creme cafe & lounge

creme cafe & lounge
1322 U St NW(between N 13th St & N 14th St) Washington, DC 20009
tel: 202) 234-1885
hours: monday-thursday 6pm-10:30pm, friday-saturday 6pm-11:30pm, saturday 10am-3pm, sunday 10am-6pm

what was consumed: chicken & waffles (served open-faced on belgian waffle with syrup), shrimp & grits (sautéed shrimp, andouille suasage, garlic, shallots & creamy stone-ground grits), breakfast potatoes ...

i'd once heard about creme cafe in passing as i asked around about quality brunch places. my mentee and i tried to go a couple of times, but the line was always out the door (though that's what we get for trying to go during peak brunch hours ... but they don't take reservations!) and neither of us wanted to wait (aka we were hungry). finally, i met up with friend a who had time (and was new to DC), so we tried our luck and creme ... and we were certainly fortunate!

it was hard to explain to someone who'd never heard of "southern cooking" what the cuisine at creme would be like, what grits are (especially since i had never heard of them (really) until i moved out eat (but then again, i'm not a huge breakfast person), why i eat so much, why i like sitting bar-seating ... and so on. you see, a was not only from outside of DC, but outside of the US! so her experience extended just to what she'd seen on tv and in the movies, so i was happy to show her a part of DC (and sort of metropolitan american culture, as far as i'm concerned) that i've come to enjoy. but i will have to say that in the end, we had a great time!

after perusing through the menu, and after a bit of conversation, a and i collectively ordered the creme cafe top picks - can't wait! their chicken and waffles comes with the option of coming on pancakes (in fact, i think the menu says pancakes, but you can order a waffles substitute - yes please!). the chicken was fried to perfection - nice and crispy on the outside, juicy chicken waiting to be consumed underneath. creme cafe also makes sure to give you a quarter chicken - just enough to go with the waffles that are cooked (it seems) to order and are delicious (not too dry, cooked just enough) with butter and syrup (and i'm not even a syrup person!). so delicious. a's shrimp and grits were also delicious. the shrimp was cooked nicely (no rubber-y shrimp here), the grits were creamy, and the sauce that all of this bathed in was fresh, seasoned well, and just plain delicious.

now, a word about their breakfast potatoes. at first, i didn't know what they were. i just saw baked/fried slices of something that others had ordered. i was told that they were breakfast potatoes and i HAD to order them. sliced thin-ish, crispier edges, soft-ish middles, a delicious addition to my already fabulous meal. now, i would have preferred the breakfast potatoes with ranch dressing (don't judge!), but by the time i got around to even asking for it, the potatoes were pretty much demolished and sitting in my belly. ahhh~~~

there were some rumors about creme cafe closing, but i've since heard otherwise. let's hope they're still up, running, and serving their delicious food!

online: http://www.cremedc.com/