Archive for October, 2009

Policy

October 19, 2009

Deal:  $20 for $45 worth of Seasonal Cuisine and Drinks at Policy

Grade: B

Policy

When I walked into Policy, I felt like I was having deja vu — the front entry area of the restaurant felt more like a club than a restaurant, and I immediately thought of our dinner at Current.

From the entryway, the hostess walked us into another room that looked like a dark, deserted 50s diner with red patent leather booths, a reflective ceiling and  wire chandeliers. The booth was dark, with a small light that lit up our table almost like a tiny spotlight.  The room felt empty, with only 2 other tables occupied.  My expectations for dinner were not high.

Policy

Although Gracie’s Grapefruit Margarita and the Watermelon Fizz cocktail sounded delicious, Ted and I both decided to order beer.  I love Allagash and couldn’t pass it up since they had it on draft.

Policy Beers

The menu at Policy is tapas style and our waiter informed us that their kitchen is what they call a “floating kitchen” — the food comes out whenever it’s ready, not all together.

We ordered Hawaiian Sunfish, Madras Curry Lamb Sliders, and Grilled Hanger Steak.

The sunfish was recommended by our waiter, but was my least favorite.  The fish itself was good, especially with the grapefruit, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the lobster sauce.

Hawaiian Starfish

Hawaiian Sunfish with Bok Choy, Lobster-Ginger sauce and Ruby Red grapefruit

The Lamb Sliders were good — the gorgonzola and mint pesto definitely made the dish.

Lamb Sliders

Madras Curry Lamb Sliders with Gorgonzola and Mint Pesto

The Hanger Steak was by far the best. I’d go back to policy just to order this.  It was cooked perfectly and very tender.

Hanger Steak

Grilled Hanger Steak with Vineyard Nursery Green Beans and Edamame puree

Throughout dinner more and more people arrived and Policy started to come more alive.  The noise level was perfect — not too quite, not too loud.  Our waiter was exceptional – he couldn’t have been more friendly and was happy to answer our numerous questions about the dishes he recommended.  I didn’t get a chance to check out the upstairs, but Daily Candy describes it as a “chic lounge” with graffiti walls (hence the club feeling when we walked in).

Policy exceeded my initial expectations and if they are featured on Groupon again, I would probably buy the deal (but might go back just for drinks and the Hanger Steak).

CityCentric Delivery Laundry Service

October 16, 2009

Deal: $15 for $30 worth of CityCentric Delivery Laundry Service

Grade:  A-

CityCentric Logo

CityCentric was not prepared for the Groupon rush – I had trouble redeeming my Groupon on their website and receiving their confirmation e-mails.  After several attempts to sign up online, I began to get frustrated…almost to the point of giving up (yes, I was being a baby)…so I decided to call CityCentric.  I cannot speak highly enough of both people I spoke to — they were eager to help and walked me through the online setup and the pick-up/delivery process.

I did not want to exceed $30 worth of their Delivery Dry Cleaning so that I could test out their service before spending more.  I sent a suit (two pieces), a dress and a blouse…just under $30 according to their price list online.

CityCentric Clothes

The white blouse has two faint stains from coffee, which I marked with tape.

Coffee Stains

I then put all clothes in a plastic bag, attached a piece of paper that said “CityCentric” and my name and left it on my front porch.

CityCentric Pick Up

(Yes, I know our porch is disgustingly filthy…but Hey! It’s hard enough to keep a house of 4 girls clean on the inside, much less the outside.)

To my surprise, my clothes were delivered the next day!  The clothes looked and smelled great (no nasty chemical smell that you sometimes get from other dry cleaners).

No more coffee stains! Ta da!

No Stains!

The laundry even came with a laundry bag for future use with a name tag and account number.

CityCentric Return

All I have to do now is fill the bag and set up a pick up time.

Even though I have a Dry Cleaning Shop in my office building (which is pretty darn convenient), I will definitely use CityCentric again.  I highly recommend their service!

