Codmother

Codmother may sound like a Terry Pratchett novel, but it's actually a small, hole in the wall place located on U St. It's designed to be a facsimile of a British pub. It has punk posters and photos, and lots of exposed brick and chalked graffiti. Their main dish is fish and chips — the name comes from the fact that cod is a great fish for fish and chips, and the female of the species is meatier than the male. (I suspect there's a your momma joke in there somewhere.)

The fish and chips they get their name from are the best I've ever had. They are these balls of cod, with a relatively thin crust, deep fried and served with tartar sauce and mushy peas. It's not the traditional breaded fillet, but I think it works better as a nugget; it's easier to eat. I don't care for mushy peas, preferring them to have a bit of a snap, but theirs are quite good, if occasionally a little salty. The chips are thick cut and fairly bland, but they go well with the peas.

Recently, they added a lamb burger to the menu, called the "pimp hooker" burger. Not sure why. It's good, as far as it goes, but it's spiced like a gyro and makes you crave tzatziki sauce. It's not particularly menu, and seems like it was placed on the menu for people who don't eat fish, rather than out of any passion from the owners.

The beer selection is limited, but eclectic. With the exception of Guinness, their draughts are all American mass-produced swill. They have a large selection of British beers in the can and bottle, however, including Boddington's, Old Speckled Hen, and Sam Smith. It's one of our favorite places to go on U St for a low key dinner.

St. Arnold's Underground

We went on opening night to St. Arnold's underground, around the corner from (and underneath) the mussel bar. Loved the atmosphere. It had a bit of a British pub feel to it, which I'm sure will be improved once the smell of varnish leaves. We were a bit disappointed that some of their entrees like the deep fried burger or the bangers and mash were unavailable. The mussels from upstairs are available, and my wife loved their paella mussels. It's really a huge selection, with fifteen or twenty different choices.


I tried two of their (bacon-wrapped and deep-fried) hot dogs, the chicago and the vietnamese. Both were good with lots of fresh toppings. The sausage itself wasn't the best I've had -- it could have used a bit more snap, and wasn't large enough to avoid being overwhelmed by the toppings. The bun was average, but like the hot dog, did not really hold up to the toppings, and would probably have been better toasted.


Overall, it was a great experience for an opening night. Hopefully next time we'll be able to get some darts in!