On our last visit to the restaurant, Jen and I had a less than positive experience at PS7′s. I won’t rehash all the sordid details, but you can read about our Restaurant Week (RW) visit here.

Fast forward a couple months to the present date, and we still were holding on to a coupon that we weren’t able to use on our previous visit.  Steeling ourselves for a return, we made our reservations and headed back over for dinner.

The first difference was immediately noticeable:  the restaurant was tamer, quieter, and filled with a vastly different crowd.  I’m not sure if I could pin down a specific group of people, but there was a good deal more diversity in age, group sizes, and species types of people in general.  A much easier going crowd, celebrating anniversaries, visits from parents, and random diners like us, less of a concentration of budget diners looking to get sloshed at the bar afterwards.

Free from the confines of a restricted “dining on rails” RW menu, Jen and I decided to split a Nutty Goat Flatbread, coated in walnut butter, goat cheese, arugula, and shallots.

I also threw in an order of the Angel Wings – a quartet of sausage stuffed boneless chicken wings, served with a generous serving of a peach gastrique.

What we were treated to was…vastly better than our last set of appetizers there.  The flatbread, about the size of an 8-inch pizza, was buttery without being too greasy, loaded with a rich goat cheese flavor, and given just the right amount of wilted arugula and shallots to pair it off.  Like a goat cheese salad on bread.  My angel wings were the equivalent of a gourmet order of Chickum McNuggets served with sweet’n'sour sauce.  I tore through the nuggets in a matter of seconds, without even bothering to offer Jen a single one.

In retrospect, I’m 99.9% sure she really didn’t mind.

Our entrees, arrived in short fashion.  Jen ordered the Cannelloni, a cast-iron skillet filled with celery root, sweet potato, and mushroom ‘sausage’, straight from Hell’s Kitchen.  Well, with as hot as this dish was, it might as well have been delivered from the underworld.  Jen burnt her tongue on her first taste, and took a few spoonfuls onto her bread plate just to have it cool down from the cast iron skillet.  I guess you can’t really complain about food being too quick from the kitchen, right?

I let Jen pick out my plate, and she went with the Stuffed Pork Loin – a giant slab of pork, pounded and rolled with leeks, spinach, bacon, and coated with parmesan, then served with a sherry au jus.

My girl knows me so damn well.  Or maybe she was just living vicariously through me.  One of these days, she just won’t be able to resist the call of the bacon.  Either way, I really enjoyed this dish.  The pork was succulent, and the leek/spinach/bacon stuffing just seemed like a natural pairing for the pork loin.  The only way it could have been better would have been having this dish served in a bacon gravy, with a side of bacon lollipops.

Sweet merciful Jebus I love bacon.

I’m sure that Restaurant Week brings in the volume and the dollars, but the set menu does this establishment no justice whatsoever.  I almost wish that we hadn’t gone here for Restaurant Week in the first place.  While PS7′s still might not be at the top of my favorite places in the city, it’s certainly much better than I had originally thought.

The best part?  The kitchen sends a dessert out to every table, compliments of the chef.  Two freshly made soft truffles.

Still looks like a skidmark to me. A damn tasty one, at that.

DC’s streets run in a grid. There are four quadrants, NW, NE, SW, and SE, which all extend from the Capitol at the center. Numbered streets run North to South outward from the center, and letter streets run West to East from the center. State streets, for all understanding, have absolutely no rhyme or reason to their ordering, but they do run diagonally, and often bisect park squares and circles. You can get around for a good amount of time just running by the numbered and lettered streets, but you’ll eventually have to learn some of the state streets in order to get to some of the restaurants in DC, like Zentan.  Zentan is the official restaurant of the Donovan House, a boutique hotel that spruces up Thomas Circle a bit, much more than the former owner of the building, which was as far as I can remember, a bit of run down Holiday Inn.  The renovations have really paid off here.  I constantly see travelers and tourists flowing in and out of the Donovan House, and having a mysterious and ubercontemporary restaurant like Zentan is just icing on the cake.

Having a friend of Jen’s in town, we figured Zentan would be the perfect spot to treat a traveler to a special meal.  Jen and I had previously eaten here and left satisfied when the restaurant first opened, so we figured it was due time to give this place a proper review.

photo credit: The Washingtonian

The appetizers here are in my opinion, what really makes Zentan stand out, particularly the Singapore Slaw.  The chef combines 19 semi-secret ingredients like eye of newt, hair of the dog, witch’s horn and deathlock (more like daikon, jicama, purple basil and edible flower petals) to combine an amazing tower presentation coated in a light, salted plum dressing and brought straight to your table.  The staff will then deconstruct and mix your salad tableside, and then it’s time to dig in.

