The Food Austin Network

 

Cafe Milano
3251 Prospect St., NW - Washington, DC 20007 - 202 333-6183
http://www.cafemilano.net

 

 

A lot of DC heavy hitters already know about Café Milano and for good reason.  It is one of the few restaurants in DC where the buzz is actually deserved. It has a nice atmosphere albeit the place can be loud and less than intimate but nonetheless the cuisine is quite good and you’ll be surrounded with some of DC’s most influential. With dishes named Tortelloni Gucci and Ravioli Cavalli it is best to bring someone you hope to impress.  Much like their name sakes the dishes can be a tad on the pricey side and there is no Marshall’s equivalent for Café Milano’s food.  I tried the black bass served with potato, purple cabbage, fennel and a creamy olive oil sauce.  It was quite tasty and sleep inducing.  True to Italian tradition and stereotype the portions are fairly generous and go well with a bottle from their wine list. Café Milano also tends to be a favourite of people in from out of town, think Tom Cruise, Jessica Simpson, Lionel Richie. So it’s great if you want to try your hand at celeb spotting. So fix up. Look sharp. Bring a date. Enjoy.

 

Price: $$$$  ($30-40 entrees)

Zaytinya
701 9th Street NW, Washington, DC 20004 - 202-638-0800

I upset my girlfriend this past week at a party by getting a little too drunk.  I needed a place to get myself out of the doghouse.  I asked around and was recommended Zaytinya in Chinatown.  Zatinyas is a greek/middle eastern tapas restaurant.  I looked at a couple of reviews and the place seemed to be held to the highest regards.  I decided to give it a try on a Saturday Night. 

Zaytinya does not take reservations after 6:30, so we had to do a walk in.  Parking is difficult to find in the area so I suggest taking the metro to the Chinatown stop or using Valet for $10.  We had about a 1 hr wait which isn’t too bad for DC on a Saturday night.  The place was full of young professionals and had a diverse mix of people.  While the environment was great for what we were looking for, I would not suggest going here if you are looking for a quiet romantic dinner.  The decor has sort of a middle eastern/modern feel to it; however, the bar is packed and loud.  I have to admit they have some of the coolest looking bathrooms I’ve seen, so you should definitely at least stop here for a pit stop. 

While everything I’ve mentioned thus far sounds great, I am a raised Southern Guy.   Being from the south, I could really care less about decor and appearance. I am all about the quality and taste of the food.  Unfortunately, Zatinyas proved to be nothing but a big dissapointment when it came to food considering its above average price.  Zaytinya suggests ordering 2-3 tapas per person.  We were starving so we decided to order 3 each.  We ordered the:

Chicken Muhammara: Marinated chicken served with a roasted red pepper & walnut sauce   6.95

Rating: Mediocre

The chicken was tender and cooked well; however, the sauce gave it a strange bitter taste.

Lamb Chops with Hommus Bil Toum with roasted garlic-chickpea puree 10.95

Rating: Poor

For the price, you were given little to no meat.  The lamb was cooked near rare and was very bloody.  I had to swallow this with a full glass of water.

Arayes Grilled pita stuffed with ground lamb and tahini  6.50

Rating: Poor

This would have been a great dish, but the lamb was sweet!  I am not a fan of sweets being in my food.  I think sweets should be saved for dessert.  If you are a fan of a bit of sweetness in your food, youll love this. 

Bantijan Bil Laban Fried eggplant with roasted garlic-yogurt sauce 5.75

Rating: Good

This was probably the best thing we ordered.  It was very simple and the garlic yogurt sauce complimented the eggplant very well. 

Mushrooms Saganaki Seasonal mushrooms with Kefalograviera cheese  10.95

Rating: Mediocre

I am a fan of mushrooms and cheese.  So I figured this dish would be heavan.  Unfortunately, the mushrooms were cooked in an extremely salty broth.  The cheese was tasty but made the mushrooms taste even saltier. 

Puff Böregi Fried, light pastry with haloumi, goat and feta Cheeses 5.50

Rating: Good

This was pretty good.  The pastry was perfectly cooked and flaky and crisp fresh from the oven.  The pastry was a little bit too oily and could have used more cheese. 

Since we didn’t like the food and did not eat all of the food, we decided to get an extra order of hummus:

Hommus “Lebanese Taverna” style  5.95

Rating: Poor

I was dissapointed by the hummus. The hummus lacked flavor and was bland.

The service was average.  Overall I recommend this place if your looking for a place to relax, hang out, and try a variety of foods.  If you are looking for genuinely good food with a good price, look elsewhere. I suggest heading down south where you’ll find the best food in the country.

-DesiChaat

Price: $$
 

Local 16
1602 U St, NW, Washington, DC 20009 - +1 (202) 265-2828
http://www.localsixteen.com/

Local 16 is both a nice neighborhood eatery and a lively weekend hotspot and the dishes unpretentious and quite tasty.  The fact that they work with many locally grown ingredients really scores high in our books, we’re all about being local here at Food Washington, and it’s refreshing to see a restaurant be that way.  The atmosphere of the place matches pretty consistently with the majority of the clientele; it’s decked out in dark colors and hip vibes and is trendy yet approachable.  As far as dishes go, the New York Strip is done quite well and is accompanied with all the American staples like spinach, and garlic mash potatoes.  There are a couple of other dishes on the menu where the inspiration is clearly foreign, but this is where it stops. There is no attempt at pure fusion, which is nice considering that fusion in Washington is a little like bipartisanship, largely for show and without any real substance. 

