Gadarene

Yeah, the new menu sounds delicious. I need to remind myself to make reservations forthwith.

Someone got paid to write that awful sentence.

We got there about fifteen minutes after they opened this Saturday and were literally the first patrons in the restaurant. When we left after 7, it was about half full. Delicious meal.

I might try to drop by the SpiritsBar as a solo diner tonight. Does one tend to need reservations for that earlyish on a Friday evening?

So I had leftovers waiting for me at home but resolved to drop into Lapis for a light meal to check it out yesterday evening...and I'm really glad I did. The menu is detailed and interesting, and whoever is in charge of writing the descriptions for the items -- a legitimate skill! -- knocks it out of the park, making everything seem very appetizing. There are a number of items that I'd be surprised if you could find on any other menu in the D.C. area -- everything's apparently based on family recipes, and it looks that way, with a varied and wide-ranging selection of Afghan dishes that nevertheless feels fairly cohesive (again, the menu layout itself is very well put together). I ended up ordering the leek and cilantro bolani (a crispy stuffed Afghan flatbread served with a delicious green chutney and cooling yogurt) and the beet salad (menu description: beets, apple, lettuce, pistachio, olive oil, honey mustard vinegar dressing). The bolani was extremely tasty and by far the most successful of the two; the beet salad was fine, but it was mostly arugula and dressing (the beets and apples were thin disks at the base of the salad) and I didn't get much if any pistachio flavor at all. To be fair, had I not been confining myself to lighter and smaller options, I could have taken one of the many recommendations from my charming bartender, who seemed genuinely enthusiastic, appreciative of, and knowledgeable about the food on the new menu. (Among her favorites are the mushroom and pumpkin dishes, the chicken stew, and the gabuli palow rice dish; I'm planning to return very soon to sample some or all of these.) Speaking of the bar, I was extremely impressed by the quality of the bar program there. Not only was the bartender awesome, but she made excellent drinks from a well-curated and reasonably priced cocktail list (I especially recommend the Lapis Manhattan made with cardamom-and-something-else-infused vermouth), one which included a cool selection of housemade sodas and mocktails in keeping with Afghanistan's dry nature. The available beers are also pretty interesting -- 3 Stars Peppercorn Saison and Sorachi Ace on tap -- and apparently have been selected to pair well with the food, and what I remember of the wine list looked thoughtfully curated too. The people in charge of drinks at this place know their stuff, and that's something pretty valuable in a city that's still lacking very many low-key, neighborhood bartops where you can get a great, well-priced cocktail from someone who knows what they're doing and some fun conversation without having to make a reservation, pay $14 a drink, and/or wait forty-five minutes to be served.* I'm very impressed by the Popal family's willingness to invest in a great bar program when they so easily could have made it another of the standard-issue vodka-and-macro-labels-heavy lazy carbon copy restaurant bars that so proliferate when a place has no reason to care as much about their beverages as their food. In all, my strongest impression from last night was one of thoughtfulness, attention to detail, and clear passion in showcasing what they have to offer. This is not a generic cookie-cutter "concept" from a restaurant group (nor is it a generic cookie-cutter concept from a family, as Napoleon might have verged into). It's a comfortable yet modern neighborhood spot where a family is putting time and energy into doing quality things that you can't get very many other places in the city, and doing them with warm service and an eminently reasonable hit on your wallet. D.C. needs more places like this. I hope they keep up the high standards and find great success in doing what they love. Anyway, yeah. I'll be back. Hopefully the rest of the menu is as good as it sounds. (Reviewing meals is hard! Much respect for all of you who do this on a continuous basis and provide so much excellent content for this site.) *In my neck of the woods, off the top of my head there's Roofer's Union downstairs, Bourbon sometimes though I wish they'd change up their menu more frequently, Room 11 during off hours, Bar Charley during off hours, Jack Rose during off hours -- a pattern! -- and now hopefully the bar here.)

Lapis is excellent and exactly the kind of thoughtful, family-owned restaurant we should be championing. And a great bar program. More tomorrow when I'm sober-er.

Really sorry to hear my recommendation steered you wrong, darkstar.

That menu actually looks really good.

The weekend Bloody Mary bar at the 14th Street location was absolutely awesome the one time we went. And half-price bottles of wine on Monday yields some great deals -- try the San Roman. (And I would put them at least on par with Jaleo, and probably above. And I share your feeling on chains.)

Would Obelisk fit the bill, or is it too elevated/not sufficiently old-world?

Yeah, I'm not sure about that. Doesn't the sign say both New Management and New Menu? I went in for lunch last week, and as far as I could tell the menu -- along with the decor and everything else -- was identical. So maybe it's just a belated way of getting people to notice the place, since their own sign is sort of unobtrusive. I dunno.

I may be missing it, but I don't see French food anywhere on Mango Tree's menu. I see fairly standard, putatively authentic Thai, little different in that regard (albeit less interesting-sounding) from Soi 38's offerings.

Why is Le Diplomate your touchstone? If I can go to Soi 38 or Thip Khao (or Baan Thai, or Doi Moi to an extent) and get delicious food for significantly lower prices, why would I ever want to go to Mango Tree for the privilege of paying so much more?

I didn't get beyond seeing the prices on the online menu.

The marinara pizza is the best in the city.

Soi 38, I believe. (And if not, they do a great rendition of that dish as well.)

You can use their dine in menu (which has all the authentic delicious stuff) for carryout, so I bet you could do it for delivery too. I really like this place.

I'm thinking of dropping by tonight for a final meal, though I'm wondering (1) how crowded it will be and (2) how much of their menu will be available.

Due to rising rents. Yet Lauriol Plaza rolls on. Sigh. We need more small family-owned and/or chef-driven restaurants in this area (both Adams Morgan and DC generally), not fewer. It makes me sad.

"we will be going renovations through the month of February and will be opening under a new name and concept come March. We won't be a Mexican place anymore." I respectfully suggest that the owner's idea that "concepts" are this fungible (let's just turn it into some other kind of restaurant!) is probably one of the reasons it failed in the first place.

I dropped in once for a michelada sometime last fall and it was pretty good; I've got no desire to go back. Having just spent last weekend in Austin, I'm absolutely craving some good interior Mexican food...too bad there's virtually none to be found within the district.

I thought the nam prik ong I had here earlier this week was pretty amazing.

I can never remember whether escarole is a vegetable or a type of fish. (I usually get it from context.)

Those pastry knots were awesome and extremely weird.

Yeah, I decided to swing by Little Serow on a whim around 6 pm last night because my girlfriend had a work dinner, and I was pleased and fortunate to find that they had a single seat available at the counter. Delicious menu from top to bottom (favorites included the whole fish and the snails and snakehead salad), and also nice to see a slate of all-new dishes. As much as I enjoy their normal menu (it's long been one of my favorite places in DC), having three or four of their items be essentially the same every week -- like the Mekhong whiskey and dill pork ribs that are a virtual stalwart as the final dish -- certainly makes my visits less frequent than they otherwise would be. Of course, the entire experience is enhanced by the fact that the service is always, always phenomenal; without exception, all of the servers and hosts seem genuinely warm and friendly every time without ever being intrusive...and they offer kick-ass pairing suggestions to boot.