Faccia Luna is a very small pizza place that does pizza well but nothing too groundbreaking. We headed there because it is incredibly close to us and looked interesting. Being vegetarian, there were only a couple items on the list we could order. We ended up settling with a 14in white pizza that was incredibly well priced. Which brings me to my first point.
The prices were the most perplexing thing I have ever seen. 9 dollars for a small plate of bruschetta or you could get an entire small pizza for the same price. All the starters were very pricy and small. All the pastas were 15 or more dollars. But the pizzas were crazy cheap, as long as you didn't do a build your own.
The pizza also tasted pretty good but was incredibly greasy. This isn't always a bad thing, I mean it is pizza, but in this case it did not work well. Salty, greasy pizza. Overall the pizza was pretty solid in taste, but nothing groundbreaking. It is a place that we probably would not visit again except that it is literally a 5 minute walk from our apartment.
Matt's Rating: 6.5
Erin's Rating: 7
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
LaPorta's: Death by Brunch
Disclaimer: this review only applies to LaPorta's brunch.
The very essence of brunch is different and far removed from breakfast. People that confuse the two are mere mortals whose spirits have not transcended to a great level of understanding of meals. Brunch is defined by whoever is serving it. Food that normally could never be included in breakfast find a loophole and work themselves into brunch. Crabcakes at brunch? Why not. Steak? Of course. Pasta? Most definitely.
Laporta's has a rather full menu including all these random items, but let's just skip that. They have a 20 dollar brunch deal. Your eyes should never wander from that list. It is 3 course, appetizer, entrée, dessert, and it is enough to leave two people loosening their belt buckles to accommodate such fine food.
Erin and I took part in this affair. It can be described in no other way, we did not eat or consume their food. We participated in the experience of brunch. The first course was greens with a pear emulsion and some other fantastic bits and pieces. It was sweet, tasty, and mind-blowingly good. We also had a breadbasket that was just unbelievable. Cheap, filling, fantastic. Do yourself a favor and order it. Best biscuits I have had in a long time.
The entrée was French toast with a berry compote and some hashbrowns. The hashbrowns were delicious cooked potatoes and we laughed when they handed us syrup. Syrup would merely taint such a perfect balance that they had achieved in the French toast. Texture and taste. Perfect. Had a strawberry fleurette to finish, our friends had the same meal but with the lemon tart. I found the lemon tart much lighter and tastier. The fleurette had far too much caramel and too little of everything else.
While we were eating not only did our glasses never go below half full, but a fantastic gentleman started playing the piano. It was wonderful.
Matt's Rating: 9.75
Erin's Rating: 9.5
Who needs options when you have something this good? Perfection is within the grasp of Laporta's
The very essence of brunch is different and far removed from breakfast. People that confuse the two are mere mortals whose spirits have not transcended to a great level of understanding of meals. Brunch is defined by whoever is serving it. Food that normally could never be included in breakfast find a loophole and work themselves into brunch. Crabcakes at brunch? Why not. Steak? Of course. Pasta? Most definitely.
Laporta's has a rather full menu including all these random items, but let's just skip that. They have a 20 dollar brunch deal. Your eyes should never wander from that list. It is 3 course, appetizer, entrée, dessert, and it is enough to leave two people loosening their belt buckles to accommodate such fine food.
Erin and I took part in this affair. It can be described in no other way, we did not eat or consume their food. We participated in the experience of brunch. The first course was greens with a pear emulsion and some other fantastic bits and pieces. It was sweet, tasty, and mind-blowingly good. We also had a breadbasket that was just unbelievable. Cheap, filling, fantastic. Do yourself a favor and order it. Best biscuits I have had in a long time.
The entrée was French toast with a berry compote and some hashbrowns. The hashbrowns were delicious cooked potatoes and we laughed when they handed us syrup. Syrup would merely taint such a perfect balance that they had achieved in the French toast. Texture and taste. Perfect. Had a strawberry fleurette to finish, our friends had the same meal but with the lemon tart. I found the lemon tart much lighter and tastier. The fleurette had far too much caramel and too little of everything else.