Local 16 was one of the first places to offer this kind of refreshing hipness in a formerly hard part of town, and still carries the flame. While lots of other great places have opened up nearby, there is still no alternative to the rooftop bar and patio. It is a nice place to just kick back with some friends for a lazy weekday and also a nice spot for a casual yet stylish first date. So come for the food, and stay for the drinks and a cool breeze on the rooftop. I would advise coming early though since the rooftop becomes cattlecar-ish as the evening progresses.

Price: $$ (20ish per person)

Oya
777 9^th Street NW, Washington, DC
http://www.oyadc.com

One could say that Oya is one of the growing ranks of NEW Washington restaurant – one that is long on design and easy on the eyes but a place where the food is just mediocre.  The restaurant itself is very well done and is evoking of a trendy bar in Reykjavik or Helsinki with it’s almost all white interior, chains hung from the ceilings, and waiters dressed in dark colors.  The atmosphere is nice and pleasant, you walk in and you are engulfed by trendy-ness, and all of it before you even order anything. It is once you sit down and begin to dine when the shortcomings of Oya come into sight.  First of all the service was incredibly slow. After having ordered several courses, we were at times waiting for 15-20 minutes between dishes.  This wait coupled with the small portions and a tinge of hunger did not equal dining bliss.  The menu is pretty well populated with a selection of sushi, chicken dishes and even an amount of vegetarian options.  We were pleasantly surprised with their sushi options and while they were pricey at 9-12 dollars a pop were definitely delivered in the most generous portions available at Oya.  The main dishes again like the restaurant were topnotch in presentation yet lacking in actual flavor.  Most entrée’s when tasted were a little on the bland side and incapable of matching the level of presentation.

Another disturbing thing was that Oya seems to be a little stingy with their beverage selection.  The cocktail list was limited and the complementing list of beers was capped at 4 kinds of bottles – Sam Adams, Heineken, Amstel Light, and Sapporo.  Not wanting to be a snob here, but a restaurant with a bar and 15 dollar drinks should at least have ONE beer on tap, and if they don’t they should at least make an effort to stock more bottled beverages.

If you’re looking for a place to wear that Paul Smith blazer recently bought off eBay, check out Oya.  The food is average, the service is average but it all comes in a nice package.  Food Washington wouldn’t go back. But you can – and let us know how it was in the comments.

 

Price: $$$ (25ish = entree) 

 

 

Curry Club
1734 Wisconsin Avenue nw, Washington, DC 20007 - 202 625 9090

The Curry Club is an interesting culinary experiment.  They are a conventional restaurant at the Upper Georgetown location but also offer a delivery service - "The Curry Club"  You can sign up for their email list by emailing curryclub@curryclub.net. Every Tuesday they send out an email with a special menu for the week. You then
have until Thursday at 2pm to submit your order.  They deliver the order to you on Friday.  This is especially convenient for those that want to have something on hand to satiate that periodic indian food craving.

As to the dining experience, the ambience is cute and a nice place for an intimate date.  Unfortunately for the Curry Club, the ambience overshadows the food which is mediocre and a little overpriced for what you get.  The portions are fairly generous when compared to other trendy-ish spots but not up to par with what we have come to expect from other lower end indian establishments.  The Beef Vindaloo was quite tasty and deserves to be the curry club favorite that it is, but we were left craving the chicken tikka masalas and the other chicken and vegetable curries that are supposed to be staples of Indian American cuisine.  Essentially the Curry Club is an experiment in trendy and comfortable eating. The food is not out of the ordinary and unless you are there for the intimate ambience it is an overpriced Indian food fix, and the name is not particularly fitting given the lack of curry on the menu.

Price: $$

Old Angler’s Inn
10801 MacArthur Blvd - Potomac, MD 20854 – www.oldanglersinn.com
301-299-9097

Almost everyone in this town will agree that Old Angler’s Inn is one of the most intimate dining establishments in the area.  Whether you head there in the wintery months or in the warmer months, you will have your choice of dining indoors with the crackling of the fireplace to keep you company or outside along the C&O canal under a leafy canopy.  The atmosphere alone is worth the drive up MacArthur Blvd. but luckily for us you don’t have to compromise on the food either.  There are a variety of dishes that are worth trying out.  From the caramel-braised beef short-ribs with horseradish mashed potatoes to the pistachio encrusted Chilean sea bass, the flavors are innovatively done and the sauces are rich.  For starters we would recommend the seared sea scallops with caramelized turnips and aged balsamic vinegar. If you’re having some trouble choosing from the ever changing menu, the chef will put together a tasting menu for the table.  This is an option that really should be available at more places around town and is a wonderful escape for those of us that are terrible at making decisions.  For desert check out the Brioche Bread Pudding with Tropical Fruit Compote & Caramel Sauce, it is definitely worth a try.

