Carpe Donut

(Check out their website for where they'll be!)

The donuts that these guys make are always a treat. Think about it: organic apple cider donuts that are warm and soft and just leave you feeling all good inside. What more could you ask for except an actual store where you could walk in daily and get a dose of these goodies? Until then, however, you'll just have to keep checking the website to see where they'll be. Looks like you can probably catch them on the Downtown Mall on Fridays on a fairly regular basis.

Domku Cafe

Domku, with its spacey pop music/living room ambiance, floats somewhere between a hipster cafe and an Ikea showroom. It's the only Polish restaurant in DC, but as one of my fellow diners (who spent a semester in Krakow) remarked later, its Slavic/Scandinavian themes are really just themes, and not at the heart of the food.

When my four roommates and I arrived at 7:10 on a Saturday night, the place was half-empty - we'd made a reservation and innocently worried about showing up late. Very notably (though not surprisingly) for its Petworth neighborhood, all the patrons were white; our server, barkeep, and older woman who seemed like she might be a manager were Asian. (I find this extremely depressing. The couple of times I went to Temperance Hall before it closed, the clientele was lily-white, despite the traditionally black neighborhood. It seems inevitable that Domku, with its relatively pricey and totally European menu, will play to the same demographics and lure in folks from other parts of town, like our household, while not attracting its own neighbors. But maybe I'm being too pessimistic here.)

The decor is, yes, a little awkwardly fitted out with mismatched, banged-up armchairs and glossy plastic modish furniture. We went with a regular table, but the beat-up blue sofa looked awfully comfy.
Of the five of us, I was most underwhelmed by dinner. We ordered apps to split - eggplant caviar and the garlic toast with roasted tomatoes and feta - both of which were pretty yummy and nicely garlicky. Three of us had drinks: a tall glass of blackcurrant juice, at $3 a good bargain; one of Domku's cocktails, which came pink and syrupy in a martini glass; and a tatanka, a Polish drink of bison grass vodka mixed with apple juice. My roommate who had lived in Poland was EXTREMELY excited about having one of these again...and disappointed that she had to explain what it was to our server. Throughout the evening the service was a little shaky: water glasses and carafe were deposited a little too hard on the table (just short of slamming), appetizers were whisked away before we'd quite finished. Our server did graciously consent to taking a picture of the bunch of us draped across one of Donku's sofas, though, so brownie points to her (don't worry, the restaurant was abandoned at that point).

Dinner came within a reasonable wait: a demure bowl of carrot soup, an order of Swedish meatballs, the potato/cheese/bacon pierogi, the Czech potato dumplings, and (for me) an open-faced farmer's cheese sandwich called a Twarog, served with tomatoes, cucumbers, and a sort of odd sweet-bitter pickle. Everyone cleaned their plate, with the exception of the girl who ordered the meatballs - her entire plate was covered with a plain of deliciously creamy and sweet potatoes, which we couldn't finish off. My sandwich, on a crumbly dark country rye, was hard to handle but very filling, with generous dollops of cheese; unfortunately, I had to deconstruct it to avoid spilling the toppings everywhere. At $6, this was the cheapest entree by far (not counting the soup). We declined dessert, paid the bill ($108 with tax and tip) and walked home. Actually, we walked a couple of neighborhoods over to Adams Morgan for milkshakes, but that's another review.

Aqua Malaysian & Thai Restaurant

Aqua Malaysian & Thai Restaurant
705 Chestnut St
Philadelphia, PA

This was a disappointing meal. My dining companion and I ordered two drinks, two salads, and two desserts. Maybe half of those would get a passing grade.

The coconut drink was basically coconut juice in a can win some coconut meat along with it. Not bad but it really did not taste as fresh as the real deal. Now, I have seen coconuts in Philadelphia so how hard could it be to offer fresh coconut juice in a Southeast Asian restaurant?

The mango juice was OK but my companion did not really like it. I thought it was pretty refreshing and a better deal than the coconut drink.

We ordered the Thai beef salad and the green papaya salad. The first one was edible and I loved the copious amounts of romaine, tomato, and onion. The sauce was a bit on the sweet side and for an almost $9 dish, they might have offered more meat. The green papaya salad was not very good at all. My companion complained that it left an after taste that reminded her of fish food and I tend to agree. Having never had papaya salad before, I don't know what to compare it to but I doubt that it is supposed to taste like this.

We ordered the fried banana and roti banana for dessert and enjoyed one of them. The fried banana was in a strange batter that made the fruit turn out red. It also seemed to absorb all the tasty goodness of the banana (maybe it was unripe) and really did not make a good impression. The roti banana, however, was pretty good. This is a cripy/sticky pancake dough stuffed with coconut paste and banana. It was also offered with just the coconut paste and this would have been fine. Good texture and not too sweet, this was my favorite dish there.

Overall, I was quite disappointed and was even less inclined to return when I got the bill. For the value and quantity of food that we got, I don't see how that could have equaled $40.

Copacabana

Copacabana Brazilian International
400 Shoppers World Ct
Charlottesville, VA 22901

This little restaurant, tucked away in Shoppers World on Route 29 is a terrific place for good food that is light and tasty. Located next to the local Whole Foods , Copacabana boasts a solid menu of seafood, pasta, and meats. The variety may not be so large but almost everything on the menu looks appetizing and you spend a lot of time trying to figure out what you want to try. The setting is a bit dark and the little candles don't give off much light so consider it a place for a romantic gathering. From what I could observe, however, there weren't many young couples there and a lot of business types, older folks, or couples in their 30s seemed to frequent this place.

I started off with the escargot with artichokes in a light cream sauce which also came with small pieces of tender cheese. The escargot was perfect and the artichokes really complimented the taste of the dish. The appetizer came with warm bread, which is just terrific and probably the best bread I've had in Charlottesville. The bread works great with just butter but dip it into the cream sauce and it just takes appetizers to a whole new level.

Entrees are served with a small salad with some shaved carrots to top it off. The house dressing, which is an avocado vinaigrette is wonderful and I have asked for just the dressing in a small container to take with me. They might overdo it a bit though when they drench their salads in this sauce.

For the main course I had the special, which was the fillet mignon with scallops in a red wine sauce. The meat was cooked perfectly and the scallops added a nice flavor to the dish. The sauce was creamy and a bit sweet, which made this a favorite dish of mine. I think they ran out of fillet mignons since, later in the evening, they started introducing New York strips as their special of the day. The fillet must have been a favorite.

Always top off a meal at Copacabana with the banana flan, which is served with a tasty strawberry sauce and whipped cream. This wonderful custard melts in your mouth and gives your tongue a nice treat after a full meal.

At the end, they give you a nice little mint and a hefty check. Maybe that's why this is not more popular with the student population. Still, it is well worth it and you leave the restaurant satisfied but not completely stuffed. They know how to do creamy dishes and entrees so that they taste great but don't make you so stuffed that you can't walk later.

Highly recommended!