Hard Rock Cafe Washington DC

We have always made it a point to shop at Hard Rock wherever we go and bought gifts for some of our friends and relatives. So Washington DC is no different. I have tasted great food at Hard Rock Cafe Hong Kong, Hard Rock Cafe Sentosa Island Singapore and the Hard Rock Cafe Penang.

So, on our first day, after all the walking about around Washington DC, we thought of having a drink as well as our dinner at Hard Rock Cafe.

Unfortunately, the experience that we had there were far from pleasant. Firstly, we were placed at a corner to cater for some other guests. Service is mediocre to say the least while the food we ordered were far from what we would have expected from an established restaurant.

The drinks we ordered fortunately did not let us down.

The Lincoln's Waffle Shop, Washington DC

About 5 minutes walk away from my hotel (The Grand Hyatt) in Washington DC, I found this little cute unpretentious local diner aptly called the Lincoln's Waffle Shop. It is located directly opposite the Washington DC Hard Rock Cafe and the Ford Theatre.

It was not at all impressive from the outside but I was drawn to the fact that I would love to try something very local in the States.

Operated by Chinese Vietnamese, the menu is straight forward and the price - local and affordable (please do even attempt to convert to Ringgit). For our first breakfast on the very first morning in Washington DC before we embarked on our city tour, we ordered a very typical American breakfast.

Verdict: The food is simple and GOOD and free flow aromatic freshly brewed coffee! Heavenly.

If it is local fare that you yearned for, I would strongly recommend this joint and you get to have your meals among the man and woman who live and work in Washington DC, right from blue collar workers, rough and massive construction workers to a few good old friendly Washington police officers...

I love this place so much that I had ALL my breakfast there for every morning I was in Washington DC ....

Fire & Sage, Marriott Hotel Washington DC

Before I move on to my next destination after Washington DC, I would love to share a little on the restaurants, food and diners that I have the privilege and opportunity to try out while I was in Washington DC.

On the day of our arrival, we were too tired to really walk about to look for food. After a short walk from the Grand Hyatt where we stayed, we came across this fine dining restaurant located at the Marriott Hotel called FIRE & SAGE.

The menu looked inviting and so, we stepped in to give it a try.

I'm not sure whether the food is expensive by US standards as I think they looked ok in USD. Of course, if you start converting them to Malaysian Ringgit, they will look exorbitant.

Starters and appertizers starts from USD10 which I thought was pretty reasonable considering that this is a restaurant located in Marriott Hotel.
The starters were superb and delicious and I in particular loved the fire roasted pear salad. The crab meat cake was also another succulent dish. Unlike some other places where crab meat cake is more cake with flour than meat, we can literrally taste and have crab meat here....
Being a meat person, I am always interested to try out steak dishes wherever I go. Happy to say, the steak that I ordered did not disappoint. The risotto with pan seared scallop was another yummy main course that did not disappoint. Overall, we had a great meal and I actually went back one more time before I left this great city.....