The mixed salad is a lot less pretty, but also a lot easier to eat without flinging vermicelli noodles at the table next to you and ruining some poor girl’s first date.  Or bar mitzvah.  An abundance of textures of flavors here make this dish a must, and there’s enough here to share the salad between three people at any time of the year.

The Chickpea Onion Tempura is another great starter, although it leads me to believe that one of these days I should come in here just ordering a table full of appetizers and going Godzilla on the table of food.  Each layer of chickpea tempura onion ring is given a generous coat of mint yogurt and mango chutney for good measure.  Another great dish that brings a ton of unique, complimenting flavors to the table, I could easily go through this stack of onion pancakes myself.  The mint yogurt probably helps with that kickin’ onion breath afterwards, too.

While the three of us quickly devoured the appetizers, we realized that the waiter had oddly left us without taking our entree orders.  Not that this was a huge this to fuss about-  we were busy catching up and chatting away, but I have a feeling that had I not flagged down our waiter on one of his pass throughs, we might have been waiting a good deal longer to have our food made.

Jen, with her typical light eating habits, ordered an Avocado Roll for her entree.  The presentation is solid, and the portions are just right, filled with an assortment of vegetables and topped with spinach…but, no avocado?  Apparently the avocado here is an avocado paste that’s glazed in somewhere between the spinach and the rice, but you’d think ordering a dish with avocado in the name would at least present some decent sized chunks of the good green stuff, right?  I flagged down our waiter once again and asked if Jen could have a side of avocado with the meal, and he unquestioningly obliged, to which I really credit him for.  I do agree and feel for Jen, that this might be better suited as being called a Spinach Roll, but who the hell wants a spinach roll?

I didn’t have too much luck with my order, either.  I tried to steer towards a more Paleo direction with the Empress Shredded Chicken- a stirfry mix of chicken breast, vegetables, mushrooms, cashews, and cooked in a hsiao hsing wine sauce.  The result?

Yeah, not really all that appealing in person, either.  The vegetables do just fine, but again, the main ingredient, the chicken, really fails to live up to any sort of expectations.  The meat is extremely dry, which leads me to believe that little to no effort was placed in really giving this meat a good marinade.  I’d skip the Empress Shredded Chicken on my next go here, maybe for a nice caramelized Michelin tire instead.

Jen’s friend hit the jackpot with the Cantonese Marinated Skirt Steak –  a long trough of steak cooked a shallot butter mix, served in a chili ponzu sauce with crunchy hazelnuts.  The presentation is on point, and it got the thumbs up from our guest.

Everything about this place is a mixed bag of inconsistency.  Some dishes are outstanding, like the Singapore Slaw, Onion Tempura, and the Skirt Steak, but other dishes, like the Avocado Roll and the Empress Shredded Chicken, completely miss their mark.  Consistency with all your dishes is really crucial, especially if you want to have people coming back time and time again.  Service seems to also fit into this category here at Zentan.  While our waiter was  extremely knowledgeable of their menu, and as accommodating as one could ask for, leaving us hanging to put in our entree orders until we were well past our appetizers is a bit of odd behavior, but at least in this case it thankfully devolved to being a quirk rather than an issue.  The mixed drinks here are outstanding and decidedly unique, and the more open minded visitors can be treated to something special by just discussing their favorite brand of alcohol with their waiter (which in this case, happened to be Hendrick’s Gin).

The atmosphere here is great for dates and happy hours, with downtempo-esque and lounge music softly setting the mood.  The large window that faces towards Thomas Circle is perfect for people watching in the afternoon, and it’s worth trying to sneak upstairs into the rooftop lounge of the Donovan House just for the view.  I’ll give my recommendation to trying Zentan if you’re a fish lover (the restaurant proudly proclaims having the best fish of any establishment in DC), but I can say no more than ‘caveat emperor’ if you order either Jen or my main dish for the evening.

See Zentan on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Gastro Gamblers
• Ditching Work Afterhour Drinks
• First Dates
• Anthropology Classes
• Vegetarians
• Neighborhood Bar

Not Recommended For:

• Paleoheads
• Zone Dieters
• Frugalistas
• Bar Mitzvahs

Dupont Circle once was the darling neighborhood of DC.  Businesses crammed themselves into every available space, and the various streets leading into the circle- Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, P, and 19th, are filled to the gills with an array of restaurants adorned with neon signs and shielded by faded awnings.  Jen and I stopped into Taj Mahal, which had it not been our destination for the evening, would have never been something I’d even consider visiting.  The restaurant does little to garner the attention of passing pedestrians such as myself, but the problem arises from the fact that the restaurant’s public facing signs are only visible if one is constantly looking up while walking down the street.

