Rustico - Ballston

4075 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA (Ballston), right off Ballston metro stop

Perhaps my favorite restaurant/bar in the DC area has a new location and it does not disappoint. (Alexandria location review HERE)

I stopped by after some athletic practice and I was the only one wanting a full meal, so we ate only the bar menu. Everything was amazing, so all food orders will be rated to degree of amazingness. I suppose I was pretty hungry after practice and not eating much that day, but I am pretty sure it would be amazing regardless.

The location has less of the brick and less of the neighborhood setting than the other location, but the interior is still nice. The Arlington location is definitely bigger than the Alexandria location - at least the bar area, which is a big plus. The beer list is similarly expansive.

Food-
SPICY BEEF JERKY with cheese dip and shallot rings
I ordered this one. It was not a lot of food, but it was the highest degree of amazing. The sauce was fine, but the jerky and shallots without the sauce were as good as anything one can eat.

PEI MUSSELS & HOUSEMADE CHORIZO belgian strong dark ale, sweet potato puree
This was my main entree. It is hard to say this is the best mussels dish I have had in DC (Brasserie Beck gets that honor, although I have not been there in a while). Still, it was really, really good. I love chorizo, dark ale, and sweet potatoes. So while the mussels themselves were good, the sauce and meat that I ate from the bottom with a spoon and the Texas toast they provided was awesome. The dish involved a good number of mussels.

HOMEMADE THICK-CUT FRIES tossed in your choice of caesar or ranch
One of my friends got these. They were very, very good and very ample in size. I know fries are easy to do well, but these a real treat.

BUFFALO CHICKEN BREAD BOWL DIP
My friends also got these. Again, a very tasty rendition of something that is not difficult to do.

Because I was ordering a good amount of food, I got a less exotic and less strong beer, I believe a dark one from Michigan which was good, but not great.

Worth noting on the menu: (Pizzas)
FIG & PROSCIUTTO sweet & sour fig jam, gorgonzola cheese. The Churchkey rendition of this pizza is one of the tastiest pizzas I have ever eaten.
BRAISED DUCK & POACHED PEAR red onions, arugula, blue cheese, port reduction. Damn, just sounds really good and one of my friends who was there said her friend got it and loved it.

UPDATE
I returned to the Ballston location just a week later with a different friend. We got two pizzas: BRAISED DUCK & POACHED PEAR (above) and a Bacon Cheeseburger pizza. The bacon cheeseburger was a good rendition, but nothing special. The Duck & Pear pizza was quite good. Not as good as the fig & prosciutto at Churchkey or the Smokey at Comet Ping Pong, but very good.

UPDATE 2
I returned to the Ballston location in June and split a Fried Green Tomato pizza with someone. It also had arugula on top, ricotta cheese, ripe tomato slices and summer squash. It was a good and unique pizza, but not spectacular. I enjoyed the ricotta and squash and excellent crust as well as the green tomatoes; however, there was a bit too much arugula, although the arugula did add something. Definitely a good choice to try something different, but not on the level of most Rustico special pizzas.

Lebanese Taverna - Woodley Park

2641 Connecticut Ave. NW • Washington, DC, 20008 • (202) 265-8681 (directly across the street from the Woodley Park metro stop)

http://www.lebanesetaverna.com/

MENU (as of 3/6/2011)

So I finally revisited the Woodley Park location for Lebanese Taverna. First off, I should admit that I wasn't as impressed with the decor as I remember having been. I would not put it above the Bethesda decor.

In all other respects, Lebanese Taverna was as good as I remembered it. The server was even particularly attentive and charming.

Just as I have done on every other visit to a Lebanese Taverna, I split a bunch of mezze with someone rather than try an entree. I had a white wine with my meal and it was good to solid (really I just remember the food).

Lebanese Taverna had a hummus menu where you could choose and customize your own hummus. We had the Spicy Hummus and topped it with the Tomatoes & Feta. It was amazing. I have never had a better hummus in my life.

I also got the makdous (cured baby eggplant stuffed with walnuts, garlic, lemon, olive oil, pomegranate) again, which my date was curious about. She didn't seem to like it much, although I thought it was pretty good. It was a bit too strong in spice and garlic though and should have been more subtle. Not their best dish.

The Halloum cheese (with tomatoes, olive oil, olives and sauteed) was pretty good too, but nothing special.

Sadly, I cannot remember the other mezze or two that we had, despite remembering at least one being quite good.

Overall, I escaped with a $41.25 bill before tip, which included wine, and was easily enough food (more than my date could eat).


Summary of all 3 locations

Review of Bethesda location