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!
F: 202-637-6101
Washington DC, District Of Columbia 20001
brownstew's retrEAT 