Darlington House

Darlington House opened to high expectations last year when it replaced the popular Childe Harold on 20th and Connecticut Ave, north of Dupont Circle. Unfortunately, Darlington House, despite its pleasant outdoor seating, fails to live up to expectations.

Like many other brunch establishments in the District, Darlington House offers homemade doughnuts (in this case, doughnut holes) as an excellent shareable brunch accompaniment. These holes, strangely, are delivered to your table in a paper bag, but once removed from said bag, are warm, fluffy, and delicious, and come with both chocolate and caramel dipping sauces. While I found the paper bag presentation to be bizarre, I was subsequently informed that this is not as unusual as I had thought. Evidently, you're supposed to shake up the bag to ensure uniform sugar disbursment among the holes. I still don't see the point. Nonetheless, the holes were good.

The rest of the food is adequate, but not exemplary. The highlight was the smoked salmon eggs benedict. The eggs were nicely poached, topped with a light hollandaise, and served with a side of in-season asparagus. Oddly, though, the eggs were placed on top of both smoked salmon and ham, as if the chef thought I ordered a traditional benedict but then thought "Oh no, did he order it with smoked salmon? I'll throw some of that on there too just in case." Alternatively, the dish is supposed to contain both salmon and ham. Which would be weirder? I'll let the readers figure that one out. Nonetheless, it was nice dish.

The omelets were also pretty good. The eggs were nice and creamy and the fillings were fresh -- I recommend the Connecticut Ave. Omelet, which is served with ham, goat cheese, and tomatoes. However, it came with a meager amount of breakfast potatoes and dry toast without any butter, jam, or cream cheese in sight.

Finally, we tried the vegetarian sandwich, which was supposed to come with grilled fresh "seasonal vegetables," but instead came with only mushrooms and zuccini, which are definitely not seasonal. The fries were decent.

The service was poor -- it was slow and unhelpful despite the restaurant not being that crowded. Darlington House is a decent choice if you sit on their patio on a nice day, but don't expect above average food.

Contact information after the jump. Continue reading.


Darlington House
1610 20th St. NW
Washington, DC 20009
(202)332-3722


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Levante's

Levante's is a Mediterranean restaurant south of Dupont Circle. For brunch they offer a large buffet with both hot and cold dishes, breads, fruit, Mediterranean spreads, fish, and an omelet chef. As is often the case with buffets, the cold dishes were a lot better than the hot ones.

The cold section of the buffet consists of fruit, smoked salmon, breads, cakes, various vegetables, salad, and spreads such as hummus, baba ghanoush, and tzatziki. Most of these dishes were solid, though not extraordinary. The hummus, baba, and tzatziki, appeared to be home made and were well-done, the baba particularly so, and the salad and fruit were fresh. Given its presentation, the salmon was probably purchased elsewhere but it was still good and had a nice selection of accoutrements.

The hot food, unfortunately, suffered. The pides and other bread-based dishes were situated under a heat lamp and were all dried out. Other dishes in heated buffet containers looked like they had been sitting out there for a while. The eggs benedicts were not bad, but the Hollandaise sauce looked like separated, presumably because it had been sitting out there for a while. The highlight of the hot food area was the omelet chef who makes omelets to order with a variety of ingredients -- staples such as peppers, onions, and ham, and more interesting and Mediterranean options like feta cheese and shrimp.

For $20, this is a decent deal. I would recommend sticking with the omelets and the cold dishes.

Contact information after the jump. Continue reading.

Levante's
1320 19th Street NW
Washington D.C. 20036
(202)293-3244
http://www.levantes.com

N.B. They also have a location in Maryland but I have never been there.


