• 14Dec

    Ala’s take on Modern Mediterranean in DuPont

    Adana Kebab
    Even the bar garnishes look great!
    Pirzola
    Jewels Pilaf
    Antep Baklava
    Octopus & Baba Ganoush
    Mocktails
    What the table across from us ordered.

    We recently tried the (soon to be seasonally updated for winter) dinner menu at the upscale Mediterranean restaurant, Ala, in DuPont Circle. The menu features updated versions of Mediterranean dishes (not including hummus). We ordered from the soon to be updated for the winter season dinner menu:

    Rumaan Nana (pomegranate & mint iced tea) and Levantine Wonderland (orange, cherry, rose, lemon, baharat) mocktails: They were refreshing and not too sweet (although you have to stir one of them prior to drinking).

    Baba Ganoush (charred eggplant puree, dill & pumpkin seed pesto, pomegranate
    seeds): This was probably our favorite dish that evening. The pomegranate seeds and fresh dill worked well in this creamy and delicious dish. Wonderful Za’atar Pita arrived with the baba — you should definitely expect the green seasoning to coat your fingers. This appetizer is vegan and gluten free.

    Akhtubut (grilled octopus, white beans, saffron, harissa, lemon foam): We enjoyed this dish, but the octopus could have been more tender and while it is possible the intent was for the beans to be a little crunchy, some were more undercooked than others. Management said they would work on the consistency issue with the beans.

    Pirzola (grilled lamb chops (3 pieces) spice marinated, braised napa cabbage, herb salad, nigella seeds): The lamb chops were cut to different thicknesses so were also different levels of doneness (medium rare at best, Medium Well, Well). The last cooked chop was a little tough but the other two were amazing. I would order this again. Management said they will work on the consistency issue on the chops. My guest and I practically fought over the tasty cabbage and refreshing herb salad.

    Adana Kebab (minced rib eye, maras pepper, bell pepper, sumac, onion,
    harissa, labneh, grilled long chili pepper): My guest (who has visited Turkey) said this was her favorite version of Adana Kebab. The grilled long Italian chilli pepper was definitely spicy.

    Jewels Pilaf (rice, sundried apricots, almonds, parsley, dill): We enjoyed the sweet and starchy pilaf, but it might have been to close after Thanksgiving for me, because I was getting stuffing vives from this one. This side dish is vegan and gluten free.

    Antep Baklava (pistachio baklava, dark cherry kaymak): We both enjoyed this extremely rich and decedent take on baklava. Neither of us has tried a baklava quite like this one before, and I’ve probably eaten half my weight in baklava in that particular dessert in my lifetime. I’m glad we shared it because a whole order may have been a bit much for me after such a large meal.

    The service was excellent (thanks Yulia!) and food restrictions were handled well. Both floors of the restaurant were very loud (you could hear everyone talking) but it was also a Saturday evening, which is probably their busiest night.

    You can tell we were impressed with Ala because my guest is already planning a lunch at the DuPont location, and I am planning a brunch at the upcoming Bethesda location, which should be opening in late January or so.

    -JAY

    Permalink Filed under: Drinks, Restaurants Tags: , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment
  • 11Nov

    Mercy Me Has Relaunched in West End!

    Upscale lounge/restaurant Mercy Me relaunched in West End last week, featuring the cuisine of various regions of South America. Mercy Me is under new ownership, with a new chef, Executive Chef Robert Curtis, who is supported by Brazilian Chef and consultant Giancarlo Junyent.

    Mercy Me has a nice upscale lounge kind of vibe and decor, with a good amount of space between tables. We enjoyed the music played in the restaurant, which interestingly enough, Shazam (a music identification app), was unable to identify. The restaurant features curated music through weekly analog DJ sets (Thursday and Friday evenings), although we were not present during a performance. Mercy me also features a new private dining listening room.

    We started with cocktails, a Tropicalia Spritz (Vodka, Lilet Blanc, Alphonso Mango, Passion Fruit, Vanilla, Ripe Pineapple, Pet Nat), and Passion Marg (Habanero, Lime, Passion fruit, Pineapple, Mezcal, Tequila Blanco). Both drinks were tasty well-made cocktails. I didn’t taste habanero in the margarita, but that is probably a good thing.

    The menu has a variety of good options, but we had to decide, so we ordered the Ceviche (Hamachi, Purple Sweet Potato, Passion Fruit, Leech de Tigre), Chorizo Mussels
    (Honey Chorizo, Coconut Milk, Fennel, White Wine), Chaufa (Braised Pork Belly, Fried Rice, Piperade), and Whole Roasted Bass (Shaved Fennel and Orange Salad, Ahi Amarillo, Naam Prik). We enjoyed all four dishes, but we were probably most surprised by the Chaufa; the pork belly was executed wonderfully, with the perfect texture, and was served on very garlicky fried rice. The sauce on the mussels was savory, with the chorizo really enhancing the flavor of the dish; this preparation is easily as good as some of the best mussel dishes we have had in DC. They also did a great job with the texture and flavor of the sea bass, and we enjoyed the fennel salad, although the blood orange flavor seemed to get lost in the dish. The ceviche was a light and flavorful way to start the meal.

    The waiter recommended the Gnocchi (Braised Short Rib, Poblano Mole Sauce, Salsa Criolla, Cotija Cheese), so maybe we should try that dish next visit. Truth be told, we ordered mostly seafood because I had eaten at a kabob house for lunch.

    For dessert, we had the Chocolate Tres Leches (White Chocolate Cream, Citrus Jam, Banana Rum Sauce) and Pavlova (Coconut cream, Cherimoya Sorbet, Caipirinha Strawberries). We both enjoyed the light, creamy, and fruity Pavlova dish, but admittedly, neither of us had tried one before.

    My dining partner from that evening is already planning to bring his girlfriend to Mercy Me for date night, since the restaurant has a great vibe and wonderful food. You should check Mercy Me out too!

    -JAY

    Permalink Filed under: Drinks, Restaurants Tags: , , , , , , , No Comments
  • 13Aug

    Free Chinese Tea Tasting in Dupont Circle

    Yunhan Zhang
    Yunhan Zhang Displaying His Fan Skills
    Sammie Davis Jr. in the Gallery Downstairs

    I attended this morning’s free Chinese tea tasting at the Valley Brook Tea shop at the Ven Hotel (2015 Massachusetts Ave NW) in Dupont Circle. Yunhan Zhang is a wonderful host and is incredibly knowledgeable about tea (including its production and history). His family in China grows the tea he serves and sells.

    Yunhan will be doing these free tasting on Sundays at 10:30am for at least the next couple of weeks but be on time since there is limited seating. No reservations are required.

    You may want to check out the Sunday Dupont Farmer’s market (a block away from 8:30am to 1:30pm) and the current art gallery downstairs as well.

    -JAY

    Permalink Filed under: Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , 2 Comments
  • 25Jun

    Brand New Thai Restaurant on P Street in DuPont Circle

    This is a shoutout to Sampannee at 2122 P Street NW (the old Asia 54 space)! They just opened 3 days ago. I stopped by yesterday and tried thePad Thai, Mango Sticky Rice, and Coconut Ice Cream (which has jackfruit inside). Definitely a place to try some authentic Thai cuisine. Next month they will open the counter next door for breakfast/brunch. The owner and staff are really sweet people — I’m so happy I met them.

    -JAY

    Permalink Filed under: Restaurants Tags: , , , , 1 Comment
  • 01Apr

    Praise for Veg Heaven’s Vegan Baked Goods

    Veg Heaven makes a variety of wonderful baked goods that seem way too good to be vegan (but are). This winter, Veg Heaven had a stand at the Dupont Circle farmer’s market; this stand was so popular that it sold out halfway through the market’s hours. Freshfarm (who runs the Dupont Circle farmer’s market) has decided not to approve Veg Heaven for the current season when what they should have done was approve this business and request that they bring enough product to make it (at least most of the way) through the market’s hours.

    One of the above images was taken at 8:30am and one just prior to 10am (market hours are 8:30am to 1:30pm); I bet you can tell which is which.

    Right now, you can find Veg Heaven’s products at the following farmer’s markets:

    Eastern Market Saturdays and Sundays from 8 to 4 pm

    Palisades Sundays from 9 to 1pm

    UDC Saturdays from 9 to 2 pm

    Cleveland Park Saturdays starting on May 13 from 9 to 1 pm

    -JAY

    Permalink Filed under: Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , 7 Comments
  • 29Dec

    May Your New Year Be Filled with New Menu Items from ChiKo

    Smashed Cucumber Salad, Umami Nosh, Warm Walnut Potato Salad
    Egg Drop Hot Sour Wonton Soup
    Dry Spiced Double-Fried Chicken Wings
    Xo Shrimp Lo Mein
    Wok Stir Fried Sea Bass
    Sesame Custard (Has no Eggs)
    Chinese Style 5 Spice Donuts

    We were happy to try the new menu items at the DuPont location of ChiKo, a group of Chinese/Korean fusion restaurants. I can’t eat egg yolks, so brought a plus one (“C”) to try the dishes I could not. We enjoyed all the new menu items; my guest vouched for the dishes I could not try).

