Text 20325, 98 rader
Skriven 2014-12-09 22:43:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: trip 416
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Lunch with my widowed b-i-l at Haandi at West Falls Church.
First, let me tell you that the Washington Flyer is fine;
but almost as fine if you make the schedule is the combo
of the 981 and 950 Fairfax Connector buses, which costs
half as much (1/3 with card) and takes only 5-10 min longer.
This restaurant used to be my sister's favorite Indian
years ago, and I try to commemorate her periodically by
going back. Today there was a lunch buffet, no lunch
specials, with the buffet costing not much more than the
regular dishes, available on request, but tttt I don't like
the way they're making the baingan bharta these days, so
the buffet it was. Notably bad: zucchini curry (but then I
tend to hate zucchini). Notably good: lamb kadhai, more or
less what people are accustomed to as "balti." Notably
weird: tandoori chicken dark meat, the pieces having had
the fleshy parts carved out perhaps in anticipation of
dinnertime tikka masala but thus looking as though someone
had taken a big bite out of them. Everything else was
pretty standard: decent chickpea salad, clove-driven
chickpea curry, better than decent aloo saag, okay floor
sweeping (ok, mixed vegetable) curry. Good kheer, but as
I was short on pills I could eat only a couple tablespoons.

--

Hilton Alexandria Mark Center - another mixed-reputation
place but one that I have had consistent good luck with.

A fairly warm welcome by a soft-spoken young gent, which
along with my way of talking meant that neither of us could
understand what the other was saying: a taste of my future,
I guess.

I was issued a standard-size room up on the top floor with
a northerly view.  It was mostly tidied up, pretty clean,
but what is it about carpets in Hiltons? This one too had
some odd debris that at least wasn't wet and didn't look
organic. The notable feature was the quite tall ceiling,
giving the space an amusingly almost cubic appearance.

A Thai place called Illusions (scary) and an iteration of
the local chain Clyde's (respectable) are within long walk
distance, but it was howling out, windows rattling and a
reported temperature of 28 (-2), so I retreated to the
sillily named Finn & Porter, where I've had decent meals
before. Normally I'd advise you to beware a place whose
Website describes it as "jazzy and cool; hip and inviting";
I knew the food was fine and don't feel for myself the
need for those attributes and wouldn't miss their absence.

I was given my choice of the inner room or the outer one
(rather chilly because of the enormous tall windows similar
to those in my room); I chose the latter for old times'
sake; server Lula took good care of me.

I was going to start off with an assortment of sushi, but
I'd eaten recently so just cut to the chase and had the
Duroc pork chop with watercress salad and seasonal veg
over Tuscan white bean and Roma tomato salad. I ordered it
medium-rare. It came with nice grill marks and medium-rare,
close to a pound counting the bone, tender though unbrined
and (sadly) lean. Its greens, though wilted by heat, were
surprisingly good, dressed in a simple no-nonsense lemon
vinaigrette. Alongside were fresh shoestring string beans
done simply in butter, sweet and about perfect. Though the
"Tuscan" salad was lacking in herbs (I would have liked
oregano, basil, and/or rosemary) and could have used a
glugg or two of olive oil, it was nicely seasoned otherwise.

La Fleur Petrus 05 is on offer at $180 the bottle, for more
affluent bargain seekers. I think it would have gone okay
with the pork chop, but I wasn't in a fatal splurging mood.
It would probably gone even better with a steak, which are
said to be decent here. Instead I had the Barboursville
Merlot 08, plummy with a few cherries, a decent wine,
perhaps 1/8 as good for 1/5 the price. Toffee finish, went
well with the chop but really dynamite with the white beans.

For afters a glass of Shine Riesling (Heinz Eifel) 08 was
nice, with lychee, pear, grapefruit on the nose, slightly
off-dry, peculiar finish of wintergreen candy and pineapple,
somewhat pleasant but no bargain at $7 a glass (i.e., glass
for bottle) but on the other hand the only sweetish wine on
the list aside from a couple Ports (Fonseca Bin 27 and
Taylor Fladgate 10 and 20 tawnies).

The next table within earshot was celebrating one of its
kids' winning first place in the North American Irish Dance
Championship. I listened to see if their jolliness at the
end of the meal matched their jolliness at the beginning.
It did.

Back upstairs I discovered that the heating system was - a
rarity - accurate and responsive. The bed was comfy.

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