Happy Hour at The Source

Since most of you reading this are my friends, I’m sure you already know that I’ve moved to WASHINGTON D.C!!! Despite my new location and the slightly unfamiliar food scene, the blogging must go on!Friday, T-diddy, S-money, and I found ourselves at the Source, Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant here in DC. Well, we didn’t quite find ourselves. I was reading a good DC food blog (Young and Hungry) and read that the Source was one of Top Chef contestant, Mike Isabella’s favorite DC restaurants.

Dragon's Fire

Happy hour starts in the bar and lounge area at 4p and goes until 6p. We got there at 5…imagine our surprise when NO ONE WAS THERE!! Word? Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant is not poppin for a Friday happy hour??? LIES…within a half hour of sitting the bar seats were filled and huge party doing the tasting menu showed up. Not to mention the people pouring in for their 6pm reservations. I guess people  in DC just don’t get off work until 5. I thought government workers got off early on Fridays…guess not.

Passion Fruit Mojito*

Oddly enough, happy hour at the Source doesn’t really have any drink specials…at least not from what I could tell, BUT you do get 3 food items from the lounge/bar menu for $20.11, which is a pretty good deal since each item is around $8-$12.

Let’s start with the drinks. I got a Passion Fruit Mojito, which is pretty self-explanatory and equally as wonderful. S-money had the Dragon’s Fire, a compilation of Resposado tequila, grapefruit, and, you guessed it, jalepeno! She’s on a tequila and spice thing right now, so she really enjoyed it. I, personally, prefer my spice on my plate, but I can still recognize good and that drink was good.

Asian Pear Drop

T-diddy initially ordered the Hemmingway but it had this weird licorice taste because of the absinthe. The bartender graciously took it back and made her what he recommended initially, the Asian Pear Drop, which was just as great as he said it would be, made with Absolut Pear, pear puree, and something else yummy. All in all, I’d say this is a great place to pick up a good $12 cocktail while waiting on dinner.

So we got 3 dishes each. It was just enough to fill us up without feeling like we had gorged ourselves. T-diddy and I even had leftovers that managed to fill me up for lunch the next day.

Pork Belly Bao Buns

S-money got the Pork Belly Bao Buns,  Sichuan Chicken Dumplings, and Chinese BBQ Spare Ribs. T-diddy ordered the Chinese BBQ Spare Ribs, Stir Fried Yaki Udon, and the Shrimp Dumplings. I got the Tempura Green Beans, Stir Fried Yaki Udon, and Sichuan Chicken Dumplings. Overall, the food was good. Mr. Puck’s people do not dissapoint.

Tempura String Beans

Our favorites were the Udon noodles made with wild field mushrooms and slow cooked oxtail (oxtail is like bacon…it makes everything better), Spare Ribs, which had an amazing sauce that left you wanting more, and the Tempura Green beans, which really should be shared, but had great notes curry and pickled ginger.

Udon Noodles with Slow cooked Oxtail

The shrimp dumplings were too salty. The chicken dumplings were super flavorful, but also just a touch heavy on the salt. The pork belly bao buns were tasty but left you wanting more pork!

I would love to go back for the Prime Beef Sliders and maybe some of the sushi rolls that I saw them getting at the other table, but I really want to go back for dinner!! Ooh and dessert! I saw them bring out carrot cake to a couple behind us and I really wanted to lean over and put my fork in it, but I resisted…I deserve a cookie.

Chinese BBQ Spare Ribs

I was thoroughly pleased. I think this is a good place to do the celebrity chef thing in a relatively inexpensive way.

Try it out. Tell me what you think. Better yet, make some recommendations for where else we should eat in DC!

The Source

P: 202-637-6100
F: 202-637-6101

575 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington DC, District Of Columbia 20001

wolfgangpuck.com

*forgive the camera phone…it’s hit or miss and my camera is out of commission for a while

I heart Michael Schulson’s Sampan!

Sneak Pic of the Chef

About 2-3 years ago T-dub went on a date in Atlantic City and came back raving about this restaurant she went to- Izakaya. I was super jealous, not only because she went on a hot date at the Borgata, but more importantly, she’d had this great dining experience WITHOUT ME!! Anyway, not too long after that word hit the Philadelphia food scene that Izakaya’s owner and chef, Michael Schulson, was bringing his Asian-fusion cuisine to Philadelphia’s own Washington Square West neighborhood. Weeks after it opened, Sampan was all the rave…Philly Mag, Yelp, Foobooz, the City Paper,

Hard at work!

etc…everyone had something to say about this new hot spot…some props and some shots, but mostly good stuff. I had all intentions of making it over there as soon as possible, but really never made it around to it until the spring. After re-visiting the reviews, I’m kinda glad I waited.

Finishing Touches

Despite some reviewers complaints of a few mediocre dishes, a too broad menu, and some bland sauces, they must’ve gotten out all the quirks because I enjoyed EVERY BITE of my first meal at Sampan and haven’t turned back since. It has become my new go-to lunch and happy hour spot.

A couple Friday nights ago S-dolla and I decided to drown our sorrows in food and drank. We were pleasantly surprised to find Chef Schulson behind the grill himself (even though I must admit we were asking him questions for about 15 minutes before I realized it was him). Anyway, we got there at 5:45, sat at the kitchen bar, and had tried almost half the menu by the time we left after 9pm.

Chicken Dumplings

Turkey Banh Mi

I’m not going to go into everything we ate. I would rather take this time to show off some of the great pics I got on my phone. Some of the highlights of our feast included the chicken dumplings, Vietnamese spring roll, kobe beef slider, banh mi, broiled Chilean sea bass, roasted broccoli, and crispy brussel sprouts. I order the chicken dumplings every single time I come here. They’re really good, especially when you get a bite of the pickled radish.

Kobe beef slider

The banh mi on the dinner menu is a Berkshire pork belly sandwich. I don’t eat pork so they used turkey in mine. Both S-dolla and I really enjoyed our sandwiches, especially since they’re only $4 at happy hour. The spicy mayo sauce really takes this escovitch  sandwich to a whole other level. Of note, there are more banh mi options on the lunch menu. I once had one with steak, mint, basil aioli, pickled shallots, and a fried egg…just thinking about it makes me want to go there for lunch…like now.  Needless to say, it was great…way better than the turkey one and the turkey one was good.

I know I said I wasn’t going to elaborate on the food, but lemme make 3 more points before I dazzle you with how great my Droid X takes pics…lol.

Fried Pork Belly Buns- Very Popular

Korean Fried Chicken & Biscuits--going back for this!!

1) Like I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I don’t like Chilean sea bass, but “this -ish right here” was maaaaaad good. The texture was more firm than Chilean sea bass I’ve had before. That combined with it’s wasabi, truffle, and edamame flavors helped me to really enjoy this dish.

2) Chef Schulson was trying out a play on the classic British fish and chips using instead fried BRANZINO and eggplant fries. By the time we noticed how popular it was, I had already eaten more than my poor stomach could handle. HOWEVER, to my delight, Chef Schulson said it would be on the menu next week…I’ll be there!! (I can’t find my pic of the Branzino…arrgh!)

Yuzu Curd Tart and Chocolate Pudding

Apple Crumb

3) One more special shout out to Chef Schulson who could tell that we were not enjoying the apple crumb dessert we’d ordered (the top was kind of burned and the apples too soft like apple sauce) and

Mini Ice Cream Cones- Chocolate Mint and Cherry Vanilla...new flavors every night

brought us 3 of the 4 other desserts on the menu…all of which were simply delightful!

Check it out for yourself. Lemme know how it goes.