    C’s favorite dishes of the visit were the Umami Nosh (soft-cooked egg, salmon caviar, seaweed) and Egg Drop Hot Sour Wonton Soup, two dishes I could not try. He attacked the Chinese Style 5 Spice Donuts. When he brought home the leftover soup, his partner proclaimed it “sex in a bowl.” I asked no further questions at that point.

    My favorite dishes of the evening were the Wok Stir Fried Sea Bass (which I LOVED) ordered without the oyster mushrooms and Dry Spiced Double-Fried Chicken Wings (wonderful savory flavor and perfectly crunchy), although the latter isn’t a new dish. I attacked the Sesame Custard, which does not contain eggs and features a perfect combination of flavors and textures (coconut, caramel, almonds, basil seeds).

    The new dishes are available at all ChiKo locations. Scroll down to see the menu.

    -JAY

    Disclosure: From time to time, we are given free items, meals, or entry to events. Our words are still our own.

    Standard menu. They also have a vegetarian and a GF menu.

    Permalink Filed under: Restaurants Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , No Comments
  • 04Oct

    Silver Diner Opens First Location in DC at Navy Yard

    Thursday, we attended the pre-opening night of the new Silver Diner location in Navy Yard. After 33 years in the DC area, this is their first Silver Diner in Washington, DC proper. They have a Silver in DC (Cathedral Heights), but it is a different concept (more upscale).

    Ype Von Hengst (Right)

    Silver Diner co-owner and Executive Chef Ype Von Hengst (a TVFN Chopped and Rewrapped champion) was on hand with his CEO and a huge staff. They continuously checked on the diners that evening (bigwigs and media). So, the service was definitely attentive. The baseball-themed cookies as favors were a nice touch for this event.

    We’ve dined at and ordered takeout and delivery at various Silver Diner locations over the years. We even covered the opening of an Alexandria location during the pandemic. And, I’ve even ordered the steak dish many times. The Old Bay Wings with Mambo Sauce are new though.

    The food was better than anything we’ve experienced at Silver Diner in the past. The steak was perfectly cooked, the wings were crispy and tasty. We tried nicely executed (and yummy) margaritas which had a shot of Cointreau in a tiny lime rind bowl, and the house made ginger ale. Hopefully, this is the normal level of quality for this location and not just the case because it was a heavily staffed and monitored opening event. If the DC location can keep it up, maybe Silver Diner can bring their other restaurants up to this level, from good to great.

    Give the new location a try and comment letting us know if they keep up this really high level of food and service.

    -JAY

    Permalink Filed under: Drinks, Events, Restaurants Tags: , , , , , , , 1 Comment
  • 23May

    Pressed Opens in Logan Circle for Your Cold-Pressed Juice and Plant-Based Treats Needs!

    Pressed opened across the Street from the P Street Whole Foods a couple of weeks ago. I checked it out last week, trying all four of the frozen treat flavors. I enjoyed the Dragon Fruit, Acai, and Golden Rosé flavors, but was not a fan of the Vanilla. The Acai bowl was flavorful, and included granola and good quality fresh fruit. I tried one shot (refresh, which is a tastier alternative to apple cider vinegar), two juices (Citrus 2, and Strawberry Basil Lemonade), one Acai Bowl, and some great and addictive chewie organic tropical mango candy from Candy Kittens. I liked that the two juices were not very sweet, which highlighted their flavors. All three employees (including Asha, the Manager) were personable and helpful.

    Pressed is definitely a nice addition to the area, and it is great that it has outdoor seating. Georgetown and Mosaic District locations are coming soon.

    -JAY

      Disclosure: From time to time, we are given free items, meals, or entry to events. Our words are still our own.

      Permalink Filed under: Drinks, Stores Tags: , , , , , , 2 Comments
    • 19Mar

      Bargain Hunter’s Guide to Dining and Drinking in Dupont

      From Rakuya’s HH last Fall.

      This topic reminds me of my recurring column from many years ago about eating in Arlington when nearly broke. Here are some Dupont Circle specials:

      Dawson’s Market free beer tastings on Thursdays (City State are DC Brau are the next two events). Photos of some previous tastings and their event calendar were covered in a previous article. They also have one Friday wine tasting a month at the DuPont location.

      Ala has an online discount code for online orders, “ALA30” and they also have a 25% off (entire menu, food and drinks) HH Mon-Friday 2-5pm. Keep in mind that they are a bit pricy to start with, and are also on the Too Good To Go app (café stuff).

      Duffy’s Irish pub (which opened on P Street during the pandemic) has dine in 1/2 price burgers Mondays with the purchase of a beverage all night and dine in all day/night 1/2 price wings Wednesdays with purchase of a beverage. Every Thursday from 4pm-7pm kids eat free from the kids menu with the purchase of an adult entrée and drink.

