brunch restaurants: american comfort food d.c. pastries
by Lindsey
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Tabard Inn
There are plenty of places in DC that offer brunch on the weekends, but I’d heard especially good things about the Tabard Inn. According to their website, it is recommended that you make brunch reservations two to three weeks in advance. I think I’d ended up making them only one week out, so my reservation was on the tail end of the brunch hours. Metro being…Metro, I was terribly delayed and was afraid I wouldn’t get there in time! Thankfully, they were nice enough to seat my friend, who got there on time, and she went ahead and put in our orders so the kitchen wouldn’t be closed by the time I arrived. The staff there was really nice about everything, and didn’t rush us through our meal or anything. (^__^)
I loved the decor, with the quaint black and white tiles and cozy atmosphere. It was so welcoming and warm. When I arrived, the housemade doughnuts were already on the table. ♥ My friend was so good about this and didn’t start in on them until I had a chance to take my pictures. XD I actually felt kind of bad about this, because as a result of the wait, the doughnuts didn’t taste as freshly fried as they could have, had we eaten them when they first came out. Still, they weren’t bad!
The rest of the brunch under the cut:
Masa 14
I’d heard a lot about the Latin/Asian fusion restaurant Masa 14, a collaboration between Richard Sandoval (Zengo) and Kaz Okochi (Kaz Sushi Bistro). I stopped in there for a Sunday brunch a few weeks ago, and I left feeling a little underwhelmed. Granted, the place was having a number of problems that day, including a broken oven (so flatbreads and quiches were off the menu), and busted espresso machine. The waitress was very eager to please though, perhaps due to the many glitches in the kitchen machinery.
I ordered the pan dolce with ancho whipped cream and roasted pineapple syrup, pictured above. This was my favorite of the dishes that I tasted at the brunch. I thought the bread had a nice texture and I loved the chunky pineapple syrup with it.
More after the jump:
Black Market Bistro
Well, July was a total wash. (^___^);;; Sorry for the big hiatus! It is now August 1, and I’m going to try to do better this month, really. I actually haven’t gone out to eat very much these past few weeks, so there’s the other excuse (aside from sheer laziness). I do have a backlog of some stuff though, and I’m going to start with a Sunday brunch I had with a friend of mine at the Black Market Bistro in Garrett Park, Maryland.
The restaurant is located in the midst of residential neighborhood – one that I’ve driven past many times on my way to Japanese school back in the day. (The school met on Saturdays in rented classrooms at Georgetown Prep). All those years of driving through that neighborhood, and I never knew it was back there. It’s really lovely and quaint, and for those who are in the city it feels like a nice little getaway.
They didn’t take reservations for brunch, but they were able to seat us in twenty minutes or so, in a sweet location just by the window. They had seating on the porch too, but it was much too warm that day to sit outside.
I ordered the orange and vanilla bean French toast served with fresh fruit, chantilly cream and maple orange syrup, pictured above. The French toast was airy and fabulous, with a nice creamy flavor. Loved it!
The rest:
Silver Fountain
The Silver Fountain is a little off the beaten path for Washingtonians, but good, cheap dim sum is usually found in the suburbs. (^___~) The restaurant doesn’t have a website, but their Yelp page is over here. They do dim sum every day between 11:00 ~ 3:00 in the afternoon, and on weekends and holidays, they come around on the cart. The cart style is the most fun. Even if you get carried away, it still won’t cost you a whole lot. Though, I don’t usually eat in, and mostly swing by to get something to go on the weekends.
These pictures were from a rare dining-in experience that I Tweeted about a few weekends ago. Pictured about is the fried shrimp dish with scallions and green pepper, one of the first things I yoinked off the cart. These were whole shrimp, with heads and shell intact, coated in a thin batter and fried up to a crisp. Very flavorful and satisfying.
The rest after the jump:
bakeries beverage brunch cafes: bethesda coffee juice pastries salad sandwiches
by Lindsey
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Le Pain Quotidien
My first encounter with Le Pain Quotidien was in Bryant Park, New York, a couple years ago. I loved it! Even the pesto sauce in my sandwich, which was unusual for me, since I had an inexplicable aversion to pesto. I was pretty excited when the chain finally made its way to the D.C. area, and I believe the first of their local branches was the Bethesda store. I’ve popped over there several times since it opened, but this would be my first time blogging them. (^__^)v This post combines a couple visits that I made there in the last few weeks.
The decor: I like the interior quite a bit. There are high ceilings throughout and a shiny counter filled with delicious looking pastries in the front. And of course, there has to be the signature communal table, a colossal slab of reclaimed wood that dominates the center of the room. The Bethesda store has two dining areas, each one with its own communal table. I like sitting at the communal table, as it’s more spacious and comfortable.
And now for the food: Pictured above is the grilled chicken and smoked mozzarella tartine “with arugula and basil pesto.” I’m not sure that I got any arugula, and I would know because I love arugula. There was definitely some kind of green leaf, but it might have been something else. Very tasty indeed, even the pesto. XD Although, I do feel like it’s a bit pricey for what you get.
More after the jump:
Yank Sing
We’re finally moving into the last day of my San Francisco trip! My food filled Sunday began with brunch at Yank Sing, a cart style dim sum restaurant with a few locations in the city. My travel buddies and I met up with my lovely friend Dabs at a little past 10 in the am, and we hungrily proceeded inside to get some good eats.
The wait staff was almost a little over-attentive with their offerings, and we weren’t seated for more than five minutes before we had a table heaping with food. We also got a jasmine tea to go with the meal, though I unfortunately did not take a picture of the pot! It was a cool glass pot, very snazzy and modern. (And by the by, the tea is very important to any dim sum meal, though some friends of mine may beg to differ…lol)
My favorite dish of the meal is pictured above: the Shanghai Dumpling – “A Yank Sing signature dish of minced Kurobuta Pork, scallion and ginger wrapped and steamed in its own aromatic broth.” It was like soup in a dumpling…amazing!
A & J
This is a fitting header image because the food here is so damn good you just wanna say to hell with food blogging, I’m gonna dig in RIGHT NOW.
A&J in Rockville has some kickass dim sum of the Northern style, and I’m telling you this place is slammin’. This isn’t your cart style dumpling centric dim sum. Instead, you get a menu where you circle off the items you want. (Be sure to go early before they run out of their popular items). They have a separate “breakfast menu” aside from their regular menu, which offers some of my favorites: the tasty scallion pastry (see above), sticky rice stuffed with dried meat, etc.
