Le Pain Quotidien

It's not often that I blog about a chain restaurant, but on my last trip to DC I had brunch at Le Pain Quotidien and decided it was worth writing about. I was so excited to finally hang out with Cora and the future Mrs. Cora. We had to wait a bit before our party of 4 could be accommodated. The worst part of standing around was that I could see several of the sweet treats behind the glass. I held out from buying anything while waiting. When we finally sat down my stomach was screaming.  When I first realized where we were going, I was a bit surprised because their menu has never led me to believe they had much more than pastries.  It turns out not all Le Pain Quotidiens are created equal. This one had quite the expansive breakfast menu. (Apparently that's what they do in LA, CT, DC and 2nd and 50th.) We started with Belgian hot chocolate.  I've never had Belgian hot chocolate. They serve you milk in a large mug and give you a small vat of chocolate.  You pour in the chocolate and tada!

CoRa ordered the Belgian Waffle.

Pretty tiny portion if you ask me, but tastefully decorated with fresh fruit and powdered sugar. I'm guessing CoRa is watching his figure in anticipation of the wedding.  The future Mrs. CoRA also went all healthy on me.

That is an Omelette with Avocado. It wasn't on the menu, but apparently she's got the hook up.  Ms. O order the Paris Ham & Gruyère Omelette.

It actually looked pretty good. If not for the ham part, I might have gone for it too.  I decided to go with the Chicken Chorizo & Cheddar Omelette.

Yummers! The harissa on top was my favorite part! The chicken chorizo tasted great and it was just the right amount of cheese. I'm skeptical of omelettes because they add way too much cheese, but this one was just right.

Overall, it was a pretty good experience.  The wait was pretty bad, but the most annoying part of being in there was the constant reminder of "organic". It was all over the menu, on the servers' shirts, and even the jam. I mean jeez get over it!


Hungry yet?

Nage

My trip to DC wouldn't be complete without seeing Mr. K. He met Ms. O and me for brunch at Nage. I chose Nage because of the opportunity to use my Scoutmob discount. It is located in a hotel so I was a little skeptical but figured it would be worth it. Our waitress forgot our order and brought us the wrong things and also took extremely long before she came to ask for our order. Eventually all was well and food arrived. Mr. K and I ordered the Smoked Salmon Frittata.

The eggs were cooked with red onion, tomato and dill. The dish was served with soffrito potatoes and a choice of toast. I went with English Muffin. The eggs tasted great. The balance of flavors was excellent. It did not taste too fishy which sometimes happens with smoked salmon. The potatoes were pretty good but I was slightly disappointed because when I saw soffrito I thought they'd be stewed or at least more flavorful.  Ms. O ordered Buttermilk Pancakes and a side of eggs. 

Her pancakes arrived with cinnamon-bourbon butter, which was apparently very flavorful. I've been thinking about trying more butter flavors so I might make that one sometime soon.

The food at Nage is good. I wasn't even that upset when I realized I forgot to use my Scoutmob. The service was somewhere between bad and awful but thankfully that didn't affect the quality of the food. I recommend trying Nage. Especially if you remember to use Scoutmob!

Hungry yet?

Busboys and Poets

I don't know how I've gone to DC so many times but never visited Busboys and Poets. Thankfully Ms. S made sure that this trip would include a visit. I arrived at the U Street location on 14th street a little early and spent quite some time admiring the space. There are multiple seating options including traditional tables, couches and a few things in between. I also explored the bookstore, which had some inspiring books, and I had to resist buying everything in there. When Ms. S arrived we were sitting in the room with the stage. The menu reminded me of a diner menu because it had so many options. I ordered the French Toast, eggs, and turkey sausage.

The French Toast looked really dry when it arrived and I wasn't sure I would enjoy it. Looks definitely deceive because it tasted incredible! The turkey sausage and eggs were pretty standard fare. Though I must admit that any restaurant with turkey sausage gets extra points from me! Ms. S was far more adventurous. She ordered the Peanut Butter Panini.

Yup! She sure did. It was filled with banana slices and honey. She really enjoyed it but did state it was too bready. I will say the sweet potato fries were delicious!!

My first trip to Busboys and Poets will certainly not be my last. I look forward to dining there for other meals and also attending an open mic night or two.

Hungry yet?

Lupe Cantina

After good times at the spot next door we were famished! The manager or owner of Lupe Cantina stopped us outside and asked our group to come in. We negotiated a pretty good deal and decided to enter. The menu had a lot of options but our table ended up with a lot of repeats.