While we were eating not only did our glasses never go below half full, but a fantastic gentleman started playing the piano. It was wonderful.
Matt's Rating: 9.75
Erin's Rating: 9.5
Who needs options when you have something this good? Perfection is within the grasp of Laporta's
Elephant & Castle:Pub food at its finest
There is a limit to how good British pub food is. Elephant & Castle almost defy the laws of nature and break that limit. But they don't quite. If you are craving pub food, just skip everything else and go here, its easily the best pub food I've ever had. We had some fantastic tomato basil linguine with a nice salad. The portions were large enough that we could split it and still eat heartily. The pasta itself was just perfect. The salad was a little bland with not the best lettuce, but hey; its pub food.
Our friends got poutine and grilled salmon. The Salmon was fantastic with some great broccoli and Tia claims the poutine was tasty too. Everything was a little overpriced, but overall the food and atmosphere were great and we had good service too.
Matt's rating: 8
Erin's rating: 8
Good food, but not amazing. Pretty good atmosphere, great locations. Fun logo
Our friends got poutine and grilled salmon. The Salmon was fantastic with some great broccoli and Tia claims the poutine was tasty too. Everything was a little overpriced, but overall the food and atmosphere were great and we had good service too.
Matt's rating: 8
Erin's rating: 8
Good food, but not amazing. Pretty good atmosphere, great locations. Fun logo
Southside 815: Boisterous atmoshpere, boisterous food
Southside 815 has a rowdy atmosphere when you first walk in. The left side is a sports bar; loud, cheerful, lots of TVs. The right side seems like a somewhat classy, family friendly restaurant with food that resembles the left side. The food is rowdy, fun, and loud. As the meal goes on the food gets a little too forward and is just too much. I ordered a Portobello sandwich and it was unhealthy, massive, and far too greasy to finish. About halfway through I got a little grossed out and dissuaded from letting it go any further. Erin had some tasty mac and cheese that fared better than my suitor, at least it was taken home for the night.
Our friends ordered some pork (I believe) nachos and seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. They raved about it, shared it, and even finished it the next morning, along with their side of mac and cheese.
And we shared a fantastic breadbasket. For the price, the breadbasket is definitely a great option.
Maybe my food was just a fluke. If I give the place a second chance I shall edit this post with the results.
Matt's Rating: 5
Erin's rating: 6
Good bread, ok food, ok atmosphere, huge proportions
Our friends ordered some pork (I believe) nachos and seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. They raved about it, shared it, and even finished it the next morning, along with their side of mac and cheese.
And we shared a fantastic breadbasket. For the price, the breadbasket is definitely a great option.
Maybe my food was just a fluke. If I give the place a second chance I shall edit this post with the results.
Matt's Rating: 5
Erin's rating: 6
Good bread, ok food, ok atmosphere, huge proportions
First Weekend Adventures
Moving is hard. Especially when you live on the third floor and there is no elevator and the drive is 10+ hours long. But our comrades, Kayley and Tia, not only volunteered themselves but did so without being guilted or heckled into service. So noble. So honorable. And so we showed our appreciation by taking them all over town and having a good time.
Friday- Weary and bedraggled we got everything moved in around 8 pm and decided to eat wherever was closest. Erin was starting to get really hangry since we hadn't eaten since around noon. After a quick search we went to Southside 815. It was like two restaurants in one. A family friendly southern comfortfood place on the right, and a drunk bar on the left. Whatever. Just food. Need.
Saturday- Smithsonians, Elephant and Castle, Pie for dinner (seriously). We showed our friends the awesome metro, The American history Smithsonian, and The Natural history Smithsonian. Kayley wanted to see literally everything and so had no preferences. However time only comes in limited quantities, so Tia got to pick almost everything we saw. We got whole foods dessert for dinner and were too exhausted to do anything else.
