Rogue States

In this installment of DC Food Trend Watch 2010, we headed to one of the newer burger places on the block, Rogue States. I expected Rogue States to be the same concept as the other newish burger joints (gourmet burgers, fancy ingredients, rinse, repeat) but I was wrong. At Rogue States, they take the fancy toppings and put them IN - instead of on - your burger.

While I fed the meter outside on busy Connecticut Avenue (btw, I am not a fan of the new extended meter hours!), B ordered our lunch. At the recommendation of the adorable little kid helping out behind the counter, B chose the Rogue State burger: house spice blend, chipotle, and cilantro blended in the patty. For toppings, he chose the provolone cheese and onion and lettuce. All burgers are half a pound and cost $7. Fancy toppings will cost you extra. Cheese is 50 cents, bacon and grilled red peppers are $1, and wild mushrooms are $1.50. Because of the blend of flavors in the patty, we found that these babies didn't need much in the way of toppings.

For me, B ordered the Now & Zen burger (soy sauce, green onion, ginger, and sesame seeds in the patty topped with tomato, lettuce, onion, and pickles). I didn't feel the need to add any ketchup, mustard, or mayo to this burger because it just screamed flavor. You can order it cooked "pink" or "no pink" and I found the pink to be just right for me (a medium rare). The cool part about packing the flavor inside the burger is that you don't have to deal with the fancy toppings falling in your lap as you eat. They are cradled inside a lovely, hormone free blanket o' beef.

We also sampled the sweet potato fries. I've never met a sweet potato fry that I didn't like but Rogue States' taters were memorably delicious. In what seemed to be a rip-off of Good Stuff Eatery (see our post here), they feature fancy mayos for dipping such as Old Bay, chipotle, and wasabi.

One thing that sets Rogue States apart in the burger wars is that it is open til 5am for your post-bar burger needs. They also feature beer on tap from a local brewery. I am probably in the minority, but I'd prefer a milkshake instead of a beer with my burger. Because Rogue States is milkshake-less, it won't replace Good Stuff in my burger joint rotation. However, I think it is worthy of its own unique place in my burger-loving heart. If your heart is of the veggie variety, be warned that Rogue States does not offer a veggie burger option. If you don't do beef, you can sub a turkey burger for an extra $2. Happy eating, burger friends!

Second Thoughts from B

Mark this one up under the "why didn't I think of that?" category. So many places have taken the average burger and glammed it up with high-end or exotic add-ins. They all boast about beef that is grass fed, local, fresh, blah, blah, blah. They might even slap some "special spices" in there but all in all, it is still a patty of beef that often ends up playing second fiddle to everything else.

Not so at Rogue States. The burger is the unquestioned star of the show. Supremely juicy and flavorful, it comes in seven different forms, all of which seem appetizing. But just because this new iteration of the favorite American staple features the patty, don't think the other elements were forgotten. Of particular note is the brioche bun which perfectly sops up the juices that you'll not want to waste.

As I sat enjoying my burger, I couldn't help but compare it to our other favorite burger options, namely Ray's Hell Burger (see post here) and Good Stuff. However, I found it hard to consider Rogue States' offering as the same menu item. It was, as they say, comparing apples and oranges. And while Ray's and Good Stuff will continue to see plenty of my business, I'm here to announce that the burger has evolved... and I like it.

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens

At first glance, it would be easy to say that the neighborhoods that you pass on your way to the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens are not the best in DC. Then again, can your backyard live up to this?

Over 100 years ago, Walter Shaw (not to be confused with the DC neighborhood's namesake Colonel Robert Gould Shaw or Charles Shaw of "Two Buck Chuck" fame) cultivated aquatic gardens featuring water lilies that he brought from Maine. Today, thanks to the National Park Service, Shaw's gardens are an urban oasis more reminiscent of Monet's Giverny than the Anacostia neighborhood it resides in.

Spring - if not summer - is here, and I cannot imagine a better time to visit the gardens. But as the days go from hot to hotter, make sure you plan on arriving early. Be warned, fair-weather Californians aren't the only ones who shy away from sweltering days in the sun; the lilies will close once things get too hot. In addition to being more temperate, early morning strolls at the gardens are quiet and peaceful... and often solitary. J and I arrived for the 9am ranger tour and ended up with a 1-hour private tour of the grounds with a knowledgeable and engaging host. Once again, I feel obliged to point out what an underutilized resource National Park rangers are.

Spring is also that time when the lilies are in bloom and when newborns are discovering the world. From 6 week old Canadian geese...

to nickel-sized turtles sunbathing on lily pads.

