Friday, October 1

Out to dinner night.

Now that our self-imposed rule of only dining at restaurants we can walk to has ended, we decided to try a fairly new place in Rockville, Againn.  (They also have a location in D.C.).  The restaurant is billed as an upscale British Isles restaurant.  It was fairly crowded when we got there, which was a little surprising for 8 pm at a strip mall type restaurant in the 'burbs.  Our table was near the bar -- Michael and I each ordered Irish drinks -- Michael's was Smithwick's beer (on draft), mine was an Irish cider (also on draft).  We ordered the spinach and artichoke dip for an appetizers, Michael ordered the bangers and mash, which I got fish and chips with mushy peas. 

The drinks were huge -- 20 ounce.  (Yet I still managed to put away 2 of them).  The appetizer (along with a bread basket) came out quickly.  Michael loved the bread and the spinach dip was okay  -- more spinachy than I usually like.  Our dinners were good -- Michael seemed to like the bangers (which are sausages) and mashed potatoes, served with an onion gravy.  The fish was okay -- it was a huge piece of fish (probably about 12 inches long) and fairly thick, so the "fried" to "fish" level wasn't quick right.  It was served with an oniony egg sauce instead of tarter sauce.  The chips (fries) were good and served with ketchup, a garlic aioli sauce (which Michael loved) and malt vinegar.  The mushy peas were mushy and I didn't eat them.

All in all, a fairly good dinner.  I wasn't really hungry for dinner.  (Had a large quiznos lunch), so maybe the next time we go, I'll be more hungry and could try one of their more refined entrees.