Smashed Cucumber Salad, Umami Nosh, Warm Walnut Potato SaladEgg Drop Hot Sour Wonton SoupDry Spiced Double-Fried Chicken WingsXo Shrimp Lo MeinWok Stir Fried Sea BassSesame Custard (Has no Eggs)Chinese Style 5 Spice Donuts
We were happy to try the new menu items at the DuPont location of ChiKo, a group of Chinese/Korean fusion restaurants. I can’t eat egg yolks, so brought a plus one (“C”) to try the dishes I could not. We enjoyed all the new menu items; my guest vouched for the dishes I could not try).
C’s favorite dishes of the visit were the Umami Nosh (soft-cooked egg, salmon caviar, seaweed) and Egg Drop Hot Sour Wonton Soup, two dishes I could not try. He attacked the Chinese Style 5 Spice Donuts. When he brought home the leftover soup, his partner proclaimed it “sex in a bowl.” I asked no further questions at that point.
My favorite dishes of the evening were the Wok Stir Fried Sea Bass (which I LOVED) ordered without the oyster mushrooms and Dry Spiced Double-Fried Chicken Wings (wonderful savory flavor and perfectly crunchy), although the latter isn’t a new dish. I attacked the Sesame Custard, which does not contain eggs and features a perfect combination of flavors and textures (coconut, caramel, almonds, basil seeds).
The new dishes are available at all ChiKo locations. Scroll down to see the menu.
-JAY
Disclosure: From time to time, we are given free items, meals, or entry to events. Our words are still our own.
Standard menu. They also have a vegetarian and a GF menu.
The Turkish Pastries are Imported from Turkey.Chicken Shwarma is a New Menu Item.Beef/Lamb Doner Handled with Care.Doner Also Available on Flatbread or as Platter.
Capital Doner in Dupont Circle (corner of P and 20th St NW) has been open over a year now, and recently added a second rotisserie; that one is for Chicken Shwarma. You can order your butter-basted Doner or Chicken Shwarma as a sub bread or flatbread, or with rice and French fries as a platter. The platter includes a large amount of food. And, yes, this restaurant is Turkish style (not Berlin style). The food is delicious here and they even have outdoor seating (no heaters). Sandwiches are $15 and platters are $19 for healthy sized portions.
The pastries are imported from Turkey and exceptionally good. All except one of the pastries include pistachios (one is walnut). And yes, you can wash it down with Turkish coffee.
I brought a Middle Eastern friend that was visiting from NY here, and he went back to Long Island trying to find doner as good as what we ate at Capital Doner. He hasn’t yet, but you’re welcome to make suggestions for Nassau County or Queens Turkish style Doner in the comments IF you’ve tried Capital Doner (so can make a fair comparison).
-JAY
Editor’s Note: We’re taking submissions for guest writers. Drop some article ideas you’d like to pursue (and a writing sample) at jay (at) dcfud (dot) com if you’re interested.
Thursday, we attended the pre-opening night of the new Silver Diner location in Navy Yard. After 33 years in the DC area, this is their first Silver Diner in Washington, DC proper. They have a Silver in DC (Cathedral Heights), but it is a different concept (more upscale).
Ype Von Hengst (Right)
Silver Diner co-owner and Executive Chef Ype Von Hengst (a TVFN Chopped and Rewrapped champion) was on hand with his CEO and a huge staff. They continuously checked on the diners that evening (bigwigs and media). So, the service was definitely attentive. The baseball-themed cookies as favors were a nice touch for this event.
We’ve dined at and ordered takeout and delivery at various Silver Diner locations over the years. We even covered the opening of an Alexandria location during the pandemic. And, I’ve even ordered the steak dish many times. The Old Bay Wings with Mambo Sauce are new though.
The food was better than anything we’ve experienced at Silver Diner in the past. The steak was perfectly cooked, the wings were crispy and tasty. We tried nicely executed (and yummy) margaritas which had a shot of Cointreau in a tiny lime rind bowl, and the house made ginger ale. Hopefully, this is the normal level of quality for this location and not just the case because it was a heavily staffed and monitored opening event. If the DC location can keep it up, maybe Silver Diner can bring their other restaurants up to this level, from good to great.