Sunday- La Porta's heavenly brunch. Air and Space Museum, The National Mall, a sad departure. The universe exhibit at the Air and Space museum is really the best. The monuments were pretty cool, but the fountains were off and the reflection pool had been drained so it was less exciting. And then Tia and Kayley had to fly back from Reagan National Airport. Hopefully we shall see you before too long.
Friday- Weary and bedraggled we got everything moved in around 8 pm and decided to eat wherever was closest. Erin was starting to get really hangry since we hadn't eaten since around noon. After a quick search we went to Southside 815. It was like two restaurants in one. A family friendly southern comfortfood place on the right, and a drunk bar on the left. Whatever. Just food. Need.
Saturday- Smithsonians, Elephant and Castle, Pie for dinner (seriously). We showed our friends the awesome metro, The American history Smithsonian, and The Natural history Smithsonian. Kayley wanted to see literally everything and so had no preferences. However time only comes in limited quantities, so Tia got to pick almost everything we saw. We got whole foods dessert for dinner and were too exhausted to do anything else.
Sunday- La Porta's heavenly brunch. Air and Space Museum, The National Mall, a sad departure. The universe exhibit at the Air and Space museum is really the best. The monuments were pretty cool, but the fountains were off and the reflection pool had been drained so it was less exciting. And then Tia and Kayley had to fly back from Reagan National Airport. Hopefully we shall see you before too long.
The Move
Our large ancient house in Louisville, KY has been traded for a small, classy apartment in Alexandria, VA. We started at 0400 and arrived somewhere around 1500. If you have never experienced a long move with cats, they are not fun. They whine. Continually.
After everything was said and done we now have an extremely nice new place that hopefully we will be able to afford. Top 3 best things about our new apartment:
1. Lighting- As we are on the third floor, there is nothing obstructing the beautiful morning light entering our apartment and illuminates everything it touches. It gets light at about 630-7 right now and we do not feel the need to turn on any of artificial lights in the morning. It's gorgeous and a great way to wake up.
2. The gas stove- We cook a lot, and although we aren't great at it (pictures to follow) we plan on getting better. Gas stoves trump everything. Especially compared to our old stove that never cooked evenly (burners were lopsided and would only get red in certain spots and the oven. Dear god that oven. One side burnt one side raw).
3. Location- It's a long walk to everywhere, but still a walk. Not a drive. We will probably use our car more often as we stay here longer, but for now we are walking everywhere. 1.8 miles from trader Joe's with groceries isn't fun, but it's good exercise at least.
As we get settled in we find more things we like about this place. It is coming together slowly. Big shout out to the best friends, Kayley and Tia, for the help moving! 3 flights of stairs with all that stuff was a blast!
After everything was said and done we now have an extremely nice new place that hopefully we will be able to afford. Top 3 best things about our new apartment:
1. Lighting- As we are on the third floor, there is nothing obstructing the beautiful morning light entering our apartment and illuminates everything it touches. It gets light at about 630-7 right now and we do not feel the need to turn on any of artificial lights in the morning. It's gorgeous and a great way to wake up.
2. The gas stove- We cook a lot, and although we aren't great at it (pictures to follow) we plan on getting better. Gas stoves trump everything. Especially compared to our old stove that never cooked evenly (burners were lopsided and would only get red in certain spots and the oven. Dear god that oven. One side burnt one side raw).
3. Location- It's a long walk to everywhere, but still a walk. Not a drive. We will probably use our car more often as we stay here longer, but for now we are walking everywhere. 1.8 miles from trader Joe's with groceries isn't fun, but it's good exercise at least.
As we get settled in we find more things we like about this place. It is coming together slowly. Big shout out to the best friends, Kayley and Tia, for the help moving! 3 flights of stairs with all that stuff was a blast!
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