Black Market and Bistro

[painemilla]

My husband and I were out looking for yard sales on Saturday and decided to explore Garret Park a bit. We ended up visiting their small but very nice farmer's market. The farmer's market sits right outside Penn Place on Waverly Avenue, a very quaint Victorian building at the center of activity and right next to the park and the MARC train. It houses the post office and several community activities.

After exploring the market, we ventured into the newly renovated Penn Place and to our surprise, we encountered Black's Market and Bistro. The atmosphere was great and the aroma from the kitchen wonderful. We were sold!

My husband and I decided to venture in for some coffee and a muffin and ended up having brunch. It was a great breakfast and a nice neighborhood atmosphere. I had the French toast with orange zest and vanilla and my husband had the breakfast sandwich on brioche with eggs and smoked bacon. Yum!

The restaurant was inaugurated last month with the reopening of Penn Place. Black Market's owners are the same couple who own Addie's and Black's Bar & Kitchen. We checked out the dinner menu (it looks great) and it’s comparable to that of Addie’s. The market itself isn’t a much, a couple shelf of gourmet products. They don’t have a liquor license but you can bring your own bottle.

We are already planning out next visit for dinner! Anyone else been?

[JennyUptown]

Where is Garret Park?

[JPW]

East of Rockville Pike, North of Strathmore. Nice neighborhood

[painemilla]

Thanks JPW.

Address:

Black Market and Bistro

4600 Waverly Avenue

Garrett Park, MD 20896

Tel: 301-933-3000

It's between Connecticut and Rockville Rike off of Knowles.

[cjsadler]

Never been to Garrett Park before, but we decided to check out Black Market early Sat. The setting for the restaurant couldn't be more quaint-- especially with a train rolling by and the farmer's market going on across the street. We picked up some nice produce and then headed over for brunch. We both ended up having the excellent steak sandwich (with carmelized onions and horseradish mayo) and a side of pepper-jack grits.

As mentioned, the 'market' isn't much-- just one shelf of vinegars, mustards and such (plus some baked goods sold at the counter). Looks like they may have a liquor license now (there was a rack of wine near where we were sitting). Will definitely have to head back here for dinner.

Edited December 8, 2004 by cjsadler (log)

[My Confusing Horoscope]

Me and my wife, Horoscope Clear as Can Be, tried this place tonight and were very impressed with what we had for dinner for $41: an appetizer of steamed mussels, Thai style with coconut, red mild chile, garlic and cilantro; thin crust pizza covered with caramelized onions, parmagiano reggiano (sorry about my spellling) and herbs (four pieces, good enough for two with a light dinner in mind); two glasses of wine, one imported beer, and apple caramel cheesecake! We're definitely going back. The mussels were no Mannequin Pis in Olney but we were impressed. Very tasty and aromatic, with great bread for dipping in the sauce.

After doing some shopping we had tried to pop in at Addies on Rockville Pike without a reservation and were told we'd have about an hour wait, but they asked if we'd like to try their sister restaurant in Garrett Park, Black Market Bistro. They called ahead and made reservations for us. Very nice.

Now, the entrees looked similar to what you would find at Addies, in the 18-21 dollar range. But we were quite satisfied with what we had.

Edited December 17, 2004 by My Confusing Horoscope (log)

[morela]

Tom's review of Black Market Bistro

[squids]

We went here Monday evening and had a very nice meal--although I phoned and was told that they do not take reservations. Since news of the restaurant has been gathering steam, we arrived just at opening at 5pm. And thankfully so, since the tables filled up rather quickly and there was a line awaiting as we were leaving out the door. I'm certainly glad we went before Tom's review came out as while the service was very friendly, the timing was a little off. I can only imagine it will be much worse after the review.

My father-in-law and I both had the burgers-his with maytag blue cheese, and mine with maytag blue cheese and smoked applewood bacon. Delicious, AND perfectly medium rare, just as ordered. Both husband and mom-in-law had the chicken, and while I know they enjoyed it, I'm not certain how much as I was too distracted enjoyng my own meal.

We shared three desserts; the orange flavor-of-the-day creme brulee, an apple tart, and a special of the day, blueberry cake with chantilly creme. Both the creme brulee and apple tart were tasty, but we were disappointed in the blueberry cake. Nothing to write home about. While I agree with Tom the the brulee was on the thin side, I must admit that it was quite tasty. We will definitely return, but probably not for awhile now that the restaurant has been "outed"

[JPW]

Squids,

With Jeff Black's name attached to it, I think this place was out the day the sign went up over the door.

That said, I haven't made it yet.

If we weren't getting 4-8 inches on Saturday, I'd think about lunch this weekend. As it is, this should be enough snow to paralyze DC until Tax Day

[painemilla]

I've been meaning to write as well but was caught up with work this week.

My husband and I finally went back for dinner on Friday evening ( a pre b-day dinner).

We went in around 6:30 on Friday and it was packed. They said the wait would be 40 minutes and it ended up being only 20.

As it is a small place there isn't a clear idea of where one needs to put your name down and where you should wait as the bar area is very small. There isn't a hostess table so people often look a little lost trying to get their name in.

That said, we had a wonderful dinner.

We ordered a bottle of wine and antipasta to start off with. You can order the antipasta for two or four. It was lovely and the perfect portion!

I ordered the Cajun Shrimp with roasted corn polenta.....excellent!! The shrimp has just enough spice to give it a kick and the roasted corn polenta was superb!

My husband had the hanger-steak with chimichurri, mash potatoes and fried onions. He loved it, although he said that they could have been more generous with the chimichurri!!

We are already planning our next visit!!