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Jan. 23rd, 2010 05:35 pmLast night, Lauren came over to have dinner with my mom and myself. I had been wanting to find a place in Alexandria, Old Town preferably, because for a place as awesome as Old Town is, I rarely go there to eat. It also happened to be Restaurant Week and after a quick search, I found the Columbia Firehouse, who was offering the three course meal set at $35 but also had a full menu if you didn't want to do it.
...GUH. Guuuuuuh.
The Columbia Firehouse is right off King Street, the main thoroughfare through Old Town and apparently the building is about 126 years old. It was originally, of course, an actual firehouse for the Columbia Steam Engine Fire Company. It's been turned into a two story restaurant that was absolutely gorgeous inside. Stained glass in the ceiling, dark wood, comfortable seating.
The downstairs seats about 150 and, according to their website, is devoted to the more comfortable atmosphere. They boast a raw bar, do small plates for sharing, and serve supper and bistro food. The top floor, however, has recently been turned into a more formal sit down part - this is where we were seated, for which we were very grateful as going upstairs cut the noise level by probably more than a half.
I had called right before we left and told that they couldn't take anymore reservations until the 9 pm sitting but were more than welcome to stop in and they'd see if they could seat us. We decided "Why not" as since they're right off of King Street, if they were full up, it wouldn't take much to find another restaurant.
Much to our surprise, since it was a Friday night and it is Restaurant Week, we were seated immediately upstairs in the much quieter, but still just as gorgeous, seating area. And then we had to decide what to eat...
Okay, so I decided to go with the 3 course meal that was being offered for RW. Since some of the main courses alone were $25, I could pay an extra $10 and get an appetizer and a dessert on top of that. The food was - so very good. (And the prices were decent - you could easily find something under $20 and Lauren's salad was not only huge but also delicious.)
Appetizer: Pan Roasted Steak Waldorf with chopped lettuce, apples, walnuts, celery, grapes & buttermilk blue cheese.
There seems to be this 'new' thing where places make their starter salads roughly the size of your main course - I really don't like that. Why? Because if you fill up on your salad/appetizer, by the time the main course arrives, you're not going to be able to enjoy it as much. So needless to say, the portion that they brought out was perfect. Enough to really get a feel for the salad but not enough to overshadow what was to follow.
I'm a big fan of Waldorf salad to begin with and this was just so light and fresh, probably the best I've ever had. And the steak - oh god, the steak. I've never actually had rare steak before so I was game when it came out that way (they were more than happy to cook my mom's a little longer, she has something against blood. :D) - why have I not been eating my steak this way? Melt in your mouth, just the right amount of warmth, nggh. And it went so well with the salad.
Main course: Rockfish with Ricotta Gnocchi, Broccoli Rabe and & Red Wince Sauce
As always when I'm torn between two menu items, I turn to the expertise of the waitstaff and ours recommend this to me. (As much as I liked it, I think next time I'm getting the dry aged New York Strip.) Also, I'd never had Rockfish and was eager to try something new, especially as I had just had steak with my appetizer. It was really good - light and not at all "take a bite and think you're chewing salt water" and the searing on the top had all sorts of interesting flavor. I'd also never had (or don't remember having) gnocchi (which I pronounced wrong, to Lauren's amusement) and this was really good. And had a kick! Woo, a bit spicy but that nice type of lingering spice that isn't overwhelming.
Dessert: Two Brownie Sundae with chocolate and caramel sauce.
Again, a lot of places will not only give you a dessert the size of your main course but they'll douse it with the sauces. When I asked for no sauce, I was reassured that it was only a drizzle, mostly on the plate, so I was really happy that he wasn't making that. Perfect size for the dessert, too - though it said two brownies, it really was half of a regular brownie and half of a blondie. We think the ice cream was freshly made, just two little scoops, with a small thing of the whipped cream that I love best. You know, the one that doesn't have a lot of sugar in it. And the brownies were warm - the chocolate one was better than the blondie but I tend to like regular brownies better anyway.
