Proof

Proof
Location: China Town
775 G St. NW, Washington, DC 20001.
(Corner of G St. & 8th St. NW
Price Range: $25-up
Website: www.proofdc.com
Nearest Metro: China Town Metro Stop


A friend of mine wanted to take me to a "late" birthday dinner. So I had heard from a friend we should check out Proof. Well I figured since they had a great wine menu I would go ahead and check it out. We walked in to a warm, rustic styled restaurant decorated with bottles of wine lining the walls behind glass displays. We were quickly seated by the hostess (it was a Sunday and not very packed). The feel of the place was warm, romantic and cozy.

The waiter came to our table and handed us the wine menu and the food menu. The wine menu was EXTENSIVE. It was immense. The wines are sold by the glass in different sizes 2, 6 and 8 oz that are automatically dispense. I was overwhelmed and wasn't in the mood to really experiment so I started (and ended) with a muscat wine. Sorta dry.

To start with we received complimentary pita chips with a sour cream dill onion dip, it was very light and very tasty. To start with I ordered the baby beet salad which was exactly what I wanted. My date ordered the meatballs and ravioli. He said they were very good had a hint of spiciness to it. I ordered the duck for the entree. And can I say it was AMAZING! The duck was flavored just right it wasn't too sweet, not too salty just perfect. The meat was succulent and I devoured it. The presentation was simple and simply done.

The server was really nice and friendly, however there was really no follow up after we received our meals and after we were done w the entree the blank plates just sat staring us in the face for quite some time. He walked by several times and still no follow up. A little disappointing.

I looooved the bathroom. It was really cool and was decorated with silver and pink wall paper and accessories. I loved it! So bright and vibrant. It was a complete contrast to the restaurant. The wallpaper was silver w a print of sexy pantyhose clad legs and lingerie from our grandmothers heydays.

For dessert I ordered the strawberry shortcake. (I have no idea how I was able to even eat, let alone, order, dessert. But I sucked it up and took one for the team and ordered it anyway. It sort of had the texture of a scone with strawberries on top and whipped cream. It was good, just different.

I strongly suggest this place especially for a date. It's a nice place to grab a glass of wine before a game or the movies with a bunch of friends. Definitely check this place out!

Zaytinya

I've driven past Zaytinya and have worked with people that use to bartend at Zaytinya, and EVERYONE raves about this place. I never like getting caught up in the hype, but even the exterior decor captured my interest. I love Mediterranean food and I decided I wanted to go there for my birthday with a few of my girlfriends. When you walk in it is really modern and elegantly decorated. Even the bathrooms are really nice, but it still has a friendly comfortable feel to it. We had a short wait so we decided to grab a drink at the bar. I ordered the Pom-Fili cocktail and it was perfect. The bartender was a good bartender and knew what he was doing. Once our buzzers went off we were seated by the hostess and met by our waitress. She was quite patient because it took us forever to order since there were so many items on the menu that we wanted to try. We ended up ordering the Falafel, Grape-Leave Dolmades, Cretan Snail Skordalia, Octopus Santorini, Seared Salmon, Lamb Chops with Hommus Bil Toum, and the Rabbit Stifado. Mind you it was only 3 of us eating. =) We were skeptical about the Snails, but they were amazing. I would definitely suggests these to anyone as an appetizer. I realllllly enjoyed the rabbit and the lamb chops. I can't complain about any of the mezze plates we ordered. I mean I loved every single plate. Everything was seasoned perfectly not overly salty, all of the meats were savory and perfectly chosen. The only thing I would be mindful of the next time I go is that I ate so much that I didn't have enough room for dessert =( . It is definitely a place to go on a date or just with a few friends. It was amazing, and lived up to all of my expectations. Definitely a must!

www.zaytinya.com

Location: Penn Quarters
701 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20004
(Corner of G & 9th)
Nearest Metro Station: Chinatown Metro
Price Range: $15-up

Al Tiramisu

Al Tiramisu
DuPont Circle
Italian Restaurant
Red Line
Website: http://www.altiramisu.com/


Ah, I've resurrected! And i've been hungrier than ever! On a late Sunday night around 9ish (almost past my bedtime) my sister who was in town, and I were looking for a place to grab some good grub. My roomie had given great accolades to this Italian restaurant called Al Tiramisu in DuPont. Well since we were both in the mood for Italian I figured hey why not. So we walk in and were greeted by a very tall, polite gentleman. The restaurant is sort of small and quaint, reminiscent of the restaurants in Italy, and was filled with couples. I was happy they were still open (it was about 10 at this point).

