Saturday for lunch, Amy and I stopped by Bethesda for a quick lunch. We happened by a Salvadoran place called Costa Del Sol. We remembered eating their pupusas at Taste of Bethesda last year and Amy was having a real craving for them. Costa del Sol is just a small restaurant on Fairmont Ave. Decor is very plain and there is pretty much no ambiance -- but honestly, I couldn't give a crap. What did matter is that we ordered some chicharron pupusas (pork and cheese) and chicken tamales and they were outstanding. The filling was spicy which made up for the fact that the marinated cabbage was fairly plain. Overall, I'd say that Costa del Sol's pupusas competed with those of Samantha's which we all know and love. As well, the tamales we excellent and actually were made with large chunks of potatoe. I don't have much else to report about Costa del Sol except that it is extremely reasonable as far as prices go. Both me and Amy had to pupusas and a chicken tamale and we got out of there for less than $12. If your in the area you should definitly stop by. I certainly plan to.

Click here to see where Costa del Sol is located.

As many of you know already, Chef Sudhir Seth changed the menu over at Passage to India in December. If you had been to Passage to India before then, you'd know that their menu prior to this was nothing to be ashamed of. Chef Sudhir took a risk by making the drastic changes to his menu that he has and I'm happy to report that the change of menu is definitely for the better.

The new menu is divided up among the different regions of India – North, South, East and West. Missing completely from the new menu are the usual Rogan Josh, Paneer Makhani, and Chicken Curry. If you look at the East and West section of the menu below, you'll see that a majority of the dishes can't be found at other Indian restaurants. With dishes like Shorshe Bata Mache and Panchphorner Parmal Shaak from the East or Salli Boti Jardaloo and Chutney Ni Murgi from the West, Chef Sudhir is giving us the chance to increase the depth of our taste buds.

Most dishes that we're all used seeing in Indian Cuisine are from the North and South of India. So if you are looking for some of the more traditional Indian dishes (traditional in the sense that they are more common to Indian restaurants in the DC area), you can order from the North and South menus. Passage to India still has Lamb Korma, which Chef Sudhir would be crazy to remove. I believe it's the best I've ever tasted. One of Phyllis Richman's recent articles backs this opinion up as well. Also, the classic Chicken Tikka-Masala still remains on the menu. Chef Sudhir says, "I originally wanted to leave it (chicken tikka-masala) off, but people complained enough about us not having it, that I had to leave it on."

Here's the menu:
Appetizers
Entrees - North and South
Entrees - East and West
Tandoor, Breads, Accompaniments
Lunch
Dessert

Now that I've told you about the menu, let me tell you about my experiences there. Sadly, our first attempt in December at sampling the new menu wasn't very successful. We were very excited to try the menu and there were many dishes that we wanted to try – So many, in fact, we couldn't decide which to order. Instead, we both decided to order one of the chef's samplers. The chef's samplers weren't a sample of the dishes that we'd wanted to try unfortunately. Most of them were the dishes that we'd had before. DOH! So if there was one thing I'd improve, it would definitely be the sampler dishes – but that's about it.

Our second attempt two Fridays ago went much smoother. Luckily, we made a reservation for 8:30 PM, because when we arrived, they were pretty busy. This time we ordered differently. For an appetizer, I went for the Crab Masala. For $7.95, you get jumbo lump crab meat mixed with chopped onions, tomatoes, cilantro, tumeric, and other Indian spices wrapped in a papadam. The crab was very tender (and no shell!) and much better than I thought it would have been – plus Chef Sudhir didn't scrimp with the lump crab. Amy ordered the Samosa Chaat which is actually another dish carried over from the previous menu. We'd had it before, and as last time, it was wonderful. The samosa was full of spices and it was topped with just the right amount of chutney sauces. Other restaurants tend to pour on the chutneys and raita, which turns this dish into more of a soup than anything else. The samosa also came on top of a bed of chana (chick peas with curry).  One other thing worth noting is that Passage to India's samosas are never greasy which is a common complaint we have at other Indian restaurants. Each appetizer came with a small side salad which you could actually eat and use to cleanse your palate. At most Indian restaurants, the garnishes are barely edible.

Now I get to the good part - the entrees. My entrée, off the West menu called Chutney Ni Murgi, was an interesting chicken dish served in a green, homemade chutney cilantro curry sauce. The menu referred to it as a Parsi delicacy. This wasn't the spiciest Indian dish I've ever had, but not every Indian dish needs to take a layer of cells off your esophagus for it to taste good. I'm sure the next time I go, if I want it spicier, they'll gladly make it so. (Hehe, “Number One, I'd like my Chutney Ni Murgi extra spicy this time - Make it so.”) I really thought this dish made the meal for me. The chicken was lean and very tender. I also had a side of the aloo paratha to go with it. For those of you who don't know, aloo paratha is a potato-filled whole wheat bread. The potato filling is pretty much the same thing as the filling that goes into a vegetable samosa.  I like to take a mixture of the curry and chicken, mix it with some rice, put it on a piece of the bread and shove it in my mouth. It makes for a great combination, although it can be quite messy sometimes.