We climbed the flight of stairs to the second floor, where the restaurant sits with a view to Connecticut Avenue below.  We were quickly and politely seated, and left to peruse our menus.

Our first appetizer, a set of Pakoras, is an assortment of vegetables coated in chickpea batter and fried to perfection, then served with a pair of chutneys and ready to go.  These things were awesome!  Not too heavy nor greasy, and the flavors of the vegetables were heightened rather than dulled by the chickpea batter.  A highly recommended dish to start your meal.

We also split an order of the assorted bread basket, a triple stack of naans, baked with onions, garlic, and assorted herbs.  In retrospect, Jen and I should have waited to eat this with our entrees, but we were so ravenous that we took down more than half the bread before those dishes even arrived.  We asked for a yogurt dipping sauce to go with the bread, which was a fantastic accompaniment.  I have to point out that the yogurt sauce here is thick, rich, and fresh, and completely unique in comparison to the yogurt sauces I’ve had in many other Indian restaurants.

Jen’s entree and perennial Indian cuisine favorite, the Chana Masala, looked and tasted great.  The dish seemed to come swimming in a more curry based sauce rather than a tomato based sauce like most restaurants prepare it, but it didn’t negatively impact her enjoyment of it.  Not particularly a lively dish, but nothing bad about this one, either.

I wagered on the Lamb Madras – large chunks of lamb coated in a fragrant and moderately spicy coconut curry sauce.  The waiter did his best to evaluate my tolerance for spicitivity before taking my order.

Waiter: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being not spicy at all and 10 being the most spicy, how much can you handle?

Me: About a 6 or a 7.

Waiter: (Nods approvingly) Then you will enjoy this dish.

I should have removed a matchbook from my pocket and extinguished a lit match on my tongue, all while staring him in the eye, but mayhaps such a display of arrogance would have been a bit over the top for a simple question like this.

He was probably envisioning something more along the lines of…

My take on the Lamb Madras?  An excellent dish.  The curry was spicy but not searing, and the lamb was tender, tearing at the slightest pull of a fork.  Watch out for the peppers sitting on top though, that’s like eating a small stick of dynamite.

Considering this was a cheat meal, Jen and I had to get the puddin’. Awww yeah.

Bear in mind, this is no Kozy Shack pudding that you used to eat back in the day.  The rice pudding here is definitely spiced and mixed with almonds and raisins, but still very much a delight.  Thankfully, Jen declined to get into a spoonfight over the last bit in the cup as we plowed through this dessert, but I’ve got my eye on her to stab me in the neck with a spoon the next time I’m not looking.

The decor inside the Taj Mahal Restaurant unfortunately does not reflect the name.  Wood paneled walls and paper place settings hardly evokes an atmosphere of grandeur, and prices here are a bit on the higher end because of the proximity to Dupont Circle.  However, the dishes are well prepared and tasty, but not quite extraordinary.  The service we were treated to was possibly the best service we have had in months, and in that respect, perhaps the restaurant does in a way find a way to make it befitting of its namesake.  Dinner here is good, but it would seem that the big draw is to come in for their lunch buffet, as long as you can make it past the food coma that succeeds it.

See the Taj Mahal Restaurant on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Four Star Service
• Curry Consumptionaries
• Vegetarians
• Indian Afficianados

Not Recommended For:

• Frugalistas
• Carbophobes
• Paleoheads
• Zone Dieters
• First Dates

Penang, unbeknownst to me, is actually a chain of Malaysian cuisine restaurants that run along the Atlantic.  The DC location recently reopened its doors to the public, after a vicious fire gutted the space for well over a year.  I had been to Penang on a couple of occasions prior to the inferno, and reasonably enjoyed the atmosphere.  With a completely redone interior, I felt that Jen and I should go and check it out to give this place a proper review.

The layout, from what I remember of it, remained fairly the same.  A set of white loveseats act as the waiting area behind the hostess stand at the front door, with a thriving bar scene to the right of the entrance.  There are a number of tables behind the bar, one of which we were able to get near the window facing out to M Street.

The two of us started our dinner with a small army of appetizers, but because Penang refuses to post their menu to their website, and I neglected to document the name of each dish we ordered, I’ll have to exercise some creative freedom in naming each dish here.

The first, a quintet of meat filled dumplings, although not quite what I had envisioned when I put in the order.  These dumplings, filled with a miscellaneous meat, weren’t terribly memorable, and just barely satiated my craving for dumplings to begin with.  The preparation was great, and the presentation wasn’t terrible, but not something I’d think about ordering on a return visit.

