DMV Dining

As some of you may have been aware, I had been training to run a half marathon since this summer, and decided to run the McDonald’s Half in Richmond, VA. None of us had been to Richmond before, so we picked Bistro 27 to eat at for our pre-race meal based on positive Yelp reviews, proximity to our hotel, and their Italian selections.

This was the second time Brett, Lisa, and I did a carbo-loading meal, so we knew what to look for – simple pasta dishes and great bread. This small restaurant on Broad Street, in the heart of the city, had a fairly substantial menu, with pasta being just a part of it.

It’s funny because normally I look for the fish entrees and steer away from pasta, but this night was different. There were many options that looked appealing such as tuna or chicken, but in the spirit of preparing for race-day, we ultimately stuck with the pasta selections.

We started out with some warm, fresh bread that was served with an eggplant dip, and devoured the basket pretty quickly. The waiter was slightly quirky and exclaimed everything was “fantastic!”, so I guess we couldn’t go wrong.

I decided to order the Fettuccine Di Mare, which was housemade fettuccini prepared with shrimp, scallops, and mussels, in a slightly spicy tomato sauce. Lisa got linguini with chargrilled shrimp and scallops, and asked to substitute the pesto sauce for garlic and butter. Brett was indecisive what to get (as always) and decided to try the beef ravioli after asking for the waiter’s recommendation.

My dish was delicious and the pasta was perfectly cooked al dente. The sauce had a slight kick to it but wasn’t too spicy.

Brett really enjoyed his ravioli and was pleasantly surprised how good it tasted, since it was something he normally wouldn’t order. He appreciated how the pasta was prepared in-house and how the Fontina cheese didn’t overpower the savory flavor of the beef. Lisa liked hers as well, and of course Brett had a little of all of ours.

Overall, everyone was very happy with their dishes, and there were no complaints. I don’t think we were necessarily blown away, but it was perfect for what we were looking for in terms of convenience and affordability, and was great way to start our weekend in Virginia.