Montmartre

[pastramionrye]

My fiance and I found ourselves at Eastern Market yesterday...shopping in and around...

not wanting to eat the lunch at the actual market; nor tunicliffs, cosi, starbucks or bread & chocolate, we found ourselves at montmarte; a place we went about 11 months earlier, the actual day we got engaged.

i really like this space. food aside, this restaurant is very charming, an clean and nice to look at.

the food is not the best french food in the city, but in a restaurant wasteland, i think montmarte is a very attractive option.

i enjoyed a cup of joe...house pate and an entree of swordfish with lemon, olives, bread cubes and some other springy stuff.

my fiance had a salad, quiche with leeks, tomatoes and goatcheese.

i also had a refreshing and crisp glass of sancerre.

all in all i had a very pleasant meal. not life changing; but very enjoyable.

they seem to do great business on sundays...does anyone know how well they do during the week and weekend nights?

[iamthestretch]

They seem to do pretty solid lunch business in the week with the Hill crowd -- senior staffers, lobbyists, journos. I used to see a smattering of members, too, mostly of the (D) persuasion. Weeknights, there's a loyal local clientele from the neighborhood, which, as you point out, has long been starved for decent dining options. OT, I believe there's a Belgian place set to open around the corner from Montmartre fairly soon which could be another good addition to the Eastern Market strip. Mmmmm, moules frites, de Koninck bier. Oh, wat leuk! (Translation: Aaaaaaarrrrggghhh...)

[Al_Dente]

OT, I believe there's a Belgian place set to open around the corner from Montmartre fairly soon which could be another good addition to the Eastern Market strip. Mmmmm, moules frites, de Koninck bier. Oh, wat leuk! (Translation: Aaaaaaarrrrggghhh...)

Cool. I'm thinking of moving to Capitol Hill.

[Tweaked]

Montmarte is totally the type of restaurant I would want to open, small bistro style, solid food -- they make a mean hanger steak -- friendly, neighborhoodly (if that's even a word)...DC doesn't have enough good neighborhood restaurants.

They do good business almost every night. I've gone many a mid week and the place has been full...this past Sunday evening I walked past around 7pm and the place was easily 3/4s full.

The Belgium restaurant is opening up on 8th street on the other side of Penn Ave, just down the street from Blockbuster.

[laniloa]

This used to be one of my staples when I worked on the Hill. Fabulous soups in winter.

[mnebergall]

OT, I believe there's a Belgian place set to open around the corner from Montmartre fairly soon which could be another good addition to the Eastern Market strip. Mmmmm, moules frites, de Koninck bier. Oh, wat leuk! (Translation: Aaaaaaarrrrggghhh...)

Cool. I'm thinking of moving to Capitol Hill.

Hopefully, you will find a place with a better kitchen.

[FunJohnny]

I too am a fan of Montmarte -- they focus on what they do best and don't get carried away. The only drawback is that if you sit outside during school hours (there's a Middle School across the street) you can't be served alchohol. Happy to also learn of the new Belgian place and look forward to checking it out when it opens.

My understanding from friends in that 'hood is that Montmarte rarely suffers from a lack of patrons even during the week.

[iamthestretch]

Boomp.

Sadly, the Belgian place that's mentioned upthread as shortly opening around the corner from Montmartre has now apparently pushed back their opening date from June to September. No mussels 'n Geuze for the Hill crowd this summer then. Unless you go the RFD/Bistro D'Oc route on the way home. Which you should.

[Tweaked]

I have a real soft spot for Montmartre, maybe because in my wild chef fantasies, it's the sort of place that I would like to open, a small neighborhood spot serving good bistro fare. Well last x-mas my boss gave me a $100 gift certificate to Montmartre and I had yet to use it and it expired in 3 days...time to go hog wild.

My one complaint about the restaurant is they cram the tables reallyclose together, but I guess they need to in order for such a small space to work financially. My friend and I sat down and I ordered a whiskey sour, it's my start the dinner off drink of choice. Why one orders a whiskey sour in a small french bistro I have no idea, especially when the waitress freely admits that they had no idea how to make one. But they were willing to wing it, so what the heck, I told them to mix together some whiskey and sour mix...no quite...but they did generously remove the drink from the tab.

After perusing the menu, we started off with the chestnut soup, which was a luscious bowl of creamy goodness, earthy yet sweet, with a scattering of chestnuts chopped up. A nice way to start dinner on a rainy December night.