But as we were reminded on our tour, the gardens are more than the lilies. Don't forget to take in the beautiful wildflowers and local vegetation.

And perhaps the best surprise of all... a swamp with very few mosquitoes! According to our ranger, there are enough predators to keep the blood-sucking pests away so that your only encounters with insects are in the form of butterflies and dragonflies.

Just another hidden part of our city that makes it so much fun to explore... the quintessential diamond in the rough.

J Says

I was a bit skeptical as we drove past a giant razor fence into the parking lot. However, one look at the lily pond and I squealed "Monet!" My only prior experience with water lilies was at a very snooze-worthy talk on Monet's gardens at the Smithsonian. Little did I know that instead of seeing blurry photos of Giverny on a projector, I could travel 15 minutes from my house and see the lilies in bloom.

I'm glad we woke up early to see the gardens in their sleepy state before the blazing sun imposed its wrath. As our personal tour guide explained, the gardens change so much throughout the day and throughout the year that no two visits are the same. There are countless ways to enjoy the gardens: with your dog (on a leash), via canoe, or with a picnic lunch as bloggers I Flip for Food demonstrated this past weekend.

Anacostia may not be Giverny, but it sure is a whole lot easier to get to!

Mie N Yu

Mie N Yu is one of those restaurants that had always intrigued me but, for one reason or another, we had never made it through the front door. That changed this week when Mie N Yu invited us to try (gratis) their new Blind Tiger Menu. The concept of the menu is very cool. Apparently, Blind Tiger is a prohibition-era name for a speakeasy, and Mie N Yu has created this "social underground" menu that is only advertised online. For $25 (cheaper than Restaurant Week!) you get a three course menu. They also offer 50% off on certain bottles of wine.

Stepping inside Mie N Yu is like being transported to a Moroccan bazaar. It is an eye-popping blend of textures and colors, with some private tables hidden behind drapes and one even perched in a bird cage. When a place has such unique decor and is located on such a busy street, there is always a fear that the food won't be good. Further fueling my fear was that Mie N Yu's claim to fame is that it was voted "Best Bathroom" in DC. I was a bit wary that Mie N Yu would be glitz over substance, but went in with an open mind. Could the food match up to the unique bathroom?

We got off to a rough start when the hostess couldn't find our reservation, but a manager jumped to her rescue and led us to our table. I was glad to be seated at a cozy booth because I'm not a fan of dining while sitting on chairs with no backs.

Our very friendly waiter brought us the Blind Tiger menu and the cocktail list. He recommended the White Tiger martini for me (an $12 ginger-infused drink served with candied ginger) and the Smoke & Silk for B (a $17!! blend of cognac and expensive scotch). It is a good thing the drinks are strong because you'd go broke ordering too many of them. To their credit, the drinks were made with top-shelf ingredients and were very tasty. We were served edamame to go with our cocktails. Since the table next to us also received edamame without asking, it appears that edamame is Mie N Yu's version of the free bread basket. Nice touch.

The first course of the Blind Tiger menu features a choice between Zataar Hummus with Ful and Sunomono Blue Crab Salad. To get the full experience, we ordered both items and shared. The hummus was topped with ful (braised Egyptian fava beans). It had a smoky flavor that paired perfectly with the cool hummus. The bread was deliciously doughy (B compared it to 2 Amy's pizza dough - very high praise) and we asked for more bread to scoop up the huge portion of hummus.

The Sunomono Blue Crab Salad wasn't as memorable as the hummus dish. It was a blend of cold soba noodles, cucumber, asian greens, pickled quail egg, and jumbo lump blue crab. The crab was a bit sparse, but maybe that's because B stole most of it. This would be a good appetizer on a hot, humid DC summer day.

We were feeling good after our cocktails and appetizers and happily snacking on the extra bread when we realized that there was a rather large gap between the first and second courses. It gave us time to check out the famous bathroom. I'm glad B went first because he warned me that there was an attendant sitting in the huge unisex bathroom waiting to turn on your sink and pump the soap into your hands. I always find the bathroom attendant exchange to be quite awkward. I'm pretty competent at hand washing and paper towel grabbing, so I never know quite why I need help... and the tip expectation in a restroom setting is just weird. Mostly I was just happy that it isn't my job to sit in the basement of a restaurant and wait for people to finish using the restroom, but I digress.

