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Chaplin's Restaurant, Pan-Asian Cuisine and Cocktail Lounge in the Former Mandalay Space - 9th and P Street in Shaw


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The space housing the failed DC branch of Mandalay has become "a 1920's themed Japanese Restaurant and Cocktail Bar" called Chaplin's.  It offers an assortment of appetizers (gyoza, fried chicken, "adult dumpling shooters") and seven types of ramen, and a very long list of cocktails, wines, and beers.  The place is dynamic; it was hopping on a Monday night, lots of young people drinking (some of them were eating, too), loud music, friendly servers bustling about.  It seems like the kind of place you'd go to hang out for awhile after work, and maybe get a bite to eat, too, while you're at it.

The ramen was perfectly acceptable but nothing to rush back for.  The Chaplin ("sesame paste and tonkatsu flavour") was actually quite a tasty broth, the noodles slightly overcooked and lacking the springiness of truly great ramen.  I had tastes of two other broths and liked them, but can't really describe them usefully.  I'm not inspired to write more about the food.

This is the kind of restaurant I'd go to if I lived nearby, if I was tired and hungry and didn't feel like cooking and just wanted a bowl of soup for dinner.  Perfectly acceptable, but not a destination.

Sorry for the vagueness, just wanted people to know it's here.

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Hey- I have a dissent! I really like this place. I came here with a few of West Point's finest grads, and one of their girlfriends for a catch up brunch. Haven't seen them in a while and this was needed.

I'm not a cocktail conneuisur but this place is crafty with them, and has a nice list of interesting drinks. I had a sazerac-ish drink to start, and .. well.. It was good but too early to go so hard. The Vagabond and the Gold something were ordered and I made sure I tasted them. Both delish.

We got some appetizers - Gyoza (steamed), and shumai (fried). Both very good. Could have used some chili but I was too entranced in the good conversation to ask ("So, Captain ___, what your telling me is that fast casual is both quick and not too formal? Tell me more about your analysis.) They were a little pushy to get us to get entrees in, but whatever I guess, since I was hungry. I got the Stamina Spicy Ramen. As I've mentioned before, not a Ramen expert, so this should be taken with a caveat. The only issue (and this might not be right) is that the ramen was still a bit stiff when I got it. The noodles got better as time passed. The pork was minimal in my order, others had more belly and loin.

The service is good, a bit too attentive for my taste, but I loved the food. I think I should be destination. Very rarely can you get very good ramen and very good cocktails at the same place. We had a bunch more, but I just don't have good vocabulary to describe drinks. My Hitachino Ale was baller.

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