Savour’s website, rather than following the conventional www dot restaurantname dot com, or some variation thereof, is actually just a page off of the website the company chose to highlight as their moneymaker, Sutra Lounge.

That same thinking is evident in dining at Savour. The restaurant, clearly an afterthought to the what brings home the bacon, has a simple interior, with the main entrance opening to 18th Street in Adam’s Morgan. Bright orange paint coats the walls, and in an effort to keep the holly and jolly spirit going, Christmas decorations continue to adorn the ceiling.

In mid-February.

Or maybe that’s just extreme forward thinking.

Our waitress failed to inform us that one of the two vegetarian dishes would not be available, much to Jen’s chagrin, leaving her with the option of having either a curry tofu dinner (which did not appeal to her) or having a plate of fried tofu blocks. Given her paltry choices, she opted for the latter.

If that plate looks depressing, it’s because it is. A small mountain of unidentifiably fried something, with a few scant pieces of argula to decorate and “season” the dish. That’s not food. Not even a high school cafeteria would serve something that unappetizing.

My plate ended up a little bit better, with the flank steak, served with a slice of potato gratin pie and some green beans toss in for distraction. Not a side of green beans, but maybe four green beans. Really? Four green beans?

Thankfully, the steak was reasonable, and the potato gratin pie wasn’t too bad either.

The food here isn’t entirely deplorable, but calling yourself a vegetarian friendly restaurant with a limited number of options that may or may not be available isn’t exactly great. Our entrees, an appetizer of fried tofu blocks and a steak, took nearly an hour to get to our table, even after several tables who had arrived after us had already been served. Diners will be treated to frigid blasts of cold air on winter days every time the restaurant front door is opened with the lack of any sort of heavy curtains or a second set of doors to insulate the room, and the service isn’t the worst I’ve had, but it’s bad enough to say that I’d pass on the offer to eat here again.

If you’re really hungry, you can always get a Jumbo Slice of pizza just across the street. Quick, easy, dirty, and probably about as satisfying.

See Savor on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Zone Dieters
• Paleoheads
• Getting a bite to eat in between the OONTZ-OONTZ-OONTZ at Sutra Lounge upstairs
• Dates with that girl/guy who emphatically once told you, “OMG I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!”

Not Recommended For:

• Vegetarians
• Dinner with the Commander in Chief
• Dinner going Commando or in Briefs

Columbia Heights is quite the clash of cultures these days. The streets are filled with hoodrats, latino workers, hipsters, and well, the other people who live there. It’s one of the few areas in Northwest DC where you can pick up kitschy photo frames from Target on one block, and get shot or stabbed on the very next. Fun!

Jen and I ventured up 14th street to the area to check out Social, one of the newer restaurants to open in the area and serve such a diverse crowd. As it was, we didn’t quite have any expectations when we arrived. The restaurant has two entrances- the left leads down to a bar area that’s packed with men who could care less if a woman walked in the door, and an upstairs dining area with luxurious leather couches and plush chairs for diners.

Almost too plush. No, actually, they were too plush. I nearly banged my chin on the table sitting down on the table, and the reclining angle of our seats nearly doubled the distance between Jen and I at our table. The decor here is, however, very tasteful and contemporary, with a myriad of professional photos adorning the walls.

The water service comes to each table with a bottle of water, but don’t be alarmed by the fact that you might be charged for a bottle of water, as Jen and I wondered through the majority of our meal. The water’s simply DC’s finest on tap, but a little clarification would have taken some stress out of the meal.

While we sat with our waters and poured over the menus, we noticed a certain absence, both in diners and staff. A fair number of tables were empty, but we attributed it to just a slow night. So it’d come with some logic that we’d be doted upon by our waiter.

So we waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Even our water boy, keenly aware of our lack of attention by the staff, came by and asked if we had been checked up on by our waiter, to which we naturally replied, “No.”

“Oh great.  I mean, that’s not great,” he fumbled.

He scurried off, and a few minutes later, our waiter finally arrived.  We put in our order for food before he barely greeted us, but I’d consider that less rude or impatient had we not been sitting there for at least 15 minutes.

Their menu, on first glance, reads like an incomplete math problem. Three numbers accompany every dish, and you’re to make the assumption that those three numbers indicate the prices of differing sizes of the order. But how big are the sizes? Small, medium, and large barely denote anything of actual serving size.  Our waiter explained that the small serving was the size of a tapas dish for one, the medium a size suitable for sharing, and the large, something for a large party, or in my case, the perfect size for my main course.

Jen wanted to start with the tomato and mozzarella with fresh basil, which came out with an excellent presentation, but lacked any originality, making this all looks and no substance order the Jennifer Anniston of our selections.

