¡Creepy crawlers!

I thought I was courageous when I braved lunch lakeside at Honduras's Lago de Yojoa, a beautiful body of water where the fresh catch is said to be seasoned by heavy metals. (I was not brave enough for the pescado entero, however, so the fish you see below, beside the fried plantains, was picked clean by my driver and lunch companion.)

The real fearless eater? My buddy Nicole Firment, who crunched on some cucarachas (grasshoppers, actually) in Mexico in December. Photo (above) and video (below) by Julia Oliver.



Looking for bugs closer to home? I remember that La Laiterie, in Providence's Wayland Square, used to serve up some insects every Halloween.

For still creative but not creepy-crawly fare, I recommend the "lamb slider trio" ($18), with curry and coconut organic lamb, lime yogurt crème and rosemary and Parmesan fries, paired with any dessert, at Co Co. Sala (929 F St. NW) in DC's Chinatown, and the Cascade Cafe (6th/Constitution NW) in the National Gallery of Art (10 percent discount for federal employees, free view of the cascade waterfall for all comers). Avoid maoz (1817 M Street NW), in Dupont, where the grammatical errors in the mission statement hint at the carelessness in the food preparation. Amsterdam Falafelshop (2425 18th Street NW), in Adams Morgan, and even the Old City Cafe (1773 Columbia Rd. NW) and Shawarma King (1654 Columbia Rd. NW), are better options.

Where's the beef?

I don't know about you, but good sliders always put me in the mood for an adult-sized hamburger. This was especially true at Farmers & Fishers (3000 K St. NW), in the Georgetown waterfront, the other day, after munching on a pair of baby cheeseburgers assembled with ground-to-order, grass-fed beef, a thin blanket of Tillamook cheddar and a homemade butter bun, and served alongside homemade French fries. So you can imagine my dismay when my "Farmer’s Daughter" burger ($12) arrived (as provocatively named as Tryst) piled high with greens but with no burger in sight. The fact that this surreptitiously vegetarian entree was also missing its promised avocado, and that sliced Havarti was playing the role of the advertised brie, was just insult to injury. The lesson? Order carefully at Farmers & Fishers, or better yet, just stick to its sister restaurant, Founding Fathers (1924 Pennsylvania Ave. NW), because after sampling Farmers & Fishers and its neighbor, Tony and Joe's (3000 K St. NW), I've decided the best strategy for grabbing a meal while gazing at the Potomac River and Kennedy Center is to cook your own dinner and picnic on the promenade.


If you simply must go out to eat, try the double-cooked pork (see photo above) at the Great Wall Szechuan House (1527 14th St. NW), a casual and super cheap Chinese joint that has made it impossible for me to ever return to my trusted Oriental Cafe (1636 R Street NW), also in greater Dupont, where the plastic patio furniture had come to feel like home. If you simply must go out and Great Wall will simply not satisfy your Brewster's Millions spendthriftiness, then I recommend The Afghan Grill (2309 Calvert Street NW), in Adams Morgan, where the Badenjan Chalao ($16), eggplant sautéed with onion, garlic and tomato and served with rice and lamb, may leave you hungry, but also hungering for seconds.

Red faced, not from the marinara

As if my unsophisticated palate, low food budget and amateur cooking skills did not make me insecure enough about publishing Pipón, I heard a great Marketplace segment the other day about the "food paparazzi" and the restaurateurs who, er, do not exactly love them. (Apparently, we food bloggers are famous for publishing photos that are "under-exposed, or taken mid-meal, bite marks and all" and for critiquing food "without really knowing what they're talking about.") And yet, here I go again, with a few Darts & Laurels (h/t to CJR) for some Washington restaurants.


Laurels

The toppings at The Pita Pit (616 23rd St. NW), in Foggy Bottom, including feta, avocado and tzatziki sauce.
Pretty much everything at the Thornton River Grille, in Sperryville, Va., in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, just off the Shenandoah National Park's Skyline Drive, one of the best thought-I'd-come-to-a-greasy-spoon surprises I've ever encountered, where the eggs benedict is served on a homemade baguette, the vegetable omelet special (there it is above) involves, count 'em, five eggs and all dishes get a pick-me-up of fresh fruit and the option of a few drops of the local pepper sauce, Chileman's.
The name (I didn't actually try the food, since the beer alone is bankrupting) of The Star and The Shamrock (1341 H St. NE), an Irish-Jewish pub.
The sauteed beef and onions at El Rincon Espanol (1826 Columbia Rd. NW) in Adams Snorgan (any chance that will catch on?), so tender you (almost, sometimes, when the door is mercifully closed) forget about the booming nightclub upstairs.