If you think that took a long time to explain, you should have seen how long we waited for our second course. Let's put it this way: when we parked, we put an hour and a half on the meter. That hour and a half ran out before we got the second course. As B returned from feeding the meter, course number two hit the table. Apparently there was some sort of mixup in the kitchen which led to the (at least) 30 minute gap between courses. The staff (including the manager) was extremely apologetic and we definitely understand that mixups happen. I just hope they are as kind and apologetic to the non-food blogging diners.

Part of course number two was definitely worth the wait. We loved the Beijing Style Laquered Duck with mandarin pancakes, hoisin sauce, scallions, cucumber, and chilis. The duck was tender and the hoisin sauce was just the right salty/sweet blend that I love. One small point off for biting into a bone in the shredded duck.

The Char Masala Lamb Kabobs were not my favorite dish, but I'm not a lamb fan. It was an interesting presentation with the lamb kabob doused in a roasted coriander yogurt sauce served over charred vegetables.

The next dish ranks as one of the most surprising/unique dishes I've ever eaten. It is described on the menu as Pakistani Cinnamon & Ginger Striped Bass (sustainably raised striped bass, greens, and spiced yogurt casserole served with tamarind-scented basmati rice). Seeing cinnamon and ginger, I expected something on the sweet end of the taste spectrum. My eyes almost popped out of my head when I took a bite of fish. It was so tart that I wondered if I was eating a lemon wedge instead of a fish dish. After a few more bites, the complex flavors began to emerge, but my palate was in sour-shock and it was hard to recover. I suppose the yogurt in the dish should be described as tart yogurt instead of spiced yogurt. Prepare to pucker up!

The second dish was Indonesian Scallop "Kare" (seared scallops, yellow coconut curry, "gado gado" salad - green beans, quail eggs, potato, shrimp chips, and peanut dressing). This was another completely unique dish and not your run-of-the-mill coconut curry. It was tangy, spicy, and sweet all at the same time. Very hard to describe but very interesting to eat.

After the 3 course Blind Tiger menu, it was nearing 11pm (which is way past my Tuesday bedtime) and I wasn't sure I could sit still or stay awake long enough for dessert. However, I really wanted something sweet to balance out the tart fish dish, so we ordered the pecan and chocolate croustade. It was served with chocolate gelato from Georgetown's Dolcezza Gelato. The gelato was a smooth, chocolatey dream and the croustade was a flaky pastry basket packed with gooey pecans mixed with a honey bourbon sauce. The waiter also brought out a champagne toast to apologize for the long wait.

I went in worried that Mie N Yu would be most memorable for its restroom, but was pleased that the totally unique dishes and flavors left the biggest impression on me. While I didn't adore every dish, I truly felt transported to another place. It was Tuesday night and I was on M Street in Georgetown, but I felt more like I was in a Moroccan desert. While Mie N Yu isn't an every week sort of place, I think we'll be back when we're looking for a brief escape.

Second Thoughts from B

I know what you're thinking. "They bought you dinner, of course you're going to say you liked it." It is a valid point and I'm not going to say that it doesn't affect our comments. But the fact of the matter is that an hour after the final course was served, we were still talking about the dishes. Love it or hate it, that is worth something for the adventurous eater.

I'll also freely admit that we got a little extra attention on this Tuesday night, which makes me doubly question whatever happened between courses one and two. But other than that, the service was very good, enhanced by a very enthusiastic and knowledgeable waiter.

But let's move on to the things that they couldn't change for "special guests," most notably, the decor. Some might call it gimmicky, but it was done so well that I would instead choose the word magical. It really had a Disney-esque quality to it, which for those who don't know us, is saying something.

But back to the food. Some things, like the hummus and the duck were beautifully done. The drinks were top-notch (although I'm far from expert) and the dessert was a perfect ending to a lovely night. Still, I'll be honest, there were things that we ate that I would not normally order. Believe it or not, my palate does play favorites. But to the great credit of the chef, even those things that were out of my box were well prepared, of good quality, and always very interesting. Going back to the tart and sour fish, it was like Willy Wonka's Everlasting Gobstopper. The more you let it sit on your tongue, the more interesting it got. After the punch of the sour, you felt the heat of the spices, followed by the taste of curry and lemon. I've been fortunate to have tasted a lot of different things in my short time on this Earth but that was a first.

So here's the $100 question: would we go back and pay for a meal at Mie N Yu? (drumroll, please) Absolutely yes, especially for a deal as good as the Blind Tiger menu. In my mind, it is a perfect gathering spot for a group of friends to enjoy each other's company in a completely unique atmosphere, with food and drinks to match.