The Guacamole comes with a heaping side of fresh fried tortilla chips, sharing a similar affliction as the dish above.  The guacamole was certainly fresh and well made, and the chips glistened with oil like a tour bus of retired ladies in the South Beach sun…but somehow this still just didn’t have anything to make this really stand out.  Adding in the fact that the chips were flimsy and snapped when scooping up the delicious green butter only exacerbated the situation.

The Oven Roasted Madeira Mushrooms are soaked with truffle oil, oven roasted, and then simmered in a wine cream sauce, then served atop fresh sliced baguette bread and a creamy goat cheese spread.  This dish seemed to follow suit with the others, being a reasonably average tasting dish with great presentation.  The mushrooms are cooked to perfection, the goat cheese pairs well with the baguette and the mushrooms, but there’s a certain lack of inspiration that comes through a really great dish.

As for my main course, I ordered the large basket of meatballs.  A large bowl filled with somewhere in the range of 10-12 meatballs, which I easily devoured on my own, these were pretty much what you could expect out of a good meatball- satisfying, meaty, and covered in just the right amount of tomato sauce without being drowned in it.  I can’t complain about these one bit.

The dishes here all hold the same level of quality, which is to say, passable, and not worth too much complaint, but lack the creativity or appeal to really give them substantial praise, either.  The kitchen uses quality ingredients and sticks with fairly tame offerings without offending anybody’s palette.  Getting someone to actually serve you, however, is a completely different matter.  That’s not to say Jen and I were the only patrons to get frustrated with the service here;  we watched another couple move tables from a back corner table to one closer to the back where the wait staff hovered in hopes of getting better service.  By the time we left, the two were slumped back in their lounge chairs, looking annoyed, disappointed, and ready for a cheque.

Well, it could have been worse.  At least they didn’t do this:

Social can be found on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Anorexics
• Narcoleptics
• Scallywags
• Non-Tippers
• Waiting For a Storm to Pass

Not Recommended For:

• First Dates
• Gastronomic Greatness
• Attention Whores
• Out of Towners
• Cheat Meals

Mandu is a bit of an outlier as far as Korean restaurants in the DC area go.  As anyone that lives in or very close to a major metropolitan city, all great ethnic restaurants are found out in the ‘burbs.  The city is usually is generally comprised of cafes, bars, or uberhaute coutre types of places, where trained koalas drop eucalyptus leaves into your ice cream at the end of the meal.  But Mandu, which means dumpling in Korean, is the only Korean focused restaurant in the city.  For the longest time, I thought it stood directly across the street from the only gas station in DC on 18th St. in NW (now I know there are actually three gas stations, and you must go to an underground lair to access the other two), which makes it perfect for when you want to get down and busy with a giant bucket of kimchi and get your gas on afterwards.

One of the great things about Korean restaurants is the fact that they always bring a wide array of free appetizers.  We were treated to a sampler of pickled radishes, tofu cakes, kimchi, sauteed eggplant, pickled potatoes, and pickled zucchini.  Tons of probiotics!  Everybody’s a winner!

Since the restaurant is named after, in my opinion, the world’s most perfect food, how could Jen and I go wrong with two plates of them?  We ordered one vegetarian and one pork.  Mandu adds a nice little touch of using green skins to clearly differentiate the types of dumplings here.

Vegetable Dumplings

I inhaled my six pork dumplings while she was taking a sip of a wine, and well on to eying hers just as she put down her glass.  You have to watch those things when I’m around, as well as stray fingers near a dumpling plate. Suffice to say, they’re absolutely delicious here.

Pork Dumplings

Doobu

The Doobu, or egg-dipped pan fried tofu, is reasonably tasty here, but given the fact that you get two for free, I’d say you might be better off ordering another set of dumplings, instead. OM NOM NOM NOM.  Still, I felt better knowing that Jen had gotten enough protein having ordered the Doobu.

For our main courses, Jen ordered the vegetarian Duk Bok Gi on my recommendation, and I ordered the Dwejee Bulgoki.

Duk Bok Gi

The Duk Bok Gi is comprised of thick rice cakes simmered in a chili paste with mushrooms, onions, and meat or tofu.  Jen opted for the latter, naturally.  It’d be worth noting that these rice cakes aren’t the puffy, light rice cakes you’d nomally think of picking up at the store, but rather, thick, chewy, pasta like cakes.  Think of a nice gnudi or gnocchi, and you have a much better comparison.  I loved these things growing up, they have such a great texture and really absorb whatever you’re cooking with them.  Mandu also takes presentation into consideration, as we could see the faint remnants of chili paste streaks around the outer rim of the plate.  Nice one.

Dwejee Bulgoki

The Dwejee Bulgoki is a uberspicy (and yet sweet) pork dish, served with rice and mixed vegetables.  Absolutely fantastic, and very highly recommended.  The portions are large, and the spice burns your tongue enough to make you have to make the decision to eat another bite to drown out the taste of burning or have a sip of water.