The second order of dumplings, listed as a curry puff dumpling, were seemingly vegetarian on the menu.  However, when they arrived to the table, the waiter informed us that they were actually not vegetarian, and filled with meat.  Provided with the difficult decision to eat all ten dumplings or send one of them back, I manned up and polished each one off…including the bed of shredded carrots and lettuce.  I would absolutely swear that I did not taste one bit of meat in these dumplings, and that the menu had no mention of meat in these dumplings, but because of the plausibility of not being vegetarian, Jen just avoided the risk altogether.  Like the dish before, these weren’t terribly exciting dumplings, not extremely satisfying.  If both these dishes are indicative of the overall quality of dumplings available here, I’d likely skip ordering any of the dumplings on the appetizer menu altogether.

The one thing I do remember enjoying at Penang is their roti bread.  A giant puff of bread, that comes with a flaky top and a chewy bottom, I fully intended this to be the highlight for Jen.  The waiter even brought a vegetarian curry dipping sauce for her, as the normal curry dipping sauce contained large chunks of chicken.

But something wasn’t quite right here.  The roti, with considerably more crispy parts than chewy ones, just wasn’t as filling, or satisfying.  I couldn’t put my finger on it, but at least for me, I felt the lack of the chewy, soft bottom really was a detriment to the enjoyment factor of this dish.  It would have appeared to me that one of the things I enjoyed the most about coming to Penang was nothing but a shadow of its former self.

After a considerable wait, our waiter hurried over with our entrees.  Jen picked out one of her favorites, the vegetarian Drunken Noodles.  With overly wide noodles and a fair amount of vegetables mixed in, I was hoping that this dish would be the savior of the meal for her.  Her response, to my inquiry of satisfaction, amounted to little more than ‘meh’.  We were also presented with another order of dumplings that a food runner tried to unload on our table, but after several futile verbal explanations that it wasn’t our dish, we vigorously shook our heads, and I think he got the drift.

My entree, the Penang Char Kueh Teow (which is one of the nine dishes featured on the site), is one of Penang’s siganture dishes.  A mix of flat rice noodles, shrimp, squid, eggs, chives, and bean sprouts in a black soya chili sauce, resulted an opinion of “BAH!” from me.

Don’t get me wrong, I shoveled this dish down my gullet without barely taking a breath, but that’s par for course with me.  But I didn’t really find this dish fantastic, nor something I would have bothered making a return visit for.  For being one of the restaurant’s signature dishes, I have to say that it lacks any definitive character that any other noodle house couldn’t just as easily replicate.

Giving the restaurant one last chance, Jen and I ordered the Mango and Sticky Coconut Rice dessert.

BAM!

Finally, a winner.  The rice and mango perfectly complement one another, with each slice of mango a buttery slice of heaven with the pile of sticky coconut rice.  This dish doesn’t come off as too heavy or too sweet, and it’s one thing that Penang actually gets right.

Overall, the food here isn’t terrible, but it’s by no means great, either.  At best, I’d call it just average.  Service, unfortunately, is less than stellar.  Our waiter was almost never available or nearby at any time.  After having my chopsticks and fork taken by a busboy, I waited for five minutes before Jen walked over to a large table of guys and asked if she could take an unused pair of chopsticks from them.

See?  This girl is amazing.

As we were presented with the bill, I noticed that the total was much lower than I had expected, and noticed that we were presented with the wrong table’s bill.  I tossed in my credit card and handed it to the waiter, who returned with our actual bill, with nary a word of apology for mixing up the bill or explanation.

As we were leaving, the music was cranked up, as loud as neighbors banging it out through balsa wood thin walls on a Friday night.  This is the second time we’ve gone to an establishment only to have it turn into a club, but this time, the experience was more grating than amusing.  As we walked outside, a large security guard was busy patting down and running a metal detector wand over each person entering Penang, which makes me wonder if anyone’s been shot here recently.  Definitely not a practice I remember before Penang’s unfortunate blaze.  It’s highly unlikely that either of us will be returning to this new Penang ever again.

See Penang on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Lip Readers
• Oontz-Ootnz-Oontz-Oontz
• Twentysomethings
• Terrifying your Inlaws

Not Recommended For:

• Quiet Dinners
• First Dates
• Dumpling Whores
• Noodle Canoodlers
• Carbophobes
• Zone Dieters
• Paleoheads

Kabab-Ji Grill has entered into an already crowded market of kabab (kibab, kebab) restaurants and vendors in DC.  So what exactly makes it stand out?  What makes it worth choosing over any other kebab restaurant?

