succotash

succotash
915 F St NW, Washington, DC 20004
tel: 202) 849-6933

what was consumed: succotash's happy hour menu (smoked chicken wings, pulled pork sliders, pimento cheese, deviled eggs).

may the influence of korean america continue, this time with chef edward lee! (and may my support of them live long!). i've been a fan since top chef (of course. i've even read his book!), but this was the first time i got a chance to dine at any one of his establishments. i'm so glad he made it to the DC area!

k and i met at succotash, opted to sit at the bar, and proceeded to order the entire HH menu ... and we were not disappointed. even someone who is not a fan of chicken wings (k, not me) gobbled quite a few down. and if the deviled eggs aren't on the menu, be sure to ask for them: each bite has a hidden but delicious bit of kimchee. yum.

succotash is located in a really convenient location (i.e. take public transportation. parking in chinatown is sometimes difficult), an easy location to suggest for people to meet. it's located in a former bank location and it looks like they've kept some of the previous architecture/style, which i actually really appreciated. its location also means that the professionals from around town will also gather at succotash (understandably). but don't mind all of the suits when you go. just look forward to the tasty treats!

the national harbor also has a location, under the same "succotash" name. i'll have to get out there one of these days to see how it compares. i'm sure it, too, will be great!

online: succotashrestaurant.com/

bojangles' famous chicken 'n biscuits

bojangles' famous chicken 'n biscuits 50 massachusettes avenue NE (inside union station), washington, DC 20001

what was consumed: gravy biscuit meal (with soda and bo-tato rounds), 2 piece (thigh and leg) chicken dinner, buttermilk biscuit, bojangles' dirty rice, bojangles' cajun pintos, bo-berry biscuit

yay for bojangles' in DC!

ok, so i didn't grow up with a bojangles' around the corner, so maybe i don't get the hype (though i appreciate it. after all, i get all worked up for my childhood favorites and other people don't get it either - ha!). but as some coworkers and i considered where to go for our friday lunch outing, we were highly intrigued by the brand spankin' new opening of bojangles' in DC proper. so hop on the metro we did and head from the downtown area to union station.

i was hoping that we would get to the union station food court before the crowd (after all, it was bojangels' opening lunch service). but alas, we were greeted by a line 50+ people deep that wrapped around the food court's dining area a la disneyland. i was more astonished with how surprised all of the security people there looked at all of the people who came to eat at bojangles' ... though i may be more in tune with the food fanatics' crazy behavior than they. anyway, we got in line and began the wait (on an aside, just as i get in line, i run into friend L! what great fortune! awesome to see friendly faces ^_^). about 45 minutes in (which isn't too bad considering the number of people in line), we put in our orders. for real, i ordered two "set" menus. don't laugh at me! i wanted to give bojangles' a good try. who knows when i'll be back at union station! anyway, we put in our order, got our food, then proceeded to fight to find some place to sit in the food court.

once seated, i was excited to try the food. what's not to like about (fast food) fried chicken? a tasty batter covering the outside of the chicken with a slight bit of spice, buttery biscuits, biscuits covered in gravy, salty cajun rice, hash brown-like tator tots ... YUM. though there was something missing in the bojangles' cajun pintos. even just adding a bit of the bojangles' hot sauce (a variation of tabasco) added good flavor to the beans. if i were to make a really general (and maybe even "sacriligious") comparison, i would equate bojangles' to popeye's (though, for you popeye's haters, i will have you know that the bulk of my popeye's experiences took place in seoul - delicious!) - southern-style fried chicken and sides. well aware of my huge purchase, i dished out the extra 5 cents for a plastic bag thinking that i would have plenty of leftovers to bring back to the office. i was wrong, though, as barely a biscuit was left. nonetheless, i ceremoniously placed it into the bag and carried it all the way back ... with jealous stares coming from all around.

the final the verdict? i would visit bojangles' again and will be highly tempted to enjoy if i were to see it included in a list of eateries at a rest stop. would i go back to union station specifically to enjoy bojangles'? less likely. nonetheless, successful trip! bojangles' lovers, i concur!

