Ceiba

[bilrus]

Ceiba's Churros sound good to me too - mainly because I attemtped making them at home on Sunday for the first time and they were so bad it would be offensive to Ceiba's churro makers to speak of them in the same breath.

Of course they are fried dough - so I'm willing to give it another shot.

But first I think I need to do some research at Ceiba.

[mhberk]

Ceiba sounds great!! Am I mistaken or is this the restaurant that is owned by the same group that owns D.C. Coast and Tenpenh?

[bilrus]

Ceiba sounds great!! Am I mistaken or is this the restaurant that is owned by the same group that owns D.C. Coast and Tenpenh?

That's right.

[Mark Sommelier]

Ceiba's Churros sound good to me too - mainly because I attemtped making them at home on Sunday for the first time and they were so bad it would be offensive to Ceiba's churro makers to speak of them in the same breath.

Of course they are fried dough - so I'm willing to give it another shot.

But first I think I need to do some research at Ceiba.

I got a tour of the kitchen the first time we went there and they showed us the churro machine. Very cool. As good as the churros are, its the CARAMEL POPCORN that really rocks.

[JennyUptown]

Ceiba...niiiiiiice. At the moment, I feel better equipped to discuss the cocktails than the food, but here goes anyway.

Between my friend and me, we sampled...lemme think, six of their drinks? No, five.

Caipiriniha (I had...two. I think.)

Mango margarita (My friend had one, I tasted and loved, as it didn't taste overwhelmingly of tequila)

Hemingway un-mojito (That was my name for it as I don't like a ton of mint. Yes, I know that's what makes a mojito a mojito, but this makes me, me.)

Some kind of sunrise (Not tequila. Maybe Yucatan? It tasted like something you could get at Jamba Juice.)

Um...what else? Thinking...thinking...counting...oh, regular mojito. There you go.

For food, we had the queso fundido (awesome, but I can't say anything about it that hasn't already been said), churros (oh. my. I could eat them daily.) and flan (just good. I'd rather two orders of churros).

Judging by my impairment (great), maybe I should have had more food.

Waitress was weird as sh*t. At first I thought "she's friendly." I subsequently realized that she lacked the polish and knowledge-base of Ceiba's other servers. When she was reading (yes, reading - and not refering to a cheat sheet but reading word for word) the specials with weird hand gestures, she told us that fois gras was "like pate...but not." Then she alternately ignored us and scorned us (even though the dining room at 6:15 was empty) for order just apps and desserts and many drinks. Oh well, we still tipped nicely, more than 20%.

And now I'm home, rather drunk as I am a lightweight.

[chengb02]

during an unbelievably long delay sitting on the tarmac of Dulles yesterday, I flipped through the pages of Conde Nast Traveller's Top New Restaurants around the world, Ceiba was the only DC representative on the list.

Edited May 18, 2004 by chengb02 (log)

[Mark Sommelier]

during an unbelievably long delay sitting on the tarmac of Dulles yesterday, I flipped through the pages of Conde Nast Traveller's Top New Restaurants around the world, Ceiba was the only DC representative on the list.

That means they have good PR.

[ccarretero77]

I will be going to DC next week and I have reservaions at Ceiba. I will post what I think.

[Mark Sommelier]

I will be going to DC next week and I have reservaions at Ceiba. I will post what I think.

Don't miss the queso fundido in the lava bowl. Also order the crab fritters, the chiccharones, the seviche sampler and the fish tacos. If you have room left, order the snapper Vera Cruz.

[JRage]

Brought some family friends to Ceiba last night (Saturday) for the final (third) leg of a tour of the DC dining scene. Wanted to take them somewhere fun, with great food and something a little different. Ceiba was an obvious choice. We had a wonderful time, they treated us very well, and our friends really enjoyed themselves. Here's what we had across the table. As far as wine, our friend chose a Rose (Malbec from Argentina), which was very reasonably priced and very refreshing.

Bar:

Mojitos - Way too good.

Amuse-bouche: (Chef was very kind to send out a wonderful amuse) An avocado "ravioli" with crab-meat, which was delicious and truly inspired.

Appetizers:

Shredded Duck Confit Empanadas - I love these...

"Hot Lava Stone" Queso Fundido - Who doesn't love hot cheese and steak? (I picked at this so much that my dining companions were sure that was eating layers of lava rock... and if I was, I loved it.

Grilled Octopus Salad - Excellent

Entrees:

Brazilian Braised Pork Shank "Feijoada" - Oh man, so good.

