Cabanas

My friend JD is leaving DC and had his farewell dinner at Cabanas in Georgetown. We all met at the bar, where some of his friends were drinking margaritas, which they said was good, but were tiny. I opted for a bottle of Corona, which unfortunately, was not so cold. We were a group of 8 or so, and we had a lovely table by the window. Before I knew it, someone had ordered guacamole and mango salsa and chips for the table. I generally love guacamole and mango salsa, however, I wasn't feeling it. The guac was bland, it was better with some salt and lime squeezed into it, but nothing to get excited about. I had more hopes for the mango salsa, but much to my disappointment, the mango cubes were hard and dry and I wasn't getting the yummy bursts of flavor my tongue was expecting to dance on it. The arrival of my second beer, which was significantly colder than the first appeased me a bit. My friend ordered a caipirinha, which tasted a lot like a minty margarita than anything else...he was not so happy.

For dinner, I picked the enchiladas with wild boar. I don't know if it was the hunger or the beer or if it was really as delicious as it was, but it was DELISH!! I devoured it, even before I could think to take a picture, it was gone. JD had the el pollo rostizado como a Lima, which is basically pit roasted half chicken and it smelled amazing. I was too busy with my enchilada to steal a taste, but it looked good with yucca fries and salsa verde. We noted that it was served with a HUGE side of mayo, which went untouched. As we were finishing up our dinner, a flamenco dancer appeared with a guitarist and put on a show. I've seen better, but for Georgetown, and after a couple of drinks, it was fun.

Service wasn't stellar, but I rarely expect that when I go to a restaurant with a big group of people. I thought the food was overpriced for the mediocrity and modest portions. Now I was fine with everything, until a couple of days later when I saw that my credit card was charged twice for different amounts. I had put in $41 for my portion of the check, which was correctly charged, however there was a second charge of $90. I know sometimes the card is swiped for the wrong amount, and the server realizes it and the pending charge disappears after a couple of days when they void it. Unfortunately, I found on Tuesday night that both of the charges were processed. I called as soon as I discovered it and spoke to someone who basically said that it was too late (10:00pm) for them to help me that day, however I should call back on Wednesday and ask to speak to the manager. I did just that and after repeating my story to a very nice lady, she asked me to fax her a copy of my credit card statement, which I tried to do, but their machine was not receiving faxes. So I called back on Thursday and asked for an email address where I could send the scanned copy of my statement. Well, the email address was wrong also (I had repeated the spelling of the address back to the manager 3 times). What the heck is going on?! I was unfortunately busy before their dinner time to call them and I know better than to try on a weekend night. I was looking at their reviews online and it's amazing how many people complain of being overcharged or double charged...you'd think they would learn something? Hmmmm. Tasty tasty!

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www.dcseafood.com/cabanas/index.htm

Happy Hour at Saki

On the way to meeting up with some friends for dinner, Saki's happy hour specials caught my eye. $3 beers - I think they were Miller Lite, Amstel Light, and Heineken - and 1/2 price sushi. Since we had half an hour before the agreed meeting time, we stopped in for a quick bite. Most of the rolls were around $3.5 and the nigiri were $1 per piece. Pretty nifty deal, I thought.

It's a very cute place, the color scheme is white and black with a very trendy feel. When you walk in you can sit in a lounge area off to the back right or you can head straight for the bar. We opted to sit at the bar where you can see your sushi being made. The service was prompt (they weren't busy at 6:00pm) and friendly.

We ordered a california roll, a spicy tuna roll, and a yellowtail and scallion roll and a couple of Amstel Lights. The beer was icy cold and delicious, as expected and the sushi was good beyond my expectations. The yellowtail tasted fresh, the california roll was packed with lots of avocado, and the spicy tuna was FABULOUS. I've had spicy tuna rolls at a hundred million places (not really, but a lot...you know what I mean), and this was one of the bestest. I feel that a lot of places don't chop/ground the tuna finely enough so you get big chunks of tuna, but Saki's spicy tuna mix was perfect! It was spicy and tuna-ey and sooooo yummy. We regretted not getting two of the spicy tuna rolls, but it left us wanting more, and that's always good. I'm so planning on going back for those, and you should come! Tasty tasty!!!!

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www.sakiasiangrille.com

Rock Bottom Brewery

JC and I had happy hour at Rock Bottom Brewery in Bethesda last week, and the deal was so good that we went back again last night, with our friend SW. On Wednesdays, they do a $6 23oz beer with $3 refills and at the end of the night you get to keep the gigantic beer glass. It's awesome!! Not to mention $5 appetizers and pizzas from 5:30 til 7:00pm. They have a fantastic fried calamari appetizer - calamari, green beans, pickle slices, tomatoes, shiitake mushrooms, baby corn, and whatever random veggie I may have left out are tempura fried then sprinkled with parmesan cheese and to be dipped in ranch dressing. It's delicious and goes so well with their light lager! We also got their buffalo wings, it seems only right that you have wings at happy hour with beer, right? I like their wings, they're not greasy and they don't have mushy skin hanging out all over the place like a lot of wings I've had at happy hour. They're not crispy either, but not too fatty or gross. The sauce is pretty good, it's spicy but not enough to make you cry. We have yet to get more than those two apps - with gigantic beers, we get way too full to eat any more. I'm lame and got too happy at happy hour to take pictures. But you should definitely check it out for happy hour with your friends!! Tasty tasty!!

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www.rockbottom.com