Lia's

So, the OC in me took over when the summer Restaurant week came along. Oh my gulay, there were too many restaurants to try and so little time! Restaurant week in DC and Bethesda gives us the option of trying really good (and EXPENSIVE) restaurants for the pulubi price of $20.00 for lunch and $35.00 for dinner. Considering that it's a three course meal, it's a steal! They do have special menus during that time, but I bet everything is well worth the price.

So I spent late nights browsing Yelp.com (my new bestfriend) and dcfoodies.com waiting and looking at possible restaurants to go to. Argh, there's too many to choose and with my limited resources, Marco and I decided to do Lia's in Chevy Chase, MD (and thats not the actor!). It's technically part of B-CC (Bethesda-Chevy Chase) Restaurant week and at only $30 for dinner.
Definitely a bargain in our part.

So last friday(8/1) we had a mini-date and went to dinner after work. We were both so tired and looking forward to the food.

When we got there, we were seated right away even if we were too early for our reservations.
It was a cute restaurant. Jam-packed with people like us, wanting to take advantage of the cheap RW specials. People had wines on their tables, but me and Marco were there for the food. Maybe, for his birthday, we will get a bottle of wine when we go to La Chaumiere, which is another entry.

"Water for me please" "me too!"

No soda, argh. Frustrating. I've been cheating a bit here and there, but most of the time, I've been able to steer clear of the refreshing "gumuguhit" Coke.

anyway!

It took us a while to decide what to get. So while waiting, I decided to try some cheeses. I said it was on me since, according to the menu, it was only 3 dollars for 3 ounces. I was thinking, "wow mura!". He chose a sheep's and goat's milk cheese, and I chose a cow's milk cheese. When the waiter brought us our cheese plate, there were two tiny slices of cheese on a big plate with two biscotti-like bread and fig jam in the middle. I was thinking to myself, "eh kaya pala mura, kase malaki pa daliri ko sa slice." It was good nonetheless. Now, we're both into trying new cheeses. So for our next outdoor movie/picnic, I am making a cheese plate and bringing wine!

I decided on getting the Risotto balls with Fontina cheese for my appetizer and Marco got the chicken dumpling soup. Very ordinary if you ask me, so I asked him TWICE if he really wanted that. heehee.

When the table beside us got their entrees, I decided to copy them and get what they got. I ordered the Pork tenderloin wrapped in proscuitto (sp?) with sauteed spinach and sweet onion polenta. Marco got the Pan seared scallops with asparagus and mushroom risotto. Funny how the waiter mixed up our orders and thought that Marco got the meat and not me. That means he has girly taste! (kidding, Marco :))

The pork was a little tooooo spicy for my taste and I didnt like the polenta that much. He liked his entree by the looks of his almost empty plate, save the last piece of risotto rice left on the side. No, wait, ok, nevermind, his plate is all clean.

For dessert, I got the panna cotta, and he got the peach upsidedown cake with vanilla gelato. His gelato was YUMMY! My panna cotta was so-so. Nothing wow, or mouthwatering. I've baked better! hehe yabang.

It took us an hour to eat all this. Faster than the almost three-hour dinner we had at the Melting Pot about a month ago.

It was fun. I had fun eating and trying not to be clumsy at such a posh restaurant while we were surrounded by people who were dressed up for dinner and we were still in our work clothes.

On Saturday, we're going tubing. So that's another story.