dessert dinner restaurants: bistro d.c. french pastries salad seafood
by Lindsey
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Napoleon Bistro
I don’t think I dine in Adams Morgan half as much as I should. A little while ago, my friends and I dined at a charming little bistro there called Napoleon, sister establishment to Cafe Bonaparte in Georgetown. And although they didn’t have a few items we wanted to order from the menu (namely the squab), what we did end up getting was full of fabulous.
The decor was dark and cozy, and didn’t feel too closed up because of the tall windows throughout the room. We got a great table near the back by the window.
Pictured above is one of the entrees we got: the John Dory, the special of the day. It was served with lump crab meat, corn, potatoes and fava beans. (Does anyone else think of Hannibal Lecter when they hear “fava bean”?) The fish was wonderfully seared and cooked to a buttery perfection! I really loved this dish.
More after the jump:
Sticky Rice
I’ve wanted to try the sushi at Sticky Rice for a long time, as I’d heard so many good things about it. So of course, I was thrilled when a few friends of mine treated me to a fabulous birthday dinner there a few days ago. Thanks so much, Awesome Friends! (^____^)/
Sticky Rice is in NE, a part of town I’ve never really been to. It’s rough going at the moment, since they’re tearing up H Street for the new trolley system, but the area will probably be building up after all the infrastructure is put in place. In the meantime, for those who don’t drive, there’s either Metro bus or the free shuttle that stops in Chinatown.
The restaurant is pretty narrow and dark on the inside. When we got there, they told us we would be seated outside – a prospect that we weren’t so sure about at first – but we decided to go ahead with it anyway. They led us upstairs, past the bustling dining room and onto a covered patio deck in the back of the restaurant. The weather was pleasant that day, and the seating was perfect! In retrospect, it was much better out there than inside, where the music was blaring full-blast and you could barely hear a thing over the din.
I actually hadn’t studied the menu ahead of time, oddly enough, so it took me a while to decide what to get. Everyone else *had* done some research though, so we started ordering up a storm after getting settled in. (By the way, they have a pretty decent sake menu, if that’s your sort of thing. I thought a few of them looked interesting, but I just went ahead with green tea, since I can’t imagine having sushi without it. It came lukewarm with a Bigelow teabag in a mug with a handle, so definitely not your usual sushi bar tea).
Pictured above is the Sticky Balls, which apparently had rave reviews at Yelp. It must be pretty popular, because all the tables around us were ordering it too. It’s described on the site as “tuna, crab, siracha rice in an inari packet deep fried, topped with scallions, wasabi dressing and eel sauce.” Inari wrapping is just a tofu wrap that’s used to make (surprise surprise) inari-zushi. This was pretty tasty, even though it seemed to have a whole lot going on in there. I’m not sure what they mean by “eel sauce.” Perhaps they mean the marinade that’s typically used for kabayaki style eel?
The rest:
Current Sushi
I’m still backed up on some restaurant posts, but I’m jumping ahead just to cover a couple places I went to last week, for my birthday. (^___^)v
My friend treated me to a lovely Happy Hour dinner at Current Sushi, which is located between Farragut North and Dupont Circle. The decor is sleek and modern, with a very cool vibe and glowy blue lights. We sat at the bar, and it was surprisingly not too loud or busy that night. They seem to have pretty good happy hour deals (check out their menu here). They also apparently have a more clubby area upstairs that opens up later in the night.
Pictured above is the salmon and avocado roll and yellow tail nigiri sushi. Both were very tasty! I thought the fish was fresh and cut in generous portions.
The rest:
Dango
I love Japanese desserts, and these are one of my favorites – kushi dango (skewered rice balls). As with all rice-cake desserts, it’s easy to go sweet or savory, and this pair does both. The one on the left is a “mitarashi dango,” drizzled with a glaze made from soy sauce and sugar. The one on the right is your standard “anko” – topped with sweet red bean paste. Both were excellent!
These dango came from my local Japanese grocer – in a pack of four skewers (two per flavor).
TenPenh
Asian fusion restaurant TenPenh has been around since I first started working in D.C. straight out of college, and I’ve always had fond memories of the place. ♥ I popped in for a happy hour a little while ago (actually, it was the food blogger HH a few months ago) and had a lovely time!
Pictured above is the grilled beef and chicken satay with peanut sauce. I liked the beef better than chicken (as I usually do in such skewer type dishes), as it wasn’t as dry and tough. Peanut sauce was decent, though nothing particularly memorable.
The rest:
