Ceiba: Proper Propaganda

Believe it or not, this actually isn’t a propaganda website for Ceiba, DC Coast, and Tenh Pen. Now that I’ve got that disclaimer out of the way, allow me to say that last night’s dinner at Ceiba was one of the best I’ve had in DC, and maybe one of the best on the whole US east coast. No, really.

zaf had requested Ceiba for her birthday on Sat (happy birthday you old squirrel!) and it remains as pretty and colorful as ever, the perfect setting to watch the snow drift down outside while savoring something spicy. Our lovely and unbelievably patient waitress Roberta proceeded to bring us the following:

• Cerviches Sampler - Raw shrimp in a tomato cilantro sauce, raw striped bass with sweet potato and chilies, raw yellowfin tuna in what seemed a coconut curry sauce, and raw grouper with lime and cashews. Bloody amazing.

• Conch Ceviche with a sweet shrimp salsa - This was a special, but get it if they have it.

• Steamed Blue Hill Bay Mussels – Bloody hell. This was a pepper and tomato sauce with onions in a large clay pot. It’s the kind of food where you stop every few minutes to cry desperately for water, try to breath through the heat, mop your streaming eyes, and then dive back in for another freakishly deliciously juicy muscle. Repeat as necessary.

• Spiny Rock Lobster – Alright, I thought I was full before this. I was wrong. Impossibly sweet and ocean-y tasting with a citrus salsa. I may never brush my teeth again. (yes you will. –amg)

• Warm Cinnimon dusted Churros – This is honestly the liquid I based my hot chocolate recipe on. Mine is good, but theirs is better. With crunchy dough to dunk. They win.

Our wine was a Verdejo, from Rueda, Spain - not what I would have chosen- which is good ‘cause I know nothing about wine- but exactly perfect for the food. It’s rare to have a meal where you can honestly say that nothing was even close to average. Well, the bell curve just got bigger. I’m still purring in culinary afterglow the next day.