Amy had the Makhmali Kofta off of the North menu, which is called Malai Kofta at other Indian restaurants we've been to. The prime ingredient in this dish is the vegetable dumplings with a mixture of ground vegetables formed into balls and fried. They are then mixed in a yogurt and coconut-based sauce with a mixture of spices. Amy commented to me that she thought the dumplings were a little dry, but when I tasted it, I thought they were perfect. They had soaked up the sauce nicely.

Once we were done with our meal, Chef Sudhir came out to say hello. It turns out he's a regular reader of this site. Go me! We talked to him about the new menu and congratulated him on the successful change of format. He mentioned that the weekends are usually crowded, but during the week they aren't very busy. So if you are looking for a good mid-week meal, or you want to avoid the weekend crowd, try going during the week.

We had our usual rice pudding for dessert, which was dumb. Chef Sudhir actually has some desserts that sound really interesting, unlike most Indian restaurants. We really should have tried the Indian carrot pudding or fresh mango with nutmeg flavored yogurt. Better yet, we should have had the bread pudding. AAEEEEHHH! I can't believe I missed that. Oh well. Next time.

I'll be returning soon to try some of the other dishes that peaked my interest. Our last trip, the bill was fairly reasonable at around $80. That included a Taj Mahal, a Paul Smith Organic lager (which I have to say is a great beer!),  2 appz, 2 entrees, and a single dessert.  Compared to other Indian restaurants in the area like Haandi, Heritage India and Indique, it is pretty much equal in price. All of these places are a bit more expensive than your average Indian take-away on the corner, but they are well worth the extra cost.

See my previous post on Passage to India for full restaurant details.

You'll remember from my write-up of Taste of Bethesda that I thought that Olazzo was the star of the show. They by far had the best offering of food in my opinion, between their chicken cardenale and meatball sandwich. Since Taste of Bethesda, I have been there twice - both times for dinner. I've also tried to go there twice for lunch with no success. Both times they were closed. Now I'll mention that the first time I tried to go for lunch was on a Sunday, a day on which they are closed for lunch.

(God, what is with Italian places being closed on Sundays. We had the same problem with Il Pizzico in Rockville. )

The second time I tried to get lunch there was yesterday. Amy and I got a really late start and didn't get out of the house until 3. WE WERE STARVING!!! It turns out that they are only open for lunch until 3. Ugh. So in this review I will keep my observations to dinner and I won't cover Olazzo's lunch menu.

When you first walk into Olazzo , it seems very small. In reality, it probably only seats about 60 people including the tables on the patio. There is no entry area. People waiting for tables, have to wait outside. In the cold months ahead I bet this is a real deterrent to eating at Olazzo - especially since they don't take reservations. The bar is the only waiting area. It too is very small and when you get more than 6 people waiting at the bar, they start to get in the way of the servers. The hostess told me that the most popular nights are Friday, Saturday, and Monday nights. You can count on there always being a crowd on those nights.

With all the inconvenience to eat at Olazzo, people still line up to eat there, which tells you a lot (or….maybe it doesn‘t). On the weekends, if you arrive after 7:30, you will wait for a table. The two times that Amy and I went for dinner, we arrived before 7 and we were able to get a table soon after we arrived. People arriving after us though…they were waiting because both times we got the last table.

Everything at Olazzo is meant to give it a homey, trattoria-like feel, right down to the TV with a DVD loop of a fireplace. The tables and chairs remind you of those that you would find in a corner coffee shop in Italy (not that I would know because I've never been there - but I have seen them on TV).

Looking at the menu, you see that Olazzo serves no nonsense Italian American food. You don't see any fancy cream sauces like you'll see at Spezie, nor do you find any hand rolled tortellini or ravioli. You will, however, see lots of penne, lasagna and fettuccine. Their "fanciest" and best dish in my opinion is the chicken cardinale. It contains penne, a tomato cream sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, bits of white-meat chicken, and parmesan cheese. There are two styles of Lasagna on the menu, a "normal" style with ricotta cheese and a Bolognese style with marinara and mozzarella cheese. Out first trip, I ordered the Bolognese style and it was very good. Amy ordered the chicken cardinale and enjoyed it very much as well. Our second trip, we BOTH ordered the pasta with meatballs. I have to say the meatballs at Olazzo are some of the best I have ever had. They are very large and contain the perfect combination of meats and seasoning. Portions are on the larger size. Both times, Amy couldn't finish her entrée and we did not have room for dessert. The good thing is you have leftovers for lunch the next day.

Praise aside, I think Olazzo would be a LOT better if they used homemade pastas. The pasta they use is very obviously out-of-the-box. It is always al dente, but that only makes up for so much. This is one thing that places like Il Pizzico and Spezie will always have over places like Olazzo and Maggiano's.

Appetizers are pretty typical for a restaurant of this style. Mozzarella Neapolitan (which is really just a Tomato and mozzarella salad stacked vertically) with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, fried calamari, peel and eat shrimp, ceviche, etc. Oh, and I almost forgot the Italian wedding soup, which was really good. In reality, you really don't need to order an appetizer at Olazzo if you plan to order an entrée for yourself.