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A Year of Brunch: Brunch Awards of 2008

Best Deals

(1) Vinoteca, 1940 11th St. NW, (202) 332-9463, Menu.
Vinoteca wins the award for best brunch deal of 2008. Their $1 sparkling wine drinks (made with Jacob's Creek brut) -- mimosas, kir royales, and bellinis -- are excellent, particularly the mimosas which is made with fresh-squeezed juice. This deal, unfortunately, ended on December 31. The brunch itself was notable for its deliciously excessive Monte Cristo, a towering sandwich of French toast, proscuito, gruyere, bacon, and eggs. Like its $1 drinks, however, the Monte Cristo has fallen victim to recent downsizing, which management has not commented upon by post-time. That and their often slow service has unfortunately dropped Vinoteca from my best brunch choices. Nonetheless, their omelets and crepes are solid choices and Vinoteca remains a decent brunch option even without the deal.

Update, 1/12/09: Vinoteca has extended their $1 sparkling wine drinks until April 1.

(2) Café Tropé, 2100 P St. NW, (202) 223-9335, Menu (incomplete).
Café Tropé serves very good eclectic French-Caribbean food in an attractive setting. Most dishes are moderately priced, from $10 omelets to $12 coconut french toast or $14 salmon eggs benedict. All of its brunch offerings come with a class of champagne and delicious warm crusty rolls served with a garlic and artichoke tapenade. The best dishes are the benedict, which is served with a Caribbean sauce instead of traditional Hollandaise, and the French toast, which is excellent though a little sweet. A great Dupont circle staple and an overall excellent deal.

Best French Toast

(1) La Fourchette, 2429 18th St NW, (202) 332-3077, Menu.

La Fourchette's French toast, made with fresh baguettes wins the award for best French toast. This large portion is fresh and spongy with real maple syrup and a little powdered sugar. No accompaniment required.

(2)Mezè, 2437 18th St. NW, 202-797-0017, Menu.

The best item on the brunch menu at Mezè is the French toast, which you might not expect from a Turkish restaurant. It is prepared with homemade cinnamon bread topped with a generous amount of fresh fruit. The bread is thick, soft, and spongy and the complement of cinnamon with sweet fruit and maple syrup presents an ambrosial combination. If you've never been to Mezè before for brunch, there's no reason to order anything else.

Best Bloody Mary

(1) L'Enfant Cafe, 2000 18th St NW, (202) 319-1800

L'Enfant has exceptional bloody marys. These homemade brunch libations are thick, well-seasoned, and spicy, but not too spicy. The best I've had in D.C. so far.

(2) Logan @ The Heights, 3115 14th St. NW, (202) 797-7227, Menu[PDF], Bloody Mary menu[PDF].

The Heights has an extensive, and complicated, bloody mary menu that allows you to pick one of many varieties of alcohol (vodka and gin), adjustable spicyness, additives such as lime juice or clam juice (recommended), and then a choice of up to three vegetables.


Best Beyond the Beltway
(1) Essex, 120 Essex Street, New York, NY 10002, (212) 533-9616, Menu [PDF].

Essex, set in an austere lofty space on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, is a New York culinary institution specializing in "drunk brunch" -- a $16 prix fixe meal that includes (at least) three bloody marys, mimosas, or screwdrivers. The food is a creative Jewish-Latin mix that includes food you don't tend to find in D.C., such as bialys, matro brie, a Latin twist on the latke, etc. A must-visit location for trips up north.

After the jump, the worst brunches of 2008.

Continue Reading.


Worst Brunch

Worst Food
Mixtec, 1792 Columbia Road N.W., 202-332-1011, Menu.

This overpriced Mexican restaurant attempts to distinguish itself with various creative regional Mexican dishes. Unfortunately, they miss the mark. The food is overcooked and underspiced -- bland Mexican food just doesn't go very far. And at $11 or more per dish, this place is not worth it. Their strange refusal or inability to make poached eggs is a further detraction.

