Monday, October 11, 2010

6-months (the calm before the storm)


As Alexander turns 6-months (that's him with his first food there, harvested from our garden and made into a delectable carrot, garlic, breastmilk combo), we are reflecting that everyone has told us this is the "calm before the storm". Is it true? Is dining out with a crawling or walking 12-36 month old as difficult as they say? Sounds like it...

So, for now, we are going to enjoy these quiet times, Alexander happy in his highchair throwing beansprouts all over the place while we relax over our pho...

We'll let you know how it goes!

DaMoim mixes it up (with a baby)



We found ourselves out in Annandale, VA this weekend and decided to stop into DaMoim, a Korean fusion place I have been planning to check out for a while. While they were open on a Sunday at noon, we were the only folks in there other than a few patrons watching the game at the. But it was a friendly greeting and the waiter immediately brought over a cup for Alexander to have some water along with a highchair, which was sweet.


I had heard good things about DaMoim, and the first course of crispy and delicious house-made vegetable dumplings were a great start, although nothing I hadn't had before.


The next dish of Ddukbokki was something entirely new to me: gnocchi-like rice noodles with vegetables and a sort of fish patty thing all in a spicy tomato sauce. It was something I'll crave at some point on a cold day in the winter, and it was a huge appetizer. Definitely a hit with the whole family, a nice blend of east and west, kind of an Asian- American comfort food.


While a bit more standard, the chicken lettuce wraps were perfectly done and the crispy rice noodles were a good touch.

All in all, the best dish was the kimchi quesadilla-- it was like it was meant to be. Spicy cabbage and melted choose sounds...weird...but it really worked together. So much that I wondered when we will be seeing kimchi pupusas and the like (just ferment the cabbage and put it inside-- it's not really much of a stretch). It was a great dish.

DaMoim was a friendly place and the service was spot-on. They made the choice at some point to cater to the football crowd and turned off the music and turned up the volume of the telly, but at lunch on a Sunday I won't complain. The restaurant had the feel of a prosperous family place (perhaps there's also a bit of speculation as to who the 4 Mercedes parked out front belong to), and really, it should. I only wish it was closer.

Baby-friendly? Like most Asian establishments, it was very baby-friendly. The carpet on the floor was also so clean I wouldn't think twice having a little one down there. Children would have to be willing to try something new, and some of the food was very spicy, but I'm sure they would be accommodating as they seemed well prepared for children. It's certainly more friendly to little tastes (quesadillas and tacos, albeit with kimchi and the like) then the average Korean.