New at Duffy's

Monday nights, I'm usually at Duffy's Irish Pub playing games with a group of friends. It's a nice, laid back place that serves beer, so it works out well for us. Not too mention, it's really close to my house. Well, they aren't open Mondays during August, so we bummed around a bit, but just went back for the first time this week. They've always had pretty good happy hour specials, and their food has gotten a lot better lately, but now, they're offering $6 boilermakers. It's Natty Boh and Evan Williams, and it's a great deal. I believe they offer it all the time, not just at happy hour, so go check them out!

Izakaya Seki

For quite some time, I've been looking forward to the opening of Izakaya Seki, a Japanese restaurant located near V St. and 12th NW. It finally opened a couple weeks ago, so my wife and I went down to check it out. It's definitely a cute little space; if they offered happy hour specials, I might swing by after work, and it look like it'd be nice for an early date. Downstairs, they have bar-style seating, and upstairs they have table seating.

The menu is small plates, and it's focused more on Japanese pub food rather than on sushi. In fact, there are only a few sushi dishes on their menu, and no rolls. On the other hand, they have a rather extensive list of sake and shochu, so there's that. We ordered the Sashimi Special, the Uni starter, the Kushikatsu (deep-fried pork belly), and the Kyona salad (arugula-based). We both agreed that the Kyona salad was the best of the dishes. It was fresh and bright, but the egg and tuna shavings gave it a nice savoriness as well. The pork belly, on the other hand, was the worst. Underneath all the breading, you could barely taste the pork belly, and it was seriously chewy. The sashimi and the uni were both above average, but somewhat expensive, even for the fairly large quantity you got. The selection was good, with tuna, octopus, squid, yellowtail, flounder, and shrimp. The octopus was a highlight, beautifully tender, and the shrimp melted in your mouth.

The service was attentive, if not especially knowledgeable. We both enjoyed it, and will probably go back since it's right in our neighborhood, but there are probably better places for izakaya-style eating in DC.

Black & Orange

Once, there was a burger joint in DC called Rogue States. It had good burgers, named the best in DC by USA Today, and a good location in Dupont Circle. The location had one downside, however. It was next door to a law firm. The Steptoe & Johnson lawyers complained about having to smell burgers all day, sued, and won. During the shutdown, the chef opened a new spot just off of U St, and named it Black & Orange.

Black & Orange has a pretty stripped down ordering process. You decide if you want a big burger (1/2 pound) or a smaller one (1/4 pound). They have a bunch of different styles of burger, like a jerk burger or a curry burger. You decide if you want it pink or not pink, and what toppings you want. They have soda, beer, and wine to drink.

The burgers are good. I'm not convinced of the best burger in D.C. label, but they're definitely a cut above McDonald's or Five Guys. They're also cheap; a quarter pound burger will run you just $6. I've had their plain ("Square One"), the jerk burger, and the "Rogue State," which reminds me of a cajun burger. The seasonings on the flavored burgers were definitely noticeable, but not overwhelming. If anything, they could stand to kick it up a notch. The buns are potato buns, and have just the right amount of give to stand up to the burgers without being overly assertive. Overall, quite good, but if I'm not worried about costs, I'd rather go to Desperado's around the corner.

Bistro la Bonne expanding

Photo by Angela N. on flickr

The other night I went to my favorite mussel place, Bistro la Bonne. They have a new expanded mussel menu, all of which are very tasty, and it's only $15 for moules frites and a beer during happy hour. I'm not sure they're quite as good as Bistrot du Coin or Granville Moore's, but they're in the same ballpark, and they're a lot closer to where I live. It looked like they were doing some construction, so I asked the bartender what was going on. Apparently, they're going to open up the second floor and turn it into a dedicated mussel bar! Very exciting, and I'll let you know how it is once it opens.

Utopia Closing for a Year and a Half.

Utopia restaurant. Photo by M. V. Jantzen on flickr.

Via Prince of Petworth, Utopia closed last Friday and will be closed for the next eighteen months:

I also passed Utopia at 1418 U St, NW on Sunday. I spoke with the folks at Stem two storefronts down. They said that both Stem and DC Noodles would also be closing soon (he didn’t have an exact date of when) for at least a year while construction of the nearby Louis at 14th development takes place. In the meantime Stem is having a clearance sale on all of their inventory.

Hopefully the food will be a bit better when it opens.