If you have room for dessert (and that's a BIG if), they have cannolis and tiramisu. We've never had room for dessert, so we have yet to try either. However, the cannolis seem very popular - I don't know how people have room for them.

Overall, the service has been pretty consistent the few times we have been to Olazzo. The servers are friendly and eager to please. Food comes out promptly and is well timed and glasses of wine are kept full, which is always a bonus. This leads me to Olazzo's half-price wine Mondays.

Monday night is a very popular night at Olazzo. We went last Monday, and it was very crowded. Luckily, we arrived before the crowd showed up. In reality though, the half-price wine does not buy you very much when the most expensive bottle of wine on the menu is $45. However, it does cut a good chunk of the check off. The wine list is extremely average and nothing worth making a special trip to Olazzo. That said, it is very rare to find out-of-the-ordinary wines in a Maryland restaurant, mostly due to state liquor laws. Also, on Wednesday nights, Olazzo has $5 martinis.

The average check varies for Amy and I at Olazzo. Entrees range from $10-$15 - appetizers average around $6. When we went on half-price wine night, the check was around $50 with two entrees, an appetizer and a bottle of wine. The other nights we went, the check averages about $10-$20 more without the half-price wine.

If you want good, consistent Italian American food at a budget price, I would say your best choices today are Olazzo and Il Pizzico. If you live closer to Il Pizzico in Northern Rockville, I would say you should go there though. The prices are about the same, and Il Pizzico uses fresh, homemade pasta. If you live in NW DC like myself, Olazzo is the best choice that I know of.

Olazzo
7921 Norfolk Ave.
Bethesda, MD
(301) 654-9496
Map

Hours:
(they are not posted anywhere online, so I will have to update this the next time I go there)
Open Daily for Dinner)
Closed for lunch on Sunday.

Dress Code: Casual
Reservations: Not Accepted

About a month ago, you might have noticed that I wrote a post about how I ate three Indian Meals in 36 hours. One of those meals, you might remember was at Passage to India. You will also remember that I said that I had a great meal there. Well, Amy and I went again last Monday, and it was yet again...wonderful.

This time, we went for Brunch...Well, I guess it doesn't really count as "going for brunch" when you only intend to go out for lunch, and when you get there, they happen to be serving brunch. None the less, we were happy to see that Passage to India was serving brunch and we decided to order it (just a side note, the brunch is not normally avaialable on Monday, but since it was Labor Day, they were serving it again). As we were ordering, the couple at the table near us was finishing up and raving about how good their meal was. There were about 10 people in the restaurant, and everyone looked very satisfied.

The brunch offering at Passage to India starts with an appetizer sampler with mini samosas, Indian chicken salad, and those onion fritter things (I'm forgetting the exact name for them right this minute). They also give you two sauces to eat them with - One a plum sauce and the other a raita. The raita went especially well with the chicken salad. In the picture on the right, you can see the chicken salad on the left and the samosas and onion fritters on the right. Nothing's really new or different here. These are your typical Indian restaurant appetizers, and they would probably be safe just serving the samosas, since they are probably our favorite samosas around. Honestly though, I would rather see some of the chaat that we saw at the Indian Street Food event, but I understand why they serve the appetizers they do.

For the entree, you have a choice of chicken tikka masala or lamb korma. On top of that, they bring out  daal and saag. Mix them all together, and you get a pretty good combination. The lamb korma here is one of my favorite around as far as kormas go. The sauce the lamb is in is very creamy and spicy. It is very similar to that of Heritage India (which makes sense since Passage to India used to be a Heritage India), except it is spicier and hence - better. I had the lamb korma the last time we went to Passage to India, and it was a little better, if I remember correctly. On the left you can see what my plate looked like. From left to right, you see the korma, daal and saag. Amy ordered the chicken tikka masala, and it was good as well. We also love the saag dishes here. Last time, Amy ordered the saag paneer and absolutely loved it.

There was no bread included in the brunch, so we ordered some paratha, which I have to say is right on as far as I think paratha is supposed to be made (at least as far as my limited knowedge of Indian food goes).  For dessert, Passage to India includes two dishes of rice pudding. Once again this was very good as well. I could taste the strong cardamon flavor and it was very creamy. Mixed in with it were pistachios and raisins - A very nice touch I have to say.

One thing about Passage to India - They charge you for rice. This is the same practice that Heritage India follows and it drives me nuts. Update: Passage to India not longer charges for rice on their new menu.

The brunch cost $24.95 for two people, plus the cost of the bread and coffee we ordered. The coffee, I have to say, was very strong which we appreciated very much. Not a bad deal for a Sunday (or Monday) brunch for two. I also shouldn't forget to mention how good the service is at Passage to India. The servers are very attentive, timely and gracious.

Passage to India
4931 Cordell Ave
Bethesda, MD
Map
(301) 656-3373
Dress Code: Business Casual (Although I have worn jeans and fit right in)
Hours:
Mon-Fri: 11:30am-2:30pm
Sun: noon-3 pm
Sun-Thu: 5:30-10:30pm
Fri-Sat: 5:30-11pm

See what Monica Bhide wrote about Passage to India at the Washingtonian.