Georgia Brown's

continuing down the line of reservations i have made for restaurant week puts us at Georgia Brown's for some good ol' homestyle southern food. and on a frigid monday evening, some hearty country cuisine sounded perfect to keep inner body temperatures high.

double dating with ting allowed the four of us to indulge in multiple dishes...though somehow our respective dates ended up with the exact same orders. turning attention to my own decisions...

fried green tomatoes stuffed with cheeses sitting on top of a lemon-cayenne mayo...and it definitely tasted as good as it sounded. though it wasn't what i imagined it to be...hearing the word 'stuffed' conjures images of something plump and oversaturated (like the shrimp crépe mentioned before), but this was more of a slice of green tomato layered in cheese and deep-fried. but if you're like me, cheese and deep-fried is really all that matter.

my entrée choice was a toss-up until the moment of truth. droplets of sweat...okay, more likely drool...were splattering the table top as our kind waiter swung his gaze toward me. but finally, i chose the low country shrimp and grits w/ andouille sausages over a heap of veal fetticini. and though the veal was a specialty item, i couldn't have been happier upon seeing my dish placed in front of me. the shrimp was perfectly cooked and sat atop well-flavored grits, all absorbing the flavors of shrimp and andouille jus.

for dessert, a red velvet mini bundt...still nothing topping the decadent flavors and appeal of extraordinary desserts...this cupcake-isque cake did satisfy my sweet tooth after the two hearty dishes before it.

the large portions and quick service, if not just the unlimited cornbread and biscuts...would definitely draw me back to Georgia Brown's. with our country food craving quenched, the four of us begrudgingly rolled out of our seats and back into the blistering cold of the DC night...but at least with stomachs full of southern soul.

Georgia Brown's
950 15th St. NW
Washington, DC 20005

Café Bonaparte

with dc being one of those old historical cities with its cobblestone roads and its old brick row houses in quaint little areas like georgetown, it is fitting that there are small, home-y, old european-isque cafes sprinkled among the commercialized h&m's and banana republics.

and such a cafe can be found in Café Bonaparte. however, even with it's dimly lit, hole-in-the-wall, french inspired decor...it still exudes a sense of mainstream. probably because it is now filled by the clichéd artist or the snobby east coast prestige of georgetown undergrads...or just mainstream because food-loving folk like myself invade its private underground mystique. with all that said, this joint is definitely in need of reservations, or else be prepared to be outside for quite some time.

but we shall let the food speak for itself. my apologizes for not thinking about snapping a few pictures, but i hope you readers will take my word for it. having planned on a restaurant week style lunch/dinner...we went at 3pm so it was a little in between...but their dinner menu (which is extremely appetizing) wasn't available until after 5pm. taking a gander at their lunch set for restaurant week, we decided it might be more enjoyable to just order á la carte.

our opening french onion soup wasn't particularly spectacular, though moderately priced. nam's steak sandwich, however, probably isn't the best dish to order in a french crêperie, but we didn't want to overwhelm our senses with crêpes sense i was ordering a shrimp filled stuffed crêpe with a saffron cream sauce that was too decadent to pass up. but if there was a problem with the dish, the too much shrimp did factor into the over-saturation of seafood into an otherwise delicious meal.

sadly, service was not up to par. filled with perhaps room for only 60 or so patrons, there were only 2 overworked servers and being restaurant week, were probably a little overwhelmed. the wait for our waiter to stop by and inquire about desserts made the desserts themselves sound unappetizing and we left without enjoy the sweet side to balance the savory.

so a recommendation to you fellow dc-restaurateurs, Café Bonaparte is definitely worth a try. perhaps on a weekday where the attention of being "cool" doesn't attract such a crowd and you and a delightful french cuisine are the only two members of the party.

Café Bonaparte
1522 Wisconsin Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20007

Circle Bistro

In the world of DC restaurant, Circle Bistro doesn't get much attention. A quick search on Google gave me few reviews (most of which were not for their dinner menu). Perhaps it's because the restaurant is affiliated with the George Washington University (and its students). Perhaps it's because the restaurant is located in a hotel. Who knows? In any case, I'm almost tempted to not post anything at all here. Wouldn't want people to start crowding up one of my new favorite places in DC.

Is Circle Bistro worth your $30?

Yes. Most definitely, yes.

