Dobbin House Tavern (American, Gettysburg, PA) - ★★★

• Restaurant - Dobbin House Tavern (American)
• Location - Gettysburg, PA
• Score - 3/5
• Dish of recommendation - Pecan Pye
• Comment - Recommended by a few receptioninsts at Gettysburg's tourism office. Although I usually find the local's opinions very helpful, I was a bit doubtful about the restaurant this time because the landmark restaurants tend to be known more for the atmosphere than quality of food. Dobbin House Tavern, of which buidling was built in 1776 (200 years before I was born!), actually offered good-quality of food and great atmosphere at great price. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the restaurant had rather a simple exterior decoration. However, once going underground, its kind of homy, kind of romantic with candlelit tables, made me feel sure that this place would be a hit. The restaurant actually offers different types of menus - delis, elegant lunch or dinner -.

I ordered a freshly ground dobbin's humberger, although a waitress recommended different dishes among which is corn beef sandwich. That's why the humberger was just fine, nothing spectacular. However, the pecan pye, that she recommended for a dessert and I listend to this teim, was AMAZING. This pecan pye, with a very melting corn syrup/butter? and a well-toasted pecan, totally changed my perspective on pecan pies.

- FRESHLY GROUND DOBBIN'S HAMBURGERS 5 oz. freshly ground hamburger char-grilled to the strength of fire you prefer and served up on a hearth baked roll. Choice of Potato Sallade, Cole Sla, or Potato Chips with sauteed onions

- PECAN PYE

Dobbin House Tavern

89 Steinwehr Avenue Gettysburg, PA 17325
(717)334-2100

★ - Great lunch/dinner spot to enjoy the food as well as one of the most historical moments in American history. Don't forget ordering the Pecan Pye

Vidalia (American, Washington DC) - ★★★★

• Restaurant - Vidalia (American)
• Location - Washington DC
• Score - 4/5
• Dish of recommendation - vidalia’s lemon chess piebuttery crust filled with rich lemon custard garnished with berry compote and chantilly cream
• Comment - Finally I had an opportunity to visit Vidalia, one of the most popular restaurants in DC! All the people I know who've been to Vidalia appreciated the restaurant, so leaving DC without Vidalia was unthinkable (another restaurant was Zaytinya, which I also visited recently:). Seriously, I was so excited that I got to the restaurant 20 min in advance. This turned out to be a good decision - on the way to the restaurant, I found in the Washigton Post article that Vidalia offers wine-tasting in the early evening. That night, I enjoyed the three different types of spanish red wine and the conversation with several wine-lovers. I could have an interesting conversation with Doug Mohr, the sommelier at Vidalia during the tasting, heading for dinner with higher expectation for the dinner (It's a shame that he's leaving Vidalia soon).
  

The menu is very unique - the restaurant calls itself as an American restaurant with a subtle Southern influence. To me, the influence was not subtle. Maybe the portions and cooking style were more contemporary American, but at least the ingredients were clearly influenced by southern cuisine (shrimps and grits, cornbreads, crab roulade etc). It was also noteworty for its customer-friendliness in that they do offer five courses: two appetizers, two mains and one dessert. But I think it'll be ok to just order two appetizers, instead of choosing one appetizer and one main dish.

I like the appetizer a lot (don't remember the exact name - tofu wrapped by roasted red peppers). My main dish, the Australian wagyu beef was very tasty, or I would say it had too strong flavor. I was impressed by the dessert - vidalia's lemon chess piebuttery crust. It reminded me of the great tarte de citron in France... I regretted for not being hungry enough to finish it all. Still, it was huge...

Great service. Great wine recommendation. I liked Vidalia's attitude towards wine that they do offer wine of decent price and two different prices for wine by glass - one for wine-tasting and one for a full glass.

Overall, food was great, though a bit blant in some dishes. Still, from the overall evaluation, now I can understand why Vidalia is one of the most popular restaurants in DC.

• Darling downs farm australian wagyu beef - a sampler of seared sirloin and corned brisket with path valley root vegetables, smoked potato purée and ginger beer essence
• brussels sprouts with vidalia’s jowl bacon and apples
• vidalia’s lemon chess piebuttery crust filled with rich lemon custard garnished with berry compote and chantilly cream
  

Vidalia

1990 M Street, NW Washington DC 20036
202-659-1990

★ - 4/5 Well, food was overall great. But for me, this is a place to go back for tasting more different types of wine and for enjoying high-level service.