CommonWealth

What is a GastroPub? It’s the idea that a bar (or a pub, as they’d call it in Ye Olde England) can actually serve up some really good food, and still have a great selection of beer. So with that in mind, anytime you have dinner at a GastroPub, you’d get a range of people there, from freshly minted college grads looking for a Romper Room to groups that a little more tame and mature, but still looking for a pint and a meal that doesn’t leave you crawling commando to the Tums you have stashed underneath the bathroom sink the next day.

CommonWealth is one of the several GastroPubs that have popped up all over DC. The retail space has been fully decorated to look like a British pub, with the only thing that’s missing is the smell of warm beer.

Thankfully, they passed over that olfactory detail, but I’m sure you could always get the Yankee Candle scent for it. I think it’s called "The Queen's Knickers".

CommonWealth offers a great selection of beers, wines, and mixed drinks, so those looking to imbibe will not be disappointed. The restaurant also offers daily specials in addition to their normal menu, and the special selection is top-notch. That being said, CommonWealth does a great job balancing the line of offering up a slew of classic British dishes.

You can’t go into a GastroPub without trying their chips. Well, in England they call it chips, but here, you’d call them fries, home fries, or fried potato wedges. Near perfection when doused liberally with some vinegar, and even better when sided with a small dish of cheese and a small dish of gravy.

The entree selection is pretty diverse, and it’s nice to see that CommonWealth offers a decent array of vegan dishes for Jen. She ordered the Tofu Tikka Masala, which came with the biggest Pringles chip we’d ever seen. Well, at least, it tasted like a giant Pringles chip, but the chef claims it to be a lentil cracker. I’d take his word over mine on this one. Savory and delicious, Jen was satisfied with her choice, although finding the mystery prize of some UFO (unidentifiable food object…is it bone? is it a root vegetable) the size of a dime wasn’t exactly expected.

Tofu Tikka Masala

I ordered the Chicken and Dumplings which, to my slight dismay, actually turned out to be Chicken and Biscuits. The chicken was perfectly cooked, but the ricotta biscuits were a bit dry, and the dish could have either used more gravy to offset the biscuits, or perhaps more butter in the biscuits to give them a softer, spongier texture, that would have definitely won me over. We talked to the sous chef a bit and he seemed very receptive to the critiques, which is always a good sign.

Chicken and Dumplings

And now we get to dessert. This is where the magic happens. We sampled a triplet of desserts, starting with the Bread Pudding with Banana Ice Cream on the daily specials menu.

Bread Pudding

The Bread Pudding here is spot on. Not too much, not too little, and for a normal couple, a perfect way to end the meal. Jen and I are both Bread Pudding junkies, but we couldn’t leave it at that.

Next up, the Sticky Toffee Pudding. Again, another instance where I might have had the misconception of a dish, but this was two ubersweet cakes drowning in a lake of toffee, with a scoop of ice cream bridging the gap. This dessert is superubersweet, and damn good.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

On the more tame side, the restaurant also offers a light cheesecake in a tiny mason jar as one of their daily specials. Perfect for when you want just a little bit to top off a meal, or in our case, a meal and two other previous desserts.

Cheesecake

Service here is super friendly, and the food came out quicker than expected. The general atmosphere of most patrons are pretty easy going, but just keep in mind that you’re still in a pub, so you’ll get some tables of pretty rowdy drinkers.

Like the ones that sat next to us.

But really, CommonWealth is a great place to eat up in Columbia Heights, and we left so stuffed. So stuffed that we had to stop by the Target so Jen could throw my ass in a wheelbarrow and get me home. If you’re looking for a good bar to hang out with some friends, get some drinks, and not have to leave to find some decent food in between, this would be it, but keep in mind that it’s still a bar.

Recommended for:

• British ex-pats
• Comfort food lovers
• Vegans
• Dandies

Not recommended for:

• Yankees fans
• Woolly Mammoths
• Romantic Candlelit Dinners
• Low talkers

See CommonWealth on a map here.