Give the new location a try and comment letting us know if they keep up this really high level of food and service.
Mahal BBQ has been open a few weeks (weekends) at the Sandlot in Georgetown (2715 Pennsylvania Avenue NW). These are really great guys who know their food and work hard, but still need to work a few kinds out after only a couple of weekends of service. Also, the prices are pretty high. This is an outdoor venue, so isn’t open when it rains. Also, there is a bar at the Sandlot.
The Half Chicken was the standout here, and I would stop by for it (and the Chili-Vinegar Sauce) regularly if it wasn’t $24. Try it once, it’s worth it. The Smoked Beef Cheek ($26) was too tough to chew, which is something they need to work out. We did not try the Sausage Platter ($22) or smoked Oyster Mushrooms (20). The Green Papaya Salad didn’t taste like much until I poured the tasty Chili-Vinegar Sauce on it. The Pimento Cheese could have had a better (thicker) texture. Give them some time to work the beef dish out, but get the chicken in the meantime, if it’s in your price range.
Sura (in the old Bangkok Thai space at 2016 P St NW) in DuPont Circle is having a Fat Nomads Popup through June 26th, 4pm-9:30pm with cocktails and Thai Moonshine by Andy T. Reservations are suggested for Friday and Saturdays — you can call (202) 450-6282. The menu is here. No idea why they didn’t call it “One Month in Bangkok.”
Taqueria Capital is on P street in Dupont, below ChiKo. This small Mexican restaurant is from the same entrepreneur (Elias Hengst) as the Emissary cafes (one of which is across the street).
Assorted Tacos.
Chorizo Quesadilla.
What’s Left of Some Birria Tacos.
Their happy hour is Monday to Saturday 4 to 7pm with $6 beers and $7 glasses of house wine. It’s nice to find a restaurant with a Saturday happy hour.
My dining partner ordered a mescal margarita, which I was assured was quite good, and a tasty Chorizo Quesadilla. I ordered three tacos, with my favorites being the Salmon and the Carne Asada. My Chicken Tinga taco may have been a little over cooked. We enjoyed the the guacamole, which tasted freshly made. The Birria Taco image is actually from the waitress’ dinner. I’ll definitely be going back soon to try the Birria Tacos.
They even serve breakfast and brunch, coffee, tea, and house-brewed chai. I know, all you needed to hear was “brunch.” (It’s a DC thing.) Take a look at their full menu.
This is a restaurant that makes everything fresh (including the tortillas) from organic ingredients, and the food is quite tasty. Plus, the service was great, with the waitress and bartender both being friendly (chatty even). They even have some outdoor seating.
This topic reminds me of my recurring column from many years ago about eating in Arlington when nearly broke. Here are some Dupont Circle specials:
Dawson’s Market free beer tastings on Thursdays (City State are DC Brau are the next two events). Photos of some previous tastings and their event calendar were covered in a previous article. They also have one Friday wine tasting a month at the DuPont location.
Duffy’s Irish pub (which opened on P Street during the pandemic) has dine in 1/2 price burgers Mondays with the purchase of a beverage all night and dine in all day/night 1/2 price wings Wednesdays with purchase of a beverage. Every Thursday from 4pm-7pm kids eat free from the kids menu with the purchase of an adult entrée and drink.
Rakuya has Happy Hour (HH) food and drink specials including $3 shishito peppers or edamame, $5 yakitori, $5.50 gyoza, green beans tempura, shumai, crunchy spice salmon rolls, or spicy tuna rolls. They also have $4-8 beer, $7 glasses of wine, and a few $8-9 cocktails on HH.
Firehook Bakery has Buy One Get One pastries M-F 5-6pm, but not cookies, or cupcakes; it’s items like scones and cinnamon rolls.
Across the Pond has a special on Mondays 4-8pm: $6 hamburger and fries ($1 additional per topping).
The Admiral HH features 3 cheeseburger siders for $10.
Specials from our neighbors:
Chef Geoff’s West end (a few blocks from DuPont) has a number of food on their HH menu like $4 mahi tacos, $6 white truffle popcorn, $12 pasta Bolognese, $5 off of burgers, etc. And, a few $8 cocktails and $10 supermug drafts.
