Back to the Rhodeside Grill


I went back to the Rhodeside Grill in Arlington and this time I had the Phili Cheese Steak sandwich. It was a hardy sandwich, tasty and not that fake steak you sometimes get when ordering a steak sandwich. But I have to say once again, dont go there during lunch time. They might cause you to be late getting back to work. For some reason lunch service is very slow there. The first time I was there, I could only see 4 people in the dining room and yet it took them at least 30 mins to get me my Reuben sandwich. This time I was there I look around and could only see 3 people in the dining room and waited another 30 mins to get my food and the waiter even walk over to me and ask me if I like to get my check. I said "before I get the check can I get my food?". The food is good at the Rhodeside Grill but the service is not all that great. I would go back there again, but I would only go there when I know I have extra time on my hands.


"The Food Lover's Companion"

If there is one book you should have in your kitchen I suggest this book. "The Food Lover's Companion". Here is the link to Amazon.com if you interested in having this book in your kitchen. I believe it is a must have reference book. Right now I have the older edition book but the new Food Lover's Companion looks good.

The New Food Lover's Companion


This fourth edition of a standard guide (formerly called Food Lover’s Companion) revises many existing entries and expands the total number of entries to 6,700. It is essentially a dictionary of various ingredients, from herbs and spices to wines and desserts. It also includes a plethora of terms about cooking techniques. Entries are arranged in alphabetical order and vary in length from a couple of lines to a couple of pages. Each includes a definition and sometimes an explanation of the topic as well as pronunciation of the term.
A 70-page appendix covers all sorts of interesting and useful information and helps make the book worthwhile just for the extras: ingredient equivalents and substitutions; high-altitude adjustments and boiling points; conversion formulas and charts; important temperature information for grilling, frying, and baking; seasoning suggestions; a food-additives directory; and several meat charts. The volume concludes with a bibliography. The entries, found between abalone and zwieback, vary from the pedestrian daily variety of food items, like coffee, flour, and spaghetti, to the rare and exotic, such as berbere (an Ethiopian spice), mojama (salt-cured tuna from southern Spain), and a Tom and Jerry (a hot drink made of beaten eggs, hot milk or water, a type of liquor like brandy or bourbon, and sugar and spices, with nutmeg sprinkled on top). The Herbsts have written several other culinary best-sellers, including Cooking Smart (Harper, 1992), The Ultimate A-to-Z Bar Guide (Broadway, 1998), and The New Wine Lover’s Companion (Barron’s, 2003), to name a few. If you don’t have this book for your collection, it is surely time to add it, as the previous edition was regarded by Bon Appétit magazine as “one of the best reference books” and “a must for every cook’s library.” At such a reasonable price, this book is a mandatory purchase for any library supporting a culinary program and is highly recommended for all other academic and public libraries. --Christy Donaldson

Rhodeside Grill

When it comes to Ruben sandwiches I am very picky, it is my favorite sandwich to eat. I don't often order it, because I usually disappointed  when it comes to my table. Today I went to the Rhodeside Grill in Arlington, VA  to have lunch and notice that they had Ruben sandwiches on the menu. Ask the server about it and he told that the Ruben sandwiches are very good, I took the chance and ordered it. I was very surprise how good it really was and it sure made my day. The fries that came with it, was not very crispy, tasted a little under cooked, But I didn't care, I was happy with my Ruben sandwich.

Maine Avenue Fish Market

The Maine Avenue Fish Market of Washington, D.C., also known as "the Wharf" or "the Fish Wharf", is one of the few surviving open air seafood markets on the east coast. In operation since 1805, it is the oldest continuously operating fish market in the United States, 17 years older than New York City's Fulton Market, which was relocated to the Bronx in 2005. The Maine Avenue Market was relocated in the 1960s, within a few blocks of its original location on the Washington Channel.
Located on the Southwest waterfront under the shadow of Interstate 395, it stands as a cultural relic popular with locals but unknown to many of the tourists who flock to the monuments and museums just five blocks north. There are over ten stores, each with a specialty. The Maine Avenue Fish Market is open each day of the week, but the largest selection of fish is on display Friday evening through Sunday.
A multitude of fresh seafood is sold on floating barges that line the pier along Water Street. These barges are a tribute to the original system in which fishing boats would journey sixty miles back and forth from Colonial Beach, Virginia, where they would harvest the bay. In the 1960s, refrigerated trucks became more efficient and the "buy boats" were permanently docked and later replaced by the steel barges which exist today.
The original 19th-century Municipal Fish Market building was razed in the 1960s to make way for a waterfront urban renewal
project, but the vendors refused to leave and exercised a clause in their leases allowing them to stay for 99 years. As a result, the current Municipal Pier was built for the market underneath the I-395 12th Street highway offramp, to service the new floating barges. The Fish Market has been praised by urban planners as an example of the sort of small-scale, integrated streetscape which has been displaced by large-scale urban redevelopment in much of the Washington D.C. area. However, the Market is somewhat isolated from the Mall due to its location under the freeway, and the city has refrained from promoting it as an attraction due to uncertainty about whether it can be preserved as an outdoor floating market.
Plans are underway (as of 2009) to once again redevelop the entire length of Maine Avenue and remove the frontage road (Water Street) on which the existing waterfront buildings and wharf are located. It is unclear what will be the impact on the historic market, or whether it will be wholly preserved, but all of the associated support structures on Water Street, including the sole remaining land-based eatery, were scheduled to be razed ”to keep the Fish Market in safe and operable condition until the redevelopment occurs”. According to a website associated with the developer PN Hoffman, "Washington’s historic Fish Market will be preserved and renovated and the maritime heritage of the site promoted. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and photos were taking by me.
Are you hungry for a good burger with a good price. Well I found a place here in Arlington, Virginia. The place is called the Silver Diner. You would think that getting a burger from a diner may not be all that great, but it turns out the burger I had order look and taste very good. Usually when I order a burger I ask to have my burger cook to medium and never get it. Most of the time it comes to me well done. So I was a little surprise that the burger that I order from the Silver Diner came to me medium cook and it put a smile on my face too. Now for the real test, the taste!. I order the Smoked House Burger and I have to say it pretty tasty. Maybe just slightly on the sweet side, but I think over all it was a damn good burger.
I have not tried the breakfast menu yet, but if they know how to cook burgers then I am sure they can cook eggs too. The Silver Diner also has a new menu. They promise to buy produce from local farms and including fresh breads, coffee, milk and eggs made or grown locally. The new menu also offers healthy 600 Calorie Entrée Choices.
I check the Silver Diner's website and found there several diners in the Maryland, New Jersey and Virgina area. Check out the website for yourself and look for a diner near you. http://www.silverdiner.com/