Toasted Corn Crusted Halibut - Great

Whole Crispy Red Snapper Vera Cruz - Really Excellent

Crab Two Ways - (Crabcake and Soft Shelled Crab) -Excellent

For Dessert:

Mexican Vanilla-Bean Cheesecake - Wife ate it so fast, I barely got a taste.

Warm Cinnamon Dusted Churros w/Mexican Hot Chocolate - Reminded me of my days in Spain, when the churrorrias (sp?) would just be opening at 5 am as we all returned home from the clubs and bars.

Chocolate Cuban Coffee Cake - Good lord, somebody stop me. (Right about here in the meal I was reminded how little will power I possess.

Of course we ended up cleaning all of the plates and we didn't leave a single kernel of caramel popcorn. Great experience, including great atmosphere, service, drinks and food. A tip of the hat to Tunks and the crew he and his partners have assembled at Ceiba.

Edited to correct various mispellings...

Edited May 23, 2004 by JRage (log)

[sara]

As far as wine, our friend chose a Rose (Malbec from Argentina), which was very reasonably priced and very refreshing.

The Susanna Balbo Crios maybe? Good stuff, a nice reasonably-priced summer wine. You can find it at Best Cellars and also ABC Beverage in Foxhall.

[bilrus]

Given several choices, my visiting mother chose to go to Ceiba last weekend - based mainly on the website and menu. The food did not disappoint, although I am not sure she warmed completely to the idea of ceviches.

One of the entrees we ordered was the Shrimp on sugar cane skewers. This was the first time we have had this and it was the best of the night. I love shrimp when they have that snap when you bite into them. These were perfectly cooked and well seasoned. We also had the opportunity to sample several of the desserts and the key lime mereungue pie was tart and sweet and nice to look at, too.

The only miss of the night for me was the Ribeye with Chimichurri. It was a nice piece of meat, but I could ahve used about three times more of the chimichurri.

But one miss out of all the food we had, and the ability to satisfy three very different diners makes for a winner in my book.

[garnish]

Chef David Guas (sp?) from Ceiba/DC Coast (that's how they introduced him) is on the Today show this morning, making a variety of dishes for Al...looks pretty tasty!

Always cool to see DC getting national coverage

[JennyUptown]

Ceiba was the last stop on a multi-stop happy hour in which some friends and I indulged on Tuesday night. The place was pretty empty which is a shame.

I had:

Cuban Black Bean Soup

Ham and Manchego Cheese Croqueta, Pickled Red Onions, Latin Crema

and

Warm Cinnamon Dusted Churros

Mexican Hot Chocolate

A friend had:

Pulled Chipotle BBQ Pork Quesadillas

Pico de Gallo, Guacamole, Latin Crema

I love black bean soup tons so it's pretty hard to disappoint me. This one? Really, really good.

The presentation was cool. The water brought me a oblong white bowl, empty except for the ham and manchego cheese croqueta. With a flourish, he poured my soup atop the croqueta, raising a napkin to shield me from any potential splashes. Finally he added a dollop of crema.

And it tasted great too.

But for me, the churros are the show stopper. Wow. And the rich Mexican hot chocolate for dipping and sipping? Amazing.

This place should have been more crowded than it was. It's sister establishment, Ten Penh, had a packed bar when we were stopped in around 6:45.

PS My friend? The b*tch didn't share her quesadillas! They looked really tasty, small discs of porky magic. I want to try them next time.

Edited January 6, 2005 by JennyUptown (log)

[sweetfreak]

I forgot to report on my New Year's Eve at Ceiba (aka Amateur Night)...it was great!

I strayed for the first time from the mojitos and tried both a Playa del Sol and a margarita. The Playa del Sol was a great surprise...a frozen drink with rum, amaretto, pineapple, coco lopez and grenadine. Not too sweet, though, and a bit of summer on a winter day. The margarita was prepared just right too.

I tried the duck empanadas, which I really liked. Followed by the scallops a la plancha, which I have had before and did not disappoint.

The only (big?) disappointment of the evening was NO CHURROS! We asked at the beginning of the meal and they assured us that we could get them, but then informed us at dessert time that they were unavailable. What a letdown.

Overall, though, we had a great evening. I really did not notice any flaws sometimes associated with New Year's Eve.

