Eat Out: Washington D.C.

I went on a quick trip to Washington D.C. to drive Jack there as he is doing his first co-op there for the next two and 1/2 months.  Of course we had to try out some of the eats there.

Marvin.  3/24/12. Jack and I met Stephanie Maxwell on Saturday night at Marvin on U street.  After investigating a bit, U street appears to be a growing neighborhood with lots of new places.  Marvin looked like a good choice with out being crazy expensive.  It is a strange combination of belgian and soul food.  Strange, yet true and very tasty I must say.  Stephanie and I both started with an asparagus salad and Jack with a house salad.  I had a big bowl of mussels and clams, Jack had a stew of different cuts of pork over white beans and Stephanie had the best dish of the night: chicken and waffles.  It was a boneless piece of crispy fried chicken over a belgian waffle over collard greens with a thing of syrup on the side.  I have always been scared to order it but will definately next time.  Along with the good belgian beers and the atmosphere I would definately  recommend as a nice place to go.  Stephanie was off to meet friends after and Jack and I went in search of a bar to watch the NCAA games going on.  We couldn’t find anywhere on U street as everywhere was packed so we hopped back on the Metro and went to somewhere across from the Verizon center…and could not resisting stopping at Red Velvet on the way for some very tasty cupcakes.

Matchbox.  3/25/12.  Sunday morning we met my Aunt Ellen and Uncle Walt for brunch in Capital Hill.  We met there as this is the neighborhood where the firm that Jack will be working is located.  We got there ahead of time and walked to check out where Jack’s new workplace was located…just two blocks from the Metro in a nice rowhouse on the corner.  It looks nice.  We were initially going to go somewhere else, but Aunt Ellen suggested Matchbox and we noticed it right across the street from the place where we were going to go and it looked nicer.  Jack and I ordered a pan of hot sweet rolls while we were waiting and they came just as Ellen and Wally arrived.  Hot and delicious.  I had a waffle with fresh fruit, Ellen and Wally each had the banana bread french toast with raspberries and rum spiked syrup and Jack ordered off the regular menu and got a chicken pesto pizza.  Everything was great.  The place was hopping and by the time we left it was totally full and a there was a small jazz group playing in the background.  Very nice.   Actually the whole block was full of people doing Sunday brunch and lots of different restaurants.  It was nice to be able to spend time with Ellen and Wally.  (our outing was also featured on Ellen’s world famous blog.)

Hank’s Oyster Bar. 3/25/12.  After spending a nice afternoon in Dupont Circle we ended up here on Sunday evening and were happy to sit on the patio as the sun had finally came out after some really crappy weather.  I read about Hank’s somewhere and it was on my list so I was happy we were able to get a table as the place was packed.  From the very beginning we had the WORST service ever.  It was pretty comical.  You name it and it happened…plus it was happening everywhere, the runners kept bringing stuff out to tables and people told them they didn’t order it, or they already had it…someone gave us a plate of fries for no reason.  On the plus side the food was very good.  I love raw oysters and the ones I had were super fresh and wonderful.  I could have sat there and ate oysters all night.  I also had a crabcake and old bay fries…two orders  :).  Jack got fried chicken with side of potatoes and mac and cheese  (he’s on his own for the next two months so needed to load up on the carbs).  I had a couple of tasty Grolsch’s and enjoyed the scenery.  The parade of people outside was great to watch.  It was a good thing we weren’t in any rush.