Restaurant Weekend

January 21, 2010 § Leave a comment

This past weekend was filled with so much good food, and there was quite a variety of it too. We had dimsum at China Garden, hearty Italian at Filomena, where I only managed to finish half of my entree and dessert (two meals in one!), and a light breakfast at Leopold’s Kafe down in Cady Alley.

Sunday morning, Ameya imed me asking to go to dimsum at China Garden, but because it was already 1 PM, I was a little reluctant since it would take him a while to drive down from UMD and get us to the restaurant. What ensued was probably the fastest sit-down restaurant meal of my entire life.

When we got there at 2:15 (because parking took a while as well), the cart ladies swarmed us, trying to finish off all the steamers they still had before they had to pack stuff away. So, in about 20 minutes, Ameya, Varun, and I devoured about 12 dimsum dishes – dumplings, har gao, egg tarts and all – and paid our check at around 2:35. In a way, it was a meal of perfect efficiency.

Restaurant Week at Filomena is probably one of the best promotions during that entire week. We had four courses of soup, appetizer, main course, and dessert (as well as a complimentary sambuca or amaretto), and the portions were absolutely huge! I went last year as well so I was able to plan my eating strategy more accordingly, and saved enough food for an entire extra meal the next day.

Everything – the homemade gnochhi, the delicious rigatoni in vodka sauce, the chocolate mousse cake and the raspberries n’ cream dessert – was so frikkin’ delicious and perfect for the cold day we were having. And as usual, the restaurant was decked out in decorations for the next closest holiday, which meant there were paper doves and shiny plastic red hearts hanging from the ceiling everywhere! So cheezy, but still cute.

The next day, we stopped at Leopold’s Kafe for breakfast/brunch and luckily, we got there before it became packed with patrons. I opted for the fresh grapefruit juice with the most amazing and flaky almond croissant I think I have ever had (my plate was completely covered in crumbs) and giant roasted baby red potatoes with caramelized onions seasoned with fresh thyme.

A perfect balance between the sweetness of the pastry and the savory heaviness of the potatoes. If I had to choose one brunch spot to go to for the rest of my time at Georgetown, it would be Leopold’s, hands down. The service is so friendly, the atmosphere is sleek and chic, and the food is amazing, especially the breakfast options. The giant pastry case near the bar isn’t a bad thing either.

Tagged: brunch, filomena, georgetown, leopold's kafe, restaurant week, washington dc

Notes on Food