Restaurant: Silver Diner
Location: 8101 Fletcher St, McLean, VA 22102. (703) 821-5666
Date: November 23, 2023
Cuisine: American
Rating: Great diner food
This is some simple stuff:
But they actually do a good job.
Archive for McLean Va
Restaurant: Patsy’s American
Location: 8051 Leesburg Pike, Vienna, VA 22182. (703) 552-5100
Date: November 22, 2023
Cuisine: American (duh)
Rating: Solid
My parents (or maybe my Dad) are a bit obsessed with this small Virginia chain. It’s like the more modern, more commercial variant of all the small American restaurants we used to eat at in the 1970s — but stripped of the soul.
Actually this interior space was once a Chesapeake Bay Seafood House, a place that served AYCE seafood and that was popular with my friends and I during High School.
Ozzie Rolls. Like donuts, but about half as sweet. Sugared butter.
Seafood Platter. 6 oysters, 6 midneck clams, 3 jumbo shrimp, smoked mussels & blood orange mignonette.
Shrimp Cocktail. 6 jumbo shrimp, fresh lemon & cocktail sauce.
Field Greens. grape tomatoes, sun dried cranberries, dates, pine nuts, garlic croutons & champagne vinaigrette…blue cheese or Laura Chenel goat cheese.
Crab & Corn Chowder.
Short Smoked Salmon Filet. marinated and smoked, then hickory grilled with fresh asparagus, mashed potatoes & creole mustard sauce.
BBQ Baby Back Ribs with fresh, hand cut fries & traditional cole slaw.
Warm White Chocolate Bread Pudding. bourbon custard sauce, vanilla ice cream & caramel.
It’s not bad, but it’s so “white bread.”
Restaurant: Pulcinella Italian Kitchen
Location: 1310 Chain Bridge Rd, McLean, VA 22101.
Date: November 21, 2023
Cuisine: Italian
Rating: Casual Italian Cafe
My parents love this extremely casual Italian eatery near their house. VERY casual and VERY Italian-American for my style.
A weird thing that happens when people get older, even aging foodies, is that their food taste “reverts.”
They have no license, so it’s BYOB.
Bread.
Burrata salad. Not bad actually.
Beet salad.
Fried Calamari. They “cut” the squid with zucchini (probably for cost reason).
Meatballs. A bit bland. Lots of filler. Big though.
Basic pasta.
Eggplant Parm.
Pounded chicken with peppers.
Chicken Piccata.
Veal Marsala. Did taste of marsala. Kinda tasty, but a bit sweet. Classic supermarket mushrooms.
Branzino.
Spaghetti comes with everything.
Tiramisu was ok.
And very AL DENTE green beans.
Overall, it was good for what it was. But just not really “up to my standards.” Portions were large and service was very friendly.
