Mama Rouge - An exciting new arrival to Georgetown

After a long and torturous break from blogging (thank you, school and your endless papers..), I'm excited to report back on a great new restaurant in DC. There are a lot of good places to eat, but to be completely honest, none of it really excites me.  I never think of Georgetown as the first place to go to when I want some really good food.

Mama Rouge, however, which just opened two months ago, definitely excites me.  It just opened two months ago on the Waterfront Harbour, replacing Bangkok Joe.  The owners are also the previous owners of Bangkok Joe, which can only mean a good thing.  Mama Rouge features a fusion of Southeast Asian and French cuisine, so think bahn mi's inside croissant buns and curry mussels served with a fresh baguette.  Yeah, that sounds good.

Photo from Washingtoncitypaper.com because I am a bad blogger and forgot to take one...

After making some reservations with OpenTable, a couple of friends and I went to celebrate the end of finals and the beginning of our holiday seasons.  

As I glanced over the menu and tried to choose a reasonable amount of food to order, I made a few quick observations: 

1. There are lots of options - from chicken to bahn mi to noodle to barbeque-esque dishes, there are a lot of options for whatever you're in the mood for. And the good thing about this range is...
2. There is pricing to fit every budget - as a graduate student, and also a recent college student, finding a good meal for cheap in DC can be difficult.  Thankfully, Mama Rouge has items ranging from $10-$30, with some of the cheaper menu items being their bahn mi's and noodle dishes.  This makes it easy to find some unique dishes without racking up a huge bill! Definitely a plus in my book.

Upon finally deciding on some items, we decided to start with some Chicken Lettuce Wraps and the Pork Belly Bao Buns.  Unfortunately, I seem to have deleted some of the pictures I took, but I was definitely impressed with both of them.  The chicken lettuce wraps were perhaps a little bit less unique than some of the other dishes, but it was a light dish to start our meals with.  The pork belly buns were as usual, one of my favorites.  Anything with pork belly is a win for me, and this take on a Chinese classic.  

For my entree, I ordered the Bean thread noodles, which came with chicken, cilantro, basil, and a delicious sauce with a heavy dose of chiles.  It was definitely a spicy dish, but with me, the spicier it is, the better!  This is also one of those dishes that doesn't look too spectacular, but the blend of flavors is delicious.

Another dish my friend ordered with the Spicy herb chicken, which was a delicious mix of chicken, chimichurri, sriracha, and the most tender chicken I've had in awhile.

I'm already eyeing this dish for the next time I go....


Finally for dessert, I finished off with some Creme Brule, which was absolutely amazing.  It was light, creamy, while still being decadent.  It was the perfect end to my meal!

The only dish we were slightly unsatisfied with was my friend's Crepe Suzette.  Although the flavors alone were delicious,  the Suzette sauce seemed to overwhelm the texture and flavor of the crepe, making the crepe seem like it was drowning in the sauce.  The amount of sauce probably could have been halved while still remaining true to the Crepe Suzette recipe, so we wouldn't order that again.

All in all, I (and my friends) were very impressed with the experience. Although Mama Rouge is fairly new, the food was good and unique, with enough options for any mood, and the concept is done well for the most part.  Southeastern cuisine already blends many flavors, but the addition of French techniques is something I don't see very often here in DC.

Would I go back? Absolutely.  I'm going to have to revisit this again and try some more menu items to officially declare it in my top list of restaurants, but it has a solid menu.  Unfortunately, due to my gluten sensitivities, I won't be able to try out their croissant bahn mi's, which has received a lot of praise.  However, the plethora of rice-noodle and rice based dishes means I can still try a lot of items on the menu!  I imagine that with some more tweaking and a few months extra time, this place can become truly spectacular!

For more information, check out the Mama Rouge website.
To make reservations, try out OpenTable.  
(They're also great to manage all your other reservations!)

Address: 
3000 K Street Northwest, 
Washington, DC 20007
Phone: (202) 333-4422

Have any of you tried Mama Rouge?  What do you think?

Restaurants in DC - Oyamel

It seems that even though I love to eat my way through DC, I rarely ever actually post about it. I think it's because most of the time, I am just so excited by the food that I start eating it before I actually take photos.  Food blogger faux pas, I know......

Except I'm hoping to make a fresh start and start blogging my food adventures.  Although I try not to eat out too often,  there are days when I just want to try something completely different that I know I have no ability to make.   And when the occasion to go to an Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull concert came around, I knew that it was one of those times I wanted to go out of my way to try a new restaurant I've always wanted to try that isn't just a neighborhood favorite.