The "Sloppiest Joe" ($13) at Ted's Bulletin (505 8th St. SE) (see it above), part of the cloying home-style trend but way more exciting than an overpriced grilled cheese, so much so that it makes up for the poor service at this new restaurant and its odd decision to write "Breakfast Anytime" in large letters on the menu, followed by a small print advisory, "coming soon, we'll keep you posted." On the other hand, the $3 homemade strawberry pop tarts (see one below) are already on offer, as are a great $4 side of blue cheese Brussels sprouts (see one above) and TVs playing classics such as The Wizard of Oz and Breakfast at Tiffany's.
Finally, Laurels for the sliders at Bar Dupont (1500 New Hampshire Av. NW); the Five Guys at Nationals Park, where they do inflate the price a bit but still honor their all toppings free pledge (including the grilled onions, grilled mushrooms and jalapeno peppers); and the $12 "Tacos de Borrego" (slow roasted lamb with garlic and Oaxacan peppers) at Casa Oaxaca (2106 18th St. NW) in Adams Snorgan, where the menu inspires so much confidence, in its refreshingly small size and multicolored mole offerings, that I might actually one day, given enough mezcal, try the "Cazuela de Chapulines," the Oaxacan cheese fondu and grasshoppers appetizer.





Darts

The burgers (see one above) at Nellie's (900 U St. NW) are no joke, with free caramelized onions and only a $1 charge for blue cheese. Still, given the $10 price tag, you'd think they could afford to serve their mimosas in something other than a plastic cup.
The large chili con carne ($5.40) at Ben's Chili Bowl (1213 U St. NW) is good, no doubt, but it does not quite live up to the hype, or the description "large" for that matter. (Why does criticizing Ben's feel like blaspheme and a culinary conventional wisdom echo chamber at the same time?)

NBW

I gave Cashion's Eat Place (1819 Columbia Road NW) a hard time recently for its awkward name (it sounds like it was "poorly translated from Japanese," I wrote). So it's only fair I mention two other marketing missteps I've also encountered around town: New Big Wong (610 H St. NW) in Chinatown, where the 5 a.m. closing time (on weekends) and the tasty $1.75 hot and sour soup do not begin to make up for the sexual innuendo; and Moby Dick's House of Kabob (1300 Connecticut Ave. NW) in Dupont Circle, which has 14 other locations that all carry the same inexplicable non sequitur.

Lists

So far, Pipón has not posted nearly enough "Best Of" lists, that inescapable (but oddly still appealing) gimmick of American publishing. But I'm ready to say this (paraphrasing a friend who recently recommended a Barcelona restaurant by remarking that their txipirones, Basque squid with chick peas and a pomegranate glaze, was "the best thing I ate in 2005"), I had my favorite dish of 2010 the other day, the ragu of wild mushrooms with rosemary, Tuscan liver sauce and polenta ($9.50) at Cashion's Eat Place (1819 Columbia Road NW) in Adams Morgan. The rich, meaty mushrooms were so fresh and earthy I felt like I was grazing in New England woodlands, while the three types of liver (yes, three types of liver, rabbit, duck and quail, if I recall correctly) offered a juicy and unique protein medley and the bed of polenta made sure I did not miss an ounce of the sauce.

In general, I should note, the restaurant is a bit uneven given the prices, offering on the one hand inexplicably inattentive waitering (at least on my single visit), an inedibly bitter chilled watercress and potato soup and an ungrammatical name that sounds like it was poorly translated from Japanese, while also serving up, in addition to the aforementioned lively livers, remarkable Greek spreads including a smooth hummus, a roe paste and an eccentrically spiced yogurt dip.

Hot List

Ages ago, I edited the august Mamaroneck High School Globe. Our best-read feature: a monthly "Hot List," known for its witty rankings and category titles. For this post on a few D.C. eateries I've visited lately, I'll borrow my favorite "Hot List" titles, coined, if memory serves, by my friend Marianne Fichtel.