Worst Service
Utopia, 1418 U St NW, (202) 483-7669, Menu.
Utopia Grill has respectable brunch food and an aesthetic decor consisting of exposed brick walls, chandeliers, and original artwork. The service, however, is awful. It appeared that there was only one waitress for the entire restaurant. We waited at least 20 minutes before she took our order and at least another 15 minutes before we got our drinks. She also did not bring our second round of drinks. It took an equally long time before our food arrive. This was a serious problem and hampered our brunch enjoyment and almost ruined what is respectable food. Utopia needs to improve its service before I can recommend that people go.

Most Overrated
The Diner, 2453 18th St. NW, 202-232-8800, Menu.
It always amazes me to see the lines out the door on Sunday mornings. The Diner serves average, reasonably priced food. There's nothing that is particularly great. It is open 24 hours a day so I can understand going for a late-night/early morning brunch meal. However, I see no reason to go during the traditional brunch hours when there are much better places just down the street such as La Fourchette or Bourbon. So why is there a wait to get in almost every Sunday? Is it herding? Hype? Lack of brunch knowledge among the D.C. populace? I wish someone would fill me in.

A Year of Brunch: Best of 2008

Here are my recommendations for the best brunch in Washington, D.C.

(1) Tabard Inn, 1739 N St. NW, (202) 833-2668, Menu.

The Tabard Inn is one of D.C.'s oldest and most historic hotels and it wins the honor of the best brunch in the city for 2008. There are a lot of great dishes at the Tabard Inn but they are best known for their homemade donuts, which are warm, cakey, and delicious; at $1.50 a piece, no Tabard Inn brunch is complete without a few donuts for the table. Their extensive menu changes seasonally. The best dishes are the smoked fish plate, which comes with a large portion of house-smoked salmon and bluefish, with frisée, caper berries, crostini, and homemade crème fraîche; and the lobster and brie omelet, which was prepared in a trifold design, reminiscent of classic French preparation with large pieces of lobster, and exuding soft melted brie cheese, which provided a nice complement to the lobster. The homemade bread and biscuits are also superb. There is no better place for brunch in D.C. than the Tabard Inn.

(2) 2 Amys, 3715 Macomb St. NW, (202) 885-5700.

2 Amy's brunch consists solely of homemade bagels and bialys with house smoked salmon (along with their traditional menu of superb pizza) and they rightly take their place as the best in the city. These are not traditional New York-style bagels. Instead they are larger, crispier, sourdough rolls with a slightly tangy taste. The tangyness of the sourdough used to make them comes from using leftover whey (from their homemade cream cheese) instead of water. The homemade cream cheese is whipped so it's very soft and spreadable. A virtually perfect brunch experience.

(3) La Fourchette, 2429 18th St NW, (202) 332-3077, Menu.

This authentic Parisian cafe serves the best brunch on 18th street (so authentic it's closed for much of August in true Parisian form). It had a solid selection of exquisitely prepared dishes, is not particularly expensive, and provides excellent service and atmosphere. The best dishes include the omelet Provençal, which contains a variety of fresh herbs and is covered with a tomato sauce and a side of potatoes, which are crisp well-seasoned; and the French toast, which is made with fresh baguettes.

(4) Domku, 821 Upshur St. NW,(202) 722-7454, Menu.

Aside from the almost undrinkably spicy bloody mary, Domku, in Petworth, serves excellent Scandinavian and Eastern European cuisine. It has great originality and a welcoming environment. Dish highlights are the Norwegian pancakes that are thin and crepe-like and can be filled with a variety of meats, cheeses, and vegetables that are cooked into the pancake; and the Swedish waffle, prepared in an interesting heart-shaped waffle iron and topped with whipped cream and lingonberry preserves. The lightness of the waffle was an excellent complement with the heartiness of the preserves. Worth the trip.

Tabard Inn

The Tabard Inn is one of D.C.'s oldest and most historic hotels and it serves one of the best brunches in the city. The restaurant is set in a small dining area to one side of the inn with simple yet elegant decor. (There is also an outdoor patio area that is open when the weather is warm). The Tabard Inn is unsurprisingly crowded during brunch and the small inn feel is unfortunately damaged by the noise of the crowds. That is a small detraction from an otherwise memorable brunch experience.