The wait staff is courteous and always appearing at just the right times.  Dining here is casual, so it can get loud at times when you’ve got large parties in attendance.  The downstairs has a well staffed bar with great sojutini (soju, a Korean wine, mixed as a martini) specials, and the upstairs dining area has a nice, cozy feel to it.

There’s nary a bad thing I can say about Mandu.  The dumplings, were on point, and very satisfying.  The tofu well prepared, as well as tofu can be, and the bulgoki just barely stops from crossing the line of being unbearably spicy.  The price might be a little bit steep for some people, but I’d say that’s something you have to factor in for living in the city.  The dumplings are very reasonably priced for the quality, and I’d happily join anybody for an all out dumpling double happy extra special good time bonanza.

Check out Mandu on a map here.

Recommended for:

• Dumpling champions
• Casual diners
• High stakes riverboat gamblers
• Chariot riders

Not recommended for:

• Penny pinchers
• Kim Jong-Il (the Il-matic)
• Retiree tour bus cross country travelers
• Carbophobes

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Restaurant Week in DC is always a mixed bag. There are plenty of restaurants that honor the basic idea- you get to sample the food, service, and atmosphere of one of the many participating establishments at a fraction of the price of a normal meal. Of course with any sort of open enrollment dining program like this, some restaurants will use the opportunity to simply shell out less than average quality dishes and service just to cash in on bargain seeking diners such as yourself, or say, a pirate who’s at port for a few weeks. What? Pirates need to eat too.

Jen and I took the opportunity to check out Casa Oaxaca at the south end of Adam’s Morgan in Northwest DC. This restaurant is about two blocks away from the noise, lights, and vom strewn streets of the main thoroughfare of Adam’s Morgan, which I’ve managed to steer clear of for most of my time here in DC. The general area just doesn’t appeal to Jen or me. So having a restaurant on a block that sees more neighborhood resident patronage than midnight whalebone four dollar intern specials and vomit free sidewalks are already a step in the right direction.

The restaurant is a thintangular split level establishment, with a modern Oaxacan theme up top, and a more relaxed, come wear nothing but your favorite futball team jersey (goooooooooooooooooooal!) and a weekday drinking problem. Both are actually very well decorated and have a lively atmosphere. I was a big fan of the painting upstairs where we sat. iAy dios mio! Caliente. I couldn’t find the owner to ask whether or not I could purchase such a fine work of art for my own home, but mayhaps that’ll be on the agenda for my next visit.

Everything at Casa Oaxaca starts the off with a small treat for every diner, courtesy of the chef.  We were given miniature corn tortillas topped with sautéed onions, spices, and Oaxacan cheese. Deeeelicious, and Zone friendly to boot!

The owners also have another establishment in Arlington, a more relaxed Oaxacan tapas bar called Guajillo (pronounced no-ha-blah-ess-pah-nee-ole), which is on the list of places to stuff our faces full of tacos and guac.

Speaking of green tasty treats, Jen and I started our meal with an order of their guacamole, which came to our table with a basket of chips, the house salsa, and the offer of a super spicy salsa that was quickly agreed to by the both of us. The guacamole was fair, but I think the spicy table-side prepared one at Oyamel beats the one at Casa Oaxaca hands down. Opt for a different appetizer to start your meal. We initially ordered the Ravioli de Huitlacoche, but after a warning of a 20 minute prep time for this dish, we thought better and went with a quick dip.

The house Sangria, and I'm boldly making the claim as a n/a it's the best in the city.

I had the Duck Confit salad start, a small but tasty and well proportioned dish accompanied with jicama, grapefruit, and slices of red onion. The heavy shreds of duck complemented the texture of the jicama and the lightness of the salad (argula, I think?) well. Completely awesome execution. If it were any better, it’d have to be at the expense of Anne Boleyn all over again.

The main course of my Restaurant Week picks were the Pork Medallions in a black mole sauce, which had heavy tones of Oaxacan chocolate, garnished with roasted sesame seeds and served with a molded serving of seasoned rice. I skipped on the rice, but Jen tried it and said it was pretty good. The pork was juicy and even better when devoured with the black mole sauce.

The last dish of the night was the dessert, several churro sections filled with a sweet cream cheese, just like your Aunt Juanita used to make for you as a niño pequeño. Tasty, but don’t expect it to hold up well the next day if you’re bringing leftovers home.

Service is fairly attentive here, and the little dish brought out compliments of the restaurant (they figured it’d be a better business decision than a quick slap to every patron’s ass on your way out) to you is a nice touch.  I’ve yet to try  tacos at this restaurant, but between Oyamel and Casa Oaxaca, you’ll find that each restaurant does different things better.   The black mole sauce on just about anything here is great, as is the duck confit salad.  Oyamel’s spicy guacamole wins hands down.  If you’re looking forward to a big main course type dinner, Casa Oaxaca would be your best bet, while Oyamel is a better option for sampling lots of different types of food.