Category Archives: $$

Pound the Hill

Posted on by Hungry in DC

Location: Capitol Hill

Price: $$

Rating: 3 out of 5

Summary: A fantastic coffee house that still has ways to go as a restaurant

Pound the HillAlthough we had heard great things about Capitol Hill’s Pound the Hill for breakfast and coffee, our interest to visit for dinner was peaked with a Living Social coupon. Little did we know, at night the coffee house turned into a modern American restaurant. The casual, but intimate atmosphere of the cafe leant itself easily into a fantastic evening dining ambiance. However, it turned out that the restaurant’s kitchen was not able to make the transition as easily. While everything we ordered sounded great on paper, what we were served didn’t match up to our expectations.

Our first small plate was the Duck-fat Tater Tots, garlic parmesan potato tots, served with liquid horseradish and a house-madeDuck-Fat Tater Tots BBQ sauce. Despite the menu’s inflated description, these tater tots taste no different than any other that we’ve Hummus Platterordered before. Only the addition of the light sprinkle of garlic and parmesan made the tots stand out. The horseradish and BBQ dipping sauces were the real treat of the dish, the homemade BBQ sauce making the dish worth ordering again. Our second small dish was the Hummus platter, creamy chickpeas, Greek feta, Nicoise olives, and served with toasted pita. Much like the first, this plate was nothing out of the ordinary, featuring an average hummus dip and a Shrimp Platefew pitas cut into slices. Our final appetizer was the Shrimp Plate, butter-sautéed shrimp, roasted garlic olive tapenade, and basil served with truffle-oiled crostini. Following the pattern of the previous small dishes, the shrimp were unremarkable and the flavors from the add-ins did little to boost the shell fish’s character.

Our first entrée was the Farmhouse Pasta, orecchiette pasta with house-made sausage, braised kale, cubed roasted Farmhouse Pastabutternut squash, and a sprinkle of pecorino cheese. With better-than-your-average boxed pasta and slightly spicy homemade sausage, the beef broth sauce was the real star of the dish, highlighting the savory yet spicy ground sausage and the choice of shell shaped pasta. Although we are fans of butternut squash, it didn’t combine well with the other flavors in the bowl and turned into an odd addition. The cheese and braised kale were nice additions that elevated the pasta’s profile.

For our second choice, we selected the Slow-Roasted Short Rib, beef short rib sitting on top of herb garlic beef Slow-roasted Short Ribjus, red potato and saffron puree, and roasted rainbow carrots. The meat itself fell apart easily and seemed to be cooked perfectly, but the weak flavor from the roast and sloppy concoction that was billed as red potato and saffron puree took away from the dish. Where usually a rim of fat on the cut highlights the expert quality of a beef rib, it only added to the bodiless texture of the beef and brought no additional flavor to the table. Although some of the execution on the dish may need some tinkering, we doubt it would have solved the very “average” flavors we tasted.

Warm Autumn Spice DoughnutsDespite our meal’s shortcomings, we knew that Pound the Hill is best known as a coffee house so we decided to order coffee and dessert. This turned out to be the best decision we had made the entire meal. We ordered the Warm Autumn Spice Doughnuts, small balls of fried dough with a cinnamon-ginger caramel dipping sauce. Missing the typical hole in the middle of the fried dough, these doughnuts were possibly some of the best that we have had in Nutella Lattedc. The caramel sauce was more of a drizzle on the donuts, but still worked perfectly with the fried dough. We also ordered a Nutella Latte, a specialty of Pound the Hill that tasted like terrifically composed hazelnut mocha, not too sweet and not overbearing.

Despite a great atmosphere and an impressive dessert, the core of our meal never came together and left us yearning for the dishes we had read about on the menu. Everything we ordered sounded fantastic, yet the execution wasn’t there. Instead, it was a blur of mediocrity. Most of these faults are simple fixes and, with some fine tuning, Pound the Hill could be a great destination for an evening meal on Capitol Hill. Until then, we will stick to the dessert and coffee.

Pound the Hill on Urbanspoon

Ted’s Bulletin

Posted on by Hungry in DC

Location: Eastern Market

Price: $$

Rating: 3 out of 5

Summary: An updated diner experience that best serves as an area option for breakfast or fantastic shakes

We emerged into the DC light at the early Sunday hour of noon, desperate for the kind of meal we could only get at a local diner. Our patience was thin and our location didn’t allow for the usual options so we made the trip to Eastern Market. We knew of Ted’s Bulletin from previous trips to Barrack’s row and had sampled their “adult” milk shakes, but this meal would by necessity not include any alcohol. After a longer than expected wait of 30 minutes, we were seated and given our mock-newspaper menu, the 1920s bulletin style fitting in with the roaring ‘20s theme of the restaurant. At the moment, the only roaring was our heads and we were all to too eager to order some coffee and our brunch.

While we did order coffee, we decided that the diner atmosphere demanded a milk shake. We ordered their coffee flavored shake, enjoying sips of fresh tasting ice cream. While we were not in a state to have them, their impressive list of shakes with added liquor and assorted alcohol is a great treat late at night when passing through Eastern Market.

It was hard to ignore something so unabashedly named Walk of Shame Burrito, especially when our server recommended it without a second thought. Breakfast burritos were not our usual faire, but the diner atmosphere swayed us to make an exception. A great lesson in not judging a book by its cover, the burrito turned out to be a great decision. Surprisingly tender sirloin steak filled a wrapped tortilla with scrambled eggs, hash browns, cheddar and a green chile sauce. Topping the burrito was a chedder-chili sauce that reminded us of some of the better chili we’ve had, working whimsically with the burrito’s interior. The added slices of avocado was a thoughtful touch, but added little taste when compared to what was already bursting from the flour tortilla’s seams. The paired hash browns were disappointing, bland and poorly cooked through, but still served as a means to soak up the remainder of the burrito’s sauce. As a note, the pictured bacon was ordered a la carte. Why? Because why not.

