22 replies to this topic

[noahcofc]

Thanks to Don,
I was able to attend the party yesterday at Fuego in Clarendon. My Brother & I had a lot of fun and the service was great. They had some Michelada-type Oyster shooters which I liked, the pepper on the rim was spicy. The traditional Margaritas were more sour then sweet which I also liked. Besides the Margarita I didn't get to taste any Tequila, but supposedly there are over 200 and many of them are on display, laid-out quite nice. The Restaurant is designed for the Bar to be downstairs and the Restaurant to be upstairs. It's a very open-space. I don't remember the layout exactly of Harry's but it seems more spacious. Not sure if this was just for the event.

Food-Wise:
The Chorizo on the Chorizo tacos was great and flavorful. I wasn't able to try the Ceviche, but heard it was great. Dessert wise there was this Flan passed around that was really good, but I'm not sure if it will always be on the menu. Overall all the Tacos I tried were good but the Chorizo stood out. There was also Lengua, Braised Pork and Fish.

Other than that I drank a lot so I don't remember too many details. But this should be a fun restaurant when it opens. I will definitely be back to try some of the Tequilas!

[Ericandblueboy]

They're not kidding about the tequileria part - a full page of tequilas to choose from. Unfortunately I'm not a tequila hipster and didn't try any of them. Instead, I had some beer to go with Taquitos De Atún - mini tuna tartare tacos, avocado, salsa de arbol, and four tacos - lengua (tongue), birria (goat), and baja (fried fish). Let's start with the chips - light and crispy, presumably made on the premises - came with two salsas - red and green. Both were pretty good. The tuna tartare taquitas were a nice combination of rare tuna and guacamole, and the salsa has a nice spicy kick to it. Of the tacos, the lengua and birria were both terrific. In each case, you can tell what you're eating but they're seasoned very well. The fish taco was actually quite bland. The drizzle of sauce on top didn't help. When I bit into the taco, the fish actually tasted watery. I would definitely go back and try more stuff from their interesting menu, which is currently only on facebook (linked from their website).

Just want to add that the tacos came with 3 sauces. The habanero one is hot, as they stated.

[sparkycom]

Decided to check out Fuego on Tues. night. We started with the Fundido (Chihuahua & Oaxaca Cheeses) + fresh corn tortillas ($9). It comes in a small skillet, super-hot from the heat, nicely spiced with assorted peppers. My husband got the Carne Asada ($23), steak topped with a small salad of nopalitos & onions. I love lengua tacos & rellenos, went for the Rellenos ($16), one stuffed with beef picadillo and one with cheese. Other dining companions got the Carnitas ($17), Beer-Marinated Mussels ($13 as an appetizer, not sure what the cost was as an entree), our two teenagers got the House Salad as main course ($8) and Chicken Tacos ($7). Overall, everything was very tasty and the service was good. Major complaint: the noise factor. I was shocked at how I could not hear my friends across the table and how they could not hear me. Maybe it's my hearing, age, whatever. Minor complaint: my picadillo relleno was too sweet for my taste and I spent a good deal of the night coveting my pal's carnitas. ( I think I have been spoiled by the DR member who brought Cuban picadillo to the picnic one year. He/she struck a great balance with that dish that I still think about.) In all, Fuego is getting a lot of things right. I have not addressed the noise factor with the management, but, perhaps I should.

[ScotteeM]

Husband and I had brunch here this morning. What a beautiful space! The dining room is on the second floor and it is bright and airy and not terribly noisy, considering that most of the surfaces are hard (the ceiling tiles look to be sound-damping). Looks like they have balcony seating in nice weather.
The housemade chips and two salsas were very tasty and fresh. We barely made a dent in them, though, because our food was so wonderful. We shared the Taquitos de Atun, a refreshing combination of tuna tartare, avocado, queso and salsa de arbol in tiny handmade crispy taco shells. Then we both ordered Carnitas & Potato Hash. A base of shredded pork and diced fried potato "hash" supported two perfectly poached eggs coated with lime-cilantro Hollandaise. When we punctured the eggs, the yolks ran down and soaked the pork and potatoes to make a lovely, comforting dish. I'm not a cilantro lover, but the Hollandaise was perfect and provided the right amount of acid to balance such rich food.
This is my new favorite place for brunch, though I do want to try more of the other items, too. It was well worth the trip from Burke to Clarendon.
Pictures are on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook...11614324&type=3

[ktmoomau]

I wanted to do brunch there or at Green Pig this past weekend but Hubby was in the car and working non-stop on a big project and said he didn't have time to eat. So I want home and made a lunch that was vastly inferior to what I could have had.

