On a recent weekend, I had dinner at three very different establishments.First on Friday night, The Sports Freak and I went to 2 Amy's. We wanted to see what the fuss was all about. The lauded restaurant is off Wisconsin Ave, just north of the National Cathedral. The lines were long and we had ot wait about half an hour. During that time, we saw a few carryout orders, including a woman who had 8-12 boxes of pizza, so we thought we were in for a treat.
Unfortunately, things did not turn out so well. We wanted to start with an appetizer of smoked salmon bruschetta or something like that. I'm not sure exactly what was ordered because we never received it. The pizzas came surprisingly quickly, so we decided not to question the missing plate until it showed up on our bill.
I had ordered the Abruzesse, which might have been a mistake. No mozzarella, but pecorino cheese, the pizza seemed oversalted. Not to the extreme, but a bit too much. The meatballs seemed very dry. The best part of the pizza was the crust. Light and chewy, it is what I look for in pizza. TSF had a traditional Neapolitan and reported he was not impressed. He did not go into details, but said that he had had better Neapolitan elsewhere.
The best part of my meal might have been the pint of Wehenstephan Dunkel beer. It was crisp and refreshing. At least I got a little buzz before my disappointing dinner. Maybe we got to 2 Amy's on an off night.
On to Saturday, I went to Z-Burger again with the Sports Freak. We hit the Tenleytown location at around 8:30 PM and it was virtually empty. We each ordered a burger and shared some fries and onion rings. Like all the "burger only" joints in the area, they only cook their burgers well-done. And because of that, it tastes much like the rest of them. If I was looking for a burger, I might not stop at Z-Burger unless I was in the neighborhood. Five Guys does just as good of a job, and I can find them in most neighborhoods now.
The fries also mimicked their competition, offering little difference. Where they win are onion rings. The rings appeared to be fresh made, not frozen. My only complaint on them would be that the onions were a bit too soft and so was the batter coating. I prefer my onions crisp. The coating might have been an issue because they were the last of the 3 items I tasted. Also on the menu, which we did not try were cheesesteaks and milkshakes. The Sports Freak is a freak about cheesesteaks and vowed he'd be back to try them. I thought about a milkshake but I didn't want a heart attack that night and just didn't want one at 9 PM.
Sunday was dinner with the family. Pho' 75, on Rockville Pike, just south of Montgomery College, doesn't look like much. But for the paltry price of $5.95, you get a great bowl of noodle soup. Pho, the Vietnamese noodle soup, is traditionally beef. But there are variations, including chicken, which is my sister's favorite version.
They have a number of variations, a dozen or so. If you are going, you should be hungry. They don't waste time here. From the time your party's order is in, you have at worst a 5 minute wait.
As noted, my sister ordered the chicken. My father ordered #1, which is a mix of beef parts. In most Asian cultures, there is no part of the cow that isn't edible. His included, off memory, tripe, filet, flank steak, and other parts. I've had it before and it's pretty good. This night though, I went for a more mild beef noodle soup, flank and filet. Very tame, though those of you who are deathly afraid of beef tripe and cartilage should be warned. You'll find occasional parts even if you didn't order them. I don't know if it's in the broth or the butcher is not paying attention, but you'll find some in there on occasion.
To top or finish it off, a cup of traditional Vietnamese iced coffee. Sweetened with condensed milk, the extra strong coffee is "brewed" at the table into a small mug and then you pour over ice. Voila, iced coffee. Excellent.
Leave a comment