Washington, DC and Room Four

This past weekend, Tim and I visited friends in DC.  We ate some great food...in particular, H&Pizza was a favorite, as well as the Union Market (where we tried a ton of different things).  I won't go into a lot of detail, since they aren't located in Indy, but will share some pics and food descriptions.

H&Pizza...the cool thing about them is that they make and cook the pizza right in front of you.  The crust is ultra-thin, so it cooks in one of those rolling ovens that you might see at Penn Station or Quizno's (you know, when they send your sandwich through to melt the cheese).  It's THAT fast.  You pick your crust, sauce, and toppings, they send it through the mini oven, you pick some 'finishes,' and it's done.  And it was really tasty.  You get unlimited toppings for a flat-fee, and the toppings can be fairly high-end.  I had spicy marinara sauce, fresh mozzarella, and mushrooms, and had it finished with prosciutto, goat cheese, and chili oil.  Tim had several of the same elements but added sausage to his.  It was a darn tasty meal.

The Union Market is an upscale version of an indoor farmer's market (a lot like the Indy City Market, only fancier), with produce and meat cases along side fancy local food stands.  We picked a bit of this and that to share--a pork pastrami sandwich, shepherd's pie with chunks of lamb--but the standout for me was the Korean taco stand (called, appropriately enough, Tacorean).  I first tried  the bulgogi beef and then went back for the chicken, and both were boldly flavorful and topped with kimchi slaw, lime crema, sriracha, and sesame seeds (I opted for no cilantro as cilantro is the devil).  Holy crap, were these amazing.  I would eat them everyday if they were in the same city as me. 

I'm also going to slip a quick Room Four review in here because it's worth mentioning...  We went the night before we left for DC, and I had a grilled 'eye of ribeye' steak topped with Worcestershire butter and served over spicy potato hash that was peppered with crispy bits of onion which made the whole thing so good that it was other-worldly.  Before that, Tim and I shared a bowl of potato leek soup that contained large chunks of meaty sole and was sprinkled with smokey paprika, and that was also stellar. Hands-down the best potato leek soup I've ever had, very creamy and hearty, and the smokiness set it off.  Tim had three tacos--lamb carne asada, beef picadillo, and a pork carnitas that wasn't on the menu, and he enjoyed them all.  I'm telling you, these guys rarely do wrong.  Go!

Ribeye & hash