So far I have liked Fuego after one visit, save the Fish Taco which was underwhelming. Little things like the chips and salsa, yuca frites were done really well, and I liked the goat, short rib and tongue tacos a lot. I liked that they were a smaller size so you could try some different things. I will be back to explore more of the menu. It reminded me of Tacolicious in SF, except not quite the same size and vibe. But food-wise very similar in a good way!

[beachgirl54]

I went to Fuego last night with a group of friends to belatedly celebrate my birthday (thanks, Sandy). Sat in the bar area. I had two tacos, shrimp and chorizo - both very good. Then went overboard and got the duck flautas, also good, and they came with a somewhat spicy mole sauce.

I also had two margaritas - I'm very picky about my margaritas and despise sour mix. According to the waiter, they make their own agave and there is no sour mix in the blend. I thought they were quite tasty and would have had a third but knew I needed to be focused today.

Friends enjoyed their tacos & enchilada - the friend who had the enchilada said the food exceeded her expectations.

We all agreed we liked the space, the food and the drinks and that we would be back.

[DannyNoonan]

I have been to Fuego twice since it opened and am so far impressed. I tend to first evaluate new places on how they do the simple things, in this case chips, salsas, tortillas, beans, and guac, as not doing those things well would seemingly not bode well for the more complicated menu items. In Fuego's case, all of the above elements were done nicely.

The chips are light and salty and crunchy, not greasy. The salsas that accompany the gratis chips have a decent kick and deep flavors, clearly reflecting time spent in crafting them. The tortillas maybe a touch bland but texturally nice and made with care. The guacamole has a nice kick to it too and simple but good flavors. The black beans I have ordered are pureed, which I wasn't expecting, but quite good for eating on their own or dipping a chip in. I have ordered shrimp tacos both times. I like the portion size as it allows me to try other menu items without pigging out and I like the way the textures play against each other - nicely grilled shrimp, crunchy slaw, soft tortillas. The flavors are spot on too when you add a bit of salsa.

I like the margaritas as well. I didn't detect any sour mix and would have been sorely disappointed if they had used one. Not overly sweet, still pleasantly tart, and very nice.

Service has been cordial and professional on both visits, even when I was with my kids.

I like this place and will certainly be back.

Sean

[FunnyJohn]

While they have an impressive offering of Tequillas, I was disappointed that they had only 3 Mezcals. The bartender suggested that that was all they could obtain from the VA ABC, but I pointed out to him that when Oyamel was based in Crystal City, they had dozens of Mezcals, including some very rare ones, on offer.

[SeanMike]

To be fair, the last two quarterly price lists from VA ABC show only one type of mezcal that I could find.

There's an ability to make special orders, and there's always the possibility that it was bought a while ago and not available now, but Virginia does really stink on that. El Paso Cafe, for instance, lists a lot of mezcals on their menu, but only have one available currently.

A distributor in Virginia needs enough product for the whole state (which keeps some liquor companies out); Oyamel might have a way of importing it from their DC locations technically and paying the taxes on it while not actually distributing it.

[FunnyJohn]

Yeah, I understand that for the most part the demand for exotic mezcals may be low and therefore an obstacle for them to be available through the ABC, but my point is that Oyamel when it was in Crystral City, before it re-located to DC, was able to find a work around. I don't understand the intracacies of what it would take to replicate whatever that work around might have been -- perhaps a bar manager could enlighten this discussion....