There are a lot of great dishes at the Tabard Inn but they are best known for their homemade donuts, which are warm, cakey, and delicious, if a little too sugary, and come with a side of homemade vanilla whipped cream. At $1.50 a piece, no Tabard Inn brunch is complete without a few donuts for the table.

Tabard Inn has an extensive seasonal menu. (Though the menu on the website may vary slightly from the actual menu). They have a large selection of appetizers and entrees ranging from salads and soups to omelets, frittatas, tarts, and sandwiches. All of the dishes we ordered were excellent. Tabard truly lives up to its reputation as among the best brunches in the city.

Being from New York, I had to try the smoked fish plate, which comes with house-smoked salmon and bluefish, with frisée, caper berries, crostini, and homemade crème fraîche. This dish had an unexpectedly larger portion than I had anticipated. Further the salmon and bluefish were both mild and without imperfections. The salmon in partcular was truly excellent and certainly outperforms the smoked salmon you'd find a virtually any other place in the city. The homemade crème fraîche and crostinis complete the dish well.

The savory tart the day I went considered of lump crab meat, spinach, and gruyere and came with a side of fresh mixed greens. The tart was a thick slice with large visible pieces of crab. The crusts were nicely crisp and the middle soft.

Keeping with the seafood theme, we tried the lobster and brie omelet, which came with a side of potatoes and a buttery biscuit. Like the crab tart, the omelet came with large number of big visible pieces of lobster. The omelet itself was prepared in a trifold design, reminiscent of classic French preparation. It also exuded soft melted brie cheese, which provided a nice complement to the lobster. The biscuit was puffy and buttery.

Finally, we tried the frittata with tomatoes and goat cheese. The frittata looked more like a thick omelet than a traditional frittata, which often looks more like a tart or quiche. Nonetheless, this dish was also excellent and it had a generous amount of fillings with a side of fresh greens.

The coffee was strong and rich, and they brought individual cream servers with each coffee, which was a nice touch. The service was helpful and attentive, but they do stick to their no substitutions policy.

Overall a great choice for brunch. You must get a reservation several days in advance if you want to go on Sunday. Saturday brunch is less crowded.

Contact information after the jump. Continue reading.



Brunch Menu [Tabard Inn] (N.B. May differ from what they offer on a given day)

Hotel Tabard Inn
1739 N St. NW
Washington D.C. 20036
(202) 833-2668


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Brunch DC Reviews and Features

Here's a list of the restaurants I've reviewed and Brunch DC special features with links to the full posts. This page will continue to be updated as I review more restaurants and add more features to the site. If you have any suggestions for restaurants to review or special features to add, feel free to email me at brunchdc [at] gmail [dot] com.

I have marked all of the restaurants with (*), (**), (***), or (****) indicating my assessment of the quality of their brunch:

Brunch Reviews:

• Adams Morgan
• Bardia's New Orleans Cafe**
• Bourbon***
• Cashion's Eat Place***
• La Fourchette***
• L'Enfant **1/2
• Mezè**
• Mixtec*
• Napoleon Bistro **1/2
• The Diner*
• Bethesda
• Hinode*1/2
• Beyond the Beltway
• Barney Greengrass*** (New York City)
  
• Essex*** (New York City)
• Marathon Grill*1/2 (Philadelphia)
• Surf Club Ocean Grille* (Virginia Beach)
• White Dog Cafe*** (Philadelphia)
• Clarendon
• Liberty Tavern**1/2
• Cleveland Park
• 2 Amys***1/2
• Columbia Heights
• Logan @ The Heights*
• RedRocks**1/2
• Dupont Circle
• Afterwords Cafe*
• Darlington House**
• Levante's**
  
• Mezza Luna Lounge*
• Rosemary's Thyme**1/2
• Tabard Inn****
• Café Tropé*** (CLOSED)
• Eastern Market
• Montmartre***
• Mt. Pleasant
• Ercilia's**
• North Bethesda
  
