If you haven’t been to Ranazul before, Restaurant Weeks is the perfect time to visit this Maple Lawn eatery and enjoy a creative and delicious three course dinner for $27.09 or a four course dinner for $35.09. If you have been here before, go again—what a deal! We visited with our friends, Darrell and Kathy Nevin, and had a wonderful experience.
Chef Jaime (pronounced “Hi – mee”) Ayala has outdone himself with the selections on this menu. Sacrificing our waistlines in order to better serve our reading public, we chose the four course dinner so that we could tell you about dessert, too! But, that comes later. We started off with Sopa Azteca (see photo), a Portuguese based tortilla soup with Monterey Jack cheese, cilantro, avocado, chicken and crispy tortilla strips. This deliciously spicy soup tastes as good as it looks! We also sampled the Frissee Salad which is frissee tossed with orange, goat cheese, almonds and sherry vinaigrette. It is a refreshing salad, and the blends of flavors are interesting on the palate. Debbie and Darrell loved it! We also sampled a very creative salad—a Watermelon Salad with arugula lettuce, cherry tomato, kalamata olive, sherry vinaigrette and Manchego cheese. Wow! This was a hit with us all. You may not think that these ingredients are complimentary, but they actually work extremely well together.
For our second course, we shared Arepas—which is a corn cake topped with crab, shrimp and tomato ragout and the Sautéed Scallops with mushrooms, haricot verts, pearl onions and bacon in a fennel clam broth. Both dishes were spectacular and we highly recommend them. We did not have room to try it all, but Pan Seared Mahi-Mahi is also available.
The third course was just as good as the first two, believe it or not! We shared Pork Tenderloin with polenta cake, corn, pineapple relish and mushroom sauce and Peruvian Chicken which is grilled chicken breast marinated in Peruvian spices, grilled Yukon Gold potatoes, and wilted spinach with Dijon mustard sauce. The option we did not try, but want you to know is available, is Duck Confit.
For dessert, we had coconut flan and chocolate molten cake. If you read our articles, you know Debbie has just started to like crème brûlée. Flan is, to her, a cousin of crème brûlée, and coconut is one of her favorite foods, so this was a big hit with Debbie! Michael loves his chocolate and didn’t leave a lick of chocolate left on his plate. Both were very good choices. The third choice which we did not sample was Peach Cobbler as the local peaches were not available yet. They will be there now, though, and we’re told it is the best selection to satisfy that craving for sweets.
In addition to the normal wine list (which is extensive), there is a fairly large assortment of “Summer Wine Specials” to choose from, with each wine nicely discounted. It is an opportunity to try a wine that you might not normally feel is in your price range. In addition, for the ladies Wednesday night is Ladies Night and drinks are half-price at the bar and on the patio from 7pm until close. There is live music in the evenings on Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. And, Ranazul even has an “art gallery” featuring local artists!
The medley of dishes, unusual mixtures and great variety of flavors and textures makes dining at Ranazul a pleasure. When you add great service (thank you, Jamie!) and a reasonable price tag, Ranazul is a “don’t miss!” Moreover, owners, Carlos Venegas and Linda Doolittle buy as much produce as they can from local markets such as Clarks Farm, Mullineaux Farms, and the roadside stand at Kendall Hardware. So, go to Ranazul during Restaurant Weeks. These two weeks are a great opportunity to enjoy a night out with some friends, support our local restaurants (who support our local farmers) and be kind to your wallet.
Carlos & Linda would like you to know that the premise upon which Ranazul is operated is “shared community.” It was their vision when they opened the restaurant, and the reason they keep the atmosphere so open is because they want Ranazul to be where you come to see other people you know in the community and feel that sense of belonging.
Ranazul is open 7 days a week and we both agree it’s worth the ride!
Chef Jaime shared two kitchen secrets. The first was “use lots of butter” and the other was his secret for their popular fried calamari. He breads the calamari using buttermilk and flour and spices, then lets it sit for a while before frying so that the breading adheres solidly and does not come off in the fryer.
Ranazul
8171 Maple Lawn Blvd. Suite 170
Fulton, MD 20759
301-498-9666
www.ranazul.us
--The Nagles
Comments