online: http://www.bojangles.com/

eatonville

eatonville
2121 14th street NW (between v street & w street), washington, DC 20009
tel: 202) 332-9672
hours: monday-sunday 11:30am-2:30pm, 5pm-11pm

what was consumed: gried green tomatoes (topped with a roasted corn salsa, red pepper aioli, goat cheese and arugula), hush puppies, crispy chicken breast (with garlic mashed potatoes, braised collard greens and mushroom gravy), shrimp creole (with long grain rice), bourbon bbq baby back ribs (served with black strap molasses baked beans, fresh cut cajun fries, and cole slaw), fish and grits (catfish with jalapeno-cheddar grits, collard greens and tomato butter), three cheese mac and cheese, sweet potato and andouille sausage hash, corn muffins

happy birthday to me! so, where to go and celebrate? hmm ... we tried a couple of different places, but what to do with a group of people and no reservations (totally thought we wouldn't need reservations. who's in town the day before thanksgiving? us and a whole boat-load of other people, that's who. argh.)? after wracking our brains for all of 5 minutes (there really isn't a dearth of restaurants in DC, you know), and making a few phone calls (yay smart phones! they smart~), we headed out ... to eatonville! i'm glad we did! our quick phone call resulted in a table being saved for us, and ready right as we walked into the restaurant.

i got a big kick out of their menu. of course, their menu items were well described; but, in addition to that, they listed a whole bunch of interesting quotes and the like. my favorite was probably zora neale hurston's quote: "sometimes, i feel discriminated againt, but it does not make me angry. it merely astonishes me. how can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? it's beyond me." awesome.

anyway, we ordered drinks (a john daly for me to start ... and it came in a mason jar with a handle - love it! a bit too sweet for me as i think they used sweet tea for the tea. no matter - i enjoyed the entire thing) and soon ordered the rest of our meal. we started with some fried green tomatoes and hush puppies - delicious! while i thought the fried green tomatoes were sort of over priced (you only get 2 - boo! i want more!), the sauces combined with all of the other fixin's was a joy to consume. delicious. and the hush puppy? holy moly. a fist-sized hush puppy that was filled with this delicious shrimp-y gravy that oozes and flavors the entire hush puppy even more than the norm. omg, i still think about it sometimes and it makes me hungry. haha ...

per my usual ways, i 'encouraged' everyone to get different things so that everything can be tasted - yum. i ended up getting the fried chicken (my first choice - yay!) and it was delicious! fried breast meat is often a bit dry, but at eatonville, it was quite delicious. and the side of smashed potatoes and collard greens? a lovely and tasty addition to this cajun? southern? meal. catfish, shrimp creole (sort of like a jumbalaya or stew ... didn't know it was called a creole), steak, ribs, salads ... there wasn't anything i tasted that was too bland, too salty, not good. and at the end of the meal, when we scraped the last bits off of each of our plates, we knew a good choice had been made on deciding not only where, but what to eat - success! hooray!

we got a bunch of sides as well. so delicious! there were so many different options and tasty treats, all delicious. the macaroni and cheese was nicely baked, the collard greens were just as good as the ones on my plate, four corn bread muffins (just a bit sweet and so lovely with a tad of salted butter - cornbread is my favorite! i love it so much), and so on and so forth. but probably my favorite was the sweet potato and andouille sausage hash. now, sweet potatoes are great in all forms. in a hash? of course, delicious. and coupled with delicious sausage that has a bit of hot spice? what's better? once again, i salivate while i write ...

i can't wait to go back! i would go back just for the hush puppies and sweet potato & andouille sausage hash. of course, for everything else as well. delicious!

