Epic Weekend of DC Food

This was an epic weekend of food, hence the above title. Though the bf and I have a longstanding argument about the value of eating out, this weekend was rife with opportunities to see people that contributed to my unfrugality.

Eating began on Friday night. As Chen and I had a Kennedy Center performance to catch, we ate quickly in Georgetown. But due to unfortunate timing, we actually ate at different places. I got the bacon, turkey, and cheese filled sandwich, the Patty Hearst at Booey Monger's per usual. Then, after meeting up with Chen at the foot of Georgetown, we decided to venture to George's, a small middle-eastern take out place on M Street. She got a Philly cheesesteak that looked perfectly chopped, with onions and peppers mixed in as opposed to simply topped.

Saturday afternoon saw my first trip to Taqueria Distrito Federale, to see the lovely Molly and Maria. I was pleasantly surprised by TDF's outdoor seating and prompt service, though disappointed by its lack of a liquor license. In my eagerness to try tacos, I got a three taco combo, one each with chorizo, chivo (goat), and tripa (tripe). Both DCist and City Paper had good things to say about the chorizo and chivo, and they weren't wrong. Both meats were juicy. The tripe, however, was so oddly fried and flavorless, I could only tell which of the three it was by process of elimination. All of TDF's tacos come with two shells and a slice of avocado, which definitely made them very filling. Too filling perhaps, leaving me uncomfortably full for the next hour or so.

Four hours later, Mike and I went to Central (courtesy of his parents) for an early dinner reservation. We decided to try something new and each got a raw fish appetizer as opposed to the famed cheese puffs. I had the ceviche, while Mike had tuna tartar. Though Central leans towards the French, our apps were respectively Mexican and Asian flavored, yet not overwhelming. The fish still maintained its integrity. Next, Mike got a strip steak and I got the lamb shank for our entrees. His medium-rare steak was just the right amount of crisp on the outside with bright pink in the middle. My shank was off the bone, so I ate it without a knife. Central does a good job of serving meat in a way that brings out the meat, and not the sauce. My lamb was tender and juicy, achieving an almost melt in your mouth softness. The waitress recommended a lovely red that cast a nice, warm feeling over the entire meal.

Since it was still early and bright out, Mike and I headed to Busboys to meet up with friends. I tried the new Schlafly brewery's American IPA, which tasted pretty much like Dogfish 60 minute. Maria got the Southampton Double White, which was pretty much a knock-off--albeit it a delicious one--of Allagash white. I ended my night, sans Mike, at Local 16, where another friend's law school friends were having a birthday party. Annoyingly yuppie, Local 16 is at least a good venue since it's big enough for one to avoid the toolish types.

While still kind of dehydrated the next morning, Mike and I had brunch with his work friends at The Heights in Columbia Heights. Part of the Commissary chain, The Heights has a similar menu at similarly reasonable prices. I had a boring, surprisingly filling bacon and swiss omelet. They must have used eight ounces of swiss in there, in addition to two crispy pieces of bacon. The home fries were appropriately salty and soft. Like Commissary, The Heights also has a dark interior, which provided some shade from the 90 degree weather.

Finally, the weekend ended with a trip into Georgetown for dinner. I had been meaning to try Tacklebox, the cheap Hook, for a while. Mike was reluctant to eat take-out style food, but dutifully finished his bluefish. My trout with tartar sauce was appropriately seared on the outside, juicy on the inside. Slight overcooking made it less tasty than ideal though. The sides were mixed. Their mac and cheese and mashed potatoes clearly come out of a box, rendering the mac and cheese tasteless. On the other hand, the grilled asparagus was ample and generously doused with butter. The sweet potato fries, though a little soft, were nice and salty.

Since Tacklebox doesn't serve alcohol, we went to Birreria Paradiso for a Sunday night drink. I tried a bottled Hofbrau Original, which is a German lager. And a refreshing one at that. Golden in color, it had a crisp taste (tiny bit of malts, hops, spices) that provided the perfect ending to a hot summer weekend.

