Takeout Tuesday, July Edition: Toki Underground

Earlier this month I started what I’ve decided is going to be a monthly tradition: Takeout Tuesday.  It’s genius, really.  So often when you eat out in D.C. you spend twice as much on drinks as you do food.  And with a big group you often wait quite some time to get into the restaurant, where you find you can only talk to three of your companions anyway.  So why not enjoy the same meal in the comfort of your own home, where you can mingle with friends and enjoy much cheaper booze and perhaps a round of Cards Against Humanity?

For the Takeout Tuesday premier, I went with Toki Underground since I wanted to cross it off Phil’s Summer in D.C. Bucket List.  Fearing the wrath on the other end of the telephone when I ordered ramen in bulk to-go during the dinner rush from an always busy restaurant with a tiny kitchen, we kept the first Takeout Tuesday small.  Surprisingly, they were perfectly happy to whip up nine bowls of ramen to go, and had it ready for pick-up in 30 minutes!

In the mean time, I showed my juicer who was boss was mildly successful in refereeing a battle between my juicer and a watermelon.

Said battle did, however, result in awesome Watermelon Vodka Cocktails (1/2 watermelon juiced + one bottle diet gingerale + a lot of vodka).  Turns out my juicer is much better at making mixers than for any sort of detox purpose.

To keep people satisfied soak up the vodka while we waited on the ramen Fernando, I threw together a couple of easy appetizers of the ‘don’t have to go to the grocery store’ variety.

Baguette, sliced, toasted and topped with cream cheese and fig preserves.

Simple Salsa: Combine 1 can corn (rinsed and drained), 1 can black beans (rinsed and drained), and 1 can diced tomatoes with every spice you have on hand cumin, cayenne, chile powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Just throw them in there and taste as you go.  Trust me, it works out better than you would think.

Toki actually packs their ramen up very well, keeping the noodles and broth separate to avoid anything getting soggy.  I tried the vegetarian this time.  Still like the classic the best, but the broth was rich and the veggies aplenty.  Other than the missing soft egg, which I whined about excessively (come on, that’s the best part!), I’d say take out from Toki is the way to go.  The only thing missing is the two hour wait spent downing beers at The Pug and the $10 cocktails.  Oh wait…

Johanna