GrouponGuru Deal of the Day

October 15, 2009

Note:  I mentioned in my first post that I would randomly feature a GrouponGuru Deal of the Day — the Groupon I would choose out of all the Deals featured that day.  Here we go!

Today’s GrouponGuru Deal of the Day is NASHVILLE:  $45 Zip-Line Tour for Two at Adventureworks ($96 value).

zipline

Who needs a trip to Costa Rica, when you can zip-line in Nashville…ok, maybe not…but what an awesome deal!  With Adventureworks, you not only get to fly through the air on a zip-line, you also get to learn about Tennessee’s trees, plants and wildlife too — it’s fun and educational!

Tired of dinner & a movie dates? — Why not zip-line?!

Check it out and sign up!

Adventureworks

Belly Dancing?

October 15, 2009

I planned to start this blog a few weeks before I actually posted anything…and in those weeks I blabbed a little too much to some friends about what I was planning to do — I was excited!  Last week, when Groupon DC featured Belly Dancing, I received numerous e-mails from friends asking if I was going to try it.  I guess they thought little-ole-me-with-no-rhythm would be hilarious trying to belly dance.

My response though — “Of Course!” — Part of the reason I’m writing this blog is to try things I would never think to try otherwise.  So!  Next week, my coworker, Michele, and I will be taking our first Belly Dancing class at Saffron Dance!  Can’t wait to fill you all in!

Current Sushi

October 14, 2009

Deal: $20 for $40 worth of Sushi & Drinks at Current

Grade: D

After conquering my Groupon-Rookie Mistake, we headed to Current in Dupont Circle (DC).

Current Logo

Looking back on our dinner, we should not have gone through so much trouble to find a Kinko’s, because I probably would have been happier eating at Nando’s Peri-Peri across the street.

We started out with cocktails and edamame.  I ordered a Regular Mojito and Ted had a Mango Mojito.

Mojitos

Mine tasted like straight rubbing alcohol, but the Mango Mojito, wasn’t bad.

The edamame was delicious…

Edamame

…although, it’s hard to mess up edamame.

For our main course, we ordered the Yakuza Sushi Tasting – an assortment of nigiri and a sushi roll.

Yakuza Sushi Tasting

The tasting was ok – some good pieces, some not so great.

For those of you who haven’t yet used your Current Groupon, I’d stick with just sushi rolls.

Overall, the atmosphere at Current was trendy but way too loud, the service was marginal, and the sushi and drinks were way over priced.

We paid $20 in addition to the Groupon plus tip and were still hungry when we left.

Final Verdict: I would not dine at Current again, even with a Groupon.

*I suggest Cafe Asia or SushiKo for delicious, reasonably priced sushi in DC* (more…)

Groupon-Rookie Mistake

October 13, 2009

I recently used my first Groupon and made a classic Groupon-Rookie mistake.

I forgot the Groupon.

I had printed it out weeks before and ran out of the house without it.  After debating whether to go back home, pick it up and wrestle with parking again, my boyfriend, Ted, and I trekked around Dupont Circle looking for a FedEx Kinko’s.  Our first stop was at a FedEx Kinko’s that only ships, but we were redirected around the corner, and successfully printed out the Groupon.

IMG_0457

$0.78 later….we had our Groupon and were on our way to Current.

IMG_0458

About GrouponGuru

October 12, 2009

First, if you haven’t checked out Groupon, you should do so now…

GrouponLogo

Their idea is awesome and the website is incredibly easy to use.  Sign up for the daily Groupon alerts and wake up to a new deal each day.

Throughout this blog, I will purchase Deals on Groupon and try them out.  After each, I will blog about my experience and rate how good of a deal it was.

I’ll do my best to post frequently with either an entry about the deals I’ve tried out or with my pick for the “GrouponGuru Deal of the Day” – the deal I think is the best out of all of cities featured.

Enjoy!