Is Circle Bistro worth going to during Restaurant Week?

Debatable. Depending on how much you usually order.

Unfortunately, I'd forgotten to bring along the camera and the phone! So you'll just have to take my word here. For starters, their appetizers are big! The person I went with got an appetizer of mussels ($2 upgrade) and received a bowl, chock full of mussels, that appeared as if it could have been an entree in itself. In fact, I'm positive that the amount he got is equivalent to what an entree order of mussels is in Belgium. The mussels were cooked in a mustard-y sauce that the two of us eagerly mopped up with the bread. I approve. Cooked just right and not too tough.

I ordered an appetizer of fried oysters ($2 upgrade) and it did not disappoint. I believe there were six oysters total, six oysters of yummy creaminess and not greasy at all, despite being fried. The remoulade was especially nice and I dropped all pretenses of manners when I attempted to scoop out the remaining sauce with my fork and eat it. All in all, by the time the mussels and the oysters and the mussel sauce + bread was consumed....I was full.

Moving on to my lemon dusted trout! Not much to be said here, but the trout was lovely, light, and flakey. Presentation was elegant and the trout was cooked in a manner which allowed the meat to be not so "fishy." I even consumed the green beans! I may be changing my eating habits after all! Dauphin potatoes were delicately fried, light and puffy.

Unfortunately, I can't tell you much about their desserts, as they all contained fruit (I haven't evolved enough yet to get past my fruit eating issues), but I will tell you about their ice cream! Their vanilla beam ice cream is excellent. Creamy with the strong taste of vanilla coming through. I received three small scoops (not nearly enough in my opinion), an amount which would have been equivalent to one big scoop anywhere else. Upon tasting the ice cream however, I was determined to find out where the restaurant bought it from and horde a large supply for myself. Alas! Circle Bistro makes their own ice cream!

Service was quite good. The restaurant section of Circle Bistro is separated from the bar area, which is populated by noisy students. Our waiter was attentive, did not deny my request for only ice cream, and our water glasses were filled promptly. My only complaint would be that the hostess seemed rushed and curt with her responses to our questions. Perhaps this was due to the dinner rush and the restaurant being packed, but still...

So after this glowing recommendation, why do you ask that I hesitate to recommend Restaurant Week at Circle Bistro? To be honest, at first I didn't. I was all set to post a "GO NOW" type of post...and then I looked at the prices on their regular menu. To my surprise, Circle Bistro is not expensive at all! If I were to eat what I had eaten that night: oysters (10), trout (20) icecream (??), it would probably not have exceeded $30 by much in the first place.

What does this mean? This means that Circle Bistro should not be a special place saved for only Restaurant Week! This means that Circle Bistro is now my new favorite place to go and eat appetizers. You can bet I'll be there next week chowing down on some oysters and mussels.

Circle Bistro
1 Washington Circle NW
Washington DC
20037

Try Try Again

Round 2 of tracking what we eat. As Restaurant Week has appeared, Andrew and I reattempt to eat out in DC, remember what we eat, and make a record of it. My eventual goal is to have a long list of restaurants in DC that I feel will be worth the money that I spend.

With that said, Vidalia!

I started off with the wild mushroom soup, described as a "creamy puree with red wine-truffle emulsion and house cured shoat pancetta." Let me start off this review by saying that I hate mushrooms. I am not a vegetable eater, I will dedicate minutes of my dinner to picking out all vegetables and mushrooms out of my meal. With that said, I loved this soup. Loved it. That's how good it was. It made a mushroom hater like me drink every drop and then dig around in my soup bowl for more. First off, the portion given to me was extremely generous. I am not a fan of restaurants who charge you $7 for soup and then give you a tiny bowl/cup/whatever the case may be. The serving size for the mushroom soup was a Campbell's hearty soup can and then some.

The soup was delicately silky and the truffle emulsion. Can we talk about the truffle emulsion? I contemplated trying to spoon it off the top of my soup and eating it on my own. Combined with the flavor of the wild mushrooms though, it was heaven. I'd seriously contemplate going back to Vidalia for just a bowl of this soup, if it didn't seem to be too fancy of a place to do that.