• Meritage (n/a)
  
• Penn Quarter
• Cafe Atlantico***
• Poste**
  
• Petworth
• Domku***
• Shaw
• Florida Avenue Grill*1/2
• U Street Corridor
• Bar Pilar*
  
• Ben's Next Door**
• Creme Cafe**1/2
• Marvin***
• Ulah*1/2
• Utopia*1/2
• Tabaq**
• Vinoteca***

Special Features:

• A Year of Brunch
  • Best of 2008
  • Brunch Awards of 2008
  • Mailbag
    
• Brunch Historian
  • History of Brunch
  • The Bloody Mary

Afterwords Cafe

(Ed. Note: This post is written by Max, author of thrifty/epicure, a blog devoted to exploring the best cheap food and drink options in D.C. The content of this review gets the full Brunch DC endorsement.)

As some of you might know, I attempt to focus my energies around DC on thrift. And so my appearance here begs the question: is brunch a "thrifty" meal? Base-level empirical observation says no: generally, people like me (that is: young, making little money in an absolute sense, but considering our life stage, plenty of money to spend on frivolous things) tend to make the lowest economic strata ofbrunchers. And really, you could consider us the "aspirational brunchers ," forever looking to graduate from the Open Cities of the world to the bright lights and exorbitant prices of Georgia Brown's. Really, can anything featured on "Stuff White People Like" be praised by a penny-pincher?

Of course, since I am a major brunch enthusiast (accompanying Brunch DC himself on several important research trips), I'm at pains to reconcile my seeming hypocrisy. I guess I'll go with this: brunch doesn't have to be an expensive meal - and on a per-calorie basis, you can do quite well for yourself. Remember as you eat those pieces of egg batter-drenched and fried pieces of brioche: you're replacing two meals! Eat brunch in the right neighborhoods, and you can combine the experience with some shopping at the local farmer's market - then go home and cook yourself a healthy and inexpensive meal at home. Hooray, you're breaking even!

With my regularly scheduled meta-digression out of the way, the point of this exercise: brunch at Afterwords, the restaurant inside Kramerbooks. Some have called it one of DC's best cheap drunk brunch options, so I was pretty excited to try it out - notwithstanding the fact that I had a somewhat less than stellar dinner date there a few months ago.

One of the major plusses of Afterwords is the location: the patio is on 19th, meaning you have a peace and quiet, while the interior of the restaurant is fun and lively, with people occassionaly spilling in from the bookstore or cafe. Of course, all of that gets negated when you get placed in the dingy, yellow-tinted mezzanine, with mismatched tables and chairs. Not only was it beautiful up there, but it was conveniently located as far from a server who would remember who we were as possible! Several times we had to get up and serve ourselves extra water/get condiments, after our server disappeared for 15 minute periods. And this after waiting 45 minutes for a table (we were told, "we have a table ready for you," when we checked in - but still had time to read the titles of every self help book in the entire section - totally awesome).

The food, while clearly being the best part of this whole experience, was still decidedly mixed. One thing I should mention up front: you get a free drink with your meal, and your second drink, should you want one more, it's only $1.50. Which, if you're looking to drink, is nice. I had a Bloody Mary, which while tasty, didn't have the kind of accouterments that I like to see in my BMs - I'd basically like a salad sticking out the top of my glass, if possible.

The food, as I said, was mixed. My omelet, with brie, tomatoes and basil, was quite tasty; fresh, light, not overly fussy or complicated, with distinct flavors. The whole wheat Belgian waffles ordered by a friend were also delicious - light like a waffle should be, but more substantial than many regular waffles. After that, the food fell off somewhat. And with five total diners, that's a lot of not-so-good food.