The Soft Tacos were my dish of choice.

I requested the flour tortillas stuffed with chicken. It included lettuce, cilantro, onions and pico de gallo. I wasn't expecting much but the chicken was surprisingly well seasoned. It was served with rice and beans which only made it better.  Ms. S and her Mr. K ordered the Chicken taquitos.

Three corn tortillas rolled with marinated chicken and deep fried.  They definitely enjoyed it. A little crunch goes a long way. Enchiladas were also a favorite at our table. 

Corn tortillas green or red lupe sauce. It was served with rice and refried beans.  Mr. S ordered the Fajitas.

The sizzling platter of sweet peppers, onions and cilantro was served with three tortillas, rice and refried beans. Ms. G and Mr. S ordered the Chicken nachos.

I must admit I had a little food envy when their Molcajete plate arrived.  The homemade tortillas chips were topped with refried beans, melted mozzarella, lettuce, guacamole, salsa, jalapeños, queso fresco and sour cream. Presentation wise, this was definitely one if the better looking dishes that we ordered.

Overall Lupe Cantina was uninspiring. The food was fine but I've eaten a better version of each dish elsewhere. The atmosphere is lively and if you bring the right group of people with you, you could end up staying there for a while. That's exactly what we did.

Hungry yet?

Meiwah

Since she absconded the NYC jurisdiction earlier this year, Ms. S is now one of my DMV peeps. She was taking a leisurely lunch so she joined me for a feast at Meiwah. In my quest to find a restaurant halfway between us, I discovered Meiwah.  

It was still warm enough so we sat outside. It was pretty crowded but didn't take too long for our waitress to stop by and take our order. Although I generally don't like to share, it seemed the logical thing to do at a place where I wanted everything off the menu. We started with the Combination Lo Mein.

It's usually a mixture of beef, chicken and shrimp. We went beefless and it was still fantastic. I have to admit any place that thinks to offer a combination ranks high on my list. I mean why should I have to choose?! We also ordered the Hunan chicken.

Spectacular! The flavors were right and the crunch assured me that the veggies were fresh not frozen. At the end of the meal our plates were empty. My mouth is watering a little as I write this entry. They were kind enough to bring us a few slices of orange after they cleared our plates. They looked so good that I ate some before I photographed it. Oops!

Meiwah definitely hit the spot. It is the perfect place for lunch. Though I don't know that I would want to go back to work as full as I felt, but it was too hard to resist cleaning my plate.

Hungry yet?

Ichiban Sushi

Woohoo! I had a chance to visit my peeps last month so it was a wonderful weekend filled with great eats. First stop was Ms. G's lovely neighborhood in Bowie. We went to the town center to enjoy a variety of Asian cuisine that they serve at Ichiban. After a great sushi experience in Miami Ms. G is ready to try most things. We still decided not to get too adventurous so we started with a Rainbow Roll.

Pretty, right? Salmon, tuna, yellowtail layered on a roll filled with crabmeat, avocado, cucumber,  & asparagus. YUM! The asparagus was a welcome surprise, because most places don’t put asparagus in that roll.  We were quite happy with our sushi but we decided we also needed something hot.  We ordered Broccoli brown sauce with chicken.

Another great dish! The portion was large which made my stomach smile. The broccoli was fresh and they didn't overcook it so I could still get a crunch each time I bit into it. After all that you'd think we were done but we still had some room left so we ordered another roll.

This Salmon and Avocado roll disappeared quickly and we were finally full. The portions at Ichiban are perfect for sharing but you may still find yourself ordering more than you anticipated. The menu isn't particularly creative but each dish was well executed. I recommend stopping in after shopping in the town centre. It'll be perfect for refueling.

Hungry yet?

Uni - A Sushi Place

The great part about staying near Dupont Circle is the wealth of dining places in the area…almost feels like being back in New York.  When HG suggested that we meet up at Uni, I was thrilled! After all, it’s located across the street from Hotel Palomar.  After spending over 15 minutes chatting it up we finally placed our order.  We started with Edamame.

It was pretty unremarkable.  Some pieces tasted a little less fresh than I would have liked but it was certainly well salted.  Our sushi arrived pretty soon thereafter.  By far the best thing we ate was the Red Dragon Roll.