Enter Oyamel.

I had heard about Oyamel from so many people, along with the other restaurants that the Chef, Chef José Andrés owns.  Although we had originally planned on going to Proof, we changed our minds at the last minute and decided on something a little more whimsical and Spanish/Central/South American themed to get us in the spirit of the concert.  Cue me looking through Open Table to find a restaurant within the Penn Quarter area near the Verizon Center that wouldn't be completely packed..and I stumbled upon Oyamel.

A little side note here, OpenTable has been pretty useful for me in trying to figure out what restaurant to go to, especially when I just search for a time that I can go to and the area that I'm going to be in.  It takes the trouble of calling around different restaurants trying to find one that will work for me.  And by going through OpenTable, I have compiled a verrrry long list of more restaurants that I want to try out.  This is a pretty well known tip by now, but still, I'm realizing more and more how useful they are.

Right from the front door, it is easy to see that a lot of thought went into the design of the restaurant.  There are monarch butterfly designs scattered throughout the restaurant, and the orange/red paint gives off a great vibe.  According to their website, Oyamel is named for the fig trees that monarch butterflies take refuge in during their migration. I have to admit, the butterflies weren't something I expected out of a Mexican restaurant, but after being in there for awhile, I can tell that it definitely fits with the whimsical theme of the restaurant.

Oyamel kind of uses a tapas style, antitjitos, small plates philosophy, which is always fun for me.  It gives me the opportunity to try out multiple things at once.  They have all sorts of dishes, as well as a great selection of tacos.    But, does anyone else get overwhelmed by menus whenever they go to a restaurant?  I love eating, but I am also so indecisive. Thankfully, Oyamel has a large menu, but I was able to pick out the top things that I wanted to try pretty quickly.  

While we waited for our orders, we munched on chips and salsa and  enjoyed some drinks.  I'm usually a beer person, but they have quite an impressive list of cocktails that I would love to try out.  

One quick note in here, and probably important for many of you - I was really impressed with their service.  We had made a note before we started ordering that we had to make it to a concert later that night so we made sure that all the food we ordered would come out fairly quickly.  Everything came out quickly, even when our waiter said it would probably take about 10 minutes, and all the servers were so friendly to us.  The chicken mole we ordered came out just a few minutes after receiving our chips, which worked just fine for me because I was starving by that point.

Chicken Mole, by the way, is one of those dishes I always order whenever I'm in a Mexican restaurant.  The complexity of the sauce means that I haven't even attempted making it myself yet, but the mix of poblano, chile, and chocolate is the most amazing combination of spicy, bitter, and sweet.It came with a generous side of herbed rice, which was also incredible. It was flagrant and flavorful, but not too strong to compete with the mole sauce.  I could probably eat this everyday....

To keep with the "quick and light" theme, we ordered two tacos each.  Again, I think they might just be a tad expensive, but I think the flavors made it worth it.  I ordered the "Tinga poblana con puerco" - Pork with chorizo, lettuce, and avocado.  Anything with chorizo, pork, and avocado is a win in my book, but the real standout was the "Pancita de puerco al pasto," or also known as pork belly, with some pineapples thrown in there as well.  Pork belly is one of my favorite foods to eat, no matter how decadent it is, and the pineapple was a really great addition to cut through the fat of the pork belly.

Total satisfaction in the form of tacos.

Although we didn't have the time to eat through a full meal,  the little samplings we ordered left me wanting more. While I've eaten at quite a few restaurants in DC, not too many of them will stand out enough to have me thinking about it for days after.  DC is certainly in no shortage of restaurants, but I think what ultimately sold me was the overall environment of the restaurant.  I just felt relaxed, and like I could have fun.  This time around, the decor played a pretty role in my experience in the restaurant.  That along with the easy going servers who were attentive to our requests, and the great food that came out makes me want to go back...and soon.  I think next time I'm there, some "must eats" are their tacos with grasshopper, the "Chapulines," and their Papas al mole - potato fries with mole sauce...although I honestly would happily eat anything on their menu!

Who can resist a picture in front of some butterflies?

Next time you're in the mood for some fun Mexican, and you're not looking for a restaurant to overstuff you with food, check out Oyamel.

And make reservations with OpenTable because they get pretty busy.

Oyamel Website
Make a reservation with OpenTable 

Address:
401 7th Street NW, Washington DC  
(Penn Quarter; Gallery Place)


Got any other favorite restaurants in DC?  Let me know because I'm always up for eating....and make sure you stay tuned for more restaurant reviews in the future!