The Southwest omelet was both completely bland and totally devoid of textural changes; the onions and peppers had been cooked to within an inch of their lives and fell to mush almost immediately in your mouth, and the overwhelming flavor was of Jack cheese (which fails to provide a taste explosion, to be certain). The hanger steak and eggs, which I thought had a lot of promise (after all, the hanger steak is one of the most flavorful cuts of meat, a very nice contrast for eggs and potatoes), was described as "not steak-y enough." Sigh. I can't remember anything about the last dish, an eggs benedict; it obviously wasn't that memorable.

The final shock came with the check: for "one of DC's best cheap drunk brunches" I would have expected less than $20/person for meal, tax and tip - nobody even had a second drink.

Bottom line: if you can sit outside, sip your complimentary drink and people watch while eating waffles, you've got a nice brunch experience. Otherwise, maybe you ought to keep walking. Hey, Open City is only one metro stop away!

Contact information after the jump. Continue reading.




Brunch menu [Afterwards Cafe]

Afterwords Cafe
1517 Connecticut Avenue NW
Washington D.C. 20036
(202) 232-6777


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Brunch and Football: Mezza Luna Lounge

I'm a lifelong New York Football Jets fan. Watching the Jets in Washington has proved harder than I thought, especially with the large amount of transplanted New Yorkers in this town. From what I can tell, there are only two places in the city that show the Jets game: 51st State Tavern in Foggy Bottom, and what I just discovered, Mezza Luna Lounge in Dupont (or, more accurately, the "Golden Triangle"). Mezza Luna is ordinarily an American restaurant that serves both entrees and tapas. For brunch they serve an abbrieviated menu (not online, apparently) that includes some breakfast items, like eggs, omelettes, French toast, as well as sandwiches, salads, and appetizers. They have somewhat expensive drinks -- $6 Bloody Marys, for example. They also show the Jets game on at least six televisions, and the Dallas Cowboys games when they are on. I was told that the restaurant is owned by two brothers, one's a Jets fan, the other is a Cowboys fan. However, it appears that the restaurant is more skewed towards the Cowboys: if you show up wearing Cowboys gear, you get 15% off of your check. Nothing for the Jets.

During the Jets game, the place was surprisingly empty. There were less than ten Jets fans there. As for the food, it was ordinary. We got one dish from the breakfast menu and one from the lunch menu. Neither was bad but I wouldn't go here unless you're a Jets fan. They did have an interesting looking dinner menu, but that's beyond the purview of my brunch expertise.

Contact information and photos below the fold. Continue reading.

Mezza Luna Lounge
1140 19th St. NW
Washington D.C. 20036
(202) 429-8889


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Rosemary'sThyme

Rosemary's Thyme is a delightful Mediterranean bistro, which offers a high quality brunch with a large outdoor seating area. Rosemary's has two locations: on the corner of 18th & S streets NW, a location in the highly nebulous "East Dupont" area, and one in Clifton, Virginia. The brunch menu consists of traditional breakfast dishes like eggs Benedict, French toast, omelettes, pancakes, and one Mexican dish -- this time huevos rancheros -- a phenomenon that appears to be required for 18th street brunch establishments. They also have sandwiches, pastas, and "pides" -- a house specialty of oven baked Turkish flat bread filled with various ingredients.

The breakfast items are all very good; the omelettes are fluffy and not overcooked and the French toast is also competent, albeit I think they overdo it slightly with the Grand Marnier. If you've never been to Rosemary's, though, I'd suggest going with one of the pides (prounouced PIDD-es). For brunch they serve four pides: cheese, Mediterranean (cheese, sun dried tomatoes, roasted garlic, spinach, olives), cheese and pastirma (seasoned dried beef), or cheese and sujuk (a spiced Middle Eastern sausage). We stuck to the vegetarian ones and ordered both the cheese and the Mediterranean varieties (both pictured here). Each come with a tomato dipping sauce. As an interesting bonus, during brunch they also come with an "optional" choice of two eggs any style either on top or the side for no additional charge, and the resulting poached eggs were excellent. Pides are, for lack of a better word, the best cheesy bread I've ever had. They're warm and crispy with goey cheese and fresh fillings. They go very well with either the tomato dipping sauce or to mop up the yolk from the poached eggs.












