Unfortunately this will be my last post on Brunch DC. I am starting law school at Columbia next week so my ability to venture back South to D.C. will be limited. This site will remain up for as long as people continue to read it. All of my reviews can be found
here. I've enjoyed exploring the D.C. brunch scene this past year. Hopefully it will continue to improve.
I started this project with the premise that "Yes, you can occasionally get good brunch in D.C." and my initial premise has held true. Over my close to
40 reviews, the average rating was 2.2 stars out of 4. Only one restaurant got four stars -- Tabard Inn -- while six got only one star. However, ten restaurants got at least three stars. Thus, while D.C. still has a long way to go in perfecting my favorite meal, there are certainly bright spots, like the pides at
Rosemary's Thyme, the bagel brunch at
2 Amys, the doughnuts at the
Tabard Inn, and the fried chicken and waffles at
Marvin.
Here are some of my suggestions for ways in which D.C.'s brunch scene could improve:
(1) Provide mandatory training on how to poach an egg. There were sundry occasions where my poached eggs were downright terrible. That ruins the dish, particularly the brunch staple Eggs Benedict. Note the difference between a horrible poached egg (at Stars Cafe -- unreviewed, just so bad), and an excellent one made by yours truly. The whites should be firm and the yolks runny. It's really not that hard.
(2) Add some prix fixe brunch menus. One of my favorite places in New York,
Essex, offers a brunch entree and 3 alcoholic beverages for a flat $18. It's an excellent deal. While prix fixe brunches have long been a staple in New York (even my local NY brunch spot,
Fred's, offers an entree, coffee, and an alcoholic beverage for $15), you don't see them at all in D.C. And the $15+ bottomless mimosa deals that have recently sprung up don't count, it has to be all inclusive and under $20.
(3) Get some decent Dim Sum or other ethnic food. It is a shame you cannot find decent ethnic food for brunch in D.C. Aside from the occassional Indian or
Japanese buffet, there really aren't any ethnic brunch options in the city. An excellent and inexpensive dim sum establishment within the city limits would add a lot.
(4) Improve the service. At even the
best restaurants in D.C., the service was often slow, disorganized, and inefficient. I understand that the waiters may be just as hungover as the patrons on a Sunday morning but improvement shouldn't be too hard. We shouldn't have to be moved three times for our party of five at
Ben's Next Door, or wait at least 20 minutes for someone to take our order at
Utopia. Bad service really hampers the brunch experience at a lot of restaurants that have respectable food.
Well, there you have it. For those who aren't sick of me, I may begin doing some food writing up in New York; if so I'll be sure to let my Brunch DC readers know. Farewell D.C.
Here are some of my suggestions for ways in which D.C.'s brunch scene could improve:
sed upon the recommendation of the venerable Mark Bittman, I headed to Cafe Atlantico for their Sunday Latin-influenced "Dim Sum" brunch. While certainly on the spendy side, Atlantico serves up inventive small dishes and excellent cocktails.
Other interesting dishes were the mushrooms with a "63 degree" egg -- essentially a lightly poached egg -- and the quesadilla filled with wild mushrooms and huitlacoche (a corn fungus -- mmmm fungus!). 
ashion's Eat Place, while no longer affiliated with James Beard winning chef/owner Ann Cashion, makes a good case for being the best restaurant in Adams Morgan. The brunch features inventive New American dishes that are a few steps above the other restaurants in the area without being more expensive. The food along with its casually elegant setting make it a must-visit Adams Morgan brunch location.
The béarnaise is placed in a small saucer on the plate, which is ideal for dipping, but certainly takes away from the overall presentation of the dish.
Their one omelet is filled with, spinach, grueyere, and mushrooms, and is topped with a tomato coulis. It's served unfolded, reminiscent of a thin frittata. The eggs are fluffy and the ingredients are fresh. It's a nice preparation but doesn't stand out above the other dishes.
veryone in D.C. is familiar with Ben's Chili Bowl, the U. St. landmark known primarily for its decent half-smokes, mediocre chili, long lines, and politician sightings. This past year Ben's opened up Next Door next door, an upscale bar and restaurant that serves generally delicious southern food in an attractive setting, but with bad service.
Fried chicken and waffles has become a staple in the D.C. brunch scene and Next Door's creation lives up to the standard set at Marvin and Creme. The chicken is perfectly crisp and spiced; though the waffles were fairly ordinary Belgian varieties. The maple syrup accompaniment was hot, which was a good touch.
Montmartre is a charming French cafe named after the Montmartre neighborhood in Paris, a place formerly home to artists, philosophers, and musicians, and now mostly inhabited by overweight tourists attempting to scale the hill to visit the Sacré-Cœur basilica.
Montmartre could improve their drinks. I observed their bartender mixing their bloody mary with a store-bought (Tabasco brand) mix (Quelle horreur!), their coffee was middling, and their orange juice was from concentrate and had too much ice. Nonetheless the quality of their food outweighs their beverage shortcomings.
The menu comes with a variety of omelets, crepes, salads, and other brunch entrees. They also have a large assortment of coffee-based beverages and the brunch-associated alcoholic choices like the bloody mary and the mimosa. While the food is good, whoever wrote the menu perhaps thought a little too much about their creations. The "Da Vinci" omelet of ham and cheese is labeled "A dream come true" while the Michelangelo omelet of salmon, scallions, and cream cheese, is modestly described as "A Masterpiece."
On the omelet side, the "Rembrandt" of brie, fresh parsley and sun dried tomatoes is a highlight. Even though it apparently does not warrant an over-the-top epthitet on the menu like some of the other omelets, it stands out nonetheless. The omelet itself is perfectly done without any imperfections or burn marks. The cheese is nice and creamy, and the vegetables are fresh. It also comes with a side of potatoes and a skewer of fresh fruit (an interesting presentation).
And they don't stiff you on the portion size either, as this dish comes with two side-by-side crepes. The other crepe highlight is the "Lisbon" which had smoked salmon, red onions, dill and cream cheese. This crepe was cut into four triangular pieces and was a very pleasant and refreshing dish -- much better than other crepe with salmon, the "Bolivar" (salmon, scrambled eggs, with a citrus-caper sour cream sause), which was too heavy.