 
Old Angler’s Inn: History. Food. Fireplace. Shaded Tables.  You really can’t go wrong.

Price: $$$

Johnny’s Half Shell
2002 P St, NW - Washington, DC 20036 - 202.296.2021 – www.johnnyshalfshell.net

Our barebones description of Johnny’s is this: If you’re in the mood for some seafood and you don’t want to drive to the Bay, you should come to Dupont and check out Johnny’s.  Johnny’s does the Chesapeake Bay classic crab cakes and does them well, if the wait and the hustle and bustle of Dupont didn’t give it away, you might be able to fool yourself into thinking you’re dining at some joint right on the water.  For starters the barbeque shrimp and grits is a top notch choice.  The flavor is succulent and helps white wash the wait you had to endure just to get to them.  The seared Scallops are also done well and are firm yet juicy.  If you’re not in the mood for dinner, you should check out the Po’boy sandwich, it’s a great substitute for some of the bigger portioned dishes and is perfect for people during lunch or those that believe in small dinners.  This is also one of those places where we actually would recommend saving room for desert.  The famed chocolate angel food cake is sublime and is a great foil for the wonderful seafood fare.  The price is what you would expect to pay for seafood in a town that’s not on the Sea.  Given that this is Washington, the prices are also a little bit on the high side but in line with other seafood establishments around town.  For our money, Johnny’s is a step ahead of it’s competition, let’s just hope it doesn’t stumble just because the line is always out the door.  They don’t take reservations so plan ahead.

Price: $$  (20-25 per entrée)

Bread Line
1751 Pennsylvania Ave, NW - Washington, DC 20006 - 202.822.8900

One of the best lunch places in town.  The Bread Line features some of the best breads in the city and because bread is a great building block, some of the best sandwiches in the city.  The Menu varies seasonally and usually is a blend of flavors around the globe.  They also carry American staples such as the the tuna, the turkey, the prosciutto and the ham.  But are spiced up a little bit to cater to the sophistication swirling around this part of town (right next to the White House and the World Bank…).   The portions are large and the service quick and hasty.  This place is all about the food, allowing movers and shakers to jet in and out and back to moving and shaking.  If you’re in downtown and in the mood for a well done sandwich this is your place!  Be warned, the later your lunchtime the worse the chances of actually finding something to eat here, the best stuff goes fast.

 

Price: $ 

Lauriol Plaza – http://www.lauriolplaza.com
1835 18th St., NW - Washington, DC - 202-387-0035

Now I’m not going to lie to you and say the real reason there is always a line out the door on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays is because of the food. Much of the appeal of Lauriol Plaza is the rooftop deck and other outdoor dining areas and people flock here to get a decent Mexican meal while sitting outside and enjoying some tasty libations (we recommend the Mojito). A lot of people in this town say things like “Lauriol Plaza is the best Mexican food;” personally, we find this to be a little preposterous. Given that there are several things on the menu worth trying, but you shouldn’t dupe yourself into thinking that it’s the best out there. For our money, we’ll take Taqueria Distrito Federal eventhough there is no rooftop terrace to be had. At Lauriol Plaza you’ll find that some of their best dishes aren’t Mexican at all. The Bistec Cubano (Cuban Steak) is an exceptionally tasty entrée to be enjoyed with its compatriot, a Mojito. Another thing that they do well at Lauriol Plaza is the quail, this might just be because quail isn’t generally found in the dc foodscape but even then, it is juicy and succulent as quail should be. All in all, the place isn’t too expensive, in some circles (read lobbyists and lawyers and the like) this might even be considered a cheap eat. The vibe is toned-down and hip; you wouldn’t feel completely out of place if you’re wearing a t-shirt and some jeans and you won’t feel overdressed if you’re wearing a suit, trust me I’ve been wearing both. One day after work, if you’re in the mood for some winding down, head over to Lauriol for some snacks and something to wash them down with, take advantage of that warmer than normal winter day or cooler than normal summer day.

Price: $10-15 per entree

 

Taqueria Distrito Federal
1400 Otis Street NW, Washington, DC 20010

This taco joint is a breath of fresh air in a town condemned to eating imitation Tex-Mex and even worse Mexican. The tacos remind one of the flavors of another Capitol city, Mexico City. The flavor of the meat and tortillas are as authentic as you can get while sneaking under the radar of the Health inspector. The place is a genuine hole in the wall and features only the things that you would expect to find at a street vendor in Mexico. The menu doesn’t have any fancy Mexican dishes that you would expect to find at the imitation joints around town. We tried the tacos and enjoy ever second. While we’re on the authentic streak, I would recommend the beef tacos. One bite was enough to evoke memories of waiting to scalp tickets outside El Azteca and killing the time with some tacos from the street vendors. If you’re in the mood for something authentic that won’t kill your budget and at the same time support local business head over to Columbia Heights and check this place out.

 

 

Price: $ (a fiver or less)