We also had the rolled timballo, which I'd compare to a a sideways circular lasagna, in this case filled with spinach, roasted red peppers, various cheeses, and tomato sauce. The pasta is crisped nicely and the fillings are hot and delicious. The plating was also attractive; the pastas are placed on top of a generous amount of homemade tomato sauces and garnished with fresh basil.

You really can't go wrong at this neighborhood bistro. The food is interesting and fresh and it is reasonable priced. It remains a mystery to me why Rosemary's has not been reviewed in the Zagat's dining guide.

Contact information after the jump. Continue reading.

Brunch menu [Rosemary's Thyme Bistro] (They also serve some lunch items during brunch)
Pides [Recipezaar]

Rosemary's Thyme Bistro
Dupont location:
1801 18th St. NW
Washington D.C. 20009
(202) 332-3200


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Clifton location:
5762 Union Mill Road
Clifton, Virginia 20124
(703) 502-1084


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Café Tropé

N.B. Café Tropé is CLOSED.

Café Tropé, at 2100 P street NW off Dupont Circle, serves eclectic French-Caribbean food in an attractive setting. The name is derived from Saint Tropez, a seaport in the French Riviera. Tropé's brunch, which is served on both Saturdays and Sundays, includes one glass of house champagne and delicious warm crusty rolls served with a garlic and artichoke tapenade. While it's not a prix fixe deal, this is a good start. The menu -- which is fairly different from the one posted online -- has a good mix of breakfast and lunch varieties, all with a Caribbean twist. Overall the food was excellent; my only real complaint is that the dishes lacked creative plating and often looked empty on the plate, especially the omelet.

The smoked salmon eggs benedict, which our waiter claimed was his favorite dish on the menu, lived up to that promise. Perfectly done poached eggs are served on thick slices of smoked salmon on top of the same bread that they provide at the beginning of the meal. Keeping with the French theme, of course, they couldn't use English muffins, the traditional bread of the Benedict. The sauce is not a traditional Hollandaise; instead it's combined with Caribbean spices. It's served with potatoes, which were slightly dry but were otherwise good.

The coconut French toast, which we got with plantains is also very good. It's served on thick spongy bread -- the requisite consistency for good French toast -- and the coconut flavor provides a nice Caribbean essence. The bread is fairly eggy, which could make this a heavy dish and the plaintains, which was a substitution, were a little too sweet for me.

Lastly, we tried one of the omelettes, which was filled with chorizo sausage (a Spanish sausage, interestingly enough), onions, spinach, and smoked Gouda cheese. As is apparent from the picture, this dish looks disappointing since the omelet only covers half of the otherwise empty plate. In addition, the fillings are not integrated into the omelet, which is my preference, but rather the eggs are folded over them. However, the eggs are creamy and tasty and the fillings are an interestingly and successful combination.

The service was generally attentive and informative. It was a little strange, though, that we did not receive our complementary glass of champagne until we asked for it; apparently, if you don't ask for it, they don't bring it to you.

Contact information after the jump.

Read more.


Brunch menu (not complete) [Café Tropé]

Café Tropé
2100 P St. NW
Washington, DC 20037
(202) 223-9335


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Welcome

Welcome to Brunch DC. This site is devoted to tracking down, reviewing, and compiling information on the best, and worst, places to get brunch in Washington D.C. We'll be focusing on the following areas:

Adams Morgan
Dupont Circle
Columbia Heights
U Street

and if we get around to it, maybe Georgetown and Capitol Hill (though why would you go over there?)

We'll also be compiling "best of" and "worst of" lists based on our extensive brunch experience.

If you have any comments, suggestions, additions, photos, videos, or request to take us out to brunch, feel free to send us an email at brunchdc [at] gmail.com