I bet you're wondering: what is up with that name? Well, Sou'Wester refers to a wind from the southwest (think Nor'Easter), and since the restaurant is in Southwest, DC and serves southern food, it makes some sense. It probably wouldn't be on my short list of names though. As for the pronunciation, according to the staff, it is intentionally ambiguous and can be pronounced multiple ways.
The dining room is just casual enough to make you fit in wearing jeans but just fancy enough to feel like a special night out. I loved the waterfront view from our table by the window.
Now that I have a bread machine (see here), I have no sympathy for restaurants with crappy, stale bread baskets. Making bread is so easy. Sou'Wester won me over with their cornbread/sweet potato roll/biscuit basket. I liked the creativity and generous portions.
After a nice chat with the sommelier and a good wine recommendation, we ordered oysters, which were pan-fried then served in the shell with a spicy, creamy sauce. The flavor was great but the presentation was the star. The oysters were served over a bed of rock salt piled high to look like ice and dotted with black peppercorns. While the plates fit the southern theme, we thought they were too ugly and too old-fashioned to fit with the modern dining room.
We ordered a side of hushpuppies and grits to go along with our meal. The grits weren't memorable (though B may disagree), but the hushpuppies were the first hushpuppies I've ever had that weren't hard as rocks. One time in college the dining hall served hushpuppies. They were so hard that people took to throwing them around. Well, everything is funny until a hushpuppy lands in your cereal bowl and splashes milk all over your face. But I digress....For his entree, B had the red snapper with mashed potatoes. For good measure, they added a hearty dose of bacon. In B's world, bacon makes everything better.
I had my heart set on fried chicken and ordered it even though it didn't make the waitress' list of suggestions. Unlike so many over-fried chickens, this one struck the perfect balance between juicy and crispy. It had me comparing it to the fried chicken that my Grandmother's brother makes, and if I'm comparing fried chicken to Uncle Boyd's chicken, you know it is good!
For dessert we ordered the fried apple pie which was not worth the calories. It had a lot of pastry shell and not a lot of filling, and just tasted dry overall. The vanilla ice cream was good but not good enough to rescue the pie. I put down my fork with pie left over and that is a very rare event for me. Next time, I'll skip dessert and focus on finishing all of my fried chicken and hushpuppies.
Second Thoughts From B
I'm a jeans and t-shirt kind of guy. I'm in no way uncomfortable in formal situations but I more in my element when I don't have to worry about presenting myself with utmost decorum. That's probably why I so enjoyed Sou'Wester. You'll find better dining options in DC (look next door at CityZen) but you won't find many that are as casually comfortable as this. And don't be confused; this is mostly a one-way street. While most guests are dressed down, the staff is buttoned up and treat you as a fine diner whether you're in shorts or a tux.
As J said, we had a beautiful window table overlooking the marina and Jefferson Memorial. Dressed up or down, it was a million dollar view. The food in my opinion - including the creamy grits and comfortingly simple apple pie - was more representative of the view than my outfit... in other words, high-class. My fish tasted like a perfectly deconstructed seafood chowder. Whether that was the intention, I don't know, but it was good. I enjoyed the oysters and felt that the hushpuppies were as good as they get (granted, my experience is limited). The winner though was J and her fried chicken. Unlike hushpuppies, I've eated a lot of fried chicken in my life and this might top the list. Even if it doesn't, it makes the conversation. In my opinion, great fried chicken makes your mouth water weeks after you've eaten it and by that criteria, we've got a winner.
3 comments:
1. Did this replace that asian fusion cafe that was right off the lobby?
2. Ugh ugly plates are the worst. I'm so glad we got new ones off our registry!
3. I don't think Yankees can truly appreciate grits, and I know we can't make them. So don't feel bad. And don't feel bad that the first time you had grits was not at a shrimp boil on a catfish farm in Georgia. We all can't have as glamourous lives as mine.
4. I still think Roy Rogers has the best fried chicken, but there are so few of them left. Where did you go Roy Rogers?
1. Yes it replaced Mozu which we never made it to before it closed.
2. Ugly plates can make a really cool restaurant lose cool points.
3. My first grit experience was in Atlanta but at a house in the suburbs not at a catfish farm. I feel cheated.
4. There are apparently Roy Rogers left in Alexandria. Let's go! When I was little my sister and I would order the fried chicken at Coco's every time we went there (which was a ton). You probably don't know what Coco's is but they had awesome fried chicken and the kids meal came with a sundae and a paper visor that you could color on. My idea of heaven. They stopped serving the fried chicken and I never looked at them the same way.
From the photo it looks like they have not changed the decor since it was Cafe MoZu...maybe that's why it doesn't match with the plates? They had really great sushi, but you can get really great sushi for much cheaper other places.
And grits are awesome no matter where you eat them. My mom makes really good grits in the suburbs of Atlanta. :)
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