DC Museum dining: Sweet Home Café

Pulled pork @Sweet Home Cafe

We didn’t think we would get decent food in a museum cafeteria. Usually, the captive market really has no choice but to get overpriced blah food within the museum (as no other food or drinks are allowed).  Sweet Home Café, housed in the National Museum of African American History and Culture, threw that notion out the window.

Fish of the Day @Sweet Home Cafe

Grandma’s fish of the day and DD#1’s pulled pork were yummy. But the winner for everyone was the fried chicken. The southern style fried chicken was tender, juicy and deliciously crisp. It was so flavourful with each bite making you want more. We had sides of collard greens, baked sweet potato and the to-die-for corn bread.

Fried chicken with sweet potato and corn bread @Sweet Home Cafe

There was plenty of seating and the line was orderly. Needless to say, the food was great and we would go back just to eat here.

 

Wanderlusting Mama’s tips for Washington DC

Lincoln Memorial

 

Here are my tips for a Washington DC trip!

A train-ride away: We didn’t stay in downtown DC, we actually got a hotel in Alexandria. Prices were more reasonable and we had free parking and breakfast! I was told later on that Bethesda is nicer, so you can consider that as well. It is so convenient to take the train to downtown DC.

Old Town Alexandria

 Cheaper or More Convenient depends on your group: If you are more than 3 in your group, you may want to consider driving into DC and getting parking for $25. However, you would have to contend with traffic and the confusing signage. You will be driving along in a lane which suddenly turns into the highway or be forced to take a left/right or go straight, with no option to change lanes. If you want the convenience, taking the Metro is a breeze. Fares are based on time/distance. Ours cost about $8 round trip so it was definitely more expensive for our group of 5. We also had to pay for Metro station parking.

Washington Memorial and the reflecting pool

 Don’t forget your timed-entry tickets: some of the more popular museums such as Air and Space and African American Museum have timed-entry tickets. Be sure to check the main website in advance and book your tickets. These are free.

US Capitol

 

WWI memorial

Which museums to go to? The Smithsonian museums take anywhere from 1-3 full days to explore. We only had about 3 hours for each museum we went to. Museums are generally open from 10am to 5pm. Here are our picks:

• National Air and Space Museum—undergoing a multi-year makeover, but still with lots to see such as the Wright flyer, Apollo Lunar module and various enormous air and spacecraft dangling from the ceiling

National Air and Space Museum

• National Museum of Natural History—check out the 45 carat Hope Diamond and their 14-ft-tall elephant

National Museum of Natural History

• National Museum of African American History and Culture —the newest among the museums. It tells a great, albeit heavy on the heart, story of slavery and the oppression of the African American people

Contemplative Court @National Museum of African American History and Culture

• National Museum of American History—see Abraham Lincoln’s iconic top hat and various war artifacts

from the Vietnam war @National Museum of American History

• While not a technically called a museum, I loved the National Gallery of Art. They had a wonderful collection including some from my favourite Impressionist artists, Van Gogh and Monet. The gallery is home to da Vinci's Ginevra de' Benci, his only painting for public viewing in this side of the world.

National Gallery of Art in DC

 What about food in the museums?

Mitsitam Native Foods café inside the National Museum of the American Indian is good. We got some bison chili and bison burger for a taste of something different. Not bad at all. 

National Museum of the American Indian

Bison burger @National Museum of the American Indian

I do highly recommend Sweet Home café inside National Museum of African American History and Culture—their Southern fried chicken with corn bread is still something we crave long after our visit. There are many food trucks outside the museums, though the museums with timed-entry will not allow you re-entry privileges. For those where you can go outside (if you are willing to go through security again, which is almost like airport security), there are many food trucks. Be sure to walk a little bit farther from the entrance. The same half-smokes or burgers cost $1 less for the trucks farther along the street. The ice cream and cold drinks are pricey so hold off if you can. Grandma was so thirsty, she ended up paying $10 for a glass of lemonade half-filled with ice.

Food trucks @Washington DC

We really enjoyed DC. It did take quite some planning but the whole family enjoyed learning and exploring. 

