608 T St NW, Washington, DC 20001 (Neighborhood: Shaw)
Pricing - $ | Dining - Casual, To-Go | Cuisine - Ethiopian

I must now go find if there are Ethiopian places near where I live because I had such a delicious meal from this place in Little Ethiopia. I had read about there being good food in DC but had never had Ethiopian food and was willing to give it a shot. Too bad there aren't closer restaurants to me in Garden Grove than north Anaheim!


Anywho, the place was just a shabby shell of a restaurant when you walked in. Tables, chairs, and a counter - the basics. The menu looked unchanged for quite some time but who cares when the food is good? I opted for the Nech Tibs (lamb in a juicy curry sauce), and when it came out in all its $10 glory, I was amazed. The platter had some injera (the spongey, somewhat sour bread for Ethiopian food) as the "plate," a bowl of the meat on top, some chickpea paste, extra spicy sauce, and more injera. When you don't use utensils, I guess more bread works out! The injera was very moist and delicious. I loved the spice that came from the tibs as it was just enough to make my slightly sore throat feel like it was healing. There was so much rich flavor in the heat. The meat could have been a tad more tender but it was still good.


My friend at first ordered something which the cashier said was raw meat. When asked what wasn't raw or too spicy on the menu, the response revealed few options. However, he did manage to get away with getting the Kitfo (minced beef sauteed with Ethiopian butter, hot chili peppers, and herbs). I tried a bit of it, and it was quite flavorful and still spicy (but I suppose it was mild in comparison to other dishes). There had to be about a full pound of minced beef on his plate though. For both of us, we had to take our meals to-go after getting stuffed on the goodness but mmm were they good leftovers. I'm craving some more right now as I finish up the review, dangit!

1025 5th St NW, Washington, DC 20001
Pricing - $/$$ | Dining - Casual | Cuisine - American
www.busboysandpoets.com

When your friend misses out on dinner with you and makes arrangement for brunch the next day, how do you deny going out for another meal in DC? How do you deny BRUNCH? He chose Busboys and Poets, a place whose name is dedicated to poet Langston Hughes who used to work as a busboy prior to regaling us with his poetry. The first thing I thought when we drove past the place looking for parking was that it was bustling!


When you walk inside, you have some interesting eco-friendly giftwares on the side in an open gift shop of sorts. The inside is a hodgepodge of artsy decor and hipstery people (or perhaps just people trying to look hipster). I was just starting to feel under the weather that day so I only briefly looked at the interior before hastily ordering orange juice to hopefully quell the sickness rising in my throat.


Of course, this led me to order a fairly simple meal from their extensive menu (almost TOO many choices to look at!) of scrambled eggs, whole wheat toast, grits, and turkey sausage. Also, yes, they are vegetarian friendly there. I definitely enjoyed the eggs but the toast remained fairly untouched thanks to my scratchy throat. The grits made me miss grits so much - I used to eat them all the time when I was in North Carolina but alas, they exist not around here. Bollocks! Anywho, seeing as my meal was fairly standard, I suppose I can't give a fair review but my friends definitely enjoyed what they had. Cheers to them! I still got a solid breakfast so I won't blast Busboys and Poets for anything - perhaps I'll give them another try the next time I'm in DC and will choose more tale-telling food.

675 15th St NW, Washington, DC 20005
Pricing - $$/$$$ | Dining - Casual, Dressy Casual | Cuisine - American
www.ebbitt.com

In my research on DC prior to my trip, I came across Old Ebbitt Grill as being a place that I had to hit up. Aside from it having some pretty good food, it's also Washington DC's oldest, most historic saloon having been founded in 1856! It didn't start off as a restaurant so much; as a boarding house, very many famous politicians, presidents, and so forth had visited and stayed. So when you're inside and take a look around, it's very Victorian, clad with paintings and furnishings to create a regal environment. Funnily enough, it was still okay for my friends and I to come in dressed fairly casually (as tourists often drop in too). Sounded good to us! We made reservations and dropped in for an early dinner on a Saturday night.


With four of us, two appetizers were needed as we were also starving. I had just come from the zoo, power-walking through it and all! We got the crab and artichoke dip (a hot, creamy feel-good punch atop mediocre sliced white bread) and Colombian empanadas (crunchy on the outside and wholesome on the inside with chicken and vegetables).