De La Soul: Montmartre, a classy French joint in Eastern Market (327 7th St. SE). It's not cheap; my brunch panini (above), with prosciutto, spinach, bell peppers, roasted tomatoes, mozzarella and pesto set me back $12. But it has a great patio, and it's just half a block from all the handicrafts.
Fillet of Sole: El Paraiso, Salvadoran pupusería south of U St. (1916 14th St. NW). I've visited twice, and I still have not had time to even read the entire menu. Recommendation: the half-priced appetizers in the late afternoon, including pupusas revueltas con queso and yuca con chicharron curtido.
Seoul, that place in Korea: Spice Express Indian Bistro (1020 19th St. NW), south of Dupont. A decent, quick and cheap option (two curries with basmati rice cost $7) if you want a break from burritos. If you don't, try The Well Dressed Burrito in a nearby alleyway. I haven't stopped by yet, but everyone seems to love its menu, or at least saying its name.

De La Soul: Penang, Malaysian eats (1837 M St. NW). I don't normally hype chain restaurants, but this one just opened and it's in Harvard Square as well, so it got me nostalgic. The decor is frigidly modern, but the complimentary soup at lunch today more than compensated. Lunch entrees include a choice of appetizer, including Penang satay.
Fillet of Sole: Saki (2477 18th St. NW)/Kababji Grill (1351 Connecticut Ave. NW). Both mediocre, but together, I suppose, worthy of a "filet of sole" ranking. Sushi is half-priced in early evening, but not memorable. Kababji is a bit expensive, but I'm told it's a hip global chain, so I suppose, as a foreign affairs student, I should just say I dig it.
Seoul, that place in Korea: La Frontera Cantina (1633 17th St. NW), Dupont East. I gave a second chance to this pretty unremarkable, somewhat overpriced, heavy-on-the-melted-gloppy-cheese Mexican restaurant. There will not be a third.

Overstuffed pita

I have no "food finds" to report. Saying I'd "discovered" restaurants in the few times I've left the library over the last few months would be tantamount to recommending the Washington Monument as an off-the-beaten path tourist destination. But at least I've managed to begin to sample this city's restaurant scene, and so I've got a few capsule reviews to offer.

• The Amsterdam Falafelshop, in Adams Morgan (2425 18th Street NW), is often crowded and essentially only serves falafel in pita and Dutch-style fries. Yet its menu is delightfully diverse, refreshingly inexpensive and definitely worth the wait. That's thanks to the 21 sauces and toppings at the condiment bar, where customers construct their sandwiches Middle Eastern style. Pipón Tip: The homemade, made-to-order falafel balls are delicious, but they take up a lot of real estate in the pita, so you have to be strategic in assembling toppings and avoid feeling pressured to rush by the crush of customers cheek by jowl on line.
• Speaking of Middle Eastern eats, I finally stopped by Skewers, next to Bua, a Thai restaurant on P Street, between 16th and 17th, after passing it 1,000 times on my way to and from classes. I was happy to find pleasant balcony seating and to see foole, a traditional Egyptian dish made of slow cooked fava beans, on the menu. The baba gannouj and hummus spreads were tasty, and they are offered as sides to accompany the "light combination" platters, such as the lamb kufta kabob I ordered. Pipón Tip: Be aware that I'm pretty sure the owners are Bangladeshi, not Middle Eastern, and the menu weirdly includes South Asian preparations that don't quite match the theme.
• The Polo India Club, at 1736 Connecticut Avenue NW in Dupont, is mostly useful for its location, on a downtown stretch by plenty of bars for after-dinner merrymaking. My began bharta (eggplant roasted in a tandoor with onion and herbs) was the least flavorful Indian food I've encountered.
  
• On the other hand, there is plenty of flavor in many of the dozens of small plates at Mezè, a well-known Turkish tapas joint at 2437 18th St NW in Adams Morgan. Pipón Tip: Try the döner kebab and chicken livers.
• Also try Taqueria Distrito Federal, a little-known Mexican restaurant in Columbia Heights/Petworth, at 3463 14th St. NW. There's patio seating, a choice of meats that includes carne asada, chorizo and barbacoa chivo (goat), and a great selection of Jarritos soda. Mexico City is known to Mexicans as the "Distrito Federal," but in D.C., this restaurant's name takes on a double meaning. Clever, authentic (pozole is served on weekends) and delicious.
• Final recommendation: Zorba's Cafe, at 1612 20th St. NW, a casual (read: cafeteria style, grab your tray from the kitchen) but inexpensive, centrally located, tasty Greek joint with a great patio and a traditional, but extensive menu.

Aaron's ground lamb orzo

From my brother-in-law, Aaron Bromberg: Broiled salmon with lemon and oregano, served alongside orzo and sauteed ground lamb, chopped, unpeeled eggplant, crumbled feta (added at the end) and fresh, chopped mint.


Peanut Butter Reese's Pieces and double chocolate walnut cookies ($1.95) from the South End Buttery.