My upcoming trip to DC

[mazman]

Only thing I would add is try to get to Nectar for dinner, amazing food and atmosphere, also Cashions and Corduroy and El Chalan are among the best I have been to.

[babyluck]

OK--now I'm overwhelmed again. Why can't people just stop opening such awesome restaurants in DC? It's really vexing.

Seriously, I will take all of your suggestions into account and sincerely thank you all for your helpful comments. One last question--we are getting into Union Station at 8 tonight and I wanted to go across the street to the Dubliner for my steak & Guinness. Are they used to dealing with luggage or would it be a major pain in the ass to find a place to put our suitcases? I'm a worrywart, I know.

[hannnah]

The Dubliner's actually sort of contained within the Phoenix Park Hotel, so I'd imagine they could get the hotel front desk to stash your luggage for you if there's no room in the pub.

[babyluck]

Thanks again, everybody--I'll report when I get back!

[slbunge]

Thanks from me as well. With any luck, I'll grab my notebook before I leave the house so I can make a few comments next week.

[babyluck]

OK, so it didn't quite go as planned but...

Thursday--dragged coworkers out in the sleet to Mackey's Pub--had a Guinness & a steak & Guinness pie. Yummy comfort food in a slightly-better-than-Bennigan's atmosphere.

Friday--breakfast--Raisin Bran & cranberry juice at the Café Promenade in the Mayflower--cost about $14. Lunch during setup--pouring outside & the food court was mobbed--went across the street to the Renaissance food court a.k.a. "The Dungeon"--had the special "heartburn chicken." Awful. For dinner I took the gals to the Marrakesh. I know, but with a group of girls from 20-29 it seemed the obvious choice. They freaked when the cab arrived on that desolate warehouse block but they all had the time of their lives. We even got to sit in the mysterious back room. Awesome.

Saturday--breakfast meeting at the Mayflower--mini croissants, pineapple, fantastic raspberries. Lunch--convention center food court, cheeseburger, fries, Coke. Not freakin bad for a convention center. Dinner--a few bites at the corporate function. Risotto-in-martini-glass surprisingly delicious. Stayed up way too late.

Sunday--breakfast--2 slices of honeydew & 2 blackberries in the hospitality suite at 7:30 AM. Lunch didn't happen until 4 PM by which time I was an empty shell of a thing muttering "Luna Grill, Luna Grill..." like a madwoman. I dragged my sorry ass the 3 or so blocks there from the hotel in the damn cold wind and walked into the most perfect place imaginable--Heather, thank you, thank you. It was just what I needed to get the corporate sludge off. Not a diner in the NJ sense of the word, but absolute heaven. I had grilled cheese w/ bacon, crab soup, & a Coke, laughed at and with my dancing waitress, and sang along quietly to Karma Chameleon. Dinner was a ludicrous experience with my whole staff at Café Promenade. Worst service ever but the food was edible. I had veal.

Monday--didn't have to get up until 10:30 but we were evacuated from the hotel at 7:30. False alarm. Had a cherry danish from the lobby "Starbucks" and more fruit at a different suite at the Grand Hyatt for brunch. Dinner consisted of a few chunks of dried-out cheese from the free buffet in the Mayflower bar & an order of shrimp cocktail.

Tuesday--breakfast--banana from "Starbucks"--lunch was another cheeseburger from the food court before breaking down--dinner was Terra Chips & ginger ale on the Acela. Home sweet home.

OK, so before you get too mad at me, I am planning a mini-vacation in DC at the end of March. A friend I ran into down there has a documentary in a film festival. I hope I will have more luck dragging Mr. Babyluck to the wonderful places I missed out on this time. Thanks again...

[JennyUptown]

OH. MY.

I couldn't help but think of the McDonald's documentary as I read your post. Glad you lived to tell the tale, babyluck!

[slbunge]

Though two weeks have past since our trip to DC, I still wanted to toss a few comments about our restaurant experiences.

First off, Johnny's Half Shell was a fabulous place for a quiet lunch. An oyster po' boy and the grilled squid was just the ticket to start the weekend.

We ended up eating at Zaytinya's twice because, though we tried, we found that you cannot do the menu justice with a single meal...you need at least two. The special tuna tartare with trout roe and tabouleh was probably the single best dish. Although we also pine for the fried eggplant with it's amazing sour yogurt sauce. The chocolate cake/chocolate flan/cardamom espuma/et al dessert was so good that my wife ordered it twice (she kept saying, over and over, 'simply the best dessert I have ever had'). For me the olive oil ice cream was a revelation.

RFD was a fun place for a beer (even more fun for several beers, actually). For place this serious about beer, the interior is sort of an odd match. I was particularly taken by the works-progress-meets-Gauguin mural of tropical women with palms on the south wall adjacent to the bar. Of course, if you spend too much time thinking about that, you have less time to study the tap beer list. I think Victory Storm King won as best of the beers I tried there.

The lobster burger and butter-fried french fries in the bar at Citronelle made my knees weak.

Nectar was a great place. The beet salad with poached egg blew us away. Had a half bottle of a really crisp Austrian red and half bottle of a red that tasted of shoe leather in all the best ways. Unfortunately, though I left room in my notes to write down the name, I forgot so just ask the staff about the wine that tastes like leather. The only problem with Nectar was also its initial attraction, it is small and cozy and out of the way. So small and cozy and out of the way that when a group of six drug company sales drones and their wives breezed in for dinner, the whole dining room got sort of loud.

Matchbox was a great place to meet friends for pizza and various appetizers. Very friendly and accomodating staff as well.

Thanks again to the DC folks for being regular posters. It makes the research fun and definitely helped make the food-side of our trip a smashing success.

[theakston]

RFD was a fun place for a beer (even more fun for several beers, actually).  For place this serious about beer, the interior is sort of an odd match.  I was particularly taken by the works-progress-meets-Gauguin mural of tropical women with palms on the south wall adjacent to the bar.  Of course, if you spend too much time thinking about that, you have less time to study the tap beer list. 

The RFD space was previously occupied by a Brazilian Restaurant. All that tropical stuff is left over from those days. I guess over time it will be replaced with something more appropriate. Glad you enjoyed your visit.

[slbunge]

The RFD space was previously occupied by a Brazilian Restaurant. All that tropical stuff is left over from those days.

Well that explains it. I hope I didn't sound too put off by the decor. I mostly found it curious.

[Tweaked]

Yeah RFD use to be a place called Coco Loco, which was pretty much known for being a late night latin dance spot. So if you imagine a bunch of pretty young things dressed in short black skirts, sipping drinks and dancing to salsa, the space makes alot more sense.

Edited February 23, 2004 by Tweaked (log)

[liamdc]

Though two weeks have past since our trip to DC, I still wanted to toss a few comments about our restaurant experiences.

First off, Johnny's Half Shell was a fabulous place for a quiet lunch. An oyster po' boy and the grilled squid was just the ticket to start the weekend.

Nectar was a great place. The beet salad with poached egg blew us away. Had a half bottle of a really crisp Austrian red and half bottle of a red that tasted of shoe leather in all the best ways. Unfortunately, though I left room in my notes to write down the name, I forgot so just ask the staff about the wine that tastes like leather. The only problem with Nectar was also its initial attraction, it is small and cozy and out of the way. So small and cozy and out of the way that when a group of six drug company sales drones and their wives breezed in for dinner, the whole dining room got sort of loud.

Slbunge~~~Really glad the recs about Johnny's and Nectar worked out for you. A couple of DC's best and more reliable establishments, in my book. Nectar is world class.