One trick to find unexpectedly good dining venues while abroad is to head out of your hotel on a nightly saunter, as Helen Van Berkel discovered in Washington DC
For such a major player on the world stage, Washington DC is also very walkable and safe. Police cars are a constant presence: I don’t think I walked even a block in the seat of the US Government without seeing some kind of police car. I never stopped being amused at how inept the Secret Service in cars labelled “Secret Service” was at keeping itself secret. I guess their constant presence helped keep anyone with nefarious intentions out of my path and not once on my night-time forays in search of food did I feel at risk.
These are some of the best eateries I found during my late-night wanderings.
The biggest danger to my nightly walks was Google directions: why oh why does it insist on telling strangers to a city on the other side of their world to “go east”? Thus my 10-minute walk to Washington hotspot Chinois stretched into 30 on my first night in the city.
The Michelin-guide-listed restaurant offers a modern Chinese menu and French-inspired cocktails, set in an industrial-style restaurant on Washington’s Eye St. The trendy interior darkness made reading the menu difficult but a one-page set dinner menu took away that problem. For my first course, I opted for crispy duck spring rolls, which came plated with cabbage, scallions, carrot, onion and an apricot sauce. The cross-cut rolls were a hefty size, their salty deliciousness set off nicely with the tangy cabbage and scallions.
Spring rolls at Chinois. Photo / Bar Chinois
During the second course of misozuke salmon rice Chinois’ darkness added the dimension of surprise to every mouthful forked up out of the shadows. Would it be a bite of honey-glazed miso salmon or wasabi seaweed? The mixed greens maybe? I stretched myself to take in the creme brulee for dessert. And glad I was to do so: the sweet custardy treat was topped with a perfectly crunchy layer of toasted toffee. Chinois is as well known for its French-inspired cocktails as it is for its Chinese food, so accompanying my meal was a Chinois mule. The fresh and sparkling mix of Absolut vodka, creme de cassis, berry shrub, lime and ginger beer was the perfect counter to the rich flavours of the food and it was clear why Chinois is a current Washington hotspot. Just be prepared to use your phone’s torch app to read the menu.
The Unconventional Diner was also only a 20-minute walk from my hotel but given the previous night’s experience with Google, I felt a cab ride was in order. The Unconventional Diner is unashamedly all about American comfort food: think fried chicken, pot pie and cornbread. And I was unashamedly excited to finally try the “biscuits” so famous from novels set in the southern United States.
Unconventional Diner. Photo / Supplied
I started with the kale nachos on the basis that anything containing kale cancels out all subsequent calories. The dish was spiced with a robust cayenne dressing and the mass of kale fried to a crispy plateful of virtuousness. I wish to this day that I had asked for the recipe. It left me almost too full for my fried half chicken and biscuits with gravy and coleslaw. The “biscuit” turned out to be like a scone, but not as crumbly or as sweet. The gravy was a little sweet to my taste but the coleslaw was deliciously creamy with a mild tang. Dessert, of course, was a lemon meringue pie, another staple of southern states-set novels. I love lemon as a counter to sweetness and this pie embraced both sides of the taste spectrum. The meringue was thick and creamy and so rich I asked for it “to go” and took the remains back to my hotel for a sneaky treat later.
For four decades Filomena Restorante in Georgetown has been a favourite for presidents and movie stars whose names are casually sprinkled throughout the menu (no stars were present when I visited). To step into the dining space is to be embraced by not just the embedded aromas of years of good hearty cooking but also the cosy atmosphere of laughter and family. Windows overlooking the currently drained Chesapeake and Ohio canal let in the winter sun to lighten up a space still decorated in the reds and the hearts of St Valentine’s Day.
It's important to save space when ordering rigatoni con salsicci. Photo / 123rf
I started with garlic bread, which came as thick chunks in a wicker basket lined with a red checked napkin. I didn’t manage to eat it all out of concern for the upcoming carb load of rigatoni con salsicci, although, unlike “musician Bono of U2″ who ordered a second helping, one serving was enough for me. The huge plate arrived full of fat rigatoni pasta and fat home-made Italian sausages in a creamy vodka Sunday sauce – which contains added cream - all of which the server liberally sprinkled with parmesan. The result was soporific satisfaction.
It’s easy to forget that inland Washington DC also has a waterfront quarter. The Potomac River, effectively a border between north and south, flows through the city and its banks provide an obvious opportunity for walking and cycling paths, marinas and restaurants. The sun was setting on a golden winter’s day when I took my seat at Bistro du Jour. Wide windows front the riverfront promenade and gave me a view of luxury cruisers gently rocking at their berths and the dog walkers exercising their pooches on the cobbles outside.
Bistro du Jour specialises in French cuisine – don’t fries sound so much tastier when they are called frites? - and I started with the moules frites. At least a dozen still-in-their-shells mussels arrived, bringing the heavenly scents of garlic and butter. They tasted as good as they smelled and were soon demolished. Coq au vin was a no-brainer for a main in a French restaurant and too was soon demolished. The hearty dish of braised chicken legs, bacon lardons, mushrooms, pearl onions, and mashed potatoes also came with carrots and gravy. It was a satisfying meal with a side of people watching and the sunset over a historic river was the perfect full-stop to my Washington stopover.