Shrimp and grits. Now there's shrimp and grits and there's fancy shrimp and grits. This was fancy. The shrimp was perfectly plump and juicy, cooked and flavored just right. I received roughly ten-twelve of them on my plate. The grits were decent--on the buttery side, but...overall, this dish does not match up to the expectations for anyone who has ever had true Southern food. Yes, it was delicious, but I would never recommend such a dish at this type of restaurant for anyone who is familiar with shrimps and grits. Perhaps go with Andrew's duck. of course if you've never had shrimp and grits, you're in for a treat!

For dessert, I had a peanut butter crunch. Also, very good. The peanut butter taste was nicely balanced with a molasses peanut brittle like crunch. But like Andrew mentions, if I were in San Diego, I would stick with E.D. instead of paying for a dessert at Vidalia. As part of Restaurant Week though, Vidalia was a good deal. As a poor graduate student, I doubt I'd be able to afford to eat at Vidalia on a normal day (never mind a three course meal).

Vidalia stays on my list of places I'd return to in the future during Restaurant Week. After I try all the other places I want to eat at first, of course.

Vidalia

yes, it is once again restaurant week in dc. which invariably means that i will be indulging myself at restaurants eating foods created by masterful chefs with bon appetit stars next to their names. where i would normally have my face plastered against the windows staring at the meals that others are enjoying, this week...i will be putting fork to mouth and gorging on my twice a year chance to feed my hunger for 5-star cuisine.

and typical of me...my urge to contribute to ting and my failed food-blog created last restaurant week, has been growing inside my stomach with each morsel of fois gras i feed it, so here it is for your enjoyment.

my first foray into restaurant week (rw) was at vidalia...serving a glamor version of american southern cuisine. located in the midst of construction on 19th street next to a cvs pharmacy and illuminated with a sign comparable to the local quizno's, it does not strike you as high-class as i almost nearly walked past it and had to do a double-take and follow another group in to be certain. but upon entering and winding down the stairs, you are greeted with a chic, mood-lit, tiered dining room with sitting area, bar, coat check and all.

complementing the decor was the food. those unfamiliar with rw standards, the diner is allowed a choice of one appetizer, one entree, and one dessert from typically an abridged menu. however, vidalia was generous to offer its full menu, with mark-ups on certain dishes to be fair.

deciding to be more adventurous on my first round, i chose the veal tongue to start (as pictured above)...before moving onto the duck breast...and ending with a vanilla bean cake. with my conscience screaming at the inhumanity of eating veal, i was quickly overcome by my urge to try all types of food...and again, stomach 3 (1 being the sheep's lung consumed in tibet and 2 being the pig's brain in chengdu) - conscience 0.

and unlike the lungs, this tongue was nothing to boast about...though it was a little more tender than normal beef's tongue, i guess appropriate being it was veal. the duck breasts, ordered to a perfect medium, is always a favorite dish of mine and i can't seem to escape it wherever i go, and this occasion was no different and definitely not a disappointment with its perfectly crisped layer of fat on top of the succulent protein portion of the dish. the vanilla bean cake, though tasty and served with a nice white chocolate covered strawberry, did nothing to excite me...as is normally difficult with desserts after having been spoiled for 5 years with the immaculate creations of extraordinary desserts in san diego.

but all in all, a good first restaurant in my thus far 4 restaurant meal through rw. tune in for continuous updates of my ever insatiable appetite.

Dino

Hey Ting...

So we've finally made our last run through Restaurant Week. What do you think? Dino? Mio? PS 7? Oya? Tough choices of what was our best stop (though I've been to Zengo as well...which only makes my choice all the more difficult).
I must say, Dino was definitely a departure in style from the previously named restaurants. Instead of the downtown contemporary feel, Dino was more about the home-style comfort a family joint in the heart of Cleveland Park, and it showed through the energy and kindness of their servers in the front of the house. But none of this is a knock on the plates being put out from the back of the house.

The great thing about Dino is that it offers a RW style menu, Menu della Sera, at $24 between Sundays and Thursdays before 7:30...it's more of a happy hour type deal. Similar to RW, this deal gives you the chance to choose a dish from their extensive cheese plates and appetizer, then a few marked entrées, and of course a customary dessert. Not only that, Wednesdays offers the wine connoisseurs a chance to enjoy DC's Best Wine Bar. So enjoying a Restaurant Week-style meal doesn't require it to actually be Restaurant Week.