According to the website, it’s the fundamentals of what makes a quality dish – the ingredients. Kabab-Ji Grill uses only the finest of ingredients in their recipes, which is evident as soon as you walk in the door. The grill sits behind a giant display of prepared but uncooked kebabs in a glass cased refrigerator, proudly on display like a classy timepiece around Flavor Flav’s neck.

The interior is well executed, a throwback to the chain’s Lebanese roots, with large rough cut stone walls and ornate wood panels abound.  Tables are topped with colorful ceramic tiles, although mine had a wobble factor to it that was a tad irritating.

The staff here is extremely friendly, courteous, and accommodated every request from the table.  A decanter of olive oil imported from Lebanon?  Done.  A dish of cucumber yogurt dip? Of course.  An order of a Swarovski vajazzled* cornish hen with eggplant and hummus? Wasn’t on the menu. Maybe next time.

Kebab Orfali, courtesy of the Kabab-Ji Grill's site

I ordered the Kabab Orfali, two skewers of seasoned beef with tomatoes, onions, and eggplant, because it sounded like the closest thing to paleo that I could get.  I expected a heaping of grains to accompany the dish, in addition to the basket of freshly baked pita bread delivered to the table, and what I got was…just that.  No surprises with the kebabs here, as they weren’t terribly huge, but enough to make up a small lunch for me.  That is, of course, skipping the hilltop of rice and large slabs of bread covered in a delicious looking tomato paste/sauce, but, trying to stay paleo, I was barely able to avoid disaster and downing it all in one fell swoop.  Was it delicious? Absolutely.  Was there tons of meat? Hmm…I’d say closer to 3 oz here, which like I said, is fine for a small lunch with me, as I doused the meat and vegetables heavily in the Lebanese olive oil.

It’s important to keep in mind that the price premium you pay here isn’t about the service (although it’s not lacking in any way or manner) or the portions, but the emphasis of quality ingredients.  Could I really taste the difference? Honestly, no.  With a dish like this, it’s hard to determine the quality with so much seasoning on the meat.  I could have likely been served a lesser grade of beef, and still not have known the difference. I do, however, appreciate high quality ingredients being used when they’re available, and respect that Kabab-Ji is offering something that’s not typical of a kebab house in DC.

If you’re looking for a restaurant holding a high standard with their ingredients (and what goes through your body) in their Mediterranean dishes, Kabab-Ji is just the place for you.  Otherwise, I’d say you could quite easily find something similar and cheaper elsewhere in the city or the suburbs nearby.

See Kabab-Ji Grill on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Organic/Grass Fed/Free Range Carnivores
• Quick Lunches
• Carbogluttons
• OCD Engineers
• Mediterranean Munchers

Not Recommended For:

• Starvin’ Marvins
• Paleoheads
• Zone Dieters
• Vajazzling Parties
• Frugalistas

*A Bejazzled behemoth. A twinkly-eyed beaver. A crystal-ornatified hoohah. A sparkling ladyjunk.  Jennifer Love Hewitt’s ‘A River Runs Through It.’ Do you get what I am saying here?

Mezza Luna doesn’t particularly stand out amongst its neighbors on 19th street, which I have deemed ‘the less fun version of Adam’s Morgan’.  Truth be told, the restaurants along 19th street in NW shine their brightest during the week, serving lunch to the droves of businesses that hold the majority of the commercial retail space there.

Despite the slight difficulty in finding the restaurant (you have to descend a set of stairs from the street level to garner entrance), Jen and I eagerly looked forward towards our dinner there.  Inside, the layout and design was…less than aesthetically pleasing.  A large bar area filled the left portion of the restaurant, illuminated by strips of blue LED lights, reflecting tirelessly against the polished chrome barstools.  Dallas Cowboys propaganda fan memorabilia proudly adorns the walls.

We had barely walked in and already, this place was not going in a good direction.

To the right, several tables and booths filled the remainder of the restaurant.  Our reservations were for 9:00pm, which is not an unusually late dinner, but not late enough to explain a mostly empty restaurant.

Not good.

We looked around, and save for a few girls sitting at the bar and a handful of wait staff milling about, Jen and I were one of four groups of patrons here for dinner.  We were taken to a booth closest to the entrance of the restaurant, and started reading over the menu.  Our waiter, a diligent young man, arrived three times checking to see if we had decided what we were going to order before actually making our decision.  Well, let me rephrase that.  Jen knew in about 10 seconds what she wanted for dinner, I took a RIDICULOUS amount of time being tempted between an inordinate selection of pastas.

