esjacobs

The website isn't live yet and I haven't been able to track down a phone number. Any more info out there?

Does anyone know if they have set an opening date? Washingtonian says "the end of the month," which I assume means May, but maybe someone knows something more specific?

Does anyone have reliable information re: when the Harris Teeter on Potomac Avenue will (finally) open? We're also wondering whether folks have info about what might be going into the other retail spots on the ground floor of Jenkins Row. Even more generally, we're hungry for info on food-related (and other) developments down by the Potomac Avenue metro stop. Dish, please.

I *love* this place. The fried chicken is sublime, they have sweet tea, the atmosphere is genuine in a way that keeps getting harder and harder to find. I wish I lived closer to Petworth so that I could become a regular at here (although I suppose my arteries are glad for the distance).

We had a terribly disappointing meal here last Saturday night and I don't recommend Montsouris. DC offers many better ways to spend your food-money.

Most appalling was my husband's main course, the bacon-wrapped monkfish with sauerkraut, which was essentially a giant heap of sauerkraut with a razor-thin sliver of bacon-encrusted fish on top. It looked as though the line cook had dropped the actual fish filet while transfering it to the plate, and tried to hide his mistake by mounding the sauerkraut as high as he could. Apparently this was not the case; the dish was as it was by design. According to the hostess (owner?), the chef is trying to incorporate Alsatian flavors, and the monkfish "comes in thin filets." I applaud the effort to take the diner to Alsace, but the chef needs a decent sized filet of fish in order to do this successfully.

I had the much-lauded marrow and the frissee aux lardons, which were passable (barely). I'm glad to see marrow on the menu, but Montsouris' version is lazy -- no parsley salad, just straight up roasted marrow and a scant bit of gray salt on the side. Plus, my toast arrived cold. The frissee was overdressed, the dressing over-salted, the lardon/gizzard mix soggy and overwhelmed by salt and mustard from the dressing.

We were with a group of 6 other friends and not one of us was happy with our meal, from the steak frites to the sausage and lentils to the salads to the unimpressive cheese plate. And the Ricard, which was advertised as coming with roasted peanuts, came (unapologetically) without the nuts -- they had "just run out."

To their credit, they removed the offending monkfish entree from the check, and the service was fine. Not great -- a bit odd, actually, as our waiter seemed slightly embarassed (and rightfully so, given how lousy the food was) -- but fine.

Steer clear. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I'd take Bistrot du Coin over Montsouris any day.