Weekend Restaurant Round-up I

After trying four restaurants for the first time this past weekend, the bf suggested that I do a weekend food summary on this blog. Like many twenty-somethings with full time jobs, I do most of my food venturing on weekends. This weekend was especially packed due to the Georgetown-UConn men’s basketball game on Saturday. I didn’t try any food there, so will spare you on the details of pretzels, hotdogs, and various other overpriced fried delicacies.

After the game (anti-climactic, by the way), Mike and I met up with his high school friends at RFD (Regional Food and Drink) bar at Gallery Place/Chinatown. I was impressed by the large space and the beer selection for a bona fide sports bar with TV’s everywhere you look. I was less impressed by the huge crowd of college students. But this may have been an anomaly, as the game did just get out. We only stayed for one drink, so I don’t have much to say, but they had a good selection of craft brews on tap. My Founder’s Pale Ale was excellent.

Three hours later, I found myself at Brasserie Beck on 11^th and K with a group of friends. We were drawn by the special happy hour they are doing for the entire month of January. From 5-7 every day, all their draft beers are half off. This means that the Bavic pilsner is now $2.50 and the Christmas Ale is now $6.00. This was a great opportunity to try some brews I would normally not get. My Christmas Ale was a robust mix of malts and hops and winter spices that left the taste of anise lingering in my mouth. My second beer, the 1810 Oktoberfest, was slightly disappointing due to an unexpectedly sour taste. But the chorizo and fennel moules frites that we shared as a group were delicious. There was just the right amount of chorizo and the fennel did not overpower the dish. Even though we were a group of seven hogging a huge section of the bar area, the service was very nice and not a bit condescending. We felt comfortable to linger, though we were soon off to our respective engagements.

My engagement was dinner at Oyamel with Mike. This is a place we'd been trying to go to for a while now, but were last thwarted by the snomg before Christmas. Going along with Tyler Cowen's recommendations, we got the stuffed pablano with pork, a black rice dish, the grasshopper taco, a barbeque pork taco, and a grilled lamb chop special. The pablano was the best item we got. The pepper was just stuffed with pine nuts and a creamy goat cheese. Some pomegranate seeds added a nice touch. The grasshopper was something I'd wanted to try for a while, and it was much more acidic than I'd expected. Slightly disappointing was the rice, which was much too salty. Oyamel was excellent overall, though. Looking forward to trying their sister restaurant across the street, Jaleo.

After this Saturday fest, Sunday's dinner came as a major disappointment. Through DCist, I had found out that Scion Restaurant in Dupont was hosting a tasting of the Sierra Nevada-Dogfish Head collaboration brew, Life and Limb. $12 for a six ounce sample of that plus two food pairings, we were told. We were also told to arrive early as there would be many people, and that there would be Sierra Nevada and Dogfish reps on hand. So, while we got there early as told, we still had to wait in the bar for 20 minutes until we could sit...at the bar. Second, there were absolutely no reps of any kind to be seen. Third, the "pairings" with the Life and Limb were merely braised pork belly and a scoop of chocolate mousse -- i.e. two pretty unimpressive food items. The Life and Limb was great, though not really something I'd drink normally. It tasted like a dubbel with some added hops.

Even though this was already off to a shaky start, Mike and I let our laziness get the better of us and decided to stay for dinner. This went no better. My glass of water was dirty from the pitcher, which had some fragments of margarita mix in it. When I pointed this out to a waiter, he took the glass away without bringing another back. Our main courses were slightly better, but did not make up for the poor experience. I got the burger, which is apparently the only thing worth having, but made the mistake of getting it with a pasta salad on the side that tasted like it came out of a giant tub. Mike got goat cheese pumpkin ravioli, which was a fair choice. Anyway, I guess the lesson learned here is not to a single beer event lure you to places you never would have gone to otherwise.