[Miami Danny]

Had lunch at Ceiba the other day-best service I've had in a long time, maybe ever. Super professional, no smiling "I'm Javier, and I'll be your...who cares". Explained the dishes, poured the Conch Chowder with a steady hand, explained the hot sauce and brandy(?) accompaniments, and disappeared and reappeared when needed, almost as if by magic. The food-pretty, but bland. The Conch Chowder really needed the accompanying stuff, and it tasted a little like clam chowder in the can. I don't really understand why you would pour hot chowder over fritters, also, as it turns them into goo. Why not serve them on the side? The fish tacos were also very nicely presented, but not much discernible flavor from the fish. The Mojitos were great, but my personal theory is that it is hard to eff up a Mojito. It's nice that they go the extra mile by pressing the fresh cane, but freshly pressed cane juice, mixed with the other ingredients tastes a lot like...sugar. I've sat at the bar, and been poured some cane juice by the bartender, and by itself, it is a little richer than its processed counterpart. I imagine there's a good scene there, evenings, and I wonder if the food isn't better for dinner. On the whole, the service would definitely bring me back. They also gave me time, in the dining room, at 2;15 (I was practically by myself) so I got to sit and stare off into space for as long as I wanted. Very, very nice staff.

[JennyUptown]

I had a just-ok dinner at Ceiba this past weekend. More about that later, but first I wanted to throw this out at the group:

Have any of you had Ceiba's current preparation of lobster, described as:

Fresh Carribean Spiny Lobster

Grilled and Deviled, Crispy Fried Callaloo

[Note: the spelling error of Caribbean is theirs, not mine]

My friend, who loves lobster, but utterly perplexed by the presentation and didn't like the taste (she said it was very fishy). I was curious to know if it was the deviled part she just didn't get or if this preparation is just a bad idea.

[Miami Danny]

(I posted most of this on March 29, when it was moved to a general topic thread (Is tipping big the new black?) I wanted to re-post just about the food and service to offset my previous post on Ceiba.)

I had lunch at Ceiba (in Washington, DC) today, and for the second time in a row, the service was just incredible. For starters, the gentleman who sat me remembered me from my last visit in January(!), even remembered where I sat! The waiter, Ronnie, was by turns knowledgable, funny, patient, engaging, and, best of all, discreet. He even twisted the foil around the leftover fish taco into a mad shape just for grins. The food, not incidentally, was vastly superior to my last visit, the fish tacos sublime, the pepita-crusted tilapia crunchy and moist on its bed of corn and bacon spiked mashed plantains, and the nice portion of crab fritters were also perfectly fried, and served with a searingly hot Scotch Bonnet sauce. The huge chips and tapenade accompaniments were refreshed over and over. The sopapillas for dessert brought me back to Santa Fe, and the little box of homemade caramel corn (on the house) is like God's Cracker Jacks. I was also presented with six small dessert bites, two each of cookies stuffed with dulce de leche, Mexican Butter Cookies, and fruit square-on the house. All were just amazing. The service brought me back to Ceiba, and the food made me a convert. Great Pisco Sour, also. Perfect tang!

[PatDC]

My husband and I had an enjoyable meal at Ceiba last night. I really loved the tortilla chip/crackers and their accompanying dip. When I asked one of our servers about the ingredients in the dip (I could have sworn there were beans in there somewhere, but it was the roasted pumpkin seeds I was tasting--great flavor), I got a very helpful response. We also got a detailed description of the various ceviches in the sampler, including their arrangement on the plate from mildest to strongest flavor.

We started with the ceviche sampler and duck empanadas. I was inclined just to get the shrimp ceviche but opted for the sampler to try all of them. I'm glad I did. I liked the shrimp the best in the end and then the grouper. My husband liked the tuna the most. I think I liked the striped bass preparation a bit more than the tuna. I loved the empanadas but was not that fond of the mojo. If I order them again, I believe I will ask for a bit more of the pepitas dip to dunk them in (I tried it with the tiny bit that was left and I liked it better than the mojo).

I ordered the jerk chicken for my main course and was quite pleased with it. I was hoping to have some to bring home, but we polished it off. The watermelon that came with it added something I wouldn't have expected. It was delicious. My husband got the plantain salmon, and I didn't like the taste of it I had as much as I expected to. The flavors didn't work for me, for some reason, but he liked it and got to have it to himself...and since he's the one who ordered it, I guess that worked out just fine

They brought us a dessert sampler, which was nice with my coffee. I loved the caramel popcorn (though my husband didn't), but I was too full to eat it all

To drink with the meal we had a Chilean white by the glass. I think it was a sauvignon blanc. The wine list is not online and my memory for these things is terrible