up in Bangkok in the near future, we absolutely recommend the tasting menu and the restaurant if you are looking for a foodie experience.  It’s a fun thing to do once in a while (or, cough, more often than we should). Again, a definite two thumbs up.

(I’m purposefully being a bit vague and not terribly judgmental in describing the dishes. DH and I have gotten to be pretty food-oriented, but neither of us have much experience with Asian cuisine beyond take-out.  I totally did not know what to expect from Nahm and don’t really have anything to compare it to.  That said, good food is good food, regardless of style or influence, and this was definitely good food.)

You notice I haven’t mentioned the soup…

The soup was incredibly delicious. DH actually preferred the flavor in other soups we had in Thailand to this one, but I loved this soup.  That stupid damn soup.

The waiter did ask me, when I ordered, if I could handle spicy food. I’m not one of those total wimps. I can handle a tiny bit. But perhaps worse, I like spicy food. Even when I can’t handle it, as I found out on this trip, I still like it. So I don’t have any persuasion to just say “no thank you, please send me the mild stuff”. Nope, I just say SURE, with an absolute sh*t-eating smile on my face.

Idiot.

First, I take one bite and start coughing and spluttering and slurping water (which, I will note, we had still water which was 300 baht, $10 a bottle). Mental reminder–don’t ever order expensive water if you will be chugging it simply to try to counter the fire in your mouth.

The waiter comes to the table and politely tells me how to eat said soup in coordination with the rest of the meal. You aren’t supposed to just eat the bowl of soup before the meal, you are supposed to eat it essentially as a palate cleanser being dishes.  And with a bit of rice.

Awesome, I think. That will make it so much less spicy. I’m sure I just a bit down the wrong pipe–I’m sure I can keep eating.

So I try some more of the other dishes.  And then I head back to the soup. Three spoonfuls.  I am sweating, coughing, nose is running, eyes are tearing, and still trying to have another spoonful. DH is laughing, at this point, and I’m pretty sure the wait staff was amused, as they kindly came over to offer more rice.

Next spoonful, somehow I get a pepper. Not just on the spoon, I actually swallow the thing. And it sears…from my poor little tonsil, all the way down. SEARS. It’s like I’ve swallowed a match, except a match stops burning faster.

I cough some more, and decide to lay the spoon to rest for a bit.  At this point, my mouth is burning to the point where just about everything tastes good. DH reports the salad dish is just a bit spicy…I try it, and report back that it feels like ice. Wonderful, delicious, ice.

You would think, at this point, that I’ve learned my lesson. That I can’t handle Thai spice. That I should just chalk it up to a learning experience, and push my precious, delicious, bowl of soup to the side, despite the fact that I’ve barely made a dent.

Of course not. I continue to try to eat the soup. Literally after every spoonful, I’m stuffing rice down my face intermixed with some $10 water, which must be $1 a sip. The waiter comes over and asks if we want another bottle. I ponder (red, and sweating), and DH just says yes.  I look at him when the waiter leaves, and he’s like–“uh, what are you going to do when you don’t have water? Of course we need another bottle.”  I was too shy at that point to just be like…can we have some normal filtered water out of the pitcher (not sure if it even existed there…but I’m guessing it did).

After about 10 more spoonfuls, intermixed with the rest of the delicious cuisine, I know that I need to call it a night. I’m sweating…and for how absolutely freaking cold the restaurant was…I know that’s not normal. And starting to hear my subconscious…what if you get sick?  Do you know how painful this is going to be if you get sick, Heather? (Obviously, I did not).

So I laid my spoon to rest. I longingly looked at my soup. Seriously. I loved it so much. The taste was perfect, the mushrooms delicious.

But I had lost.

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