[Josh Radigan]

Although I have been out of the public eye in regards to everyday 'operations' with public restaurants, VABC can and will do special orders for certain liquor. Now the kicker comes with demand, if you only agree top buy a bottle here and there throughout the year, they go back to the US distributor with the request to see if the order can be filled, and in some cases they make the business commit to a larger order. That being said I am sure Fuego could place a standing case order on several Mezcal products and there would be no issue overall. They may wait to see if there is high enough demand through the initial first months of business.

[SeanMike]

I was always told by VA ABC: You need to buy a minimum of a case.

Which, as a consumer, is prohibitive in a number of cases, but the amount of work and time it takes to get it, I'd imagine it's impractical for restaurants typically.

I have a friend down in Charlottesville that was trying for ages to get mezcal in, I'll ping him and see what happened and what it took. (And probably post on the booze board, yo! )

[FunnyJohn]

I asked a bar manager (member of this illustrious group) who happened to have been the original bar manager at Oyamel about this. He said back when Oyamel was first opened in Crystal City there were more Mezcal selections availabe from the VA ABC (a lot more apparently). He said the major obstacle was what Josh and Sean Mike have pointed out above, the need to guarantee larger purchases than just a bottle here and there. So I guess those who wish to see more Mezcal selections will have to demonstrate there is a market to the powers at Fuego and then we will see. I will try to do my part. (anyone know if Mezcal is a hi carb or low carb kind of booze?)

[jiveturk21]

I have not been to the restaurant, but they served an awesome tripe dish at the March of Dimes Signature Chefs Event last night. Anyone that has the balls to serve tripe at an event like that gets credit in my book.

[zoramargolis]

the tacos de lengua were probably the best thing we ordered, the handmade tortillas were really good, and the lengua was tender and full of flavor. I didn't care for the chips: sorry but flour tortilla chips do not work for me at all. they had zero flavor, and we thought the salsas served with them were boring. J. had carnitas and I had puerco pibil, which were both very good, with an edge going to the carnitas. the green salsa served with the lengua tacos and the carnitas rocked. now, a true pibil (either chicken or pork) is marinated in achiote, sour orange and onion, wrapped in banana leaf and then steam-roasted in a pit. this was thin pork tenderloin marinated and then grilled. quibble, quibble. tender, big flavor, but kinda too salty. the refried black beans, however, were excellent. J's fried platanos were meh. we only ate a couple bites each of the chocolate flan, which was heavy and overcooked.

that said, we definitely will go back. next time we will order tacos ( really want to try the goat birria and chorizo) and beans.

[SeanMike]

After a horrible morning, I took DonRocks' advice and took myself out to dinner. A few of the places I thought about going were packed, so when I walked by Fuego Cocina and saw seats at the bar, I said what the heck.

First off: the noise. It wasn't bad when I came in, but a couple of times the decibal level shot up to crazy loud.

First dish: queso fundido. I expected more like queso dip, but this was really good - too much for me by myself, though. It was a bit greasy but I really liked it with the pico de gallo (I think that's what it was).

Second dish: tacos! I had the goat and the lengua. I liked the goat a lot, but holy crap the tongue was amazing! And I really liked all the salsas.

Third dish: sopas de carnitas. Another great dish - slow roasted pork, sour orange habanero crema, topped with a red jalapeno, and negra mole on the bottom. Delicious...

They were out of Negro Modelo, unfortunately, and ran out of Modelo Especial on my second pint, so I stuck with Pacifico. I took the bartender's, Dale, advice on tequilas and had a couple of very good ones.

It wasn't cheap, but it was a good night, and I had a lot of fun hanging out there.

[dcs]

This may be ranked a little too low in the Dining Guide. $5 margaritas for happy hour (just the first 4 on the list). A nice pan seared red snapper with a spicy tomato based green olive and caper sauce. Also enjoyed the shredded duck confit Flautas de Pato with a rich mole negro. Hunan Number One does have some large beers, but really?

