Monday, July 15, 2013

Shirlington's (Arlington, VA) Carlyle Grand isn't that grand anymore, but the food still finsihes first (7-14-13)

Last night after attend the fantastic new musical SPIN at Signature Theater we took one of the leads and her husband to dinner at CARLYLE GRAND (http://www.greatamericanrestaurants.com/carlyle/) down the street where I had easily not been in well over a decade. It was one of the few places still serving food on a  Sunday at 10pm, and it was a very enjoyable evening, for the most part.
 
We settled in to a tasty super citrus-y refreshing bottle of CLOUDY BAY 2011 SAUVIGNON BLANC which I always adore; it's even better when the temps are in the high 80's!
Orders went in and after a while our server returned to apologize she was out of the LOBSTER ROLLS and then 9after we had all ordered ) mentioned the special! Instead, I chose the PECAN CRUSTED TROUT in '
their ORIGINAL Chardonnay Citrus Sauce with Lemon Dressed Arugula. Instead of the sweet potato fried, I opted for the evening's "special" veggie of Parmesan Broccolini. The dish was top notch as was
the Parmesan & Herb Crusted FLOUNDER with Creamy Mashed Cauliflower and Lemon Caper Butter which both our guests raved about.
Will ordered one appetizer and after I had "re-placed" my order the manager came over to say they were out of the Beet Salad and apologized, but he did not have a menu in hand so Will could choose a replacement. These were the silly things that went wrong and really are not necessary. Will chose the Warm GOAT CHEESE & Spiced PECANS Salad with Field Lettuces, Sundried Cranberries, Dates, Tomato and Balsamic Vinegar which was very nice as well as the very tasty (he said one was super spicy) TUNA TACOS which actually is a sushi tuna on Jicama "taco" slice with Guacamole and Cilantro.
While everything was tasty the kid's meal of Penne and Tomato Sauce that Samuel had tasted dreadfully bland and boring and had a lack of sauce for sure.
Otherwise, we did very well and headed home happy, probably not to return there for another decade, or maybe less....