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.

Crepe Amour

Sometimes we plan out our dining destinations in advance, other times we stumble upon places because we are seriously hungry and in need of food. This time, we were driving home late one night from Tysons Corner and nothing between Tysons and DC sounded appealing to us. I asked B to drive through Georgetown hoping that we'd find a parking spot and some food. We snagged a spot on M Street in front of Crepe Amour.

Crepe Amour is a new kid on this ever-evolving block. It offers a wide variety of sweet and savory crepe options and serves them early into the morning to cater to the bar crowd.

While I was intrigued by the macaroni and cheese crepe, the cashier recommended the Da Vinci (shredded chicken, basil pesto, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese).

We also ordered the Buffalo Chx (shredded chicken, trademark Georgetown Wing Company hot sauce, provolone cheese).

The crepes were so large and packed full of filling that a knife and fork became a necessity. I thought the wing sauce, while very tasty, completely overpowered the delicate crepe. After a few bites, I could taste nothing but sauce. You'd be better off ordering wings from the Georgetown Wing Company that promises to be opening soon upstairs from Crepe Amour. The Da Vinci had a more restrained flavor that was a better match with the crepe.

I thought Crepe Amour compared favorably to Crepes-a-go-go (see our post here) and Crepeaway (see our post here) and the people watching on M Street (particularly next to Rhino Bar) makes this a fun destination.

Second Thoughts from B

On the plus side, Crepe Amour provided big serving sizes and even bigger flavor. But J already covered that. Instead of repeating her, let me play the role of Debbie Downer.

I liked both meals but neither captured the spirit of a crepe for me. I'm all for the reimagining of traditional foods but I felt that this was less a happy marriage and more of a takeover. Sure the pesto/buffalo chicken were now contained in a crepe but the packaging added little. It wouldn't have been much different if you took an old standard, and by simply changed the shape or color of the plate, gave the dish a new name.

But going back to the beginning, aside from the lack of crepe-ness, I enjoyed the meal and appreciate a relatively cheap and quick dining option in Georgetown. However, if you're looking for a crepe that may remind you of grand old Paris, you may need to look elsewhere.

Little Shop of Horrors at Ford's Theatre

We've already told you about our fondness for Ford's Theatre (see our post here), but we felt that we should add a little something considering our most recent trip. Thanks to a gift certificate from my parents, we were treated to a playing of the horror-comedy musical, "Little Shop of Horrors." Many in my generation will remember the 1986 film... I know I certainly do. But being in elementary school and one who doesn't particularly like horror films, most of my memories are probably nightmares.

Regardless of the gruesome details, which are even more macabre in the musical than the film, I love the music and the quirky characters. But how would it do at Ford's? Prior to the other night, I had a belief that this historic venue would be limited to a certain type of production. This was based on our other Ford's Theatre experiences - the annual A Christmas Carol and a Lincoln-based historical drama called The Heavens are Hung in Black. Not exactly the same type of thing as a man-eating plant from outer space performed through song, dance, and campy humor...

I was pleasantly surprised and am happy to report that they pulled it off! Not only was the live music, singing, dancing, lighting, and especially set design adequate, it was excellent. We had a fantastic time... us and 1,000 of our favorite 8th grade field trippers. (Side note: is there anything more entertaining than watching pubescent boys in ill-fitting suits, clip-on ties, and way too much hair gel try to act cool around girls in too much make-up and frizzy hair?)

Anyway, Little Shop of Horrors ends its production this week, so any recommendation to see it would be a bit silly. But I will say that in the future, I'll keep a more open mind when it comes to the type of production that Ford's can do well, and I'd suggest you do too.

J Says

I don't know whether I liked watching the audience members or the performance more. This is no slight to the performance because it was excellent, but something about a room full of eighth graders just cracks me up. I should've known something was up when I went to the box office the day before the show and they had really good seats available. Apparently it was 8th grade tour group night. Oh well, we were good sports about it and the 8th graders were good audience members.

The only thing I knew about Little Shop of Horrors before the show was that it had something to do with a venus fly trap-looking plant and it had a catchy theme song. I was as shocked as the 7 year old in front of me when the plant started to eat people instead of flies. I might have even talked in my sleep that night about man-eating plants. You'll have to ask B...

Despite the dark tone, I really loved the performance. The singing was top-notch and the sets were impressive. At first, like B said, seeing a musical in Ford's seemed odd, but it definitely worked. I will see a musical before a historical play any day of the week. When does the next one come to town?