But they weren’t that spicy; these noodles only had the mala flavour. But it was still quite a lot of food for me! Ate this after going around Wendy Whiteley’s Secret Garden 🌱🌿
I was super-stoked to be part of a big group dinner at Old Ebbitt Grill, the oldest still-functioning restaurant in DC, and once we made our way through the chaos of the lobby to check into our reservation and get our table, the experience was quite lovely. They take a lot of pride in their raw bar, and we split this enormous platter among the group and I enjoyed trying a little bit of everything. For me, the mark of a quality raw bar is being able to enjoy the oysters without any accouterments--yeah, I like some mignonette on oysters, or a squeeze of lemon from time to time, but sometimes I just love that simple, briny goodness.
Tampa food highlights, part one: our first dinner was at Hattricks Tavern which had really, really good wings, lots of hockey memorabilia, and a solid blackened grouper sandwich. Across the street from our hotel was a place called The Pint & Brew, a chill little restaurant with lots of really good beers on tap and some really tasty light fare like the shrimp and arugula toast with cherry tomatoes and avocado.
Heading back to Baltimore from New York is significantly more pleasant now because the Moynihan Train Hall is a vast improvement over the old waiting area in Penn Station. I haven’t been able to fully try the new food hall mainly because we leave in the mornings, but I do get a lox spread sandwich from H&H Bagels to enjoy on the train. (I tried the smoked salmon sandwich, but it isn’t as good, is more awkward to eat, and is more expensive.)