Roti Canai

During our recent trip to DC, we went to Ten Temph for dinner - quite a formal, chi-chi restaurant serving Asian fusion. There were no other children except for ours, and the men wore suits, and the women too much make-up and many heads turned with a raised eyebrow or two to look at my little ones. In any case, the food was terrific and was enjoyed by this family of four. Apart from the half-hourly dropping of chopsticks, my troupe was well behaved and enjoyed the Asian fare that was ordered for the table to share.

My favorite dish was the Roti Canai served as an appetizer. Roti Canai is a South-East Asian dish made by Indian immigrants that goes by its alternative name of Murtabak in Singapore. Roti Canai is its Malaysian name. It is essentially layered bread, rolled multiple times, separated by copious amounts of oil, stuffed with curried lamb or chicken, served with saucy curry on the side. As a stroke of genius, this restaurant had substituted the traditional dough with simple filo pastry, and simply stuffed it with chicken curry. It was crispier than the original dish, and the butter of the french pastry added an unusual twist, and yet was a good complement to the curry on the inside.

Why a picture of the Kashi pack, you ask? Well, whilst at work last week, as I was chewing on the so-called protein bar (more like cardboard bar) to tide me over to lunch, I wished that I had a plate of Roti Canai instead.

Cinnamon

Bento Box

When I think Bento Box, I think back to my Tokyo days. There was a good bento take-out on the way from the subway station back to my apartment near Koishikawa Park. That was a typical dinner for me. Boxed food with a compartment for meat, one for rice, one for a veg and a small one for pickle. 9 PM on a typical evening would usually find me looking up the board, reading the hiragana and katakana slowly, trying to figure out the special of the day. When my mother visited, she was shocked that I had bento dinners five days a week. Not so shocking for a single gal working long hours at an investment bank, right?

Anyway, last week in DC (warning to readers, please expect at least three more posts on my trip to DC), we discovered Teaism, a bento-box restaurant in Penn Quarter. We had just finished the Museum of Modern Art, and my husband was reading a list of restaurants from his iPhone. There was no doubt in my mind where I wanted to go for lunch.

My heart sank when I saw the line spilling out the door. It was 12:30 in the afternoon and I thought that there was no way we were going to get a table for the four of us. Thankfully, the line moved quickly, and many were actually ordering takeout. Thank goodness Americans eat lunch at their desks! We found a nice table in the basement next to the koi pond. If this had been Paris, no chance.

Everyone was happy with their bento. Mine had seared tuna with a liquid, yet still potent, wasabi sauce and a to-die-for sweet potato smothered in a sesame sauce. I will never forget this sweet potato, or maybe it was the sauce that dressed it that made it so irresistible. The sauce was creamy, smooth and yet nutty and the sweet potato was warm and delectable. I was glad I was my mother's daughter who also knew how to enjoy the simple things in life.

Ja ne!
Cinnamon

Coleslaw and Yorkshire Pudding...

... was one of the blog names we considered before stumbling upon Cinnamon and Truffle. Hence, on my recent trip to DC for Spring break, where I routinely forgot to photograph the great food that I had the pleasure of consuming, I decided to try out the Steak and Yorkshire Pudding at the Elephant and Castle. Before I get into the finer details of the Yorkshire Pudding, I would like to take 10 seconds to point out what a wonderful city DC is. Wide avenues, beautiful trees, open green spaces and beautiful architecture. My favorite thing about DC is the Smithsonian Institute that encompasses the numerous museums, free to one and all. What a wonderful use of tax-payers' money. No, honestly. I'd rather spend my 40% on art than on guns. I could very easily live there and will endeavor to draw Yorkshire Pudding...I mean Truffle...to move there with her husband.

So, Yorkshire Pudding, the dish, was delicious and the West Coast IPA that I ordered, Dogfish Head I believe, paired rather well with it. The steak was a little overcooked for my liking, but what I enjoyed were the sails of eggy, light and stretchy Yorkshire Pudding that went with it. There was a nice brown, onion based gravy that topped it all and brought it all together.

If you are interested in visiting the Elephant and Castle in DC, it is on Pennsylvania Avenue and gets very crowded during lunch. If you have little ones like I do, they have a good children's menu with real fish and chips (called Dora's fish and chips) and kid-sized shepherd's pie called Diego's meat and potatoes (or something like that).

Err, just googled Elephant and Castle - sorry to disappoint our readers, but it is a, gasp, chain! I have a theoretical aversion to chain restaurants, but must admit, I did enjoy our lunch at E&C.

Until next time,

Cinnamon