Now, on to my favorite part of that night...the food. I found myself drawn to Crespelle con Pollo e Carciofi. With a combination of chicken, artichokes, roasted tomatoes, and cheese, it was a great throwback to the crepes of Mediterranean flavor. Even better was the smoothness of the pesto sauce that can sometimes overwhelm the flavors with the intensity of its herbs. But this one was made flawlessly and was a enriching balance with the cheese and hints of marinara sauce.


Though Dino offered a great selection of main courses, there was also the enticing assortment of fine steaks. Of course for RW, the steaks held an added price, though still well worth it. I indulged myself in a porterhouse that, originally worth $32, was only marked up by $6. Decidedly the perfect order for a RW deal, I was fully content with the extra cost. The preparation of steak doesn't mirror the quality of a Ruth Chris or a Flemmings, but the deal with which it was order made it all worth it. The lasagna, all smothered in cheese, look mighty appetizing on your side of the table; perhaps you can tell me how you liked it and I'll partake in that the next time we visit Dino for a taste of the Menu della Sera.

Surprisingly, after an appetizer of chicken and cheese, a main course full of meat and potatoes, I was not entirely satiated. Luckily for me, there was the dessert course to come. I was slightly overwhelmed with the veritable pantheon of sweets. But my eye found a familiar dish...one that I improperly dined on before...the Gelato Affogato. Essentially, it is just a scoop of vanilla bean gelato with a brisk shot of espresso liberally emptied over it. However, unknowing and naive, my first encounter with this dish was an embarrassment to Affogato lovers. I had brazenly enjoyed my gelato and separately downed my single shot of espresso before I realized the two flavors were supposed to be enjoyed in an amalgamation of vanilla and coffee. But I was no fool this time around.

So after a month of hopping for luxury meal to luxury meal, I found the best deal here at Dino. The food, though not bringing my taste buds to their metaphorical knees, was thoroughly satisfying in their own right. Unlike some of the other Restaurant Week restaurants where I would only return for RW-like deals, as they are a little out of reach for my pocketbooks, I would happily return to Dino to enjoy the Menu della Sera, and I would recommend it to anyone who asks.

Dino
3435 Connecticut Ave. NW
Cleveland Park
Washington, DC 20008
202-686-2966

Bethesda Crab House

Hey Ting...

So when my friend Chang making his return pit stop from Spain, I felt it customary to at least show him some Maryland delicacies...yes, the Chesapeake Bay crab. And seeing as how we've been deemed fairly immobilized with our lack of a vehicle, a crab house that was metro accessible was necessary...and with the input from fellow DCers, Bethesda Crab House is the place to go.

Let it be known though, that a reservation for your crabs is a must. And you don't go reserving a table here at this hole-in-the-wall type "shack"...you reserve your crabs. They come in sizes of medium, large, and x-large crabs, and they'll take orders until the crabs have been sold out or have made a daring crab-crawl escape from their holding tanks. Crabs here don't come cheap, so either bring along a few friends or make sure you have a full wallet as prices can range from $40 - $80 a dozen depending on size.

With last minutes reservation, we were able to secure ourselves a dozen x-large crabs. Now this wasn't one of those swanky RW locales, this was purely a crab shack for the locals and definitely not for the lazy. There aren't any plates or utensils (unless you count the mallet and paring knife). And these crabs definitely come whole...none of this prissy pre-extracted crab meat that comes mixed with some salad or dipped in some soup...no way, at Bethesda Crab House, it's hardcore hand-cracking, butter-dipping, shell-crushing crabs. You got to earn the succulent meat in those shells, making the reward of taste that much better.
this is what a dozen crabs covered in Old Bay seasoning looks like

ting's indulgence

a best friend's feast

It was definitely a relief to indulge ourselves in some pure seafood blue-collar gluttony coming off a Restaurant Month Week of high-class, well-mannered composure. This was definitely not a cocktail dress or business casual type of place...dress at your own risk, I say, as you may well leave with crab gut stains on your shirt and shell fragments in your hair.

So I would definitely recommend a return trip, but knowing how prices can add up especially with a pitcher of beer or maybe some shrimp and potato salad appetizers, it might just be a monthly thing. So go with some friends and set this bet...the first person to eat their share of crabs wins and the loser catches the tab.

Bethesda Crab House
4958 Bethesda Ave
Bethesda, MD 20814
301-652-3382