Ted’s Bulletin in Logan Circle during their HH Monday – Friday 3 PM – 6:30 PM has $3 drafts, $5 wines, $7 cocktails, and food specials like $6 fried pickles, $6 French onion dip with truffle potato chips, and $7 chicken parm sliders, $7 bacon cheeseburger empanadas, or Rueben tacos.
Restaurants, bakeries, and grocery stores often have food left over at the end of the day that could go to waste. The Too Good To Go app is a marketplace where you can purchase food from business at the end of their day (or meal service). The items in these bags/boxes can be pretty random, even if you pick up two boxes at the same location (or on different days).
Ala
Le Pain Quotidien
The food is usually already packaged as a mystery bag (or box) when you pick it up during the specified timeframe, but there were some exceptions. I didn’t mind waiting a few minutes if a place put a bag together while I waited.
Rose Ave Bakery
Taim Falafel
Purchasing these deals can be competitive, with new mystery bags/boxes usually hitting the website 15 minutes after the current day’s pickup range ends. As an example, The Cakeroom‘s pickup range is 8pm to 9pm, which means that at 9:15pm on Tuesday, the mystery bags/boxes to be picked up Wednesday will populate on the app. There are exceptions such as Rose Ave Bakery that sometimes drop mystery bags/boxes on the app for same day pickup.
Zenebech
The Cakeroom
Below are mystery bags/boxes I tried:
Ala ($3.99) in Dupont Circle has two pickups with different types of items, afternoon and evening (and I tried both). The above image is from the afternoon timeslot, and contained a Halva Croissant, Apple Tea (loose chopped dehydrated apples), an herbal teabag, Meringues, one Thumbprint Cookie, and Crunchy Chickpeas (dried).
Le Pain Quotidien ($4.99) gave me 3 pastries: a Cheese Danish, an Apple Turnover, and a Pan Aux Raisins. PDQ is much more readily available on the app than other baked goods options and has multiple locations (Dupont, 17th Street, Penn Quarter) you can choose from.
Rose Ave Bakery ($3.99) downtown offers fun Asian American-themed pastries. It is located at The Block DC food hall with Pogiboy, which is also on the Too Good To Go app. My Rose Ave mystery box contained green pastries: two Matcha White Chocolate Donuts, a Pandan Donut (green filling), and a Matcha Chocolate Cookie.
Taim Falafel‘s ($3.99) mystery bag included a Falafel Bowl and Tractor Beverage Company‘s Mandarin Cardamom. Their Georgetown and Dupont Circle Locations are both on the Too Good To Go app.
Zenebech ($4.99) is an Ethiopian restaurant in Adam’s Morgan. When I checked in, they put together a Vegetarian Combo for me with injera (spongy flat bread made from teff). I was lucky enough to score bags from both Zenebech and The Cakeroom to be picked up on the same evening, which was nice, because they are on the same street a few blocks from each other.
The Cakeroom ($5.99) put together a bag of mostly chocolate flavored items. There was a slice of Cherry Cheesecake, two slices of Chocolate Vanilla Cake, and two Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes.
I recommend Too Good To Go in DC (it’s in other cities too) but you need to be open to receiving really random items, especially at Ala. If you get something you can’t eat, share it with a friend. Too Good To Go is definitely a good value, since most of the mystery bags I received were worth 3 to 4 times what I paid.
Sweet Hope, Central’s all you can eat dessert event for charity, is back! I can’t recommend this family experience enough! Kids love it! Reservations are staggered and required. This year, there will be live jazz and a balloon artist. This event is $25 per person for those 10 and over.
Previous coverage and a few words about the late Michel Richard are here. The flier for the event is below.
The Rounds sponsored a giveaway though Washington City Paper (and I won). It was random that a food blogger won, but I figured it would be nice to give back with a little publicity.
S’mores Pop-tart from Ted’s Bulletin
Everything Bagel from Bethesda Bagel
Bread from Seylou Bakery
Texas Sheet Cake Ice Cream from Jeni’s
Some wonderful local products/companies that The Rounds carries were featured — you can see the list in one of the above images. They even included a Wick & Paper scented candle, and gift cards from Jeni’s Ice Cream and Le Diplomate. For the record, the Baked & Wired Carrot Cake Cupcake was the first thing I ate.