A different kind of Thai: Paddler Thai Boat Noodles

 

Paddler Thai Boat Noodles

I have fond memories of getting Pad Thai from street carts in Bangkok. It is still my favourite noodles of all time. In Bangkok, I also had the hottest curry in some hole in the wall joint, where every bite required a sip of Pepsi. And while I have visited the floating market, I have not tried boat noodles before. In fact, I have not heard of boat noodles until I was looking for a place to eat in the Parkdale area where we were going to find ourselves during dinner time on a weekday. While I wanted to try some Tibetan cuisine in Little Tibet, I couldn’t resist not trying the boat noodles at Paddler. Kuaytiaw – Rua or boat noodles are  sold by vendors in the floating markets. Vendors would cook noodles on board small boats and sell them to people on shore or on other boats.  How could I not try that?

Hubby started with Crisp Fried Quail Egg Wonton. Nicely deep fried and served with house plum sauce. It was a nice appetizer and tastes exactly as the name of the dish—it was quail egg wrapped in wonton wrapper and crisp fried. There was simply no other way to describe it.

Of course, we got their Signature Boat Noodles. We first chose the type of noodles (small rice, medium rice, flat rice or egg noodles). Then, we chose our protein (beef or pork). I got medium rice noodles with beef (braised, sliced, and beef balls) which arrived in this beautiful broth (made by using pig or cow blood and dark soy sauce, well balanced with some coconut milk and chili oil). Thai herbs, sprouts, cilantro, fried garlic and dried chili peppers bring it all together. It was served with pork rind which provided a nice crunch. The broth was just absolutely delicious. It was tangy, spicy and full of flavour. It definitely hits the spot. DD#1, a soup lover, has declared it to now be her favourite soup. Ramen and Pho have now been dethroned.

Boat Noodles at Paddler

Grandma, who was not in the mood for soup, got the dry boat noodles, which is also very traditional. The noodles also come with protein and is brought together by chili oil and dried chilies, cilantro and also some dried coconut.

Dry Boat noodles at Paddler

Service was good, though there was a bit of a wait (20-30 min). Overall, super worth it. And while we talked of coming back to the area to have a Tibetan meal, I wager we will end up here in Paddler again.

The world is our oyster: Happy hour at Oyster Mine

 

Malpeque oysters @Oystermine

Hubby and I love oysters and, in the past few years, the girls have acquired the love for these as well. So, for a special occasion we were celebrating for DD#1, her request for oysters was granted. I searched for an oyster place which still offered a Buck a Shuck on the day we were going out for dinner. I found Oyster Mine in mid-town Yonge and Eglinton and made our reservation. I actually called an hour before our reservation to pre-order the seafood paella (Grandma’s favourite) which was supposed to take 45 minutes. I was hoping they would have it ready shortly after we arrived.

We ordered our cocktails and mocktails (as drinks needed to be ordered to avail of the $1 oysters) along with Malpeque oysters. The oysters were on the smallish side, under 3inches, but were fresh and delicious. DD#1 was especially happy at having as many oysters as she wanted – we ended up sharing 50!

Seafood paella @Oystermine

The paella, however, arrived 45 minutes after we arrived (when I reconfirmed my pre-order) so it was practically like I didn’t pre-order at all. While it was not the traditional paella, it was tasty and we all enjoyed it.

Overall service was good. However, do keep in mind that they do take a deposit for reservation and include an automatic 20% service charge (for groups of 5 or more).

