{ 0 comments }
October 2010
It is sort of shocking to walk into P.J. Clarke’s on the corner of 16th and K and come to the realization that it is the newest restaurant on the D.C. scene. Is it just me, or does this place scream old school Washington? The dark paneled walls, red and white checkered tablecloths, and the masculine steakhouse vibe is a throwback to the traditional spots around town that once fed the city’s most important power players (and in many cases still do). The place has only been open a few short weeks but my experience today proved it to already be a staple lunch destination as it was bustling with important Washingtonians.
P.J. Clarke's Restaurant Front in Washington
The menu is robust and is filled with hearty American favorites such as braised short ribs, french onion soup, crabcakes, burgers, and today’s special which was the lobster macaroni and cheese. There is also a nice list of a la carte sides to choose from that include mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts, and onion strings. Today I ordered the rotisserie chicken with spinach which was juicy and nicely sauced with some butter and seasonings. The chicken had a lot of flavor and it was as healthy as it gets when ordering at a place like this. My client ordered the short ribs with glazed root vegetables and horeradish served over pasta. It looked delicious– and exactly the right thing to order at an establishment such as P.J. Clarke’s.
The downstairs is the part of the restaurant they refer to as Sidecar which provides a more upscale dining experience. However, it is the upstairs that will continue to be a mob scene during lunch on the weekdays because of its downtown location and the traditionally satisying food that they deliver. I guess I should be saying “welcome to the neighborhood” to P.J. Clarke’s… but it sort of feels like it’s been here for years already. Or at least it should have been since it fits in so well.
P.J. Clarke’s
1600 K Street NW
Washington, DC 20006
www.pjclarkes.com
{ 0 comments }
In honor of the Day of the Dead, Oyamel is presenting a special menu from now until November 2. The menu focuses on traditional Oaxacan moles refined on Chef Joe Raffa’s recent trip to Oaxaca. Little did I know that the history of mole and it’s seemingly endless list of unmatched ingredients is actually considered a funerary dish. According to stories, nuns would prepare a funeral feast with all the items they had in their pantry and mole was born. During our dinner we tasted 5 of the 7 moles the new menu features. It was a delight to hear Chef Raffa recount the stories of his visit to Oxaca, in particular, when he discovered that the key to a black mole is to nearly incinerate each chile. While the entire meal was fantastic, here are a few of my favorites.
Codorniz con Pipian Rojo: Grilled anchiote marinated quail with ancho and mulato chile sauce and pomegranate seeds
Mole Verde Oaxaqueno con Costilla de Puerco: Roasted in a green tomatillo mole, these braised spare ribs were incredible. The meat was tender and fell right of the bone. They are a must have have on the menu.
Mole Negro Oaxaqueno con Tamal de Guajolote: This turkey tamale with Oaxacan black mole took three days to create from the gathering of the long list of ingredients to the preparation and charring of the chiles and their seeds.
Sagrado Corazon: Herradura Blanco Tequila, cilantro and toasted coriander Gimlet over hibiscus ice. This cocktail was not only one of the most delicious I’ve ever tasted, it was also one of the most beautiful. The addition of cilantro put it over the top.
Oyamel
401 7th Street NW,
Washington, DC 20004
202-628-1005
www.oyamel.com
{ 0 comments }
Earlier this week, one of our most loyal readers, Laura, emailed us in need of advice:
“Hey EatMore DrinkMore -
It’s my birthday!!! I need a bar recommendation to host a bunch of my friends for happy hour near Dupont Circle. Where we should we go?
Much Love, Laura”
Do you know how many bars there are in Dupont Circle? Well, according to Google, 118,754! Not sure if the Google Machine is correct on that one, but needless to say there are a lot of bars to sort through in Dupont. We settled on Urbana at the Hotel Palomar. It is a great wine bar (and you know how much we love wine bars), with a huge selection and is large enough to comfortably accomodate a crowd.
We followed up with Laura after her birthday to see how it went…
“Once again Eat More Drink More came through in the clutch. Urbana was a great choice for after work drinks. The bar had my favorite type of set up – plenty of seats! Their happy hour specials only lasted until 7 but that was plenty of time to get half-off wine specials. A friend and I each had the Soave, Ilyssa had the Cabernet and Lindsay had the red (I believe it was a merlot). The guys opted to be too cool for wine but were perfectly happy with the selection of beer and vodka.
It was a great atmosphere where we were able to talk without having to scream over obnoxious music. The waitress didn’t check back as often as I would have liked but overall the service was good. We were more focused on drinking and talking than food so I don’t have much to report other than the Margherita pizza was delicious. Everyone else around us seemed to be taking advantage of the Oysters for $1 each and they all looked happy. You can check out the full lounge menu here.
It was a great night with great friends. Thanks EMDM for the suggestion!”
Are you in need of our assistance? Need a dinner recommendation for a special occassion? Help with a difficult recipe? A delicious low-carb recipe? Shoot us an email at EatDrinkMore (at) Gmail.com or you can tweet us @EatDrinkMore
{ 0 comments }