[DonRocks]

This may be ranked a little too low in the Dining Guide. $5 margaritas for happy hour (just the first 4 on the list). A nice pan seared red snapper with a spicy tomato based green olive and caper sauce. Also enjoyed the shredded duck confit Flautas de Pato with a rich mole negro. Hunan Number One does have some large beers, but really?

You know what? You're right. I made the mistake of looking at the trees, and not seeing the forest. I put it right behind Bakeshop DC without even noticing there were places above both of these that shouldn't be. I'll go through and groom the entire slope soon.

I really appreciate you pointing out the obvious error.

[zoramargolis]

2nd visit to Fuego Cocina. My daughter ordered empanadas, and holy crap! they were amazingly delicious, with a vegetarian filling of chiles, onion, garlic, queso fresco, mushrooms and huitlacoche. the mole negro served with the duck flautas tasted primarily of cinnamon and chocolate, it lacked the complexity that I look for, with multiple different chiles, nuts, seeds, and dried fruit, and the duck confit had a nice texture but very little flavor of its own. The lengua was just as good as last time, and I also had al pastor, soft pork with a fresh crunch of pico de gallo and pineapple providing a bright flavor/texture contrast. Also tried the birria, which was rich, soft and lamb-y (it was goat). K had a mala suerte to start, a margarita with habanero infused tequila, which was indeed very spicy. She liked it a lot, but a sip or two was more than enough for me. Refried black beans all around--who-ee them are good! Also, Negro Modelo on tap. Yes, please.

[adjen]

After three visits, here's a stream of consciousness of things I liked:
(1) this place can be kid-friendly without feeling like a "family" restaurant. They give wikki stix out to kids. This kept my four year old occupied much longer and with less mess than crayons. And if you are seated in a booth, you have some real privacy. I've been here with my little one, with my mother-in-law, and for a date night. It worked for all three kinds of meals.
(2) love the mala suerte with the habanero kick along with the sugar rim
(3) had the ceviche for the first time last time. Loved it. Tilapia was firm, not rubbery, and the tang/salt/heat combo was just right.
(4) like the chunkiness of the guacamole.
(5) love the homemade tortillas. Makes a big difference.
My only complaint so far is inconsistency re the chips. Last time they were great -- crispy, thin. First two times they were too greasy.

[NolaCaine]

I'll admit, it's been awhile since I"ve posted to DR but my trip to Fuego over the holidays made me change my mind. Forgive me in advance if this post doesn't live up to expectation.

I went for brunch on a Saturday. Service was great and I even have a 3 year old with me. Not only was he handed some things to play with, but staff made faces at him and our booth had a mirror so that worked well. Noise was low but restaraunt was mostly empty.

Here's what we had:
chips and salsa: I liked the crisp chips but the salsa tasted ordinary.
Mexican coke. I had a flashback to a childhood in New Orleans. Was coke always made with cane sugar 30 years ago?
Ceviche: bland...great texture though
Tortilla Soup: bland but hot...as if the only spice was pepper.
Fish taco: bland too
Shrimp taco: good but not great. I liked the little salad down at the bottom of the taco. WIsh there was more...would order it as a side even.

I was a little disapointed. If I go back, I'll order a bit differently based on the suggestions above. I love Acadiana and DC Coast so will give Fuego another try.

[stevem]

I too, need to post more!

Echoing the previous comments. The good kids meals for $4 are very nice and the sparkling juice drink for just $3 is a welcome addition for any designated drivers. My wife's chile rellenos were flavorful. I had an order of tacos and the aftorementioned tortilla soup. The upthread explanation of the tortilla soup of basically spicy but bland is spot-on. Weirdly hot but lacking of any actual other flavors. Tacos were fine, but not any more special that Taqueria Poblano.

Will definitely go back, probably without kids in an effort to actually try the tequilas.

[thetrain]

Food wise I've only tried the goat tacos so far, but my initial reaction is 'meh'.  I really enjoyed the fresh tortilla but the meat was lacking flavor and paled in comparison to that in El Charrito's goat taco.  (I actually went to El Charrito later that night to confirm - yep still great).  I've enjoyed the drinks and hopefully further food endeavors are more successful.