Add on to the fact that the entire dinner was a really nice, low key one and we didn't hurt for conversation. I had a blast and I'm so glad Lauren was able to come out for it.
This is so going on my "place to revist" list. :D
...GUH. Guuuuuuh.
The Columbia Firehouse is right off King Street, the main thoroughfare through Old Town and apparently the building is about 126 years old. It was originally, of course, an actual firehouse for the Columbia Steam Engine Fire Company. It's been turned into a two story restaurant that was absolutely gorgeous inside. Stained glass in the ceiling, dark wood, comfortable seating.
The downstairs seats about 150 and, according to their website, is devoted to the more comfortable atmosphere. They boast a raw bar, do small plates for sharing, and serve supper and bistro food. The top floor, however, has recently been turned into a more formal sit down part - this is where we were seated, for which we were very grateful as going upstairs cut the noise level by probably more than a half.
I had called right before we left and told that they couldn't take anymore reservations until the 9 pm sitting but were more than welcome to stop in and they'd see if they could seat us. We decided "Why not" as since they're right off of King Street, if they were full up, it wouldn't take much to find another restaurant.
Much to our surprise, since it was a Friday night and it is Restaurant Week, we were seated immediately upstairs in the much quieter, but still just as gorgeous, seating area. And then we had to decide what to eat...
Okay, so I decided to go with the 3 course meal that was being offered for RW. Since some of the main courses alone were $25, I could pay an extra $10 and get an appetizer and a dessert on top of that. The food was - so very good. (And the prices were decent - you could easily find something under $20 and Lauren's salad was not only huge but also delicious.)
Appetizer: Pan Roasted Steak Waldorf with chopped lettuce, apples, walnuts, celery, grapes & buttermilk blue cheese.
There seems to be this 'new' thing where places make their starter salads roughly the size of your main course - I really don't like that. Why? Because if you fill up on your salad/appetizer, by the time the main course arrives, you're not going to be able to enjoy it as much. So needless to say, the portion that they brought out was perfect. Enough to really get a feel for the salad but not enough to overshadow what was to follow.
I'm a big fan of Waldorf salad to begin with and this was just so light and fresh, probably the best I've ever had. And the steak - oh god, the steak. I've never actually had rare steak before so I was game when it came out that way (they were more than happy to cook my mom's a little longer, she has something against blood. :D) - why have I not been eating my steak this way? Melt in your mouth, just the right amount of warmth, nggh. And it went so well with the salad.
Main course: Rockfish with Ricotta Gnocchi, Broccoli Rabe and & Red Wince Sauce
As always when I'm torn between two menu items, I turn to the expertise of the waitstaff and ours recommend this to me. (As much as I liked it, I think next time I'm getting the dry aged New York Strip.) Also, I'd never had Rockfish and was eager to try something new, especially as I had just had steak with my appetizer. It was really good - light and not at all "take a bite and think you're chewing salt water" and the searing on the top had all sorts of interesting flavor. I'd also never had (or don't remember having) gnocchi (which I pronounced wrong, to Lauren's amusement) and this was really good. And had a kick! Woo, a bit spicy but that nice type of lingering spice that isn't overwhelming.
Dessert: Two Brownie Sundae with chocolate and caramel sauce.
Again, a lot of places will not only give you a dessert the size of your main course but they'll douse it with the sauces. When I asked for no sauce, I was reassured that it was only a drizzle, mostly on the plate, so I was really happy that he wasn't making that. Perfect size for the dessert, too - though it said two brownies, it really was half of a regular brownie and half of a blondie. We think the ice cream was freshly made, just two little scoops, with a small thing of the whipped cream that I love best. You know, the one that doesn't have a lot of sugar in it. And the brownies were warm - the chocolate one was better than the blondie but I tend to like regular brownies better anyway.
Add on to the fact that the entire dinner was a really nice, low key one and we didn't hurt for conversation. I had a blast and I'm so glad Lauren was able to come out for it.
This is so going on my "place to revist" list. :D