DC Cheap Eats: SURFSIDE

Oh how behind I've been in updating! What now seems like many moons ago, I finally had the chance to eat at SURFSIDE in Glover Park. (YES! Another DC Cheap Eats off my list...). For MONTHS, we would drive past Surfside, with its bright cheery blue and yellow storefront, and I would just look longingly at it. Reviews I read had described Surfside as almost like a beachtown restaurant in the middle of the Nation's capital. I loved the "vibe" that Surfside was supposed to have. And then, I was never one that could resist tacos... particularly tacos made with fresh ingredients, a "Californian" flair, and packed with one or another seafood option.

So finally, Mr. J and I found ourselves up at Surfside for lunch one summery Sunday. We were pleased to find parking only a block away from the restaurant -- Surfside is located on a block that is chock full of restaurants (especially ones that have popped up in recent years) plus a very popular Whole Foods, plus numerous residences.

Surfside was actually quite empty when we got there. In contrast to the bright exterior, the inside was a bit dim, but lit by some natural light filtering in. It was a mellow and quiet. I was glad that I read a few reviews on Yelp before coming, or else I would have had no idea what to do next. Surfside has a pretty extensive menu of options and you place your order at a counter and then you get a little buzzer to alert you when your food is ready. In front of the counter are stacks of "forms," on which you check off what you want (one of their "specialties" or design your own).

After much deliberating, we decided on an order of guac and chips (how can you resist?), the "Maui" tacos (two grilled fish of the day tacos in corn tortillas with black bean and corn salsa, guacamole, cilantro and lime sour cream) and the "Cozumel" tacos (two grilled marinated chicken tacos in flour tortillas with grilled red onion, poblano peppers, mole negro and queso fresco). Each set of tacos came with red beans and rice... We were given our little buzzer to take with us that would alert us when our lunch was ready.

We journeyed upstairs to the roof deck to stake out a spot. It was a pretty hot day in DC, very sunny, very little breeze, but luckily, the deck was largely covered. Being in between lunch and dinner hours, the deck was pretty empty. Just a table of chatty, happy, relaxing friends, a girl reading a book, and another couple enjoying lunch. Our buzzer soon called us back downstairs for our food -- a word to the clumsy... send the least clumsy of you down to get the food, because there are quite a few stairs between the deck and the main floor!

Needless to say, we had ordered an apparently massive amount of food! The guacamole was quite tasty. I liked my Maui tacos but wasn't thrilled. I found it a little bit on the bland side, but they did taste quite fresh and light. Mr. J enjoyed his Cozumel tacos, smothered in yummy mole sauce.

Now I haven't been back since, but wouldn't mind trying Surfside again. I've heard great things about their "Nevis" tacos -- two grilled shrimp tacos in corn tortillas with yellow rice, pineapple jalepeno salsa, cilantro, guacamole and lime sour cream. Also, with so many other tacos, quesadillas, burritos, salads, and entrees to choose from, I'm sure to indulge my Southwestern food cravings here again soon.

Surfside
2444 Wisconsin Ave.
Washington, DC 20007

DC CHEAP EATS: KOTOBUKI

(Not much of the sushi was left when it occurred to me that I hadn't taken a pic yet! So here is what was left at that point...)

Success! The day that I posted about wanting to check out all the Washingtonian Magazine's Cheap Eats, I just happened to be planning a dinner with one of my college friends, J. She was sold on going to try Kotobuki -- we were both in the mood for sushi -- and decided to meet up there. Kotobuki is located in NW DC, in the Palisades area (just West and North-ish of Georgetown). The area is mostly residential, with several highly regarded restaurants (Makoto and Blacksalt being two of them). Of course, this day it was a typical DC summer day with strong afternoon thunderstorms. After battling traffic across the city, I finally made it there (a little bit late...) and somehow managed to parallel park my car a block or two from the restaurant (loads of street parking, but sometimes it takes a little bit of effort!).

J was waiting at the restaurant, keeping our place in line. Kotobuki is on the second floor of the building that also houses Makoto. It is a small restaurant, probably about 10 tables and also a sushi bar. We were quickly seated (the place was packed, but luckily a few tables opened up when I made it there). The menu is pretty barebones - but not in a bad way! The focus (I think) is on fresh fish and serving up more traditional rolls/sushi as oppose to inventing some sort of fusion sushi. Albeit, there are many sushi rolls and nigiri options!

J and I ordered a platter full of sushi to share -- yellowtail with avocado, spicy tuna, soft shell crab roll (for the Maryland girl in me), eel and avocado roll, uni (sea urchin -- I had finally tried it with my mom a few weeks back who is uni-obsessed! and J had never tried it so it was a must...), and scallop nigiri. The uni was VERY fresh -- deliciously creamy and sweet, like custard! I also loved the scallop nigiri -- I'm always a big fan of the raw scallops with a little bit of wasabi planted on the sushi rice. Just a little bit sweet and so smooth. The maki sushi was good as well, although we thought that the rolls started to taste very similar after awhile (which is strange right since the rolls were quite different...).

The big selling point to Kotobuki is good sushi for good prices. I was surprised to see otoro sushi on there for $6.50. All over the city, otoro is usually SO MUCH more expensive. Another selling point, I've heard, are their kamameshi dinners. You pick the protein and it comes in this pot cooked up with rice. You also get several small dishes to go with it and miso soup and it is all very affordable.

It is true that the service isn't particularly friendly. But, good Japanese food at a good price is hard to come by in DC (oh, I mean, good Japanese food is available, but at a much higher price!), so it is worth the trek over to Kotobuki.

Kotobuki
4822 MacArthur Boulevard NW

2nd Floor

Washington, DC 20007

Eating through DC's Cheap Eats

I can't help it. Despite the economy, I still looove going out to eat. So when the newest issue of the Washingtonian magazine's Cheap Eats came out, I immediately opened it up to see who made it on the list. There were so many "newcomers" to the list -- a number of which I've been wanting to try (Ray's Hell Burger! Surfside!) and quite a few taken off the list (some that I've frequented -- Matchbox, Moby Dick House of Kabob, Pizzeria Paradiso...). In any case, seems like this is a good opportunity (and excuse!) to try some new places (and new types of food).

So here's my goal for the year (at least until the next Cheap Eats list comes out) -- try ALL the DC Cheap Eats. Although there are 100 restaurants on the list, there are only 21 restaurants in DC -- this seemed like a much more feasible number than the full list! Plus, I've been to six of the 21 restaurants (see below) (and 12 restaurants out of the 100 restaurants in total...), so that leaves me with 15 more restaurants??

And without further ado, here are the 21 restaurants:

Breadline (already eaten at!)
Café Divan
Comet Ping Pong
Domku
Etete
Figs Fine Foods
Good Stuff Eatery (already eaten at!)
Himalayan Heritage
Kotobuki
Malaysia Kopitiam (already eaten at!)
Moroni & Brother's
Oohhs & Aahhs
Pete's New Haven Style Apizza
Surfside
Tackle Box (already eaten at!)
Taqueria Distrito Federal
Taqueria Nacional
Teddy's Roti Shop
Thai X-ing
2 Amy's (already eaten at!)
Zorba's Café (already eaten at!)