china chilcano

china chilcano
418 7th St NW, Washington, DC 20004
tel: 202) 783-0941

what was consumed: ceviche clasico, tradicional siu mai, aji de gallina (peru's most precious dish), jook, tan tan noodles

shar is in town! and with her visit comes lots of super fun things, to include delicious eats. and so, we head to jose andres' china chicano in penn quarter for brunch. we were seated at a nice seat near the window, which we enjoyed as we waited the long intervals between our dishes being served.

china chilcano serves peruvian and asian (mostly chinese and japanese) fusion dishes. shar said she's not usually a fan of fusion but enjoyed the fare at china chilcano. i loved the tan tan noodles and that's all i care about now (and probably what i'd recommend out of what we enjoyed). 

if you're going to order the soup dumplings, be sure to put in your order asap (we dilly dallied with the rest of our order. by the time we decided, all the soup dumpling orders were gone gone gone). we were just a few minutes late, so didn't get to enjoy them this time around. next time!

online: http://chinachilcano.com/

america eats tavern

america eats tavern
405 8th street NW, washington, DC 20004
tel: 202) 393-0812

what was consumed: hangtown fry (with oysters, eggs, and bacon), vermicelli prepared with pudding (the grandfather of today's mac 'n' cheese), jumbalaya, strawberry shortcake dessert, wiiiiine~~~

i am a jose andres fan. let's just get that out in the open right now. i've been trying to get reservations at 'mini bar' for some time now and am willing to dish out bucks to eat there. and so, i'd say, jose andres can do little wrong in my book.

when america eats tavern took over cafe atlantico, i was a little sad because i enjoyed much of what cafe atlantico offered (mostly the guacamole. which i can eat gallons of). but when i heard about the join effort between jose andres and the nat'l archives, i was intrigued (as was the rest of the dc/metro community, i imagine). so, when friend made the suggestion and was able to score some reasonable reservations, we were on our way. yay!

we walked into the restaurant and were quickly seated in our seats. the interior of the space is the same as cafe atlantico (of course) in that there are multiple floors of dining, but the space is rather ... narrow. but wide enough to have some privacy among different dining parties. the walls are also filled with historic (?) american art reflecting some of the history of u.s. food. there were already quite a few diners present, already eating food. the interior seemed the servers quickly came to take our drink order and explain the concept behind america eats (their website does a far better job than i could, so i'm going to forego that story here. but it's really cool!).

m and i decided to split a 3-course meal between us. i figured that'd be enough food (and it was). we picked a few favorites (mac 'n cheese) and an oyster dish (i had read that some sort of oyster dish was a must! works for me! and yes, i read about food (and others' opinion about food) rather frequently) that i heard was really good. they also had great oysters on the half shell (which i enjoyed on a subsequent visit to america eats) that was served with a variety of citrus add-ons. i will have to say that the mac 'n cheese made with vermicelli is something i could eat every day. loves it.

for our entree, we chose the very shareable jambalaya (in fact, it's supposed to be shared). it was chock full of shrimp, sausage, and other goodies, served with a fresh salsa/salad of peppers that was a nice and cool addition to the piping hot jambalaya. the jambalaya, while prepared in the kitchen (of course) is plated right at your table. very nice, very nice. i will have to say that the jambalaya was a bit of the salty side. but it's supposed to be that way ... ??? frankly, i really would've have it another way. so much so that i had it again at a subsequent visit. haha.

and, of course, dessert. neither m nor i are big sweets fans. but we do appreciate fresh and in-house-made things. our strawberry shortcake dessert was fresh, light, not too sweet, and a nice end to our meal.

america eats has a nice selection of beers and wines as well, and options that aren't overly expensive. that's always nice to see.

i've both been back to america eats as well as visited the exhibit at the national archives (though, both times i've been to the archives, i hurried through the museum because i was running short on time. maybe the third time will be the charm? and really, i can't seem to see the declaration of independence and constitution enough! do you blame me? nerd.) and still look forward to going back. again. next time, i'll be sure to get something other than the jambalaya. but it's so good! sigh.

online: http://www.americaeatstavern.com/

d'acqua

d'acqua
801 pennsylvania avenue NW (between 8th street & 9th street) washington, DC 20004
tel: 202) 783-7717

what was consumed: restaurant week! roasted scallops wrapped in pancetta served with a warm spinach salad with goat cheese and red onion; arugula, fennel, and shaved parmesan cheese; stozzapreti pasta with rock shrimp, mussels, and cherry tomato in a roasted zucchini sauce; rockfish fillet lightly fried in pastella "italian tempura" served with mashed potato duchesse; beef scallopine in a wild mushroom sauce served polenta; chocolate ganache cheesecake; pear and custard mousse sponge cake

the last of my restaurant week meals ... sigh. i love RW. the idea of having tasting menus and for chefs to have the increased breadth and share their creations with people who would otherwise not even consider their fine establishments is great (and not only for the economy, but also for the taste buds! hurrah!).

