October 2, 2008

Hello Cupcake!

Location: 1351 Connecticut Ave NW, DC
Cuisine: Desserts, Cupcakes
Price: $
Nearest Metro: Red Line Dupont Circle

So lately I've been having this sweet tooth and annoyingly haven't really had anything that would satisfy it. So I found out about this little spot in one of my daily email alerts from www.dailycandy.com saying that Hello Cupcake! was opening up. Well I figured why the heck not. A girlfriend of mine, her 18 month old son, and a mutual friend of ours decided to try this place out. Well when we got there (a Saturday afternoon around 3), it was a LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG line leading out the door! Once we got inside there were clean pastel colors decorating the walls, and everything looked so clean and crisp and just made you feel so happy. So we patiently stood in line, unfortunately they were out of most of the cupcakes that I wanted to try (for you vegans and Gluten free dieters they also have something to accommodate you), so I decided to get real exciting and went for the hc Original with buttercream icing. I love white cake with triple coconut (I REALLY wanted the dulce de leche cupcake but I was told they weren't going to sell it until the owner perfected the recipe), but nonetheless I was not let down. I ordered the 24 carrot (carrot cake, get it) for my friend whose birthday it was (I did sneak a taste and it was AMAZING. I will caution you, these minicakes are pretty rich and you may need a glass of milk to top it off, so be prepared. They are so goood! Oh a little thing I forgot to mention they change the menu daily so try checking out the website before you make your way over there, some of the flavors are sold daily and some are sold on certain days. So if there is a particular flavor you want to try make sure you are visiting this cute clean shop on the right day.

http://www.hellocupcakeonline.com/flavors.html

Mourayo

Location: DuPont Circle. 1732 Connecticut Ave NW, DC, 20009
(Red Line DuPont Circle Metro)
Website: www.mourayos.com
Cuisine: Greek Seafood
Price: $$$

During the month of Ramadan I caught up with a friend for dinner at Mourayo. Let me just say that during Ramadan, when you have a taste for something you will have great expectations of the food you eat when breaking your fast after a long day of stomach growls and hunger pains. My grandmother was Greek, and so I'm use to having really good homemade Greek food, and haven't had any Greek food in a while. So I figured on this particular day I would like to have some Greek food. So I called and made reservations that afternoon for 6:30 on a Tuesday. When i got there I fell in love with the seaman theme. It made me feel like I was really dining in a captains cabin for the evening. I almost felt like the restaurant might start swaying with the ocean =) I had to remind myself that we were still on land. Being that it was a Tuesday evening the restaurant had a few tables.

The wait staff was VERY efficient and friendly, the head person in charge (I want to say it was either the owner or the manager) was very attentive and hands on with the customers. Our glasses never went empty. So we were given the menus and the menu was pretty narrow, but everything looked so good, we couldn't make up our minds, but the staff remained patient. We finally chose the Ouzo Meze for the appetizer (seafood variety plate), there was octopus, mussels, anchovies, and a few other treats. The seafood was slightly salty and it was good, but definitely had that fresh seafood taste, so it kept its original flavor and taste, you could really taste each crustacean and fishes flavor and could distinguish them. For the entree we selected the Branzino fish (for the whole grilled fish you could either get it baked salted or grilled), we selected salted. I must say that it was an interesting display. After the fish came out it was displayed on a plate entirely covered in salt (looked pretty similar to the salt that you sprinkle on your driveway on snowy days). But it was quite a presentation, the manager/owner brought the fish to our table and began using a pic and axe sort of thing to chip off the salt from the fish. Once the branzino was finally revealed it was very moist and was tender, and surprisingly wasn't very salty. The appetizer and entree selection were pleasant for our break fast.

If your in the mood for some real seafood (not those super over seasoned and over cooked seafood), then I highly suggest this place. The fish tasted like it had just been caught on a line and was made by the fisher who caught the fish, and you can't get any fresher taste than that. There are also an extensive Greek wine selection to flush down your food with and to end your meal.

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