| Monday, April 09, 2007 |
| H Mart |
Easter weekend was pretty much non stop indulgence. From dinner at the Spice Company on Friday night, to a lovely Easter dinner of roast lamb with the neighbors - including those who had returned just hours earlier from almost a month in Ethiopia - it was wine, food, and more food.
The Spice Company was very good. A little too stuffy (when you occupy the old space occupied by the Polo Club at the Collonade - what can you expect?), a little too expensive, but the food was very good, and our waiter, Nabil, entertained us with stories about making couscous in Morrocco.
National Sleep in Late Day was a roaring success. We left the house at 1:15 PM to introduce my sister to the vast Asian wonders at H mart on Rolling Road. The day before Easter, it was a madhouse of people collecting vast amounts of greens and vegetables for their dinner. It's always like walking into a busy market in Southeast Asia there. We heard no less than 4 different languages over the loudspeaker at any given time, and the buzz of various languages and dialects just walking around was indecipherable. Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Thai.....you name it, we heard it. The live turtles and frogs usually available were not on display because the seafood area was being remodeled, but the tubs of fresh fish, butchered chickens with the head and feet still attached, and big planks of dried squid, octopus and bream, more than made up for it. Hint - if you want to save BIG on fresh veggies, meat, and fish (really FRESH fish) - this is the place to go. We got an entire beef tenderloin for $35. The same thing costs >$90 in any "western" grocery store.
After stocking up on nam pla, kejip manis, lemon grass, thai chilis, green tea, mung beans, spices, and even some frozen pheasant, we headed next door to Be-Se-To for a plate of bulgoki (marinated, grilled beef) and Saengseon-gui (spicy grilled mackerel) with Doenjang-jjigae (spicy bean paste stew). It may be served on a plastic tray, and you eat at formica tables on plastic chairs - but it is some of the best food you can get - for less than $18 for two people. Put the Spice Company to shame in that respect.
From there, a trip north to Hunt Valley for shoe shopping and a quick pass through Wegman's for essentials. We were too full from our Korean lunch to even contemplate dinner, so we hit the antipasto bar for cheese, olives, and pate' for grazing later.
Sunday was culture day. A trip to the BMA for the Pissarro exhibit (a must see), and don't miss the tiny, but absoutely exquisite exhibit of Japanese textiles tucked away in the corner on the second floor. Unbelievably beautiful stuff.
A late brunch at Gertrude's with killer Bloody Mary's followed by a nap and a late dinner of roasted lamb and vegetables with the neighbors.
That's the way to spend a weekend. |
posted by Broadsheet @ 9:14 AM   |
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