Wasabi

I have a couple of rules when it comes to sushi: 1) don't buy sushi that is on sale and 2) don't buy sushi that has been sitting out for an undetermined amount of time. I broke both of these rules at Wasabi and lived to write about it.

We ended up at Wasabi (off Farragut Square) thanks to Groupon. For those not familiar with Groupon or the hordes of collective-buying Groupon clone websites, each day you get an email with a local deal and if enough people log on to buy it, the deal is successful and you can print out your Groupon from the website. For Wasabi, Groupon was offering a "pay $15 and get $30" worth of food special and I'm a giant sucker for a good deal.

Upon entering, we learned that Wasabi serves Kaiten-style sushi. Translation: your rolls and nigiri are going to be circling the dining room on a conveyor belt (more on this in a second). They also have a menu that features soups, salads, and a few entrees. We started with the seaweed salad. This was probably the highlight of the meal but not because other things were bad, just that this was the most interesting and flavorful. This salad was almost identical to the seaweed salad that is served with Oya's $10 to-go lunch. I really like both for their interesting texture and briny yet slightly sweet flavor.

B tried Wasabi's Miso which was a slight variation on the "you've had this miso soup a million times" family of miso, the variation coming from additional flavoring with cilantro and jalapeno. Too much cilantro in that bowl for me to get within sniffing distance, but B said he liked it.

Predictably, I ordered udon. This time it was the vegetable udon and the most notable thing about Wasabi's version was the size. I really liked that it was a smaller bowl because normally when you order udon, you get a bowl bigger than your head and it fills you up so much that you can't enjoy sushi. With Wasabi's mini-udon, you don't have to choose between udon and sushi.

The crispy squid comes from the familiar genus "looksbetteronthemenusapien." It was a good concept but fell on its face in the execution. Chewy squid and not a lot of flavor. Also, the funky dipping sauce bowl - the sauce did have tons of flavor - was cute but you couldn't fit the squid in it.

Eagle-eyed readers might be wondering what is up with the colored plates under each of the dishes. Well, Wasabi simplifies their menu by dividing everything into color-coded categories with each color corresponding to a price. Yellow plates are $2.50, orange are $3.00, red are $3.50, blue are $4.00, and purple are $5.00. You stack the used plates on your table and they add them up at the end to determine your bill total. If you're pinching your pennies you could take someone on a date here and tell them they can have anything they want as long as it comes on a yellow plate. I don't recommend that, however, if you'd like to have a second date.

After the soup and salad, we turned our attention to the conveyor belt. First off the line was the salmon and avocado roll with masago. Nothing too memorable here but the fish was surprisingly fresh-tasting. I'm sure Wasabi cycles the rolls off of the belt regularly (which makes me wonder how much food they throw away each day).

Our next victim was the spicy tuna roll with scallions and shichimi chili pepper. This was most memorable for the chili pepper. It was spicy but in a completely different way than a standard spicy tuna roll. I accidentally inhaled some of the chili pepper and cleared up my sinuses for about 2 seconds (it is allergy season in our fair city, after all).

We were feeling satisfied at this point but B added up the plates and realized we hadn't spent the $30 value of our Groupon. Back to the belt we went for the spicy salmon and cream cheese roll. At first I didn't taste any spice and only a big blob of cream cheese, but this one grew on me.

Trying to spend exactly $30 (hey restaurants! don't you just love coupon users?) we went for a purple plate option: the classic rainbow roll. I thought this was the least flavorful of the bunch.

At the end, we ended up with a $4 check and a belly full of sushi. My belly wasn't full of the best sushi I've ever had but my belly also didn't complain. Would I go back? Yes, but only if my friend Mr. Groupon is along for the ride.

Second Thoughts from B

Like the looksbetteronthemenusapien, I felt that our entire Wasabi experience was "better on paper." Let's take a few examples:

Kaiten-style sushi. On paper the conveyor belt is fast and convenient, allows a preview of all items, and enables you to eat only what you have room for. In reality, the sushi is never as fresh and plump as a regular sushi bar, and often compares to the prepackaged stuff at the supermarket.

Curly-ended soup spoons. On paper they are unique, artistic, and hang neatly on the edge of your bowl. In reality, they are hard to hold because they are so small.

Half-moon shaped dipping bowl. On paper it is a nice artistic touch like the aforementioned spoons. In reality, they are not big enough to accommodate most of the squid... er, I mean, looksbetteronthemenusapien.

As we discover more and more sushi spots in the District - and even find a few we like - I'm not too keen to return to Wasabi. But like J, if there's a Groupon involved, I might just change my tune. Afterall, it does make the place look so much better... at least on paper.