Our second ordered entree was the Buttermilk Country Fried Steak, crispy fried cube steak served with black pepper white gravy along with our choice of sides, mashed potatoes and onion rings. The breading of the steak had a nice peppered breading, but the battered meat had little flavor of its own and a tough texture to boot. Even the kitchen drowning the steak in white gravy did little to help the rough cut of beef. By the fault of either the heavy gravy or the preparation of the dish, cutting into the steak itself caused it to involuntarily shed its fried coating and made it a struggle to consume one complete piece. Although the onion inside of the battered rings had the sweet flavor of top grade yellow onion, the plain taste of the crumbled coating covered up most of the taste with a poor, bland breading. The mashed potatoes were creamy and packed a lot of butter, the preferred amount truly subjective to the diner’s own taste. However, the potatoes being served cold was not. On our next trip to Ted’s, we’ll likely be ordering something else.

There is much more to Ted’s Bulletin than the so-so entrees we were served. Homemade pop tarts, fresh deserts and nightly specials also fill the restaurant’s wall-mounted menus. The availability of good breakfast at anytime without being forced to visit an IHOP or College Park diner is handy in DC, but that mood hits us only so often after 2pm. If you’re hankering for a diner-quality breakfast or a fantastic milkshake while south of the Capitol, Ted’s is your place.

Justin’s Café

Posted on by Hungry in DC

Location: Navy Yard

Price: $$

Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary: Not your typical sports bar in the best way possible

The Navy Yard area has come a long way in the past few years. What used to be a boardwalk of slums is now high rise apartment buildings next to the Nationals baseball stadium. Although the neighborhood still has a ways to go, there is plenty of potential for growth. Summer concerts and movie festivals are already weekly events. The only thing missing is a restaurant scene. While there may be a Five Guys and Subway around the corner, the real hallmark of a neighborhood is its restaurants. Although it is far too early to see what may come out of the Navy Yard area, Justin’s Café is a large step in a great direction.

When entering Justin’s, located in space on the first floor of the Velocity apartment building, it’s easy to see why it’s called a café. The space available resembles something of a coffee shop with a dozen small tables around a large bar. Yet, for locals and stadium visitors, Justin’s has become a must stop for a pint and some food before or during a game. It really doesn’t have any local competitors and is therefore tremendously crowded around game time. The beers on tap are quality micro-brews, over half from midwest breweries and plenty more by the bottle. The chalked menu on the wall behind the bar reads the visiting beers, daily specials and regular menu. Walking up to the register, you order your food and beer before finding your own place to sit and wait for your orders. From the atmosphere and menu, it’s clear that Justin’s is not your average sports bar. The only question is whether the food is any different than the typical watering hole.

The first dish on the menu we decided on was the Potato Soup, predictably a potato-based soup containing cubes of its name sake along with chopped bacon and chives. Justin’s version is much thinner than the typical form of this usually hearty soup. This may be deliberate because of the summer season, but the body of the soup still retains the strong potato flavor. The soft potato cubes are perfectly cooked and the bacon is not too crisp as to mess with the texture of the dish. It was nice for a change not to have too heavy of a starter and still have all those familiar flavors. As potato soups go, this is one of the better examples we’ve had.

Our two entrees arrived soon after we had finished our soup. The first item was the Rutledge sandwich, grilled chicken breast, chopped arugula, roasted red-pepper pesto and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar on toasted ciabatta. Accompanied with fries, the sandwich eats like a pesto chicken sandwich, only with more flavor than the usual deli order. Everything on the sandwich works with each other to bring out the flavor of the pesto and chicken. The small amount of balsamic vinegar on the pesto-opposite side of the ciabatta bread is a simple but great addition. The fries are better than your average bar variety, evenly cooked without being overly salted. Instead of getting a mouthful of pesto, we were presented with a finely composed product that made it clear that we were not in any simple bar.

Our final order was the Hawaiian pizza, bacon, pineapple, mozzarella, and tomato sauce baked on a thin crust. There was plenty of quality meat to go around, but luckily not so much to cross over into the meat-lover’s realm. Although more pineapple could have helped the pizza’s overall balance, all the flavors were there in full force. The thin crust was surprisingly well made, holding up to the weight of the toppings without tasting like cardboard or mouthful from a loaf of bread. It was simply a great pizza and definitely made me want to try the other topping combinations on the menu.

Usually we don’t review bars for their cuisine, but Justin’s Café is not a simple sports bar by the Nationals home field. In an area that is still developing around a baseball stadium, Justin’s could have gotten away with simply being the only dive bar around and serving the usual greasy, fried nonsense. Instead, it presents a well thought out menu with plenty of variety and flavor, along with an impressive beer selection. Almost every item, from ingredients to names, has a different character and isn’t a carbon copy from any usual eatery. It’s a shame that this restaurant has the “café” size that it does, evident by crowd of patrons that overflows onto the sidewalk outside. Justin’s Café does not have any local competition and that puts it in a unique situation to influence the growth of a Navy Yard food scene. The vision, effort and execution of the whole restaurant speaks volumes to what could happen in the area. From what we’ve tasted here, it’s safe to say that we’re eager to see where it goes.