We put our order in and really took in our surroundings.  There was a private section for staff behind Jen, and a large white coated plywood area where a man (who I assumed was the manager) stood, observing the restaurant.  I made the comment to Jen that if it were a manager’s observation section, it should be raised higher up on a platform and more closed off, instead of making it look like a cheap cashier’s counter like it actually did.  Aside from the bar, very little was remarkable about the restaurant.  The furniture was contemporary, the walls adorned with paintings, mirrors, and a lonely potted plant did its best to camouflage the pillar that stood behind it.  It all seemed a bit too effortless, and not in a positive way.

To my point earlier, I’m sure that passes well enough for patrons during the week who stop in for a quick lunch, but for a dinner, it really negatively affects the people seeking a meal out in the town.

Our appetizers arrived quickly, thankfully, and we dove right in.

Jen’s Mozzarella Caprese came out with great presentation, but fell short of being a satisfying appetizer.  Neither of us could quite pinpoint what it was about her dish that was lacking, but something was definitely amiss.  Like awesomeness.

I ordered the Calamari Fritti, which again, remained fairly unremarkable, and started to get me worrying that this was how the entire evening was going to play out.  The portion was good, the calamari was fried well, and nothing about this dish was bad.  But nothing about this dish was great, either.

We cleared our food and as our waiter cleared our plates, we suddenly realized that the rest of the staff was clearing the room.  Being the last patrons in the restaurant, I guess they didn’t really see the need to keep the tables out on the floor.

But no, that wasn’t quite it.  There wasn’t a cleaning crew idling around with a mop bucket.  The wait staff were quickly piling chairs and tables into the corner behind us, which again, totally ruined the idea that we were even at a restaurant.

I noticed an African American woman carrying two cases with her towards the white plywood cashier’s desk, and instantly realized what was happening.  She walked back outside, and came back carrying two more bags, and began setting up behind Jen.  She disappeared for a few seconds, and then slowly stood up, holding a CD turntable in her hand, which she gently placed on the desk…and I instantly realized what was happening.

We were slowly watching the restaurant turn into a club.

As I looked around us, I made a second important realization.  This wasn’t an ordinary club night.  How do I say this?

Aside from the guys working at Mezza Luna, I was the only man there.  Several groups of girls congrated near the bar, a few at a table, and a strange Voltron-looking thing that was sipping on a cocktail, but otherwise, the place was slowly filling up with women.  It wasn’t really a problem for me, but I definitely got some strange looks, as if I didn’t belong.

Our entrees arrived, and our focus was back on to the food.

My Pesto Chicken Fettuccine was surprisingly…outstanding.  The noodles tasted fresh, the pesto cream sauce was rich with flavor, and the chicken was tender and juicy.  Bits of wilted baby spinach, pine nuts, and roasted red peppers all helped in really making this dish much better than just average.  and A complete 180 from the calamari, I was really pleased with this dish.

Jen’s Quattro Formaggi Ravioli was equally as good.  The ravioli was cooked al dente, and the tomato basil cream sauce tasted super fresh, as if the chefs were making the last dishes of the night.

Which, I guess, they were.

I suppose this better explained the big rush our waiter had us in at the beginning of the meal, to get us through before the club patrons started to pour in.  By the time we were finishing up our meal, the lights had been cut and the jams were pumping out the speakers.

Mezza Luna’s strength clearly comes out in their pastas, but as a restaurant, in very little other ways.  They proudly hold a ladies-only club event, Socalite Saturdays, every first Saturday night of the month, starting at 10:30pm.  The event benefits The DC Center and the Women in Life Association, who both fight for the rights and social justice of the LGBT community.

I’d assume that the place gets crazy with all three Dallas Cowboys fans in DC during the fall as well.

See Mezza Luna on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Dallas Cowboys Fans
• Pastafarians
• Girls Who Like Girls Over Boys
• Vegetarians

Not Recommended For:

• Wedding Receptions
• Impressing Your Date with Hard to Get Reservations
• Romantic Dinners
• Paleoheads
• Zone Dieters

Mystery. Secrets. Espionage. All these things make for a great spy themed story. From what I’ve heard, the attached Spy Museum of DC really plays up these things, but unfortunately, as a restaurant, Zola can only do so much in incorporating these ideas into the theme of the restaurant.

Let’s start with the restaurant itself. An elongated bar presents itself immediately to your left as your enter and approach the hostess stand, with seating for dining to the right. The design here is contemporary, but nothing too flashy or forward thinking to offend the eyes. If you walk straight towards the back of the establishment, you can see a staircase to your right that leads up to a walled off ceiling, which looks a bit odd, but the fact that the owners decided to save the staircase instead of gutting it is appreciable nonetheless. The restrooms in the very back can only be accessed by passing through a secret compartment wall, which plays into the spy theme nicely.

