mmm....steaky

for the dc summer restaurant week, we decided to check up three highly-rated restaurants in the area. (actually, we made reservations for at least 8 restaurants the day the restaurant week menu was posted online. good move considering so many other restaurants were already fully booked. again, the list came out that afternoon!) three course meal for $35.10? i am so game.

first of three was J&G Steakhouse, number 4 in the washingtonian's 100 best restaurants. it's at the W Hotel, just across the street from the White House. the ambiance was classy yet laid back. the server was attentive and very patient as we had to wait for another person to show up before he could take our orders, as expected from a good restaurant.

so...the food. here's what i ordered:
appetizer: sweet pea soup, parmesan
main course: grilled 6 oz. petite filet with mashed potatoes and sauteed spinach
dessert (my favorite) course: warm chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream (they also had a ice cream/sorbet trio and you can choose from very interesting flavors like poppy seed and sour cream...but cake and i have a great relationship so i always choose that)

the sweet pea soup was comforting...like, pea soup, nothing too special, but good nonetheless.

the steak. aaaaaaah, cooked to medium doneness, it melts in your mouth that well-seasoned piece of filet. not overwhelmingly peppery or salty. whatever it is and how much they put on it makes the beef shine. then they grill it to perfection. the sides: the spinach is not greasy nor stringy nor salty at all. the mashed potatoes are a little too buttery for my taste, and they might've used sweet cream butter because towards the end it definitely reminded me of those butter cookies. yummy but not what to expect with mashed potatoes.

dessert time! i forgot about the "warm" part on the chocolate cake description, so imagine my surprise when there is molten center. mmmm........gooey chocolate. definitely high quality chocolate was used and the ice cream made it better.

overall, this is the place to go for steak. duh, it's a steakhouse. they offered other dishes for restaurant week (seared halibut and parmesan crusted chicken...and i did taste some of the fish...too salty for me, but i only got a teensy bite), but here you order red meat. i will definitely go back and the free dessert coupon they handed out after the meal is just another incentive to do so.

not disappointed.

overdue

lots of stuff happening in summer 2010.

• am now employed and still volunteering
• DC restaurant week (stay tuned for reviews of J&G Steakhouse, The Oval Room and Cafe du Parc)
• new favorites: grooveshark and stumbleupon
• waiting for crumbs and sprinkles to hit the DC area
• new project: digitizing hundreds of old family photos

details of the above coming soon