We then moved on to chicory salad with warm goat cheese and crouton. A large pile of chicory drizzled with what must have been reduced balsamic and a long piece of baguette drizzle with olive oil, smeared with really creamy and not too tart goat cheese which was topped with tapanade.

Next we dug into the country pate, which was served with toasted crostini, some salad greens and cornichons. The pate had a firm consistency and very flavorful, almost sausage flavor...I'm not a huge pate fan, but this was very satisfying.

Really, you could have had a very delicious meal just with these 3 starters and a couple glass of wine...something I might have to try one night!

Unfortunately, the main entrees weren't as simple and delicious as our starters. I love Montmartre's hanger steak, I think it's one of the best dishes in DC, I always get the hanger steak, but no I was going to be different and order something else. Should have stuck with the hanger steak.

I went with the braised flat iron beef with Jerusalem artichokes and red wine reduction sauce. I'd never had flat iron beef before, never even seen it. I was served a large knob of meat that obviously had been braised for hours until it reached a delicious gelatinous state. It was a nice piece of beef, the artichokes I wasn't crazy about...all in all a pretty good dish, but not like the hanger steak.

I was disappointed with the pan seared sea scallops with glazed white turnips, roasted asparagus au jus...the scallops were fine, the turnips were fine, the asparagus was kind of mushy...but you know, I'm not sure scallops and turnips will ever work together in a dish...perhaps that's just me!

we finished off the meal by sharing a slice of the pear tart...A nice way to end the evening, although I prefer my fruit based desserts to be warmed over. Warm fruit just works better IMO.

For wine I went with a Chinon, Les Gravières, 2002 which the waitress described as young, and it was.

When leaving I noticed that chef/owner Stephane Lezla was not at the stove, perhaps that might be reflective in the entrees not being up to snuff with the previous times I've been to Montmartre.

The damage came to $101 plus tax and tip...into which my $100 gift certificate made a nice dent.

Lessons learned:

Don't order mixed drinks at Montmartre

Scallops and turnips don't work

order the hanger steak!

[FunJohnny]

Lessons learned:

Don't order mixed drinks at Montmartre

Scallops and turnips don't work

order the hanger steak!

←

Words of wisdom.

I too am a big fan of Montmartre, particularly the Hanger Steak -- have only had the lunch version though. The last time I was there just before Thanksgiving the soup was a saffron cauliflower with mussels -- delicious! Have to go back soon to try the Chestnut soup. Aren't turnips a mainstay of French bistro?

Edited to apologize for being redundant concerning my fanhood.

Edited December 10, 2004 by FunJohnny (log)

[chefbrendis]

Lessons learned:

Don't order mixed drinks at Montmartre

Scallops and turnips don't work

order the hanger steak!

←

Words of wisdom.

I too am a big fan of Montmartre, particularly the Hanger Steak -- have only had the lunch version though. The last time I was there just before Thanksgiving the soup was a saffron cauliflower with mussels -- delicious! Have to go back soon to try the Chestnut soup. Aren't turnips a mainstay of French bistro?

Edited to apologize for being redundant concerning my fanhood.

←

Turnips, carrots, rutabaga any and all root vegetables are staples of bistro cooking, its about maximizing flavor from humble ingredients.

[Tweaked]

Turnips, carrots, rutabaga any and all root vegetables are staples of bistro cooking, its about maximizing flavor from humble ingredients.

←

[smayman]

Lessons learned:

Don't order mixed drinks at Montmartre

←

I've had great specialty martinis there before.

I really like the liver they serve in winter with mashed potatoes. I agree that the tables are too close, but I'll deal with it to eat in a decent restaurant in Capitol Hill.

Edited December 10, 2004 by smayman (log)

[iamthestretch]

Had a great late lunch at Montmartre today. They've just changed their menu for winter and there are some good things to try. For starters, we liked the brandade of cod and the croustillant, a phyllo purse stuffed with braised oxtail and oyster mushrooms. Of the new main courses, I recommend the monkfish choucroute, amply larded with bacon and served over sauerkraut with a winey beurre blanc. The rabbit and the onglet were also reportedly as good as always.

[chuchelo]

I haven't eaten there for awhile because two lunches in a row, my guest and I were asked to vacate our table just as we finished our dessert, with no offer of coffee, time to finish a last glass of wine, or anything else. I don't think we had been there even 80 minutes. Dessert spoon hits the deck and immediately comes the check.

Tom Sietsema mentioned similar complaints in his 'Ask Tom' sidebar in the Post Magazine.