idlywood grill & wine bar

idlywood grill & wine bar
2190 pimmeit drive unit b, falls church, va 22043
tel: 703) 992-0915
hours: lunch (monday-friday, 11:30 am–2pm), dinner (monday-thursday, 5pm–9:30pm; friday & saturday 5pm–10pm)

what was consumed: vegetable linguini, wine~

as many know, i do not have a car (for now ...). as a result, i rarely frequent locations that are neither metro accessible nor walking distance from wherever i happen to be (i.e., home). but on this night, having both a ride to and fro, i head out to the suburbs for a night of good eats, and good sights. you see, a few friends and i decided to go out to eat before watching 'the dark knight' at the IMAX theatre out in the country of virginia (woohoo! IMAX!!). we met up at henry's place (to which i am scared to go back to for fear of being assaulted (again) by (for real) crazy ladies in the building!) and then head out to idlywood grill & wine bar.

the grill & wine bar, being in a shopping center, didn't look like anything special from the outside (but perhaps that is typical of suburban eateries in shopping centers ... gawd, i've been out of the 'burbs for some time now). but when you step in, there's just something about the place. the ambiance, the candlelight, the people, the fragrance of food ...

i almost got the seafood linguini (which is what i usually get when i have pasta). that was also what our server recommended. and while i know that each place has its own version of seafood pasta, i felt so boring by ordering "the usual." because i wanted to be different, i got the vegetable linguini (on top of wanting some beloved veggies). and boy, was it delicious! the variety of vegetables were cooked and season so that they were nice and juicy, filled with flavor. the linguine was cooked just the way i like it (not too al dente and definitely not overcooked), and the oil based sauce was just what i wanted, what i needed (i love pasta!). the only thing was ... i was hesitant to order pasta because i know that i have a tendency to get some pretty bad food coma post eating, and even more so after pasta! but the pasta others were eating and my own favor for such dishes won over. let me tell you - it was worth it!

i also tried the gnocci (and artichoke hearts) in a creamy pesto sauce that came along with the salmon entree (and, you know, i'm a sucker for gnocci - i love it!) which was also delicious. i love the faint flavor of potato that you taste as the gnocci melts in your mouth. it was combined well with the creamy pesto sauce, though some may say that the pesto and cream are a bit overwhelming. i thought it was more of a compliment to the creaminess of the gnocci. delicious!

in addition to the fantastic food, i'll have to say that the service was great (maybe that's because henry, a 'regular' at this place, was with us). they have a somalier on staff (who, i believe, also happens to be the owner of the place) who recommended some great wine to us. there was concensus at the table that the wines went really well with all of our meal selections (at least that's what the people i was with were saying. i'm not a wine-o, so i know little about wine outside of enjoying it - hee hee).

if there is a next time, i will be sure to save some room for dessert (even though i'm normally not a huge fan). there was a large variety of options that sounded oh so tasty. too bad there was no room in my stomach ... too bad!

online: http://idylwoodgrill.com/