So we sat, and viewed the menu. It wasn't very extensive, but they had the usual pasta, salads, and anti pasta entrees. We both quickly agreed on the cheese and spinach ravioli. I took a glance at the wine menu and was surprisingly pleased. As I have said before I love wine, and they had two of my favorites. The wine list was more extensive then the food menu, not necessarily a bad thing. The food came amazingly quick which please me and my sister since our stomachs were literally growling at this point. The waiter asked us if we wanted cheese, and of course, I couldn't decline. We greedily ate our food and, I will say the food was decent, nothing to really write home about, but it was still filling and if it was a little cheaper I probably would have felt a lot more enthusiastic about it.

The dessert menu was pretty extensive as well, and I opted for the tiramisu (my fave dessert). My sister opted for a chocolate style gnocchi dessert that was served with ice cream. It's not on the website and I can't remember the name of it, but it was pretty good. I was a little disappointed with my tiramisu, I don't know if it was because I had extremely high expectations, it still hit the spot, but just wasn't what I was expecting. It was good just not the best. I would definitely suggest this restaurant if you want to stop for a swig of good Italian wine or for some yummy Italian dessert (just don't go in there with high expectations on the Tiramisu).

I might have to try it out again to see if I feel the rest of the entrees are worth the bang for the buck. LIke I said the food wasn't that bad, however if it was a little cheaper I might be more enthusiastic about it. The service however was fantastic, someone came by to make sure the water glasses were filled and to check and make sure everything was okay. I never once thought to myself "where is the damn waiter". That definitely made the experience pleasant. Wouldn't suggest this spot for large gatherings of friends, but if you want to opt for something a little more quaint and unpretentious.

ZOLA

Okay so it's one of my favorite weeks of the year!!! RESTAURANT WEEK! Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to ravish it like I would like, BUT I did get to try out Zola's for lunch. So my co-worker made reservations at Zola on OpenTable.com for lunch. We left work and headed on over there. We got there and the atmosphere was really nice. The bar was to the left and I wouldn't have minded taking a seat over there and grabbing some drinks if the table wasn't ready. Its very inviting and has a very upscale mysteriuos feel. With wood interior, sleek designed walls, chrome, and frosted glass with blacked out images of people alluding a mysterious espionage feel, appropriate for a restaurant connected with the Spy Lounge. Very chic, modern and contemporary.

We were seated and I was excited because the whole menu was included in the Restaurant Week special. I ordered the House Cured Salmon Pastrami for the starter, Lobster Mac & Cheese for the Main entree, and the Basil Creme Brulee for dessert. I must say the Star Restaurants know what they are doing. The flavors, seasonings and mixes are made to perfection. The House Cured Salmon Pastrami was so delicisious if they had a larger portion I could have eaten it for the entree. The Entree itself was sooo creamy, with healthy CHUNKS of lobster, it was perfectly seasoned and the portion looked small but was actually pretty hearty, I had enough to serve two other people! After eating what I could of the entree I went ahead and broke my diet rule and had dessert (it's restaurant week, with these prices who could resist), and it was amazing!! The brulee wasn't torched too much, just slightly so it wasn't too thick and the basil added a subtle twist, the creme was just so smooth and light, and didn't make me feel guilty for eating it at all. I also had the ginger lemonade. It was pretty good a little tart and woke up my senses, but tasty.

Needless to say this restaurant is a winner! I loved it. I would definitely recommend anyone trying it. I will say it's a little pricier so more than likely if it wasn't restaurant week I wouldn't dine here on a regular basis, but it is definitely a nice place to splurge a little on a delectable meal. My next move is to try out their dinner on a date ;) This is a nice place to get dressed up and feel classy for dinner, definitely a nice spot to take a date!

Location: China Town
Price Range $30-up

Website: http://www.zoladc.com/

Thai Chilli

Now this Thai restaurant is pretty snazzy. The interior is mostly black with a few hints of color that gives it a sleek modern look. This is a great place to grab some tasty Thai food. The curry is spicy, the drinks are delicious and I have yet to be disappointed. The staff is very friendly and on point. The manager even walks by and checks on everyones tables to make sure you are doing okay, a plus in my book. The curry is good, the Pad See Wa, and the Pad Thai are all yummy. They have a specialty drink that has pureed strawberries in it, it is so good, you have to order it (I have to remember what it is called), but its great. The prices are reasonable so it's a good spot to stop by if your in the mood for some good Thai food. The chicken satay must be ordered before starting your meal and pretty much any of the salads. The portions are pretty large for the price. It's definitely worth trying.

Location: Chinatown
Price Range: $10-20

Thai Chef

Thai Chef is a small space with a bar and a happy hour on their sushi a few of the Thai entrees and rail drinks that begins from 4-7. They have sushi and Thai food. The sushi isn't all that great. The Thai Chef dumplings were okay. The people are really nice there, but the service can be shotty. The Grilled Jumbo River Shrimp are pretty good, but the Hawaiin Duck isn't so tasty even though the tomatoes and pineapples in the sauce were pretty chunky and good. Wouldn't consider this spot if I was in the taste for sushi, maybe for a Thai dish, but I'll update my review when I have had more of the dishes on the menu.