online: http://www.eatonvillerestaurant.com/

acadiana

acadiana
901 new york avenue NW (between 10th street & 9th street) washington, DC 20001
tel: 202) 408-8848
hours: monday-thursday 11:30am-2:30pm, 5:30pm-10:30pm; friday 11:30am-2:30pm, 5:30pm-11pm; saturday 5:30pm-11pm; sunday 11am-2:30pm, 5:30pm-9:30pm

what was consumed: restaurant week! classic turtle soup (traditional garnishes, dry sherry splash), trio of deviled eggs (crabmeat ravigote, pickled shrimp, duroc ham), smoked chicken and andouille sausage gumbo, southern shrimp & grits (sauteed gulf shrimp, cheddar cheese grit cake, tasso ham), southern style thin crispy fried catfish (with sweet pepper tartare sauce, blue cheese cole slaw), seafood chopped salad (spiced shrimp, crawfish tail meat, marinated crab, cucumbers, grilled corn, shaved radish, fresh basil), chocolate raspberry cake (with raspberry caramel and vanilla ice cream), warm raisin bread pudding butterscotch (with vanilla ice cream, toasted almond creme brulee (with steen’s cane syrup)

in the spirit of restaurant week, friend made reservations for RW at acadiana (thanks, dave!). i had passed this place a number of times and was always intrigued (also, i wanted to go to their summer crawfish HH, which i never made it out to. maybe next year!). i finally got my chance, and i was happy to take up the offer - woohoo!

so, we walk in, our reservations are ready to go, and we are promptly seated ... boy, were we glad (there was a whole taxi debacle on our way over - ask about it and i will tell you the tall tale, but i won't get into details here. no one got hurt, so that's a plus?). we were quickly greeted by a bubbly, but not too saccharine, server who kept our water glasses filled, answered all of our questions, and was an overall great server - hooray! enough about that. once seated, our meal began with some buttery biscuits (i love buttery biscuits!). what made it better? the "jam" and butter. more butter on buttery biscuits makes it all the better. but the jam! i will have more of that, please. it looks like some strawberry or other sort of berry jam. but, when you dip into its reddish gooey-ness, spread it over your biscuit, and put it in your mouth, you realize it's more of a spicy jam. DELICIOUS. i'm not a big bread person, but i was tempted to risk filling my stomach more than i should with another biscuit just to have more of the jam. at this point, i was already sold (am i too easy to please? hahaha).

our meal continued with our appetizers. i was sorta torn between the crab soup and the turtle soup. our server even did mention that the creamy crab soup was her favorite (though she did also mention that the turtle soup was super popular and definitely worth the try if i hadn't ever had it). i succumbed to my intrigue and ordered the turtle soup ... and i'm glad i did! turtle (my first time) had the consistency and flavor of beef, but a bit more chewy. the soup had a sort of reminded me of dishes with okra in that it was sort of ... slimy? not in that gross way, but yeah, slimy. also, i have to admit, it was a little salty for me, but that did not prevent me from eating all of it, every last drop. delicious. the turtle soup also came with a splash of sherry. our server told me that i was to add it to my liking. what did i do? eat the turtle soup and down the sherry as a sort of 'after.' hahaha ... i also got to try dave's deviled eggs and gregg's gumbo - both delicious. i wish i had a bigger stomach to eat all of their selections as well, but silly me - i shouldn't be so selfish. haha ...

next, entrees! i had the shrimp and grits. when my dish arrived, i was sort of glad that i didn't get the crab soup earlier because the shrimp and grits were in a cream based sauce. my shrimp were nicely grilled/cooked and the grits - oh joy! they were cooked, then packed into a nice triangle, then fried. who doesn't like that? also, the grits were really really smooth, more like polenta (which i love as well). i can't really say if i knew whether the grits were actually polenta and not grits (usually grits are more ... gritty?). no matter, both are corn based and i love them both. the combination of the shrimp, grits, and the cajun cream sauce was ... delicious. and filling. and rich. yum ... oh yeah - dave's fried fish were light and crispy and gregg's salad was big, filled with seafood, and so fresh. please see aforementioned comment about larger stomachs and selfishness (haha).

dessert, dessert, dessert! i'll admit, i didn't finish my dessert, per usual (dave did for me - thanks!). i had the chocolate cake and it was chocolate-y and rich without the raspberry and even more rich with the raspberry. bread pudding? creme brule? rich. sweet. and oh so delicious. even for a non-dessert person like me.

i can't wait to go back to acadiana ... yuuuuuuuuuuuum~

online: http://www.acadianarestaurant.com/