      Rakuya has Happy Hour (HH) food and drink specials including $3 shishito peppers or edamame, $5 yakitori, $5.50 gyoza, green beans tempura, shumai, crunchy spice salmon rolls, or spicy tuna rolls. They also have $4-8 beer, $7 glasses of wine, and a few $8-9 cocktails on HH.

      Firehook Bakery has Buy One Get One pastries M-F 5-6pm, but not cookies, or cupcakes; it’s items like scones and cinnamon rolls.

      Across the Pond has a special on Mondays 4-8pm: $6 hamburger and fries ($1 additional per topping).

      The Admiral HH features 3 cheeseburger siders for $10.

      Specials from our neighbors:

      Chef Geoff’s West end (a few blocks from DuPont) has a number of food on their HH menu like $4 mahi tacos, $6 white truffle popcorn, $12 pasta Bolognese, $5 off of burgers, etc. And, a few $8 cocktails and $10 supermug drafts.

      Ted’s Bulletin in Logan Circle during their HH Monday – Friday 3 PM – 6:30 PM has $3 drafts, $5 wines, $7 cocktails, and food specials like $6 fried pickles, $6 French onion dip with truffle potato chips, and $7 chicken parm sliders, $7 bacon cheeseburger empanadas, or Rueben tacos.

      -JAY

      Permalink Filed under: Drinks, Events, Kids, Restaurants, Stores, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment
    • 14Dec

      Fighting Food Waste in DC One Mystery Bag at a Time

      Restaurants, bakeries, and grocery stores often have food left over at the end of the day that could go to waste. The Too Good To Go app is a marketplace where you can purchase food from business at the end of their day (or meal service). The items in these bags/boxes can be pretty random, even if you pick up two boxes at the same location (or on different days).

      • Ala
      • Le Pain Quotidien

      The food is usually already packaged as a mystery bag (or box) when you pick it up during the specified timeframe, but there were some exceptions. I didn’t mind waiting a few minutes if a place put a bag together while I waited.

      • Rose Ave Bakery
      • Taim Falafel

      Purchasing these deals can be competitive, with new mystery bags/boxes usually hitting the website 15 minutes after the current day’s pickup range ends. As an example, The Cakeroom‘s pickup range is 8pm to 9pm, which means that at 9:15pm on Tuesday, the mystery bags/boxes to be picked up Wednesday will populate on the app. There are exceptions such as Rose Ave Bakery that sometimes drop mystery bags/boxes on the app for same day pickup.

      • Zenebech
      • The Cakeroom

      Below are mystery bags/boxes I tried:

      Ala ($3.99) in Dupont Circle has two pickups with different types of items, afternoon and evening (and I tried both). The above image is from the afternoon timeslot, and contained a Halva Croissant, Apple Tea (loose chopped dehydrated apples), an herbal teabag, Meringues, one Thumbprint Cookie, and Crunchy Chickpeas (dried).

      Le Pain Quotidien ($4.99) gave me 3 pastries: a Cheese Danish, an Apple Turnover, and a Pan Aux Raisins. PDQ is much more readily available on the app than other baked goods options and has multiple locations (Dupont, 17th Street, Penn Quarter) you can choose from.

      Rose Ave Bakery ($3.99) downtown offers fun Asian American-themed pastries. It is located at The Block DC food hall with Pogiboy, which is also on the Too Good To Go app. My Rose Ave mystery box contained green pastries: two Matcha White Chocolate Donuts, a Pandan Donut (green filling), and a Matcha Chocolate Cookie.

      Taim Falafel‘s ($3.99) mystery bag included a Falafel Bowl and Tractor Beverage Company‘s Mandarin Cardamom. Their Georgetown and Dupont Circle Locations are both on the Too Good To Go app.

      Zenebech ($4.99) is an Ethiopian restaurant in Adam’s Morgan. When I checked in, they put together a Vegetarian Combo for me with injera (spongy flat bread made from teff). I was lucky enough to score bags from both Zenebech and The Cakeroom to be picked up on the same evening, which was nice, because they are on the same street a few blocks from each other.

      The Cakeroom ($5.99) put together a bag of mostly chocolate flavored items. There was a slice of Cherry Cheesecake, two slices of Chocolate Vanilla Cake, and two Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes.

      I recommend Too Good To Go in DC (it’s in other cities too) but you need to be open to receiving really random items, especially at Ala. If you get something you can’t eat, share it with a friend. Too Good To Go is definitely a good value, since most of the mystery bags I received were worth 3 to 4 times what I paid.

      -JAY

      Permalink Filed under: Drinks, Etc, Ingredients, Products, Restaurants, Stores Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment
    « Previous Page Next Page »

    Categories

    Archives

    Pages

    Blogroll