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:
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:
ChurchKey
A little over a month ago, I headed over to a friend’s birthday get together at ChurchKey, the Logan Circle bar that opened up last fall to great anticipation. It’s got an amazing selection of beer, and though I’m not usually big on beer, I did get a smallish serving of one they had on tap just to try. X)
The bar is located on the second floor (the first floor being occupied by its sister establishment, Birch & Barley), and it’s a mildly chaotic free-for-all for seating. There are no reservations or maitre’d. If it’s crowded – which it really was on the night I went – you’ll have to stay vigilant and nab a table when one frees up. I didn’t like this system, as it made me feel kind of stalkerish and rude as I hovered around people that looked like they might leave soon. The place was kind of dark and noisy, but it did have an energy about it like a typical happy hour hot spot.
Though the service was equally chaotic and spotty, the food was pretty decent and I enjoyed almost everything I tried. =)
Pictured above is the truffled grilled cheese with tomato soup dip. I had a bite, and it was good, though not very “truffled” in my opinion. It was clever to pair it with a soup “dip,” though I would’ve preferred a real soup in its place, had it been my dish.
The rest after the jump:
Fado’s Irish Pub
Posting has been sparse this past few days, as I’ve been recovering from my San Francisco trip from last weekend. The work week is always so hard to come back to after a getaway! The good news is, a whole lot of great food was had on the trip, and I’ve loads of posts to work on from it! Meanwhile, I’m going to clear off some of the backlog here.
Ah….Irish pubs. I love a good pub. It makes me wanna chug a pint of ale or beer, and I usually don’t drink either of those things. There’s something I really love about Fado’s Irish Pub in Chinatown. Maybe it’s the interesting, somewhat mismatched decor on the inside, blending odd, random pillars with authentic stained glass and woodwork from Ireland. It’s so unique and welcoming, somehow. It’s always bustling here, and I think for good reason. Obviously it’s in a great location, but the ale is good here, and the food is delicious (and relatively cheap).
Nothing really rivals Alton Brown’s excellent shepherd’s pie, but Fado’s is actually quite good. Pictured above, it’s served in a shallow dish with a side of garden salad and two slices of hard, grainy bread. I’ve ordered it at least 3 times, and it always comes piping hot! The mashed potatoes have a great crusty finish, and the filling is always flavorful.
McComick & Schmick's
There’s nothing particularly remarkable about McCormick & Schmick’s, the seafood/steakhouse chain with restaurants around the country. I don’t have anything against chains, and there are some I revisit regularly. It’s just that there’s never been a meal I’ve had at M&S that’s made me want to go out of my way to dine there.
They do, however, seem to have pretty good happy hour deals, if you can make it there in time after work. Their happy hour at the F Street location in D.C. begins at the astonishing hour of 3:30 and runs for 3 hours to 6:30. I popped in there a week ago, and it was a mad house!! The showy bartender was running back and forth mixing drinks with flourish, and it took quite a while to finally get his attention. I did manage to get a glass of champagne for the happy hour price ($6), and it was quite tasty.
The food however, was another deal altogether. Their food menu for HH ranges from $1.95 to $4.95, which is quite a steal for downtown D.C. But unfortunately, the kitchen never delivered my $1.95 hummus. (;____;) I waited and waited, and finally just ordered something else, this time from the regular menu, since happy hour was long over by then. Pictured above is what I finally got, after a loooong wait: the Kobe beef potstickers with chili sauce. It was a little on the oily side, but quite delicious and meaty. I also enjoyed the side of cucumber salad, a nice light contrast to the potstickers.
dinner happy hour restaurants: asian fusion d.c. latin fusion
by Lindsey
2 comments
Zengo
I wasn’t sure what sort of food to expect from a place called “Zengo” located in Chinatown. Is it Japanese? Japanese/Chinese fusion?
I had a chance to find out a few weeks ago when I popped in there for happy hour. The cuisine turned out to be an intriguing Latin-Asian fusion, which I enjoyed quite a bit (with a couple exceptions).
They’ve got a pretty decent happy hour menu, and our waiter that day was feeling quite generous, so we lucked out on a few extra drinks past the usual 7pm deadline. (Actually, I should correct that and say that my *friends* lucked out. I, not surprisingly, nursed one glass of wine all evening).
I really like the interior, which houses a large lounge area downstairs with comfortable chairs and couches by the bar. The dining room is upstairs, where their restrooms are also located. (Instead of doors, the restrooms are separated by a long beaded curtain…interesting).
So, on to the food! Pictured above is my friend’s “crunchy calamari,” served with lemongrass, garlic, mixed greens, and orange-coriander sauce. I had a bite, and it was delicious! I do love coriander anything. ♥