i had only heard about d'acqua in passing and new it was in that area in penn quarter with all those other restaurants. i have to admit, though, that it hadn't occurred to be to visit any time before RW. anyway, our meal began with some nice bread and then our appetizers. the bread with the tomato on it is my favorite! i love tomatoes. i thought it odd that they only brought out 3 of each when there were 4 at our table. maybe that's just how they do it, i don't know. i just felt bad that one of our group (i don't remember who) didn't get to have a bread with a tomato. and if she didn't want it, i was sad that i couldn't eat it for her (hee hee - oink oink). but that's ok. our appetizers slowly came out after that and my pancetta wrapped scallop was de-licious! the bed of spinach it came on was deliciously seasoned, making a great addition to the seafood and pork combination (i wish scallops were bigger - sometimes i feel like i could eat dozens of them that have been well prepared. dozens.). and, of course, there's nothing like a good arugula salad. combined with the cheese, fennel, and dressing, it was a light way to begin. myrna said she couldn't eat it all, so the rest of us polished it off for her (after our initial taste, of course).

our entrees slowly came out after that. i saw the seafood pasta on the menu and was immediately sold. while not a fan of the type of pasta that was served, it was nice to fill my belly with carb-y goodness. the pasta was a little overcooked on the outside and a bit undercooked on the inside (one of the difficulties with cooking that sort of pasta), so while much of my pasta was left over, there was quite a bit of seafood in my dish that filled me right up. the grilled rockfish, though, was delicious, as were the mashed potatoes it came with (but myrna got that, so i got something else). d'acqua is supposed to be known for their seafood (italian style?), so i imagine that they are the preferred dishes. the beef was nicely cooked in a good sauce, but others felt that the sauce was a bit bland. i thought it was fine and enjoyed the shared bits that came my way. and my love of polenta was fed as others were not so keen, so i ate the yummy polenta in the yummy sauce for them ^_^ thanks, ladies! hee hee. so, per usual, i "looked forward" to dessert with an already full stomach.

dessert! yum. it's restaurant week, so i thought they'd come out with "tasting" desserts. but no, not these italians! they brought out large slices of their dessert deliciousness. i opted for the chocolate cheesecake (as did pam), but after a few of the rich rich bites, i had to stop (pam took the rest home - i hope she enjoyed!). the pear and custard mousse cake was also quick light, fluffy, and moist. myrna (uncharacteristically) ate the entire thing - good job!

all in all, i'll have to the meal was pleasing to the stomach. if i had any qualms, it would be with the waitstaff. while it was restaurant week, it was a rainy day, so it didn't look like a lot of people were out and about. on top of that, the restaurant was hardly even half full with a number of different servers, food runners, bussers, etc. but it took what seemed like forever for the server to come and take our order, refill beverages, bring out the bill, etc. i was thinking that maybe it was because i was really hungry, but the others in my group agreed with me. sigh. oh well~ we all left with full bellies. literally, bellies.

friend dave (who went to d'acqua a few days before me) said it best - d'acqua has solid food. more or less, i agree! now, if only my waitstaff experience had been different ...

online: http://www.dacquadc.com/

teaism

teaism
400 8th street NW (btwn d street & e street), washington, DC 20004
tel: 202) 638-6010
2009 r street, NW (btwn 21st street & connecticut avenue), washington, DC 20009
tel: 202) 667-3827

what was consumed: tea, tea, tea ... ginger lemonade, cookies, some other eats ...

there was a time when i wanted to be a tea connuesseiur (and no, i don't know how to spell that --> see my comments on the side ... though, i think i actually looked that one up. where is ms word spellcheck when you need it!). then i realized that i don't really have a sophisticated palate and that while the subtle flavors of tea are appreciated, the kick caffeine from coffee gives me is my current addiction.

in any case, if you want a nice cup of tea, special juice, or even a beer (along with some quick eats), teaism is the place for you! thematically japanese (or asian altogether, i suppose), there is still quite a variety of options for both tea lovers and not.

there are two locations (both of which i've been to) and both have good tea, good service, and good vibes. the dupont circle location is less spacious (so there is the chance that you'll be sitting on the makeshift bench by the cash register or outside) and the penn quarter location has book groups and board game people who meet there (both a plus and a minus? i dunno). and while teaism costs more than the bag of tea within my variety box 'o teas, remember that you're also paying for the ambiance and the increased variety that teaism presents. and let me tell ya, this little indulgence is worth it.

online: http://www.teaism.com/