The wait staff here is friendly, humble, and best of all, actually knowledgeable about their food and wine. Jen ordered a glass of something something that smells like grapes to me, which to her, tasted a little off. Now bear in mind, Jen is RARELY picky about her wine, and will drink just about any sort of wine that’s given to her. The waiter suggested she try the Dona Paula Malbec they had on hand, which really impressed her. And if she’s happy, well, damn, I’m happy too.

Zola started our meal off with a chicken liver mousse with a fig spread on a small toast flotation device, compliments of the chef, which I happily swooped in on and took out both in a blink of an eye.  Nothing too extraordinary, but pretty tasty all the same.

For her dinner, Jen split her order between the Porcini Mushroom Ravioli and the Brussel Sprouts with Shiitake Mushrooms, topped with Parmesan Cheese.

The ravioli definitely looks a little on the light side for me, but for Jen, coupled with the brussel sprouts, it turned out to be the perfect amount.  Despite the small portion (and granted, it is an appetizer), the raviolis pack a signifcant amount of mushroom flavor with each bite.  The marsala sabayon helps give the dish some depth, and everything about the presentation makes this a winner.

The brussel sprouts are served in a minature cast iron pan, although they don’t have the char that denotes being cooked in a cast iron skillet, but likely a cook over the range and tossed into the oven to melt the parmesan cheese.  An excellent side dish that isn’t too overwhelming, but a large enough portion to shared with another.

I ordered the “American Hot Pot”, a hodgepodge of seafood and chorizo cooked in a tomato broth, served with a heavily buttered sweet corn quinoa foothill with a bridge of toast.  There’s got to be some sort of metaphor here of bridging something something to the land of seafood and pork, but I wasn’t getting it.  I was getting the heavy use of delicious butter in the quinoa, which likely wasn’t the healthiest of dining selections, but certainly worth eating.

Zola’s “Straight Forward American Cuisine” self-description is certainly befitting to the food here.  Nothing stands out as extraordinary, but nothing is completely disappointing, either.  Many of the other diners there were well dressed and on either a mission to impress their dates, or seeking a special night out.  Jen and I rolled up in our patchiest of patchy granola pants with our hair done up in dreadlock rasta with a single care in the world.  The setting here is definitely edging towards the upscale, and the same can be said about the service.  The food here, however, is above average at best, without being particularly memorable but undoubtedly satisfying.  I wholly believe that if the kitchen took some effort to revitalize their menu offerings with the right chef, Zola could be a much more desirable dining destination.

See Zola on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Out of Towners
• Fancy First Dates
• Vegetarians
• Paleo heads
• Zone dieters
• Butter Buffs

Not Recommended For:

• Gastronomic Gallivanters
• Quick Dinners
• Double Agent Double Dates
• Trashy Hobos
• Fat Phobics

Chef Geoff’s isn’t really a newcomer to the DC restaurant scene, but with four establishments in the area (one in upper NW DC, one in Penn Quarter, one in Tyson’s Corner, and an Italian focused Lia’s Chevy Chase), the brand name is definitely making a…uh, name.  For. Itself.

Shit.

Jen and I headed over to their Penn Quarter location to have dinner and sample some of the large number of available offerings on their menu.  I default to the description of ‘American Bistro’ for this type of restaurant because it fits so well.  The food is certainly contemporary but not absolutely at the forefront of haute coutre with flavors or presentation.

We started off with two appetizers, the Hush Puppies served with Maple Butter and the Crispy Plantain Chips with Guacamole.

Hush Puppies with Maple Butter

The Hush Puppies were exactly what I’d been craving for a few weeks now.  Large deep fried balls of dough, although not quite the same as the kind you’d get at the beach on a Memorial Day Weekend vacation.  The portions of the hush puppies were great, but the flavor was a bit lacking, with an absence of heavy seasoning that I expected.  Thankfully, a generous knob of maple butter comes in and saves this dish.  Definitely not the best hush puppies I’ve ever had, but they’ll do when you’re jonesin’ for some with no beach in sight.

Crispy Plantains with Guacamole

The Crispy Plantains with Guacamole, however, was a easy one knocked out of the park.  the deep fried plantain chips came lightly salted and crispy but not flimsy; the guacamole was made from fresh avocado and no added salt, which really pleased Jen, who considers herself to be quite the guacamole critic.  She commented that most places usually screw up one or both of the two factors that she considers to be important, using substandard ingredients, or killing the natural flavor of the avocado with too much salt.  Salting the plantains solves this problem perfectly, and makes them pretty tasty on their own.  Which really, you might end up having to do, because there isn’t a whole lot of guacamole that comes with the chips.  Still, a winner for both of us, and highly recommended.

