Ray's the Steaks-2300 Wilson Blvd-Arlington VA

As a celebration of the end of a grueling Q1, a colleague and I made the trip up Wilson Blvd to Ray's the Steaks. Walking into Ray's, a feeling of comfort washes over you as you view the incredibly unintimidating atmosphere and the awesome absence of sleazy lawyers/politicos hitting on 30 year old maneaters drinking martinis. Ray's has no bar, just a no frills interior filled with ordinary people who enjoy a good steak and a reasonable bottle of wine. To begin the meal, you are givin salty and sweet peanuts and bread and butter. The wine list contains a section of twenty or so "great value wines" all priced under 25$. The famous sommelier (formerly of Citronelle) Mark Slater was on hand to help us choose a bold flavored 19$ Chilean Red. To begin the meal, we chose to skip the famous Crab Bisque (my cholesterol is at dangerous levels) and we instead split the entree, Crab Imperial. The gigantic portion of delicously sweet Maryland Crab was perfectly seasoned and after only a few bites, to my surprise, my steak arrived. I went with the Hangar Steak, traditionally described as he least tender, yet most flavorful steak on the menu but at 20$, an incredible value. Rays is probably the one steakhouse on the entire Eastern seaboard that offers free sides, with creamed spinach and mashed potatoes coming with every meal. With a delicious steak, free sides, lump crab meat, and chimichurri as a condiment, I was in heaven. Rays only fault is their rushed service. 90 out of 100.

Citronelle Bar-3000 M St. NW

For young professionals curious to what the hoopla is about the "world class" and "most popular restaurant in DC" (according to zagat), you do not have to break the bank while dining at Citronelle, just choose to eat in the bar instead. On a breezy spring evening my companion and I made the short walk to Georgetown to visit the home of the culinary wizard, Michel Richard. Upon arrival, sitting outside was none other than Chef Richard, relaxing and sipping a fine French Bordeaux with some companions. The bar takes no reservations, and there was only one other couple dining at prime hours which was nice. To drink, we started with a French White labeled "recommended by Chef Richard" that was only 24$. The wine list affords a chance to drink at resonable prices, up and down France. For an appetizer, I chose the escargot tart, which was lovely. Succulent and garlic infused escargot are baked in a tart resembling a personal thin crust pizza, which was well worth the 14$. To follow I had the halibut, very delicious, but a boring choice by me. The halibut was cooked to perfection, and was draped in a rich lobster cream sauce with roasted fresh vegetables. The overall tab was a little over 100$. Not bad for a Tier 1 restaurant in DC. 91 out of 100.

Cleveland Park Bar & Grill - 3423 Conn. Ave. NW

It looks as if the winter months are finally behind us and we can put away the heavy jackets and thick socks for good. Aside from Braves season and the Cherry Blossom Festival, this means one major thing to me...dining and drinking can now be moved outside. This is a huge plus and makes any experience exponentially better. This past Saturday my roommate and I were looking for an outdoor venue where we could drink some good beers and soak up the sun without having to navigate the chaos that is M street or break the bank at the waterfront. We ended up at Cleveland Park Bar & Grill (CPBG).

CPBG is a fairly popular sports bar that is packed to the brim during the NFL season and throughout March Madness, but this past Saturday it was not too crowded at all. Neither of us had ever been here before and were going more for the beer than the food. However, I was pleasantly surprised with how extensive their menu was for being a sports bar. When you first walk in CPBG it strikes you as nothing extraordinary. There are plasmas out the ass and the downstairs bar has a dungeon feel (typical sports bar right?), but there is a pathway towards the bathrooms that leads to an upstairs deck with a full bar overlooking Connecticut.

My roommate and I started out with a couple pints on draft and each were only 5 bucks. 5 dollars is still 3 dollars too many, but all things considered that is a pretty good deal. The service was fantastic in my opinion and the staff was very attentive throughout our meal. I wasn't too hungry so I just had some chicken tenders and "Dad" had the turkey club. The chicken fingers were deep fried and came with a vinegar based bbq sauce that overshadowed the McDonalds-esque honey mustard. For 7$ i got 7 or 8 fingers which was nice. The turkey club was pretty average as well. We ended up running into an acquaintance randomly and their order was far superior to ours. They had the margarita pizza, some hot wings, and the chicken alfredo which all got rave reviews. I am curious to try some more of their food, but I was just as satisfied to do some top deck sippin on a great day. I give CPBG an A...the scene was awesome and I cant wait to go back and try some more food. I will post an update when I do so.

Ristorante Tosca- 1112 F Street

I decided to try Ristorante Tosca near Metro Center this weekend. The restaurant has a really modern feeling, and there were a fair amount of people just sitting at the bar when we arrived.

I had the buffalo mozzarella with roasted bell peppers to start, and then the roasted scallops with artichoke puree. I really enjoyed my choices, and everyone else's food was excellent as well. One of the best Italian restaurants I've been to in DC.

I thought it was going to be a somewhat expensive dinner, based on the menu online. What I did not know, is that a lot of the prices on the menu are for the appetizer-sized portion. They are assuming that you'll get the starter, a pasta, a meat, etc. But if you get the "entree" size, watch out. This is a really expensive restaurant in disguise, so careful of what you order.

Highlight: when someone in the restaurant proposed- and everyone started clapping...it was straight out of a movie.

Lowlight: unexpected prices

Minh's - 2500 N. Wilson Blvd Arlington, VA

This past Thursday we were looking for something quick and cheap to eat without having to resort to the Chipotle belly bomb or 5 guys. I also wanted to avoid the hassle of looking for parking in Dupont or Georgetown so I decided to try Minh's in Arlington. Minh's is a Vietnamese restaurant that recently made a name for itself by cracking the Top 100 restaurant list.

I had no problem getting a table even though the restaurant was relatively crowded. The restaurant is filled with all sorts of nick-nacks (not the Bond character who also yelled "da plane, da plane" in fantasy island) that make you feel like you are eating in someone's house rather than a restaurant. We decided to start off with the combination rice rolls (Rice paper wrapped w/ shrimp, pork, lettuce & vermicelli) and the shredded pork rolls (Rice paper wrapped w/ shredded pork & salad). Both of these were served with their own dipping sauce that ranged from sweet to extremely spicy. The brown sauce (spicy) was the better of the two. They were about 5 bucks per appetizer and the helpings were more than enough. In hindsight I think that we probably could have gotten away with just ordering one. My girlfriend ordered the shrimp, scallops & calamari sauteed w/ mixed vegetables while I ordered the catfish stew with vegetables. Both of these entrees warranted a to-go box and they were about $12 each. The catfish was very good, not spectacular, and definitely worth the money spent. I like a little more spice in my food and the focus seemed to be more on the sweet side. All of the seafood was very fresh and was an obvious upgrade from the usual Chinese take-out seafood...and it was cheaper.

All in all I would give Minh's an 88 out of 100 and a very high rating on bang for your buck. This place is open for lunch and dinner so I can only imagine the cash they rake in during office lunch breaks. I think next time I go I will go with 4 or more people so we can sample more dishes.

Highlight: Catfish stew

Lowlight: I had to go to work the next day

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On a completely unrelated note: A friend of mine shared this song with me and I wanted to pass it on. Enjoy!