Yakiniku at Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ

 

Meat variety course at Gyu Kaku

Another special occasion for DD#1 took us to Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ in Richmond Hill. A self-declared meat lover (like mother like daughter 😊 ), DD#1’s request for her treat was “anywhere with a lot of meat.” Gyu-Kaku fit the bill. While we didn’t avail of all-you-can-eat, we ordered the Meat Variety course. This course included salad, miso soup, rich, Gyu sushi (beef nigiri), garlic mushroom, cheese corn butter and fried calamari, apart from the meats, of course. We also ordered an additional Harami in secret pot which was ½ lb of 21-day aged skirt steak in a special mild miso marinade.

grilling meat @Gyu-Kaku

The BBQ items included Umakara Ribeye, Yaki-Shabu beef, Toro beef, Chicken basil (with cheese), pork belly, Harami (skirt steak) and Kalbi chuck rib. The meats were marinated in miso or sweet soy tare. There were also various dipping sauces. We grilled the meats over the mesh-type hot plate, which meant the meat was not simmering in oil. They served good quality beef and we thoroughly enjoyed our meal. My favourite was the Harami, with its beautifully-marbled meat. The miso marinade was just delicious.

Harami @Gyu-Kaku

The course meal included S’mores for dessert. And no matter how full we all were, we cannot turn down S’mores! We haven’t roasted marshmallows over a cooktop before (usually, we roast over campfire), but it was a fun experience and yummy, as expected. Great meal and great service! We will be back!

S'mores @Gyu-Kaku

 

Middle Eastern discoveries: Tabule and Bread & Salt

Tawuk @Tabule

A couple of recent outings allowed us to enjoy Middle Eastern dishes, some of which, we have not yet tried before.

In previous trips to Bayview Village Mall, we always passed by the often-busy Tabule. One evening, after the mall had closed, we finally got a chance to have dinner here.

Tabule at Bayview Village 

Hubby started with Fattush Salad which was a very refreshing and satisfying salad with tomatoes, cucumber, fresh mint, onions, and parsley. There were pieces of toasted whole wheat pita tossed in lightly dressed with lemon, garlic, sumac and olive oil.

Fattush salad @Tabule

Grandma, the seafood lover, had her favourite Grilled Shrimp. It was beautifully char-broiled and nicely spiced with Middle Eastern spices.

Grilled Shrimp @Tabule

The girls and I, the meat—eaters, of course had Kefta and Tawuk. The Kefta meal came with two skewers of ground lamb and beef. The Tawuk  meal came with two skewers of marinated chicken breast. The meat was juicy and well-seasoned.

Kefta @Tabule

All in all, the dishes were fresh and tasty! It is a great dining option at the mall!

In a trip to Mississauga, we passed by Bread and Salt and decided to try Afghan cuisine. We really enjoyed it! We were a big group and some of the folks ordered chicken shawarma wrap, slightly fancier than those from other shawarma places, of course.

Chicken Shawarma wrap @Bread&Salt

 Grandma had Fried Tilapia and while they did warn us that it had fishbones, we didn’t realize that as it was deep fried crispy, it would be hard to remove the bones. It was nice but difficult to eat. 

Fried Tilapia @Bread&Salt

Hubby had Lamb Chops which were really tender! Loved the house spices it was marinated in.

lamb chops @Bread&Salt

 DD#2 and I ordered a Couples combo for two with Mantu Dumpling, Beef Tikka, Beef Seekh, Beef Qorma, Beef Chaplee Kabob, Kabuli Palow, Salad and Naan. Needless to say, it was way too much for us and had to share it out with the rest of our group, and still had some to take home!

We started off with a beautiful salad with tomatoes, cucumber, mint and a tangy house dressing. It was very refreshing.

salad @Bread&Salt

 The Mantu dumplings were just yummy! These savory beef and onion filled dumplings were topped with chickpeas and yogurt sauce. No leftovers here!

 

Mantu dumplings @Bread&Salt

The Beef Tikka (grilled cubed cuts of beef), Beef Seekh (spicy ground beef patty, like a burger) and Beef Chaplee (spiced ground beef grilled on skewers) were served with the fragrant Kabuli Palow (rice topped with raisins and spices).

Our favourites were the super delicious Naan (bread) and the Beef Qorma. The beef stew was so tasty with spices partying in our mouths! It went perfectly well with the naan!

Beef Qorma @Bread&Salt

 Service was great as well. We also got some tea afterward. Note that as Afghanistan is a tea-drinking country, they do not have coffee (or at least a decent one). We loved this cuisine and will definitely recommend!