Wild Mushroom Ravioli, Arugula, Truffle Butter

Jen’s main course, the Wild Mushroom Ravioli, carried the rich aroma of truffles from the butter, and had a nice ‘meaty’ taste to them.  The ravioli itself was delicate and and soft, a good sign of quality pasta.  A perfect pick for her, the dish offered lots of flavor and just the right amount of food for her appetite.  A highly recommended pasta dish for the diner with a light to moderate appetite.

Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin with Collard Greens and Sweet Potato Gnocchi

My dish, the Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin with Collard Greens and Sweet Potato Gnocchi, evoked a bit of a mixed reaction from me.  The bacon wrapped tenderloins were juicy, hearty, and packed full of flavor.  The sweet potato gnocchi were well executed, and a great compliment to the tenderloins.  The collard greens were wilted to perfection, and great on top of the gnocchi.  The only problem I had with the dish was the loads of salt dumped into the sauce that covered everything.  This doesn’t come from someone who readily limits their salt intake.  I highly believe that sea salt and fresh ground pepper are fundamental seasonings, and put it on just about every carb dish I eat.  But this was a LOT of salt.  Not inedible levels, but still a bit much for me.  That being said, ordering this dish isn’t exactly the pinnacle of healthy choices, so I can’t completely blame the kitchen for liberally adding salt here, but I’d feel more confident in giving my full endorsement to it if it weren’t so over the top.

There are definitely some great choices here, but the menu certainly has some less perfect ones, too.  There’s no real way to tell what’s going to resonate with you and what’s not, but my suggestion is to order what you know you’re going to like…and maybe, just maybe, it’ll be one of the dishes that Chef Geoff can knock out of the park.

See Chef Geoff’s in Penn Quarter on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Comfort Food Diners
• Steak’n'Potatoes Patrons
• Vegetarians

Not Recommended For:

• Weight Watchers
• Carb Counters
• Cheese Eatin’ Surrrrrrrrender Monkeys

Coppi’s is one of the many restaurants on U St. in DC that has seen a surge in popularity in the past few years.  Their pledge to the environment spans from their locally sourced organic produce, grass-fed/free-range meats, a wood burning oven, wind powered electricity and ultra-low wattage light bulbs.  How low?

Coppi's Interior

The focus here is definitely pizzas, with the highest of quality ingredients.  That’s not to say that’s all the restaurant does, as they also have a solid selection of antipasti (appetizers), insalate (salads), entrate (entrees), and dolci (sweets/desserts).  So, I started with what I can only remember as the Piatto di Carne.  The meat platter itself seemed a bit light on the side, but really, all I was looking for here was my meat fix before splitting a pizza with Jen.  Truth be told, the smoked salmon, the salami, the pancetta, and the smoked ham did just that for me.  A tasty sample of cured meats, but the salami was a bit too “meaty” for me.  Considering that they were all grass-fed meats, I guess that’s just my mis-perception of what high quality food costs, right?

Right.

The pizzas here are off the chain good.  Jen and I split the Al Cinque Formaggi- a white crust topped with ricotta, provolone, mozzarella, pecorino, and romano cheeses.  Do you know what that’s like?  It’s delicious, like having the last unicorn steak in existence.  I’m not sure if it was the organic magic at work here, but this was a damn good pizza.  A perfectly baked crust, lots of gooey, stringy cheese, and just the perfect amount of sauce to hold it all together.

You can always follow up that meal with your choice of dessert, so Jen and I split the bread puddding a la mode.  Your standard fare bread pudding, but well executed and presented for optimal omnomnomnomnomnom.

Here’s a photo of the bread pudding:

Bread Pudding a la mode

All in all, Coppi’s serves up a very tasty and very expensive meal.  The question of price for quality comes to mind again, amongst others.  Will we all one day have to pay more realistic prices for food when our food sources become scarce?  Are you an ardent fan of high quality ingredients (Red Sea sea salt, Micronesia olive oil, Vietnamese Maroon Pygmy cinnamon) when you eat?  Do these pants make me look fat?

The pizzas here are very good and a fairly good value, but I’d skip out on the appetizers and desserts.  The restaurant also holds very generous hours, open even during the blizziest of blizzards that take over DC.  If you’re craving a good pie and you’re in the area, stop in and give Coppi’s a try.

See Coppi’s Organic on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Pizzaholics
• Deep Snow Dining
• Organic Aficionados
• Vegetarians

Not Recommended For:

• Inexpensive Dates
• Zone Dieters
• Paleoheads
• Carbophobes