We all went quite separate ways with our orders in terms of style but I was glad to see so many options. One went with a salmon salad, another for a burger, and the other for steak. I opted for their goat cheese and basil ravioli which was portioned at a definite American size with several of the stuffed pasta pieces on my plate, covered in generous amounts of soft roasted pumpkin and garlicky spinach. The goat cheese was smooth and strong, wrapped within the pasta, and the accompanying vegetables overflowing. I had a good time at dinner, and the food overall seemed quite liked by all. It was also a good people-watching place. I only skimp on a full five stars seeing as the place was solid but not extraordinary. They had fairly typical American food at satisfactory but not mind-blowing levels of tastiness. Does this make me a bad person, for wanting to be wowed? Anywho, it was fun nevertheless to catch up with friends!

Take 1, Take 2!

645 Elden St, Herndon, VA 20170
Pricing - $$/$$$ | Dining - Casual, Dressy Casual | Cuisine - Indian
www.angeethiva.com

So though I was taking a trip to DC, I was actually staying in Virginia. That's one of the perks of the East Coast right? The states are so close to each other there! Anywho, my friend's friends were planning on joining us for dinner, so I suggested we go to Angeethi Authentic Indian Cuisine based on a recommendation from Yelp friend Sidney.


What a stellar suggestion he gave! Even though it was just a hole-in-the-wall when he went and our experience was at what looked like a newly remodeled larger restaurant with swanky decor inside, the food was just as excellent as raved about. Unfortunately the lighting was quite dim so my apologies for the poorly lit pictures I had. For the four of us, we ate family style (how else do you tackle an Indian meal?) with orders of Pineapple Murg (chicken) Curry, Palak Paneer, Gosht Madras (lamb), and Murg Tikka Masala. We also got two orders of naan and one of garlic naan which was so fresh and perfect - in fact, one came out right from the tandoor so it was mindblowingly good. The food had definite personality. The pineapple curry was actually just to try out but was the least favorite of the crowd (yet still awesome). The palak paneer had just the right amount of spinach to paneer ratio, creamy and long-lasting in savoriness. The gosht madras was the table's favorite with its make-you-sweat spice and tender chunks of lamb. As for the murg tikka masala, you can't go wrong. I also greatly appreciated my huge glass of mango lassi, especially after the heat brought on by the lamb. I think my friends in the area will definitely be coming back! Why no full five stars? The service was a tad slow...and the prices a bit high.

400 8th St NW, Washington, DC 20004 (Neighborhood: Penn Quarter)
Pricing - $/$$ | Dining - Casual, To-Go | Cuisine - Asian Fusion, Teahouse
www.teaism.com

Since my priority for the DC trip was to go see the Art of Video Games exhibit, my first planned place to eat was to be nearby. Teaism caught my eye with its afternoon tea special that others on Yelp had talked about so we went for that (which is from 2:30-5:30).


The inside was quaint and had their multitude of teas up top to look over. Luckily, my friend knew that he wanted green tea so our choices narrowed down a lot. Our green tea was their Dragon Well which tasted more herbal than I think my friend liked. We shared the traditional menu (they have an Asian version) for the afternoon tea which came with tea sandwiches, sweets, and a whole pot of tea. Yum!


Let's start with the sandwiches. There was a smoked salmon on that had a bit more mayo on it than I would have preferred. The presentation was nice but the sliminess from the sauce was a little much. The cucumber sandwich was actually fairly good if not substantial. There was ginger in it and what tasted like wasabi so there was definitely some Asian influence there.


As for the sweets, they were impressive. We both especially enjoyed the ginger scone as we hadn't heard of or had one before. There were fresh pieces of ginger inside! The lime curd tartlets had a tasty curd as well as hardy tart shell. Then there were the white chocolate truffles covered in matcha powder - these were delightfully smooth and good. It's hard to pick a favorite amongst any of the sweets because even their cookies were delectable. It was a well-put together shortbread that was light and had a lot of texture from chocolate chips and perhaps nuts? It was a good experience - I'd definitely want to come back next time I'm in DC, especially to browse their attached tea shop!