Lobster and tempura flakes wrapped with tuna.  YUMMERS!  It was really delicious and I was sad to see the 6 pieces disappear so quickly.  We also ordered the Rainbow Roll.

Shrimp and cucumber wrapped with tuna, salmon and avocado.  It was fresh and while it wasn’t the best rainbow roll I’ve ever had, it certainly did the job.  Our S&S Roll was nay the best.

Fresh salmon, crispy salmon skin, cucumber, and scallions.  The crispy salmon skin initially tasted good because of the contrast but after a couple of bites we were over it.  We then requested that the chef make a salmon and tuna combo roll for us.  Our server was initially confused about why we would want salmon and tuna together.  Luckily the chef obliged and soon we were enjoying our roll.

It was definitely a good call by HG.  The specialty roll washed away the taste of the S&S roll and left us with a smile.  Uni is indeed a sushi place.  It gets a solid rating from me.  It’s the perfect place to grab a bite to eat when you’re in the mood for some quick good sushi, but if you’re looking for great sushi, this is not the place to find it.  But sometimes, good will do.

Hungry yet?

Mie N Yu

Thanks to my fantastic guest blogger, I’ve seen quite the increase in traffic from DC/MD/VA area.  As my regular readers know, I’ve seen an uptick in the number of invitations to review restaurants but imagine my surprise when within hours of my arrival in DC, I received an invitation for my guest blogger and I to dine at a wonderful restaurant in Georgetown. I happily accepted and made reservations at Mie N Yu for Saturday brunch.  They were kind enough to allow our chauffeur, Mr. K to dine with us.

Mie N Yu is a beautiful restaurant, perhaps the most beautiful one I’ve ever entered.  If given the opportunity to plan an event in the area, I would definitely use their space.  

The themed rooms are a refreshing change from traditional restaurant décor.  

Brunch has certainly become a bigger part of my weekend dining adventures so I was thrilled to try out Mie N Yu’s prix fixe brunch.  Given the choice between a salad and a bowl of fruit, I usually go with the salad.  However, the Good Morning Sunshine sounded like more than your average bowl of fruit and it certainly was.

A bowl of fresh and dried fruits, toasted almonds, granola, pomegranate yogurt drizzle.  The dried fruit initially threw me off a little bit but it was a good change of consistency and was a good contrast to the crunchy granola.  The pomegranate flavor was barely noticeable in the yogurt drizzle, which is a shame because I was looking forward to it.  Mr. K ordered the Bombay Peanut Salad.

He recently returned from his trip to India, so its no surprise that he went with this item.  The mixed Asian greens, grape tomatoes, pickled shallots and curried peanuts were served in a crispy pappadam basket with warm toasted cumin vinaigrette.  The cumin vinaigrette was AWESOME.  This salad is a must have and I hope it appears somewhere on the regular menu.  Soon after our appetizers, our second course arrived.  My guest blogger and I ordered the Eggs Benedict.

I must admit it was my first time eating Eggs Benedict.  The poached eggs were accompanied by wilted greens, goat cheese and hollandaise atop a toasted english muffin and served with a side of breakfast potatoes.  I typically have my eggs hard scrambled or hard boiled so poached eggs were a difficult concept for me.  

Even still, I did enjoy my meal.  I was surprised at how good it tasted.  I don’t really think I will order eggs benedict again because of the consistency but I’m glad my first experience was at a restaurant that made it taste this good.  On second thought, I did notice that the menu includes Crab Cake Benedict.  I would definitely try that!  The breakfast potatoes were also really good.  The potatoes tasted as though they were sprinkled in paprika. My taste buds were happy.   Mr. K ordered the Korean Bulgogi Sandwich.

The heaping mound of marinated beef with chili aioli, lettuce and housemade kimchee arrived on a ciabatta bun with a side of fries.  I was a little intimidated at the size of the sandwich, but Mr. K ate every bite.  He noted that the marinade was delicious and incredibly flavorful.  The fries were well seasoned and I enjoyed a few of those myself.  The prix fixe brunch menu is the gift that keeps on giving because next up our dessert arrived.  I ordered the house made Tiramisu with chai latte drizzle.

I didn’t eat as much of it as I wanted to – not because it wasn’t good but rather because I was already so full.  It was really really good. I could have done without the chai latte drizzle though – it just didn’t add anything to the dessert.  They ordered the Asian Pear Strudel..