Location: Dupont Circle
Price Range: $10-20

http://66.34.56.214/thaichef/main.html

Mama Ayesha's

Mama Ayesha's is a nice restaurant with an outdoor terrace feel indoors. The ambiance is nice and very Mediteranean with water fountains and beautiful tile art. It's a nice place with great food. A good place for large dinner parties, and nice quaint dinner dates. The food is really good. I went with a friend and we ordered TONS of food. We had the Grape Leaves and the Mezze (a sampler platter) for appetizers. For dinner we ordered the Combination entree with shish kabobs, kifta kabob, couscous, grape leaves and kibbeh over rice. The portion was large enough to share between two people. But my friend ordered a plate himself, and we had TONS of leftovers. But the meal was so good we both tried to stuff ourselves with as much as we could. The menu is pretty extensive and it took me forever to try to figure out what I wanted because it all looked so good. Middle Eastern food is my favorite cuisine, and this restaurant definitely satisfied my appetite. It's a little pricey, but you can always order a combination plate (for an appetizer since it has everything on it) and split an entree, and that would be sufficient and cost efficient.

Location: Adams Morgan
Price Range: $20-40

http://www.mamaayeshas.com/

Ella's Wood Fired Pizza

I caught up with a couple of people after the Eid Celebration at this place during lunch. The place had a bar and reminded me of a more inexpensive and intimate styled California Pizza. The menu was pretty decent and had a few interesting mixes of salads and fire roasted pizzas. The table ordered the ella's cheese pizza, wild mushroom pizza, lombardi pizza, and the quattro fromaggi. Oh yeah, and a belgian & endives salad that was extremely yummy. The quattro cheese pizza looked amazing and was pretty good. The garlic was fresh and tasted like it. The person who ordered the Lombardi pizza (mostly carmelized onions) was excited because he is an onion lover. The ella's cheese was good but had more sauce than cheese.

This is definitely a nice spot to stop and grab a decent personal size pizza that is big enough to share with another, or to just grab a quick lunch. Definitely suggested if you are walking around Chinatown looking for something quick to eat or if your in the mood for a decent pizza that isn't super greasy.

Location: Chinatown
Price range: $10-20

http://www.ellaspizza.com/

Tony & Joe's

I went to Tony & Joe's on a date after work one day. I was kinda scared when I first walked in because there were tons of men sitting at the bar, and everyone turned towards the door, and I felt like I just interupted a boys club meeting or something. But we were seated in the dining area and it was very nice. The waiters brought out bread while we waited for our food. Both of us ordered the Cream of Crab soup, which was delish. For an appetizers we had the Spinach Crab dip and we DEVOURED it, it was soooo good and it was such a large portion that we couldn't even finish it. I had to force myself to stop eating it so that I would have room for my entree. For the entree I ordered the Tony & Joe's Broiled platter. YUM! Unfortunately I ate too much dip so I couldn't finish the entire thing. But I tried to stuff as much as I could into my mouth that my little tummy would allow. I was very impressed with the food. The wait staff was very helpful and were like on cue with everything! It was like they had secret cameras that alerted them when we were done with our plates. I highly suggest this place if you enjoy seafood. There is a patio area that overlooks the waterfront, unfortunately it was too chilly to sit outside and enjoy the view.

Location: Georgetown Waterfront
Price Range $30-up
http://www.dcseafood.com/taj/index.htm

Zengo

I have been to Zengo's on a date catching up with friends and business associates for quick eats and good drinks. The environment is really modern, hip and trendy. It's a perfect way to start the night, or a perfect way to end an evening. Zengo's is a restau-lounge spot. I would recommend coming dressed up, or at least casually cute. The first time I went, I was unaware of what the dress code was and wore jeans and tennis shoes, and felt so out of place. The chicken emapanadas are REALLY good. The sushi, eh, I wouldn't recommend ordering any of them except the Angry Zengo (which are pretty good). I went for my cousins birthday dinner and I think we ordered everything on the menu. The Tuna Tataki Salad (My fave) was devoured by everyone at the table. A couple of my friends ordered the Grilled Lamb Striploins and I swear within a matter of minutes their plates were absolutely spotless, I really think they licked their plates clean. The tuna belly tartare was okay the tuna is cut up pretty chunky but it was cooked a little more than I preferred, but it was okay. The drinks are really good and would recommend ordering any of them. Definitely a must stop spot =) Being that the restaurant is tapa style you can get caught up trying to order every menu dish on the menu and your bill starts adding up, so if your on a budget be cautious, this place can be dangerous on your pockets!

Location: ChinaTown
Price Range $25-up

http://www.modernmexican.com/zengodc/