It looked pretty good and apparently it tasted even better! I think its safe to say that Mie N Yu was the perfect brunch spot on this particular day.  I must note that I was pretty surprised at how empty the restaurant was even when we were leaving around 1…I mean seriously people, do you realize what you’re missing?!

At $20 per person, the three-course brunch prix fixe menu is a great way to start the weekend before heading out for some shopping in the area.  It’s definitely worth the trip to the metroless Georgetown neighborhood.  There is a good variety of items on the menu and if nothing strikes your fancy, the a la carte menu is also pretty impressive.

Hungry yet?

Bistro Bistro

No visit with VBRAT is complete without a group dinner.  I was really excited about the prospect of eating at one of DC’s popular tapas restaurants, but we were told they were booked so I sent a few options to the crew and eventually we settled on Bistro Bistro thanks to their escargot.  Our group of 12 had a staggered arrival but most of us walked in at once.  I certainly did not appreciate the attitude when we first walked in but of course as soon as they saw me photographing dishes there was a quick change in behavior. Too late! I already noticed it.  Luckily, my reviews are largely based on food with a detour to décor and service when it’s notable one way or the other.  We started off sharing a few appetizers while we waited for the rest of our crew.  Of course we ordered escargot.

They were delightful little guys sautéed with mushrooms in a garlic butter sauce.  I was a big fan.  I had hoped they would be served in the traditional snail plate but in the end taste is what matters and these snails were excellent.  We also ordered the mussels special, Moules Frère Diable.  I think my love affair with mussels has now become a relationship.  Every time I see them on the menu, I am drawn to them. 

These mussels were sautéed in a spicy tomato broth.  I was definitely a big fan and the broth definitely did not go to waste.  We made sure to soak up the broth with the fresh warm bread they served.  The calamari frites was pretty standard.

The batter was tasty, but as GK pointed out, the calamari was nay the freshest.  The buffalo mozzarella appetizer was served like Caprese.

It was surprisingly good considering this is a French restaurant not Italian.  It took us a little while but eventually we ordered our entrees.   GK, Mr. N and I ordered the Paella. 

Paella is traditionally a Spanish dish.  This French version was different but also pretty good.  A medley of fresh scallops, mussels, shrimp, lobster meat, and chicken cooked in tomato sauce served atop rice with vegetables.  It was very flavorful and I can see why it’s one of the house specials.  Ms. G ordered the Grilled Chicken Sandwich. 

I’m not sure if she wasn’t hungry or if it was really that unimpressive but at the end of the meal, she had only eaten one bite and remarked that it was quite dry.  Mr. S on the other hand emptied his plate.  He ordered the Croque Madame.

Roasted Turkey Breast and creamy Swiss cheese with a side of French fries.  My guest blogger and her Mr. K shared the French pork chops.  A grilled pork chop with brandy, caramelized apples, served with mashed potatoes and vegetables.

She reports that the caramelized applesauce was delicious and the pork was soft and tender.  She believes the sauce would have tasted delicious with any type of meat.  Mr. S ordered the Spinach Lasagna. 

He sat on the other end of the table so I didn’t hear what he thought about his dish.  Hopefully he’ll share his thoughts in the comments.  Mr. W ordered the special Linguine Bistro Seafood Pasta. 

It looked really good and perhaps I would have ordered that had I known it was an option.  He cleaned up his plate – which is no surprise.  Mr. I arrived a little late (shock) but still managed to order the Portobello Pesto Ravioli.

He thought it was alright but it didn’t rock his world.  He gave the restaurant an “alright” for their vegetarian options.  When Ms. O arrived some of us had started ordering dessert but she ordered the Flounder Meuniere.

It was savory and well seasoned.  The veggies received an okay rating and a belief that they were probably frozen.  What a shame.  Frozen vegetables are a terrible short cut at restaurants that’s just not worth the wrath of your customers.  Any indiscretions were forgiven when dessert arrived. 

Chocolate Soufflé is the perfect end to almost any meal.  The Tiramisu was also quite lovely.

Dining at Bistro Bistro was quite the festive event.  The restaurant is large and great for big groups.  It also can be private and intimate if that’s what you’re looking for; you just have to sit away from the large group of 12 at the front of the restaurant.  The menu has some traditional French favorites but also a good selection of other options.  There really is something for everyone; some things are just better than others.  The servers were generally attentive and accommodating.  Several hundreds of dollars later, we left the restaurant quite happy with our experience and feeling ready to continue the rest of night in DC.

Hungry yet?